Which stakes do you prefer?

[waisichy]

Anyone else find that they do better in games over a certain value? I always find in $1 or $2 buy in tournaments that I get called too easily and it throws off my game with people hitting flushes or better hands eventually. When I play $5 or more I find the players are more cautious and so I end up winning more of these games and feel more comfortable.

 

[fundiver199]

The thing is, you should be able to beat the worst players in the game. So if you feel that way, its probably an indication, you have a tilt problem, and/or you adjust poorly to loose games. Also I checked your sharkscope, and you have only played 166 games, which is nowhere near enough to even begin evaluating your results and much less break them down on game types or buyin levels.

But with that being said, if you can afford to play $5 SnGs, and you are more happy playing those rather than cheaper games, then there is nothing wrong with that. You can either deposit an amount like $300-400 and administer it as a bankroll, which will be enough to start with $5 SnGs, or you can make a monthly budget like $50 and play, whatever you enjoy the most. This old video is still very relevant even today:

 

[Poker Orifice]

Anyone else find that they do better in games over a certain value? I always find in $1 or $2 buy in tournaments that I get called too easily and it throws off my game with people hitting flushes or better hands eventually. When I play $5 or more I find the players are more cautious and so I end up winning more of these games and feel more comfortable.

Players in the lowest buyins will be calling with all kinds of garbage making variance much higher. Also, often more difficult to put them on a range of hands because they don't have a clue how to play or what they should be considering in each spot. BUT, you can also adjust to take advantage of this.
If you enjoy playing $5's instead of $2's, go for it!

And as far as what you'd need to deposit, or what size of bankroll you'd need to sustain & build a roll while playing a particular buyin level... that's ENTIRELY up to you. Personally I think there's way too much talk of 'bankroll management' for ALL poker players who are playing online micros on this forum (mostly because 90% of them are freerollers).

Good luck in your games! fwiw, when I first started playing, I found it similar to what you're saying about how the games played.

 

[fundiver199]

And as far as what you'd need to deposit, or what size of bankroll you'd need to sustain & build a roll while playing a particular buyin level... that's ENTIRELY up to you.

Yes and no. Variance in poker is a mathematical law, so nobody can "decide", it wont excist for them. When I checked OPs Sharkscope profile, his last 8 games played were one $5 SnG, four $1 SnGs, one $0,5 SnG and two freerolls. Of all these games he won the $5 game (a 6-man) and failed to cash in the other seven. However this is no more than a coincidence and does not mean, he "does better" in $5 games.

If he start to play only $5 games, he will experience losing streaks like everyone else, and he need to be prepared for that by having either a suitable bankroll or a suitable budget. Its fine to skip the cheapest games and start your poker journey a bit higher. But its not realistic to expect, that this can be done with an amount like $30 in the account and without ever having to deposit more.

 

[ph_il]

I prefer $0 - $1 mtts.

I feel the most comfortable in this buy-in range. even though I've taken stabs at bigger buy-in games, like $2 mtts, and I've done decent in them (even winning a few), I don't feel comfortable playing them. and that affects my decision making, which means I'm not playing to my full potential or personal satisfaction, and that's very important to me, even as a casual player.

it's a bit silly because quality of players are very similar, and I might have a tiny edge over the worst of them. I don't think I'm a good player, I'm just not as bad as most of them. still, I have a mental block that I can't get over when I play anything more than a $1 buy-in.

 

[Rost]

Anyone else find that they do better in games over a certain value? I always find in $1 or $2 buy in tournaments that I get called too easily and it throws off my game with people hitting flushes or better hands eventually. When I play $5 or more I find the players are more cautious and so I end up winning more of these games and feel more comfortable.

My bankroll doesn't allow me to play in tournaments with buy-ins larger than $2. Of course, players with junk also spoil my statistics and mood, but nevertheless I am moving towards the goal step by step. Hopefully by the end of this year I will also be able to play $5 buy-in tournaments.

 

[waisichy]

Yes and no. Variance in poker is a mathematical law, so nobody can "decide", it wont excist for them. When I checked OPs Sharkscope profile, his last 8 games played were one $5 SnG, four $1 SnGs, one $0,5 SnG and two freerolls. Of all these games he won the $5 game (a 6-man) and failed to cash in the other seven. However this is no more than a coincidence and does not mean, he "does better" in $5 games.

If he start to play only $5 games, he will experience losing streaks like everyone else, and he need to be prepared for that by having either a suitable bankroll or a suitable budget. Its fine to skip the cheapest games and start your poker journey a bit higher. But its not realistic to expect, that this can be done with an amount like $30 in the account and without ever having to deposit more.

That’s just since I started back up again. I hadn’t played for a few years before this on a different account and always found the higher stakes a bit more suited to my play. I’ll check out the above video about lower stakes to see how I can get better at cashing in those games too.

 

[Pokerpoet2]

It all varies, from player to player depending on what the average weekly wage is in the Country they live in, I love playing $1.00 buy-ins on-line because if my computer crashes or the Internet goes down, I don't mind losing that money. It wouldn't even pay for a loaf of bread here in the UK. So losing is not a problem for me.
In a Pub, Club or Casino I have bought into Live games for £5.00, up to £100.00 depending on how I feel at the time, and again I can afford to burn that money or I just wouldn't play, Being in control of your losses is by far the most important thing to remember when you gamble.
To me £100.00 is just pocket change, but in other Countries it could be a Month's wage to some people.
Playing with money you cannot afford to lose is a sign of you having a gambling problem, and I would advise anyone to seek help that regularly goes broke.

 

[Lemonade76]

Well depends ... You'll find donkeys betting fisher everywhere , so is just question of how much you would like spent in a buy in. I personally prefer buy in between $ 5 to $ 100 max into tournaments online. 👍🏾✌🏾💪🏾😎🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

 

[OstroLB]

I like tournaments of up to a dollar so that I can specialize more and be more confident and not look bad in front of the crowd

 

[YLAN]

I don't play regularly, only when I feel like it & recently been playing $1.1-$2.2 but after many hours of play, usually ITM with only some change. I will probably move to $3.3-$5.5 or higher, just so it would feel that ITM is worth my time. LOL.

 

[Gallarado777]

that's right, the lower the limits, the more you will be called because it's a small amount the higher the amount, the more careful the players are because losing is something to play where you feel good and it's best to play limits where you play hard and win

 

[ph_il]

I don't play regularly, only when I feel like it & recently been playing $1.1-$2.2 but after many hours of play, usually ITM with only some change. I will probably move to $3.3-$5.5 or higher, just so it would feel that ITM is worth my time. LOL.

in terms of buy-ins earned, it'll practically be the same. if a min-cash gives you 2 buy-ins, you're only up 1 buy-in for the game you're playing.

it just feels like the min-cash is worth it compared to the smaller buy-in games because you're putting more money at risk. but you're not gaining any more value and likely costing yourself, in the long run, if you're only capable of min-cashing in mtts.

though, you don't play regularly, so it probably doesn't really matter.

 

[fundiver199]

That’s just since I started back up again. I hadn’t played for a few years before this on a different account and always found the higher stakes a bit more suited to my play. I’ll check out the above video about lower stakes to see how I can get better at cashing in those games too.

The key point to take away is, that its not easier to beat more expensive games, and the motive for moving up should not be to avoid bad players. On the countrary bad players are, where most of the money comes from, even at high stakes. So if you want to make money in poker, you need to learn to deal with bad players. Accept bad beats as part of the game, learn to maximize value, and also learn to fold, when its obvious, your top pair or overpair has likely gotten cracked.

But with that being said it can be totally fine to skip the lowest stakes and start with something like $5 SnGs. On pokerstars the rake for anything but On Demand SnGs drop with stakes. For 6-man SnGs for instance the rake is 12% for $2 games, 8,8% for $5 games and 7,5% for $10 games. And for that reason you actually want to get to $5 games as soon as possible. Its also totally legit, if you just think, its more exciting to content for a first price of $17,79 rather than $6,87. And maybe you actually play worse in the cheapest games, because you dont take them serious. It can be easy to get into a mentality like "What the heck... its just a $1 game, and the guy is a fish, so I call, and I dont even care, if I lose".

And as for MTTs I personally dont think, it really makes sense to get into these, unless you have the bankroll or budget to play at least up to $4,4 games. I mean... do we really want to sit and play for 3 hours and then min-cash for less than a dollar in profit in a $1,1 MTT? For me personally the answer to that is "no". So its completely fine to move up a bit, if you feel, that this is, what you want to do. You just need to make sure, you are doing it for the right reasons, and that you have either a bankroll or a budget, which can support those larger losses, that will enevitably occur, whenever we move up.

 

[dreamer13]

Because this is understandable, the larger the tournament, the more cautious the players, experienced players who have a lot of experience play in large tournaments, they know how to read your cards.

 

[pancho_1954]

I definitely prefer the freerolls, when I play a tournament it is because I won a ticket in a freeroll, but do not think that you will always find very cautious players, I have played tournaments of $109, $11, $55 etc for a ticket and let me tell you that I have found tables where the players do not know what caution is, they play very aggressively and if they lose they rebuy over and over again, that has happened to me many times and that is why I say that it will not always be the same and I know you should be more careful

 

[andron205]

from 1 to 10, but satellites 16.50 and 22 are worth playing, a very positive game strategy

 

[CNXRegie]

As a newbie player, I prefer playing at low stakes. It allows me to gain experience, learn the dynamics of the game, and develop my skills without risking a substantial amount of money. Starting at lower stakes also helps build my confidence and gradually progress to higher stakes as my abilities improve.

 

[ratbat615]

I prefer all stake’s that my bankroll can manage. I would like to play the $10K wsop main event but my bankroll can’t manage.

 

[Igor Popadyk]

if you reveal a secret, use it for your benefit

 

[Vladqt]

it's true, an adequate game starts from 5 dollars, everything below is a "casino"

 

[Canaldo Kao]

Anyone else find that they do better in games over a certain value? I always find in $1 or $2 buy in tournaments that I get called too easily and it throws off my game with people hitting flushes or better hands eventually. When I play $5 or more I find the players are more cautious and so I end up winning more of these games and feel more comfortable.

I completely agree with you on the values and what you said about Call, but in higher tournaments people bluff more and find out more easily when you are scared in a hand!

 

[R.Melnyk77]

I do not play in tournaments where the buy-in exceeds $2. Unfortunately, in this price category of tournaments, there are very, very many players with garbage. I hope that thanks to the CardsChat freerolls I will be able to increase my bankroll and play in more expensive tournaments.

 

[dompoker]

I like to play big tournaments where there are bigger prizes.

 

[waisichy]

Today I played $2 and had AQ. Raised 6BBs. Villain called with K10 suited (diamond). Flop 7 Q 4. One diamond. I bet pot value and villain calls. Down comes the Ace of diamonds. I then bet again and he puts me all in and hits a diamond on the river. It’s these scenarios in low stakes that really annoy me!