What level should I play?

[Doc T River]

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.

[metsfan88]

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.

[djcarter66]

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.

[pzhon]

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

[/ QUOTE ]
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.

[metsfan88]

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.

[Nsight7]

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.

[Doc T River]

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.

[pzhon]

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.

[Quicksilvre]

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).