Truth. I have at least a dozen individual dgiharris posts bookmarked that outline the thought processes necessary to crush.

If you think he's joking, he's not. I click on DGI's name about once a week and go try to read every post he's made in a strategy or PG&C thread (this is how I found this post, as I'm not a normal BQ reader/poster).

Good post as usual, DGI. Well done and thanks for contributing.

Great post sir! I'm definitely going to add a few bullet points to my schedule.

I have absolutely no interest in going pro but your article was still a very good read. Thanks for the contribution Dg!

The poker book market is already flooded, but I appreciate the encouragement.

FWIW, if I can do something sick this WSOP I am going to put together a podcast / youtube series end of this year after I retire my PG&C thread.

And play the ME?

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A Great Thread.

Q. We all know online poker is getting harder to beat as time goes on.
Would you say Live poker is following the same trend or do you find there are alot more Live players not putting in the time/dedication it takes to improve ?

If you were to go back to the early days of 2+2 you would notice that even back then players were talking about the games are getting harder to beat...

the games always seem to be getting harder to beat, every year, the sky is falling .

Though that has some truth in the online poker world, the same cannot really be said for the live game.

The live game at the 1/2nl, 1/3nl, and 2/5nl level will always be juicy. There are multiple reasons for it.

#1) 1/2nl and 1/3nl represent the first levels of live poker play meaning that rec-fish new to poker have no choice but to start in a game where the buy-ins are significant (i.e. $100 - $300).

#2) 2/5nl is the second level of live poker and many beginners often jump to this level due to typical live poker elitism.

#3) The VAST majority of LLSNL players have never really studied the game and rely on trial and error and common poker knowledge

#4) The pace of live poker is so slow in terms of hands you see per hour. Also, most players rely on trial and error to learn. Then add variance and all of that mixes with ego and memory bias with the result being that a player can be terribad and make horrible -EV plays for years if not decades all the while thinking they are playing correctly.

#5) God bless alcohol, tilt, ego, and the slow pace of live play. Fish didn't drive 35 minutes to the casino to fold for hour after hour...

Sure, there are players who put in the time and effort and study and get better but these players often end up moving up to the higher limits. So the 1/2nl, 1/3nl, and 2/5nl levels tend to stay super juicy since there is always a influx of new fish and the old fish stay terrible...

Imo, all the places I've played poker (LA, Bay Area, Vegas), I feel as if the breakdown for LLSNL is:

30% of the field are horrible losing players
20% of the field are losing players
25% of the field are breakeven players
13% of the field are slight winners
10% of the field are solid winners
2% of the field crush the game

On a scale of 1-10, how AIDS-y would you say the LLSNL forum is?

Also, someone on 2p2 said that playing 2/5 is overrated...in Vegas anyway. I was indifferent to that comment until one session I had there where a dealer told me that one guy at our table usually plays 5/10. Do you agree with that assessment?

Do you have plans of hitting up Florida for a little while? I heard the 2/5 games there are nuts. I wanna give it a shot once I have ~25-30k, but easier said than done obv

meh, it just depends, there are some good posters and then there are posters who it's obvious they do not beat the game.

just depends and that's all I'll say on that subject

People that thumb there noses at 2/5nl imo are just being blinded by elitism.

The reason 2/5nl is a great level to grind live is because its the highest level that STILL has a significant percentage of clueless fish. In fact, its the highest level where the MAJORITY of players STILL have significant huge leaks

Give you an example. Last night in my 2/5nl game the following hand took place. Effective stacks were $1.2k

V1 was a super station fish, can't lay down to save his life.

V2 was a nitty ABC player who was getting smack in the face with the deck. Within 3 orbits he was dealt AA, KK, AA, QQ and flopped sets 3 times and has shown down nothing but monsters. He doesn't bluff ever.

V3 was typical V, not important.

V1 fish is UTG+1 and limps, V2 is in MP and limps, V3 raises to $20, V1 calls, V2 calls, 3-way.

Flop($60) Q 9 4
V1 fish chks, V2 nit chks, V3 bets $40, V1 calls, V2 calls calls

Turn(180) 7
V1 chks, V2 chks, V3 bets $75, V1 calls, V2 c/r to $600 , V3 snap folds, V1 tank calls

River(1380) 7
V1 chks, V2 goes all-in, V1 tanks for 5 minutes and calls

V1 shows A9
V2 has 99

this is something you just would never see at 5/10nl or if you did see it, it would be for different reasons (i.e. bluff ranges are high and bluff frequency is super high).

But at 2/5nl, you see horrid plays like this at least once every other orbit.

I am planning on doing my own poker tour around the world end of the year. I want to play the big cash games in Macua, so I will start there, then work my way across Asia then Europe, then the East Coast, then Florida, then work my way back to California (knock on wood)

Would you feel differently about 2/5 if it had a $500 cap? Just wondering if the difference of opinion is due to access to uncapped games.

I was primarily talking about the $500 capped games

Those have the biggest percentage of fish, especially when they get on a heater and are sitting at $2k but have no clue how to play with deep stacks...

I will often forego the 2/5nl deep stack on a Friday or Saturday night and play normal 2/5nl just because stacks get way deep on those nights (average stack will be $900 with plenty of $2k deep fish)

My current game is a 2/5 100BB cap must-move-main-game and I'd agree 100% with DGI here.

I would just like to point out that I do not believe that chess has 0 variance.

It is very possible to beat someone who is better than you because you get lucky (this level of luck decreases as the skill level increases)

I only believe there is no variance when one player knows the game perfectly and will make the optimal decision everytime

Let's just say that luck has, if any at all, a very tiny impact on chess.

lol that HH, holy crap. I would imagine that V2 made that raise size b/c he had the same read you had on V1

Could you talk about how you dealt with your worst month as a poker player expenses wise? ie did you cut down on spending stuff? Do you have enough monthly expenses saved up to not have to do that? etc....I remember reading that you tried short stacking before deciding to reconstruct your game

Great post as usual Dgi.

One thing I don't agree with is the NBA/singer analogies. In those fields you need to compete with the best of the best. In poker, if you can beat your local 1/3 game for $25/hr then that's good enough.

What you do need is the drive to do it day in and day out- I feel a more similar analogy would be like if someone said "man I love whitewater rafting, I should be a tour guide!" But can you really be happy rafting every day? Maybe yes, maybe no, just be honest with yourself.

It is a solid post with analogies that are close enough to the idea dgi is presenting for people to get the point. If the aren't able to extrapolate that they aren't perfect analogies, then they probably aren't smart enough to get the point of the thread to begin with. Let your inner nittery go and just enjoy the post.

I'm here for the poetry. Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? If the analogies are colorful if not nit proof.

A message for the nits:

Great post DGI!

Weeeeeeee

so there's more to it than just asking on 2+2 where are the games with the most fish at?

haha great post Harris!