ITH Poker Forum

[strider10000]

What level of online nlhe do you recommend for a beginner? bankroll is
$2000. I read to start small but how low? I have friends who play alot &
say most of the micro-games are poorly played & very hard to learn from since so much "gambling" is going on. I'm concerned if I play too small
I may learn bad habits that fit into that game. The assumption seems to be each level is harder than the previuos - is that really true or do some people
just have more money to throw around at the small levels.

[Da_Big_Fish]

Believe the standard is to have 300 Big Bets at any given level. If you are a beginner perhaps even 500 Big Bets since you are a beginner. Of course I am just a limit player too. I believe no limit is something like 50 buy ins or more at the level you want to play.

[Fumseck]

In NL we don't talk about BigBet but about Buy-Ins.

Assuming you are a winning player, 20 buy-ins is pretty much what everyone recommends for a recreational player.

So, with a 2k roll you could play NL100.

Personally, I need 50 buy-ins to play comfortably.


If you are still learning, I would not go above NL25.

[superduperchick]

i started with $5 lol
now im riiiiiiiiiiiiiiich

[winningbet]

start small but too small the games are not played right and you wont be helping your game

[winningbet]

nl 25 should work well

[Wannabe1ProPlayer]

does it matter how many tables I play? I'm wondering if I should have more buy ins if I play more tables. I currently have only 25 buy ins for 10 NL but I play 2 tables. I am thinking about trying to learn to play 4 tables at Full Ring so I can get more rakeback and build my bankroll that way.

[sourbluff]

I recently read a very good article/comments on BR management that addressed the idea of multi tabling. The basic idea was that after buying into the max number of tables you wish to play you should still have the minimum number of buy-ins available.

So if you are going to play NL and have set 20 buy-ins as your comfortable low point you need 21 buy-ins in your roll to play single table, 22 buy-ins for 2 tables and so on.

[the_hawk]

That sounds clever in principle but is a bit silly in practice, reason being that your true win-rate and hence susceptibility to variance is likely much more strongly affected by multitabling than the strategy acknowledges. If you need 21BI to single-table, you need more than 24 to 4-table. Either that or you're up and down limits like a yo-yo.

[Llanlad]

I say .. start off at $400nl 6 max, try the occasional stab at $1k 6 max ..

And then work your way down untill after 4 years your playing $50nl full ring ..

Well thats what i did anyway ...

Trust me .. you become oblivious to any shame or failure thoughts after the 3rd year ..

Sighs ...

[mconstab]

I say .. start off at $400nl 6 max, try the occasional stab at $1k 6 max ..

And then work your way down untill after 4 years your playing $50nl full ring ..

Well thats what i did anyway ...

Trust me .. you become oblivious to any shame or failure thoughts after the 3rd year ..

Sighs ...

Jesus, somebody hide the razor blades.

[Llanlad]

Jesus, somebody hide the razor blades.

.. it would take a lot more than that ...

Liverpool winning the league would obviously take me a step closer though

Anyways .... this is my year to make my comeback .. by December .. ill be back to where i belong !!

all its takes is some patience .. and a touch of willingness .... and they are both my strong points ..

[mconstab]

Jesus, somebody hide the razor blades.

.. it would take a lot more than that ...

Liverpool winning the league would obviously take me a step closer though

Anyways .... this is my year to make my comeback .. by December .. ill be back to where i belong !!

all its takes is some patience .. and a touch of willingness .... and they are both my strong points ..

Llan I've recently started a thread in general about the profitability of cash games. Have you found the NL cash games become seriously harder over the last few years? How about over the last year?

[Davros]

With a 2k BR, I'd not suggest you play above 10c/25c NLHE, and sit with 20$ a session.

OMG! So LOW!

At that level you can average 50$ per night with solid play. You aren't risking much money at all in terms of your overall BR in any 1 session, so you can divorce your emotions from your nightly wins and losses.

Besides this, if you cannot develop the patience to play at these ultra-low stakes when you have a pretty LARGE BR with which to work, then you may be seeking too much in the way of "quick gains" from poker to be phlegmatic about the massive swings you will find at higher levels.

Averaging 50$ per night, and managing a 2/3rds winning session rate can add upwards of 50% to your BR in a month. If that isn't fast enough for you, get a bigger BR...

[simmo5050]

If you can't beat supposedly weaker players at the lower levels, you'll never beat the better ones who often play at higher stakes.

A good player, by definition, will make good decisions. Therefore, at the lower levels, you may find it easier to win more bets more quickly because you are playing against players who make more mistakes but your BR may not increase that rapidly.