Level's of play

[BrianSwa]

I have a question what level of play should you go to? I think im a decent player, not great but decent but cant deal with these microlimits where there is 7-9 people per flop and you get sucked out so much. So what level is good and what kinda bankroll do you need to get into it. Im not a rich person but I think I could probolly afford a level where I can stop getting beat by 7-9os. I really think I might start playing more live play then anything else. That way I can spend more time with the family.

[Vatrlrman]

I have a couple answers, one you might not like...why? I didn't like it when it was given to me.

1) If you can't beat the micro limits with bad players....how you going to beat the higher limits with just as many bad players + a few sharks.

I got this answer from a full time $30/$60 player playing at Party Poker. I had grown to respect him through his posts at another forum and it still pissed me off to here it. I packed that advice away and sought out "better" advice. Come to find out he was right. (duh!)

I started out .25/.50 and now at $3/$6. They key is knowing your opponents and reading what they may have no matter how dumb you think that hand might be. You can read the bad beat section and find guys are playing any two cards at every level. (Ex. AA and I 3 bet flop ($3/$6) - 4 saw flop of J8x no draws. I two bet flop. End up heads up. He calls 3 bets cold on pre-flop, two bets cold on flop calls to river with 89o and rivers a 9 to beat me.)

There is no substitute for experience, so get it cheap!

2) I moved up when I beat a level. When did I beat it? 10,000 hands, + 2 BB/HR over that span and 300 BB's for the next level. I made myself hit all three at once. The +2 BB/HR I may have to come down to 1 as I move up stakes but is very attainable at the mircro limits.

[Talking Poker]

That's pretty good advice.

I think you are looking at this backwards, Brian... Start at whatever level you want (provided you have, say, a 300 BB bankroll). If you build your bankroll up to 300 BBs of the next level up, move up. If you lose and drop to say 150 or 200 BBs, move down.

As for playing more live to have more time with your family, that makes no sense to me. Playing ONE table online, you can get in at least twice as many hands per hour. Playing multiple tables, you can get many more than that - and that's not even counting travel time to and from your live games. Don't get me wrong - I enjoy playing live - but I certainly don't do it to get more free time.

[BrianSwa]

the way I was looking at is was I could take 1 trip a month to the casino instead of playing every week online. I do see your point though about the traveling time and tolls and all. I think I will take that advice and play the .25/.50 tables for awhile.

I agree with you both totally now that I actully have a clear head and thinking about it. I will make a deposit in couple weeks and start out slow at the .25/.50

[2Tone]

I play live for fun -- and it is definitely more fun. But I can't imagine a scenario in which it is more profitable, at least for the low-limits I play. I'm yet to find a card room locally or in Vegas that features as many fish as Party. That, and no dealer tokes. Plus, if I'm in a card room/casino, there is the tempation to have a drink at the bar while you wait for an open seat, or maybe play a -EV table game, or a host of other bad ideas.

[Talking Poker]

The rake in live games is much higher than online as well.

[greenbuckets]

IMO, live games are much better than online. Seeing a person putting his/her chips out will definitely influence my play. I am not a huge believer in tells, but there are some tells that definitely give a hand away. At a live game, beginning players will often have shaky hands when dealt good cards. This can possibly be explained by an adrenaline rush? Anyway, when I see shaky hands and my cards are not top tier (AA, AK, KK, etc.) I will fold. This is obviously not the case online. Just my 2 cents.