I have played nothing but micro-limits NL at Ultimate Bet (.01 / .02 blinds, $2.00 buy-in). I love this game at these limits because there is no rake and because the people are insanely stupid. My losing sessions are rare and I average more than a buy-in per hour when triple tabling. And a lot of the enjoyment I get from poker comes from winning consistently. So in a sense, I'm in no hurry to move up.

But at the same time, even averaging a buy in and a half per hour only gets you 3 bucks per hour. So it's kind of silly. (Although poker clearly pays better than my previous computer game obsessions, which paid me zero dollars per hour no matter how good I got.)

But still, when you're totally destroying the game at one level, you think about moving up. My bankroll is now over $200 and I'm thinking of moving to the $10 buy-in games.

So ... is this a good idea?

I'm not asking this as bankroll question. Even if 20 buy-ins is a little light, I know that I can earn $10 buy-ins at the $2 table any time I want.

I'm asking it as a site-specific and game-specific question.

To anybody who has played both the $2 and the $10 at UB, I ask: what are the differences between the games? What should I expect when I do make the move? What should I watch out for?

I know the rake is evil, especially at the low-limit games. What else?

Should I maybe stay with the micro-limit games for a couple more months, get to $500, and then jump straight to $25 games?

Are there better games out there for someone with a $200 bankroll? I really don't like limit as much as no-limit. Omaha ... I'll think about trying that later, but not for a while.

Are there sites other than UB that offer good $10ish buy-in games?

Are there any sites that have a better rake policy?? I hate even the idea of a 5% rake on all my winning hands. Ugh.

Thanks in advance for any and all advice.

UB has some of the hardest tables on the net IMO. The $10 game there plays like the $50 game at other sites. At least that is how I found it 6 months ago. It might have changed like all the other sites since the 2004 WSOP.

If your wanting to beat the rake and be a winning player I suggest taking your $200 and bonus whoring it at one of the sites that pay 100% or at least 50% sign up bonus. If you play a lot even at the lower limits you can get most or all of the bonus. I have also found that most of these newer sites that are offering a big sign up bonus have some of the worst players.

K3nt - I can't speak about other sites because I have only played for money on UB.
But I do have many hours logged on the .05/.10 NL tables at UB. My impression of those games is that it is made up mostly of people like yourself who have had success on the penny tables and want to move up in stakes. TexasKowboy says it plays like the $50 table at other sites - I don't know about that but I can say it has many experienced players and not a lot of monkeys.

Some nights I actually think the .10/.25 NL table is easier. I have always attributed that to some young players with credit cards that don't want to "play for pennies" and start out there.

That being said - I think it is worth the try. One way I do it is to play a session on the lower stakes table until I win the buy in to the next level. Then I think of it as "playing for free". This helps me play my game and not play scared. If I lose my buy in then I go back down to where I am comfortable. Thats how I moved up to the $10 table and now the $25 tables. After last week I am back down on the $10 tables getting my confidence back - and building my bankroll back up again.

I hope this is of some help to you.

K3nt,

there is one problem with the 5./.10 tables at UB: there's few of them and the waiting lists are usually long. Play is comparable to .10/.25. You'll find everything ranging from completely clueless to people who play reasonably well. Also, before you move up, you can always spend some time just watching the game. On UB I see many people moving freely between various limits, so you might be facing some of the same people you face on the penny tables...

Pieter