New here, this is my first thread/comment and I love this topic because it's right where I'm at. I can tell I'll enjoy/get a lot out of this forum!
So here's my story: a new casino just opened up about 10 minutes down the road. I decided to go check it out last week and splurged $50 at a 2-4 Limit table. This was my first time ever playing in a casino, and I picked that table because it was the cheapest buyin. Leaving that night with $300+ brought back ALL the emotion of back in the day when I used to play basement games with friends and dream about playing in the
wsop. It's been a long time
So I decided to take that $300 and create a dedicated bankroll, and started a spreadsheet to track profit & loss, tables and hours played, notes, etc. This was an important first step in the decision, because I will not mix "poker money" with "personal money" (and vice versa) if I want to give it a real shot.
But here's the thing-- I got lucky that first night. I've played everyday since, mixing L2-4 and NL1-3 tables. There's benefits and advantages to both. If you have a smaller buyin, limit is safer. Especially when the aggressive players come in and just try to steamroll you out of every pot. You get one or two bad beats, start feeling tilted, and everything is gone. It's harder to make responsible and disciplined decisions when you're under that kind of pressure.
So anyways, back to my point. Building up a baby bankroll on it's own-- especially doing so in a self-sustainable way so you're not pouring personal money into
gambling... it's tricky. My advice would be to track everything and if you're not AT LEAST breaking even, then step away for a bit.
The less you have to play with, the more pressure you feel. It's in my notes from this week. I like to go in the morning and play with the old school players, where it's more about the cards and less about the power play. Mostly checks & calls, and all bets are "reasonable". Until around 2/3PM, when all the
online poker players come in and just overbet every round. For me, they can be a buzzkill but also great when they misread you
The
challenge I'm having is building up a bankroll to give me more confidence and relieve the pressure of playing against those aggressive players. Not that I'm playing scared, but I'm not willing to go all in unless I KNOW I have a rock solid winning hand. And after a few bad beats, my bankroll has spiked up to $1k, down to $200, and right now it's at $600. I usually buy into the NL1-3 at $200, so I have a long way to go before I feel really comfortable with it.
In any case, the advice I'd give today might change tomorrow. I've made mistakes, I've learned, I've moved on, and I'm enjoying the journey. Isn't that the most important part?