I just began playing at Maryland Live.

I usually played online MTTs and SNGs prior to Black Friday. Just started playing cash maybe a year.

I do well and prefer tournements but since online is gone, its a bit tougher to try to grind playing MTTs. So now I play mostly cash games like 1/2, and 2/5.

I just began playing 2/5 at Maryland Live and I did exceptionally well. Then I went up to 5/10 and lost, then hit a rough patch and ended up losing my entire bankroll.

I had about $13,000 in my bankroll at its peak this month, now I have nothing.

I know everyone will tell me that I shouldn't have been playing at those stakes but I felt more comfortable at 2/5 than 1/2. I know I shouldn't have been in 5/10 and my ego was why I lost so horribly.

I don't really know what to do considering I am now busted.

Does anyone else feel like 1/2 is tougher for them or 2/5 is easier? and why?

What do you personally feel like is the biggest difference between MTT grinders and cash grinders? Some people will tell me that I play like a tournement player.

Thanks, and please no rude comments. looking for constructive criticism.

Poker is about adjusting your play to opponents. There are more loose passive poor players in 1-2. My guess is you aren't adjusting to the player pool properly.

I hope you learned some lessons about bankroll management, otherwise you're just another degen gambler, and should probably think about GA

honestly I do feel like a degen gambler.

GA?

after going bust, I'm starting to question if I'm actually a good player or I've just been running good this long.

Go to school, invest in yourself, do something meaningful.

I went to college. I have a job. wasn't looking for that kind of advice

I don't get the question. Play 1/2 rebuild and follow proper bankroll management, or quit now and take it as a lesson.

In all honesty I imagine you ran hotter in the 2/5 game last month, and that is all.

I've recently moved up to 2/5 from 1/2. I understand what you're saying. My reads and ranges on my opponents in the 2/5 games are way better. 1/2 players can be very difficult to range IMO. I would usually loose at first, then figure out the table and do better. Still, practice better bankroll mgmt. It's the most important part of the game...

I think this has to do with a few things. When you play 1/2, you probably feel entitled to win $ because it's 1/2 and everybody sucks. You probably don't pay much attention, don't respect the players and make very dumb calls because ah hell it's only $15-20 which adds up.

Not really sure how you can overcome these issues. It's hard to sit at a 1/2 game when there's a great 2/5 going on. Taking a shot is fine for most but not if you have even a slightest chance of blowing your roll because you're undisciplined.

I moved up to 2/5 about 100 hours ago, and have found a similar situation. I find I'm better able to range villains and (gasp) bluffcatch better at 2/5 than at 1/2 (1/3) where hardly anyone is bluffing. I can 'play poker' more against the semi-knowledgeable players than the typical 1/2 players who station me endlessly. With correct bet/raise sizing, the better players won't chase draws as often with bad odds and it seems to limit variance. There's also still plenty of fish at 2/5 to pick off when they play too loose passive, but the games, especially in Vegas, are tighter overall which leads to more fold equity and a better red line. I'm also far less likely to pay off huge bets on the river at 2/5, given that I play a 200bb game and the river can be quite costly.

As a consequence, I'm also playing better when I do play the occasional 1/2 session because I feel my game is improving all around from dabbling in the higher stake.

You most likely have a tiny sample size, you need hundreds of hours at both stakes before you can confidently say you are better at 2/5.

Personally, both are two insanely different games IMO.
1/2 is very soft, very predictable, and has very high variance. (Atleast down here in SFL)

1/2 down here consists of lots of people calling preflop calls with hands that are dominated.
Example, the other night playing 1/2, I raised to $15 with AQ, bet flop, bet turn, then called a donk into me OTR and he showed up with Q3 that rivered 2pair lol
There are rarely any 3bets, and if there is, its the nuts.

2/5 down here is a complete 360.
2/5 is actually thinking players, grinders, people who play for a living, and thinking players. People will squeeze, people will bluff, people will try to protect their ego.
Nobodys calling that $30 raise preflop with Q/X and/or is staying to the river to suck out.

thanks guys, I think all of your responses make sense. I think a large reason I play better at 2/5 cause I'm a little more focused cause there is more money in the pot. Now the only obstacle is grinding 1/2 again till I build a solid bankroll for 2/5.

Live is waaaaaaay softer than online. Don't bluff. Seriously, like spend 200 hours of play where you never run anything outside a flop c-bet in position. Notice how your results change. Open up your game as you see fit.

$1/2 has more variance than $2/5 yet is softer? WUT?

I can relate to most of the responses .. It would be interesting to know what you started with to get up to $13K and how long it took to get there ... sessions, ect.

The 'play poker' idea can be very true or very false at both 1-2 and 2-5 in my area. You need to be able to get a read on your table and make adjustments. Did you find yourself OOP and folding to pressure at 2-5? Fix the leak ...

It seems you 'know' you cant tell 'stories' at 1-2 if your opponent isnt listening. If they have their favorite hand (or dont like what you are wearing), they will call you down with 2nd pair and that's that!!

If you have the option ... and the time. Start at 1-2, build your stack up to your 2-5 buy-in and then change over so part of your 2-5 buy-in is 'freerolled' for the night.

Watch your position and range of opening hands ... at any level ...

It's way more important about the table than the stakes ... remember that one 2-5 hand could mean the same as winning three or four 1-2 hands in 'real money' but you have to think about BB, not 'real' money. Find opponents you can beat and just stay out of the way of the others. It takes a bit of waiting, but you ususally get more BB with less 'risk' when you pick your spots.

I find that going from tournament to cash is tougher than cash to tournaments If you have SNGs in your 'resume' then you are used to flipping and pressure moves. In cash you want to set yourself up in spots where you are 65% or better to win rather than flip. Take a look at some of your hands to see where you were 'at' when the chips when in. It doesn't take long for a 'room' to figure out a guys playing style and make adjustments either .. It's not called a 'grind' for no reason. GL

Background story:

During college I began playing online MTTs and SNGs. I always played fairly well and usually placed top 20% consistently. Then Black Friday happened. I stopped playing cards for a while until I was 21.

When I turned 21 I began playing cash games(1/2NL) at my local casinos (St. Louis)(pretty much only thing offered in St. Louis)(and only game I had money for) I would say the transition wasn't the smoothest, I lost a lot of money I had earned from working($6000). I then began to think I wasn't good at poker anymore. After reading a couple more books and browsing through some forums and talking to some pro friends, I jumped back into it. I still could not consistently profit at 1/2. I really thought I was just a bad player, I then quit playing cards to get back to my real life.

Fast forward to Sept. 2014. I moved to Washington D.C cause of my family. I knew that Maryland Live was the east coast's top poker room at the moment. When I visited my family on vacations, I had played 2/5 there and did extremely well (spent all the money).

My parents are your typical Asian degenerate gamblers and my mom loaned me $200(cause I was flat broke) and insisted I go play.

I went to $1/2NL and lost. I thought I was going to give up poker for good. My mom then loaned me another $400 cause she was doing well. I sat down at $2/5NL. I turned that $400 into $1100. I walked and paid my mom back her money.

The next couple of days I began to grind everyday at 2/5 making small profits but leaving because I could not afford to lose. I decide to play in a $200 buyin MTT on a Saturday Oct. 4 and took 1st(4900).

WILL CONTINUE

I will continue later I have to go now. or I can post another while I'm in car.

Don't play when you can't afford to lose. Period. Save up some money that you don't mind losing. Then sit down and play.

Play when you're alert, focused, and ready. And not a second before. Study, read, post questions on here. Don't be afraid to take a hard look at your game and realize you have quite a few leaks. Improve on your game and start patching those leaks.

Is 1/2 soft? Yes. Are most players bad? Yes. Do they make horrendous plays and suckout on us? Yes. But that's why its profitable. Even when it comes with the occasional headache.

But don't feel entitled to win. You're not God's gift to cards, and neither is anyone else. That bad player has a certain likelihood of winning, just as much as you do. And don't be so quick to chalk up your defeats to bad luck. Closely examine your play and realize if there was a bigger problem: your play. Again, post hands and be active in your study of the game.

Don't be in a sprint to build a bankroll. We all can't win the main event. It takes a lot of time, a lot of effort, a lot of studying, and the will to improve. Quit jumping to 2/5 and 5/10 because you think you know the game better at those levels. One small mistake (or suckout) and your roll is crushed...again.

Good luck.

Live you get like 30 hands an hour. Multiply that by the number of hours at 1/2 2/5 and 5/10 and ask yourself if those are meaningful sample sizes of total hands at each...

It's variance playing tricks on you.

Grunch.

Because you underestimate your 1/2 opponents.

As someone who goes back and forth, I'm betting it's this.

Thats awesome.

Seriously ranging in 1/2 isnt that hard. Focus on your opponents. For some it is a very narrow range and for others ATC. And give yourself some time at the table to figure it out. You will find the guy that marries Tpnk regardless of the board. Or the guy that only plays TpTk on the safest board and needs the nuts to play any connected board. Adjust accordingly. That said if you are uncomfortable in a game - leave. There arent any rules (other than common sense) that says you have to beat 1-2 before you are allowed to beat 2-5. But if you dont have the fundamentals to beat 1-2 that is a different story. And you need to be honest about that.