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What Level Should I Be Playing?[ return to main articles page ]

By: gidders
Published on Oct 23rd, 2005
Recently, I have had a lot of people ask me the same couple of questions – so rather than repeat myself dozens of times, I will just say what I say to everyone in this article.

“I have this amount of money in my account – what buy in SNG should I be playing?”<SPAN> </SPAN><READMORE>

What I recommend for people looking to build their bankroll through SNGs is to first realize that your bankroll isn’t going to be built overnight.<SPAN> </SPAN>It is a grind.<SPAN> </SPAN>It takes a lot of SNGs to see noticeable results – not just 20 or 50 or even 150 for that matter.

I think that a couple hundred SNG’s are necessary to get an accurate view of where you statistically stand. <SPAN> </SPAN>You should really shoot for more, but 300 is generally a good number to see where you stand – but of course the more you play, the more accurate your stats will be.<SPAN> </SPAN>So before you get all bent out of shape, or overly excited about your ROI% - you should probably have at least 100-200 done to be anything near accurate

So… what should you be playing?<SPAN> </SPAN>Well, that is kind of up to you.<SPAN> </SPAN>The only way you should be playing in any poker game is if you feel 100% comfortable in that game.<SPAN> </SPAN>Now for online play, you generally never have the choice of who you are going to play with in a SNG – so that would mean you need to feel 100% comfortable with the stakes you are playing.

I don’t like using specific numbers – in terms of what you need to play at a certain buy in.<SPAN> </SPAN>However, if I absolute had to - I would generally say that you should have 30-50 buy in’s at that level.<SPAN> </SPAN>Meaning, you should have about $300-500 if you want to play $10 SNG’s – just in case you do go on a bad run, you are not going to be broke.<SPAN> </SPAN>You never want to play outside your bankroll – EVER.<SPAN> </SPAN>Bad things will happen.<SPAN> </SPAN>

The reason that I don’t like using specific buy in guidelines, is that some people just can’t play a $5 SNG because it just doesn’t mean anything to them.<SPAN> </SPAN>On the contrary, some players could never risk more than $50 on a single table.<SPAN> </SPAN>Are either of them “wrong”?<SPAN> </SPAN>No – but they need to recognize where they stand.<SPAN> </SPAN><SPAN> </SPAN>Finding that buy in level that you are comfortable losing the buy in – where finishing first still feels nice is exactly what I would recommend.<SPAN> </SPAN>If you are just playing to cash in third, than that buy in is probably too high for you.

If you can’t play a $30+3 because you don’t want to lose $33 – drop down.<SPAN> </SPAN>If you don’t seem to beat a certain level – drop down.<SPAN> </SPAN>If you don’t feel comfortable – drop down.<SPAN> </SPAN>If your bankroll is going through a rough patch – drop down.<SPAN> </SPAN>Always err on the side of caution.<SPAN> </SPAN>Only move up when you feel like you are ready – there’s no rush.<SPAN> </SPAN>Poker is not going anywhere.

Play poker at a comfortable level or the swings will eat you alive – financially and emotionally.
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