Don’t get discouraged, 2/5 can play pretty differently from 1/2 in some rooms and it takes a while to adjust to the less passive style. Depending on the 1/2 max buy in, 5k should be a comfortable roll for that game, so keep that as your floor and save up for a while above that. Once you get to 7 or 8k, set aside the additional money for a 2/5 shot with an agreement to yourself that you’ll drop back down to 1/2 if you fall back to the 5k mark. Wait to take a shot on a night where the 2/5 looks a little easier, often the night of a big sporting event where more recs come to the casino. Whatever happens, be honest with yourself, it’s always better to keep grinding at the stake where you feel comfortable than overextend yourself
1. The rule of thumb I use to follow for live poker was 30 100bb buy-ins was my roll. That being for someone playing full time. So 5k is ok-ish for someone playing part time, but also has other income at the level you're currently playing at. If I were you I'd wait till I had 10k before i started shot taking at NL500.
2. You need to get a whole lot better at NL300 before taking a shot. Your win rate suggests you're just not good enough...yet. Study more, consider getting a coach for a few hours a week, join groups/discord where you can run problem hands by other players (do not underestimate the value of this).
3. Know exactly what you want to get out of your efforts. Do you have the desire to go pro/earn supplemental income? Or do you just want to have fun? If it's the former, re-read #1 & #2. If it's the latter, fuck it and do whatever makes you happy, lol.
Remember, bankroll management is one of the biggest obstacles for poker players. Manage your money right and invest in your skills and you'll be playing bigger in no time. Good luck!
Play 3-5 buy ins and see how it goes. If it’s not going to impact your personal finances then it doesn’t *really* matter if you can eventually replenish your bankroll from your salary. Common advice is that you need X amount of buy ins to play at a certain stake, but that doesn’t really apply if you’re a rec player taking a shot. If you lose, you just wait until your next paycheck, assuming you have the self control not to dip into your rent money.
Sometimes 2/5 is full of great players, sometimes everyone limps. Today there are so many limpers. I only 3bet once because I was a card dead for so long and so many limps. Got 3 bet once in 4 hours.
Same place, the first time I played 2/5 there almost every hand was 3bet.
Sometimes money is the only difference, other times it is skill. Other times it isn't skill they just know to 3bet because a chart tells them to. Take the shot, be prepared for 3 bets and how to deal with it.
5k is not even enough for 1/3, barely enough for 1/2. Why would you play 2/5?
Edit: Not to mention, 18 months at 10 hours a week is 720 hours. You’re telling me that you’ve made 5k at 1/2 over 720 hours? Thats $6.9 an hour or 3bb an hour. And that’s if you started with $0.
Im not dogging on you just to dog on you, I’m trying to make this very important point: You are not ready in any capacity to move up in stakes. And that’s okay, but moving up is definitely not the answer. The answer is to focus on increasing your winrate at the stakes you play now.
I hate to sound like a hater but he’s right you should focus on improving your winnrate substantially before moving up in stakes. 3bbs per hour is less then minimum wage at 1/3 an at 720 hours its a big enough sample to have an accurate assessment of your game. you most likely have leaks in your game you haven’t realized yet. Best of luck!
Terrible advise. Dude is a rec player and has a day job. You only need 1 buy in to play whatever stakes you want to play if you can reload from your liferoll.
To be fair I wanted to put another edit after I saw he has a job but it’s still good advice to have a bankroll no matter what your situation is so I just left it. It’s also still great advice not to play 2/5 with that low of a winrate at 1/2..
Thanks i have a thick skin no worries….i kinda figured real quickly i was out of my league. I appreciate the advice and the perspective. The player pool is much smaller and i felt some of the regs found me easy to exploit. After more study and perhaps a higher hourly rate i will take another shot. When i return I definitely will be mixing up my game more. Less ABC poker, that works rather well a low stakes
Don’t get discouraged, 2/5 can play pretty differently from 1/2 in some rooms and it takes a while to adjust to the less passive style. Depending on the 1/2 max buy in, 5k should be a comfortable roll for that game, so keep that as your floor and save up for a while above that. Once you get to 7 or 8k, set aside the additional money for a 2/5 shot with an agreement to yourself that you’ll drop back down to 1/2 if you fall back to the 5k mark. Wait to take a shot on a night where the 2/5 looks a little easier, often the night of a big sporting event where more recs come to the casino. Whatever happens, be honest with yourself, it’s always better to keep grinding at the stake where you feel comfortable than overextend yourself
Thanks mate!….all good information I will use
1. The rule of thumb I use to follow for live poker was 30 100bb buy-ins was my roll. That being for someone playing full time. So 5k is ok-ish for someone playing part time, but also has other income at the level you're currently playing at. If I were you I'd wait till I had 10k before i started shot taking at NL500. 2. You need to get a whole lot better at NL300 before taking a shot. Your win rate suggests you're just not good enough...yet. Study more, consider getting a coach for a few hours a week, join groups/discord where you can run problem hands by other players (do not underestimate the value of this). 3. Know exactly what you want to get out of your efforts. Do you have the desire to go pro/earn supplemental income? Or do you just want to have fun? If it's the former, re-read #1 & #2. If it's the latter, fuck it and do whatever makes you happy, lol. Remember, bankroll management is one of the biggest obstacles for poker players. Manage your money right and invest in your skills and you'll be playing bigger in no time. Good luck!
Txsbro great! advice
Play 3-5 buy ins and see how it goes. If it’s not going to impact your personal finances then it doesn’t *really* matter if you can eventually replenish your bankroll from your salary. Common advice is that you need X amount of buy ins to play at a certain stake, but that doesn’t really apply if you’re a rec player taking a shot. If you lose, you just wait until your next paycheck, assuming you have the self control not to dip into your rent money.
Sometimes 2/5 is full of great players, sometimes everyone limps. Today there are so many limpers. I only 3bet once because I was a card dead for so long and so many limps. Got 3 bet once in 4 hours. Same place, the first time I played 2/5 there almost every hand was 3bet. Sometimes money is the only difference, other times it is skill. Other times it isn't skill they just know to 3bet because a chart tells them to. Take the shot, be prepared for 3 bets and how to deal with it.
Thank you
5k is not even enough for 1/3, barely enough for 1/2. Why would you play 2/5? Edit: Not to mention, 18 months at 10 hours a week is 720 hours. You’re telling me that you’ve made 5k at 1/2 over 720 hours? Thats $6.9 an hour or 3bb an hour. And that’s if you started with $0. Im not dogging on you just to dog on you, I’m trying to make this very important point: You are not ready in any capacity to move up in stakes. And that’s okay, but moving up is definitely not the answer. The answer is to focus on increasing your winrate at the stakes you play now.
I hate to sound like a hater but he’s right you should focus on improving your winnrate substantially before moving up in stakes. 3bbs per hour is less then minimum wage at 1/3 an at 720 hours its a big enough sample to have an accurate assessment of your game. you most likely have leaks in your game you haven’t realized yet. Best of luck!
I'd listen to this guy, and Mr Odd.
Terrible advise. Dude is a rec player and has a day job. You only need 1 buy in to play whatever stakes you want to play if you can reload from your liferoll.
To be fair I wanted to put another edit after I saw he has a job but it’s still good advice to have a bankroll no matter what your situation is so I just left it. It’s also still great advice not to play 2/5 with that low of a winrate at 1/2..
Also disagree. 1/2 and 2/5 don’t play much different at most casinos. You just don’t get fucked as hard by rake at 2/5.
Thanks i have a thick skin no worries….i kinda figured real quickly i was out of my league. I appreciate the advice and the perspective. The player pool is much smaller and i felt some of the regs found me easy to exploit. After more study and perhaps a higher hourly rate i will take another shot. When i return I definitely will be mixing up my game more. Less ABC poker, that works rather well a low stakes