Stars .05/.10 -> .10/.20 Considerations

[Omgwtfpwned]

I bought into PokerStars with $25 a couple of weeks ago and have put in about 6000 hands on .02/.04 and .05/.10. Things have come along well, and I'm just about at $60 which will give me the suggested bankroll for .10/.20.

I'm happy about this, and I want to move up. But how much impact will the rake have against my win rate? (The lower games are unraked, which is great.)

Will the rake do as much as cut my expected win rate in half? (In which case, would it would make more sense for me to stay at .05/.10 until I grind out the bankroll for .25/.50?) I guess the FPPs have some value, so those should be factored in.

Any ideas from the many who have gone before me?

[afk]

Wow I didn't even know Stars had introduced 0.1/0.2... I remember making the jump from 5/10 cent to 25/50 cent...

Don't worry about the rake. Yes it will cut in to your win rate a bit but these games are plenty good and you have nothing to worry about. Don't stay at a lower level because you're worried about the rake at a new level. Don't think about FPPs either because you really aren't going to earn many (or any, most likely) at that level.

More importantly, realize you've been running quite hot and don't expect that win rate to last.

Good luck in moving up.

[TarHeel100]

As someone who recently moved up to .10/.20 on pokerstars, I can tell you, the rake just doesn't have that much of an impact. My BB/100 is still hovering around the 8 BB/100 range, and the play at these tables is really not very different from the .05/.10.

You are better off grinding at .10/.20 to reach the .25/.50 tables than you are the .05/.10 tables. I'm winning much bigger pots at .10/.20 and I will get up to .25/.50 much faster at these tables than I would at .5/.10.

[Omgwtfpwned]

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More importantly, realize you've been running quite hot and don't expect that win rate to last.

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I don't. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] I didn't post the BB/100 actual numbers, since they are still regularly bouncing around all over the place, and they'd just invite the whole variance debate. I'm thinking I shouldn't have put hand count either, since they're easily figured out!

Regardless, I'm happy to be starting off on the good side of variance. My last poker experience was about a year ago and ended with me getting frustrated after a prolonged cold run trying to break into $2/$4. This time around I'm swearing to ignore results as much as possible and just put the hand count in while posting questionable hands (to make sure my game isn't really going to crap).

Thanks for the valuable info!

[nuts]

Hi, I did the same thing as you with $50 on stars, and it's a great way to build a bankroll imo.

you won't get any fpp until .25/.50, and even then you will get very few. .50/1 and up will yield decent amounts of fpp.

More important than the rake is the rate at which you're beating the game. If it's less than 1bb/100 then don't move up. I think you'll be fine though. Those super low levels are really crazy though, until about .50/1 when games get a bit tougher (for me at least).

[afk]

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you won't get any fpp until .25/.50, and even then you will get very few. .50/1 and up will yield decent amounts of fpp.

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Eh, they don't really start to add up until 2/4. I only played about 6000 hands of .25/.50 at Stars but I only remember getting about 10 FPPs or so.

[Chris Daddy Cool]

i doubt the rate increase from .1/.2 would be that much if at all proportionally greater than .05/.10.

make the move up! if you have been playing well/confidently at .05/.10 you should have no problems at .1/.2.

[sarsen]

FWIW, I moved up to 0.10/0.20 a couple of weeks ago. My experience is that that the number of suckouts I've faced has gone down. Most of the players are tighter but still in that 20-40 Vpip range. The rake hasn't really affected (effected? who cares) my win rate. I'd say if you've got the bank roll and were crushing the 0.05/0.10 games, then moving up is the way to go.

[Langerz]

I would definitely move up. When I was going through these limits the 0.1/0.2 game wasn't available. Without it the jump to 0.25/.5 is fairly big. It would take too long in my opinion to build 300 BB for 0.25/0.5 at the 0.05/0.1 level. (I jumped really early). I never played at the 0.1/0.2 level, but the rake isn't too bad at 0.25/0.5 so I'm guessing it is meaningless at 0.1/0.2. Don't worry about FPP point either. You hardly accumulate any at 0.25/0.5, they don't really accumlate until 0.5/1.

[Yossalah]

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