Moving up to $10 or $20

[Buccaneer]

I play mostly $5 NL HE Single tables right now on Empire. I play 4-5 a week as a diversion from .50/1 limit HE games on the internet and am money ahead for right now. Please understand I am not saying that I am a winning player just that I am ahead over about 5 months.

If I play at the 10 or 20 buck level what skill level am I looking at? If the 5 trnys require a skill level of say 3 on a scale of 1-10 to break even what would you guys expect the 10 and 20 buck levels to require to break even.

My style of play is to fold lots early, pick up a few pots with premium hands and watch the play of the others in the game. I try to pick up more pots when the blinds increase and they begin to value thier stack. If I can build up a medium to lg stack I try to let others eliminate players and I pick up crumbs. I do not do many coin flips early and mid and only with small stacks (unless I am the small stack).

If I play in these games what skills do I need to be thinking about most? What is the biggest difference between the 5/10/20 levels?

[durron597]

The $11s require less skill than the $5s to beat because the rake is better and the opponent skill level is the same.

Of course if you have a really small BR the $5s are better but that's about the only reason to play them.

There's very little difference in skill moving up to the $10 and even $20 level. You will notice a few more good players on average, but overall it's still a lot of bad players mixed in with some good ones.

The biggest benefit in moving up in stakes at the party skins is the $5 sngs have a 20% house fee, whereas moving to the higher stakes it goes down to 10%. Over a large number of games this equates to a decent amount of savings. The 20% fee for playing the $5 games is a ripoff, in my opinion, and should be avoided like the plague. You need a much higher winrate to compensate for the extra costs. If your bankroll can support it move up.

[swiftrhett]

You can't go wrong with the $10's. I highly recommend them. Everyone says they are not too different from the $20's, but I strongly disagree. It's really hard to go wrong at the $10's

[mhcmarty]

Move to the 11's ASAP (bankroll based). The skill level is really no different. Slightly better at the 22's. The skills you need the most will be push-boting and folding when the blinds get high. As I've moved up, I've committed to a set of 5 games (played one at a time). $55 for the 11's and $110 for the 22's ect... This has helped me with my bankroll managment.

I still think of my games in terms of sets of 5. It shouldn't matter, but this seems to help my concentration when starting a new set, starting out 0-2 and wanting to get to at least even for the set, or starting out well and wanting to have a really good set.

The reads from the link below have really helped with SNG's. I pretty much specialize in these and play around with $11 and $22 MTT qualifiers.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showth...amp;sb=5&o= (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Number=1918735&page=&view=&s b=5&o=)

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What is the biggest difference between the 5/10/20 levels?

[/ QUOTE ]I suspect lots of players believe that the biggest difference between those levels is the buy-in.

$10s are easy. At the $20s, imho, the bubble players are a little better.

[Buccaneer]

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Of course if you have a really small BR the $5s are better but that's about the only reason to play them.

[/ QUOTE ]

What amount of br do you suggest for 5+1s and then taking shots at 10+1?

[mosdef]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Of course if you have a really small BR the $5s are better but that's about the only reason to play them.

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What amount of br do you suggest for 5+1s and then taking shots at 10+1?

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Most people suggest 20-50 buyins, with the median 30 I would guess.

This is fundamental stuff and you should be able to find a longer discussion if you follow the links throught the FAQ.

[HesseJam]

How much can you afford to lose?

20 buy-ins should be OK, if you can afford to lose them all, which means that you not starting playing scared if you whiff the first 10 tourneys. I'd move up once you have more than 40 buy-ins for the old level and would fall back once this drops to 30 of the old level.

This means if you have between $200 and $400 play the 10s. If you have $500 or more play the 20s. If you have $500 and whiff at the first 5 go back to the 10s. I never played a 5 because of the rake. I played the 10s only until I got my firt win, which took me 17 games! Then I only played the 20s and 30s. But I have a BR of $6000, so I could afford to pay a bit.

[Hornacek]

20 buyins should be ok.

We're honestly not kidding when we say the $11s are the same as the $6s. While the investment cost will see 2x steeper, play the same way (if you're winning the $6s) and you should be ok. Reserve judgment until you've played 20 to see if you're comfortable with the level. If so, keep on playing, I'd wait until at least 500 SNGs played to really analyze how you're doing.

I'd say the #1 thing to be worried about is playing scared when moving up. Don't! Donks are donks, and plenty are in the $55s as well (I 10-table the $55s). I'd also download Hood's SNG Tracker (a search will find it within these forums). It's a free tool that helps you analyze your SNG bankroll, profits, ITM, and ROI.

Hope this helps!

~Hornacek.

[Buccaneer]

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How much can you afford to lose?

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Very good. My budget for "learning the ropes" is $500. I am +300 at the moment. I have been playing 5+1 rebuilding my losses from ring games.

Thanks for your comments and the history. I am struggling but it helps to know that others have struggled as well.