Okay, obviously the first thing I need is a bankroll. I can’t start making money at poker if I don’t have any money to start with. That means I have only two options: Freeroll tourneys and earning the $1 via Carbon Poker’s fun tournaments. I’ll be working on both. Once I have some money (even 1 dollar), I’ll start working the small stakes cash tables.
Freeroll tourneys are just that: Free tournaments that actually pay you cash if you win. Usually it is a relatively small amount, but it is something and definitely a start. I’ve looked over about a half dozen poker sites, and only three have a significant number of freerolls: Carbon Poker, Absolute Poker, and Bodog. Absolute Poker and Carbon Poker have $50 freerolls, which award you around $5 if you come in first place. Bodog has a daily freeroll with a $500 prize fund. First place there is actually a decent chunk of change.
So my first plan is to focus my efforts on Bodog’s nightly 8:40 PM (central time) $500 freeroll and finish in the money (ideally in first!).
Another possibility is Carbon Poker’s “fun” sit’n'go tourneys. These are tournaments where you trade play money for a coupon that let’s you participate in level 1. Level 1 is a 6 seat tournament, with the winner receiving a coupon for level 2. Level 2 is another 6 seat tournament, with the winner receiving a coupon for level 3. Level 3 is a 10 seat tournament, and the winner gets (drumroll)… $1.
That’s right, if you can make it through three tournaments against relative new poker players, you can earn a buck. Sounds like nothing, but since I’m starting with zero, and I could use $1 on microstakes tables, I could actually build off of that.
The good news is that Carbon poker is constantly running the fun tourneys, so you can take part at any time. This is ideal for me, since I am focusing my major efforts on a single freeroll tournament, the Bodog $500 one in the evening. I can then play the smaller Carbon Poker fun tournaments whenever I have some free time or am bored.
So here’s my starting strategy: Play as many of the $500 Bodog nightly freeroll tourneys as I can, with the initial goal of finishing in the money. Once I do that I can move onto the next stage of my strategy, which is building my bankroll via cash tables. The same time I am focusing on the Bodog freeroll, I will play in the Carbon Poker “fun” tourneys, with the goal of winning $1 here or there to start another bankroll.
While I gave myself no time limit, I would hope that I have at least $1 within my first week.
Tags: Absolute Poker, bankroll, Bodog, Carbon Poker, freerolls