[SammyKid11]

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I was running on a hot streak in the $5.50 STT's, had 25 buyin's for the $11 and thought I'd give them a go. As soon as I drop below the 20 buyin-mark (for the $11) I'll step back to the $5.50's.

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20-25 buyins is not a proper bankroll even for the 11's. Playing with an inadequate bankroll is dangerous, puts strain on how you play, greatly increases your Risk of Ruin (chances you break your entire bankroll and have to start over completely). You need minimum 30 buyins at the 11's. And with your relative inexperience (I ain't judging, I'm just saying from your post it's obvious you're new to this), I would say more like 50 buyins. I'm a fairly experienced player from the 11's to the 33's and I just had a 40+ buyin drop over the last couple of weeks. If I'd only had 20-25 buyins, I'd have to grab a job to get some bankroll seed money and cover me while I built it back up to an acceptable level. Thankfully, I ascribe to a 65+ buyin typical bankroll theory...and I drop down when I get below 40 (and there are some on this site who would say I play it too low).

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The level of players is a little better than at the $5.50's, that combined with my run of bad luck has kept me out of the money.

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The level of players at the $5.50's are really only marginally worse than at the 11's...at least at Party (where the best SnG action on the net lives). But since you're underbankrolled for the 11's and since these aren't 5+1's but rather 5+.50's, just play the 5.5's until you get to more like 50 buyins...may be a drag for the moment but long-term you'll be very happy you did.

Also, if you're looking for a safe way to to build your bankroll...you might try bonus whoring. Go to bonuswhores.com if you need help learning how to do that.