umm.. how do you think people started?

Pretty much every top MTTer I know, including myself, has started at the 5$ freezeouts/sngs/11rebuys/.25-.50c nl and worked their way up.

YTIU, 11r is micro??? You've been playing high limit cash games too much.

I started with $5 SNGS on stars... went all the way up to where I was grinding the $60 sngs before I started playing the big MTTs. I played the occasional like $20 freezeout while grinding SNGs but not much at all.

Me moving up in SNG level was more based on what I perceived my skill level was able to handle rather than strict bankroll management.

Scott, thats exactly the kind of answer I was looking for. I could be dead wrong, but I feel like I would be more successful at a higher level, not because of my results or the amount of money I make as im a losing player. But more because of where im at now, is hardly even poker.I may fail, but I AM going to play for higher amounts soon and needed some feedback to help me be more confident in making that decision. TY for you input!

BTW youve come along way since the MTG days dude....IT is very impressive, yet doesnt surprise me.
EskimoJoe.

I started on a freeroll SNG that some sites offers. Took me 1 month to get my first dollar. Learned to play from that and had a terrible BR management, if you can call a few dollars a BR.

Then, i was tired to play the micro micro limits, so i started to get a better BR management so i was sure i wasnt going down too much. With time, i got good enough to beat first time players. So you cant beat first time player for 0,05$, for 1$, for 5$ or for 10$ so i started to grew up rapidly.

Then, the prizes started to mean something to me, when you are busting your ass for 7$ an hour, you really want to get that extra 100$ that goes for the winner so you start to play bad. When i understood that fact, BR management became a very important point of my relative success. I was only moving up when i was very satisfied with the edge i have on people on a certain limit. They are several suggestion for the BR management and moving limits up, but i think a great skill to have is to be able to move down when necessary.

For the braindead people part, there is always some. High buy-ins attracts all-stars players and all-stars gamblers and i don't think it can be use as an excuse for insuccess. Your stats will reflected your skills at some point, always take responsability for your insuccess or success.

I really think it is a mistake to think that since you go up, people play better, so they fold more and you can chip up nicely. When i play lower limits to relax, i really appreciate not getting repoped all the time, and not having 2 or 3 ranked players on my left.

I was always telling to myself, if i can beat the 5$ table, i have nothing to do on the 10$ tables. If people plays bad, just find the way to play accordingly. Plus, when you'll finally reach the higher limits, you'll have the skills to play againts the 1 or 2 donks on your table, which is nice since you might be able to get a stack before having to fight agaisnt pros.

I feel my game improved with my experience, and probably also because i am playing with better opponents.

Anyway i would recommand everybody to do limits by limits, to have a great BR management and to take responsabilities for their insuccess.

I wish i was doing this myself all the time...

These are things I need to hear to help me make my decision. There are certainly holes in my game that I can hopefully Iron out in time. By no means do I think im going to jump up in limits and start winning, but Ill be able to BR myself in slightly higher buyins and am curious on what to expect. If I go busto it wont matter other than Ill be dissappointed. In no way do I mean to intend that I would rise in levels an suddenly become a winning poker player. I play because I love competition and I feel like the micro mtts are a waste of my time. Again though, thats alot more of what I need to hear and appreciate it francix. I like hearing perspective about players at different levels, as Ive never played bigger than a 10 buyin online and that is even rare, ty.

I'll say this.

I'm not one of the "ballers" per se, not even close. I have the bankroll to play bigger buyins, though certainly not huge buyins like the 100R and events like that on a regular basis. But I don't play any of the big buyins for two reasons.

1.) I'm making too much money destroying the lower level cash games/sngs(recently, used to blow chunks in sngs) and tourneys (though I'm playing less tourneys now).

2.) My skill level is good, but not great, and I don't want to move up to a level where I know that I can't be a consistent winner. Yes, I play good solid poker, but I guess I could say that my problem is that I'm not consistent about it. And until I get that consistency, I refuse to move up in levels. When I'm on, I'm on, but there's times where I let emotions get the better of me, and there's no point in me moving up in levels if I know that I could snap at a moment's notice and lose a large portion of my bankroll.

I don't really follow strict bankroll management though. Hearing what SC said earlier in the thread makes perfect sense to me, because I move up and down in levels based on how I feel I'm doing at a certain level, or how I perceive I would do at a higher level. If I find I'm wrong, I can always move back down. But like I said, I want to be more consistent in my play/emotions before I consistently move up.

Anyways, good luck with whatever you do. I'm sure you'll either be profitable and we'll hear a lot more from you, or you'll unfortunately not be profitable, and we won't hear a thing. And I mean this in the nicest of ways, but I've seen way too many people get the idea that they can beat the higher levels because of the dumb play in micro buyins is hindering them from winning. But the fact of the matter is, if you can't beat the low buyins, you won't beat the bigger buyins. If you can't beat the terrible players, beating the great players is just going to be impossible. Sure, everyone gets lucky at some point, but if you want to be consistently a winner, you better be able to beat the lower buyins first.

rocksolid...your post echoes my exact thoughts/play. I take a shot at the $50 and $100 level every once in a while, but I mostly stick to .5/1.00 NL and PL cash games and $10 to $20 MTT and $20 SNG. These are all games I know I can beat on a consistent basis...at the low volume I play, I think that is the way you have to play.

Dextercain........wtf is with you........i wasnt even gona log in today but reading your replies just forced me to say something........you are contributing NOTHING to this discussion wiht your asshole replies. STFU unless you have something useful to say.

Same thing happened to me after my first big win... I started to feel invincible... I think this is the time that most new players start to learn about variance. Luckily I caught myself before I went haywire and blew everything. I punished myself with $5 sng's until I built my roll back up to a decent level, with the occasional stab at a MTT here and there, which when I hit would give the roll a little boost . It's like going on a diet... vegetables all week and then you get to have cake on sunday.

I had to win a 1 dollar tourney to get a solid start. Playing micro limit cash games and tourneys can be really frustrating, mainly because the play so so inconsistent and you can have a great night with little to show for it at the end. I took that 350 to .10/.25 and played solid tight aggro poker to slowly build. You will catch the bankroll junkie instantly tell you that you have no bank roll management, but I would hope that you arent playing with 350 dollars knowing that if you lose it all you cant pay rent the next month. After that I just took it slow and moved up now to .50/1. As you start to have some success at the higher levels, and your roll starts to show it, you will catch motivation to play another day and another number of hands. If your playing tourneys only more or less the same can be applied - you must be careful yet be aggressive and take mild chances to help keep yourself motivated. Listen - you might to a mild shot out of your bankroll, but if it wont cause the lights to shut off at the end of the month then I truly dont believe you should lose sleep over it. Best of luck

anyone whose went? jeez learn to speak english, then poker

I was a break even player for a few months playing the lower levels when I started a few years ago. I won a 10.00 freezeout and then started winning a lot of 20 180s and hit a few big scores(won 11r 3 times) and built a good BR. I started taking occasional shots in bigger stuff with decent success.

I moved up and played in bigger stuff and had some success. 3rd in the 30 rebuy and FTed the 55r a few times and even finished 10th in the 100r out of about 4 tries.

I have a real job and only play part time but I have played a ton of tournaments all the way from 1.00s to the 100r and have a very good feel for how these different levels compare.

First of all you want idiots calling you down and making bad calls. Sure you get unlucky but if you are playing right you should be killing the lower limits.

I hear people complain about the lower limit players making bad calls and how that doesn't happen in the higher buy ins and it kills me. First of all it does happen, there are still bad players in the higher buy in tourneys. Second of all the higher buy ins are full of good players you put constant pressure on you and do not just double you up like in the micro tourneys.

I've been on the FT bubble with ranked players like Below, Bax, Ari and many more excellent players that are not as well known and its pure hell. Having them make a "bad call" will be the least of your worries. The good players will target you and attack you.

Bottom line, its not easier when you move up, not even close.