I’ve been having a conversation with Adam from http://donktasticpoker.blogspot.com/
We’ve been talking about our small bankrolls and our games. Adam prefers Omaha, Stud, and the split pot games. He’s having an issue building his bankroll, but I think he’s a good player. I think the issue is game selection. In a recent email to me, he sent me a hand history, and said that’s why he’ll never build a bankroll. It was Stud8, he had AA2, which is a great split pot starting hand. He played it aggressively, and a guy who shouldn’t have been in the hand ran into a straight for the scoop.
My response was this:
That’s ugly. I don’t think you played it wrong. You’ve got aces and a good low draw, and later hit 2 pair. It’s a good hand. You’ll build a bankroll, it’s just always 2 steps forward, 1 step backward with limit – and really with NL too.
I still think playing split games is not the best idea for a small bankroll though. You’re playing for scoops, but they are rare, which means you’re playing a lot of hands where you have to ante, plus you have to contend with a high percentage rake, so your profit is minimal on a split – that rake is cutting into your bankroll. Especially in Stud, there are so many streets, you have to invest a lot of money in your hand before it really gets defined – you’ve bet for 3 rounds for 5 cards only 2 find out your 3 card draw never went anywhere. In Hold’Em, right off the bat you know where you stand, and by the flop you’re should know whether you are way behind or way ahead, or you have a draw to the nuts and can get there cheap or push someone off a hand. Not to mention the amount of hands per hour and the fact that its harder to multitable effectively in the stud family of games.
NLHE is the way to go. I fought it for awhile, but you can’t beat 16.5 PTBB/100 over 40k hands -
PS NL ($0.02) 40012 22.5457 46.8492 78.8889 70.4348 12.7613 28.0021 $263.78 16.4813 25.0367 54.9033 4.4862 $69.80rake
Even though your BR is small, you’re better off buying in for minimum at .05/.10, playing super tight and shoving your premium hands preflop or on the flop than you are fighting that rake in split pot games.
I haven’t seen Adam’s response, but I just don’t see how you can make any money against the rake and splits. It’s really noticeable to me when I’m playing NLHE and I split the pot with another player when we both have the nuts and go all in. I lose money on the hand – 10%. If you’re playing for half the pot, the only winner is the rake – it plays perfect and wins 10% every hand.
Playing the stud family of games, you have more to keep track of and the hands take longer. With the rake being a higher percentage of the overall pot in microlimit games, you’re never going to be a longterm winner for over 2 PTBB/100. For split pots, I’d be shocked if you can get over 1 PTBB/100.
I played Limt Hold’em when I first started online. I did well at .25/.50 -
PS $0.25/$0.50 18047 22.7905 46.9369 70.5128 49.1228 20.442 28.883 $160.40 1.7776 33.5672 51.6384 6.5828 $234.70
You can see that I paid $75 more in rake than I won yet I was a 1.77 PTBB/100 player – a very solid winrate. At .01/.02 NL, I average the same $/100 than I did at .25/.50, required 75% of the bankroll I needed for limit, and earned 4x the rake.
With the popularity of NLHE, there is no shortage of games or fish. I just don’t think there is any question what any aspiring player should be playing right now – NLHE cash, and probably 6Max over full ring. More hands = more $/100. If you’re trying to build a bankroll from nothing, it’s the best way.
