Soldato
- Joined
- 27 Mar 2004
- Posts
- 8,436
- Location
- Kent
Feel free to post hand histories if you have any questions. As for playing multiple tables, I tend to get very bored if I am playing <10 tables.
So you only need £2 at a 0.01/0.02 table?
I'll try and find the book and join the forums tonight and have a skim before depositing some money at PokerStars then.
PKR do the 100% deposit bonus as well.

Don't buy in for 50 big blinds - you won't learn anything and you're stopping yourself from playing much postflop poker. Most sites actually allow 100 big blinds (in some rarer cases, 200 big blinds), however it is generally accepted that 100 big blinds is a better buy in size.Most sites require a Min 10 BB buy-in and max 50 BB buy-in. A general rule is to play at a level where your bankroll would cover 1000 BB's. For example, you'd need $1000 to play .50/1, as this allows for 20 full buy-ins of $50.
If you were going by the rule you'd need the following to play each level:
0.01/0.02 - $20
0.02/0.05 - $50
0.05/0.10 - $100
0.10/0.25 - $250
0.25/0.50 - $500
0.50/1.00 - $1000
1/2 - $2000
Etc. My biggest problem is playing stupid - depositing $50 and playing 0.25/0.50 straight off.![]()

... and so on, bearing in mind the bankroll is a guideline, not a target. If you reach $3k but aren't comfortable playing $1 big blinds then it is fine to stay lower![]()
Cheers
I just want to practice a bit first. I've mainly being playing on PokerStars for free.
At the moment i'm not bothering trying to bluff and i'm only playing strong hands pre-flop, and i'm not calling very much after the flop if I don't think i'm going to win.
I've been doing a bit of reading about the odds of cards winning and how to think about the game etc, which is useful.
I actually found Low Limit quite enjoyable the other night as you get to play a lot more hands.
Whilst buying in with 60BB (as you do) can have merits, if you plan on playing cash games regularly you're better off buying in full ($50 in your case, or 100BB if you prefer). It means that you can push more of an edge postflop, wheras with a 60BB stack a lot of hands that you take to the turn/river are all-in spots.Oh yeah without a doubt, those are general guides. I wasn't suggesting anyone SHOULD buy in for the maximum amount, it's just a guide I've heard from many a place and was regurgiating it myself! I don't buy in for the maximum ever, if I'm playing .25/.50 I'll only stick $20-$30 down.
Whilst buying in with 60BB (as you do) can have merits, if you plan on playing cash games regularly you're better off buying in full ($50 in your case, or 100BB if you prefer). It means that you can push more of an edge postflop, wheras with a 60BB stack a lot of hands that you take to the turn/river are all-in spots.
I generally stick to 30 buy ins of 100 big blinds so to play 2NL (1c/2c) you'd be looking at having $60 but as 2NL is as low as you can go with cash games just deposit what you can afford and feel comfortable enough to lose. Personally, I'd not move up a level until you've got 30 buy ins at the new level and played around 25k hands.
I also wouldn't think about playing more than 1 table until you're consitently beating 2NL over at least 10k hands. It will take ages to do but will set you up better for the long haul and make sure you get the basics before you move up.
Harrington on Cash Games is another good book for starting out and isn't as complicated as some of the Sklansky books. It also explains the difference in how you need to play when buying in for the full amount (100 big blinds) or being short stacked (~25 big blinds).
Good luck.

if you think limit has savage swings ..........................![]()

I know no limit has some pretty savage swings but i wasnt expecting 100BB swings..


- long, boring wait until final 6 now.