Another bankroll question. (crosspost)

[Rift]

Should have posted this here instead of the no limit small stakes forum.

I did some searching of the forums and got some ideas, but I figured I would run them by everyone.

I play mainly on Paradise, bought in for 50 almost a year ago, worked it up to 120 before squandering it. Took a few months off and bought in with my other 50 I had in my firepay account. I have managed to work that up to $225, mainly by playing the $2/$10 NL games, normally two tabling them.

Anyhow, what's the best way to grind up a bankroll to play at the higher limits? My personal preference is to have about 20 buyins available for each level I play, dropping back down when I lose 25% or so of my roll.

Is limit a better way to grind it up? Bonus whoring? I only plan on using this money as I would rather not reload firepay or anything. I have worked it up this far and I think I can work it up even farther if done patiently.

Or yank my money out of Paradise and plunk it into the other sites to get the bonuses then keep moving around to garner the bonuses at the other sites, finally moving back to Paradise (or some other site if I find one I prefer.)

Any other ideas or comments are appreciated.

[Fiery Jack]

I decided to cash out of Paradise and play at Party Poker.

But the sign-in bonus wasn't really the deciding factor, I just think that at Paradise a) the competition is noticably tougher and b) at any time of day there are not nearly so many tables to choose from.

Don't get me wrong Paradise is a great site and has many plus points. There are some things I miss about playing there, but these were my pivotal reasons for switching.

[Rift]

Yea I have heard that the competition at Party is a lot softer than at Paradise. I guess my main reason for staying there was proving to myself that I can beat tougher players. Granted at the limits I am playing at I am guessing that the competition at Party is similar.

While I do have an account at Party I have never played there. I took a look at most of the major sites when I first started out and tried their software, Paradise being the only one that I liked. I guess it might be time to expand my horizons.

[RED_RAIN]

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Anyhow, what's the best way to grind up a bankroll to play at the higher limits?

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I guess my main reason for staying there was proving to myself that I can beat tougher players.

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What's your goal? To make more money or to be able to say you can beat the hardest low limit players out there?

[pzhon]

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I have managed to work that up to $225, mainly by playing the $2/$10 NL games, normally two tabling them.

Is limit a better way to grind it up? Bonus whoring?

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For a fixed win rate, NL usually has lower variance than limit, as long as you are competent and don't tilt. However, bonus-whoring may be best on sites without the smaller NL games you would like, particularly when your bankroll is up to at least $200. I recommend playing on sites with monthly bonuses for a fixed amount of play while preserving enough to rebuild from SNGs and penny-ante NL.

Examples:

Pokerplex: $50 for 300 hands each month
Caribbean Sun: $40 for 250 hands each month
UKBetting: 25 GBP for 5 hours each month (sign up in pounds; try not to transfer money in and out if you pay exchange fees, but you can play for dollars on the site with no fees)
William Hill: $25 for 5 hours each month (more if you can use pounds, but you can only deposit dollars with Neteller)
Interpoker: $90 for 450 hands each month, requires a $90 deposit each month.
Bet365: 1-time $50 for wagering at least $50 in poker (you can't lose!), $40 free (and potentially risk-free) in the casino each month with $1000 wagering requirement

These poker bonuses add up to $250/month. I have a bankroll, but I still take these bonuses. See www.bonuswhores.com .

I forget what the lowest limits are on those sites. On some, it may be $1-$2. In that case, your current bankroll is dangerous with no fallback, but you can give it a shot anyway. (The bonuses are comparable to the cost of the blinds, so you would be close to even if you fold everything, and sometimes you would gain.) The Kelly Criterion says you may need only $50 to try these, but if you have less than $150, you risk busting out before you receive the bonuses. The Kelly Criterion assumes you can drop down in limits. If your bankroll falls to $100, you should do something else.

You should look into one-table (Sit-N-Go) tournaments. The strategy is different from ring games, but $50 may be a sufficient bankroll to play $5 SNGs, and some sites offer SNGs down to $1. Pacific has some of the worst players and $2 SNGs if you get desperate. Avoid UB's $1 SNGs, as those seemed tougher than UB's penny-ante NL games with less gain.

If your bankroll falls to $20, you should play penny-ante NL games, available on Poker Stars and Ultimate Bet. To decrease the variance, buy in slightly short, then leave after you double up.

Pacific Poker's deposit bonus can be taken in a risk-free fashion. You can deposit, get the bonus, then withdraw your deposit and play with the bonus. (I have heard that you should wait for your deposit to be returned before playing, or else your withdrawal may be reversed.) It takes a long time to clear the bonus at low limits, and the bonus expires in 3 months, so if you have withdrawn your deposit you may want to risk busting out to clear the bonus more rapidly.

Another risk-free possibility is to accumulate play chips at Absolute Poker. For 15 million play chips, they will give you $50. (You need to be able to deposit $50 real money and play 100 raked hands to collect, so don't lose everything first.) I haven't tried this, but I would bet it is easy, just not worth the time if you already have a bankroll. If anyone tries it, please post how many hours it took to get the $50.

[pzhon]

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Another risk-free possibility is to accumulate play chips at Absolute Poker. For 15 million play chips, they will give you $50. (You need to be able to deposit $50 real money and play 100 raked hands to collect, so don't lose everything first.)

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Correction: Sorry, this bonus is almost worthless, since you have to work it off at the usual rate, and it isn't hard to collect deposit bonuses from Absolute. The 100 raked hands requirement was just to qualify for the "Play Chip Hall of Fame," whatever that is.