Why play for pennies??
 

I don't mean this to be rude - but can someone please tell me the appeal for playing for pennies online? I read in threads about $.20 winning sessions - i just don't get it. Why not just play for play money? Is there a difference in the games when playing for play money and playing $.01/$.02? Oh, and I have to know, at what point do you 'cash out'?

play money is definatly different, but not by much. a lot of people play the penny tables to see a lot of hands for cheap, while at the same time potentially winning a couple bucks in the process. consider this -- if your bankroll is $10 where else will you play? $1/$2 tables could knock your bankroll out in one hand.

The only thing I can think of is people who are down to under 5 bucks in their account use it to build back up to a buy-in for a SNG before re-depositing. Heck if you can get back to 5 bucks and win a SNG then you have money to play with at least and save the reload for another time. Remember the majority of on-line players are not pros and just play for fun, winning in always more fun, but if it saves them the reload, why not. Otherwise, no I don't get it.

But if you are playing for fun, why not just use Play Money?

I've never understood this microlimit stuff either. It can't be about making money... you could make more by posting here 4 or 5 times per hour!

Perception
 

I think it has to do with people's perceptions. I think most people at those levels probably think that there are good players. Same thing with people who play 1/2 or 2/4.. the skill level keeps growing and you get a little more each level you go up. I think as you go up levels you gain alot of perspective as to how the prior levels really were.

it's really about building a small bankroll. if i have 4.50 in my acct i usually play at the .05/.10 tables to bring me up to 5.50 for an SNG to bring my bankroll back to par.

I have played a bit at the micro levels, and I think anything is better than play money. People literally cap almost everthing with rags, it is really frustrating. At least at the micro levels, there is some sort of normalcy, although I know not much. Also, when you get a few bucks in a site but didnt deposit (i.e. free $10 bonus, freeroll win etc.), you can slowly build a bankroll, very slowly of course. but its better than nothing. I was able to build up my bonus on prima, as many people did, to be able to play some real poker.

When I first started playing cash ring, I'd play at the micro penny NL tables on PS. You see a friend of mine gave me a few bucks and I just thought I'd build from there.

I don't like the idea of spending hundreds and hundreds of my hard earned dollars on poker :).

It really didn't take that long to tripple what he gave me, then i tried the higher limit (at the time it was .1/.25... they didn't have .05/.1 NL tables back then), and got CRUSHED. Emotionally I wasn't prepared at all. So I moved back down and rebuilt.

Anyway, penny tables offer good experience on fundamentals, since all you really have to do is play tight aggro and it should be very profitable. Well, maybe not profitable... but you can build up consistently and then move up to the better limits shortly after :).

Cheers,

Gutzz

I will play these levels late at night when i have been drinking and just want to play some poker but not lose that much money. Play money tables is not poker at all.

HHMM, drinking and poker, BAD MIX!!!! :eek: :eek: :eek:

Me after drinking and playing a while and hitting my straight on the river and pushing all in "Damn, didn't see that flush out there" :eek:

Why not just reload and be able to play at a level that's worth your time?

But you'd rather spend 4 hours to win $8.75? Okay then.

We don't all have an unllimited cash supply like you do money bags :D :D

PShabi, it's better to spend 4 hours to win 8.75 than play 4 hours and lose 100 :).

Which is what would've happened had I jumped into the higher stakes. I was terrible :)

You don't like the idea of gradually building up a br over time without having to inject money from other sources? I think it's a great idea.

Cheers,

Gutzz

Maybe it's time you start playing better ;)

I have played micro limit tables and they can be fun. If I wanna try out a new style of play its nice to use these small limit tables. Any stake is better then play money tables.

I've played at them before. It's definitely better than play money..

If people could just play better at the snap o fthe fingers it would work. You have to start somewhere so you might as well start low to minimize your losses initially.

If poker is a hobby for you then you really don't care whether you start with $10 and build it up to $100 playing micro limits or start with $100 and end up with $1000 playing $1/$2 or higher.

If you are just starting out and you know you are not playing correctly, why would you throw $100 on a site and give it away to players you have almost no chance of beating unless the cards hit you over the head all session?

I think that playing microlimits while reading some books and trying out new ideas is a very good place to start. Learning to read the board and other players hands takes time and personally, I would hate to throw a few $100 to that training when it is available for $10 or so.

Learning and moving up through the levels as soon as you are ready is the only way poker stays interesting/challenging, though. If you were to stay at the micros for more than a few months I think you could start to see boredom setting in and causing you to play more hands, play hands farther than you should, etc.

One Key note is that IMO microlimits CAN ONLY be useful if you forget that the big bet is ONLY 2 CENTS. If you treat a BB as a BB then you can use them as a tool.

Microlimits are also great for developing a tollerance for taking the bad beats, while avoiding tilt. This can help when you move up and people actually start respecting a raise instead of assuming you MUST be bluffing, because who would raise with a good hand? (The mantra of the microlimit maniac :D )

I will say, however, that it takes a concious effort to adjust to higher limit games after playing at the micros. Where you usually have odds to draw to open-enders and flushes at micros, when you move up and are 2-3 handed after most flops you will lose those drawing odds.

Just my thoughts. :) I have on a few occasions taken a free $5/$10 or some freeroll winnings on a site that I can't withdraw from and used it as a side project to see how much I could build it up to, or try to build it up to the level required for getting it off the site.

OK , that is enough about that... :D

I dont see how playing micro can be a bad thing. anything, anything is better than play money. basically its win/win.

I play micro limit because I enjoy the idea of working up my bankroll from nothing. I also don't consider myself incredibly skilled at poker, and am trying to learn.

Some people respond to this with "you need to play at higher limits to be able to learn, because people have such terrible play at the lower limits", but I disagree. I think that by progressing and playing at nearly every type and style of play you can grow to be a more rounded adaptable player, and that is just what I am trying to do. Not to mention that Depositing my Own money in poker doesnt seem like that good of an idea to me, as well as the "allure" of big winnings.

Also, while I am still learning why not kick around pennies so that I don't lose anything big, huh? ;)

Haha, I think that one is about me. And I can tell you the difference between a penny game and a play money game. Playing for pennies you can dream ;)

I don't see a problem with playing for pennies to start, it seems like a good way to play your first, say 1-3 months of poker depending upon how much expierence you already have. If you are even the smallest bit serious about becoming better though, you have to bump up a level because penny limits can probably only teach you certain begginer concepts. Besides that, I think it's great that it's available to play online. Great way to build up a huge bankroll from a very small amount.

So... what I'm hearing here is microlimits ae good for new players, who are just learning the game. Does that about sum it up?

When I started playing online, I jumped right into $1/$2, but I think that was the lowest stakes available... and I wasn't new to poker. So I guess for me, it's just weird, since I never have and never will play at microlimits.

my first experience online was with play money at a couple of sites, and after winning the high hand jackpot on ub, i went to micro limits. i actually learned a lot playing at that level, ang gained a bunch of experience. i know that the things that i learned there will be only the beginning to what i need to learn in order to play poker for real money, but they were valuable lessons nonetheless.

i also take a little bit of pride in the fact that i have never actually put any of my own money into an online site. i turned winning the high hand jackpot and winning a couple of prima freerolls into a good chunk of change, and i havent ever deposited my own money anywhere. unfortunately i had to pull all of my money out in order to pay for some real world expenses, and i am going to deposit some more cash soon, but being able to essentially turn nothing into about a grand was pretty significant to me.

makes CENTS

I disagree
 

50/1 maybe, but I think playing for pennies can teach some bad habits to beginners. Who folds to a 2 cent raise? And with eight to a flop, you are getting odds to call with just about anything, and can forget about a pair of jacks holding up.

What I do think it can be useful for is learning a site's interface, but play money is just as good for that.

I'm glad you brought this up... I agree completely. And this is exactly why I tell new players not to play for Play Money, but instead head to the low limit tables. I'm guessing microlimits play about the same as the Play Money tables...

I doubt playing for pennies would be any fun, it'ld just be like playing with fake money. I'm not sure why anyone would want to play for that much, unless they have less than a dollar in there account and just want to waste it.

You guys would actually be surprised how many times I've sat down at a po-limit O8B penn game when I was drunk and didn't want to wager big money, and actually came out up $10 in about 1 rotation. People play a lot looser and call your pot-limit bets usually all the way down so I play it when I am hammered and can sometimes win a few bucks while getting destroyed at the same time, in essence, paying for my beer.

I played the micros a few times.. so i could give my left over change to those who needed it more than i did.

I would agree that at the micro tables, you can develop bad habits. The attitude of "it's only a nickel or a dime" causes you to play WAY loose and that is HARD to turn around.

Although it's true that a lot of the players will play looser, and that penny tables can give you bad habits, it's still a good start for those who still don't know whether a straight beats a flush :).

Also limit penny tables are a different story than NL penny tables. I probably wouldn't recommend someone start at the limit penny tables, but would have no problems suggesting they start at the NL penny tables. It's easier to take weako players money at the penny NL tables and make them pay for their mistakes.

Regarding the habits and stuff, isn't this true in almost any of the 'baby' limits? Like some things that work at one limit, don't necessarily work at the limit above? And a lot of the time you're 'unlearning' what you just learned?

Cheers,

Gutzz

play and rel
 

for play money or freeroll id call a big bet with margin cards.
but when even pennies at stake i treat them like dollars.
difference money and nadda

Basically, I'm poor. I also feel like I'm not very good, although I can tell I'm doing well when I play freerolls and I'm getting better. That being said, I'm poor. So when I do play, I will start at the lowest limits and progress from there.

As for playing sloppy because it's cheap... did I mention being poor?

Hell, I play crazy tight in amateur league poker games and tourneys online. It's just how I play.

I do experiment sometimes, but I'm taking my basic game these days and refining it.

Some people want to get their feet wet and learn how to play. Others may just want to adjust to the site before they move on to a high limits.

I disagree with play money almost the same as micro-limits. If you play on most play money sites, you'll notice most players going to the river with nothing or very bad draws. If you play NL micro-limits, even though a dollar isn't really that much, they won't call it down.

I think it's a good way to just get started and learn without losing too much money.