Fastest Bonus Clearing Level .5/1 or 1/2

[chrisdhal]

Of course, learning with a bonus is learning for free. If you lose by playing, the bonus will make up for it. It's not a bad way to learn a new game. I would also say that 1/2 full is faster than 50/1.

[shummie]

Update.

I mixed in some 1/2 and 1/2 6max in my playing to finish my bonus faster. I'd 4 tables at a time with one 1/2-6max, one 1/2-full, and two .5/1-fulls. I might go with this setup for a while. It was sometimes tough to calm down when moving from a 6max hand to a full-ring hand, but I managed.

I had a big session Sunday night so I never got into the crunch I would have needed to play 6max NL. With my setup, I made like $100 on the 6max tables, $35 on the 1/2-fulls, and even lost $30 on the .5/1 tables I was playing [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

Results: I like 1/2. Haven't gotten in many hands, but I did well and felt comfortable there. The tables were way loose over the holidays, so my impression might be skewed.

The 6max games are awesome. Table selection seems key. I would play just one or two of the loosest tables and make most of my money off of specific players. Perfect situation is to get a tight guy on your left and a lag on your right. I had two moves in particular. I would call down the laggy guy HU with any pair after the flop, using the mantra "win the most when you are ahead and lose the least when you are behind". When in the SB HU with my tight BB, I would just call with most hands. He would check PF, then I could win about 66% of the pots with a bet on the flop and any two. This play costs me half of the 4SB pot, but is successful 66% or so of the time, so a good move with any two cards. The times BB has a hand are canceled out by the times I do too.

My play was much more complicated than just these two moves, but they did come up quite a bit.

The swings this time through were pretty managable for me. Though I can see how they would get out of hand at 6max. We'll see how I handle my first big downswing. Hopefully I have a few more upswings before that.

Overall report: I bought in for $1000 at party poker when I had $50 already in there. I played 1400 raked hands (~2000 hands total) of .5/1, 1/2, and 1/2 6max. I got me a $160 gain and $200 bonus for a bankroll of $410 now on PP(took out my $1000 deposit).

I'm probably going to try out my 1/2-6max, 1/2-full, .5/1 x2 setup for a while and see how things go.

Thanks for the input.

Jason

[semipro]

Were you going to stick to your three tables w/the $410 BR? If so, then you are under rolled and should consider staying on .50/1 and/or sticking to the full ring 1/2. Otherwise 1/2 6max, w/$410 can be dangerous. Good Luck.

[shummie]

I have $700 more in my "bankroll" outside of this Party account, so I'm only slightly worried about playing 1/2 with that roll. I would probably drop down though if I went under $200 though.

- Jason

[semipro]

Cool, well then, good luck w/1/2 6-max. May the fish greet you on every chair.

[OrangeKing]

[ QUOTE ]
Of course, learning with a bonus is learning for free. If you lose by playing, the bonus will make up for it. It's not a bad way to learn a new game. I would also say that 1/2 full is faster than 50/1.

[/ QUOTE ]

I actually never thought about it that way. I just brought my roll up to $500, and am switching over to PokerNOW with a rakeback deal, and will have clear a $100 bonus. I'm not quite ready to go to $1/$2 yet, but I think I'll throw a table in there just to start getting used to it while I clear the bonus.