What level should I play?
 

Within thirty days, I will have some money on an online site and I was hoping to get suggestions as to what level I should play at in order to practice good bankroll management, but have a chance to make at least some money.

I have some experience playing 1 cent/2 cent no limit and 2 cent/4 cent limit on PokerStars due to my freeroll winnings, but I have not played that much.

Should I start playing at those levels despite the fact that my bankroll would allow me to play at a higher level or should I start at the highest level my bankroll would allow?

Would someone tell me what level that would be? As I am not sure how much I am going to deposit, would someone tell me what levels for each $25 I might deposit? In other words, what level should I play if I deposit $25, what level should I play if I deposit $50, what level should I play if I deposit $75, and what level should I play if I deposit $100?

Would you please express the answer in terms of blinds and not 10NL, 20NL, 50NL, etc?

Thank you in advance for your responses.

Re: What level should I play?
 

Don't deposit only $25 that could be gone if you have an early bad run. I would say at least deposit $50. With $50 you will have 25 buy-ins for .01/.02 (2NL). I wouldn't play higher than .01/.02 if you only deposit $50. If you deposit $100 you can start at .02/.05 (5NL). For .10/.25 (25NL) I would deposit at least $500. To figure out what level you can play based on your bankroll do (BB*100)*20. So for example at .02/.05 (.05*100)*20 = $100.

Re: What level should I play?
 

I recommend starting NL with a $0.02 big blind whether you deposit $25 or $2500.

Bankroll management is for winning players. If you have no experience, you should not assume that you are going to start out as a winning player.

The easiest games to beat, which give you the most rapid confirmation that you are winning and which take the least time to learn to beat, are the ones with the lowest stakes. It also costs the least to learn to play there.

Once you learn to win, move up as your skills and bankroll and inclination allow.

Re: What level should I play?
 

I really would not play higher than .02/.05 with the amounts you are talking about, anything under $100 u might want to stay at .01/02 for a while.

Re: What level should I play?
 

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To figure out what level you can play based on your bankroll do (BB*100)*20.

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This is a very common suggestion, but it is wrong. It is like saying the time is 4:00 whenever anyone asks.

For lower stakes games, an expert does not need anywhere close to 20 buy-ins. In tougher games, an expert may need 50 or more buy-ins. The "20 buy-ins" guess is an assertion that all games are equally tough, which is absurd.

If you are not an expert, or if you sacrifice your win rate to play a lot of tables, you need more buy-ins to be as safe. If you are a losing player, you can lose any amount. The OP did not indicate that he could beat NL $25. Having a bankroll of $500 would not give him the skills to beat NL $25.

Re: What level should I play?
 

i agree, having a $500 bankroll wouldnt give you the skills to beat 25NL but it allows you to have some breathing room for you to drop down if you start to lose money. But honestly do you think having $100 bankroll is good enough to be playing 25NL? I think at minimum to get past the swings you would need at least 10-15 buy-ins.

Re: What level should I play?
 

Whatever you deposit, play just .01/.02 and give it your all for like 10K hands or so. If you do well, move up. If you aren't doing so well, stay at that level for awhile. Don't play underolled no matter what if you are indeed a winning player.

Re: What level should I play?
 

Let's approach the question in a slightly different way. If someone is going to start by playing .01/.02 NL, what is the maximum a player should deposit? Is there a maximum?

I would think that someone could have too big a bankroll for the level they are playing. It might be a temptation to not treat the money as seriously as they would if they started with a smaller, more appropriate bankroll.

Re: What level should I play?
 

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It might be a temptation to not treat the money as seriously as they would if they started with a smaller, more appropriate bankroll.

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If this is your attitude, then you are approaching it with the wrong mindset. You should be wanting to improve your game, and that is why everyone seems to be of the consensus stay at lower limits (.01/.02 or .02/.05) regardless of your bankroll.

One benefit of loading larger amounts might be to get a larger bonus if applicable.

Re: What level should I play?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Let's approach the question in a slightly different way. If someone is going to start by playing .01/.02 NL, what is the maximum a player should deposit? Is there a maximum?

I would think that someone could have too big a bankroll for the level they are playing. It might be a temptation to not treat the money as seriously as they would if they started with a smaller, more appropriate bankroll.

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the maximum is irrelevant until you know you can beat the level you are playing at. I understnad what you are trying to get at, that you will have less respect for your buyins if they are a small proportion of your bankroll, but that has got to be the wrong way to approach it. That is a lack

play to improve your game. play to learn. this will increase your win rate and allow you to comfortably move up to the higher levels. dont watch your cash level. watch your winrate per 10,000 hands. analyse your play and build from there.

as long as your are not under bankrolled for a level then the $ in your account should not be part of your thinking when playing.

It may seem like you are playing for silly amounts of cash. you could spend hours online and only make 24c but this is where you should be looking at winrate ie bb/100 or bb/hour not the value of $ you made.

Re: What level should I play?
 

Start at NL2. It's way more fun to work your way up than to have to move down when you are losing. It builds confidence and pads your bankroll.

You need to keep in mind that the maximum buy-in for NL2 on Stars is $5, i.e. I would suggest to deposit at least $100 to give you 10 full buy-ins.

However, I felt more comfortable in the beginning (i.e. first 1000 hands or so) to buy-in in for only $2 to get a feel for the game without risking too much of my roll. Even if there are some players at your table with bigger stacks, a lot of people at NL2 buy-in for only a buck or 2.

Re: What level should I play?
 

Thanks for all the replies.

I do have quite a bit of experience in no limit, but it has been mainly in bar tournaments or other "live" settings. I also play a lot of freerolls onlines, but I don't play that much play money ring games.

As I would consider myself a newbie (and probably most people would agree) in terms of online play, I am going to start with the .01/.02 level.

Re: What level should I play?
 

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You need to keep in mind that the maximum buy-in for NL2 on Stars is $5, i.e. I would suggest to deposit at least $100 to give you 10 full buy-ins.

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That would be 20 250 big blind buy-ins.

People keep repeating 20 buy-ins out of context. This is an example. It is much, much harder to lose 250 BB on an hand than to lose 100 BB. You do not have to buy in for 250 BB--despite the common misconception, buying in for less than the maximum does not put you at a disadvantage at all. NL with a $0.02 big blind does not require anywhere near as many buy-ins as a game where people play try to keep tehir money.

It is very hard to lose $10 at this level. If you are a winning player, and are so absurdly conservative that you feel you need to have $100 playing with a big blind of $0.02, then you should a few hundred buy-ins at NL $25, and perhaps a thousand buy-ins in a tough game. If those seem excessive, then so is having $100 to play NL with a $0.02 big blind.

Of course, if you aren't confident that you are a winning player, then having a budget (not a bankroll) of $100 may give you room to learn to win. If you are learning, it is a bad idea to buy in for 250 big blinds at a time. Buying in for 50 big blinds is more reasonable. If you hope to play for higher stakes, note that the maximum buy-in is usually 100 big blinds, so you may want to practice that.

If someone asks how to play top pair, you'd say it depends. You would not say push all-in, or check-fold. If someone asks how many buy-ins you need, you should say it depends. You should not say 20 buy-ins, even though that is occasionally correct, at levels that are not close to NL with a $0.02 big blind.

Re: What level should I play?
 

That is something that Mark Blade stresses in his book. He says it is wrong to give a pat answer of you need X number of buy-ins.

Re: What level should I play?
 

I would recommend just playing the .01/.02 games for at least your first few thousand hands, since it sounds like you don't really know how good you are in the real money games.

It you deposit at least $50, and you feel comfortable after your first few thousand hands, you might want to consider going up to .02/.05. However, you have to make sure you're not kidding yourself, and be willing to step back down if things don't go your way. That said, up to NL10 the players on PokerStars are pretty bad, so if you can beat .01/.02, you should be able to beat .02/.05.

That's all for no limit. If you're interested in limit, I would suggest starting at .05/.10 (the second-lowest level), since even with just $25 you have a decent roll for it (250 big bets in this case).