If I have enough money in my bankroll to play 10NL, should I start there? or should I just start at 5NL until I'm comfortable playing that? If I do 10NL, I would move down to 5NL if I happened to drop below $200.


Thanks

You'll most likely be a losing player if you're just beginning, and 5NL will leave you with more cushion. Regardless of the stakes you're playing, you should learn to think about your stack in terms of blinds rather than raw monetary value, so I don't see any use in starting higher. It'll be slightly less exciting, but that's a good thing.

You need both bankroll and skill.

/thread

I'd definitely recommend starting at 5nl regardless of your bankroll (unless you're happy to lose most of it) as it's a much better place to learn since the skill level is worse than 10nl. Plus if you're new as others have said you'll likely start off losing so might as well lose some $5 BI's rather than $10 ones.

I know they are both important, I was just asking what stakes to start at. Anyways, I've been playing for a while now, but online just a few days. I know I can beat 5 NL, I'm a winning player and my losses come from mistakes in big hands once in a while.

I guess I'll keep playing 5NL until I patch some more mistakes, and move up when I am sure I am winning in the long run.


Thanks

Play what your bankroll lets you.

Bankroll

Believe me , Skill is 80% and Bankroll 20% (IMO)
I had the bankroll for 10NL and tried it 2-3 times in a few months. Everytime went busto...
Put the work on to 5NL (maybe play like 15-30K hands..) , get a little comfortable online , then if you have a good felling + Bankroll + Skill to beat smaller games , Move up.
Games will be there
Time to put on small one to get comfortable really worth it.

It seems like you're pretty comfortable with 5NL, so why not move up so you can challenge yourself and learn quicker?

I did this, worked out well. Profited a full buy in on a 10NL table, and on a 25NL table as well (I know I shouldn't have been there, wanted to see if there was a difference in play and was okay with the risk I was taking). I know where my main leaks are, and honestly the stakes don't make much of a difference. In 5NL, I'll call the river just to see that I made a bad call in a 4-bet preflop pot, so that next time I know what kind of range I'm typically against. I'm taking a loss once in a while to improve my game in the long run.

Thanks for feedback everyone, will continue to play 5NL and 10NL for now as my bankroll fits, and will move up to 25NL when my bankroll allows me too. Will be fixing as many leaks in my play as I can in the time being.

One thing is that losing players don't have bankrolls. They have an amount that they can lose before they quit poker or go broke. But if you're winning at some given stake then your bankroll is designed such that your risk of ruin is negligible. It then in theory doesn't matter at what stake you start because you'll always drop down to a level at which your bankroll and winrate recover.

So start at 1knl if your outside income covers it comfortably, but it might be demotivating to lose a lot, and it would take a hell of a lot of 5nl to get it back.

All this is kind of moot though because none of us have any way of knowing how good you are. If you're new to online poker then you don't really know either. Could be 5nl's beneath you, could be 10nl's too much. Kind of have to just set some money aside and find out at the tables.

basically what I was thinking. If I can't beat 10NL then I'd end up at 5NL anyways, if I can beat it I'd move up eventually. I mean, I've played tables up to 25NL now and I've won by playing my range over my hand when I miss. I almost think it's easier to beat 25NL at some tables with this style, because the players read ranges better, so representing the better portion of my range slightly more than average is profitable. Overall my experience has been pretty similar in these stakes, and I'm just going to keep playing what my bankroll dictates and see where it takes me. I have about 235ish on ignition so I'm gonna play 10NL. If i drop below 200 I'll play 5NL. pretty simple i guess, thanks

A wise man once wrote "I value legitimate win rates." Try putting in 200k hands at 5NL. Plug whatever leaks you have when it won't be that expensive for you to find what they are. If you beat it convincingly enough, move up to 10NL for 500k hands.

Just my 2 cents.

I don't have any software to track my hands as of now, I play on ignition btw. Would you recommend getting Pokertracker4, Ignition card catcher, and ignition hand converter to track my progress? I've been reading this combo is best for ignition players. Also, what is a decent winrate? Thanks for feedback.

Well PT can do alot for a player who wants to study and improve. It allows hands review which is most important, it enables hud, converts hands for thread post...
But the cost is cca your bankroll, look for a free soft, use trial version before buying.
Also any winrate zero+ before rakeback is good and majority of players do not achieve it.

+1. I use PT4. I used the free version before I bought it and watched vids on how to use it.