Transitioning to 50NL

I've moved up from 25NL to 50NL on Bovada in less than 30 sessions, winning at about 8bb/100 over a 60k hand sample. Started with 20BI at 25NL and took a shot at 50NL with 38BI, and have done fairly well for my first two sessions.

How did you guys adjust to 50NL? I'm finding that it's a lot tougher than 25NL, but I think I still have a pretty good edge over the other players. After fixing most of my leaks at 25NL and at my peak, I was finding it pretty easy and was crushing for much more than 8bb/100. I was opening 50% OTB, and the blinds hardly ever fought back to my 2.5x opens. Now I'm getting 3-bet left and right OTB. There is a pretty dramatic increase in preflop aggression. My 3-bets are getting 4-bet much more often than at 25NL, and I'm getting 3-bet a lot more. At 25NL 4-bets were 95% of the times AA/KK and sometimes QQ/AK, so I really only stacked off with KK/AA preflop at 25NL.

I think postflop-wise they are a little better and much more aggressive, but I think I have a pretty good edge postflop. I'm winning at a decent winrate for the first 4k hands (I know it's not a large sample), but I think my biggest leak is adjusting to preflop aggression. I'm pretty solid postflop, and I make most of my money there. But I really hate having to keep folding to 3-bets and 4-bets, and losing the bb I put in to raise and folding out my equity. I've seen button vs blind getting it in with 99 vs A7o. Wow, a 5-bet bluff jam with A7o; you never see that at 25NL. One time, this guy to my left kept constantly 3-betting me. So one time SB vs BB I 4-bet bluffed AJo (nice blockers), and then he 5-bet jammed over me. I really don't think he had it.

I think a HUD would help out for 50NL. If I knew someone's stats, I'd probably be more inclined to 4-bet AK/GII or 5-bet jam AK, which is something I never did at 25NL due to narrow preflop 3-bet/4-bet ranges. I was able to get by 25NL playing 2 Zone 2 cash game tables, basically all readless except for the times where there's a maniac for example overbetting 8x the pot that will capture my attention. 50NL Zone is almost never running, so I have to stick to 4 cash game tables of 50NL. Any have experience with Bovada Card Catcher?

Card Catcher is legit, get it. It makes review sooo easy and you are able to do it right after a session.

Also, the max rake goes from $2 to $3 so it is really going to hit your winrate hard. Something to keep in mind combined with a tougher player pool.

Yeah, I tried the trial today and really liked it. I could see who was a nit, lagtard, or passive fish. Bluff-catched with a straight for a BI against a total maniac OTR when the 9 tripled baired the board. 65 vpip 30 PFR 20% 3-bet and he was trying to run me over in several hands and the other players. I'm still figuring out how to use it to review my session, but so far it seems really good.

Also, if max rake is $3 shouldn't that be better for me? Assuming normal stack off 100bb pot, $3/100 is better than $2/50 rake isn't it?

I guess if you play a 200bb pot every time

25NL maxes rake at $40(160bbs) for $2 and 50NL maxes rake at $60(120bbs) for $3

I'm no rake expert though and never thought too deeply about it but higher rake can never be good. Especially when raked at basically the same rate.

I am a 25NL Zone grinder too. I recently posted a thread about breaking even after a large sample size (winrate = rake basically).

Over the last 10,000 hands though I've changed a few things in my game (primarily more light 3betting in position) and have had a good turn out. Over just the last 10K hands my winrate has been 8bb/100 at 25NL Zone.

I'm also contemplating the switch to the regular cash tables. I'd like to get better reads on opponents and maybe utilize a HUD too. However, I just can't get over the ridiculously low sample sizes that I'll have with a HUD on Bovada. On the one hand I feel disadvantaged if I don't use a HUD. On the other hand, the low sample sizes make me wonder if the HUD will give false information that will make me second guess myself and make mistakes.

I have Poker Tracker and have tried the Bovada Card Catcher too. I liked it, but I can't shake the feeling (and the math) regarding the validity of the HUD stats in the first place. Do either of you have an opinion on that?

The HUD is great on Bovada. You can easily get an idea on how somebody plays with it. VPIP/PFR shows how nitty/passive they are, and trust me at 50NL there are extremes. I'll see 60/30, 60/40, 60/5, 13/10, and sometimes reggish stats somewhere in-between. Also shows postflop aggression, and I find that although it's a small sample size, it's a pretty good indicator of their postflop aggression. The other day I just lol'ed when I got check-min raised on a K73r board by a guy with a 0 AF. He had AK. And if someone has 100% fold to 3-bet (4/4), and high attempt to steal (30%+), I'm going to be 3-betting a lot wider.

It's really useful, but for some reason when I use a HUD I'm no longer allowed to check the hand history on Bovada. Seems to disturb the connection, and this kind of bothers me because able to instantly see someone's hole cards at showdown and review it has helped my game/winrate the most. I don't think Pokertrack 4 allows me to see cards at showdown, and my HUD has already expired. And I feel too cheap to buy HEM 2, which I like better, until I get to 100NL. So I'm probably going HUDless until after I reach 100NL.

Trust me, the HUD will help your winrate. You will be able to pick up a few blinds here and there with well-timed 3-bets, and you will save yourself a lot of money not bluffing passive fish who have 0-20% FCB. Or by not 3-betting JJ against a 5 PFR nit.

50NL is also frustrating me a little, as I win less of my sessions, and I feel like I'm getting outplayed a lot more often . I still have a decent winrate, but I think I get more swings than at 25NL and get tilted somewhat. I almost never tilted at 25NL, except maybe twice during a 6BI downswing and during a 14BI downswing. Also doesn't help that every mistake or suckout is double the $. People are pretty aggro preflop/postflop, I get bluffed way more often, and don't get paid off as much. They don't call 3 barrels with TPNK, TPDK, or try to hero me as often as they did at 25NL with 2nd/3rd/underpairs.

I think that is just a coinicedence about your hud and not seeing hands. I use PT4 and Card Catcher and I see hands just fine for the month I have had it. The HUD pays for itself, even if it isn't 100% necessary it is a +ev purchase if you are grinding 25NL+.

I really like it on Pokertracker because it takes automatic notes so if you miss lets say a 3 bet hand that goes to showdown, it automatically takes a note on what they 3 bet with which is extremely helpful.