Is PS .01/.02 worth it?

Is the payoff here good enough to justify all the variables at the lowest of low tables? 3 weeks ago, I knew nothing of poker. I knew what a few of the hands were, but nothing else. I have been reading as much as I can, but naturally, it is a lot to take in.

I have been playing the .01/.02 tables, but have been losing cash at it. I threw in $75 just to learn to play, and I have a pretty good solid understanding, but have still been losing money.

It seems like a lot of my cash has been going to people who play stuff like 7/2s from UTG and will call my C-bets and big raises all the way down to the river and get a flush. I have a lot more leaks than this, but it seems like the majority of my BIG losses are to players like this.

Would investing a BR big enough to support .02/.05 make a big enough difference?

I have purchased/read:

Small Stakes Hold 'Em (Sklansky)
Phil Gordon's Little Green Book
The Theory of Poker (Sklansky)
Most FTR Strategy

Yes, definately move up to where they respect your raises!

Actually, no. Learn to play poker first. Don't bluff calling stations (which is what it sounds like you've been doing), post some hands in the forums so you can get some feedback.

the play at .02/.05 will be just as bad as .01/.02. stay at 2nl untill you can beat the game. you make most of your money in poker from bad players, so you need to learn how to best take advantage of their mistakes.

its easier to beat bad players than it is to beat good players.

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3 weeks ago, I knew nothing of poker

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Maybe this is why you are losing?

yea its worth it. i discovered i had 1.25 on stars last nite and ran it up to about 12 bucks in 200 hands at the .01/.02 tables. weeeeeeeeeeeeeee. plus i didnt know those tables were 250bb buy ins. crazy deep buyinaments at low stakes.

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Originally Posted by Pelion

its easier to beat bad players than it is to beat good players.

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3 weeks ago, I knew nothing of poker

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Maybe this is why you are losing?

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Yep...you CANNOT expect to start winning right out of the gate. I'm willing to bet that nearly everyone on here had lost at least a few of their starting bankrolls when they were first starting out. Reading books/articles and absorbing information is great and everything (and you should keep that up), but the absolute best thing you can do for yourself to improve is just to play more hands. There's just some things about the game that simply cannot be taught. You must learn the nuances of the game (and your level) yourself--even if that means losing money initially to do so. Because it'll pay off big time in the long run.

Post hands (if you're able to) so people can give you input on what went wrong/how you could've played the hand better.

Yes. They don't rake any until the pot reaches $1.

At this point in your poker career, making money shouldn't be your primary goal (though it is a goal).

Primarily you should be:
- Focusing on staying out of hands that are likely to get you in trouble.
- Trying to look at every situation in terms of odds (it was a big step for me when I started doing that)
- Trying to consider the effects of position in every hand.
- And, trying to play "correctly" even though most players around aren't doing so.

2nl is easily the best place to learn those sorts of things because mistakes are less costly, and you WILL get paid most of the time you have a good hand.

You need to consider your time at these levels as basic lessons in poker, not a money-making venture. The money will come down the road.

It's one of the greatest fallacies in poker, that higher stakes are easier to beat than lower stakes because they will "respect your raises" and "not play crappy cards". That said, I agree with what the others said, there will be no difference between 0.01/0.02 and 0.02/0.05.

Sure, players at higher buyins may not put some terrible beat on you when they river two pair against your TPTK after calling big bets to the river, but you WANT to play against players who will put their money in with the worst of it.

FWIW, I started my poker career at 0.01/0.02 with a $20 loan on Stars from a friend. Ground it up to $100 before switching to SNGs. Roll is now $6k and I've never had to deposit (other than for b0nuses).

I'm playing on those limits myself right now, I actually kinda fluctuated limits from time to time because I thought I could do better on higher limits but that wasn't the case, so I ended up losing quite a bit of money.

So then I decided to go back to to the 0.01/0.02 tables and play what I consider real tight and found that when I don't make stupid decisions under tilt I actually win quite a bit. Actually in my last 2 hour session I made 13 dollars from some nice silly fish.

So I'm gonna have to say yea, if your bankroll doesn't support anything above 0.01/0.02 stick to those tables and learn how to play tight. Also knowing all the proflop cards to play in which position really helps give you good odds.

The people who raise 27s from UTG are the donks who might get lucky sometimes but mostly end up giving you a big portion of your money by calling all-in on draws or with cards like KTo preflop.

One possible major leak you have is calling when the villain hits the straight or flush or whatever, especially on the river. If an obvious draw completes, and you have a hand like top pair or a weak 2 pair or worse, then if villain raises you must fold.

That's something I learned while building my current roll at 2nl. I played 4 tables at a time, buying in for $2, and made over $100 at a bit over $4 an hour. Yes I probably ran quite good but often it was just letting my opponents make huge mistakes. You can win at these stakes without doing anything special, just bet when you think you are ahead, and check/fold (or call with good odds) when it looks like you are probably behind.

Disclaimer : I'm a bit drunk right now.

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Originally Posted by mojo6911

Is the payoff here good enough to justify all the variables at the lowest of low tables? 3 weeks ago, I knew nothing of poker. I knew what a few of the hands were, but nothing else. I have been reading as much as I can, but naturally, it is a lot to take in.

I have been playing the .01/.02 tables, but have been losing cash at it. I threw in $75 just to learn to play, and I have a pretty good solid understanding, but have still been losing money.

It seems like a lot of my cash has been going to people who play stuff like 7/2s from UTG and will call my C-bets and big raises all the way down to the river and get a flush. I have a lot more leaks than this, but it seems like the majority of my BIG losses are to players like this.

Would investing a BR big enough to support .02/.05 make a big enough difference?

I have purchased/read:

Small Stakes Hold 'Em (Sklansky)
Phil Gordon's Little Green Book
The Theory of Poker (Sklansky)
Most FTR Strategy

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.02/.05 play pretty much the same as .01/.02. You're going to have people who play complete garbage and suck out at any level I think. In the long run you'll make money off of these people. I've discovered over the last couple of years that I may lose that 1 hand, but if they keep calling with that, I'll profit over the long term.

Playing both $2NL (occasionally) and $5NL (usually) there is only a little difference between the two - but you'll still have ppl drawing out when they have absolutly no odds to do so in $5NL a hell of a lot of the time too..

Anyway - the main thing I find at these stakes is to spend the first few hands watching and seeing who are the call stations, who are the bluffers, who are the maniacs. Next I generally try to test a few by doing decent raises and seeing their responses. Those who will just continue to call even with a low board that are unlikely to have hit anyone you'll find are going to be your pay off people. When you have your big hand bet well and these guys just won't drop it!

I was at a $5NL table the other day with 3! guys who just refused to fold any hand before at least the turn! So pick your hands - but make these guys pay :)

I'm sure it's similar at higher stakes - but I've found that even at these stakes the majority of players do get intimidated when you have a few big hands shown down. Take advantage of these more passive players by being aggressive/bluffing.. there's nothing better than betting your decent hands well and being only up against the fish you know will pay you all the way to the river :)

All in all - pick your opponents - pick your hands - and play especially from position.. Keep in mind even with K-7 from late position - your fishy friend will pay you off with your 2 pair to his pair of 7s!

meh.. I'd just nut camp... it's the best method with the lowest variance for beating complete retards.