I deposited $50 and I started playing the low limit tables but I got a bit bored (and greedy). Last night I went to the .5/1 tables and lost $20 in about 30 min.
So now you deposited $50 and need 500 FPP's for your 100% match bonus? Even with $30 now, that's doable.
I started with $12 in July. Built it to just over $50 and then donked just about all of it off in a day. In September (looks like Sept 24) I deposited $50 and was at about 1,000 FPP's for New Years.
First off, don't chase the FPP's. They will come to you. You do not want to sacrifice profit for FPP's. That's a mistake a lot of people make. Who cares if you get the $50 but would have had $150 more had you not been chasing points? And I'm sure you're have a better time if you're playing for a better win rate rather than for FPP's.
Build your bankroll, move up in limits, and they will come. ("Build it and they will come.")
Second, stay in in your budget. This is just a standard poker/bankroll rule. With $30 you need to be playing the lowest levels. Play the $.01/$.02 ring games and the $1.10 or $1.20 S&G's.
Third, don't get frustrated. Building bankroll is a slow process at first. The rake is killer at the micro limits. $1 + $.20? And and getting the 1 FPP for the $8 pot is a rarity at the $.01/$.02 tables. When you finally get to the $.10/$.25 tables the points will fall into your lap.
Getting frustrated also covers steaming. When I first started out I made the mistake of trying to "catch up" to where I was. If I lost $5 I wasn't happy until I made that $5 back. It almost always effected my game and made me win less.
If you're good at S&G's then play them, as they are a consistent way of getting points. You're guaranteed at least one FPP per S&G. Average 3 a day for six months and you'll be at 500.
I'm primarily a ring game player, so I'll concentrate on that.
#1 Pick your table(s) wisely. I arrange the games by pot size. Then I go down the list until I find games at my level with a high see-the-flop percentage. Basically your #1 priority is to get at a table where people are too loose. The #2 priority is pot size.
With $30, hit the $.01/$.02 tables. TAG play is the key to these games. Play tight and aggressive. No limping!
When you're in a pot, you're raising to $.07. Maybe more if people are calling that. You want reluctant callers that can be scared off with a continuation bet.
Play your position. A/T isn't playable UTG. A/T is a raise in the cutoff. A lot of these loser limit players don't understand the value of position. I like the 6-max tables because I get to be in position more often, *and* 6-max has more action, so it attracts wilder players. IE, I get more of the people I like to exploit, and I get to exploit them more often.
Don't
bluff people who are too dumb to know when they're beat. I mean, you should make a continuation bet just about all the time, assuming one or two callers, but if you get called and have nothing you need to bail. Having someone call down your bluff and then showing their middle pair with top kicker is sick.
Use PokerTracker. It keeps you accountable for your actions, and you can use it to find leaks in your game. Again, your goal is to improve your game/bankroll and move up, not collect FPP's.
Post your questionable hands on this forum for analysis. Like any other forum you'll get some good and some not-so-good advice, but it's not too hard separating the wheat from the chaff.
Keep learning. This forum has a plethora of advice. Check out the videos in the video section, and read other hand analysis's. You'll find yourself in a lot of those same situations, and it's better to learn from someone else's mistakes than your own.
Moving up: Bankroll management is incredibly important. You don't want a cold spell to knock you out. The general rule is to have 20 buy-ins the level you're playing. However, this can be manipulated as long as you're willing to move down quickly if things aren't going your way.
I bought in for $50 and hit a mental block at $70 when I'd get lazy/careless/complacent for a big loss, then grind back with solid play for a profit. I realized that playing with a profit made me complacent, as there no sting to losing money I hadn't deposited.
At that point I decided to dedicate $20 of my profit to the $.05/$.10 games. If I lost that, I'd drop back down to the $.01/$.02 games and not return to the higher limits until I had $25 profit. Then I'd dedicate $20 of that to the $.05/$.10 game (leaving me $5 profit) and drop down if I lost it.
Fortunately the higher limit kicked me in gear and I kept winning. Then I learned an error in my betting pattern that increased my win rate substantially (I was betting too little).
I did the same thing when I moved to $.10/$.25. I decided that when I hit $300 I'd dedicate $50 to the $.10/$.25 tables, but I got that too quickly and kept postponing the move until I felt I was ready. I eventually just set the move date to New Years, which worked out well.
I'm well bankrolled for the $.25/$.50 tables by anybody's standards, but I have a new laptop and things are a little hectic (new laptop, new dog, etc.) so I'm waiting until I have some off-table consistence before moving up. I think my daughter's birthday next month is a good starting point.
But the important thing is that I'm playing by the rules I set for myself.