Hello, I have 50,000 hands on zoom nl2 winning at 8bb.
- I wanted to know if it is okay to raise to nl5, because I would only have a stack of $ 50 and I don't know if there is much difference in nl5.

8BB/100 over 50k hands at 2NL is a 80$ profit, so presumably you have withdrawn money. This is not really recommended, if you have any sort of ambitions to move up and eventually play for money, that matter at least a little bit. Because you have done this, you are not bankrolled for 5NL, so you should either redeposit the money, which you withdrew, or stay at 2NL.

Originally Posted by Patoamz95

Hello, I have 50,000 hands on zoom nl2 winning at 8bb.
- I wanted to know if it is okay to raise to nl5, because I would only have a stack of $ 50 and I don't know if there is much difference in nl5.

Depends if you are willing to reload.

10 buyins is pretty aggressive bankroll management and it's a lot of volatility for your bankroll to take on.

If you're beating nl2 at 8bb then you will probably be a winner there too, but know that 10 buyin swings are fairly common and having a roll of at least $100 would give you a much better chance of staving off variance.

If you are able to reload if you get gripsed (had to drop it in there ) Then I'd say take your chances and see if you can break thru at the next limit. You probably have the skill for it!

It seems to me that there are more fish and more frivolous players on NL2. In addition, most of the players on whom you have already collected statistics or defined a colored note (depending on the style of play) do not play at the limits above. It's hard to play against those you don't know. I think nl2 is a good enough limit to have fun and earn money, at higher limits you will rarely meet fish.

Originally Posted by fundiver199

8BB/100 over 50k hands at 2NL is a 80$ profit, so presumably you have withdrawn money. This is not really recommended, if you have any sort of ambitions to move up and eventually play for money, that matter at least a little bit. Because you have done this, you are not bankrolled for 5NL, so you should either redeposit the money, which you withdrew, or stay at 2NL.

It's possible OP started with less at 2NL and took that risk. But also another factor is the high rake to pot ratio at the micros. The amount of rake they paid over 50k hands is no small chunk.

That said I agree unless OP doesn't care about reloading, then yes they need more before playing higher.

It’s a little aggressive but we’re not talking about going into personal bankruptcy if you go busto. I would say if you’re running good and feel confident take the shot. If you go down 2 buy ins drop back down to 2nl.


I’m not sure how many tables you play but you could also just pop open one 5nl table at a time with your other 2nl tables running to get a feel for it.

Originally Posted by JimmyBrizzy

It’s a little aggressive but we’re not talking about going into personal bankruptcy if you go busto.

This is true, but apparently OP has withdrawn some of his winnings, which could be an indication, he is actually quite busto and not able to just pop another 50$ into the account if needed. And then losing that money will actually force him to stop playing poker, until he has saved up for another deposit.

Originally Posted by Patoamz95

Hello, I have 50,000 hands on zoom nl2 winning at 8bb.
- I wanted to know if it is okay to raise to nl5, because I would only have a stack of $ 50 and I don't know if there is much difference in nl5.

It seems to me that 50,000 thousand hands is still a small distance for realizing whether you are hitting the NL2 limit, and the bankroll of $ 50 is small for playing NL5
My humble opinion

seems Ok

You could always play with a short stack to start with I suppose.

Originally Posted by Patoamz95

Hello, I have 50,000 hands on zoom nl2 winning at 8bb.
- I wanted to know if it is okay to raise to nl5, because I would only have a stack of $ 50 and I don't know if there is much difference in nl5.

Good luck, you will definitely need it.

I think 50k hands at 2NL is enough, and an 8BB/100 winrate is pretty good, when its Zoom. So I would definitely recommend OP to find the money for a 5NL bankroll and then move up now. 100$ or 20BI is still very aggressive, but it has a better chance of working out than 50$ or 10BI. Winrates are typically higher at regular tables, so with only 20BI I would prefer to go there to limit the risk of going broke. And then maybe move back to Zoom, when I had 150-200$.

If you play Zoom or other "fast poker", then you can try it. And you can return , when you lose 2-3 buy ins. I can tell you about the difference between NL2 and NL5. NL2 is the lowest level. There are some people, they don't know even the rules. There are a lot of "All in apes". It is easy...At NL5 still very weak players, but there are also some weak regs. Or "reg like"...You can make a similar win rate (still will be lower), because there are less people at NL5. If you have HUD and you can use it in a good way, then NL5 is a good option. Try it...But if you play "only against the field", with this win rate (8bb at NL2), don't do it. Friendy advice. Just learn some things, practice more, you will be better one day. It is not "a shame" to play NL2. We all did...This is just a school. "Must" school...

And about the roll...50$ is enough to play NL5, but this is the minimum. An "aggro roll". Still, this not a gambling, not at all. But you must go back, then you lose max 3 buy ins, 300bb. And this 300bb "downswing" is pretty common. Like "all day, every day". You must know this, you can tilt very easily otherwise. But 50 buy ins swings are also possible, pretty rare, but possible. It is a waste of time to try to "build" $300 for NL5. And 600 for NL10...

And don't use short stack. Never !

You can't go to NL5 from $ 50.
For a easy, confident game, you need to have $ 180.
As a rule, at the beginning you will most likely lose buyin 6-9.
On NL5 there will be more raises and re-raises postflop, therefore there will be more chances of making a mistake.

I recommend 50 to 80 boxes on each level.. in cash games.