[Cobbler]

Of course it is possible, if you are capable of beating those games to the required level.

My game seems more suited to cash games than tournament play at the moment, working on that too though.

[Michael SJ]

Originally posted by Brian W:
I think its time to structure my poker play to make money:


I know many of you use limit cash games to accumulate cash and change up the levels from 0.50/1 to 1/2, 2/4, 3/6, 5/10 etc. My problem is cash games bore me like nothing else on earth

Does anyone think its possible to do the same with SNGs?

I have around $25 right now and am going to start playing $5 SNGs, with the aim of reaching $100. Once I reach $100, I will switch to $10 buy-ins. If I drop below $50, I'll switch back down. If I reach $300, I'll withdraw $100, and switch up to $20 and probably try to turn the remaining $200 into $500 or something.

Can this work, or am I doomed to failure?

$100 is nowhere enough of a bankroll for $10 buy -ins no matter how good you are. The varience of SNGs is just too great.

You'll need a bankroll of around 30-50 buy-ins to counter potential varience in results imho.

[Cobbler]

30 - 50 buy-ins for playing in 10 player events is overdoing it I think. If 10 -15 isn't enough at those levels, then you're probably not beating the game in any event.

[The_Bends]

Rubbish, bankroll management is there to deal with unlikely events. 20 buy ins should be the minimum.

If you have 10 and get bad beated in the first 5 (not that unlikely) suddenly you're down to 5 and playing under extreme pressure.

[DeafParrot]

yep, as has been said, 20 buy ins should be your bankroll before you even contemplate moving up. So $100 for $5 sngs, or $400 for $20.

[Brian W]

as if to prove your points, I've just managed to get bad beated three hands running over two SNGs. Pair vs undercard/overcard preflop twice, and two-pair vs overpair on the flop once.

[bdcuk]

In the long run bankroll management this key to winning at poker(assuming you have some ability to play :cool.

As The bends said if you suffer just a few bad beats then all of a sudden your playing on a tight bankroll and this will effect your game adversly, DONT play with scared money.

You should have a bankroll that allows you to lose far more than you expect to and you will then be able to play your own game without worring about losing it all.

As for playing Sit'n'goes as opposed to cash games, you will have a much higher variance with sit'n'goes due to the payout structure(top 3 only) however if you are a proficient player of these events and can beat them over a time they seem to be a relativly risk free option. Personally I find the low buyins(5-20) to much effort for the reward and the higher buyins(30+) to difficult to make a consistant profit, but thats just me.

So as for a bankroll for sit'n'goes I would agree with DP that 20x the buyin is the minimum, however remember there is the rake to be considered, so for $10 games you should have $220 not $200.

One last thing, remeber to keep ACCURATE records as these will help with profit and loss.

Cheers

Steve

[Brian W]

Originally posted by bdcuk:
In the long run bankroll management this key to winning at poker(assuming you have some ability to play :cool.

As The bends said if you suffer just a few bad beats then all of a sudden your playing on a tight bankroll and this will effect your game adversly, DONT play with scared money.

You should have a bankroll that allows you to lose far more than you expect to and you will then be able to play your own game without worring about losing it all.

As for playing Sit'n'goes as opposed to cash games, you will have a much higher variance with sit'n'goes due to the payout structure(top 3 only) however if you are a proficient player of these events and can beat them over a time they seem to be a relativly risk free option. Personally I find the low buyins(5-20) to much effort for the reward and the higher buyins(30+) to difficult to make a consistant profit, but thats just me.

So as for a bankroll for sit'n'goes I would agree with DP that 20x the buyin is the minimum, however remember there is the rake to be considered, so for $10 games you should have $220 not $200.

One last thing, remeber to keep ACCURATE records as these will help with profit and loss.

Cheers

Steve

Cheers for the advice

I'm back up to just in profit after winning a tournament earlier. I guess my aim is to reach the money in 50-60% of tourneys. From there its not much more than a crapshoot. As for keeping records...I haven't as yet, but I will do now as I think that'll help me identify where I'm maybe going wrong

[bdcuk]

Over the long run 50-60% money finish would fantastic. I hope you achieve it but dont be surprised if you dont. Remember that the long run really does mean the long run, even 100 games is a small sample.As for the record keeping it really is vital if you want to be serious, its very easy to delude yourself about your results, I know because ive been guilty of it myself
Poker tracker is apparently very good, unfortunately its unavailable on the site I play

Cheers

Steve

[Brian W]

Originally posted by bdcuk:
Over the long run 50-60% money finish would fantastic. I hope you achieve it but dont be surprised if you dont. Remember that the long run really does mean the long run, even 100 games is a small sample.As for the record keeping it really is vital if you want to be serious, its very easy to delude yourself about your results, I know because ive been guilty of it myself
Poker tracker is apparently very good, unfortunately its unavailable on the site I play

Cheers

Steve

It is very easy to delude yourself I think...for instance, I've moneyed 3 times in 8 today. Of the 5 I failed in, I'd say I was bad beated out of 3 of them (one was a 70% shot, one was a 90%, the other was a combination of a 90% and 70% when there were 4 left and one had about 400 chips)...but on the other hand the one I just moneyed in I was very lucky to hit a flush on the river after getting pot committed after the turn.

All things being equal today I should've moneyed 4 or 5 times out of 8. But I'm going to concentrate on actual results and see where I end up. So far I'm a whopping $6 up, which at the current exchange rates is about a pint and a half.

Anyway, new plan is to get to $200 on $5 SNGs, then to $600 on $10 SNGs, withdraw $200 and start $20 SNGs with the remaining $400. I envisage getting stuck at that point...I doubt I'm good enough for that level.