blonde poker forum

hi all
ive noticed that most of you appear to play for what id call big money. i work for the nhs and my wages dont stretch far enough to enter most of the tournys you talk about. what i want to know is, has anyone started off like me and built up a poker bankroll? im looking for tips to take my poker one step further which means ill need some money to spend.

cheers and a good sunday afternoon to you all

mad

Hi Mad,

"most of us play for big money"....

Well it may appear that way, but that's not the case at all. 95% of blonde readers - indeed poker players - can only manage, or only want to play,  the smaller events. That's why the blonde tourneys will, in the main, all be £20 or £25 max.

And yes, LOADS of poker players started without a bankroll. There are more & more small buy-in comps being put on these days, & online you can even start in freerolls, & work up from there.

Poker at the lower buy-in levels is just as much fun - maybe MORE fun - than the big events, the only difference really is that household "names" play in the big ones, so they seem to be more newsworthy.

Get cracking in these freerolls, enjoy yourself, & tell us how you get on please.

thanks Tikay. you are a gentleman and really appreciate your advice. im entering the 6.5k ladbrokes  every night costing 10 bucks. i came in just under the money last night at 73rd out of approx 800. i have belief i can do it. i got 500 bucks over a week ago from 4th place but i stupidly went into a higher stake table when i was drunk and lost most of it. ill keep you posted as to how i get on and thanks again.......
mad

Good luck with the efforts, I have been playing, what some here would call, micro stakes. Strange thing is that I can drop a goodly some playing live but baulk at paying $20+ on line. I will probably join you in the 6.5k jobbie and start getting into these WH comps as well.

Mad, it sure sounds like you hae the game, so persevere, & you wil get there.

Oh, & one more thing. It's FATAL to play in levels that stretch your bankroll too much, because it causes you to "play scared", rather than your natural game.

Don't forget to keep us posted as to how you get on.

If you play low stakes but want big prize money you can't beat the 20k guarantee on Prima (it normally reaches about 25k but i have seen it as high as 30k after rebuys). 10 dollar rebuy. Absolute carnage in the first hour but as long as you finish the first hour with 7.5k chips your in fine position. 8:30 weekdays.  I have final tabled in this without any add-ons or rebuys, so it is possible. $6000 or so for a possible $10 buy-in. Fantastic, I love it. But be prepared to be up till the early hours.

Ah my kind of girl... ;)

I wouldn't worry too much about that - it is a mistake that almost everyone makes at some point.

On building bankrolls, I was told that Dared moved from micro-limits to the highest level on Ladbrokes, so it can be done.  Making sure that you are playing in games you can beat is actually more important than bankroll for most players.

Good luck! 

the good thing with will hill is that most of the big mtt's they run they normally have a smaller stt or mtt running allowing you to win the chance of entering the comp for much cheaper.

ie the 10k runs £3 stt and mtts for a chance to win the £25 buy in
   the 15k runs £6 stt and mtts for a chance to win the £50 buy in
   the 35k runs £15 stt and mtts for a chance to win the £110 buy in

i mainly play these to try and win my seat into these tourneys as my bannk blance isnt that big either ^_^

See Mad - you are in good company.

thanks all. i dont feel as skint now...............................

mad

I started playing 2 years ago in the local casino £10 comps when i was at uni... and this year i have managed to play the wsop main event and 2 others(which was the aim, well i wanted to win it ;) but next year for that!)

I went with £40 and that was my limit, i won the first one i entered and finalled at the next so i got off to a good start... but i did'nt have any bankroll so to speak! just my un used beer money lol! I still play the £10 comps now and enjoy them alot, yet i have managed to move up to the bigger levels of the uk festivals! Its the same game if its £10 or £100! learn ur style of play that allows u to win and success will follow!

Good luck!

At-iT

Mad, you are definately not alone.  I only have a small bankroll and I do not dip into my personal/family money.  I p1ssed most of it away recently by playing above my bankroll and couldn't even afford to enter the Blonde tournie!!!!  Still, was great to be a railbird though.  Slowly building it up multi tableing at micro limit cash and $2.50 5 seater STT's at the mo'.  One thing I've learnt is patience is key.  Try to run before you walk and bye bye bank roll.

Best of luck.

hi all

just came 24th on 10 rebuy ladbrokes. i seem to keep getting loose when ive got a stack. i guess thats where the patience comes in.......maybe tonights 6.5 will be mines....................................lol

i dont have a credit card so when i started online i looked for free money i found a site that had 4 daily freerolls with prize pools upto around $20 i won one of these and tunrd the $5 first prize into $100 playing 1c/2c nlhe (the site only had 2 tables running most of the time the other was a 5$/10$ limit game)

i opened a neteller account and transfered the money over to stars

i now fund all my poker online (apart from stan james) with this money

the important thing at low levels (which i am still at) is bankroll management

i still play events that are outside of my comfort level but i have to grind out for hours to pay for them

also when on a bad run cut back to the lowest levels and check you are doing the basics right

i have been on a ban run of cards recently infact i checked my records that show in the last 7 months of all my 50/50s with all the betting preflop i am running at 37.4 win rate

this week should of been a good week for me 2 MTT wins on crypto but i blew a large amount chasing a fish on a PLO8 when he moved up a table and contiunued to throw his money away ( and he threw mine away too to everyone else on table)

this was bad bankroll management and lesson learnt hopefully i can get access to my crypto funds into neteller and that will repair most of the 30% loss in bankroll i took



so remember dont try and move up to soon take your time your not playing poker to make a living your playing it as a hobby and any profit you make can mean you can at a later date move up the levels or stick where you are and use the profit for holiday spending money

what excellent advice from Ironside


for a change!   ;)

Good luck Madasahat, patience, perserverance, temperament (not to tilt or move up too early!) are just as important as the cards as you look to build up your roll

sure a nice run of cards or good skill or both will build it up, but lack of patience or bad temperament will lose it just as quick

I have no shame in admitting that I was absolutely skint at xmas. I did have a bankroll, but I splashed out on a car, laptop, tv, etc, etc, and after a real dry patch I found myself without any dosh. Oops. Lesson one, never leave yourself short as you never know when that run of cold cards is gonna strike.

So I was broke. It was a fact. I had no sponsers, no funds, no nothing. I didn't even have a job. I had just about enough for the 5 pound comp at Walsall and a few cheap online multis. I considered seeking refunds on my recent luxury possessions, but I then thought that it may be beneficial to try building a bankroll from scratch.

I remember sitting in the £5 multi at Walsall watching some novice folding unnecessarily on the big blind. I wondered how I'd ended up here and it felt like I had gone right back to where I started. 'It was only 2 or 3 months ago that I was rolling in it', I said to myself. Now it was back to basics. Back to grinding. And it's fecking hard.

I was determined not to let it beat me though. Playing tight in small rebuy comps is very tricky, but I had no choice. To keep my brain stimulated I read up on the game and decided it was time to improve my game as much as possible. You often find yourself content in poker, but you have to keep reassessing your targets and setting new goals. If you don't, you can fall into the trap of thinking your game is perfect and in no need of improvement, but that is never the case. 5 mins to learn - a liftime to master.

After the pain and torment of playing the lower limits, my patience finally paid off when I took around £800 at Walsall from a field of 146. I knew it would come sooner or later if I kept at it. It's a grind when u've been used to playing larger stake games, but it'll probably do you the world of good. A famous player once said that now and then you should drop down to a ridiculously (to you) low limit and practice playing your A game. In doing so, you strenghten the discipline side of your game. It's a real great excercise and I recommend you all give it a crack.

Anyhow, that £700 gave me something to play with and I was able to jump upto a higher rebuy comp. At the same time, I could start playing the cash games online. Starting at 25/50 and gradually working my way back up to the limits I once played. Now everyhting's rosey. I've had a good run of cards and developed a comfortable bankroll.

To summarise, my advice is this:

(i) Be patient
(ii) Play your A game at all limits
(iii) Never be content with your game
(iv) Don't play limits that you know your bankroll can't quite handle
(v) Never spend your bankroll because you think you're not going to lose

Good luck.

snoops  8)

Good post snoopy, advice for all levels there. Ta.

With all this talk of bankrolls of different levels. I feel that I am somewhat different, I don't keep aside a bankroll and dip into my deposit account when ever I need to top up or anything. Ok, before someone says it, I know I should keep accurate records but I am only now personalising a donated spreadsheet.

The question I would like to ask is what would be a reasonable bankroll to set aside. One which would last and encourage me to increase and educate myself. I have only really been playing since March but I have immersed myself in thought, reading and listening about poker and hopefully on the learning curve. Is it an impossible question?

At the moment I float around the low area buy-ins but have treated my self to a couple of £300 or so live comps, never monied in the biggies.

Mad, I hope I haven't hijacked your thread.

Excellent post Snoops..

Only play the biggies if you can easily afford it and can feel comfortable at the table. - I'm sure u already know that though.

I think general consensus is to sit at 100 table if you have 1000 + in your account. I prefer it to be more like 1500 so I can feel at a complete ease with the table.

Not sure about your poser. How long would you want it to last?

Since March?!?! You seem to know a decent amount already.  :)

Like most of us i'm sure, I made all the same mistakes, moved up to fast, played drunk, stayed at the table when i was having a really bad run of cards...ect

so now i limit my time playing. this has helped me more than anything else to build a bankroll, i will sit down at a  $1/$2 nl table with $200.10% of my bankroll  and play for no more than 2 hours. All i'm looking for here is my buy-in to the tourney i have my eye on.

so if i like the look of the $50+$5 tourney, then im leaving when i have $260.00 and now i get to play the tournement for free..

If i should lose at the $1/$2 table say $100 i will play again the next day and chip away at getting the $100 back, once it's back, I will leave the poker room and the next day do it all over again. This is how i get to play the more expensive tournaments without worrying about how much it just cost me..

good luck..and i hope this help's you

May I recommend 'Killer Poker'

Gr8 advice in there for this sort of thing.

A man with a plan! Sounds good. It takes discipline to turn everything off at a certain time when you are down. Kudos if you are doing this successfully. Gr8 advice.

One thing I would add though 'bundle' is only leave before your set time when you are winning, if you are feeling uncomforatble. I was once told that you shouldn't leave a game just because you're ahead. Play the full hour (or whatever) whether you're ahead or behind. You may be spending the whole hour when you're losing, and leaving early when u get ahead. Why leave when you're playing well, and stay when you're not?

I agree, but I'm really just there to win the buy-in, it's a plan i stick to because that win can swing really quick, like having the A flush on the turn, getting all your chip's in and the guy with 2 pair call's and get's the boat on the river.. Maybe i'm tight, but this keeps me from doing my dough and gives me a good shot at the big money in the tourneys

I've found that cash games really are my bread and butter. In America this summer, I asked Antonio Esfandiari how he managed it when he was nursing his bankroll and he just said he played cash games but he played TIGHT and never over stretched the money he did have. He's not done too badly since!

yeah i know there is consistant money to be made on the cash game's, i just found i did'nt know when to leave.

I have sat at the table with $200 and tripled up in less than 30 min, only to be there 4 hour's later and walk away with $40 profit. I guess you just got to make a plan and stick to it, when this happened i had no plan, now i do and it works for me, maybe i need to come up with a new plan at the cash games.

I think it's all really about want you want out of it today, and that for me is a free go at a $50 tourney

It's tough, but you should sit for the full time whether you've won a big amount or not. If you're feeling uncomforatble and protective over your dollars, then go to a new table and start again with your original amount. Having double the max on a cash table is a big advanatge. People know that you are the guy who can clean em out. Use that fear to your advanatage and try not to worry about losing your recent pot wins. Easier said than done tho.

Good post. Also getting to this stack allows you to play with a bit more flair and aggression (within reason). This is where I find more big pots can be won.

yeah it was the aggression that killed me, I play really hard.. I need to know when to back off

Thanks but it has been hard work at the expensive of the "day job" and a fairly expensive education.

Thanks for the replies all