Starting over online...

[PokerSlut]

Pretty much after my last post I had to do some travel for work and didn't play much poker at all; maybe a couple of times in the casino and ZERO online play.

Well last weekend I was feeling a little sick and decided to play a bit online. I only played for an hour or so but ended up with my bankroll up to around $42.

Then this T-day weekend I was really feeling under the weather and ended up playing some more mixed with sleeping and/or reading. Again really only one or two hours per session for the most part, but my bankroll now stands at around $53. Either my recollection is faulty, or the players have gotten worse since the last time I played online, because it was really easy pickings. I actually had a guy call all-in (an extra $1 bet into a $0.50 pot) on the river with absolutely no chance of winning the hand. Like, he had 8 high. I was dumbfounded by that call but I made sure to make a note.

[BlueBear]

My honest opinion...

If you're indeed an experienced and winning medium no-limit and pot-limit stakes in real life, you'll get very little benefit in terms of educational value and bankroll growth by playing the lowest possible limits. I would strongly suggest jumping to the NL25 or NL50 with a higher starting bankroll. After all, time is money.

[PokerSlut]

Since my last update I've played right around 10 sessions.

I was really sick with a nasty cold and unable to go out this past week, so I've played a more online this past week than I probably did all of last year. As of last night my bankroll stands at around $111, and would actually be closer to $130 or so except I've transferred some funds to a couple of friends who payed me back via paypal.

As I am now at about 11 buy-ins for the $10max NL game I am considering when exactly I want to move up. I know everyone agrees that 20 buy-ins is a good spot to do this, but I'm considering taking a shot with a bit shorter bankroll, and if I lose a couple buy-ins, moving back down in stakes.

This is something I have also been struggling with in my B&M game, as I'm at around 10-20 buy-ins (depending on how much I choose to buy-in for) for the next level of game available in the local casinos, and the games I currently play in have become very unchallenging to me. However, I have also become adjusted to having a massive bankroll for my current level, and I'm afraid moving up would put me in "scared money" mode to some extent and would affect my game adversely.

[PokerSlut]

It's been a couple of months since my last update, so I thought I'd bump this thread with some new info.

Shortly after my last update in session 22, I worked up to about $120 and decided to give the $10 NL games a shot. I played these on and off for about 20 sessions or so. Interspersed with this, I was also dicking around a bit with some friends playing occasional micro-limit games, a few tourneys, and some PL Omaha...most of which didn't impact my bankroll much one way or the other.

I found the $10 NL games really, really sucked compared to the $5 NL games. It was much harder to find a good table, and most of the tables were filled with people who had equal or smaller stacks than those in the $5 NL games. So naturally, my variance shot up like a rocket. I'd spend 4-5 sessions building up my roll, only to lose it all in one session to a few bad beats. After about 20 session of this, I decided the $10 NL games just weren't worth the risk with the bankroll I was sporting. At this point (beginning of Feb) my BR was still hovering around $120.

After getting back from a work-related 3-week poker hiatus, around the beginning of March I went back to the $5 NL game. At this point I went on a terrible run. I recorded 5 losing sessions in a row, resulting in my bankroll sinking all the way back down to $86. I was not a happy camper, and decided a change of pace was in order.

So, I thought I'd play some of Poker Stars' 2-table $5+.50 SNGs and see how I fared in them. As it turns out, I fare pretty well in these games. Of course my sample size is still very tiny, but after 15 SNGs, I am sporting a 40% ITM and 129.1% ROI. Of my ITM finishes, 4 of them are 1st place, 1 is 2nd place (where I started as a massive 20:1 chip leader heads-up, and my opponent sucked out on me 5 times in a row to come back), and finally 1 3rd place finish.

My bankroll has shot up substantially compared to that dismal $86 that was staring me in the face at the beginning of this month, and after my 66th session I'm now at $193.
[NOTE: I count 1 SNG as a session, although I occasionally play more than one per day]

The SNGs have been so good to me that I doubt I will go back to the $5 NL game ever again. If anything, I will build a sufficient bankroll via SNGs to buy in at the $25 NL tables which have much better stack/blind ratios than the $10 NL games, but if the SNGs remain even remotely this soft as I progress in stakes, I'll probably just keep playing them.



On a side note, my efforts in the live $300 NL game have also been quite successful thus far this year. If my moving avg win rate over the last year continues, I will probably be moving up in stakes in another month or two, although it will be a shame to leave that $300 game since it's so close to my house, and oh so profitable.

[kurto]

I think you're better off buying in with enough to go straight to the $25NL tables. The lower tables, the play is so nonsensical, its almost a different game. (same with the play money tables)

I think if you want to get better, you need to have SOME sense to other people's plays or else you can never read anyone. As a generality, I would think the higher the buy-in, the more likely the players will play with some sense of logic.

BTW- This might go against traditional wisdom, but I think if you play decent and tight poker, you can play two $25nl tables with a $150 stack. The play on pokerstars isn't terribly aggressive (unless there's a maniac at your table) that I think you can easily build your stack if you just play ABC tight poker.

[PokerSlut]

I think if you read over some of the other posts, you'll find I've made it abundantly clear why I'm not doing what you suggest.

It is simply a matter of me not needing to make stacks of money every time I play. My live game already makes me plenty as a side income, and I have a full-time job that I love and pays very well.

I'm much more interested in being able to say "I started out playing for pennies" when I have a 10k online bankroll, and enjoying the experience that goes along with the process of building that bankroll.