A good limit to start

I won $1 for finishing 17th and $9 for finishing 1st in free rolls last week. I sat down at the .05-.10 tables hoping to increase my bank roll and move up to bigger steaks. It was a long process and I played smart poker, I was aggressive and tight where I should’ve been. Long story short, after running into many donkeys and being on the wrong end of several bad beats, I'm now broke!!

Due to the economy and kids, I don't have the disposable income right now to deposit any money into a poker account. My question is what is a good limit to start out at? A limit where people will take the game more seriously and quit beating me on four outters. I enjoy playing the game and I've gotten rather good at free rolls. I can usually finish in the top 100 or so of a 4000 or more tournament. Any advice is appreciated.

Hard to do much of anything with $10. What limits? Even $1/$2 can be tough tables unless you're rolled for it.

It's a grind, but study some good BR management threads and ideas. Here's a link to how Ferguson turned -0- into $10,000.
Online Poker at Full Tilt Poker - All Promotions: Chris Ferguson Challenge

Probably not what you wanted to see. I've been working on it for a number of months now and have 4 small BR's on 4 sites, and I follow the rules. Patience. You can't turn the proverbial sow's ear into a silk purse overnight.

If you can do well in FR's, stick with it. Let your balance build a little before you run off and donk it away. Let a balance build. Leave it in the cashier, it won't spoil.

GL, whatever you decide. But first and utmost, study the good BR management theories. they work.

Does anyone else find it kind of ironic that he's complaining about the people at 10NL being donks after coming from a freeroll background.

I would have thought that after playing freerolls that 10NL players would look like sharks lol.

rileyl said:

Does anyone else find it kind of ironic that he's complaining about the people at 10NL being donks after coming from a freeroll background.

I would have thought that after playing freerolls that 10NL players would look like sharks lol.

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No, it's actually more like still playing in FR's. That's one of the reasons I still stick with 'limit' games with small BR's, and low buy-in MTT's - but they STILL resemble FR's. Only difference is that in a limit games you have better control over your swings.

I started with Freerolls. I think that this is the better beginning. Dont spend money and keep trying to win some free money to do your first deposit.

Regards

Fabricio

nevadanick said:

Hard to do much of anything with $10. What limits? Even $1/$2 can be tough tables unless you're rolled for it.

It's a grind, but study some good BR management threads and ideas. Here's a link to how Ferguson turned -0- into $10,000.
Online Poker at Full Tilt Poker - All Promotions: Chris Ferguson Challenge

Probably not what you wanted to see. I've been working on it for a number of months now and have 4 small BR's on 4 sites, and I follow the rules. Patience. You can't turn the proverbial sow's ear into a silk purse overnight.

If you can do well in FR's, stick with it. Let your balance build a little before you run off and donk it away. Let a balance build. Leave it in the cashier, it won't spoil.

GL, whatever you decide. But first and utmost, study the good BR management theories. they work.

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Hey thanks nevadanick!! That's a great story! Loking forward to reading Chris's BR management article too, when I have a little more time. Good advice on waiting longer too. It just seems when I have the money sitting there it is so tempting to try and sit down on a micro limit table and turn it into something more. I will slow down and use the advice in the artile. Thanks again!! Best of luck to you... See ya at the tables!

cant get to high enough limits to get rid of the tables being filled with donks, I would try sit n gos

pokerking123 said:

cant get to high enough limits to get rid of the tables being filled with donks, I would try sit n gos

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Are you saying the low buy-in SnG's are donk-free ... . .

nevadanick said:

Are you saying the low buy-in SnG's are donk-free ... . .

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not donk free but much beter than ring games. I find that a lot of times they get serious after the first blind raise

yup, sng's i think are the way to go and just play tight as you're building...of course there are still gonna be donks but either let the donk knock himself out, or everyone else and you can still make money.
Sure it takes a little longer but it's a somewhat safe way to go

nevadanick said:

If you can do well in FR's, stick with it. Let your balance build a little before you run off and donk it away. Let a balance build. Leave it in the cashier, it won't spoil.

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FYI, I just won $7 finishing second in another freeroll!! So, I have money again!!! I'm going to take your advice and sit on it untill I build it some more! Thanks, again

TriggaLos said:

FYI, I just won $7 finishing second in another freeroll!! So, I have money again!!! I'm going to take your advice and sit on it untill I build it some more! Thanks, again

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Good for you. Wise choice, imo. GL !!!

pokerking123 said:

cant get to high enough limits to get rid of the tables being filled with donks, I would try sit n gos

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Ummm, don't you want the tables to be filled with donks. LOL. It always makes me laugh when I hear people say this.

TriggaLos said:

I won $1 for finishing 17th and $9 for finishing 1st in free rolls last week. I sat down at the .05-.10 tables hoping to increase my bank roll and move up to bigger steaks. It was a long process and I played smart poker, I was aggressive and tight where I should’ve been. Long story short, after running into many donkeys and being on the wrong end of several bad beats, I'm now broke!!

Due to the economy and kids, I don't have the disposable income right now to deposit any money into a poker account. My question is what is a good limit to start out at? A limit where people will take the game more seriously and quit beating me on four outters. I enjoy playing the game and I've gotten rather good at free rolls. I can usually finish in the top 100 or so of a 4000 or more tournament. Any advice is appreciated.

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$10 BR = .01-.02 NL tables. Period. Gives you a BR cushion if you lose some. Some sites like FTP don't have 2NL, so you'll have to play $1 SNG's until you build up to about $100 to try 10NL again.

i agree with mr sticker said but if you have infinite bankroll available from which to depsoit, BRM (bank roll management) is less stringent. in this case though a venture outside the limits MR Stick advises will be suicide. :deal:

rileyl said:

Ummm, don't you want the tables to be filled with donks. LOL. It always makes me laugh when I hear people say this.

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of course not!! they call and raise with anything, and if you have to wait for a hand on the final table, the blinds have a big impact on your stack.

Yea, apparently playing on small stakes tables are a great way to lose all your money, and faster than you'd think. Lost $5 in a week playing on 1/2 cent tables. If you have a small bankroll, wait til it builds up more so you can at least play .50/1.00 tables. I find those easier to make money on.

I played freerolls and dollar sit-n-go's till I got a lot of cash ....like 50 bucks
before I started playing cash games. Just be patient and keep plugging away.

tjyff said:

Yea, apparently playing on small stakes tables are a great way to lose all your money, and faster than you'd think. Lost $5 in a week playing on 1/2 cent tables. If you have a small bankroll, wait til it builds up more so you can at least play .50/1.00 tables. I find those easier to make money on.

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I think it is because people risk it thinking its only $.30 but it adds up pretty fast. I had $50 and went to a 1/2 nl holdem table. Made about $100 pretty fast (in 10 mintues or so). Then after i started to lose some so i stopped that day. Next days i went to .5/.10 blinds and ended up losing everything in a few weeks. I was chasing flushes and bluffing a lot, i said to myself that its only .30, i can afford to lose it if i don't make my hand...guess i couldn't

pokerking123 said:

of course not!! they call and raise with anything, and if you have to wait for a hand on the final table, the blinds have a big impact on your stack.

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LOL! So you'd rather play against people who only play when they have the nuts and fold when they don't? Dude, you can't win their chips if they don't put them in. Gimme donks instead of solids anyday!

I like solids ....
When playing pool at least.

On topic: listen to the advice these people give, they know better than you, just face it, and they have learned from experience just like you some day hopefully will.

pokerking123 said:

of course not!! they call and raise with anything, and if you have to wait for a hand on the final table, the blinds have a big impact on your stack.

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Ummm, so by your logic you would rather play Tiger Woods in a golf match for 500 bucks than some random 30 handicapper. (disregarding the fact that playing with Tiger Woods would be well worth the 500 bucks)

The point of poker is to make money by exploiting other players mistakes. The more mistakes they make and the larger they are the more money we make. Obviously calling and raising every hand is a mistake and one that is very easy to exploit. So why on earth would you want to play against player who makes less frequent and smaller mistakes?

If there's a whole table filled with donks, you can't bluff hands or try to take down small pots it's mainly all in or fold (which in my opinion is not a good way to win). But angainst a normal player you can do everything from checking to bluffing to going allin

You should think about playing freerolls until your roll is a at least $20 if your gonna play ring games. If you are good at freerolls though, you should be alright at small stake MTT. You should try a few of those and maybe you can increase your roll in just one night. You might wanna try grinding out SNGs, tha takes for ever but its fairly easy to come out ahead most nights. Good luck, I hope this helps

rileyl said:

The point of poker is to make money by exploiting other players mistakes. The more mistakes they make and the larger they are the more money we make. Obviously calling and raising every hand is a mistake and one that is very easy to exploit. So why on earth would you want to play against player who makes less frequent and smaller mistakes?

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Isn't the point of poker also to enjoy playing the 'game' of poker? That includes all it's facets - cards, reads, tells, position, stacks, money, etc, etc. Sure, I'd love to play on a table with Chris Ferguson, but wouldn't expect to win, just as in your Woods example.

Maybe some players will go to limits where they are 2 or more steps above the competition, but that's not 'poker'. To me, playing on tables where the competition is relatively equal is far more enjoyable. Even at those tables, there are usually a few players who shouldn't be there, hoping to get 'lucky'. They are the better players' ATM machines.

If you're reasonably successful playing at $1/$2 or $2/$4 games and you are properly rolled, would you really play only 5c/10c tables because they are 'easy' and the competition is weak?