One continuing theme in this forum is the following question starting a thread:
"I'm thinking of moving up from Xnl to Ynl. What's the difference between them and am I ready for it?"
It is a question that gets asked over and over. My first reaction was, "Use the search function and read the last 20 threads on the exact same subject." However, looking through the results, a lot of the information is not particularly good and there is a high noise to signal ratio. Therefore, I've decided to put together a "best of" post on the subject.
All Micro Play isn't the Same
My first indication before I even started posting on this forum that the title was true is the following quote from Harrington in HOC VII: "Here [On-line play] we found generally competent play at 50nl, 100nl, 200nl, and 400nl. Some players at this level were quite good . . . . The 25nl online game seemed to the be the transition level, with some competent players mixed in with some complete beginners. . . . Games below this level were uniformly weak."
This is true today. The message doesn't change.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SammyG-SD
The story for every stake is the same.
Learn what is normal for the level to stack off with and work backwards from there. Eventually you should have an idea for each villain on what they stack off with and what they call down with. This will dictate the hands you play against who, who you vbet, who you control pots against, and if you bluff and the complexity of your lines.
We will make most of our monies off of the fish, but the definition of fish is different for each player at each stakes.
As we move up the brain dead fish that thinking gambling is fun become harder to find (mainly b/c other players take care of them earlier), so we need to learn to be profitable against other players.
At the lowest limits, you can lose money to the other decent players and still make a profit because of all the fish.
At NL25 you can just avoid playing against the regs and still make a profit.
At NL50/100 you want to be BE against the regs, and exploit the bad regs.
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Even the dynamics differ at lower levels due to the stack sizes. On Pokerstars, you can have people with 250bb at 2nl and 200bb at 5nl. The more bbs you and your opponents have, the wider range of hands you can play profitably. Therefore, Pokerstars actually levels the field a bit by playing to the weak player's desire to limp lots of different hands. Still the gold standard for how to play the micros is sircuddles' guide.
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/78...micros-430637/
Therefore, every level is going to play a bit different. To say that there is no difference between any level is actually missing potential areas to increase profit.
The Fish Will Always Be Among You
Really terrible players play at all levels of the micros. However as pointed out above, there are less and less of them as you move up. You always want to target really bad players. However, eventually there aren't enough of them to make a living on while ignoring the regulars. Therefore, the difference between the levels isn't the quality of the fish, but the quality of the good regular.
What Does a Good Regular Know
Let's first define who a regular is. To me, a regular is someone I routinely run into. You'll see them for multiple nights and have lots of hands with them. Regulars are a small number of players. At 50nl, only 2% of players in my database I play even 0.5% of my hands against. At 1% of the time, it drops to only 0.5% of the players. Therefore, there aren't many regulars at any level in the micros.
So what defines "good." Winning is certainly one aspect, but there is a core of knowledge they would have. At 10nl and below, characteristics of a good regular would include:
1. Positionally aware. They understand that they need to be tighter early and open up later.
2. Can avoid stacking off with TP. If he can fold TP to a turn raise, he's showing signs of thinking about his opponents hand.
3. Bet sizing properly. He isn't randomly shoving or betting 1/4 the pot.
4. Can make a cbet. He isn't always playing fit or fold.
How about 25nl? A classic synopsis of a winning 25nl player, ready for 50nl is here.
http://archiveserver.twoplustwo.com/...fpart=all&vc=1
Quote:
first off you should never view it as a quantum leap kinda thing. just take little shots when you feel comfortable, have the money and are good enough. here's a hand waving yardstick:
try 50NL when:
- you're confident in your preflop game
- you understand position
- you have a good idea of their hand by the river
- you have an ok feel when to continuation bet
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And a good 50nl player ready for 100nl?
http://archiveserver.twoplustwo.com/...fpart=all&vc=1
Quote:
100NL when:
- you're confident playing draws
- you can spot good semibluff opportunities
- you can lay down AA/KK unimproved
- you're attacking the blinds in easy steal situations
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Conclusion
It still comes down to that there are more good players, less terrible players, more aggression and generally tighter play as you move up. It is never a huge jump, but if you have a game that isn't adaptable to the play you are seeing, you're eventually going to struggle at some level. And no, you can't be successful moving up to where your game works. Anybody who witnessed Rider's recent trip to 50nl knows that he can crush it.
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