Playing .01/.02 isn't worth it if you don't know what you're doing.

My suggestion was to really build a bankroll with NL while studying/playing low stakes LHE. Depending on how seriously OP wants to play, I don't think it's worth trying to build a legit bankroll playing live 3/6.

+1

I'd say spend most of your time studying away from the table and practicing on 3/6 without worrying about results. After a while you can start taking controlled shots at higher limits.

The OP only played 5 sessions so far, so that's why I wasn't sure that playing 8/16 would be a good idea at this point. I also don't know how big his bankroll is. I agree that 8/16 is a much better place to build a bankroll for players who are semi competent.

I actually think it is worth it for new players who don't know what they are doing. A new player who starts at 8/16 is only likely to lose their bankroll unless they've spend some significant time studying the game. The same person isn't going to lose the same amount of money playing .01/.02. This is why playing in games like .01/.02 or 3/6 actually make more sense for a lot of people IMO.

This obviously doesn't mean that the OP should never play 8/16. 3/6 might be worthless when it comes to trying to build a bankrolll, but it's fine for people who are new to the game, are still learning, and who are building a bankroll in other ways before they start to play 8/16.

Your standard deviation in any limit game is going to be around 13 BB/hour, at least this is my experience. If you can't break even at 3/6 over a long period then playing higher is probably just donating money to better players. So the people that recommend 8/16 because of the rake is not providing the full picture IMO.

Mike, you are correct in that an inexperienced player should try to learn at a level that won't cost him/her much.

I just want to add that these days, with $5 rake + tip, it's pretty much impossible to break even long term playing 3/6 even with expert play. Play it to learn the basics, or see it as -$3 to -$5 an hr entertainment.

Thanks.

I'm trying to make $3 or $4 an hour at 3/6 which I'm have been doing last few months. Pay for gas. Since April 2011, 157 hours winning $4.53 hour.

Since 2003 I have played 2002 hours at 3/6 at -$2.55 is cheap entertainment.