I was an online gamer three years ago, plugging away countless hours of relic raids, obtaining awesome equipment, and killing those Albs and Mids while playing my Blademaster on Dark Age of Camelot. Four hours was nothing for a night of gaming with pixelized swords swings about and worrying about taking out the casters before the druids felt their blinding spells.

Sorry, but it was those countless hours that built up the character strong enough after 2.5 years to be sold on EBay for around $100. Poker until that $100 was slid into a PartyPoker account consisted of acquiring play chips on Empire Poker to the tune of 15 million or so (worth exactly as fifteen play chips would). I can say truthfully that I've never re-deposited and have no intentions of doing so, once the money is gone...

Back to the 10,000 person freerolls for this aspiring mid-limit player.

Paul Wasicka dropped by Full Tilt.com to give his two cents on something I've held tight to my bankroll for three years now. Bankroll retention and building it are critical to those who want to progress thru the ranks from the bottom up.

Here's a slice of Paul's article that you can read in its entirety here:

For most players, the lure of playing in high-stakes ring games or tournaments is a sirens' song that's hard to resist. While there's no doubt that these games can provide huge rewards, the sad truth is that many beginners often leap into the deep end before they look, destroying their self-confidence and leaving their bankrolls scattered on the shore.

My advice to these players is simple; stay in the shallows until you and your bankroll are ready to venture into deeper waters.

Team Full Tilt's Chris Ferguson recently completed an amazing exercise where he created a bankroll from nothing by playing a combination of tournaments and ring games. His tip on his progress provides some solid fundamentals on how to create and grow a bankroll, and I wouldn't want to presume that my advice is any better than his. Instead, consider this another point of view drawn from my personal experience and observations.