[Stockton_Dave]

Not the one to have read about the financial aspects of the game and how to manage your bankroll etc....

Just what does BB mean? Big BET or big BLIND or just big booger?

Is it the same when used in the context of your bankroll should be some number times your BB and also when it is used in the context so many BB/hr (assuming you have positive cash flow).

And just for the uniformed and ignorant (I'm raising my hand teacher) what are these values?

How big should the bankroll be for a limit game?

and

what are the BB/hrs one should be trying for (oviously the highest the better) but what's the level where the "experts" say is a solid and profitable game and not just wasting your time.

I'm asking because I'm just starting to track my poker sessions online.

Also should I keep the various games I play separate (ie HE, Omaha and 7 Card stud) data wise? (I am currently)

I am currently playing the majority of my time on $2-4 but occassionally will drop to $1-2 or up to $3-6 depending on table availibility on PP.

Inquiring or is that enquiring minds want to know...

Thanks.

 

[BigKahuna]

BB does equal big blind. As far as I have read and depending on your comfort level at a table, you should strive for a game where you have at least 50 - 100 times the big blind to enter. So, for your 2/4 game you should have at least $200 - $400 in your bankroll to play comfortably. Some people you should have 200 times the BB but for me that is overkill.

In NL, they normally say have 10 times the buy-in so for a $50 buy-in game have $500 in the roll. It is different for everyone and these are guidelines. I generally play a bit above my bankroll but I am comfortable with that.

As for BB/Hour, what I read is that you strive for at least 1 - 2 BB/hour in the mid-limit games 10/20 and higher. As for low limit I would consider 5 BB/hour successful for myself but it depends whether you are trying to make a living / pay the bills or in my case just come out with +bankroll for the session. For me it is all about building the bankroll for bigger tournies.

I track all my progress with Cardplayers FREE online poker analyist. Easy and free.

This is just all my opinions based on book reading and post reading from RGP and 2+2 forums. I could definitely be wrong about all of this. Good luck.

 

[Hagar]

My readings indicate that you SHOULD have even higher bankroll/BB than BK suggests.

The 300 x BB is the value that I have encountered frequently. Of course, this isn't intended for one session, but for the long term. This is deemed to be enough to withstand severe swings over extended period and allow you to still be comfortable at that limit. I don't KNOW anybody who follows this how many of us had a $1800 BR saved up before we started playing 3/6?), but this is what published "experts" suggest. The idea is to be able to sustain a couple of fugly sessions and not be broke.

For a single limit session, I try to have around 30+ BB at my immediate disposal and usually sit down with no less than 15 BB.

I recently read a new NL book and this author recommends a 20 x buy-in BR (and he recommends the max possible buy-in), again for long term consideration.

For a NL session, I try to have 2-4+ buy-ins available, and I try to avoid games where the max. buy-in is less than 50BB and will not play if it's less than 30BB.

Regarding tracking your stats: When I was tracking my stats, I kept track of:
Session Start$/End$
Session Time (ie 2 hours, 8 hours)
Stakes (3/6 limit, 1/2 NL, $5 SnG etc)
Type (Cash, SnG, Multi Table Tourney)
Where (Casino Name, On-Line (Site Name), Home Game etc)
Date
Game Type (Hold'em, Omaha etc)

Since I work extensively with data for a living, believe me when I tell you that it's better to over collect data details than to under collect. You can always roll things up to a higher level if you want, but you can't dig deeper if you don't have the details. For example, if you don't seperate the game types, you could run 3/6 reports all day long, but you wouldn't be able to see how your earnings are in Hold'em vs. Omaha if you don't keep the records seperate.

This is enough to allow you just about any type of analysis you want to perform. I just built a quick little Access database for this.

I haven't heard an "Expected Earnings" criteria for NL, but the 1.5 BB/HR is a pretty common milestone used to guage your limit success. Obviously if your skill is beating the dumb luck factor at low limits, your earnings should be much higher on many sessions. But I have had plenty of sessions where dumb luck and suckouts win so expecting such earnings on every session is obviously not reasonable. I don't think this is something you really consider session to session - it's just a long term yardstick.

 

[BigKahuna]

I agree with Hagar re: the long term bankroll criteria of 300xBB to sit at any game for a long period of time (i.e. making a living or playing every single day recreationally). It does allow you to adjust to swings and not go broke in a single week.

 

[Stockton_Dave]

Thanks for your replies.

Hagar, if BB = blind then the BR would only need to be $900 for a 3/6 game (yes/no?) as the BB is usually only $3.

Based on the 300 BB rule I could be playing 16/32 (HA!) but I am not comfortable with that. I've gone and segregated 5K for my beginning BR for the rest of my life. Hell, house is paid for, no kids, got strong medical insurance through work, and insurance for catastrophic events and it doesn't affect our lifestyle. I've been building this amount slowly over time playing and I decided I needed a plan, keep records, etc...Should the original 5K eventually run out = TILT then that's it. I'm not playing to earn my keep, but any net proceeds on a monthly/semi-yearly/annual basis (haven't decided which) will be divided in two (half to build the bank roll, half to spend on other hobbies, new golf clubs, new bowling ball, new mistress :lol: just joking dear). Hopefully as time moves on I'll make 3-6 my standard game, then 5-10 etc..... Pitiful levels compared to some of the levels you "pros" are playing and posting about but those games allow me to stay within my "online happy area" mentally. Still up for the BYOC NL games though as it's nice to socialize and commiserate with real human beings.

I have a list on a clip board that I write down all that data (start time, game type, limits, buyin, end time, cashout) for the sessions I have going, usually two sometimes three. Then when the sessions end I add the data to a spreadsheet that evening for the particular game (he, 7cs, om) AND limit level. So I have 5 files now (1-2 7CS, 2-4 7CS, 2-4 OM, 2-4 HE and 3-6 HE). The spreadsheet calcs the session win/loss amount, time played, total win/loss balance/ total time played and then the BB/hr amount (assumed big blind when I created them). But now I'm thinking an ACCESS database would be the way to go. One file and I could lie, err manipulate the data into any report I wanted :roll: The data pool is small and my wins have overran the three session losses I've had, so statistically the BB values are meaningless, though one of them is like 20 BB/hour .


I read somewhere that Hagar said " I just built a quick little Access database for this. "

As in, you made it while you were typing the post (you the man!) or somewhere in the near past you built yourself a nice and easy database? (you still the man!)

Care to share? or do you need more sucking up to?

Is it compatible with Access 97?

 

[Hagar]

Hagar, if BB = blind then the BR would only need to be $900 for a 3/6 game (yes/no?) as the BB is usually only $3.

Yes, my bad. (To self: don't do math on the fly!)

I read somewhere that Hagar said " I just built a quick little Access database for this. "

As in, you made it while you were typing the post (you the man!) or somewhere in the near past you built yourself a nice and easy database? (you still the man!)

Care to share? or do you need more sucking up to?

No, I didn't build while I was typing the post. It is, errr..., was in Access 97 but I think I converted it to 200 or 2003 recently. I'll see if I still have the old version and if not it wouldn't be hard to build it again. I'd be happy to share it with any of you who want it. It's not set up with lot's of user interface features or anything (no entry "forms" etc), but it's pretty easy to do entry. It's got a bunch of reports already built, including BB/hr by just about any angle you could imagine. I don't have any standard deviation type stuff or anything like that.

When I was using the tool, I'd just jot down sessions info on a piece of paper (don't have anything as fancy as a clipboard) and then do a bunch of data entry every couple days.