Which stakes should I be playing (online cash game)?

[bixbixbix]

Which stakes should I be playing (online cash game)?


CONTEXT:
I was very lucky professionally. I am now retired at 40 and financially set for life. One of my dreams has always been to play poker full-time but I never had the time before (i.e. very busy professionally).
Now I do and my starting bankroll is potentially high.


However, I am objective enough to know that I do not master the ins and outs of poker quite yet. I am not a fish, but I am still learning and struggling with tilt and winner tilt.


Should I try to "beat" every single stake, starting with 0.01/0.02 and make my way up? Or would you recommend I start at higher stakes directly, like $1/$2 or $2/$5?


Part of me wants to prove that I am progressing by beating the small stakes and climbing up.
But another part of me is feeling that (at 40 y old) I am wasting my time and, if I want to play poker seriously, I should already start higher.
The micro-stakes players are so different from the higher-stakes player that I feel everything one learns in the micro should be thrown in the trash when moving up. Why waste the time with Micro ??? I would have to "re-learn" as I go up anyways...




What do you recommend?

 

[LevySystem]

Which stakes should I be playing (online cash game)?


CONTEXT:
I was very lucky professionally. I am now retired at 40 and financially set for life. One of my dreams has always been to play poker full-time but I never had the time before (i.e. very busy professionally).
Now I do and my starting bankroll is potentially high.


However, I am objective enough to know that I do not master the ins and outs of poker quite yet. I am not a fish, but I am still learning and struggling with tilt and winner tilt.


Should I try to "beat" every single stake, starting with 0.01/0.02 and make my way up? Or would you recommend I start at higher stakes directly, like $1/$2 or $2/$5?


Part of me wants to prove that I am progressing by beating the small stakes and climbing up.
But another part of me is feeling that (at 40 y old) I am wasting my time and, if I want to play poker seriously, I should already start higher.
The micro-stakes players are so different from the higher-stakes player that I feel everything one learns in the micro should be thrown in the trash when moving up. Why waste the time with Micro ??? I would have to "re-learn" as I go up anyways...




What do you recommend?

Hello Bix,

That's indeed very lucky, congratulations!

First of nothing you will ever learn will be thrown in the trash. In order to beat the highest thinking player we need to be able to maximize our winnings VS the worst ones beforehand.

That being said, I don't think you have to grind your way up from Nl2 per se. You could very well start at nl10 for instance. Then jump directly to Nl25. The skilldifference Nl2-Nl10 alltough notable is not that big imo. Nl25 is a lot tougher though.

I highly recommend you start at lowstakes. The games are very tough these days. I don't know your background as a player, are you a winning player over a decent samplesize?

If you don't have an answer you need to find that out. Therefore go into a limit were you can easily afort to bust your roll. Remember that variance is brutal.

Also think about other expenses. Hardware, hud, a solver, trainingsites/ coaching, additional rolls for other sites etc.

In the beginning spent 50% of your time studying, the other time playing.

With some dedication and essentially an unlimited supply of trainingsmaterial you should get somewhat decent pretty quickly.

Good luck and keep us updated

 

[bixbixbix]

Thanks for the comprehensive reply/opinion. Very insightful.



I am at +3.2 BB/100 hands over 30,000 hands at 1/2cts.
As I mentioned, I just started (literally 8 days ago so I don't know my sample is big enough. So I am not really "crushing" these stakes size per se, but I am in the green zone.

Following your advise, I will give a shot, maybe 10k hands, at 10NL to see if my win rate drops.

I already found some pretty obvious leaks in my game: I'm losing a shitload of BB when I am in the small/big blind, I'm also in the negative with baby pairs (22 to 66), and I tilt.

50% of the time studying, wow! I was targeting something like 20% and 80% play.
Any recommendation for a coach (over Skype/zoom obviously ?

My approach is to take advantage of everything that is free for about 1 or 2 months (like Youtube videos from Jonathan Little, SplitSuit, RYE etc) which represents dozens of hours of content, read forums and articles, learn basic theory by doing off table work.
Once I feel better about my level, I will probably enroll to RedChip or Upswing (I feel RYE is still too advanced for me).
What do you think? Should I just enroll to one of these courses right off the bat?

Btw I am currently reading "The Mental game" 1 and 2 to address my tilt issues

 

[Cinhos_2000]

Which stakes should I be playing (online cash game)?


CONTEXT:
I was very lucky professionally. I am now retired at 40 and financially set for life. One of my dreams has always been to play poker full-time but I never had the time before (i.e. very busy professionally).
Now I do and my starting bankroll is potentially high.


However, I am objective enough to know that I do not master the ins and outs of poker quite yet. I am not a fish, but I am still learning and struggling with tilt and winner tilt.


Should I try to "beat" every single stake, starting with 0.01/0.02 and make my way up? Or would you recommend I start at higher stakes directly, like $1/$2 or $2/$5?


Part of me wants to prove that I am progressing by beating the small stakes and climbing up.
But another part of me is feeling that (at 40 y old) I am wasting my time and, if I want to play poker seriously, I should already start higher.
The micro-stakes players are so different from the higher-stakes player that I feel everything one learns in the micro should be thrown in the trash when moving up. Why waste the time with Micro ??? I would have to "re-learn" as I go up anyways...




What do you recommend?

Well, from what you said money to play doesn't seem to be a problem. Even though, I'd recommend you starting on the lowest stakes just so you can see where exacly you are at. See if you are doing well, how to improve, if your opening and calling range is good. After felling confident about your game step up to the values that correspond better to your bankroll. Start on the lower stakes just to get a bit familiarised. Even though the players are different I think it will be a big help that will save you some bucks until you crush the game! Best of luck!

 

[_xgeb_]

¿Qué apuestas debería jugar (juego de efectivo en línea)? CONTEXTO: Tuve mucha suerte profesionalmente. Ahora estoy jubilado a los 40 y financieramente de por vida. Uno de mis sueños siempre ha sido jugar al póquer a tiempo completo, pero nunca antes tuve el tiempo (es decir, muy ocupado profesionalmente). Ahora lo hago y mi bankroll inicial es potencialmente alto. Sin embargo, soy lo suficientemente objetivo como para saber que todavía no domino los entresijos del póquer. No soy un pez, pero todavía estoy aprendiendo y luchando con la inclinación y la inclinación del ganador. ¿Debo intentar "vencer" cada apuesta, comenzando con 0.01 / 0.02 y subir? ¿O me recomendaría comenzar directamente con apuestas más altas, como $ 1 / $ 2 o $ 2 / $ 5?













Una parte de mí quiere demostrar que estoy progresando superando las apuestas pequeñas y escalando.
Pero otra parte de mí siente que (a los 40 años) estoy perdiendo el tiempo y, si quiero jugar al póquer en serio, ya debería empezar más alto.
Los jugadores de micro apuestas son tan diferentes del jugador de apuestas más altas que siento que todo lo que uno aprende en el micro debe tirarse a la basura cuando se sube. ¿Por qué perder el tiempo con Micro ??? Tendría que "volver a aprender" a medida que subo de todos modos ... ¿Qué me recomiendan? [/CITAR]

I think you could start at NL 5 and NL 10. I wouldn't go up so soon without having travel at those levels. Then if you have an economy that can withstand bad periods, I suppose you can make a few shots at NL 25 or 50.
Im sure u will know the right decision for you.

 

[Dhendrixon]

online poker is significantly harder than live cash games of the same stakes. Playing online $1/2 and $2/5 is not the same as playing those stakes live. This is due to the entry stakes at casinos are normally $1/2 or $1/3 where all the rec players normally start and online it would be .1/.02 or .05/.10. With that being said, you will find a lot better players online even at .10/.25 stakes than you will at 1/2 or 2/5 live. However, if you are good at beating .10/.25 online you would probably crush live $1/2 as you would be a lot better player coming form online to a live setting.

 

[Evan Jarvis]

Which stakes should I be playing (online cash game)?


CONTEXT:
I was very lucky professionally. I am now retired at 40 and financially set for life. One of my dreams has always been to play poker full-time but I never had the time before (i.e. very busy professionally).
Now I do and my starting bankroll is potentially high.


However, I am objective enough to know that I do not master the ins and outs of poker quite yet. I am not a fish, but I am still learning and struggling with tilt and winner tilt.


Should I try to "beat" every single stake, starting with 0.01/0.02 and make my way up? Or would you recommend I start at higher stakes directly, like $1/$2 or $2/$5?


Part of me wants to prove that I am progressing by beating the small stakes and climbing up.
But another part of me is feeling that (at 40 y old) I am wasting my time and, if I want to play poker seriously, I should already start higher.
The micro-stakes players are so different from the higher-stakes player that I feel everything one learns in the micro should be thrown in the trash when moving up. Why waste the time with Micro ??? I would have to "re-learn" as I go up anyways...




What do you recommend?

Hey mate,
Congratulations on reaching this place in life, it's always nice to find somewhere you feel secure and free of stress.

If you want to play poker, go for it! And also realize you don't have to 'become a pro' to enjoy the game. If finances are no longer a concern then by all means play to enjoy it, which means...

The best limits to play are the ones that make you feel engaged, but not anxious.
If you are feeling bored you are probably playing too low, if you are feeling anxious you are probably playing too high. If you want to 'hack the system' then just set a hand challenge or goal for a short period of time and that will keep you engaged.

Playing in this fashion and doing it in a way that you feel 'in control' will help with all the tilt stuff. And if you want more help with it check out this playlist I made on the mental game of poker: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBrNnyWekagOFzT7e9nPIxVggHAl2mUxe

Bonus A-Game playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBrNnyWekagPF-LBg16T3GbZfKMicigjO

Hope you find it helpful, and hope you find both pleasure and success on the tables!