Bo, nh, etc.

The $2/5 game at my local casino is uncapped. How should I adjust my shot taking for a game like that?

I scouted out the two $2/5 games that were going on Friday night while waiting for a seat at $1/3. One was fairly modest. It seemed like the biggest stack on that table was maybe $1k. I am guessing this would play like a normal $2/5 and I would need roughly $3k to take a shot at it.

However, the other table had a lot of money on it. I could not tell how much because hundos play and you can stack as many as you want under your chips. I am guessing the smallest stack was $500 and the biggest was $3k. The average stack was maybe $1.5k, but again it was hard to tell. From the looks of it, it played very loose.

I am debating on how much of a bankroll I should save up before taking a shot at $2/5. I guess it is just dependent on how much money is on the table and how the game is playing that night. But the uncapped nature of the game adds another element to it.

Can someone explain to me why you should take only occasional shots?

If you set aside 2 BI for a shot, why not play until you lose the 2BI (in which case you build back up for another shot) or until your BR has grown to the point that 2/5 is now your regular game?

I've taken year-long+ breaks from poker three times for various reasons. Each time I've started over again at the lowest limits and built up from there.

A few years ago I started playing live 2/4 limit and finished playing 40-80 by building a 300BB BR each time (OK, I cheated a little at the lowest limits because I wanted to gouge my eyes out). Generally, if I moved up it was because I had the BR for it. There was no reason to make each move up an occasional thing; I just moved back down if I lost a certain amount at the new level.

If the advice here is simply to move up with less stringent BR requirements, why attach a rider that you should play 2/5 once then 1/2 three times, rinse and repeat?

was joking about the life-tllt, btw

Thanks Coach!

I would say buy in for what you can play with comfortably. I took my shot with only $300 at the 2/5. It really doesn't matter how much everyone else has. The goal a lot is to double your stack so as long as more than half the table has you covered, that is great for you. Play tight and get your money in at the right time and you will get paid off a lot. Since I'm building my roll I tend to walk after doubling up because it is a large percentage of my bankroll on the table. If the game is particularly soft, stay awhile even if you get chipped up. Try to avoid high variance plays that will get you stacked while you are building. Good Skill!

Why would you leave after doubling up? One 4 BI session could put you up at 2/5 for good...

If you're gonna gamble with one shot you might as well make the most of it imo. Everyone does it different though

I like this approach because you're: (1) table-selecting, with attention to stack-sizing and (hopefully) player-types; (2) realistic about the prospect of dropping a 3K roll (not the end of the world). The idea of 1/2 players grinding to build a roll and then dropping a large portion of it through a lack of experience or variance just doesn't seem right (I mean, really I shouldn't care less, but, for some reason, I don't like seeing smart players suffer)

A few nights ago I saw a player do WHAT shot-takers IMO should NOT do. I was playing 2/3, largely because there was only one 2/5 table (with no large stacks and a number of tough players), and I'm enjoying the lower-stakes game at the moment. Anyway this guy on 2/3 had a 250BB stack and was on my 2/5 table on the weekend. He asks me why I'm not playing 2/5 (I mumble something). 45mins later this guy's dropped 75% of his stack (no coolers or bad-beats that I saw). What does he do? Goes to the 2/5 to make his money back!

Some guys take-a-shot because of (1) the status of the higher game and (2) frustration tilt, without actually paying attention to table-dynamics and player pools, let alone their own bankrolls, which, to me, always adds up to a one likely scenario---BUSTO!

Taking shots are exactly that....TAKING SHOTS.

If you want to take a shot at moving up any stakes the question is do you feel comfortable with losing 20% of your bankroll. Let's face it....most of the time this is an EGO shot at higher stakes. If you do, then go for it....take a shot and learn a little about yourself...take something from it regardless of if you win or not. At the end of the day every single shot taking experience is a learning experience.

Know what your ROR(risk of ruin) is and take whatever shots you want knowing what the risk/reward is. But at the end of the day I truly agree with "crushing" your current stake before moving forward as a player.

gl at the tables

Assume all profits are kept on a basis of playing ~20 hrs/week at an hr rate of $25-$30 per hour (just a good realistic assumption of hourly rate because I've been on a good run and had it a bit higher), not a big tilt factor, playing abc vs a lot of fish, no short handed, no ridiculous leveling. What std. deviation would you apply there?

I think the other guy just doesn't like you too btw ^

half a BI is not a shot.
4-5 BIs is a shot.

I have more than 4-5 BIs. That is just what I bought in for.

[QUOTE=twofingerted;31655010]Why would you leave after doubling up? One 4 BI session could put you up at 2/5 for good...

Technically, you shouldn't leave more than 10% of your bankroll at the table if you have a full roll. However, I understand shot taking is completly breaking those rules anyway. If I buy in for 300 and double up to 600 with a 2400 dollar roll, 25% of my roll is at stake so I like taking that money down while I'm still building.

I started playing seriously part time last April, mainly at Parx casino. My gf gave me 2,500 to use as poker only bankroll. I lost steadily through April qualifying for their freeroll tournament which required 60 hrs of play. After about a 1k downswing, something clicked in may and since then have about 10k total profit.

I've taken several small shots at 2-5 before with mixed but overall negative results. At 1-2, I play superLAG with great results, but struggled playing this style at the next level. I was considering taking another couple buyin shot, and now this thread has empowered me even more. Parx has a 200-1000 buyin 2-5 and ill probably buyin in between 500-700 depending on the table. Good luck to everyone else taking shots. Run good in 2-5

Thanks Bo Goldman. This post like others has inspired me to sit at the 2-5 tables as well. My BR is up to that $2500 and took $700 to sit at 2-5 (350x2). Lost first buyin and grinded back and left up $400. I'll stay aggressive and ambitious...

Can I have a grant from your gf?

Hey guys need some advice,

Here's my situation. I just started playing poker (essentially, I mean super soft home games every once in a while over my childhood don't count) in October. I dropped almost $3500 at 1/2 over the next 2 months. Throughout that time, I've been studying my ass off, and now been getting coaching from ANL for the past 2 months.

Now, I'm on a sick heater over the last 2 weeks, winning over $3,000 in probably 80 hours of play. The preceding 150 hours before that, I was winning maybe 3-5BB/hour. I mean, I know my game has improved a lot over the last month or so, but I know I'm not a $30+/hr 1/2 player in the long run. My heater will run out eventually.

However, I am now very comfortably rolled for 1/2, I have almost $4,000 in my roll. At 1/2 tables, when I sit down, I know I'm one of the, if not the best player at the table (again, I want to emphasize, by no means do I think I should be winning 30+/hr at 1/2, I know this unsustainable). However, I recognize several of the 2/5 regs, and honestly, I know they are probably better than me. While, I am probably more scared of them than I should (I am picturing them, when I was more clueless, so I thought they were better than they were), and they probably view me as a fish, I am a bit worried about taking a shot at 2/5. There are still several leaks in my game (obviously). Should I keep just playing 1/2 and see what my more realistic winrate is before I move up? Right now, the heater could be disguising bad plays. Thoughts?

do yourself a favor and play 500 hours at 1/2 if you are still learning

Its hard to say when you're ready to take a shot. But it sounds like you definitely aren't ready yet. You can't take a shot with a mindset that the players are going to be better than you and think you're a fish. It sounds like you need to play more hours to get a little confidence that you are ready for the game.

I would also want at least 2k more before I considered taking a shot. I grinded up to 10k before I took a 2/5 shot. If you are a decent winner at 1/2 it shouldn't take prohibitively long to win 2-3k more. Then you can take a shot without worrying about whether you are still sufficiently rolled for 1-2 if you lose 2-3 buy-ins.

I've logged over 350 hours of winning. This doesn't include the 200+ where I was a complete idiot, but I consider that part of the learning process. So I mean, I've probably played over 600 hours.

And I've spent hundreds of hours studying online, and again the coaching from ANL has been top notch, and has really grown my game a ton.

This sounds good. Yeah, I don't think I'm ready yet just because even though losing $500 wouldn't hurt my BR too much, I would still be playing scared. I wouldn't feel comfortable trying to steal blinds, making bluffs, etc.

I know I'm not close to being rolled for 2/5, I meant like trying it out on a friday or something with 1-2 BIs.

Just curious what your bankroll is if you dont mind me asking? I took my shot with 2k and luckily I've pushed it up to 3.5k in 3 weeks playing 2/5. I've been buying in for 300 and tightening my range. I was scared to try it like you. But once you play a few sessions you will feel comfortable and notice it is just as beatable as 1/2. Don't wait around your whole life BR building. You may be pleasantly surprised.

You weren't even really particularly well rolled for 1/2. It depends what the money means to you. If its a large amount of money to you and you don't have a good outside source of income and you want to continue playing poker taking a 2/5 shot with 2k is suicidal.

Any way to get more nits ITT?

My roll right now is 4k. I was extremely underrolled for 1/2, but losing the whole the roll would not affect my life too meaningfully, I would be able to rebuild it.

I have 4k now, and wanted thoughts on me taking shots at 2/5. I know I couldn't play it consistently, no more than once a week (probably just fridays or something), and definitely with a stop loss of 1 buyin plus a couple reloads max. I would still play 1/2, 90% of the time until I build a roll of 8-10k.