Well, this is my first post in this thread. I don't actually know my goal in posting here, but I want to and I guess this is the right place.

I started played 1/2 live in Curitiba/Brazil with no BR 3 months ago. I used to play online and had some great results, but invested most on my money in my car and other personal stuff and then found myself almost "broke". I was studying and working, and lived with my parents, so a R$300 shot wasn't gonna mess up my life a lot in case I lost, so I went for it.

I eventually stopped going to the university as I was getting so thrilled and involved in working and playing. Obviously this was followed by my parents's great frustration and disapproval, sadly.

I've never had such improvement in my game or in the way I approach it as I had in the past 3 months. Live poker has so many refiner aspects than online, despite the game being easier. Live tells, fantastic beats, playing under rolled, live tilt, dealing with loads of frustration and other things... It was really (and still is) the best coach I could've "payed" for.

From now on, i'll be trying to put an average 7h/day 6days/week. I guess it will be hard, because I always have a break at 4-5h for dinner.



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So, this is it, basically in almost 60 sessions.

Hello, I'm a recreational poker player who is beginning to play more serious. I started the year with a $100 bankroll and built my roll up to 1k playing a weekly .25 50 cent homegame.

Since then i have began to go to the local casino(2hours away) a couple of times a month to play 1/2 as well as continued to play in the local home game. I have built my roll up to $2300. I'm wanting to start playing alot more 1/2. What bankroll would you recommend I do that at. Being a recreational player" although i have studied the game hours" I want to know if i shouldn't be taking these 1/2 shots or if it is ok i continue to do so. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

$2300 is fine for a rec player.

2300 should be just enough to take shots. Goodluck

If your roll dips below 1500 I would buyin very short and be a hit and run ratholler till you restore your roll... And if you drop down to 1k save your monies and get a job to restore.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm wanting to eventually use poker as a "part time job" Never quitting my day job but makinga extra 5k to 10k a year. At what point can i feel my roll is adequate for playing more often and not having to worry as much about going broke due to variance in live 1/2 poker?

Thanks Agian

I'm in the same situation. I got my roll up to $2200, then played bad, got down to $500, then changed my buy-in strategy and stopped buying in for $200 and started to buy-in for $80. Since then I have a greater focus and better game, and have built my roll back up to $2400.

Here is my plan regarding buy-ins and my bankroll

Bankroll Buy-in

>$3500 $80
3.5-4.5K $100
4.5-6K $120
6K-7.5K $160
7.5-10K $200

While I understand that buying in short if I am a good player is viewed as -EV, I have found that I play well when I buy-in for $80 because I spew less than when I buy-in for $200 previously because I don't put myself in marginal spots, I find great spots to double up my stack, even without being all-in and that I have a higher upside and less of a downside that buying in for $200. I will reload if I get below $60.

Flame Away!

Bankroll nit confirmed; but its great to see that you are playing within your comfort zone and not listening to the "standard advice". If you aren't playing optimal with $200 buyin, then continue to do what you do.

I advise working on your "leaks" so you can buy in for 200 later on. If you truley improve at that, you will increase your winrate buying in full.

Hey guys, I've been destroying the 1/2 games lately. After a brief break-even period, I'm finally going up hill again. Out of the last 5 sessions I've played, THREE of them have been $600+ profit sessions. I've been running good, winning a coinflip once, and winning a big pot w/ set vs straight by making a boat. I haven't been playing much different from before except loosening up slightly preflop and trying a few more bluffs in small to medium sized pots.

Also, I'm actually getting dealt hands. I actually get dealt 88+ or A10suited+ several times in an 8 hour session. I'm also actually flopping sets maybe once every 8 hours on average. For a 100 hour period before this I would regularly go 8 hours without making anything stronger than one pair on the flop, and never getting dealt 88+ or A10suited+ preflop.

The power of positive thinking.

Good to hear. Hopefully I can manage the same. Have lost 4 or 5 sessions in a row. All of which involved my C game coming out in the late hours.

For now I inked my left hand with the letter A to remind myself live poker is slow and easy money so be patient.

Great to hear. From your threads it looked like you were in some tough spots for awhile (AK flush draw on paired board in 3 bet pot thread with a turn decision, etc.)

In other words, since you are consciously aware that you haven't changed anything, you are on an upswing.

I wouldn't be so quick to celebrate on simple variance.

I know it sounds sour, but I am speaking simple truth.

$2/5 STATS - WinRate

Just an update, been about two months.

392.75 hours of live $2/5 played since BF
$15,094 profit
$640 Expenses (gas/tolls)
67 hours of travel time
$38.43/hour on the tables
459.75/$14,454 = $31.44/hour after expenses and travel time

Hourly been dropping slightly, but I am still in recovery from a big downswing from about 2 months ago (dropped 10 buy-ins in 3 days). Thankfully, positive results in my very limited sample size of $5/10 has helped to improve my overall stats, but that data is not included here. Plan is to update next when I have 1000 hours clocked @ $2/5, but we'll see if I ever get there (plan is to be playing $5/10 full time by the end of the year).

Just started playing some NL again and so far:

45 hours
$1800
40/hr

Will be putting in about 40 hours a week so we'll see where I gp fro here.

been working on my game a ton. i've fixed some major leaks i've had. My AI-EV is majorly negative still.

That being said, I'm on a ridiculously unsustainable heater.

85 hours, $2230 profit.

Doesn't seem like that's going to keep up. It's been fun though. Nice to upswing after putting in significant work on your game.