Questions about moving up a level.

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pointguard

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I play and consistently beat NLHE micro MTTs and SnGs on Stars. Can I expect significant differences in play when moving up to low stakes?

How important is it that I play other poker games besides NLHE? I've played them all and prefer NLHE, but I'd play others if they will improve my game.

I've never read a poker book. I have no interest in live play or cash games. Should I read books that cover those areas, or stick to strictly online NLHE MTT and SnG strategy?

Sorry for multiple questions. Thanks.
 
SavagePenguin

SavagePenguin

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The difference between the micro limit games and the low limit games isn't that significant. While your ROI will drop a little, the bigger stakes (and lower rake, depending on where you move from/to) should give you a better hourly earning rate.

As for reading, I recommend going through the first two Harrington on Hold'em books. Even with your success, going over his advice and understanding his thought process should help improve your game. When I re-read that series I picked up a lot of stuff that I missed the first time.
 
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feitr

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I'd guess sngs players are probably pretty horrible until you start to play $20+ and i doubt the play gets decent until $50+. Unless you really want to read a book i wouldn't bother (i never have, and frankly don't see the point since they are unlikely to be in touch with the current online game).

If you only want to play sngs, then just read sng stuff like ICM, understand push/fold concepts, etc. SnG play is fairly simplistic (not much postflop room, etc.) and focuses alot on things like preflop ranges, so geting deep into postflop play dynamic in a cash game isn't really going to be that applicable.

Unless you actually want to play other poker games, then i wouldn't bother playing any others seriously. Learning omaha isn't going to help your hold em skills as effeciently as just playing HE will (kinda like playing soccer isn't going to make you a better rugby player, other than the shared characteristics of hand/eye coordination, passing and teamwork, etc).
 
DKnight10

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I would have to strongly disagree with feitr. A good hold'em book can drastically change your game. I would highly recommend Colin Moshman's "Sit 'n Go Strategy." This book alone will have you killing SnG's. I am also reading Phil Shaw's "Secrets of SnG's" and it seems to be pretty solid as well. If you are new to them or have not read a significant amount of strategy on them i would say one of these books is highly important.

As for moving up in limits, my strategy is to move up pretty much immediately when i hit 30 BI's and move back down if i am unsuccesful at them. Moshman says in his book that there are bad SnG players at all limits even up to $109's but the only difference is that there are going to be less bad players as you keep moving up.

Hope this helps.
 
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theoneyoulostto

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I'm a firm believer that experience is the best teacher.

You're a manager of a business, and two candidates interview for your assistant manager spot. One is fresh out of college, has his degree, but has never worked a day in his life. The other one has not spent one day in school past high school, but has had a job ever since, and spent many years in management. Who would you hire?

What I'm saying is, you can read all the books out there on poker, but there is no teacher like experience, and getting to the point where you can learn from your own mistakes at the tables.
 
DKnight10

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I'm a firm believer that experience is the best teacher.

You're a manager of a business, and two candidates interview for your assistant manager spot. One is fresh out of college, has his degree, but has never worked a day in his life. The other one has not spent one day in school past high school, but has had a job ever since, and spent many years in management. Who would you hire?

What I'm saying is, you can read all the books out there on poker, but there is no teacher like experience, and getting to the point where you can learn from your own mistakes at the tables.


I think experience is more necessary in cash games more than SnG's. Of course it wont hurt, but i dont think that its the most essential. The best skills a SnG player has is stealing blinds and knowing when to move all in when the blinds get high. I consider my post flop skills to be fairly weak because i don't have much experience so i'm not the greatest at cash games but i can kill at SnG's. By reading just one book you can pick up the tools you need to know when to blind steal, getting all in etc. and I guarantee you can kill SnG's in a small amount of time. Especially the micro SnG's when starting out, everyone is so loose passive that if you know the proper strategy of tight in the beginning and loosen up in the end when everyone else is tightining up you will win at an incredble ROI.

note: im not saying that experience is bad, just stating that it isn't the only skill you need.
 
dj11

dj11

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My take on MTT, and SNG play is that as you move up in price the early play gets saner. Early level play in micros is only barely better than freerolls, and at $20 it has only proportionally improved.

By mid point in any tourney, MTT or SnG, the chaff has been removed and the meat and potato players are left with the sharks. My take is that at mid point most of the sharks are sharks by design.

In other words, the play during first 3-6 blind levels in all tourney games sort of is definable by price paid to enter.

IMSO
 
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LizzyJ

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Before you make the jump make you should sit on the rail of the games you want to play in. That should give you a really good idea of the level of play.
 
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orangepeeleo

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Learning omaha isn't going to help your hold em skills as effeciently as just playing HE will

Yes it does, if you can work out your outs and pot odds etc when you have 4 hole cards, doing it with 2 should be a breeze, also playing low limit omaha can teach you patience and how to not fall in love with a hand.

You ever read theory of poker?? It's an awesome book and proves that the ideas in it can be brought to any poker game by using all the other games in its example hands.

To the OP, my advice is read books, play other games and just immerse yourself in poker as a whole, when you have a downswing in your sng's you can go to the PLO tables or my favourite, razz and more recently badugi on stars, as long as you make sure you understand the game you can be damn sure the majority of your table don't understand it, which equals increase in bankroll which equals happy which equals downswing not feeling to downy lol
 
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