Hi guys!

I've wanted to take the "hard" route in learning poker. I was an MTT player here who grinded $4 into $20,000+ (You can find my thread).

I took a break from poker and have returned and wanted to start taking advantage of improving. I think I play short stack very well but my deep stack play is where I'm bleeding constantly.

I'm making correct EV shoves late, but I'm relying on those shoves to hold or hit to stay alive, not by building a big stack early and exploiting opponents after..

So I've decided to start playing cash games on ACR, starting at 5 NL.

My long term goal:

Improve in deep stack play
Improve cash game level to point of beating 1/2 live
Reach 25NL on ACR (winning at this level)


My question:

Is grinding 6-max going to cause issues if I want to play 1/2 Live eventually? Is it a simple fix as adjusting pre-flop ranges and adding in live tells (lol live tells)?


Thanks guys!

I personally have played an absolute ton of winning poker both live and online. I played FR on line. After BF I was forced to return to live play (long time perfessional). Being as I had played a lot live over the years the transition "wasnt that bad". However, there were spots that I considered standard that were by no stretch of the imagination even remotely standard. So I blasted off a lot of chips unnecessarily.

I adjusted my game reasonably quickly and did not have a ton of issues. That being said I saw an absolute ton of on line dudes NOT able to adjust and they disappeared from the scene.

I personally think that playing 6 max and then hoping to play 1/2 live is not the best route...and I am sure that there will be a ton of posters saying ya bro no problem u can do it.

I came from full ring - had played a bunch of live in the past - am a pro/had been one for a very long time. I had to make a lot of adjustments. As someone trying to learn I think moving from a 6 max online aggro dynamic to live 1/2 setting you are going to have some serious spew issues.

Can it be done? sure. Optimal - nope

Appreciate the response, although I'd like more responses if possible!

Makes complete sense, I just can't find myself playing 9-max Online unless I opened 15+ tables. The game is so low and nitty for me. I understand that is how LIVE poker will be majority of times.. but I feel as though the way I exploit on 6-max will be still relevant to bad players Live. The money in 1/2 live just seems super juicy to me.


Thanks again for the long response man, it's highly appreciated!

I disagree with squid on this one, reason is that I consider the differences between live poker and online poker to be greater than the differences between 6 max and nit ring at any given stakes online. My view is, learn to play cash well enough to beat 5NL online in either format and you are technically strong enough to beat up 1/2 live.

Online players thinking they are God's gift to poker and then not doing well at live cash even though the opposition are generally much weaker players, is a real thing though. You need a different skill set, the first and most important one being the ability to fold cards for a couple of hours, finally get a hand, fold the flop because it went badly and then go back to folding cards for another hour or two. Most people can't do that without tilting to some degree, which is why 70 year old nit regs can still eke out a small win rate despite having learned how to play poker 30 years ago.

If you haven't played live at all, play some low stakes live tournaments first so you get used to handling chips and concealing tells.

Bolded is the biggest adjustment you have to make. The slowness of live poker especially after playing 6 max online will do your head in at first. It did mine and I still struggle with it. Plus players will routinely suck out on you when you finally get good cards. Live players play the craziest cards at times.
Boredom tilt is something you really have to combat if you want to do well. And get used to multiple players seeing the flop often, another big difference from online.

Despite all that it can be a lot of fun if you can adjust.