I think one of the main mistakes of beginners is when the player begins to stay in the range of awards in micro or fictitious tournaments and comes to believe that he has already learned the game and can already be profitable. That was one of my mistakes. Believing he had enough experience to risk higher tournaments. Now I play a lot of freerolls with the intention of learning more and having more experience in poker. I saw that I was very anxious and that bluffing was not so simple. My bluffs defeated me. Now I am looking to learn more and control my impulses in games. I hope it can help anyone starting out.

Understanding what variance is and that you need about 700 hands in a session of cash game grinding or 10 tournaments for an MTT grinder to see actual profit at all and you should be aiming for 2k hands in a cash game where luck/variance can work against you or 30 tournaments (this is how you BRM) basically if you have enough for that many then you can begin to play at that stake.

So, if you don't have enough for about 30 tournaments or 2k hands' worth of buy-ins in a cash game then stay away from it.

2k hands is hard to predict but as a general rule 16 buyins can be lost before making money ESPECIALLY AT HIGHER STAKES while grinding. Since 16 buyins is the variance to cover, go a bit up and say... 21 buyins should be your bankroll at any time engaging in a cash game.

Tournaments are built really well for moving through the different buy-in levels as your knowledge and skills improve - you finance your moves up with the winnings from the previous levels.

Yeah, jumping from freerolls to big real money tournaments isn't going to go well because you haven't put in the necessary time playing micro and small stakes tournaments or learned the lessons you need to be successful.

That being said there's nothing wrong with trying to satellite into a bigger tournament - you gain experience playing against better opposition and can maybe even build your bankroll quicker!

Good luck to you on your journey!

Originally Posted by DougPkrMonsta

Tournaments are built really well for moving through the different buy-in levels as your knowledge and skills improve - you finance your moves up with the winnings from the previous levels.

Yeah, jumping from freerolls to big real money tournaments isn't going to go well because you haven't put in the necessary time playing micro and small stakes tournaments or learned the lessons you need to be successful.

That being said there's nothing wrong with trying to satellite into a bigger tournament - you gain experience playing against better opposition and can maybe even build your bankroll quicker!

Good luck to you on your journey!

Coinflip hunger worth the ticket?

Originally Posted by Rational Madman

Understanding what variance is and that you need about 700 hands in a session of cash game grinding or 10 tournaments for an MTT grinder to see actual profit at all and you should be aiming for 2k hands in a cash game where luck/variance can work against you or 30 tournaments (this is how you BRM) basically if you have enough for that many then you can begin to play at that stake.

So, if you don't have enough for about 30 tournaments or 2k hands' worth of buy-ins in a cash game then stay away from it.

2k hands is hard to predict but as a general rule 16 buyins can be lost before making money ESPECIALLY AT HIGHER STAKES while grinding. Since 16 buyins is the variance to cover, go a bit up and say... 21 buyins should be your bankroll at any time engaging in a cash game.

I did not know that I needed as many hands as you said, but I was able to tell you how the bankroll relationship works with the experience of hands. Thanks Rational Madman

Originally Posted by DougPkrMonsta

Tournaments are built really well for moving through the different buy-in levels as your knowledge and skills improve - you finance your moves up with the winnings from the previous levels.

Yeah, jumping from freerolls to big real money tournaments isn't going to go well because you haven't put in the necessary time playing micro and small stakes tournaments or learned the lessons you need to be successful.

That being said there's nothing wrong with trying to satellite into a bigger tournament - you gain experience playing against better opposition and can maybe even build your bankroll quicker!

Good luck to you on your journey!

thanks for the tip DougPKrMonsta

Originally Posted by Rational Madman

Coinflip hunger worth the ticket?

We get it you don't like tournaments and aren't going to put in any time trying to understand them.

Giving bad advice to people who want to learn isn't very helpful so maybe stop pretending to know everything when you are clearly very new!

I'll be over here holding my breath.

Originally Posted by deyvsonflp

I did not know that I needed as many hands as you said, but I was able to tell you how the bankroll relationship works with the experience of hands. Thanks Rational Madman

No problem, very glad to advise new players on matters. Bankroll management is important in everything in life, so it's the number one skill to understand how and when to move up a stake and also how to resist doing so.

You shouldn't permanently fear moving up but you should understand that variance/luck DOES hit even the best players and your all-in engages with other players can backfire no matter how ahead you are.

My given numbers are approximated based on my experience, which is why new players wouldn't know them.

FWIW - neither '700 hands nor 10 tournaments' will give you any indication of whether you are a profitable player or not, these are very clear examples of short-term thinking.

What happens when you focus on the short-term is you get fooled by the results and instead of trying to improve you declare the game solved and then will eventually receive a well-deserved wake up call.

Originally Posted by DougPkrMonsta

FWIW - neither '700 hands nor 10 tournaments' will give you any indication of whether you are a profitable player or not, these are very clear examples of short-term thinking.

What happens when you focus on the short-term is you get fooled by the results and instead of trying to improve you declare the game solved and then will eventually receive a well-deserved wake up call.

I siad 2k hands and 30 tournaments for actual steady profit to begin.

700 and 10 were the minimums where if you have played less than that amount, you can afford to say it was bad luck.

playing freerolls to gain a lot of experience will not work! Freerolls can be played in order to collect a small bankroll, but not for experience !!!!!!!!!!!

yea its easy to win alittle and want to make the jump up for a quick double up and nothing in poker is quick. some people spend most of there poker careers waiting to win a big tournament

in freerolls see more variance than another tourney in which u pay a considerable buy in like $50 or more in MTT's.. then u can enjoy a freeroll time and try to get some prizes. The experience not is only on line, i think that this comes through the years playing in live events, reading books, applying strategies, and watching videos of best players.

At the beginning of anything to hit something the first time, we think that we improve too much, but we travel little way and we do not have much notion. It's always good to stop and plan the game better, which type, value, and always keep an eye on and see what you could have done best to be more profitable in that situation. They are small things more than the time passes, if they are corrected, the way begins to become easier.