Building a Bankroll

[jdiana86]

I am going to deposit $20 onto Bodog tonight and was wondering what game would be best to start at. they have no lower than 5cent 10cent limit and $10 max nl tables. i also might deposit into pokertime/gaming club/etc instead and try their 5cent 10cent 6 max tables. feedback is much appreciated

[Reel Deal]

How low can you go... how low can you go... how low can you go...

[jdiana86]

Bodog also has $2.20 sng's top five paid (6-5-4-3-2)
and $2.20 3-table sng's top 10 paid (12-9.50-7.50-6-5-4-3-2.50-2-2)

[melioris]

grind out limit until you have $200 and then start grinding the $10NL tables. It isn't sexy, but if you don't wear pants it might help.

GL

[thrash1294]

do the begineer sngs. they are an easy way to build your roll
I started with $20 on bodog also and stuck with those till I hit $100
do 2 or three at a time they are very +ev

[eejit101]

click cash games, all limits, scroll as far down the list as you can untill you can go no further, and click the bottom table

[jdiana86]

Well, after trying to grind it out at the 5 10 cent limit game and losing my mind, i tried my luck at the hu sng's. I went broke after going on tilt. this is nothing new for me i am a losing online player who goes broke a lot. however, i am determined to become a winning player, so hopefully i can make a video next time and someone can analyze my play. hopefully it wont be an ultra low limit game...ill update again when i make another deposit.

[jdiana86]

After reading a post from JDmcnugent's thread I picked up a term that I sometimes describe my poker life as...lifetilt...When i first started playing poker i dropped about 1k and then went on to turning $50 into 1k. However I ended up losing 1k again...after this i lost a good deal of money and went on a sort of "lifetilt". I know that I am a smarter player now then i was a few years ago, but being on tilt just cancels it out. When I was first playing poker, I was a very tight player, but didn't know when to laydown a hand. Maybe the $50 to 1k rush I had was all luck. I have never been able to build my bankroll up to $500 before going broke. The solution I see is twofold.

1.I need to cash out while I'm up so that I don't go broke, and on the same note

2.I need to stay off tilt so I don't go broke.

My final thought is that I'm probably going to take a hiatus from the poker world and come back refreshed and ready to play serious poker.

[eejit101]

or, real some books, learn the game better, and play within your limits and you should never go broke.

Its all mental - your picturing big wins and thinking that sitting with all of your roll is the way to do it.

[jdiana86]

thanks for the advice, any suggestions on what books to read? I've read super system and phil gordon's the real deal and also caros book of tells, although i cant remember most of them. its been a while since ive read these books, i sold both s.s. and caro's book. phil gordon's book sucked, super system seems more for the high-stakes player, and caros book of tells is for live games, so i would like to get a book or two that i can lay the basis for my style down

[Talking Poker]

You don't need to buy a book to play within your bankroll. If you do, send me $20 and I'll type it here for you.

As for what book to buy to get better as a player, that depends on what game you plan on focusing on for starters: Cash, MTT, SNG? HU, 6 max, full ring? Limit, NL, other?

[Kurn]

Meh. $20 is 50% of an adequate bankroll for $0.01/$0.02 NL and about 75% of an adequate bankroll for $0.04/$0.08 limit. It is also a short bankroll for $1 SNGs. That 's the bad news. The good news is there is no substitute for playing within your means. If you're underrolled you run the risk of 2 essential mistakes. 1) gambling on coinflips, or 2) playing scared and not making correct, but risky moves.

If you're going to play NL, read Miller/Sklansky's "Getting Started in Hold'em" If you choose limit, read Miller/Sklansky's "Small Stakes Hold'em." If it is SNGs, read Moshman's new SNG book.

Pick one game and focus on that. Before you choose (limit, NL, or SNG) ask yourself *why* you are making that selection.

NL is primarilty a game of implied odds and trapping with big hands, controlling pot size with TP type hands, and being able to fold a reasonably good hand late to pressure.

Limit is a game of pure aggression (fundamentally a much more aggro game than NL), pure pot odds where making "big" folds on the river will cost you tons of money in the long run.

SNGs are pure math. Play insanely weak-tight early, ICM (if you don't know what this is, Google "Independent Chip Model)" pushbot late, and in the middle, well, it's shallow stack NL there.

Forget about "laying a basis for you style." Since you're starting at the lowest levels, play good hands, rarely bluff (almost NEVER bluff at limit), and make money by letting your opponents make mistakes.

In fact, until you make it to the rarefied lavels where guys like JD and Storm play, you don't make money by making great plays, you make money by not making mistakes and letting your opponents make the mistakes.

Post hands, post hands, post hands. If you choose limit and/or SNGs, also at least read those specific strategy sections on 2p2. There's some awesome NL cash game advice here, and most of the folks here can think straight when talking about limit (well, you'll get at least one "raise more on the flop" answer every 2 limit hands you post ), and generally decent SNG advice, but the other site has special sections for those games, so you might get a wider variety of feedback there.

Play well and don't go on tilt.

[hc422709]

speaking of books, ... any books for HU nlhe?

[jdiana86]

I belive that one of Dan Harrington's books has a lot on HU

[Kurn]

Harrington's books are for tournament play, so the HU parts are HU at the end of a tourney. Far different from a cash game.