When to Move Up and when to Cash Out

[lingy86]

If i start out with just $50 in my bankroll and play .50/1 rooms say i get my banbk roll up to $100 should i cash out that 50 or should i move up in the limits, cause i would do better in higher limits just dont have the bankroll. If i do go up when do i stop going up and start to cash out?

[Fnord]

You should be working with at least a $200 roll to play .5/1 (if you have the skills to beat bigger games.) Preferably $300-$400 and be ready to pay some "tuition" if you're new to limit hold'em.

I've dropped $50 playing .5/1 within an hour 2 tabling. Variance happens.

[elanto]

I would also like to know how much do you need to have, in terms of buy in, to play SNG's, 20X the buy in, 10X Buy in??... and for MTTs as well pls...


-anto

[Fnord]

SnGs: 20x the buy-in. I know lots of regular SnG players that have gone on -10x buy-in streaks.

[DavSimon]

As a point of reference, I set my wife up an accout at Poker Stars and gave her $100 to play .05/.10 NL ring games with....average buyin at those tables is between $5-10. She has been down as far as $60...and is currently up to about $115 - you have to have the bankroll to sustain the swings. $50 is not nearly enough for .50/1....you are just setting yourself up for a disappointing experience. I would put more money into your bankroll or move down a couple notches to .05/.1 or possibly .1/.25 (even at .1/.25 - $50 is not really enough...2.5x buyin can evaporate quickly). I play .50/1 with a $400-600 bankroll....and buyin for the max allowable at the table, if I go down 10 BBs I reload - some people reload constantly to have the max at all times in case they catch a monster.

elanto: I concur with Fnord...I have been playing mostly MTTs lately and you should have at least 20x buyin - same for SnG's. I have gone on a 7-8 SnG losing streak at the $10+1 or $15+1 Turbo level.

[frankie]

Umm...you doubled your money, big deal. Wait until you can turn $50 into $350 in a couple days. Then maybe move up. But for now, you are still new. You will easily lose that $50 you've earned. If you are comfortable, stay where you are. Build it up more. Hey, its working why change? Then move up.

[steviebrutal]

As a point of reference, I set my wife up an accout at Poker Stars and gave her $100 to play .05/.10 NL ring games with....average buyin at those tables is between $5-10. She has been down as far as $60...and is currently up to about $115 - you have to have the bankroll to sustain the swings. $50 is not nearly enough for .50/1....you are just setting yourself up for a disappointing experience. I would put more money into your bankroll or move down a couple notches to .05/.1 or possibly .1/.25 (even at .1/.25 - $50 is not really enough...2.5x buyin can evaporate quickly). I play .50/1 with a $400-600 bankroll....and buyin for the max allowable at the table, if I go down 10 BBs I reload - some people reload constantly to have the max at all times in case they catch a monster.

elanto: I concur with Fnord...I have been playing mostly MTTs lately and you should have at least 20x buyin - same for SnG's. I have gone on a 7-8 SnG losing streak at the $10+1 or $15+1 Turbo level.

Thats interesting, my rule of thumb was always to have around 80x the BB of the table(s) youre playing at. I started playing .25/.50 with about $45 a year ago and although I experienced swings, it was never more than $15-20. Note: im not saying that its NOT gonna happen, but ive had alot of success using 80xBB.

Ive actually had better luck using that at 1/2 and 2/4 tables (I attribute that to less variance because of the difference in gameplay).

[Fnord]

Ive actually had better luck using that at 1/2 and 2/4 tables (I attribute that to less variance because of the difference in gameplay).

I've swung over -100BB at 2/4 full. I think Toasty has swung -200BB.

[Joke]

this -100BB .. its big bets right, not big blinds? And fnord do you mean that you was down 100BB in a row from your bankroll?

[Fnord]

this -100BB .. its big bets right, not big blinds? And fnord do you mean that you was down 100BB in a row from your bankroll?

Yes big bets. I've swung over -$400 a couple times playing 2/4 with an overall win-rate over every session I've played at over 2BB/100. I've had one swing at 5/10 6 max that was just short of -$1000. I've also had a couple runs where I've net over $300 within a span of 100 hands at 2/4.

These things happen. You drop a bunch of bets with the best of it until the river or are 2nd best to an unlikely holding. Throw in a couple missed flush/str8 draws and a whole bunch of big cards that miss and you can pretty quickly amass a big losing streak where perfect play might have saved you 10BB tops. Then you obsess over those 10BB and your game gets weak lowering your overall expectation a bit until lady luck turns things around or this happens often enough to not to throw off your game.