Sitting in online cash games

[Hawt]

I remember TP said to never sit with more than 5% of your roll at a time. But I was also wondering, when you sit at a cash game online, do you always buy in for the max at the table?

For example, the 1/2NL cash games have a max buy in of $200 (100 BB's) and a Minimum of $40 (20 BB's). So obviously buying in for $40 would leave you at a disadavantage but what about $100ish?

Also for Limit gaves you sort of track your progress by saying you want to win "2 big bets an hour" but what about No Limit? At a 1/2limit game the big bet is like $2(right? .50sb, $1bb, and then $2 bb?) so if you were trying to make 2 big bets an hour, it would be like making $4 an hour. Can I just convert this over to No Limit and hope to make $4 an hour, or since it is No Limit should I bump it up a little bit since the pots are likely to be bigger?

Looking back at my big bet post, I noticed someone said that 1BB per 100 hands or something like that. And BrianSwa said that he goes for one buy in an hourish. Is that a good goal to set before sitting down?

Do you guys think that it is better to play limit online when you are a beginner and trying to build your roll? Because it seems like you buy in for less at limit games (online it looked to be about $75 for 1/2 limit, compared to 200 max for NL) and like 5% of my roll is $8...

Note: I do not have the intention of moving directly into the 1/2 cash games with my small bankroll. The math was just easier for me with those numbers.

Edit: Also, when looking for a cash game to join, what stats do you look for? (On Stars) how many people? what Players/Flop %, hands per hour, average pot?

[PShabi]

If you're buying into a NL cash game, there's no reason not to buy in for the full amount.

In limit games, I just buy-in for the "standard/default" amount. On Party, that's $250 (5/10) On Crypto, it's $400 (who knows why). On Full Tilt, the standard buy-in is $100 but I buy for $200.

[Talking Poker]

Holy crap that's a lot of questions. I'll take a shot at a few with my personal opinion:

1. I think new playuers should learn limit first and then transition to No Limit. It's no an easy transition, btw, but I think it's important for people to learn the fundamentals of limit first. So many of these are so important and are completely missed if you jump straight into NL. With that said, there are a lot of successful players won't simply don't touch limit and that's that.

2. You should always buy in for the table max, or at least make sure you have the biggest stack at the table covered. If you can't, sit at a table with a smaller max buy in, so you can.

3. The BB/hour stat is pretty useless in NL. That's a limit thing, I think.

4. That 5% figure was a guideline. If you stick with it, you shouldn't go broke, but I think taking the occasional shot with 10% of your bankroll is ok. Just be prepared to stake two steps back if things don't go well.

[Talking Poker]

BTW - that 5% thing is also referring to NL play and/or tourney buy ins. For LIMIT, the recommendation is to play at whatever limit gives you 300 BBs (big BETS) for your bankroll.

In other words, to play $1/$2 limit, you should have a $600 roll.

And again, I think it's ok to take a shot with less, but if it goes badly early, you're going to have to cut your losses and move down if you don't want to risk going broke.

[Hawt]

Hmm okay, it's just that like 5% of my small bankroll is like $8 so it is going to be pretty hard to build up going for 1-2big bets an hour at the .10/.20 tables.

I think I will just play tourneys for a bit anyways to build up some. If I ever get my money from Royal Vegas. Everytime I try to withdraw there is another step to hassle me.

[PShabi]

Your bankrolled for .25/.50 Limit games.

And many people who are successful at 1-2BB/100 at higher limits have crushed the lower limits for 3-4BB/100.

Anyway, that's why they call it grinding. It's nothing exciting early but it builds a bankroll.

[Hawt]

Hmm okay. I haven't really ever played limit, that's why I have all of these questions. Well except for the occasional freeroll on Stars, but then it is just cap cap cap every round. Any advice for someone transitioning from NL to Limit?

[Zybomb]

For NL games the 300 BB rule isnt really applicable... 300 BB is for limit.

For NL you should have a minimum of 10 max buy ins. So to play 1/2 NL (200 max) you should have 2000 dollars ... this is even a little small by some standards -- some prefer 20 max buy ins, I think 10 is a solid number though

[Talking Poker]

I have higher BB/100 numbers than those (1-2BB/100) at all limits. Well, up to 30/60 anyway. But I'm not sure that the 72 hand sample I have in PT is quite statistically significant

Actually, looks like my 10/20 numbers took a SERIOUS beating in the past month. At least they are still green.

I'm also talking 6 max here, if that makes a difference, other than more hands per hours which = more BB/hour.

All I'm trying to say though, is that you can probably clear 3-5 BB/100 at the very low limits, assuming you are playing well.

[jillaj]

I built my roll on stars playing sng's. No i play mostly cash games as that is where the real money is. I don't like playing limit and in no limit the swings are too large to start a bankroll, so the sng's allowed me to have a way of cushioning the bad days.

[drewjax]

Its a marathon, not a sprint!!!!!

[MathBabe]

This is a bit depressing, since my $60 in PokerStars means I'm stuck at the $.05/$.10 tables. But if I can do 4 BB/100 as you suggest may be possible, then that's, what, only 7,500 hands until I can move up to $.10/.20???
No, wait, they list stakes, not blinds... so the $.10/.20 tables are correct for my tiny bankroll.

MathBabe