Taking a long break always makes me want to play more poker right after getting back. I've been playing a decent amount since Thursday and should have a bunch of fun hands up soon. In the meantime, while I'm picking up material, I thought I'd throw up a quick post on where and how to play to build a bankroll. I'm not Jesus Ferguson and don't make a habit out of making $1 into 20K on a regular basis, but I do occasionally play lower stakes and like to look for spots to boost ROI "off the beaten track". It's not 2004 anymore and making high 4 figures a month from little to no risk casino whoring is a thing of the past, but if I had to make a few thousand dollars into 20,000 as fast as possible, here's what I would do:

1)Immediately move my roll onto as many sites as possible, *but* move it entirely off Stars. I love Stars and have made a lot of money there, but it's just not a good cash game site and the tournaments aren't conducive to a low budget. Even buyins as low as the 11r or the 20/180's get their share of good players, there are no overlays, and satelliting into a tournament only gives you T$ (or W$!!!), so if you're on a tight roll with little margin for error, what's the point?

2)Split the roll up as follows: 50% "cash game site", 50% "tournaments" - split up between Bodog and FTP. The cash game roll can technically be anywhere you have rakeback, but should be on the site with the softest games you can find. I recommend Cake for US players; Euros should look into places like Everest. Other places like UB, Absolute or even WSEX (if you're a limit player) are fine, too, but under no circumstances should your cash game site be Stars or FTP. The combination of bad or nonexistent rakeback + tough games isn't worth it.

3)Why Bodog and FTP for tournaments? Bodog has overlays on every guaranteed tourney they run and soft fields; FT has the best satellites, good SNG's (that aren't as nearly fully solved/12 tabled as Stars) and a good, but still fast-ish structure. Roll permitting, you should also look into some of the smaller sites, still focusing on game selection and overlays.

4)Play weird games. If a site has good NL, it will have great limit and fantastic Omaha. If a site's midlevel SNG's take too long and/or have an odd structure, the top level ones are a goldmine - because pros shun them - and you can probably take shots on a short roll. If you've ever read a book on stud, you already know more than most people playing small stakes HORSE. Those FTP sats where everyone starts with 3 BB? It's probably possible to break 100% ROI in them, because *no one* other than the rare SNG pro has memorized 3 BB ICM theory, much less bubble play when everyone has 5 big bets. Explore, explore, explore.

See you at the tables.

Anonymous says

Thanks for this kick in the pants. I've been feeling a lot of Stars cash game fatigue lately, and you've convinced me it's time to move. It's too bad, because Stars is easily the best-run site as far as I can tell.

burningyen

05/21/07

lakeoffire says

Thanks for the sound advice. I totally agree.

05/21/07

EdmondDantes says

I agree with this completely. Huge prize pools make Stars and Tilt tournaments seductive, but the cash game play is much tougher than I find on Bodog and other sites. It's routine to see 40% see flop averages on Bodog vs. <20% on comparable Stars tables. Sure, you can adjust, but why bother if there's softer games out there? Funny you mentioned Everest. I actually liked that site a lot when I could play it. The graphics took some getting used to, but the games were definitely beatable.

As for tournaments, I think the overlays in the Bodog, Pacific and Titan guaranteed tournaments make them no-brainers. It really surprises me how many guys miss the extra value in these tournaments. Let's see...do I play 1) overlay tournaments filled sports book crossovers (Bodog, Cake, Pacific, etc.) who don't use stat-tracking programs or 2) oversold tournaments filled with guys focused on poker, that use tracking software extensively? Hmm.

This game is about making money and a big part of making money is game selection. Nice post!

If you're interested, you can see the overlays in the big weekly tournaments here...

Overlays in Weekly MTTs

Edmond

05/21/07

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