PRocket Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 When I started with Poker (about 1 year ago) I played cash tables only. I found it very profitable... I managed to double up my buy in every hour I played. I used to take 20$ on a cash table and wait for any AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT and get a decent pot. I only played "premium" hands down to A10s. Once I managed to take this up to 200$, I got a little excited about it and half an hour later I was down to 100$ again. Is it just patience or is Tournament Poker better for me? And what levels should I play? I used to play on 10c/20c and occasionally 25c/50c The biggest mistake was that I didn't use a hand tracker, does anyone have a good link to get one? I was thinking of downloading some poker software that I can attach on a cash table and use it to my advantage, does anyone do that? Thanks in advance! :gimme Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaF Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 Re: Whats better for my game? Cash or Tournament... Low level cash tables are IMO mostly about patience ..... if you dont use Poker Software, then recommend the Boss tables where you have a level playing field (though that is on the verge of changing - Someone has released a utility that will get Boss tables into Poker Tracker of Poker Office - cant remember which one) For software .... their use is extremely limited in tournaments, but invaluable IMO in cash games..... Choice is between Poker Office and Poker Tracker..... So far as stakes go ..... I think you should start right at the bottom and only move up as your bankroll grows (and move down if it falls) .... I know others here disagree with me, but my view is that if you cant beat bad players (over enough time) how on earth do you expect to beat better players? (My view is the whole notion that "I can't beat bad players, only good players" is complete nonsense - your edge is never greater than against really bad players - the question is, are you good enough to adjust your game to exploit your opponents weaknesses?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaF Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 Re: Whats better for my game? Cash or Tournament... And what levels should I play? I used to play on 10c/20c and occasionally 25c/50c A direct (and quantitative) answer to this is .... only play at 10c/20c all the time your bankroll is at least $400. Only play at 25c/50c all the time your bankroll is at least $1000. If your bankroll ever falls below these thresholds, then you should play for lower stakes..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaF Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 Re: Whats better for my game? Cash or Tournament... Another afterthought - both PokerTracker and PokerOffice offer free trials for the first few thousand hands - no reason at all not to just give them a go...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRocket Posted March 26, 2007 Author Share Posted March 26, 2007 Re: Whats better for my game? Cash or Tournament... Thanks GaF, very helpful.:) Another question: How much should I take to a table if I have a 100$ bankroll? 5c/10c table? Could you give me some stats, like what's a good profit per hand rate perhaps? Thanks PRocket Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaF Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 Re: Whats better for my game? Cash or Tournament... You shouldn't :tongue2 If your entire poker bankroll is $100, then you cannot afford to be playing 5c/10c without significant risk of going bust!!! (regardless of how good you are - you are too susceptible to the normal variation of the game!!!). If you are prepared to GAMBLE a little, then go for it!!! Just accept the increased risk you are running!!! I believe that Betfred/Titan etc have tables down to 1c/2c if you wish to play within your bankroll!!! If you are playing TAG poker, then I dont think you should buy in for anything less than the maximum (probably $10!!). There are strategies where you can buy in for less, but that's a completely different card game!!! In general, if you are making 5 x BB per 100 hands, then you are doing well (at low levels, you can get a bit more) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRocket Posted March 26, 2007 Author Share Posted March 26, 2007 Re: Whats better for my game? Cash or Tournament... Ok, thank you very much! I'll be posting my progress... night everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masterplan Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 Re: Whats better for my game? Cash or Tournament... In general, if you are making 5 x BB per 100 hands, then you are doing well (at low levels, you can get a bit more) i'd like to add quickly that you should only consider your overall rate bb/100 after 10-15000 hands, as you may see before that LARGE swings in your rate. e.g. today my session showed 27 bb/100 hands. over the month of march i show just over 9bb/100 over 4400 hands in all time since i started tracking my hands on PT. i show 5.28 bb/100 over 24661 hands over 3 stake levels. with profit showing on all stake levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voiceofjoe Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 Re: Whats better for my game? Cash or Tournament... You shouldn't :tongue2 If your entire poker bankroll is $100, then you cannot afford to be playing 5c/10c without significant risk of going bust!!! (regardless of how good you are - you are too susceptible to the normal variation of the game!!!). If you are prepared to GAMBLE a little, then go for it!!! Just accept the increased risk you are running!!! I started on lowest possibel and move up a level when I earned 10*the max buy-in of the next level. I.E $40 moved to 2c/4c, $100 moved to 5c/10c If your prepared to move back down once you have a bad run, i think the above is sound enough - I've moved up about a level each month, and hopefully will be on 10c/20c by April. When I get to that level if I lose and go under $180 (i.e 1 full buy in of 10c/20c of my $200 required) then I will go back to 5c/10c to build my roll back up. Remember your may be playing NoLimit but your are usually only going to lose 1 max buy in (100*BB), tops as that is all you are allowed to bring to table in one go (on most sites). You have to have a semblance of self control though :loon I realise things will slow down as the stakes get higher but hope to be on $1/$2 by December :hope Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaF Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 Re: Whats better for my game? Cash or Tournament... Sounds a very disciplined and sensible approach :ok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nade Posted April 26, 2007 Share Posted April 26, 2007 Re: Whats better for my game? Cash or Tournament... I don't see why you need such a big bankroll to play the low stakes. I started playing 10/20c with 'only' $60 and now have over $100 in just over a week. The max buy in on a table is $20. Used to play STT but since the upgrades in servers the standard of player at even the lowest buy-in $1 seemed to increase massively and i couldn't win a game. Cash tables are SO much more relaxing and enjoyable. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaF Posted April 26, 2007 Share Posted April 26, 2007 Re: Whats better for my game? Cash or Tournament... If you dont have 20 buy ins at any level in Poker then your risk of "going bust" is not insignificant ... not at any stake because of your skill (or lack of) but because of normal variance (runs of bad luck). Whilst your edge (and therefore profit in terms of BB) in low buy in games should be large over the long term, your variance is high because of the risk of getting outdrawn when people wont lay their hands down (this increases your profit and your variance) If your bankroll can be replenished if needs be and the risk of losing it is not disasterous, then you can certainly play with less than 20 buy ins behind you ..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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