moving up from micro-limit online

[Downstream 0]

Anyone have thoughts on my situation here? Similar experiences?I do not consider myself completely green, but I am not a great poker player either. I know basic pot odds etc...I am on Poker Room .25-.50 and able to make about $5 per hour. I usually just wait for a top 10 hand and then raise it when I hit a flop and collect the pot off the calling stations. You can't seem to win much without the nuts here. Weve all been beaten on a random gutshot straight draw, or capping it on a backdoor flush draw.I have been trying to move up a limit to .50-1.00 but when I do, I get ahead for a while and then slowly lose my money. I have done this about three times now. I just go back to .25-.50 and make another $50 or so and then try again. This .25-.50 stuff is getting a little dull. I have also been thinking about skipping up to a higher limit of say $2/4 but dont know if thats wise. My goal is to never deposit again, while becoming a better poker player. So far $45 has lasted me 3 months of play for maybe 8 hours a week.So, how did you make up to higher limits? And I'd appreciate it if we could skip the flames about this being small time poker, blah, blah...

[FiveFingerz 0]

Just remember when you decide to move up your bankroll should be 300 to 600 x's the BB and you should sit down with at least 200 x's the BB that way if you lose a big pot it won't set you back to bad. And you should never sit down with more than 1/3 of your bankroll. As far has making it up to higher limits keep grinding um out brother or add some more dough to your online account. The other option is bonus chasing if you want me to elaborate on that let me know. Good Luck!

[Downstream 0]

Just remember when you decide to move up your bankroll should be 300 to 600 x's the BB and you should sit down with at least 200 x's the BB that way if you lose a big pot it won't set you back to bad. And you should never sit down with more than 1/3 of your bankroll. As far has making it up to higher limits keep grinding um out brother or add some more dough to your online account. The other option is bonus chasing if you want me to elaborate on that let me know. Good Luck!

Thanks for the advice. By the way, I am playing limit poker not NL so the risk of losing a bankroll is pretty minimal. I think about giving NL a shot sometimes but haven't done so yet. Looks like I need to grind until I can make it up to at least $300, which I know I can do with all the fish at .25-.50. I can't really deposit more since I don't have money to blow on poker, so I am seriously trying to move my way up with that original deposit. I figure that should build some skills on the way as a bonus. Its funny, I've never seen anyone with more than about $100 at the .50-1.00 tables., and that is the exception. Usually people have about $50 or so. By bonus chasing I assume you mean player points and all that. Let me know your thoughts on that. I think that Poker Room, where I play has kind of weak bonuses. Your points aren't cumulative and expire after a week. Because of that, I havent made it to a freeroll tounament yet. Is there better bonuses elsewhere?Again, thanks for your help.

[Wilderness 0]

What he means by bonus chasing is simply taking however much you can afford and depositing it in a site that offers a good deposit bonus. Then you play enough raked hands to earn the bonus and take all that money and deposit it into another site. Rinse and Repeat.There has been at least one extensive webpage devoted to maximizing the money you get from doing that and the best way to go about it. I can't remember the link but I'm sure you can find it on google or someone from this forum will know it.

[Alcatraz 0]

Bonus chasing isn't going to help him beat the bigger games. Keep playing the micro limits until you know the game so well that you can sit down at your usualy limit and be absolutely fearless. Read, read, read... here, or anywhere else you can pick up a poker book. Things don't change much from the micro limits to the low limits, the same fish, the same strats, the only thing that really changes is the amount of money at stake. When you're playing above your comfort zone you start thinking about the chips as money, and a hand that you'd raise with at .50/1 suddenly costs 4 bucks to raise with in a 2/4 game, and that's real money.... You have to get past that and you'll get past it by ripping up the lower game until you just know when you sit down that you're going to kill the game.Bonus chasing is a nice way to get a little extra cash to pad your bankroll with, but it won't actualy help you beat the game.

[Kevin Garceau 0]

I dont know if you can actually "beat" the micro limit "limit" games. Yes you can come out a winner more times than not but its such a small win each time it takes a while.Now I was in your shoes exactly this summer, early summer. I put in 50 bucks. I played the same limits as you but I kept moving up every chance I could. I didnt necessarily follow the BB "rule" about having so much. I thought if I could beat the table I would sit. Many times at 2/4 I sat with my whole bank roll of 150 and left when I felt I had enough or won enough.Here is how I built it up, with a small bankroll. 1. Leave a winner, if you get up 50-75 bucks, there is nothing wrong with walking away a winner. Yes you may win more, you may lose it all too. I would get up and go enter a 5 dollar tourney that I could play for a few hours on the 5 bucks and enjoy the evening. Heck some days I would be up 20 and just say... thats enough.... a win is a win is a win.2. Limit your losses, dont keep chasing, even if your playing great and keep getting sucked out on, take a break. Quit for the evening. Some nights it just doesnt turn. 3. Study, read, and ask questions4. I joined PSO, it really helped my game, it still does when I am in a funk.5. Walking a way a winner sometimes means your down for a session. Some of my most rewarding sessions is when I have been down 200 early and walked away only down 15..... to me, I count that mentally as a win. YOu have to set yourself up for the wins in the next session. If you leave and say man I cant believe I lost 15 bucks, but forget that it could have been 200, you may not have the confidence in your play for the next session.6. Take advantage of some free rolls, survive early and dominate late.7. Some bonus's can be very good, wait and watch, but dont get trapped by them. It can happen.8. Find a mentor/teacher/coach/friend you can trust. Someone that can help your game, and be honest with you. When your playing like crap and doing stupid stuff, he/she has to tell you. If your being stupid or cocky they have to reign you in as well. VERY IMPORTANTI am now concentrating on the low limit NL games, .25/.5 and .5/1 NL. These games are pretty easy to beat, but you have to be able to handle some swings. I am making about 300 a week sitting at these tables.What I found in limit is I can handle the game better at the 5/10 games and above, less ridiculous suckouts and chasers but they are still there.In 6 months starting as you and using what I posted I have taken my bankroll over 100 times its original size....now if only I put some real money in there initially. I wouldnt have to be at work typing this now....lol yeah right!