Skill level between different micro games?

honeycrush

honeycrush

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Most of my experience is also from Stars, and my description of the different limits refer to, how it was on Stars before the 4 table cap. I have mostly played on 888 poker since june 2019, but I actually think, Stars table cap have changed the online cash landscape quite a bit.

I played a short session at 10NL full ring on Stars yesterday, and most of the tables had players per flop above 20, which is absolutely incredible, compared to how it used to be. The numbers were also way higher, than they were at 888 Poker at the same time, when I checked out their lobby.

So I actually think, Stars move have gotten a lot of regs to move to other sites, and this has basically turned the situation upside down. Maybe 888 is the site hit the hardest by regs running away from Stars, since it allow HUDs.

Yesterday on Stars it was definitely true, that 10NL tables played almost like 2NL. There were crazy fish with a VPIP of 80% on several tables, and people went all in preflop with hands like AJ. It was a party, and while I did see a few of the old regulars, most of them were gone.

By contrast I can pretty much only find good 10NL games at 888 at the moment, if I play in the early european morning hours, where only a few tables are running. And presumably this is mostly because, the majority of the eastern european regulars are sleeping at this time.

Interestingly enough on Stars players per flop also tended to be higher at 10NL than 5NL lining up with, what you said about 10NL possibly appealing more to recreational players. If you have the bankroll for it, I dont see anything wrong with moving to 10NL relatively quickly.

Decided to revisit this thread as I took another shot at 25nl recently that ended horribly! :(

Having played quite a bit of 10nl on Stars this year there is currently a huge difference between 10nl and 25nl. Maybe it's due to the lockdowns attracting a lot of live players to online poker and they've decided to jump in at 10nl? It certainly feels as if 10nl on Stars is softer than ever.

25nl appears to be much tougher though - at least from my perspective. And another drawback is that there is virtually no rakeback on Stars now with those stupid chests just awarding useless points.

The main difference between the stakes is still the level of aggression. You can beat 10nl playing ABC poker and betting your hands for value and folding to aggression from the normally passive players. At 25nl I've encountered several bluff river raises etc that I've never seen at the lower stakes from competent players. There are also light 4bets and other tricky plays that you need to be able to navigate. You've also got to be prepared to carry out these plays too or you will just break even.

Something else I've noticed is that the composition of my results graph has changed. When beating 2nl-10nl most of my profit came from showdown winnings (blue line) with non-showdown winnings (red line) trending downwards. Since playing 25nl my red line has been neutral/slightly positive and I believe that to be a big winner it will need to be trending upwards and that most winnings will come from non showdown. Perhaps I'm wrong but that's my latest conclusion and my next challenge is to increase my non-showdown winnings to improve my chances of beating 25nl.

But first I will need to rebuild my bankroll at 10nl... :rolleyes:

Wish me luck! :)
 
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simmo5050

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Im findng on pokerstars that there is. I'm on a c. 25 bi downswing on 0.02/0.05 over the last 5 weeks (c. 60k hands) but I doing fine at 0.01/0.02
 
Ssssssnakes

Ssssssnakes

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I mainly play regular speed SNGs and there is indeed a difference. Small buyins (or blinds for cash tables) tend to attract gamblers. There seems to be a sweet spot between erratic players and those who are too good for you.

Lesson: Don't waste your time and nerves with blinds that are too low. But always beware of blinds that are too high.
 
YuriDitz

YuriDitz

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I usually play on micro-limits NL2-NL10 on poker stars. On NL2 it's a mess, on NL10 there's a lot of reasonable players who think and count.
 
sincos

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I have game skills, but, unfortunately, I can’t beat NL10
 
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Redman1902

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I also had the experience that the top 10% on NL2 was in my opinion better than the top 10% on NL5 or even on NL10. The lower the lvl the higher the fish density though.

However, I think that you don't necessarily have to dominate NL2 to get into NL5 or higher. The population tendencies at higher levels can simply fit better to your feel-good strategy.
 
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magnus369

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I will simply try to demystify a bit the idea that the limit you play changes the poker you play.

Simply if you look at poker as a game of blinds, and decision-making situations, you can just implement optimal game theory, to solve strategy situations, and find optimal points to amplify your winnings and improve your strategy.

Basically, the necessary adjustment is to emphasize as some members here have already said, in cheaper fields people tend to be more aggressive, care less about money, pay more often, bluff more, in short, everything is always more and more.

So if you have good poker, the adjustments might just be to not mix in the habits you pick up playing in these fields. And in my opinion there is no need to go down the path from micro stakes, to low, mid and high stakes poker, I think you can very well start playing NL10 or even NL1000, but as long as you respect bankroll management, the question of preparation, and of course your level of play and thinking during the game. That it is entirely possible to be uplifted even before touching a card, just by observation and study.

GL in life and felts.
 
sincos

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Starting from the nl10 limit, you will be actively 3bet, as well as on the second pair to show aggression on the postflop, as well as a big bluff on the river
 
partz

partz

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Definitely on a small games there's more gamblers/newbies but also on top games can be found yet they usually at bellow 10 NL
 
GreenDaddy1

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888 poker micros

Bit of feedback on how 888 is playing from 2nl up to 50nl, my perspective is all 6 max and largely SNAP based, though I sprinkle in regular tables. My play time is evenings UK time. I'm not a crusher, but generally avoid disaster. Take my observations with a grain of salt regardless.

2nl: They're awful. Tight awful, loose awful, all other kinds of awful. Solid TAG style with no fancy play and you'll win at a good rate so it is a great learning ground.

5nl: A surprisingly frustrating nitty pool of regs. Can go hours not getting paid unless you've got nuts vs 2nd nuts. Red line your way to a very slow and boring profit if you care to. Pick the peak hours and you'll find fish. Honestly personally found this game rather dire in recent times. The main advantage is the pool can get over 100 during peak times, and these are by far the best times to play. A mix of LAG and TAG tends to work out OK.

10nl: Looser than 5nl. Some regs actually willing to stack off. Still a lot of nits. I find it more enjoyable than 5nl, with more action. The pool size really fluctuates a lot is the main downside. Plenty of scope for fancy play in the right spots, but you need to keep a lid on it. There are decent players here who'll punish your mistakes if you aren't on form. Still, largely I find when I have a bad session I beat myself with my own stupidity rather than get terribly exploited.

25nl (and 20nl reg tables): Even more fun than 10nl. Not only are many of the regs willing to stack off, but there seems to be regular fish, whales and crazy gamblers. The pool is small, can be 30-40 at peak some nights, but I run two tables and the action flows just fine. You can go full LAG if you care for the variance, but I prefer to be mostly TAG and pick select spots and villains to get out of line against. Bluffs actually work.... it's amazing.

50nl: 25nl on steroids. Only played a couple of sessions on a weekend but it was pretty wild. Be surprised if it was that loose and crazy on weeknights and I have no plans to find out. I was tilted AF and ran good, so got the hell out of dodge before things went pear shaped :p
 
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