[Cry Me A River]

My bankroll started with a $13.50 prize in a Freeroll. Went bust shortly thereafter. $17.60 in another Freeroll. Bust. $20.30. Bust. $30.60...

And that time, it stuck. Since then, I've cashed out... Well, let's just say I've done okay... It's very, very possible to build a respectable bankroll from nothing!

I was playing on Interpoker (Crypto used to have really juicy weekly Freerolls) where there were no microlimits so I was playing $5+1 SNGs with an insanely high ROR (risk of ruin) given my tiny bankroll and just trying to string together several cashing tournaments until my balance got to a sustainable level. Which is why I busted out and started over several times.

I have a buddy who's only ever played play money. He's been playing casually as long as I have (about 2 years) and I just shake my head every time we talk about it. What a waste of time. He could easily have been playing for real, building a bankroll and learning the game properly instead of messing around with play money monkeys.

If you're going to play, you might as well be making coin. Particularly if it's free money...