http://www.notedpokerauthority.com/a...s/article5.htm
[ QUOTE ]
Dealing With a Good Month
The month is over. You’ve paid all your expenses and deposited $500 into your savings. But you ran great and have an extra $1,400 left over. What should you do with it? Absolutely nothing. That’s because it’s not yours at all; it belongs to your bankroll. This is the part that destroys tons of pro careers, so pay attention. They take the extra $1,400 and figure, “Hey, this is free money. I can buy toys with it.” They buy plasma TVs and drum sets and new cars.
Unfortunately, it’s not free money at all; it’s insurance against a bad month. Normal jobs receive even payments from month to month. If you had a normal job, you might make your $3,000 each month, spend $2,300 of it on your nut, save $500, and spend $200 on extras.
As a poker player, you get paid in fits and spurts instead. Some months you’ll win $5,000 and others you’ll win only $1,000. But you make $3,000 a month on average, and you’d better still have the $2,000 extra you made during the $5,000 month when the $1,000 one rolls around.
Extra money you make beyond your budgeted expenses and monthly savings deposit belongs to your bankroll. It belongs in liquid form, uninvested and unspent. If you practice this from month to month, you’ll have a great cushion against bad runs so you won’t even have to worry about them anymore. And as your skills improve and your winrate increases, your bankroll will gradually grow until it is large enough to support moving up to the next limit. Your success hinges on your self-control during good months.
[/ QUOTE ]