Rebuilding my bankroll--is this a good plan? Plus: PS + FTP questions
 

At one point, before I spent all day tarding around OOT and BBV4L, I was a poker player. I even used real money, at both WPEX and Party. In fact, I wasn't half bad at it. Unfortunately, I was a total donkey about bankroll requirements, especially when it came to SNGs. I was playing $11s with less than $100 in my roll. Understandably, I eventually went busto. Not including Party bonuses, I think I made a profit of like $35, total. At this point I didn't want to play too much poker, and in any case Party kicked out all of its US players.

But, now I want to get back into the game.

Dear readers, please take a look at my plans. Alert me if you see anything that's really out stupid:

1. Re-read SSHE and the limit-hold'em and O8 sections of SS2.

O8 was my favorite game when I was playing. LHE was tied for second with NLHE, but I was much more likely to stick to a reasonable game in LHE.

2. Get an ePassporte account and deposit $300.

I already know that money is coming in a week or two. After fees that leaves me with $285.

3. Deposit into Full Tilt Poker, through a rakeback affiliate.

I was a (very) small winner while I was playing, something like $25 per month (~3000 hands). I didn't use Poker Tracker (more on that later) so I don't know what my win-rate was exactly, other than it was probably "low."

4. Grind out that deposit bonus.

I would be playing .25/.5 LHE, with a move up to .5/1 if I have a three winning sessions in a row. There I would move back down if I lost in two sessions in a row. I would never play a LHE game with fewer than 200 BBs.

If I could find a game of LO8, I would play 1/2, moving up to 2/4 or down to .5/1 following the same criteria as above, except my minimum there would be 75 BBs.

5. When/if I reached $400 on FTP, withdraw $50 and sign up at PokerStars and grind out that bonus.

With $50 I would start around .10/.20 for LHE and .25/.5 for LO8.

6. Find a comfort zone. Purchase Poker Tracker when/if FTP reached $400 again.

7. ??????

8. Profit.

Now, my questions for my peers:

Does my plan suck? In particular, is my bankroll reasonable for the game I'm playing?

How good are the O8 games at Party and FTP?

Is it difficult for someone used to full-ring LO8 to switch to PLO8 (which seems to be more popular on both sites) or six-handed play?

If I start playing at Stars and fall in love with it, would I be a fool to play there and ignore the rakeback deal at FTP?

How important is it for me to have Poker Tracker, considering the limits I plan to play at?

Thanks for giving this a read.

Re: Rebuilding my bankroll--is this a good plan? Plus: PS + FTP questi
 

i deposit in stars first then when you get your roll up too $600 go to full tilt

Re: Rebuilding my bankroll--is this a good plan? Plus: PS + FTP questions
 

[ QUOTE ]
In fact, I wasn't half bad at it. Unfortunately, I was a total donkey about bankroll requirements, especially when it came to SNGs. I was playing $11s with less than $100 in my roll. Understandably, I eventually went busto. Not including Party bonuses, I think I made a profit of like $35, total.

[/ QUOTE ]

lol, you probably are awful at poker for this kind of results on party pre-ban.
Why don't you read miller beginners book and play tight/solid until you know better?

Re: Rebuilding my bankroll--is this a good plan? Plus: PS + FTP questi
 

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[ QUOTE ]
In fact, I wasn't half bad at it. Unfortunately, I was a total donkey about bankroll requirements, especially when it came to SNGs. I was playing $11s with less than $100 in my roll. Understandably, I eventually went busto. Not including Party bonuses, I think I made a profit of like $35, total.

[/ QUOTE ]

lol, you probably are awful at poker for this kind of results on party pre-ban.
Why don't you read miller beginners book and play tight/solid until you know better?

[/ QUOTE ]

Why do so many people feel the need to come in the BEGINNER forum and bash BEGINNERS by telling them they are no good. I bet they wouldn't be posting in the beginner forum with beginner questions if they were experts. Get a life

Re: Rebuilding my bankroll--is this a good plan? Plus: PS + FTP questions
 

1) SSHE is a good read. Play whichever game is your BEST game until your 'roll is where it should be.

2) Know nuthin' about ePassporte. Do you know people you can send paypal to and do a cash transfer with? Save on fees.

3) RB at FTP is nice, but smaller limits are had at 'stars. Begin at 'stars and then move to FTP as you move up in limits. Move up the ladder as you develop.

4) Grinding is g00t.

5) Begin at 'stars at lower limits until your 'roll is up there. Then move to FTP.

6) A 'comfort zone' is good but can be overrated. Get PT as soon as you can. It will make you the $50+ or so back a hundredfold. Review hands, strategies, track opponents, find fish/donkeys. PAHUD by pokeracesoftware.com is also another must-have to begin with.

7) ???? On the 7th day rest I guess!

8) Profits yes! A good Ferengi always profits.

Overall your plan looks workable. I do suggest starting at the lower limits at 'stars before going to FTP. I'm playing NL now and have switched back to 'stars from FTP w/rakeb for this very reason.

PT and PAHUD are indispensible to begin with. Later on you tend to not lean on it so much, but it's great for reviews, etc. As for rb at FTP, if you're a losing player rb won't save you. Begin at lower limits and work up, if you can play higher great, go for it at FTP then but rb isn't everything. I'd rather win 4BB/100 and give up rb, then be breakeven and get rb. Make sense?

Don't know nuthin' 'bout O8 either.

gl to you.

Re: Rebuilding my bankroll--is this a good plan? Plus: PS + FTP questi
 

i would probably start out on stars too, build a bankroll until you hit 600 and can maximize the FTP bonus

PT will help you ALOT, get it as soon as you can, you wotn regret it

check for other recommended books for your game. reading 1 book is a start, reading several will help you even more

Re: Rebuilding my bankroll--is this a good plan? Plus: PS + FTP questi
 

Starting at Stars is a good idea because you want to be able to put the full $600 in for the bonus at FT. At the same time, i wouldn't want to play at stars for any longer than you have to because at the lowest limits rb will help you out a ton.

What I would do is this: after you clear your stars bonus move to bodog and get advantage of their 10% bottomless bonus. Play there until you're up to $600. Or use www.bonuswhores.com to find another US bonus to whore. Bottom line i wouldn't play anywhere unless i was clearing a bonus or getting rb.

Good luck, welcome back.

Re: Rebuilding my bankroll--is this a good plan? Plus: PS + FTP questi
 

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[ QUOTE ]
In fact, I wasn't half bad at it. Unfortunately, I was a total donkey about bankroll requirements, especially when it came to SNGs. I was playing $11s with less than $100 in my roll. Understandably, I eventually went busto. Not including Party bonuses, I think I made a profit of like $35, total.

[/ QUOTE ]

lol, you probably are awful at poker for this kind of results on party pre-ban.
Why don't you read miller beginners book and play tight/solid until you know better?

[/ QUOTE ]

As I said, I was a donk with my bankroll. The point of my post was asking advice on that front. I didn't play too many hands either; I found it difficult to do more than 100 in one session. That, I know, is something I had to work on.

Incidentally, if you read my OP you will have noticed that I had read Ed Miller's book and planned on re-reading it. Did you even read my post?

Re: Rebuilding my bankroll--is this a good plan? Plus: PS + FTP questi
 

Numbnuts/Great/Teddy/EN:

Thank you for the advice; I'll start with Stars instead. And numbnuts, thanks for mentioning Bodog. I hadn't even considered them and didn't know about that bonus.

Re: Rebuilding my bankroll--is this a good plan? Plus: PS + FTP questi
 

Correction--I said SSHE when I meant to say Getting Started in Hold'em in my original post. Still, I never claimed to be an expert, mm'kay?

I will get SSHE and Poker Tracker as well.

Re: Rebuilding my bankroll--is this a good plan? Plus: PS + FTP questi
 

Good stuff and good luck to ya

Re: Rebuilding my bankroll--is this a good plan? Plus: PS + FTP questi
 

Good luck to you!! I'm currently on the same plan, though starting with a pretty small bankroll.

Re: Rebuilding my bankroll--is this a good plan? Plus: PS + FTP questi
 

[ QUOTE ]
i would probably start out on stars too, build a bankroll until you hit 600 and can maximize the FTP bonus

PT will help you ALOT, get it as soon as you can, you wotn regret it

check for other recommended books for your game. reading 1 book is a start, reading several will help you even more

[/ QUOTE ]
best post in this thread IMO.

Re: Rebuilding my bankroll--is this a good plan? Plus: PS + FTP questi
 

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[ QUOTE ]
lol, you probably are awful at poker for this kind of results on party pre-ban.
Why don't you read miller beginners book and play tight/solid until you know better?

[/ QUOTE ]

Why do so many people feel the need to come in the BEGINNER forum and bash BEGINNERS by telling them they are no good. I bet they wouldn't be posting in the beginner forum with beginner questions if they were experts. Get a life

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Yes. ofdabeat is plainly out of line here, and I'm glad the community is drowning his message out with supportive posts.

But more to the point, OP shows more self-knowledge and understanding of bankroll than ofdabeat. Even when Party was as loose and terrible as the Foxwoods $1-2, and accessible to US players, that's no guarantee you wouldn't go broke if you played above your roll. For a poster to go insulting someone else when they plainly don't understand jack [censored] about BR management, and probably about poker in general, is pretty humorous.

Re: Rebuilding my bankroll--is this a good plan? Plus: PS + FTP questi
 

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What I would do is this: after you clear your stars bonus move to bodog and get advantage of their 10% bottomless bonus.

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According to Bodog support the bonus for poker players will probably never be reinstated. They're planning one for their football bettors, but the support person I spoke to a couple of days ago specifically said that it wouldn't apply to us poker players.

Re: Rebuilding my bankroll--is this a good plan? Plus: PS + FTP questi
 

Ahaha ofdabeat is such a bad guy! And is probably very bad at poker and life! Let's support the guy with 2000+ posts and 35$ of profit because being bad is not nice !

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lol, you probably are awful at poker for this kind of results on party pre-ban.
Why don't you read miller beginners book and play tight/solid until you know better?

[/ QUOTE ]

Very insulting why don't you ask for a ban?

Eheh now we learn OP has read books so it's even worse.

Re: Rebuilding my bankroll--is this a good plan? Plus: PS + FTP questi
 

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Very insulting why don't you ask for a ban?

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I'll ask. He can second.

Re: Rebuilding my bankroll--is this a good plan? Plus: PS + FTP questi
 

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Very insulting why don't you ask for a ban?

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I'll ask. He can second.

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Lol Go ahead

Re: Rebuilding my bankroll--is this a good plan? Plus: PS + FTP questi
 

I'd prefer that we self-police and just let you show your true colors. Then any observer can decide whether you're adding to the Beginners forum or not.

I'm laissez-faire like that. But if you're angling for a ban, I'm sure sooner or later you'll get your wish.

Re: Rebuilding my bankroll--is this a good plan? Plus: PS + FTP questi
 

You can ignore this user

Re: Rebuilding my bankroll--is this a good plan? Plus: PS + FTP questi
 

[ QUOTE ]
Even when Party was as loose and terrible as the Foxwoods $1-2, and accessible to US players, that's no guarantee you wouldn't go broke if you played above your roll. For a poster to go insulting someone else when they plainly don't understand jack [censored] about BR management, and probably about poker in general, is pretty humorous.

[/ QUOTE ]

When I first started online a few years ago it was with a $50 deposit on 'stars. Just testing the waters to be certain it wasn't a scam, or I was getting ripped off, or if it was "rigged" and all. I recall winning and getting hit in the face with the deck and doubling up in LHE playing 1/2 with my 'bankroll' - whatevah that was!

Now I had $100 and decided this was so easy I'd take my $100 to 3/6. A couple of $30 pots had me close to $150. Nice. Ka-ching! I could do this every day and get rich I thought!

Over the next 30 minutes I was back down to the $50 I started with, then $25. So moved down to .50/1 and lost the rest of it there. Wow, that seemed quick... Now I had no $$$ on 'stars and a serious case of being bummed out. I wanted to play but had no chips, and the 'play' thing wasn't gonna work.

I WAS HOOKED THOUGH! This online game was better than any home game I've ever played. Right in my living room, boxer shorts and all.

Now I'm a major BR believer. Worked my way up to 5/10 LHE than took some serious downswings, part bad play, confidence busting beats and losses, etc. Moved down to 3/6. Then down to 2/4. Then back to 1/2 and even .25/.50.

Now I'm building back up at the 5NL & 10NL games and having fun, and doing better. My bankroll? $1,000+. I did manage to turn my next $100 deposit into some nice coin. A couple of vacations were taken a couple of diamond necklaces were purchased for my wife. I decided to never again play my 'roll down to the nubbins. If I was losing, I was moving.

And I vowed to never allow my roll to get below $500 because I never wanted to have to tell my wife "I need to redeposit". I'm not playing on household money, mortgage money, grocery money and she can't say I'm a losing player even though there are, and were, times I lost $600 - $800 in a session.

Playing with a short 'roll isn't +EV for most people.

Playing with sound bankroll management is the foundation of our game.

EN

EDIT: Which is why I'm here at 2p2 and have gone from 'lurker' to hopefully a more knowledgeable player by being more active in the community.

Re: Rebuilding my bankroll--is this a good plan? Plus: PS + FTP questi
 

This may seem ingenuously simple, but building the first $1000 or $2000 of bankroll is largely about playing games you can beat at a decent rate. Since that means you shouldn't be playing at any tables where the max. buyin is more that $50 or $100, it shouldn't be hard to do on any site or network with a reasonably number of players. The only difference in this regard is that the larger ones have more tables to chooses from.

Also, I wouldn't put to much emphasis on bonuses. Don't get me wrong; they're nice. However, if you're a winning player, the bonuses will take care of themselves. Don't do what I see too often, which is to play more hands and/or more aggressively in order to clear a bonus sooner.

Re: Rebuilding my bankroll--is this a good plan? Plus: PS + FTP questi
 

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Also, I wouldn't put to much emphasis on bonuses. Don't get me wrong; they're nice. However, if you're a winning player, the bonuses will take care of themselves. Don't do what I see too often, which is to play more hands and/or more aggressively in order to clear a bonus sooner.

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Understood. However, one of the things that I was hoping to so was play more hands. One of my biggest problems when I was playing in 2005 (other than playing too high and cashing out when I shouldn't have) was playing 50- or 100-hand sessions. I really think that I should resist hopping in and out of games for no good reason (right?).

But, point taken.