Starting bankroll

[SirFWALGMan]

You giving out loans?

BTW - I have played the 15/30 6-Max and THEY ARE SOFT!

[Talking Poker]

You can say that again. Reminds me of 1/2, only way more aggressive.

[omahilo]

Brian you dont realize that your not going to play 2/4 with $50 BR... you have to build it up, if you gotta play 10 NL tables then play them.

If your a good player you will beat those games more times than not.

[ChipFish]

OK. I'll answer the student question...
I would suggest you deposit $0.
I think you'll make more in the long run that way.
And you won't have to work as much overtime.

That's what I would tell my student.

[Zybomb]

Limit or NL depends on where your expertise is (i.e math/odds vs aggression/reads) and where your experience comes in.

I personally started playing 1/2 NL on PS with a deposit of only 200 (the max buy in for the table) I now have accumulated much more, but I rarely go past the 2/4 tables...and usually still play 1/2 more often than not. The reason is both because its more comfortable for me and because of the softer play. You can usually go to a table and immediately spot the dead money (IE someone who buys in for 40 bucks, the minimum allowed, a player calling a big bet and not being able to beat 2nd pair with a decent kicker etc).

As a general rule if you look at the table and more than 2 players are above the max buy in, there is a softer table to be found. Am I suggesting you start a bankroll of 200 for a 1/2 NL table?....absolutely not....unless you are confident you will only need a buy in one time and will make money each time (or at least enough times to keep you in the +) this is a horrible idea. Also dont spend money you cant lose. I didn't deposit money on any site, until I was ahead on everything, and could afford to lose it if I did....

For limit a general rule is usually minimum 100 Big Bets....

As for what limit to start at, start wherever you can consistantly win

At any limit, if you are not comfortable calling a standard raise (NL) or calling a capped pot (Limit) with a strong but not monster hand, you are over your head.

[ChipFish]

I am not saying you are wrong here. But I do the exact opposite.
These guys tend to be the best opportunity to double up quick....
Just keep re-buying to top yourself up if you drift a few bets below the max buy-in. Be somewhat patient but aggressive and they'll pay you off.

[Zybomb]

Thats another way to think about it. I found that generally these players know what they're doing (unless theyre winning was from one big hand and is only temporary), and if I do get doubled up its when I have a monster over a monster, which only happens once in a while... the other plus though is they also are generally more aggressive which can play into your factor also. And obviously there more money to be won.

Ive had just too many times when I took all of someones $90, in a hand they were just dominated in bc they played horrible....or when they call preflop raises with garbage and fold to a basic continuation bet every time, giving me an extra 8 bucks per hand....thats why I say that.

[bdawg31]

If you are at say a $100 max buy-in NL table - at what point do you reload to top it back off at $100? I usually do when i get to around $80ish or so. I guess maybe in theory i should do it everytime i dip a little off the max buy-in??

[omahilo]

personally PokerNovice I do it if I drop to even like $95 or even sooner depending on the table because you want the most money possible on the table incase you hit a monster and put it allin.

[ChipFish]

At an aggressive table?
After I go through the blinds.
That's how serious I am about this.
The way I see it, if some jackass with a $300 stack wants to double me up, then I should at least have the decency to let him do so when I have $100 in front of me instead of $94.50 ($100x2= $200) - ($94.50x2=$189) = I lose $11.

That's how I look at it.

[BrianSwa]

I think $300 for $25 NL is about as high as I want to go. Im in now way ready for $1/$2 NL, NO WAY READY.

[SirFWALGMan]

In there is the rub my friend. Aggression is power. It is fear. It is what makes poker. The fearless players can do a whole lot as long as they are willing to risk the consequences. It almost ends up a huge guessing game with the best guessers being the long term winners. It is funny how a little more aggressions changes the complexion of the game totally.