Hi Players,

I was looking over my stats recently for live 3-6 and saw that I have since put in 87 hours and make an hourly rate of $7.20. My question is; since I am making at least one big bet per hour can I take a shot at 4-8? I have done it before but not on a regular basis. And if I do take a shot, what are some of the main differences you may see in 4-8? Thanks for all your replies,

JCali in AZ

From my experience you're not likely to see much difference in play up to 10-20 and even there it's kind of the same. If it's a raked game I'd play at the highest limit you can to maximizes your win rate if the rake is capped at the same amount for each limit.

- 87 hours is a very short time to decide anything related to poker. You could be beating the game, or it could just be some short term favorable variance.
- You are up over $600 at 3/6. Take some of that winnings and play 4/8. Why not?
- I can't imagine there is much difference in skill level between 3/6 and 4/8.
- You don't have to be exclusive to one game. If one line is shorter, play that game. If you see players at one of the games you'd enjoy playing against, play there.

if you live in arizona you should be able to find a 4/8 game that you can beat for around $20 hour, check to see what promos various casinos run, good luck

Firstly, yes because 4-8 is the first stake where poker becomes even marginally beatable. You'll see the exact same play style, but the rake will be smaller relative to the pot (this is always a good thing).

Have you considered trying online?

If you're asking, the answer is probably yes.

That seems like an unrealistically high win rate for 4/8. Maybe the games are that good over there.

Make sure you properly adjust to the different blind structure of 4/8.

Level?

You're really not moving up to 4/8; you're moving over to 4/8.

Perhaps. Want to prop bet whether somebody can beat $4/$8 for $20 hour?

I'm your huckleberry... as long as it's you playing for 100 hours and I get the under.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/17...-tdlr-1455155/

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/32...014-a-1468457/

For the record, Callipygian posted that shortly after I wrote that article for the beginner's forum, but before it was published. Also, special thanks to Jon Locke for reviewing the article. His notes helped me make significant and important changes to the article, which is much appreciated.

Also, my cat is alive and well and is as big and fat as ever.

Fwiw I made about 10 an hour off promotions alone playing 4-8 exclusively for approximately 2 years in Arizona. If you are a very good player, I think 20 is obtainable if you play in the right games. I could have made a higher hourly in promotions if I'd been more selective but would not have gotten in nearly the volume.

You would have to be pretty knowledgeable about the games in AZ to pull it off. It's not just knowing what promos are running but also knowing which games are more profitable at which times. For example, a 10$ football promo at VQ on Sunday afternoon is probably more profitable per hour than a $16/hr aces cracked promo at ft. McDowell on Wednesday morning with a bunch of old nits. I'd expect to make at least 10 an hour in the VQ game sans promotions but break even or even lose a couple dollars in the Fort game, with their 7 dollar rake and all.

In Vegas 4-8 actually is a step up from lower limits. Play is tighter and more aggressive. The players still are terrible but I did notice a difference. If you play 10-20 or higher then the 4-8 players will look super terrible but if you normally play 2-4 and 3-6 then it could feel like a step up, but I'm only talking about my experiences in Vegas.

I don't think you understand just how meaningless 87 hours is. You could tell me you beat the game for 1 big bet an hour after 20 hours or 8 hours and my reaction would be almost exactly the same.

4-8 is still low limits so you could start there. You don't need to beat lower games and move up. If 4-8 seems hard to you then you won't beat lower games anyway.

I played over 500 hours at 4-8. I wasn't great but I was way better than almost any other 4-8 player I faced and I made nothing. I strongly suspect I could beat it for some small amount today but it's just not worth trying when I can do so much better in NL games and higher limit games. I was a much better player in the last 300 hours than I was in the first 200 hours and my results in the first 200 hours were much better.

Edit: FWIW I did play something like 80 hours in games offering special promotions that actually made for some pretty bad 4-8 games (the games were tighter and the competition was tougher) and ran badly in those games. So I did beat 4-8 for some small amount when I played in normal 4-8 games. $20 an hour sounds hard for me to believe though, even if somebody is a much better player than I'll ever be. I think $10 an hour would be amazing.

3/6 and 4/8 should be the same game. You'll be fine.

You have a 72 hour sample. Let's say 30 hands an hour for just under 2200 hands. That's a short single session for someone playing online. I've run hot for 60,000 hands in tough games. All this to say, we're happy the results have been good, but as far as statistical significance? Most rec players never get a meaningful sample. That's the nature of the beast, so don't worry about it. Save those winnings and learn stuff as you move up.
Are you saying some dude who should be playing the 4 and the 8 or someone who would snap sit 100/200 in about any lineup?

I'm saying that Aces cracked pays 4 racks is a really good promo and can do wonders for your $4/$8 win rate. And I would imaine coupled with whatever the BBJ is and the ability to beat 4-8 for maybe a few bucks, you probably could approach $20 hour during that promo

I just wonder,
if they offer 3/6 and 4/8 in the same casino at the same time then there might be a different....
if they offer it at a different casino (one offer 3/6 and the other one offer 4/8 as the small stack LHE) then they are the same...