When am I beating the game?
 

Playing mostly 0.50/$1 NLHE online, what kind of win-rate would I expect before moving to the higher games?

That is, what BB/100 Hands would you say is "beating the game"?

Re: When am I beating the game?
 

You'll never play long enough to get a good grasp of your actual win rate in this game. Just move up when you have about $2000 and be happy. If you're overly concerned about going broke, wait until you have $3000

Re: When am I beating the game?
 

Screw the BB/100 hands.

Assuming you started playing with a proper bankroll for 50c-1.00 NL:

Has your bankroll doubled since you started? If so, you're most likely ready to play at double the stakes. Even if it has not doubled, as long as you are consistently winning, and your bankroll has increased significantly, you may be ready anyway. It's possible you might have had more than you needed to start. I need a smaller bankroll for NL than I do for limit poker, you might too.

Can you handle the better competition at the higher level? Have you watched some of the games? Seen any regular fish there? Any dangerous players frequently there? Any fear or reluctance on your part to go up? (if so, don't do it).

There are lots of things to think about before moving up in no limit, but BB/hour is not one I'd worry about. It's doubtful you have a statistically significant # of hours anyway, unless you play all the time.

al

correction: BB/100 hands, not BB/hour (NT)
 

Re: When am I beating the game?
 

What would be the proper bankroll?

that\'s a bit of a thorny question...
 

I don't know if I can give you a solid figure on that. I know my SD is much higher in limit games than no limit ones, so I don't need a huge bankroll to keep playing no limit. To play the 50c BB game I only started with a few hundred, but the players there are SO bad that I rarely suffer any significant losses. I could never say this about limit poker, as you can't bet enough to protect your hand, so you're constantly getting drawn out on.

If you play as well as I do or better, you shouldn't need more than 1000x the BB to have a very good chance of never going broke in the game. So for a 50c BB game, $500 should be more than enough. I am NOT basing this on any mathematics or quotes from books, and I COULD BE WRONG. It may be more, but it may be less. However, in my experience, in the soft online games, this should be more than enough. If the game was considerably tougher, you might want more.

I hope this is helpful.

al