STARTING OFF WITH 150.00/PLEASE ADVISE

[fasin8ing]

I have spent enough 50.00 deposits on Party Poker. I looked at the amount I have spent through out the last year or so and its getting ridiculous. I have been told to have at least 25 - 30 buy ins to start playing SNG's more seriously and to try and turn a profit. What are your thoughts, what should I do with the money I profit, and how many games do you play at a time? How many losses can I sustain ? After how many times of 4th place do I quit for the day and reanalyze my play? I dont really need game strategy, I need better management. And yes I have read the Bankroll Management posts. Guys , I want to know how you all did it when you started and how you managed your bankroll and dealt with a dry spell per se:
RYAN
"Ill buy you a drink if you fold"

[Halv]

Keep it simple. Play one game at a time. If you lose three consecutive SnG's, don't play again until you've analyzed all three properly. Start at the lowest level available on your site. Add your profit to your BR. Don't move up before you've a) played a lot of games on your current level (ie ~250ish, and b) have the proper BR for moving up.

[Sprayed]

For a $150 br, I would be playing as low as possible and only one tourney at a time. Play extreamly tight for the first few levels until the table is down to about 6-4 people. Play big hands hard especially at PP since the starting stacks are so small. If you find yourself short stacked in relation to the blinds you need to be in push bot mode.

[Rondavu]

Chances are, you have some leaks in your game. It's important to be honest with yourself. Addressing these leaks are a primary concern. Losing $50 after $50 is a sign you need to improve. I started my bankroll with $5. I've made thousands from that beginning. My point is that yes, people like myself (for the most part) stayed within bankroll guidelines, but more importantly we have a strong ability to be objective and critical of our own game. This is what a winner does. We cancel out emotion while we're playing, and we search for leaks. I still find them, and/or make old mistakes here and there.

[fasin8ing]

How do you guys keep track of stuff? How can I look back and figure out what went wrong and what part of my game is screwed up? I really think by doing this it will flat out show me if Iam doing anything wrong and where. What kind of trackers are you guys using? I know they have them, I really need to start tracking whats going on. I figure if I do place 4th 5th, or whatever I should read over my tourny history before playing again. Agree or disagree?

[Rondavu]

Trackers are one thing. The most valuable tracker is a human being. Namely yourself and your new friends at FTR. You should always look back to see what you did wrong.

[fasin8ing]

Trackers are one thing. The most valuable tracker is a human being. Namely yourself and your new friends at FTR. You should always look back to see what you did wrong.

Unfortunately,
I believe my problem is relevant to my small bankroll. It cannot sustain losses unless I am very ahead. I would be happy to send you a couple tourny histories and have you analyze my play Bob. Maybe like my last 2. Not so much to ask, beings I just read all your comedy blogs. BTW , dude your funny as hell.. I went to Dunkin Donuts this morning, I must tell you Iam on their side.

[Sprayed]

Just post a lot of HH's no matter how simple you think they might be. Reading your post above, sounds like you think that you have to play at higher buy-ins in order to make money which is wrong. At low buy-ins it's all about playing the cards and not making too many fancy moves. You can dominate the low buy-ins by playing this way. Just stick to buy-ins around $5 and clean up your leaks as Rondavu mentioned.

You need to read books, read HH's, and share your thoughts on other people's posts. Don't be afraid to ask questions as to why something is the right play when you don't get it. Everyone goes through what you are going through. Except for Bax of course.

[donkbee]

Play the $5.50s, try the multitable SnGs perhaps, those are nice roll boosters. Play one tourney at a time at first. If you are a decent poker player, you will be fine and you will eventually make a profit. The $5.50s are an awesome way to make a few hundred dollars, and then you can think of moving up (or playing more than one table) once your bankroll is around $350/$400.

[andy-akb]

I know how you feel, I havent completely lost any deposits, and have made some money, but Ive come pretty close. Depostied $100 at party, got it to $350 then donked it back to like 150 in a few days. At stars it is very similar, deposited $100, got it to around $200 and then donked it back down to around $100. Since then my low has been $16, but Im back to around $100. What I did is really start analyzing my play and reading up on things. I would suggest making a $50 deposit at empire and getting pokeroffice for free through their offer. It is an invaluable tool and allows you to track your results much easier. Its a very easy bonus to clear and the site has very soft players. After that, cash out and go to stars and play the $5.50s and look at what you do carefully.

[dXL]

I basically started in your position a little over 3 months ago, although my $150 was leftover profit after I withdrew my original deposit + some. When I first started playing for money I played NL cash games and basically lost most all my money and then decided to play micro limit games to get it back, which eventually I did, but it took forever. After that I decided micro limit cash games yielded such little daily profit I moved back to NL cash games. Over a couple of weeks I basically went back and forth with the profit/loses and ended up basically with the same amount I started with.

That is when I decided to play SnG's. At first I started 2 tabling 5.50 NL tables and now I just 3 table them. I don't really feel I need to do more than that right now but since 3 months ago I have turned my $150 into $600+. So far this year I have made ~$250. I feel SnG's are definitely the way to go and to start with the $5.50 ones if you feel confident enough in your game that you can place on a consistent basis and not lose all your $150. If need be start with 1 table at a time to get your barings. Please also take in mind that it's taken me 3 months to make roughly $450 but I do have a full time job and don't play poker all the time but consider it more of a hobby and have played a little less than 300 total, so average that out to 100/month.

Hope that helps.

[fasin8ing]

Guys thanks alot. It does mean something to me. I have played poker now for about 3 years. I lived in WA State and could play in a live game/tourny daily. Turned a huge profit, but spent it either on gambling or fun. I used to play online for fun... 50 dollars here and there. I have played at 50.00 SNG's , 100.00 SNG's, 20.00 SNG's and as low as 5.00. There was no consistency in my game, Iam up , Im down , Im up Iam down, I lose 5-6 times, I turn to the 20 dollar SNG to build back up and then .... Iam depositing another 50 bucks. I beleive I can stick with 5.00 SNG's with 150.00 and do fine. I look forward to sharing my losses and wins. Mainly winning HH's though.. Again , thanks for the advice.

" I cant beleive he called me with K 2 os" oh wait a minute, is this play chips? No its a SNG Tourny on Party Poker-

[Rondavu]

I always like to see a humble attitude. It makes me think you'll succeed in being the sponge you need to be. The fact is, what most new online players don't realize, is that they aren't actually as good as they imagine. They make a lot of fundamental mistakes, and are oblivious to most of them.

You have to be patient when it comes to building a roll. I myself have been guilty of playing above my limit, and it's not pretty. It almost always kills you. You just have to grind away at lower levels. The biggest reason for this is to gain experience by getting hands under your belt.

One day you'll be sitting at the table, and have an epiphany. You'll smile and realize you're better than almost everyone. Furthermore you'll know why. You'll see people make mistakes and laugh like santa clause as you take their stacks. Graduating to higher stakes has less to do with how much money you have, and more to do with your ability to compete.

[WildBobAA]

I think you should pick a different site than party. They really screw you with that rake. $5 + 1 when most sites are $5 + .50

[Renton]

I like sngs and all, but you should probably play the 10nl on stars if you want to build your roll faster.

Its just my opinion tho. My br is about 500 now and I am finding that 25nl full ring is far more profitable (faster I mean) than fourtabling the 11 sngs.

[ake]

Personally I like 100+ buyins for sngs. I just went on a 14 OTM streak.

They happen, and when they do, having a roll to back you up is crucial. Not only to keep you from going broke but also to keep you from tilting or losing confidence.

[Cava72]

I only play SnGo's...try out Party Poker and Titan Poker...on Titan Poker they have JackPot series...it is $5 + .50 tables...if you win 5 in a row you win 15K...so its a great way to gage your skills...

[Renton]

I only play SnGo's...try out Party Poker and Titan Poker...on Titan Poker they have JackPot series...it is $5 + .50 tables...if you win 5 in a row you win 15K...so its a great way to gage your skills...

Are you kidding??

What is the catch? Because if you play sngs with any level of skill, you will be lucky to win 5 in a row once in a while.

[Rondavu]

Ya there's gotta be a catch. I've won 5 in a row a few times.

[donkbee]

Personally I like 100+ buyins for sngs.

[Cava72]

Regarding the Titan JackPot...I do not know if there is a catch...but to win 5 in a row is certainly no easy task. They also have a $10 buy in and its 6 person table as opposed to the 10 person $5 buy in...
The site has posted a winner of the $5 buy in..the series is called MAUI JACK POT.
I am sure you get a winner once every Haley's Comet...check it out...its a fun incentive on the side to say the least.

[Renton]

Regarding the Titan JackPot...I do not know if there is a catch...but to win 5 in a row is certainly no easy task. They also have a $10 buy in and its 6 person table as opposed to the 10 person $5 buy in...
The site has posted a winner of the $5 buy in..the series is called MAUI JACK POT.
I am sure you get a winner once every Haley's Comet...check it out...its a fun incentive on the side to say the least.

If you quad-table sngs and are pretty good, you are statistically entitled to winning five in a row every month or so, if you play a lot. They must pull a whole lot out of each prize pool to make that jackpot possible.

[Cava72]

They also give a price for finishing 1st or 2nd 5 times in a row...that is for the Maui Jackpot.

I just posted the details on the promotion on a separate subject...you should see it.

[DogOnMySide]

They are 5+0.75's for a start

plus you need to email them to claim it... and if you are quad tabling then your wins won't necessarily be consecutive. if you see what i mean.

anyway yeah it looks genuine.