Hi. I have a few questions about poker that bother me and I'm hoping someone more experienced can answer.

How hard is it, or possible even to lets say start with 100$ bankroll and move up the stakes to a point where poker can actually become a source of income and approx. how much time it would take to do something like that.

What would the best games be to build a bankroll do that at the pocket change stakes.

I've played poker for like 3 years, never really took it seriously, since I always played at the really small stakes so I find it hard to keep myself motivated to play. Even though I'm a "winner" i noticed most of the money I got went to rake, and I've kept like a 1/3 of the profits.

Another problem is, I actually get bored playing at the stakes and take out the money and use it for something since it takes a lot of work to actually make something at those stakes.

I also noticed there is a surprising amount of grinders at those stakes considering its almost playing for next to nothing. I would really appreciate if there is someone who climbed up from these stakes can take the time to say something about these stakes.

So bottom line, I'm interested in pulling myself out of those stakes with a small bankroll since I cant afford to invest in poker right now, and I'm looking for some tips and opinions on what should I expect, maybe some reading material, and which games I should focus on.

How long is a piece of string?

It seems that question has really troubled you, so let me attempt to help you with that. Ask your mom for a string weave and get a measuring tape to answer your troubling question. I recommend if the string seems long and your measuring tape looks smaller to start measuring it in chunks of 1 meter each. You can post your response here and tell me how you did. I hope that was helpful.

Also, while you are busy with the string, please refrain yourself from posting your results here, but feel free to open yourself a new topic on your sciency thing and let me have a talk to the grown ups here.

That's the answer you'd get from nearly anyone here. We can't answer because it depends on a number of variables - how good you are, how much time you put in, what your learning ability is. As for reading material, read the COTWs in uNL; the Pooh-Bah and CT threads are good too.

Yes it is possible.

As long as it takes for you to beat the games at a point it can become your sole source of income.

One that you can beat. This is easier than it first appears.

You are only a winner if you are ahead *after* rake.

Being a poker pro is not for you.

You build up your bankroll by beating those small stakes that bore you until you have enough to play stakes that bore you less. Reading material will depend on what games you play. What games you play will depend on what interests you.

It depends on your skill level.

I started playing 2nl with BR of $100 four months ago.
I have stepped up to 5nl (and down again) a few times.
I have played about 80000 hands.
My current BR is $280.
So I've made about $0.003 per hand
or $45 per month

It would take me about 27 lifetimes to pay off my mortgage.



PS I did not post that to be a smartass. I posted that because I had the same questions rolling around my head four months ago.

GL

not another one of these!

....

please see denks' answer...good response!

its a beginners forum , what do you expect.. probably alot of people had or have the same questions as i do..

as for denks, guess its a good response, as in you are on your own to figure this **** out and noone can really help you with that

How are we supposed to offer you advice on reading material if we have no idea what games you play. How on Earth are we supposed to know how long it will take you to go pro?

The short of it is that you have to grind your way up from the bottom - putting in plenty of hours at "boring" stakes. Yes it's a boring answer not filled with riches in the near future but unfortunately if you want to go pro that's where the journey starts.

Sorry, guess I should have been more specific on the games I play. Most recently im playing nlhu. Im doing pretty good, most of the time with a few setbacks started from 30$ roll got to 110 now at 90 after losing 4 bi's today.

Other than that, i've played all holdem games(sit n go's,fixed limit,6maxnl, 9max nl) and did pretty good on all of them, its just that i lose focus after a run bad since it really demotivates me when i start losing on such low stakes.

Now i really like the nlhu, but the only thing that bothers me is the rake. But its by far the format i like the most.

There are a couple of well known threads by Verneer that you might like to take a look at. They aren't heads up but do show the progress that can be made from a small bankroll.

The 2010 thread starts at $100 and gets to a bankroll for 50nl in just over 100k hands.

The 2011 thread goes from $200 to to $10k.

With in a few months you can be earning min 5k per month. Gl op.

I think thats what he wants to hear.

but yea tbh if your not excited about poker then your prob not going to make it as a poker pro.... the $ shouldnt be what excites you but rather getting better & moving up through the limits, so playing for more $ is not going to auto make it go from boring to fun...

Just reading your posts Lucifer and unless you can get over the fact that the stakes that you play are 'boring' you, then if you use even the lowest form of BRM, the stakes that you play will always bore you.

For instance. If you are earning $3,000 pcm, @ NL200 for instance will you get bored with that.?

I'll answer that for you btw.
Answer now = no
Answer when you are grinding at that level = yes

Not a bad thing to aim for the stars if you do it with good BRM

Not digging you out, more trying to put myself in your shoes and ask the questions you should ask yourself.
Good luck

which game. LOLOLOLOLOL.....uh, if we told you this on the most popular poker forum on the planet, the "best game" would go to "worse game" in a nano second. Oh and by the way, there is no particular easy game. in my opinion, HU is the quickest way to make it big. Also has the most daily bustouts of any game....but that shouldn't concern you -*rolleyes*

Trouble keeping focus playing for pennies........LOLOLOLOLOL, you're not playing for pennies, or you shouldn't play for pennies. Play for BB. Also if you think that's boring, you could always try playing live. I hear it's very exciting.

real advice, get over yourself and play for pennies.......and beat the crap outta your opponents so you won't be in the micro stakes for long. If you can't beat micro stakes......then get a loan and play up with the Big Boys. We are always looking for new fish that think they are better than micro stakes. ALWAYS.

(((((understand, my post IS helpful. As a 100NL+ player, if I truly want you to play higher so I can get your money.....do you think I would tell you? Of course not. I would say something like. Beg, borrow, steal....but get the money to play higher. You will do fine. 400NL plays just like 4NL.)))))

You know the stickies at the top of the page that say READ THIS FIRST. No? Read them.

yeah i was totally thinking about depositing 5k and playing some real stakes where they respect my raises, cause im too good for the micro players and all that..

jokes aside what bothers me is that im still at level 1 in poker when there are so many to go.. and i know what im doing wrong actually.. first i dont like to deposit money into it, second for some reason i feel like i should get results immediately.. tbh now i realise how stupid that is.

Geez Louise, get a fackin' grip on your attitude and march through the micros then.

Yours IS NOT an unusual attitude that we see here.......and the advice you receive is the same as others have received in the past. Start at the lowest stakes and move up as your bankroll and skills improve (through play and study).

Or get lucky. I am pretty sure that being lucky is the only shortcut.


((OK, deposit $5K and get lucky will speed up the process. I greedily vote for this ))

a small question about table selection.. i usually go for high p/f% , is that the right way to do it or are there more factors to pay attention to at micro stakes ?

I look for a very LOW players to flop in full ring and just steal, steal, steal until the cows come home. A NIT or tight TAG should look for max players to the flop.

true story

hey guys.. i have one more question

recently i started running extremely bad as in impossible to win a pot no matter what cards im holding.

the other thing is when i have monsters or really strong holding noone ever pays me off, its usually cbet and instant fold from the villain.

now usually thats not a big deal after one or two sessions, shouldnt be a problem at 2nl to get back up in no time.

the problem is it feels kinda of downer when playing 2nl and you cant win a hand. im just 4-5 buyins under ev but the real problem is the redline where its way under since i was forced to make alot of folds.

its really demotivating since im playing 2nl

At 2NL you should expect your redline to go down. Your winnings will tend to come from valuetowning worse hands at showdown.

In some ways you can think of the redline as showing the times when you exploit the other players by NOT calling when YOU have the worst hand ...

there is so many different varriables to answer this question properly. mmy advice to you, is that if you want to do it is to go for it. but don't think i can do it whenever. you have to set up a schedule and make it serious (think of poker as a second job)

and while winning $1 might not seem like much, think of it all in buy ins. When you are grinding your way through if you look at $5 and say, it's only $5..your never gonna get anywhere. look at the $5 and say, awsume that is 3 buy ins!.

also i recommend you start with sngs. great way to learn the game and make some profit.

i was in your boat a while ago and grinded from $3.5 9 max turbo sngs, and this year i was playing some $2100 SCOOP events. just work for it and it can happen.

Good Luck

Scavenger hunt! The BQ FAQ adresses red line problems in the micros. Go look for that, you'll stumble into some pretty cool stuff along the way