The year was 2007 when the former winner of the WSOP Main Event, Chris
Ferguson declared that he was going to set himself the challenge of
building a bankroll worth $10,000 without any sort of starting capital.

He started straight away, and while things may have taken a little
longer than expected as he ground his way through a number of
challenging freeroll games, he soon found himself getting involved in
the higher stake games. His challenge was completed in September of the
same year and set tongues in the poker community wagging.

While the money itself was donated to charity, many people had started
talking about whether it was possible for a more regular player to be
able to achieve something similar. While it can’t be denied that
Ferguson is a special kind of player (his WSOP bracelet proves that!),
I think it’s far too easy to write off Ferguson’s achievements based on
the fact that he’s a former world champion.

The reason for this is that you and I have an advantage over Ferguson:
and that’s the fact that you can have a hunt around to find the
best poker bonus available to help you in your quest.

Most poker rooms will offer you free cash when you first sign up to
them, and while you will still need to be sensible in order to grow your
bankroll, this initial injection of free cash will certainly help you
get started.

You’ll need to master a number of skills along the way though – with
none of them being more important than patience.  As Ferguson found,
starting on the bottom rung of the poker ladder is a slow and arduous
process. When playing for low stakes, you’re only going to be able to
pick up small prizes which means it’s a fair bet that you’re going to be
spending a fair bit of time at these low stakes tables. Especially early
on.

Temptation to get ahead of yourself will mean that you end up playing in
higher stake games before you’re good enough to do so. When you find
yourself out of your depth, then one poor decision or a stroke of bad
luck can wipe out your bankroll in less than a minute.

Obviously this isn’t the way to go. So, instead, make sure you pick the
tables you play at with care. Find a game that suits the way that you
play and make sure you’re not paying any more than $1 for a game until
your bankroll has surpassed $50. Once you reach this first boundary,
then you can start to think about looking towards the $5 games.

These sorts of boundaries are hugely important if you’re to be
successful in growing your bankroll steadily. Whether you’re in a
Freeroll tournament or playing in a High Stake ring game, you need to be
keeping a continual eye on how much cash you have in your account. As a
general rule of thumb, players shouldn’t consider moving up to the next
buy in level until their bankroll has tripled in size.

By continuing to play like this, you can be sure that your poker ability
grows at the same speed as your bankroll does. If you start getting
impatient then you can easily find yourself outplayed by opponents who
are far more skilled than you are. Once this happens, all your previous
work can be undone in a matter of minutes.

The other thing to bare in mind is that there will be times when things
go wrong for you and your bankroll ends up shrinking rather than
growing. It’s at times like this that you need to stick to your guns
more than ever. If, for example, you find your bankroll falling below
the $50 mark, then drop back down to the freeroll tables until your luck
begins to change. You know what you boundaries are, so make sure you
stick to them!

Speaking from personal experience, I know it’s very tempting to try and
recoup any losses by jumping up a level or two and getting out your
credit card again. Don’t do it though. Especially if you’re tempted to
throw in some cash that you can’t afford to lose. If you’re on a losing
streak, simply turn off the computer and live to fight another day.

It’s perfectly normal to go through rough patches – if it happens to a
former WSOP, then you can be pretty sure that the same thing will happen
to you. The important thing to remember though is that patience is key
to everything. Chris Ferguson realized this early on, and you will need
to as well if you’re to follow in his footsteps.