How to pick the "right" game?

[ND1991]

So i have been playing home poker for over 15 years, B&M poker maybe 5, and online maybe 3 1/2 or so. I usually just play for fun when I have the time. However, I am curious how to pick the "right" game to play if I had a goal of:

A) preserving bankroll not building it (it's a hobby that i want to pay for itself)
B) determining "my skill" (playing with a chance to win and lose, would prefer to work up to ceiling than start in deep end and drown - think of this as chess program with levels start with level 1, win x games, move up, etc.)
C) building a bankroll (hey if i am investing time, i want some roi)
D) preparing for live tournaments, probably bigger one (i want to be the next Joe Hachem)

I play mainly on PokerStars and FullTilt, and prefer PokerStars. Nothing wrong with FullTilt at all, but I like the GUI of PokerStars better.

So I am going to deposit $600 into PokerStars and invest $89.99 into PokerTracker 3.0. I normally play SNGs online, but will play both limit and NL in B&Ms (and not opposed to them online). I prefer to play one table at a time, but will occasionally play between two and six tables if playing ring games (I have learned if I need to do this, it is better for me to stop and I am doing it because I am bored on the one table and want to play more hands).

My thoughts on the different goals, as always any and all opinions appreciated.

A) Double or Nothing SNGs for 20+1.60. Fun, can play some hands, do not need great cards to cash, takes about 1 hour.

B) I would think single table SNGs or ring games for this. For SNGs I would most likely start at 10+1. For ring games, this is different since in B&Ms I usually play 1/2 limit, 2/4 limit, and 1/2 no limit, but online is so much faster, should i be lower? Really lost on this one.

C) Another tough one. Double or nothings could be a strategy here, but the hourly roi is low, but the chance for positive growth is high. Not sure if single table SNGs are the way to go (1 hour investment) or multi-table SNGs are better (any help on time here?) or go for the big ones? I have played the Sunday Million once at finished 467 / 14181, but it took a LONG time! Also, in these larger tournaments, a bad play, a bad beat, a run of good second place cards, and you can be gone real fast.

D) This seems to be a pattern recognition thing to me and would assume just playing a lot is the best plan. However, there could be more.

Finally, if I were identifying the gaps in my game to work on they would be:

1) Patience. More of a problem online than live. This manifests in playing a slightly larger range hands. The Semi-Loose-Aggressive/Aggressive numbers most of the time.
2) Bankroll management. Finding and picking games that are not "over my head" while learning and getting better. The temptation of jumping in a "big" game is fun, and I am skilled/lucky enough to cash from time to time, but when "over my head" it cannot be done consistently.
3) Knowing when to not play or stop playing. Poker results are pretty black and white, you are either up or down, but that metric is not always an indicator of whether you are playing well or not. This is more open ended in when is it time to quit?

If you got this far thanks and I hope you respond.

[CRAZYBEAR007]

Looks like you have a good handle on things. If are wondering about specific sites and what they have to offer read my U.S Poker sites Post. I like the Cake, Carbon/Wass/PDF, Bodog and Poker Stars for what you are doing. Cake (Doyles, Players, Betus) have great qualifiers for big payout tournaments. I played in a final the last two weekends that 1st prize was a $13,000 WSOP package. I finished 15 5 places from the money on Sunday.

LOL

[ND1991]

With a $600 bankroll, what should i be playing?

Is $20 + $2 SNGs right?
Is $2/$4 limit rings right?
Is $1/$2 no limit rings right?

Trying to find a balance of time in versus chance to cash versus roi for time spent is really tough online.

For example, I can play a $20 + $1.60 NL [Double or Nothing] with 10 man table and top 5 win $40 and finish between 45 and 90 minutes.

I could alternately play a $20 + $2 Multi-table with 9 man tables and 180 players. It would take 3 to 5 hours to cash and win $43.20. And could easily go another 2 to 5 hours to make final table and win between $61.20 and $1080.00.

My chances of cashing in the first scenario are fairly high 80+% of the time, but my max winnings are also capped.

My chance of cashing in the second scenario is lower, but my max winnings are much much higher.

Assuming 30 tournaments played with the $600. Which scenario gives the best chance for:

A) preserving bank roll but not building it much [first scenario is obvious here]
B) determining my skill and improiving my play [much less clear]
C) building my bankroll [i think neither so what would be better than these two]
D) preparing for larger live tournaments [probably second scenario, but seems a tad daunting where daunting = lots of time spent for limited return, and chance for large return highly suspect and definite luck involved]

Thanks again.

[CRAZYBEAR007]

There are some good bankroll guidelines out on the internet. Risking between 1% and 4% of your bankroll at any 1 game or any 1 day. Take a look and they will give you a good feel on that subject.