Just how big do the swings get?

[steamboatin]

Two weeks ago, I deposit $100 at Party Poker. Last week I ran my $100 up to $1,093. this week I rode it back down to $105.14. Up almost a grand in a week and back down to almost even the next week.

Party 2-4 Bad Beat Jackpot tables 5,865 hands.

During these two weeks, I brought my VPIP down from 30% to 21% and I am getting tighter. I played tighter preflop than I ever have in my life.

[shant]

When I first started and had barely read SHH, I won $1500 in 4 days, then in the next 6 days I lost it all back down to $150. I was also probably playing 25-30% of my hands. The variance will decrease as you tighten up and play better, but even then, you can still have downswings of 150-250BB.

[krishanleong]

[ QUOTE ]
During these two weeks, I brought my VPIP down from 30% to 21% and I am getting tighter. I played tighter preflop than I ever have in my life.

[/ QUOTE ]

Keep getting tighter. Play more tables if you need more action, not more hands.

I'm still working out of a 450 BB downswing at a limit I know I'm a winner at. It happens.

Krishan

I am still in my LAGGY phase. At 1/2 I am doing great with a 3.5 BB/100 over 30K hands. But a 100BB swing is not an exception, the people suck so bad postflop that it can be profitable to play more hands. At 2/4 I am not doing nearly as well due to huge downswing, and my VPIP is a little high I think, though I've been trying to bring it down. I think at 2/4 you can get away with higher VPIP with proper game selection, but the a looser preflop strategy that works well at 1/2 and below gets you in trouble with players that play tighter preflop and not as terribly post flop.

[otis_nixon]

You need to get vpip to somewhere between 15-17, your variance will decrease so your downswings are still in the green which they probably want because your postflop play might not be up to par. Whats the pfr% hopefully somewhere around nine or ten for 2/4.

[pokerstudAA]

You probably should not be playing 2/4 with $800-1000. The swings can be much bigger than that. Work the kinks out of your game at the lower limts that are within your bankroll.

[sweetjazz]

With $100, you should be playing 0.5/1. Even then, you could be a winning player and still lose that $100.

Just my sense from reading your post, but I think you have the potential to be a winning player, but are not there yet. Start putting in hands at 0.5/1 and play a lot of hands. Worry about whether you are playing correctly, not how much you win or lose (which, as you can see, is very loosely correlated to correct play in the short term). Post hands and read the forum. Don't try to get rich in a couple of days. Good luck.

[Bodhi]

Jackpot tables are -EV. Don't play them.

Depositing $100 to play 2/4 is insane. Deposit at least $800 and be comfortable with reloading if you have to.

[Buck_65]

So you were playing 2/4 with a 25 BB bankroll...This is a problem.

[Bodhi]

Knowing that steamboatin has played a lot of B&M for stakes much greater than 2/4, I think it's sort of difficult to play .5/1 online. However, online is just much tighter than B&M, and your typical 3/6 game is probably a lot like party .5/1.

Clearly, if you only deposit $100, .5/1 is the way to go. From my own online 2/4 experience, a $2000 bankroll is comfortable.