Bankroll Management - when to step up to next level

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shinng

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I never thought I'd have a reason to ask a question about this, but I'm in a unique situation. I started playing at pokerstars late Dec/early January with a $50 bankroll. I quickly found success at mixed $1 sngs and really enjoy the Battle of the Planets promotion. In early Feb (this month), I stood at about $240 including the promotion "bonuses". I received a ticket to the $50k NLHE freeroll by placing top 10 in the Mercury level and actually got 3rd in that tournament earning $4,500 just recently. Now for a player who only plays $1 mixed sngs, it's quite overwhelming. Not only the money, but I don't consider myself a NL player. Maybe I was lucky for 5 hours? With the new found money, it'd be easy to step up to the next level, but I don't want to get in way over my head. I've been playing online poker for about 2 months now and I get nervous (not stressed) just sitting at anything that cost $5 or more, whether it's sng or MTT. My question is, should I keep grinding at my usual $1 sng or is it time to branch out to higher sng and/or MTT? If you were in my situation, what would you do?
 
BelgoSuisse

BelgoSuisse

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If I were you, i would

* Cash out part of the money. Party. :)
* Start moving up based on your perceived edge / comfort level, since bankroll won't be an issue for some time.
 
N

nykel88

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Wow!! That happened to you in pokerstars? Congratulations! Its very hard to make that far. Anyways If I were you? I Won't stop playing the 1$ SnG coz its still nice for training, I'd join those 5$ tournys with guaranteed 5k or 8k in PS, And lastly Cashing out a few bucks say 250$ to buy new Shoes lol! :)
 
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custo80

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I totally agree with Belgo here. Just becasue you now have enough buy-ins to support $100 SnG's does that mean you should jump on them straight away? NO (imo). Definitely move up, but move up to a buy-in you are comfortable with, make sure you can attain a good win rate there, and move up again.

TBH I can afford to be playing the $114 SnG's on stars. Can I afford it? Yes. Doesn't mean I should. Go at your own pace, but do move up.

Congrats on the win as well. GL
 
O

OOOOO

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If you want to continue playing micro stakes for the time being, then I think you should cash out most of the money. Maybe leave something in the region of $300 or more, which is a very nice roll for playing $1 SnGs.

Also, since you were obviously consistent enough to make it that far in the battle of the planets, you should definitely give the MTTs a shot at whatever stakes you are comfortable with.
 
Stu_Ungar

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Yeah cash out most of the money.. you'll probably want to go to the next level above what you were playing but I wouldnt simply play at games as big as your bankroll will allow because you are going to be missing out a ton of levels between where you were and where you are now bankrolled for.

Better to climb the ladder.

So cash out most of your cash and enjoy it.
 
ICU2QTPY

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I would hit up the $5.00 sit and go's with that sort of a stack.

You have to be careful though. It's WAR out there.

There's a lot of sharks, and they all want a bite.
 
BelgoSuisse

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I would hit up the $5.00 sit and go's with that sort of a stack.

You have to be careful though. It's WAR out there.

There's a lot of sharks, and they all want a bite.

LOL at sharks playing the $5 sngs...
 
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masiado

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If I were on your shoes, I will cash out most of my winnings. After cashing out, I will try playing the $5.00 SNG for about ten games to see if I can win in this level. If I"mnot successful in this level, I"ll go back to $1.00SNG.
 
S

shinng

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If I were you, i would

* Cash out part of the money. Party. :)
* Start moving up based on your perceived edge / comfort level, since bankroll won't be an issue for some time.
i'll be throwing cash money around at the local bar, lol.

thanks for the advice as i think after this week, i'll be graduating from the $1-2 sng to the $5 sng and see how i do.
 
S

shinng

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Wow!! That happened to you in pokerstars? Congratulations! Its very hard to make that far. Anyways If I were you? I Won't stop playing the 1$ SnG coz its still nice for training, I'd join those 5$ tournys with guaranteed 5k or 8k in PS, And lastly Cashing out a few bucks say 250$ to buy new Shoes lol! :)
i was the last person in to make the final table and according to the pokerstarsblog article about the tourney, the guy i outlasted made final table late last year.

that's good advice. i wanted to venture into the mtt world maybe every other week and see how i do. i placed 87 out of who knows how many last week on a $2 2k guaranteed on ps and earned a little over 6. $5 every other week doesn't sound bad at all.
 
S

shinng

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I totally agree with Belgo here. Just becasue you now have enough buy-ins to support $100 SnG's does that mean you should jump on them straight away? NO (imo). Definitely move up, but move up to a buy-in you are comfortable with, make sure you can attain a good win rate there, and move up again.

TBH I can afford to be playing the $114 SnG's on stars. Can I afford it? Yes. Doesn't mean I should. Go at your own pace, but do move up.

Congrats on the win as well. GL
thanks on the congrats.

interesting stuff on your blog. i'm going to start a blog about poker as well hopefully soon but running 2 non-poker sites on the side in addition to all the real life things takes so much time. i think my perspective on mixed game sngs will bring something new. i'll contact you so we can exchange links, if interested.
 
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Chamaican666

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Well congrats, the census around here says to cash out most of it, which i agree with. However, I dont think you should move up in levels just yet, you have only been playing online poker for 2 months, so id say to stay at the 1 dollar sngs and maybe some 1 dollar MTT or guarantees and etc, and just practice for a while. Once you are a consistent winner and have a positive ROI percentage (you can check your stats on officialpokerrankings.com) then you cna move up, if your bankroll allows. Good luck m8 :D that was an amazing accomplishment.
 
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Jaynore

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Take at least 3500 of it out, and graduate to the $5 SNG's. Grind 20 of them and see how you do. If you are doing just as well as the $1 SNGs, well then this is your new home.
 
S

shinng

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Well congrats, the census around here says to cash out most of it, which i agree with. However, I dont think you should move up in levels just yet, you have only been playing online poker for 2 months, so id say to stay at the 1 dollar sngs and maybe some 1 dollar MTT or guarantees and etc, and just practice for a while. Once you are a consistent winner and have a positive ROI percentage (you can check your stats on officialpokerrankings.com) then you cna move up, if your bankroll allows. Good luck m8 :D that was an amazing accomplishment.
exactly what i was thinking. i'm going to finish off this week playing $1 sng and then graduate to the $3 or $5 sngs. i did play a $5 sng matrix on ftp and i have to admit, the players were just as idiotic as the $1-2 sng matrix tourneys.

i don't use opr as they don't keep track of stars sngs, but i do refer to it for ftp stats. i like sharkscope personally.
 
S

shinng

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Take at least 3500 of it out, and graduate to the $5 SNG's. Grind 20 of them and see how you do. If you are doing just as well as the $1 SNGs, well then this is your new home.
thanks for the advce. i'll probably do just that as i've received similar advice.
 
S

shinng

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If you want to continue playing micro stakes for the time being, then I think you should cash out most of the money. Maybe leave something in the region of $300 or more, which is a very nice roll for playing $1 SnGs.

Also, since you were obviously consistent enough to make it that far in the battle of the planets, you should definitely give the MTTs a shot at whatever stakes you are comfortable with.
my thoughts on the mtts exactly. i must have been doing something right so i've been considering playing $2-5 mtt tourneys on stars maybe every other week or something.
 
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