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Originally Posted by B.e.a.r.
Hello everyone, sorry if I did this wrong I’m new to 2 + 2. I was trying to get some tips on what a correct bankroll would be for a 1/2 or 1/3 NLH cash game at my local casino. I’ve played there only once before and the table is extremely soft. I only plan on playing one time per week so definitely not full time or even part time playing. 8 hrs a week I’d say. I do have a job as well. The game does play more like a 2-5 game but still a lot of short stacks, most people just raise to 15 pre, is why I say it plays more like a 2/5 game, is that a normal raise sizing most people use in 1/2 or 1/3 live? I don’t really have very many living expenses, I have a 2k bankroll as of right now.
Open size alone doesn’t really mean the game plays like a bigger game. Bigger open sizes just means the game will play shallower.
1/2 and 1/3 are notoriously low aggression games compared to 2/5 (not saying that 2/5 can’t ever be low aggression, it just typically has more). When a player is betting big on later streets, most of the 1/3 player pool will have a big hand. That starts to change when you start going up to 2/5 and bigger. More players at bigger games will be less afraid to run multi-street bluffs or make large dollar bluffs, so big bet doesn’t always equate to big hand.
More players in bigger games will also value bet thinner. It’s not uncommon for a 1/3 player to check a clean river with top pair good kicker when last to act because many 1/3 players are showdown monkeys. They can’t handle betting on the river, getting raised and then calling it off and losing more money so they just stop betting on rivers to avoid the situation all together unless they have extremely strong hands. Hell, some won’t bet extremely strong hands if a back door nut hand appears, even if it’s basically impossible for someone to have the specific holding required. They’ll just shrug and say “well 85 is the nuts and I can’t beat that” when the board is AK7[4][6] and they have pocket Aces and bet big preflop, on flop and turn. At 2/5 and higher, more players will value bet wider. It’s not unheard of to see someone make a river value bet with hands that are 2nd or 3rd pair.
Anyway, your questions… if losing that 2k doesn’t change your life one bit, I would play 1/3 until you get like 4k and then move to 2/5. Honestly, if it were me, a person who is comfortable at playing 2/5, I might even just start at 2/5 and skip 1/2 and 1/3 all together. 1/2 and 1/3 are rake traps and they are difficult to beat long term. Typically rooms will drop the same max $ amount for rake regardless of 1/2, 1/3, or 2/5, so you want to get to $5 blind level as quickly as possible because the rake will be a smaller % of the pot sizes.
As far as the raise size, I don’t play 1/2 really ever anymore, they stopped spreading it in all but 1 casino near me, so idk what the average raise size is. I would guess $10, but that’s a guess. I play 1/3 ($500 cap) when I’m waiting for a bigger game, most open sizes tend to be $12 or $15. Very rarely do people go smaller. Often people will go bigger to “protect their hand”, which just telegraphs their hand strength. I would pick a size when you sit down and go with it and vary when fish are left to act behind you.
Good luck!