Limit Ring Game Analysis
So I just finished clearing the 50% bonus at PP for $100. Played 500 raked hands at $0.50/$1.00 limit, usually with 10 players with an average pot of $8. This is the first time seriously playing limit ring games. I usually stick to SNG's.
I finished with a profit of $14.99. This seems quite sad. lol. It took me 16 sessions of play which averages to 31 raked hands per sitting. I didn't usually play that long when I first started, but I did the last 250 raked hands in 5 sittings.
I just realized right before finishing the bonus that PP counts a "raked hand" for yourself as any hand that is delt to you that involves a rake (including folded hands pre/post flop).
I was just wondering how long do people usually sit at these limit ring games? What do you expect in profit for limits at $0.50/$1.00? I'm assuming you would have to play many more hours and hands than I did to see some good return. I actually haven't read any Jones or Slansky books yet and do you think I would see a substantial improvement if I do?
Thanks.
I finished with a profit of $14.99. This seems quite sad. lol. It took me 16 sessions of play which averages to 31 raked hands per sitting. I didn't usually play that long when I first started, but I did the last 250 raked hands in 5 sittings.
I just realized right before finishing the bonus that PP counts a "raked hand" for yourself as any hand that is delt to you that involves a rake (including folded hands pre/post flop).
I was just wondering how long do people usually sit at these limit ring games? What do you expect in profit for limits at $0.50/$1.00? I'm assuming you would have to play many more hours and hands than I did to see some good return. I actually haven't read any Jones or Slansky books yet and do you think I would see a substantial improvement if I do?
Thanks.
Comments
$8 seems pretty low for a party table. Maybe you should try better table selection.. Not the absolutely highest $average at your limit but somewhere towards the top is usually good and will have a lot of raked hands count for you (without having to participate yourself).
The key to getting through bonuses in a reasonable time is to play multiple tables at the same time. Since you are just starting out (and we may have profitability issues), I don't recommend you start multitabling right now. You need to just put in the table time. Read Jones and follow it, you will already be better than half the players at the table. Forget Sklansky and Forget Miller <for now>. Jones is your meal ticket.
As for BB/100 (hours are too arbitrary), a good low limit player will pull in around 5-6BB/100 at a party .50/1 table. Dont worry if you arent there yet, once you get your head around holdem the money will address itself.
I know someone who's getting 8BB/100 at .5/1. I should say he was, now he's playing 3/6 (quickly built a roll from it while moving up).
Myself, I'm getting 5-6.5BB/100. I suspect I'm running a little good, but the players are so terrible you can never know
Anyway, going 500 (although this might be more lik 700 hands tops?) hands without making a good profit is not all that uncommon. Some breakeven streaks can last many thoussand hands...
Cheers,
Guts
I'm thinking you've actually put in little over 600 hands, so it works out to 2 BB/100 hands. IMO, ANY postive player is in the top 30% range of all the players, and a 2BB/100 hand player is decent. So, your results are pretty darn good.
The problem is that 600 hands is such a miniscule sample. I've had runs where I win approximately 20BB/100 hands, but that gets averaged down pretty quick. You need at least 20,000 hands to really get a reasonable approximation of your win rate.
So, you've had good results. Reading, understanding and following Jone's book will be the best thing you could ever do for your game. IMO, it is the best book on Holdem, even better than HEFAP by Slansky. But, as a top player you can only expect your win rate of around 4-8 BB/100 hands.
Not really a get rich quick scheme at 8 bucks per hour if you play two tables. But if you can win, improve and move up in limits it's not a bad gig.
The other day I just recently hit a profit of $40 at one sitting in about 70 delt hands at the $0.50/$1.00. This was the largest one sitting profit I've had! It felt good!
I'll be using that to buy Jones' book now
I also tried the Poker Stars $0.50/$1.00....wow these players so tight! At first I didn't know what everyone was talking about because it seemed the same to me. Know I understand completely!