All

No limit newbie here. I'm playing 1-2 at Philly Parx. Min 30BB max 150BB. I've been playing with an initial buyin of 50BB and implementing a short/medium stack strategy i.e. play premium hands TT+ AQ+ and try to get it in as fast as possible when I feel I'm good.

I want to try a session deep stacked. Parx 1-2 allows for a 150 BB buyin. What would your recommendation be for whether to buyin 100 or 150 deep? Obviously I can make more money and more moves and play more hands at 150 BB than 100; I can also lose a bigger stack when I lose.

Other consideration is that the 2-5 game at Parx caps at 100BB, so since I do want to play some 2-5 at times, would I be better playing 100BB at the 1-2 to keep the "feel" similar for when I go to 2-5?

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Roger

Just go up to 150 BB deep if you are comfortable.

You aren't ready for 2-5 if you have to ask this question. I mean that in a nice way. You need to be used to having 200-300 bucks on the table before you play for $500. You are going to be scared money if you transition your buyin from $100 a session to $500 almost overnight. Get used to the 1/2 game playing with 200 or 300.

And no, keeping to 100 BB at 1/2 isn't comparable to the 2/5 experience due to the difference in the buyin cap. You should be getting used to buying in full, not buying in for 100 BB.

I think 50BB is a great strategy for 1/2 because players are giving you so much dead money. You can auto-pilot a winning strategy and print money basically.

If u want to buy in full it's a totally different game. U gotta play poker... 3b the people on your right. You gotta know what's going on.

The worst you are the more you want to buy in short and the better you are the more you want to play deep.

Buy in for as much as you feel comfortable buying in for. I would recommend trying to full buy and finding out how you feel with that much $$$ in front of you.

If you feel comfortable and ok with that much in front of you than make that your default
If you feel anxious and "scared" then work your way up to a full buy in

And if you are unsure about buying in full for a 1/2 game you are not ready to buy in full for a 2/5 game

40BB at 2/5 is even better IMO

where I play, 1/2 and 2/5 NL full stack games play entirely differently. I play in one of the hardest 1/2 and 2/5 games in the world tho... IOWA where the 1/2 players aren't donking off their money and the 2/5 players are making reads and playing aggressively

100bb is better then 150bbs. Its a cap game so buying in for 150bbs is pointless. When I have 150bbs I'm thinking 200bbs and I play it very tight. 100bbs you can play looser and more agressive.

As long as the game is capped you have to use a capped strategy. Capped strategy does not work well with 150bbs.

This + your comfort level should be the determining factors. If you've been playing 50bb you're probably somewhat familiar with 100bb (assuming you're not leaving after you double) so give 150bb a try and see what you like better.

I took his comment to mean the buy-in is a maximum of 100bb.

Even if it is "capped" such that the maximum anyone can wager in a hand is a max of 100bb everything else you wrote is wrong.

Capped buyin, not capped raises or bets.

Low and midstakes you have to use a capped buyin strategy. No opening up 97o utg, not calling all ins with the 3rd nuts when we are 300bbs deep.

The chips mean too much. Say you have 500bbs and lose. You have to start to what ever the max is. So your decisions should be based on that.

I would recommend continuing to buy in short. When you do double up you will be playing deeper. However, if for some reason you really want to buy in deeper you definitely should buy in for no greater than 100 bbs until you have experience playing deeper.

Also, you should not take a shot at 2/5, even short stacked, unless you have shown success at 1/2 over a significant sample size.

Unless there's some huge fish and you're both a lot deeper than the max buy-in it shouldn't affect your decisions at all.

+1, basically. To expand a bit:

Different stack sizes require different strategies throughout the hand. For someone new to NL, the only one that would be a mistake would be to buy in deep (100+ big blinds).

Read up on the different playing styles required by the different stack sizes, and then choose the one that best fits your skill set/temperament/risk tolerance/bankroll.

As a general rule, the shorter you buy in, the fewer streets you'll be playing post flop, so people say the shorter you buy in the easier/more mechanistic your decisions become.

I would rather buy in 60BB at 3/5 than 150BB at 1/2.

+1

Great idea for a winning 1/2 player, terrible for a self-described newbie at NL.

edit: I'm pretty sure you guys know that, I just want to make sure OP knows it, too, lol.

OP - bump up to 70BB's first and play that for awhile and then increase by 10 BB's every session after you get a hold of 70BB play until you reach 100BB. Play that for awhile and get used to it. Then increase it by 25BB until you get to 150BB... IMO. Slow progression and transition.

I like this idea a lot. Like Suze Orman says, you don't have to do all or nothing, you can split the difference.

Some great tips, really appreciate it. I'll post another question in a second or 2.

FYI, my background is plenty of live low limit holdem. Very comfortable with poker in general, now trying to get my head around no limit now that its pretty much all they're dealing here in PA and NJ. I've been reading the forums and the usual books. Also I'm just a recreational player, I have a full time job and wife, so I'm not trying to set the world on fire, but I like winning a lot more than I like losing (And its not so much the money aspect, its the "I hate makeing wrong decisions aspect).

Roger

PokahBlows can you expand on the capped strategy or point me to a good thread on it? My game is a capped buyin not capped bet. So you and I can both buyin for 150BB aka $300 and both ship all $300, and then whoever doubles up can ship his $600 against someone else who may have doubled up. Sorry if I'm stating the obvious not sure if it plays differently elsewhere in the country.

I think where you were trying to go is that not only does the strategy change from going say 50 to 100BB, but also might shift again around 150-200BB, and then again around 300B, especially as it relates to things like SPR.