Switching to SNG's, need adjustment advice

[GrandmaStabone]

I built my original bankroll playing sng's. At the time, I was a pretty weak player, but not completely brain dead which allowed me to grind out a decent bankroll playing 5-10's. As I discovered the forums and began reading up on poker I switched to limit hold'em and played that exclusively up until now. A few weeks ago I cashed out my entire bankroll to pay my tuition.

So now I am returning to poker with a short bankroll and have decided to go back to my roots, the sng's. I started with around $100, and have played 5+.50's for the four days until I had the bankroll for 10+1's (around $250). I am doing better now in tournament play than I ever have before. Playing over 100,000 hands of limit hold'em has really improved my hand reading skills, board reading skills, numchuck skills, knowledge of pot odds, etc.

I have a couple of specific questions:

1.) What do you guys think of my 20 buy-in bankroll? I plan on sticking to the 20 buy-in rule until I get to the 30's, and then increase it to 40-50. I have read HOH 1 and 2, TPFAP, TOP, etc. I (humbly) consider myself a pretty decent hold'em player at this point so I feel like this bankroll is fine.

2.)Right now I am playing on FT, and the concensus is that the players there are stronger than average, which is a trend I have noticed myself. If I am going to play a high volume of SNG's, what sites do you guys recommend? I do not like the 800 starting stacks at party, so i was considering Pokerstars(?), hows the sng action there?

3.) other than that, I am requesting any other advice you guys can give, maybe link some helpful/insightful threads (I am new to this forum), recommend some software, endow me with some words of wisdom, etc.

Thanks,

GS

[bones]

[ QUOTE ]
1.) What do you guys think of my 20 buy-in bankroll?

[/ QUOTE ] Not enough.

[ QUOTE ]
I plan on sticking to the 20 buy-in rule until I get to the 30's, and then increase it to 40-50.

[/ QUOTE ] Still not enough.

Assuming that you don't want to/can't replenish your BR, I'd suggest 50 for 22s or lower, and 75-100 for other levels. You'll find it much easier to deal with the swings.

[Nicholasp27]

you'll go broke if you play with only 20-buyins
can u easily replenish your br?

party poker = more $/hour

u have rakeback, right?

[nthn2fancy]

saying that he will go broke at the 22s with 20 buyins is a joke.

[Nicholasp27]

u will go broke at any level if you only keep 20 buyins in your bankroll

u've never had a 20-buyin downswing? if u haven't, u either haven't played many sngs or you don't keep accurate records

[USCSigma1097]

No, it's not...

Even if he is a winning player, the ROR with 20 buyins is statistically significant.

Sigma

[lorinda]

[ QUOTE ]
saying that he will go broke at the 22s with 20 buyins is a joke.


[/ QUOTE ]

If he loses 12 or 13, the dry cleaning bill alone will finish off the rest of the bankroll.

Lori

[Dr_Jeckyl_00]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
saying that he will go broke at the 22s with 20 buyins is a joke.


[/ QUOTE ]

If he loses 12 or 13, the dry cleaning bill alone will finish off the rest of the bankroll.

Lori

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL!!!

[jb9]

It's a little old, but I find the links from this thread (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=1918735&page=&view=&sb=5& o=&fpart=all&vc=1) to be helpful. There are also some good links in the FAQ (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=2821605&page=0&view=colla psed&sb=5&o=14&fpart=1).

I think whether or not your bankroll is OK for you depends on how willing you are to drop down to lower levels if you go on a bad run. I confess that this opinion is not supported by detailed statistical analysis.

Good luck.

[GrandmaStabone]

1.) My BR is reloadable, although I do not plan on having to go that route. I know 20 buy-ins is a little on the low side, but I still feel like it is sufficient for the lowest levels. I was always under the impression that 20 buy-ins was the minimum for a winning player. Just like 300 BB's is the minimum in limit, but if anyone asks people will recommend 500-1000. Is that the case here, or is 20 buy-ins so low that I have a high probability of busting it regardless of performance. The downswings should not be a problem (psychologically) for me considering my limit hold'em experience.

2.) Thanks for the link! That is a goldmine

3.) Any word on the quality of games/pros and cons at Pokerstars, Full Tilt, Party, UB, Bodog, etc.?

I think party and stars are the best because of the high volume of players, and high volume=more fish.

[downtown]

[ QUOTE ]

3.) Any word on the quality of games/pros and cons at Pokerstars, Full Tilt, Party, UB, Bodog, etc.?

[/ QUOTE ]

Just play at Party. For the reasons in the FAQ (fishy) and $/hr. I've been fooling around with Stars recently and you can play more postflop. It's fun, but you can't multitable as easily, there's no R-word, and once you get to the $55s you get 1000 starting chips anyway at Party. Good luck wherever you go.

And for the buyins, if you're comfortable reloading if it comes down to it, 20 buyins should get you off to a good start. I like 30-100 before I move up (the higher the buyin, the more buyins I need for myself), but 100 is notably conservative.

[Guthrie]

After a long downswing at limit 1/2 I tried 11 SNGs on Stars a few weeks ago and had such a high ROI that I thought I had found the mythical poker ATM. It came crashing down but it still looks like I'll be able to do well enough at it, especially if I ever learn how to play NL SNGs.

I switched to Empire for the fringe benefits. The shorter stacks are a bit unnerving, but I think I can get used to it. It looks like the games go faster, even with one more player, which should result in a higher hourly rate.