Cash games or tournaments?

[Harv72b]

Oh, shoot...when I read "low buy-in STTs" I was thinking of $10+1s & 20+2s; I forgot that OP's bankroll was that limited.

Yeah, it's probably a much better idea to grind out some profits in the cash games first. The $1 STTs are possibly still profitable, but probably not by much (and certainly not by as much as the .01/.02 cash games).

[AlphaFiveThree]

I really don't think that playing super low stakes will make anyone a better player, it's alot like playing 'play' games where you never win anything, you end up getting players of a very low standard that are either new to the game or just want to waste their money, however this may not be good advice because of people's bankrolls.

For learning purposes i think you have to analyse each hand that you played either straight after or a little while later to work out if you were either out drawn or outplayed, another factor to consider would be time, alot of poker 'should' involve you sitting around waiting for hands to come up that you deem playable - when the stakes are so low you fancy playing high to low hands because it's only 1/2 cent more right? however this can only sometimes apply to cash games, tournaments are very different, but you will still get some hit and hopers who go all in with the first Ax they see to try and double up straight away and if you play in these low cost tourny's then players won't care about the money involved.

I hope it makes sense, i won't re-read it because it would take too long to try and write it again [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[florescent]

I dont post often, but in my opinion when I started playing I found limit boring because I couldnt do that large raise like they do on tv, but playing and learning helped me develop fundementals and apply what I learned from books. Grinding it out on the micro limits help your learning curve and doesnt do too much damage to your psyche when you pay buy in after buy in with no significant return on your investment. Stick to micro, but definitely evaluate your play once you have a feel for your game.

[Poker Clif]

[ QUOTE ]
I really don't think that playing super low stakes will make anyone a better player, it's alot like playing 'play' games where you never win anything, you end up getting players of a very low standard that are either new to the game or just want to waste their money, however this may not be good advice because of people's bankrolls.

For learning purposes i think you have to analyse each hand that you played either straight after or a little while later to work out if you were either out drawn or outplayed, another factor to consider would be time, alot of poker 'should' involve you sitting around waiting for hands to come up that you deem playable - when the stakes are so low you fancy playing high to low hands because it's only 1/2 cent more right? however this can only sometimes apply to cash games, tournaments are very different, but you will still get some hit and hopers who go all in with the first Ax they see to try and double up straight away and if you play in these low cost tourny's then players won't care about the money involved.

I hope it makes sense, i won't re-read it because it would take too long to try and write it again [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

I think it makes sense to be able to play different styles. For instance, I have played in local charity NLHE tournaments in Michigan where a table might be loose or tight, and a new player that can be scared out of any pot by a big raise is sitting next to someone who has played poker for 30 years.

I just looked at the listing for .01/02 NLHE games on Pokerstars. I checked see the flop percentages: the lowest was 32 and the highest was 69. They might all be loose, bad players (except for me of course!), but there are still things to learn and adjustments to make.

At the 69% table you might play very differently than at the 32% table. At the 69% table you're going to play a lot more small pocket pairs, one- or two-gap suited connectors, and suited aces/kings/queens. (This is discussed in Small Stakes Hold 'em.)

You always need to be able to adjust, and being able to take advantage of bad, loose players is as valuable a skill to learn as any other.