Hi all

Bit of background/context

I've been playing online poker since November last year. The first few months I didn't have a clue what i was doing and lost a few $10 deposits fairly quickly, but I had taken a real interest in playing. Over this period I had done alot of reading around forums etc and watched a tonne of videos and at the start of March I reloaded my account with another $10 and began grinding 0.01/2NL cash games on stars! About 2 weeks ago my account had $56 today it has $29. I know this is not big money, but if your a student money isn't so expendable.

It felt like id hit some kind of wall and slowly session after session my bankroll started diminishing. I can't even bring myself to think about how many times I had Aces over those 2 weeks and lost.

Basically I want to build my bankroll as much as I can without going bust, and am wondering whether to stick it out playing cash games or move to sit and go's.

any advice will be much appreciated!!!

Luck plays a major role in SnGs, so there's a bigger chance of going broke playing those, especially if the buy-in is $1, as you only have 29 buy-ins.
I think you're better off playing 2NL and adopting a very nitty medium stack strategy that virtually guarantees you won't go broke. In essence, you should buy into the 2NL games with just an 80c stack, and only play about 10% of hands. By playing "break even" poker, you'll learn a bit more about positional play and hand ranges, and you should start building your roll.
Although shortstackers are not looked at too fondly on 2+2, the SS or MS strategy is a good way of slowly building a roll with minimal variance.
See http://www.pokerstrategy.com/strategy/sss/#basic for the basic hand charts and guidelines you need to play this style successfully. I should also emphasise that you should remain disciplined when playing it. There are lots of bad shortstackers that deviate from the strat and start stacking off with AJ or 77. You have to be more patient than they are, and only get your money in when you are more likely to be ahead. Good luck!

HU sngs

With a little luck, 2nl can be pretty profitable. (In relation to the size of your BR) Zoom can be a faster method if you're only playing 1 table at a time and are playing TAG. More hands per hour also means you can go broke faster too though, so it's a double edged sword.

Play tight, don't spew. You should do fine. I'm about to start rebuilding and that's the approach I'm taking. See you at the top, eh?

thanks for your reply. I shall give this a go tomorrow and let you know how i get on, its not so different to how i've been playing already but I normally buy in for $2.

Would you suggest full ring or 6max games??

I'm not sure which is 'best', but I usually play full ring, so that if anything, you can blend in more and pay less blinds.

your biggest challenge will be not dying of boredom

Playing a nitty style profitably requires a full 9-seat table and lot of patience. If you're lucky enough to get a hand against a fish, you can often double up with TPTK, an overpair, or a set. Then you can rathole and find another table.
Since your bankroll is limited, I wouldn't recommend you play too many tables, but 2 or 3 should give you ample time to make notes on players, without you dying of boredom while you wait for something playable.

Yes.

When your bankroll has increased, you should be playing both FR and 6max. In the meantime, follow Arty's advice to safely increase your BR. There will be swings in poker, but you can survive those if you follow his advice and don't change your strategy too rapidly.

Welcome to 2p2. You've come to the right place to learn about poker. GL.

Hey OP,

I'm in a similar situation, I've built my roll from $3 up to $36 (was at $54 something this morning but protip.. don't play when you're tired). Anyway I've been playing 2NL zoom poker on pokerstars. Its great for volume and really fast experience. Just play very tight//cautiously and you should be fine. Also, read that guide that Arty linked, its really, really,really good.

If you want to get on skype while I'm playing and talk about/go over some hands I'll be happy to. I've got some other people who are interested also.

Anyway after some posts and activity you can request PM's, its really not hard to get.. you can just ask for advice about certain hands, reply to peoples challenge threads etc... send me a PM when you can and I'll forward you my skype info.

GL !