What limit (1) sng ; (2) mtt ; (3) 6 seat ring games ....

[LuckySlevin]

Should I play with a 600$ initial bankroll?

I've got bored of trying to win a free roll been two weeks it's so hard to get any money out of these free rolls!

I'm thinking of just depositing 600$ today and starting as I can't be bothered waiting for any more free rolls. They've kind of been drilling the enthusiasm I had for poker out of me - keep finishing 90th in a field of 12,000 is kind of dissapointing!

So... What limits can I play please, sensibly. Thanks.

[bjsaust]

I'd play $10 sngs, $5 mtts and 10nl 6-max.

MTTs I might even go lower for starters.

[LuckySlevin]

Thanks bjaust that's what I'll do then. I'm going to play on pkr.com just because I really love the experience.

Just so I have half an idea of what the optimal profits would be, can you tell me what you would expect to earn in a week playing at this level and how many games you would typically play in a day.

I don't expect to earn this much of course, but would like an idea so I have a guage of how well I'm doing compared with an experienced player.

Thanks again.

[oskar]

goal #1
Don't go broke

goal #2
don't loose too much

I think it's not such a bad idea to set yourself limits. For example if you don't finish in the money in 3 consecutive sng's you quit or change to something else. Just to avoid steaming. If you keep loosing, go down in limits even if you are overrolled. As far as I'm concerned your bankroll is 0 - whaever you win or loose in the next months will be your real bankroll.
I'm a pretty mediocre player and I make about 1.5$ average in one hour of 10$sng's - over the last year. I guess I'm down for 10 and 25 NL since I'm back to 5NL

[LuckySlevin]

Thanks Oskar thats really helpful.

10 and 25 NL is that 25$ BB?
5NL is that 5$ BB?

I'm still getting my head around the terminology.

Thanks

[taipan168]

10 and 25 NL is that 25$ BB?
5NL is that 5$ BB?

No, $xNL refers to the maximum buyin for each table, which is typically 100 times the big blind. So $25NL means that the maximum buyin for the table is $25 and the big blind is $0.25.

[badgers]

honestly i think this may sound silly but I would deposit less at first if you've only been playing freerolls until now, so that you get comfortable grinding a roll...

[oskar]

10 and 25 NL is that 25$ BB?
5NL is that 5$ BB?

No, $xNL refers to the maximum buyin for each table, which is typically 100 times the big blind. So $25NL means that the maximum buyin for the table is $25 and the big blind is $0.25.

I was a big shot there for a second... it was nice while it lasted.

Everybody always talks about how easy the microlimits are, and there are a lot of fish, but it's huge step up from freerolls. Expect to loose money and have the discipline and self awareness to realize when you are not beating the game and go down.

[Stacks]

honestly i think this may sound silly but I would deposit less at first if you've only been playing freerolls until now, so that you get comfortable grinding a roll...

I totally agree with badgers on this one. You are fairly new to poker and haven't played in alot of real money games online. While there isn't too much of a difference in competition when moving up in the micros, I don't think it will be easy for a newcomer to beat 10nl for a significant winrate (if at all to start). My suggestion would be to play on PokerStars (as it's the best site imo) and deposit $50 and grind 2nl to begin with (also taking advantage of their $50 bonus). Work your way up that way. You have only a small amount at risk and you will be getting valuable experience at a low cost.

Once you get to around $100-$125 then make the jump to 5nl. Then jump to $10 at around $250-$300. After that you can grind up till like $600 or so then take advantage of a Bonus on another site to double your roll.

By doing this you not only get alot more experience for cheaper, but you sort of ease your way into it all. The downswings would affect you less as the money is signficantly less.

Just so I have half an idea of what the optimal profits would be, can you tell me what you would expect to earn in a week playing at this level and how many games you would typically play in a day.

As far as how much you are winning... Well obv you shouldn't worry about turning a signficant profit yet. Instead, just focus on becoming a better player. But a respected winrate is something along the lines of 3ptbb/100. What this means is for every 100 hands you make on average 3 big bets (not to be confused with big blinds. A big bet is 2x the big blind). Your winrate could be signficantly higher at the micros as the play is far worse than anywhere else. So if you were to play 10nl at 3ptbb/100 you would expect to make around .60cents per 100 hands. So if you multitabled and got in around 400 hands per hour (approx 6 tables), then you would made around $2.40/hr. Obviously this is on average over a large sample size of hands, because as we know poker comes with swings.

10 and 25 NL is that 25$ BB?
5NL is that 5$ BB?

Taipan explained this well. The only thing I can add is that on some sites atthe microstakes (.01/.02 and .02/.05) players are allowed to buyin for 200bb. I know this occurs at PokerStars. So while you could by in for say $10 at 5nl it's still considered 5nl since if you buyin for 100bb it would be $5. I would suggest if you play 2nl/5nl as suggested then you only buyin for 100bb whatever the stakes. Mainly because that's what you are truly rolled for. As well as, poker at 100bb deep is somewhat different than poker at 200bb deep.

[Outlaw]

If you are new to the game, deposit less. Do not start out with $600 because you will lose it all. I posted about a similar situation someone else had a couple of weeks ago:

First things first, read every stickied post on this entire website within the first month you start playing. Pay close attention to the stickies in the beginner digest (the one on tilt and the starting hands are some of the best imo). Watch the videos here: http://www.flopturnriver.com/poker-videos
Play for a couple of hours, read for a couple of hours, rinse and repeat. You MUST study this game if you want to get good at it. Also read Harrington on Hold'em volume 1 and Low Stakes Hold'em by Sklansky. Let them be your bibles. Experience will teach you a lot, but it needs to be experience with direction or else you are spinning your wheels and hindering your progress.

My advice is to deposit at least 50 bucks on pokerstars and start grinding 2NL. I suggest full ring to start, start out 1 tabling and once you get the hang of it add a table each day until you find your win rate beginning to decline. Feel free to play SNGs and MTTs if that's what you prefer, but as a lot of players find out, the best way to rapidly grow a roll is through cash games. Also the knowledge you gain on pot odds, implied odds, and position will make your MTT/SNG game infinately better.

Read all the posts on BR management. My schedule is:
step 1: 2nl till roll = $150
step 2: 5nl till roll = $300
step 3: 10nl till roll = $750
step 4: 25nl till roll = $1,750
step 5: 50nl till roll = $4,000

100 buy-ins for MTTS and SNG turbos over 45 people
50 buyins for single table turbo sngs
35 buy-ins for single table regular speed sngs

You should only ever deposit money once!

A rule of thumb is the higher in stakes you go, the deeper you want your BR to be. Also, if you are loose you might want more buy-ins and if you are a nit you can be alright with as few as 25 buy-ins. Never play with less than 25 buy-ins! The best players in the world have 20 buy-in downswings occasionally.

Don't forget to post hands you get confused on (use this: http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews....php#converter .) Get Pokertracker to track your progress, its a must have!

Last of all, don't be in any rush. Poker is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It is a lifetime game. Learn to sit back and enjoy the ride.. don't get frustrated, play each hand as if its the only one you will ever play, and you will have a blast.

Tj