Are you better focusing on one form of poker or not?

Hello

Like most of us I started my poker journey with NLHE.

After about 12 month I tried other forms of poker. (I remember winning a cards chat tourny in my first ever Stud game. It was the team tourny earlier this year.)

Because most of the sites cater for holdem and most ppl seem to play holdem, it is sometimes difficult to find Stud, Stud hi/lo, razz tournys (ring games are different but you play the same players everytime!!!)

So, back to the origional question, are you better focusing on one form of poker, or are you better playing all forms???

Comments, as always, appreciated

All forms, mainly because I just get sick of NLHE sometimes.

Define "better."

i stick with NLHE sometimes omaha but nothing else i get frustrated with razz and stud and five card are to boring for me i guess.

I say focus on all forms. The thing about learning all forms of poker is that you build up strengths in your play for each one and each game will help improve all of your other games. Another reason is that I honestly get sick of NLHE and it's fun to mix it up a little.

I think it probably best to really focus on one or two forms of poker, but still play a few others. You never know what game your best at until you learn them all. Also, you may improve your main game by playing other forms.
I play nlhe about 50% of the time, plo about 35% and 15% playing all the others. I think there is a lot of easy money to be made playing low stakes mixed games.

I only play NLHE, I am trying to master that, then i will move on to omaha, then stud, then maybe razz

i do play the HORSE, omaha, and razz freeroll on full tilt, but i quickly get bored and play some holdem sit and go and forget about the freeroll

Sorry, it might be an English way of putting things

By `better` I mean would you be a better player by focusing on one form of poker or would your game improve by playing a variety of forms of poker.

Hope that helps.

First, welcome back, it's good to see you.

Now, to the question. IMO, being conversant with more forms of poker will make you a better player, but as far as improving your "game"........Sure, it will improve your overall game, but as you say, the focus everywhere is on NLHE, which is a fairly specialized field of study.

If you are proficient at several variations of poker, it makes for some pretty easy pickins' at many online sites, esp. at micro limits, so it can be of benefit to your bankroll. Like Van, I very much enjoy taking a break from NLHE from time to time, sometimes extended breaks in fact.

I first started playing poker nearlyy 40 years ago, before the explosion of NLHE popularity, and I still love Stud, Omaha, Omaha8, and yes, 5 card draw, and I very much enjoy HORSE.

Until recently, I only played NLHE, but we've started intoducing other forms of poker into our weekly live games and also I've been playing a few horse tourney online. I've discovered I do much better in Razz than the other games - probably because I'm a sucky card magnet. I agree that learning all the games (and continuing to learn them) has made me a better poker player.

The other thing that I know for sure is that I am a MUCH better Cash/ring game player than I am a tourney player.

I think you ought to focus on one game at a time, but expand your number of games. I started out with Limit and seem to be able to make a profit with that. I am trying expand my No Limit game. Even there, the difference among ring, STT and MTT is large, so those should be considered different games. I am better at tournaments than I am at NL ring. If you want to play HORSE, you need five games right there.

Keep learning.

Thanks

Doyle Brunson says EVERY poker player should broaden their horizons!
I'm going to listen to the guy who's made more money playing poker than any other poker player on earth.

one I don't know the rules of the others yet.

i started off playing 5 & 7 card draw.
then went onto NLHE and then Omaha for a while but I have left Omaha alone to focus soley on NLHE.

Because im still somewhat new id rather concentrate just on nlhe. I get better every time I play so I enjoy it very much still.

I go through phases where I'll prefer stud over hold 'em and vice versa. I've been on a hold 'em only trip for a few months, so I'm probably due for a dabble back in Stud Town

The main reason I keep coming back to hold 'em is that I don't really have a choice - it's where about 90% of the action is. Much though I love (and love to hate) Razz, I just can't get a game of it all that often. Especially on an Australian schedule, as the rest of the world is in bed when I'm ready to play a game.

Jusr for the record, I DO mainly play NLHE, but It's good to at least somewhat learn the others to where you can decently play.

i started with poker hold'em since i was advised that it was the best one for beginners and i simply got hooked on it ever since...