Starting out with $100 - advice needed

[crystalallen]

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While bonuses and rakeback may boost your win rate slightly, they are not worth much to a player with only $100.

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My bonus at FT amounts to 42% rakeback. In addition to that I will be getting rakeback through an affiliate.

[pzhon]

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While bonuses and rakeback may boost your win rate slightly, they are not worth much to a player with only $100.

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My bonus at FT amounts to 42% rakeback. In addition to that I will be getting rakeback through an affiliate.

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How many cents per hour would even 100% rakeback be worth to someone playing NL $2? My estimate is about 10-15 cents/table-hour, although it depends on a few factors; 42% rakeback would be worth 4-6 cents/table-hour. That is a lot less than the achievable win rates at that level, say 60 cents/table-hour. I stand by my statement that rakeback is not worth much to someone trying to build up from a $100 bankroll. It is much more important to find game you can beat for a good rate.

Rakeback at Full Tilt is worth a bit more to a microstakes NL player, since Full Tilt takes 10% rake at NL $10 instead of the normal 5%. However, that's not a good deal overall.

[ElBandito]

Either way, though- it is sage advice to sign up for RB in the beginning.

[crystalallen]

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Rakeback at Full Tilt is worth a bit more to a microstakes NL player, since Full Tilt takes 10% rake at NL $10 instead of the normal 5%. However, that's not a good deal overall.

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I play $5 and $10 SNGs - While I'm clearing my bonus I get to play the 5 for .29c instead of .50 and the $10 for .58c instead of $1. That's how I look at it.

It's really making a difference too. I wasted a bunch of time and money on UB.. Which, by the way: if anyone plays mainly SNGs UB is NOT the place to be. There is no rakeback for SNGs on UB.

[pzhon]

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Either way, though- it is sage advice to sign up for RB in the beginning.

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Not really. If the OP were planning to play on a site with rakeback, of course it makes sense, but the OP mentioned making a deposit to PokerStars. As far as I know, rakeback is not an option on PokerStars. There are many reasons for beginners to play there, and the prospect of getting a tiny reduction in rake elsewhere is rather unimportant compared with the presence of NL games with $0.02 and with $0.05 big blinds and lower rake at NL $10.

[SHOWPLOPPPER]

hey John,

i only took advantage of 1/2 the 1st time depo bonus(OBV donk) at PS and i played like i had some sort of BR and lost that quicker then it took to get it on PS. i then threw on $50 and haven't gone broke since and this was over a year ago now....

after losing a few K's at UB(my 1st net poker site) and issues at the home/job front...i learned BR management as best i could, especially when i donked of the first $25 at PS. i simply just said to myself...'this is the last bit make or break'.

for some reason it didn't bother me one bit that i started grinding the penny tables at PS with my big bad $50 when i was used to ranging pathetically through .25/.50-3/6NL at UB.

i like cash...sng's and mtt's and i wanted to play them all at PS and with PS having .10, .25 and .50 mtt's it was a blessing for 'us' that have a tiny BR. so my commitments were to grind out a session or 2 at .01/.02NL with my $1 or $2(sometimes $3) and whatever profit i made for my session i would use no more then 75% of it to play the sng's and mtt's i started to treasure so much on PS.

well i believe i got very fortunate with grinding upwards b/c i started getting some nice profits going to where i'd chance the $4.40 180 player donk fests and took 2 down almost side by side from each other(haven't won one since LOL). these wins OBV put me up in levels instantaneously. the using 2-5% of BR code of conduct(s) is a great way to stay alive in this game. using too much of your BR on one shot is quite the gamble that hasn't worked out in my favour for the majority(not even half of a half LOL).

if there's any advice i can give you...listen to what everyone has to say and take the good the bad and the SPLAMMMMMAGE out of it all and set your own rules of thumbs that are realistically maintainable and be consistent towards it all.

it's a slow grind upwards but upwards nonetheless...i learned you try to play beyond your means(financially, psychologically and intellectually) you're most likely going to hit 'paved' dirt(not pay dirt [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]).

hope this helps in anyway John,

Clayton

[evagaba]

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If you want to gamble a bit play the 4$ 180 STGs. Lots of weak players there.

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I would not recommend a beginner with $100 br to play these. Yes, they are VERY soft, but also very hard for a beginner to final table. I have won several, but I have also went 6-10 in a row without cashing many times. Stick to $2nl or $3sng TOPS.

Some sound advise here though.

[johnnydrama]

Thanks for replying Pzhon, you seem to understand the theory of BR management the best.

Do you have a handy chart that shows all the calculations based on "accepted" numbers for ROI, SD, etc? I am guessing that if SnG's offer a typical ROI and SD we should see a typical BR requirment. Or is that where the 100 buy-ins come from?

If I am a beginner or someone who has been playing for a few years without tracking my results I won't know my ROI or SD, correct? I would need hundreds of thousands of hands logged in PT to know for sure.

Am I right in my thinking?

Thanks again

[johnnydrama]

From what I have read about rake back, it is important to get it when signing up, only for the reason that if I move up and play high stakes later, I will see the benefit of RB at that time, not during my micro days.

[johnnydrama]

One final question. Seems that the advice is to play what I am comfortable with, be it cash or Sng or MTT. Focus on that to build my BR and play within the limits my roll defines.

However, how do I handle wanting to take the occasional shot at a bigger game? Say the wife and kids are away for a weekend and I want stay up all night and play in a 2000 player, $10 MTT just for fun and maybe if I run well, a nice cash.

Do I need to replace/deposit that $10 directly and leave my roll alone? Guess I am asking, is it OK to "gamble" with some of my roll on the very rare occasion? And if so, how often and how much?

Hate to think that my roll is only for one type of game at one type of limit. Or is that the definition of "grind"?

Thanks for all the good responses so far!!