Bankroll management

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Phlegmatic

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If i were to start playing 2/5 NLHE live, how should my bankroll reflect that? For example should i have a roll of 20 max buy-ins or 30? Also, am i correct to assume that 100x the big blind is a good way to measure max buy-in? Should i be buying in for the max or something less? Should i prepare for 5 buy-in swings or even more? I play tight aggressive mostly to give you more insight on how my swings could look. I like to keep my roll separate from my life roll so should i accumulate 10-15k before even moving to these stakes? If i were to move to stakes such as 5-10 does that mean i should have 20-30k before even moving to these stakes? Also, I've read that the rake is hard to beat in lower stakes, does this include 2/5? Am i looking at a rake of 5-10% of hands played plus the bad beat jackpot? ( I am unfamiliar with how much that might be some say up to 1$ a hand? Not sure.) My final question is how profitable 2/5 stakes would be? Thanks in advance for the input, your replies are of great value to me.
 
IPlay

IPlay

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Yeah to pretty much all your questions except rake isn't anywhere near as bad at 2/5 as it is at 1/2 in most places. They usually cap out the same but it effects 1/2 more for obvious reasons.


2/5 can be very profitable but it depends on how good of a player you are. When I grinded my 1k hours of live last year I made $15/hr playing 1/2 and heard people talk about $30/hr being attainable at 2/5 but it is much more swingy then 1/2 because of better players/more gamblers with more money to blow. This is going to make it a little more stressful so the bigger the bankroll the better imo.
 
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Phlegmatic

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10-15k is a monster roll, don't you think? Just to play 2-5 but if thats whats recommended to play well then i have no objections.
 
IPlay

IPlay

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10-15k is a monster roll, don't you think? Just to play 2-5 but if thats whats recommended to play well then i have no objections.

Don't look at it in $$ amounts look at it in buy ins. You can say $100k is a monster roll but it isn't if you are playing $500/$1000 blinds.
 
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MinhANguyen

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10-15k is a monster roll, don't you think? Just to play 2-5 but if thats whats recommended to play well then i have no objections.

It is, but not for 2-5. Im nitty with my Br and prefer 40BI when i play online. Gonna start 200NL at 50BI. 25-30 is okay though imo. I think 20 is a little aggressive.
 
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Poker247

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Even if you are pretty comfortable at that level, I would go for a minimum of 40 Buy-ins, preferably 50. Variance can be quite high and there are some very aggro players at the 2/5 tables usually. Even pros have big swings, so a bigger bankroll will let you ride out the waves a bit better. Gl!
 
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Watchurblinds

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I would say you schould start with 50 BI's, because of variance. I usually started with 30 BI's, but there were a lot of variance and therefore some really ugly downswings. Better to go safe and play with 50 BI's.
 
Mr Sandbag

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What are your goals? Are there smaller games available to play (1/2 NL)? If you're not playing poker for main income you don't need such strict bankroll requirements, especially if there is a smaller game available to play.

If you're currently playing 1/2 or 1/3 NL it's okay to take a 2 BI shot at 2/5 with only 10-12 BI as long as you drop back down if you lose the 2 BI. Think of it this way:

Say your roll for 1/2 is currently $5k (25 BI). Take a 2 BI shot at 2/5, and if it works out you can stay there. If it doesn't and/or you fall to -2 BI at 2/5 at any point just drop back down to 1/2 where you'll still have 20 BI. Rinse and repeat. Your risk of ruin at 2/5 is 0% because you're never going to lose more than 2 BI. This strategy also has the added benefit of potentially moving up in stakes much faster than if you had waited until you had a "full bankroll" for 2/5. If you're good enough to beat 2/5 you're just costing yourself money by staying at 1/2 longer than you need to.
 
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Phlegmatic

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Great advice everyone, however my problem with 50 bis is that its 25k. Thats a whole lot of money to accumulate outside of your life roll and life savings. Mr sandbags that is great advice. I don't want to necessarily commit 25k before even playing these tables. Long term goal to answer your question is that i'd like to take a shot at making poker my main source of income. For right now however I'm just wondering why play 1/2 at all if its not going to be very profitable between bad beat jackpots the rake and tips. 2-5 seems like a moderate place to make money.
 
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Vitorgmfp

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They usually cap out the same but it effects 1/2 more for obvious reasons.
 
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