So here is my situation. I've been playing poker with a general understanding with above average players successfully for a few years now. Haven't played much online, but have read quite a bit of material online and want to begin playing at a more profitable level. I have played at my local casinos around a dozen times and am up about $350. I am confident in my play. I would begin with a bank roll of $1,750 buying in for $125 into a $1/2 no limit game. Although max buy in is $400 most people only buy in for $250 max. I have a stable job and savings and only want to play for some extra cash. I guess my question is whether twoplustwo thinks ill be able to stay/be a winning player in the long run and how quickly ill be able to move up limits if I only stick to local casino games and tournaments. Sorry if i posted this in the wrong section. Thanks in advanced.
Kam3L3iN

The only information youve given us is that youve won ~2BI over 12 sessions.
Based on what youve said, all that can really be said is that if you study the game and understand the thought process of the average fish, you can beat these games with abc poker as they are filled with poor play. Also, dont buy in for $125. Buy in full or for $200 where your edge is greatest. $1750 is a little underrolled but not a big deal and sufficient to buy in for $200 each time and determine if you can beat the game.

Your roll is fine for 1/2. I would buy in full ($200) or more, as a thinking player's edge post flop with proper bet sizing is large.

As for how fast you might be able to move up, ???? You have very little history on which to go. Play at least a hundred hours and ask us again?

post back after around 1000 hours at live play. Then your numbers just start to meaning something.

Oh venice... Lock it up! (I love it when he does that)

On a serious note you should take advantage of a 1/2 game with a 400 dollar buy in by buying in full all the time. A lot of your money made at 1/2 comes from lesser players committing stacks with marginal hands.

Tough to answer since we have limited info. As was stated above, though, simply continue playing intelligent, tight, ABC poker, and you should be OK at the level you're at.

Assuming you have the roll you mentioned plus continual income from your job to play 1/2, I'd be buying in for $200 and topping up anytime you get significantly below that.

I mean, theoretically this is correct, but in practicality, this is a silly response, you might as well tell the guy to flat out leave this site. He plays recreationally and infrequently, he stated as much in his post. He's not going to have a big sample size anytime soon.

Although I agree that buying in for 200 would be better than 125, I would advise OP to not put $400 or like 25% of his roll on the table at one time. That, and we don't know anything about his ability to play a deeper stack. For the beginning I would argue that starting with a 100BB stack is plenty.

meh. post some hand histories then the good players on here can tell you if you're playing well

OP, what KUD is saying is that this thread really can't go anywhere. You've played 12 sessions and are up a bit. That's not enough time to decide whether you are a winning player or not. You state that the game you play is with above average players, but you really don't have any basis for saying that because of your limited experience. You've said you've done a lot of reading on-line, but you are asking if a nine standard (100BB) BI bankroll is sufficient to avoid the risk of ruin. Then you turn around and say you want to play a short stack game.

If your goal is to have a hobby that actually can make money, then go for it. As said above, playing a straightforward ABC game at 1/2 can be profitable. From the statements you made and your results, I don't think you're ready to start depending on poker for any income yet. Hang out in this forum, post hands that bother you and read the stickies. You'll get better.

Locking it up.