where to put money: 10NL or education?

I played 4NL and lost at it. I then dropped down to 2NL and lost at it too. So I've been studying up on how to play better. But at this time I don't have enough of a BR left to do more than single-table 2NL.

Soon, however, I'll have a bit of a windfall that will give me enough of a BR to play 10NL very comfortably and 25NL with decent BRM. Or I could stay at 2NL and register both HEM and PT3, pay for a DragTheBar subscription and invest in a coach.

Which of these would people recommend? Or maybe some combination of them?

Play 5 or 10NL

Get either HEM or PT3

Register at say DTB

wait a while longer before getting a coach as there should be enough info at DTB or other video sites to keep you going for 6 months or so.

Stu, do you prefer HEM or PT3? And small stakes or full version?

Would there be a significant difference between 5NL and 10NL?

Thanks for all your help.

You don't wanna start playing 10NL if you truely can't beat 2NL/4NL. You also don't need to invest in coaching or websites just yet. There are plenty of free articles/posts/videos on this forum and on the web that will give you a good base under your feet.

I don't think HEM/PT would be a terrible investment, but it's not really all that neccessary at the lower limits.

Check out this forum's golden archive section and the cash game sticky's to start.

HEM, small stakes version IMO - it feels a lot more modern than PT3, and the small stakes version is more than enough for now

I have both and I prefer PT3 as its far more powerful.

However HEM is a lot easier to use and chances are you wont be doing things that you need the power of PT3 for. Infact when it comes to simpler stuff, PT3 is actually more difficult to use.

So although I really prefer PT3 Id probably advise getting HEM.

There arent great differences between any sequential level. 2NL isnt that different to 5NL. 5NL isnt that diofferent to 10NL 10 NLl isnt that different to 25NL 25Nl isnt that different to 50NL, 50NL isnt that different to 100NL.

This dosent mean that 2NL is the same as 100NL

Stu_Ungar said:

I have both and I prefer PT3 as its far more powerful.

However HEM is a lot easier to use and chances are you wont be doing things that you need the power of PT3 for. Infact when it comes to simpler stuff, PT3 is actually more difficult to use.

So although I really prefer PT3 Id probably advise getting HEM.

There arent great differences between any sequential level. 2NL isnt that different to 5NL. 5NL isnt that diofferent to 10NL 10 NLl isnt that different to 25NL 25Nl isnt that different to 50NL, 50NL isnt that different to 100NL.

This dosent mean that 2NL is the same as 100NL

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what is so special about PT3?

Custom stats / reports

Difficult one really, IF I had the BR to play 10nl - I'd possibly do it but for you to be losing at 4nl and 2nl there's no reason why you should be beating 10nl, even if standards of play are not much different you would be possibly just losing more money quickly.

Do what Stu suggests, it seems you have quite a few leaks in your game, I'm not being rude either by the way. I'm not exactly the best at all but there's little point in just throwing more of your money down the drain even quicker when you say yourself you're getting a bit of money.

Most definitely spend the money on PT or HEM and get registered on a poker video website!

Thanks to everyone for their replies. I'll stick to 5NL for now and spend more time studying. I realized down the line that I _thought_ I knew something about poker but actually don't, so I need to lose all of my bad habits and acquire some good ones. That means tearing everything down and building back from the ground up.

Thanks to everyone for being patient with me.

Likminutz said:

I don't think HEM/PT would be a terrible investment, but it's not really all that neccessary at the lower limits.

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Terrible advice, imo. Even if you may not need the HUD, a tracker makes reviewing your hands post sessions incredibly easier, and reviewing hands post session is what turns you into a better player.

noname65 said:

Stu, do you prefer HEM or PT3? And small stakes or full version?

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When I bought HEM, you could buy the small stakes, and then upgrade it to full version later by paying only the difference. Isn't it still the case?

Stu_Ungar said:

Custom stats / reports

Click to expand...

That's also entirely possible with HEM. And there are lots of user made stats/reports in the HEM forums.

BelgoSuisse said:

When I bought HEM, you could buy the small stakes, and then upgrade it to full version later by paying only the difference. Isn't it still the case?

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Yeah that's still the case and it's definitely 100% worth it.

you've been getting some good answers here, I think buying small stakes HEM is best, and do not invest at this point in any coaching site or in a coach. just read a few articles here and there, start from 2nl and get your game on, soon you will be winning and moving up saying thanks god I didn't buy both ptr3 and hem because they do the same thing and thanks god I didn't pay some coach 50$ an hour to tell me to play tight and aggressive and wait for a hand.

have fun.