$50 bankroll question

[Pov]

I assume you're unwilling to reload your account if you bust. The bad news is you probably will with this small bankroll.

With that said hopefully you'll get lucky and start out with positive variance, so I'll try to give you some advice about that.

Your SnG results can really bunch up so you may win a few and get cocky, then not cash for a long long time. Take it slow. Play at least 20 SnG's before you even think about moving to a higher level, but be ready to drop down any time you feel your bankroll is getting too small for the level you're at. My point is not that 20 SnG's is enough to tell if you're a winner at a level - it clearly isn't, but that when you cash in 4 SnG's in a row and win two of them you'll be sorely tempted to move up. Don't. Play a dozen more and see if your success continues.

It's really tough to even believe variance can be as large as it is in poker. The human mind just doesn't want to believe in short term random events. But there is no avoiding it. At some point you will go on a long losing streak, even if you're making great decisions the whole way. There is simply nothing you can do to avoid it. Couple this with being a new player who probably isn't making great decisions the whole way and it is remarkably easy to bust, even if you feel like you know what you're doing. Three years ago I never would have believed you needed over $3000 to regularly play $5/$10 fixed limit. I mean, if you're a good player, you surely can't lose more than a few hundred bucks before you win it back, right? Sadly, this is not true.

So getting back to your case - you just don't have the bankroll to play at any of the levels you mention IMHO, but not having the bankroll doesn't mean you will bust, just that you're at risk. The thing I really don't like about these tiny SnG's is the vig is frequently well over 10% which really sucks. Still, your opponents should really suck on average. Stick to the smallest buy-ins you can - I'm not sure which of the two smaller options is better, but my gut tells me you're better off in the $1.75 + $.25 even though it's a higher buy-in due to the much smaller field.

I rarely say this when it comes to poker, but good luck.