So I've spent the last few posts having a little fun - teasing those of you who call raises looking for runner-runners, aces on the river, and other various suck-out specials. and I think most of us every once in a while feel like screaming when we see some of that harry-high-school BS take the money right out of our hands.
If you've never gotten into playing online, and had taken some impressions of the whole matter from my last few rants, I'd have to guess that I wouldn't exactly be doing much of a sales job on the whole thing. If you can blow 60 bucks on one day of bad beats and goofy card-god screw jobs, why is it worth risking anything on it at all?
But know that in the long haul, I've made a little extra spending CAYSH (as well as some sentimental purchases, i.e. first car) through the whole process, and typically you can do the same if you have the ability to do so.
Bankroll
There are a lot of ideas already out there on this matter. This is my feeling:
Don't buy in with $50 bucks and expect to cash out $500 by the end of the week.
Sometimes I think back to my $10 bucks to $850 buck run of a couple of years ago. You can't really think about that kind of stuff with any realistic expectation of it happening. These rediculous goals will get you into games that are too high limit for your bankroll (entering a $20 buck tourney with $50 bucks to work with).
Listen, only play with what you can afford to lose. Make it a goal to never put money in more than once. (I haven't put any in in almost a year). If you want to start out with $50, thats cool, but play with the expectation of winning 5-10 bucks in a week. Seriously, thats almost a %20 return, and that beats the hell out of any stock or bond, so look at it that way!
Also, a word on what type of games to play:
I will say this:
1. I hate cash games where buy in is $50 or less. This money means little to most of the people playing and it shows. You will either be up $100 in an hour, or out your whole $50. At least in my experience.
2. I never play re-buy/add-ons. Ever.
As for the rest? I am not sure, I think you can safely do about anything else. The low limit games will be wild, and bad beats will get you from time to time. But hey, it is also the 'easiest money', so there ya go.
Oh, and I would never ever get into this stuff without at least 15X20 banked in the limit you are playing. What I mean is this:
If you play $20 NL sit and go's, I'd think you should start with a minimum of $300-400. That way, ifyou lose 6-7 in a row, you can still win 3 and be right where you started. If you lose 6-7 in a row startin with $200-100, than, well, goodbye money.
As far as cash, if you have $400, than I'd get into cash games. If not, I personally wouldn't start getting involved at all, because no limit is small enough to be adequately backed by $100 or less.
Strategy: What to play
Determine what you are good at. Try to stick to it. I love tournaments. I think it was born from beginning my play with no real bankroll, without the ability to win any big stakes unless I won a HUGE tournament. So, my style is suited to knocking out bad players, winning a few big hands, trying to stay afloat long enough to make a run and becoming a factor to win the whole thing in the end. My style isn't that loose, so if I don't get cards I can lose a good deal of money from the blinds and loose calls in a cash game. Also, I rarely feel that much satisfaction winning 1%-10% of my starting bankroll at a table, which you need to learn to do in order to make consistent money in ring games. To steal a line from the Boo-yah! king, "Bulls make money, Bears make money, Hogs get slaughtered." So if you like to make steady cash and have the skill to handle big swings, be a cash game guy. If you like the challenge of bearing down to win the big prize, I'd suggest learning tournament play.
More on picking your games...
Once you realize what you are good at, I would suggest sticking to it. Let me give you a common mistake I make:
10$ NL sit-n-go, 3rd place
10$ NL sit-n-go, 2nd place
10$ NL sit-n-go, DNF
10$ NL sit-n-go, 1st place
30$ NL sit-n-go, DNF
so lets see, we won %60 that day. Took home a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place all within one day, and what is there to show for it?
Less than 25 bucks. Wanna see how?
(10+1)4 = 44
(30 +3) = 33
total spent = 77
$20 win
$30 win
$50 win
total winning = 100
+/- = $23
$23?? demoralizing!!! You just won %60 of your matches and only walked away with 30% profit.
True, one 1st place in the $30 game using the winnings from the other games would have been a BIG BIG gain. And once in a while, (if you are playing with winnings on the day) you can go ahead and do this, BUT, statistically, you're not likely to cash in %80 your tourneys in a day. The best guys are somewhere around %50 of them.
Had I stuck with the gameplan for the day:
$10 NL sit-n-go = 3rd place
$10 NL sit-n-go = 2nd place
$10 NL sit-n-go = DNF
$10 NL sit-n-go = 1st place
$10 NL sit-n-go = DNF
Winnings = $100
Spent = $55
+/- = $45
Almost %90 profit!
Again, you can try to cash in on a good day by increasing the limits you are playing sometimes, but realize its BAD ODDS. You're prowess at playing DOES make you a good contender to win at any level, but the laws of statistics can't be ignored, and no matter who you are, winning a big streak of games in a row isn't likely. All it is likely to do is make you angry you did all that winning and ended up with little to show for it. This could lead to going on tilt next time, trying to get back all that "imagined profit" you "should have had".
Anyway, any ideas of your own, feel free to comment and I will post them. I would continue, but I gotta run and see if I find any good Christmas presents for the family.....
If you are good at poker, you can make some money. If you think it's the lotto, it will end up being the lotto. And how many of your friends have won the lotto?
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