Heres what I do. I decided a long time ago that I wanted to reach XX amount before spending a dime of it. Once I reached that point, I decided that at the end of each month, I would take out 75% of my winnings to spend and leave 25% in my roll for further bankroll growth.

Now I can play pretty much any game I want without worry about a bad streak killing my bankroll, and I still get to enjoy my hard work. I think its much better to wait until the end of each month instead of spending it each time you go above whatever threshold you use.

I pay myself $1000/wk out of my BR. All remaining funds stay in the BR. When my BR reached a point where it became double the amount necessary to comfortably play the limits which I do I began giving myself quarterly (3 month) bonuses which consist of 50% of the increase for that quarter.

UnknownPlayer, do you still take out the $1000/wk when you have a lsoing week?
Also, are you a UPFer? And if so, do I know you?

iceman,

Yes, I still pay myself when I have a losing week - it is a salary. My weekly average is above my salary so the bankroll is never in jeopardy. I used to frequent UPF but not for some time.

molina it all depends on what works i guess. i'm still trying to figure out exactly what i want to do. at the moment, i'm not comfy with my bankroll. i'm playing $100 NL tables on party. it's said you need to have 20 buy-ins...i won't be happy till i have 100 buy-ins. that gives me all the extra money i will ever need, plus i could pay myself week by week like unknown player is doing. to me, that sounds like the best way. a salary with a bonus for good performace. (and still building the roll slowly.)

right now i'm paying most of the bills with poker, its slowing down my bankroll growth tremendously but i don't have another choice. i will get to that 100 buy-in number soon however, and will be happy and can start taking out some leisure money! i have earned it!

unknown player -
may i ask what limits you are playing, how many tables you play at a time, and the hours you put in? you are currently acheiving my goal for next year. namely $1000 a week. i'd really appreicate any tips you can give me. thanks!

kennyg,

This year I am mostly concentrating on low limit no limit tables (B&M not online so of course only one table). Through record keeping I found that my hourly rate on these tables is comparable to my hourly rate on the larger NL tables ($10/$20 and $20/$20 blind) with significantly less risk. Although I hold a higher hourly rate in the $40/$80 than I do the LLNL games - I discovered that I can play more hours of LLNL before reaching mental fatigue and hence my gross is higher playing the smaller game. (more hours = 40/wk rather than 24-28). Actually, most of my playing career I have played less hours than most - typically putting in that 24-28 hours a week. This full time work week stuff is new.