grinding.. true micro to 1/2,2/4,3/6 timeframe?

[Chrysiptera]

Hey all..

I'm currently grinding away at .10/.20 and .25/.50 with a bankroll of about $170(split between PS and FTP). I want to build my BR to play 3/6 so when I'm playing I can actually make some appreciable monies..

How long did it take you guys to do that? Assuming you are running ok, and MTing 3-4 tables it seems like one would be able to go up a level in 50-70 hours of MT play.. Is that crazy or possible?

-Chry

PS: (since I started playing limit I've been pulling 3.5BB/100 over roughly 12k hands(just got PT))

[nerdking]

i've been running similar over about a 5 month timeframe now. I started with 12 bucks at the .02/.04 tables on stars and steadily ground my way up through .05/.10, .10/.20, .25/.50 and now I'm peaking my head into .50/1. You need to keep in mind that that winrate isn't going to be constant. You're going to run bad at times (as I'm finding at .50/1) and you also have to worry about the constantly rising difficulty of the opponents you'll be facing. 50-70 hours of MT play won't turn 170 dollars into 1800. It'll take a lot longer.

[Chrysiptera]

For sure.. Sometimes when you are running well it seems like every pocket pair turns to trips, then when you are running bad it is as if trips never happen.. hah..

FWIW, my guesstimate of 50-70 hours would be going from .5/1.00 to 1.00/2.00, not all the way up.. also, that would be with like a 2.5 BB/100h rate..

So, to go to $1800 it'd be about 200-300 hours of MT play time, with around a 2BB/100h rate

the bigger issue is that, so I've heard, winrate drops when you go up a level. So far I haven't seen that happen, but I've only played 2-3k hands at .50/1.00, and only 100 or so at 1.00/2.00.

-Chry

[bbbushu]

i've heard some people like bicyclekick and scary_tiger streak though the ranks in months to the middle limits and higher and i hate them for it [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

i go pretty slow but i think i could move up faster if i was playing more. consistent play and constant attention to improving your game are probably the most important factors in moving up at all, fast or slow.

bbbushu

[nerdking]

just looked at my stats and i've got 730 odd hours of play in getting where i am

[hizo]

FWIW, here's my grinding over the past 7 months with an original deposit of $200:

3,000 @ .25/.5
7,500 @ .5/.1
6,800 @ 1/2
24,000 @ 2/4
16,300 @ 3/6
14,000 @ 5/T
+ bonus whoring, which I stopped doing once I got to 2/4 or so.

I moved up at full ring as soon as I hit 350 BBs (bonus + winnings). At 2/4 I decided to learn 6-max and dropped back down to .5/1, working my way up to 5/T 6-max. My personal advice is to learn 6-max as early as possible (once you're beating the FR game), as I think this is where you'll have the greatest expectation with limit hold'em.

Obviously, due to variance the time frame for the above will vary tremendously. Don't worry about rushing through the limits to make good money/hr. In my opinion your poker goals at the moment should centre around improving as a player and building a solid theoretical foundation for the future. THe money will come by itself. Theory of Poker and SSHE have been sooo important to me. I also wish I had more time to contribute to the forums.

Also, when I took shots at higher limits I tried going in with 350 BBs and moving back down if I hit 250 BBs, and even if I was 4-tabling at a lower limit I'd focus on 1-tabling during this "trial" phase. Once comfortable with the new level I'd slowly add one table at a time.

Good luck.

Edit: I think I've added up to about 880 hours of playing since june... but this is after learning some micro-limit a couple of years ago, quitting, and then starting again.

[Bruce D]

As soon as the legislation came out, I had to move to FT.

I don't know how many hours or hands I have at FT. I estimate it's about 30K. I was playing 1/2 when I went there, and am now back to .25/.50. I am not certain as to the answer to my losses. I think I have become too loose, too aggressive and I bluff. The fact that I bluff at micros means I bluff too much.

So the answer to your question, is that I have been playing this game for 2 year now and I am not much further ahead now than I was a year ago.

I really need to reanalyze my game. I have been so busy the last few months though and haven't been playing much, nor have I been lurking much.

It is funny because I thought I was well on my way to a solid 1/2 game when I left Paradise, but the game plays differently on different sites, and I have some relearning to do I think.

[Dam]

I'm playing $1/$2 at UB and Pacific.

I only started about 6 months ago playing the 5c/10c tables at Planet, after depositing $50. Then moving to Pacific to play.

Ive moved up each level, through 10c/20c, 50c/$1 and then up to 1$/$2, by dipping into the higher level for a game every so often, whilst still playing mainly the limit I was used to.

I have always known when its right to move up a level - as Ive noticed myself becoming sloppy with my game, not concentrating properly and knowing I can still beat the tables.

I'm still not at that level with $1/$2 - as I'm winning 2 then losing 1. With no consistency. But now is the time, in the next few weeks, when I'll start playing the odd $2/$4 game. Just to see how if differs, how tight and aggressive the games are etc.

In total Ive played nearly 10k hands.

[HesseJam]

Well, I stormed through 10/25 with a winrate of 15 BB/100 and made steady progress at 25/50 intermitted by sharp downswings due to lost calibration and having the tendency to be a pay-off monkey. I have played like 15K hands of 0 BB/100 at 25/50.

My main fault is that I did not accept that NL defies the law of mathematics.

I found out that if you have a winrate of 15 BB/100 3 tabling full ring with 18/10/2.2 stats and you

- double the stakes to 25/50
- double the number of tables to 6 and
- double the number of hands you play to a 36 vpip (I own these donks anyways postflop, yeah)

you do not necessarily octuple your monies per hour. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]


Key is that you constantly work at your game and never fall into autopilot. Do not try to maximize your winrate per hour while on the way up but instead try to solidify your game. Get that BB/100 up. If you do this you can move up quicker in terms of hands played and with a smaller bankroll. Hand reading will get more important at 3/6 so start to do this at the lower levels. Table selection will get important. Minimizing leaks will get important ... and so on.

[Bubble Bully]

I keep flirting with LHE!!! I'm going to make a valid effort to really learn the game. I'm going to start at the .25/.50 on PS/ FT, grinding my way to the middle stake games. I might also take a shot at other levels with money that comes from an outside source.

I've read SSHE, the lee jones book, and Internet Texas Hold'em is sitting on my desk.

Losing my NL protect my top pair mentality is dying a slow death. Moments ago I caught myself trying to protect top pair on a draw heavy bored. Silly me.

Good Luck!