Here is my update (not going to do many of these) - see my twitter for more frequent updates:
https://twitter.com/10to00k
Currently have $1.28 and €2.34 - which is $4.18. Let me summarize a couple of things since the start of this thread.
1) I started betting for value way, WAY too early. (When I was up 20% versus my buy-in). This was inexcusable. Initially, I was happy every time I got a call - loads of thick value. But with this few buyins to work with, that wasn't good at all. I hit rock bottom soon and was clawing my way back up.
2) I thought the lowest level I could win at was $0.10. I asked here in the forum about beating hyper-turbo tourneys (where the buyin is $0.02) and got great answers! I tried a few, four I think, and placed in one, winning $0.10 - which would be a 400% ROI on my $0.02, if not for the ones I didn't place in.
What is important here is that I'm not sure I'm a winning player at that stake, but at least now I have a shot with some new techniques.
So the way I would break down my goals with the current $4.18 or so is as follows:
$2 is reserved for 100 bi's at the $0.02 hyper-turbos. I expect that I may not be a winning player (positive ROI) until doing dozens and dozens of them, even though I have now placed.
So rather than "only" reserving 60 or however many against variance, I'm reserving the rest of the hundred just because I may be a losing player.
The point is I would be protected from going busto, by playing the $0.02 tourneys until I grind out enough wins to take a shot at the $0.10 tourneys, where I'm more consistent.
That leaves $2.18, which is 21 bi's at the $0.10 tourneys. However, I don't think I need that many to have a positive ROI, as I do quite well in them.
So, I am reserving $1.00 for ten $0.10 bi's. It's possible I would drop all ten (lose a net ten and be down to $2) - that would mean I have to move down to the $0.02 tourneys as outlined above.
Of course, I would be quite motivated to win the $0.10 tourneys as grinding out $0.02 tourneys is a nightmare. It's my final cushion.
Finally, that leaves $1.18 for me to currently work with: a single buyin at $1.
This is what I was speaking about earlier in terms of "taking a shot".
The above three steps are EXACTLY what I would be doing at a higher level as well. Optimistically moving up. (The difference here is that I expect I'm already "really" a winner at $1 bi.)
Also, $1 is, obviously, ten times as much as $0.10 and one is a tourney one is cash, so it's not fully reflective of my stepping-up program.
How do you work with a SINGLE buy-in?
Well, I have a few tricks for this as well. This might also transfer to taking shot at much higher stakes if I manage to successfully grind my way up.
The main points boil down to:
-> Reduce. Variance.
How do you do that? By leaving value behind, for one thing. For another, by investing more energy into variance-reducing activities, such as....reading hands.
Obviously if all of your opponents are playing with their hands face-up (though they don't know this) then you could have close to 0 variance. A single buy-in, if you refuse to go all-in with less than the nuts, could easily be turned into larger winnings.
I will let you know with more updates on how this is going.
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/10to00k
Highlight: Learning how to beat $0.02 hyper-turbos by asking here.
Lowlight: Starting to value-bet with less than 15 bi's.
Stepping-up/stepping-down program:
< $2 remaining (up to $2.10). Do nothing but $0.02 tourneys ($2 = 100 bi's) until having at least $2.10
At least $2.10 (up to $3): grind out $0.10 tourneys until I have another $1 for another swing at $1 bi.
At least $3 (current situation): take another swing at $1 bi with variance-reducing ploys; also rathole winnings. (e.g. if my stack size reaches $1.60, leave and enter another room with $1).
Many many variance-reducing ploys go here.
Bankroll management in practice

- yes, you can do it even with $4.10