got a ~800 roll Was thinking about focusing on cash prolly 25nl and then doin small mtt's no higher than 5 sparringly. I really started the thread to see if this was a good Idea or should I shoot higher or possibly lower...I've read the bankroll management articles, I would just like to hear ppl's opinions and also I'm really confused as to when to move up

the 11 dollar and 5r mtts are great

if youre a solid-tight player you shouldnt have a problem with at least min cashing in them

Okay sir! I think you might want to invest in a book called "Professional Poker" by Mark Blade which I've read twice and gives an honest conservative assessment of what types of games you should be playing with the bankroll you have.

Alot of this depends on if you're a good player or not. if you're a good player, as long as you have a sufficient bankroll you won't go broke but even good players go broke, and the less money you have in your bankroll the more you'll have to worry about the percentage of going broke. You have a higher percentage chance of going broke starting with 100bb than with 300bb obviously because if you experience a big swing of bad luck and you're only a "slightly" above average player, you'll end up eating your bankroll trying to make it through that unlucky streak. Even Daniel Negreanu has said he had a 6-8 month bad luck streak in his life where flushes wouldn't hit. pairs wouldn't be good, etc. So you need to have a large enough bankroll to weather these possible storms since if you were a "remarkable player" you'd probably have $80,000 already rather than $800. (don't worry, I have less). So remember you need a bigger bankroll to deal with the volitility of pokers swings.

Okay so lets say you use the 300bb rule, you'd wanna play around $2-3 big blinds. But of course, if you get bored because "you're not playing high enough" you'll probably be throwing away money, cause you'll tend to play bad. It takes a lot of disipline to set rules for yourself and grind a bankroll but if you do then you'll keep making your way up slowly and surely without going broke (as long as you're a decent slighly above average player). When you get your bankroll up to $1600 then you'd try $4-5 Big blinds. or if you get 400bb and want to take a shot at the higher limit then go for it, but make sure when you get back to 300bb that you move back down and don't be stubborn and lose all your bankroll at the higher limit.

If you don't have much expendable poker income, then conservative is the way to go. (maybe 400bb to 500bb) if you have a family to support, wife and kids, low paying pizza delivery job, etc. then you don't want to risk losing your whole bankroll since you're be doing overtime at the pizza place trying to get more poker money. Maybe you'll be able to get a job at a male strip club and double or triple your pizza pay. :)

If you do make a lot of money, or are a college kid, no family to support, no big bills to pay, you may just want to take some shots with 100bb only as long as you know that the say 3% chance of going broke with 300bb might become a 30% chance. if you only have 100bb. (just throwing numbers in the air) As long as you're okay with putting your poker dreams on hold if you lose all your money then good luck to you and give it your best.

Lastly if you're looking to grind a bankroll, many say the best way is:

1. Cash Games -since your play directly effects your profits and the hand you play next will mean you gave yourself a raise or a pay cut. Tournaments, you can play the best and still make it just out the money or with maybe 2x your buy-in if you barely cash. So volitility is a lot higher.

2. SNG's - Actually have very low volitility although it can be tedious and isn't "real poker" to some people because it's just wait til the later stages then push fold strategy, etc. It's a fun way to grind it out. Plus there's a lot of steps tournaments that can parlay into a bigger payout. You won't learn as much because SNG's are such shallow stacks compared to Cash Games, it's still a low volitility way to build a bankroll that in my opinion teach you different aspects of poker like how to effectively play a short stack, push fold strategy as stated earlier and if you really want to get indepth, learning about ICM Independent Chip Modeling.

3. Tournaments, MTTs, etc - If you love tournaments play them but as long as you know you may go 100 games before seeing a big pay day, then keep that in mind and give it your best. Tournaments although high volitility, if you do score a big win, it will automatically pad your bankroll and you'll be able to feel more comfortable when you're moving up.

As long as you don't play too high for your skill level, then you'll be fine. Challenge yourself but remember that if you don't want to have to do this all over again after losing your 800bb, you need to start building your bankroll the right way, be conservative, don't think about the money, play for the sake of learning, and finally have fun. Good Luck Sir!

 

Originally Posted by MarlonMotors

great post keith harris.

cosign.... well written post sir