thejmd

I've been reading up for years on how to deal with this, read many books as I was younger to get better playing at local games with friends. Recently I have been using Ferguson's $0-$10,000 venture there as a pretty good guideline on how to just make sure a bad beat doesn't turn into a huge loss of bankroll %.

At the moment I'm playing on FullTiltPoker (CanadianShark11), over the last year and a half I deposited $10-$15 amounts every few months (a few attempts on Pokerstars as well). But none of them really worked, I managed going bankrupt in about a months time, some more, some less.

Recently however, as of the start of this month - I deposited $10, maintained it. But just a few days ago I had a good string of SNG wins, placing 4th in the $1 45 plr SNG, and then 1st in the same event type the day later. (Also, Rush Poker has helped me get a spike as well.)

But I'm having issues now, I'm hovering between $32-$40 dollars but can't seem to make a push past $50.

Should I be playing small .01/.02 cash games? Or higher? Or avoiding them?
And on that, should my SNG/Tourney buy-ins be at the minimum still, or should I also try and push that higher as well. To try and get a bigger pay-off?

I'm trying to get used to this, so any and all tips are much appreciated.

djgolfcan

The first question you need to ask yourself is why do you play poker ? If it is just for fun then BRM (Bankroll Management) doesn't really matter. You just re-deposit when you go bust.

If you are trying to make money playing, then you need a lot more than $50. If you don't mind grinding it out for a year, you could turn that $50 into over a $1000. But it would take the better part of a year.

Also, I would choose between cash games or SNGS or MTTs. Become as good as you can at one of them and use that game to build your roll. Don't flip back and forth between cash and tournies, two different games, requiring a different set of skills, imo.

I personally use 100 buy ins for my SNG games. That way, bad beats don't affect me as much and downswings of 20-30 buy-ins can be withstood.

I would play $1.10 SNGS and grind your roll up to $150, then start playing $2.25 SNGs, etc... That way, you will see if you are a winning player and if it is worth an additional investment to move up in stakes.

Hobbes

There is a good article here Basic Bankroll Management depending on how risky you want to be (short of spewey) with your bankroll.

Just realize that these are averages. You can still take the odd shot.

__________________
Hobbes
Playing micros is like getting a rectal exam from a leper who walks away with 9 fingers.

Milo

Assuming a max buy-in of $2.00 for the .01/.02 cash games, $40.00 only gives you 20 buy-ins to counter variance with. Not really a good margin, imo. That leaves SnGs as your better option, BR-wise.

As Devon said, if this is recreational play, do what you like and reload as needed. If this is a serious effort to build a roll, and make some $$$, I would make a healthy deposit, to be able to ride out any downswings, and start grinding.

The key is to be honest about your abilities. Have a good, solid player look over your stats for cash and tourney play, and listen to what they say. A little time spent figuring out who knows what they are talking about will pay dividends in the end. If you're a nickel/dime player you're crazy to be in a $5/$10 game.

Good luck . . .

__________________
I don't gamble . . . but I will bet.