Cannot seem to move past the micros.. small bankroll.. live or online?
Posted by cash4gold
Posted by
cash4gold
posted in
Gen. Poker
Cannot seem to move past the micros.. small bankroll.. live or online?
- beat microstakes years ago, beat live up to $5/$10 (although only with extreme game selection at $2/$5+) years ago
- quit poker due to high rake
- playing again (for fun), can't move past NL5 (half dozen or so shots at NL10 didn't work out)
- have ~$1K roll now, not sure whether or not to play live or online
I started playing poker semi-seriously in about 2007 after binking a freeroll to a $350 live tournament, and then cashing in that tournament. After that, I began playing live, and had some fairly good success there (probably mostly due to the incredibly soft games at the time). Of course, like most players, I overestimated my abilities, and perhaps still am overestimating them now, but I can reasonably confidently say that I was break-even at NL50 online at that time, although I only played about 25K hands before I realised that it was a waste of time due to the BBJ ($0.50 from every pot over $5 on UB). At that time, I was using a HUD, and crushing NL25 (about 16bb/100). I found the games on Stars significantly harder than on UB, and was only ever able to beat NL10 there (although I was crushing it (about 12bb/100), until the rake increases, which destroyed my winrate). After this, I started taking poker much less seriously, and I quit for about a year, and spent my bankroll.
However, over the past year, I have started playing a bit again, but without any visions of success (more or less for fun). I noticed that the games are considerably harder than they were. Additionally, I haven't set up HUD software, mostly because I'm playing for fun, and purposefully playing unorthodox and trying to get into interesting spots. I ground up my bankroll from about $15 that was left in my account, starting at NL2, and then to NL5, to about $250-$300 playing for about an hour a day over a couple of months, however, every time I tried to move up to NL10, I'd get completely crushed, and would spend a few weeks grinding back enough at NL5 to try again. As to why this was happening, I'm obviously not sure (and that's part of the reason I'm writing this post), but I guess maybe I feel intimidated by the increase in stakes, or perhaps I'm just playing in a way that crushes NL5, but fails horribly at NL10. I tried using a coach for a session, but that was not really helpful (it may have been if I'd booked a bunch of sessions, but things didn't seem to "click" and the fee was quite high considering my bankroll). So, I basically gave up trying to move past NL5.
Over the past half year, I cashed out $500, and am soon to cash out again. The thing is, even though I know deep down inside that it's probably a waste of time, I still want to try to move up. Even though poker is just a hobby for me, it's natural for me to want to get better at my hobby. Now that I have a bit of a bankroll I'm considering either playing live or trying more seriously to break through into higher levels online, but I'm sort of on the fence about which is the better idea.
Live Pros:
- I live very close to a casino, so travel time is not an issue
- I'm reasonably confident I can beat the games
- I enjoy socialising at the poker table
- higher stakes, higher $/hr, faster bankroll increase
Live Cons:
- I only have 5 buy-ins, and might feel scared money as it would take a long time to grind them back at NL5 (using my "real" money for a live bankroll is out of the question, as I don't want to risk becoming a degenerate gambler if it turns out I'm actually a huge fish at live and just don't know it)
- even though I live close, I would really have to play at least 2-3 hours to get any sort of a session, meaning instead of playing for an hour a day, I'd have to play for a few hours every few days, and this would mean that my recreational time would either cut into my work time, or that I'd be less happy on days during which I had no (or at least a lot less) recreational time
- slow increase in skill (less hands)
Online Pros:
- very convenient (can play on a break)
- no smoke
- will improve my skill at a faster rate (due to higher number of hands)
Online Cons:
- very meagre hourly (not that I care too much about this from a financial standpoint, but I'd obviously like to see my bankroll increase faster)
- less social
- harder games
..,. so, Live or online?
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