switching between different poker games difficulty

[Bob Moss]

Despite being a winning player in every combination of NL and limit, 10-handed and short-handed Hold'em (4 different types total) I find that I have a lot of trouble switching between them. For example, earlier this month I was doing real well at the Party 6-max NL games, but I decided that I needed to keep my limit game in shape, so I started playing some ring games. But I just couldn't win. I played all the wrong hands, I raised the wrong hands, and I made bad bluffs. But I stuck with it, and about a week later things had turned around, and I was back on track. But now when I go to play NL, I get IT all wrong. I'm calling down WAAY too much, not being aggressive enough, and I find myself losing.

Does anyone else have this experience, of playing one type of game a bunch, and then not being able to beat anything else? Maybe this is just a reflection of my relative poker inexperience.... Also, I don't play any other form of poker, but I have to imagine the adjustments between different gaems such as stud or draw would be even bigger.

Bob

[Cerril]

Right now I try to stay away from NL and short handed limit hold 'em, and only play tournaments and alternative games when they're free or nearly free ($5 or less, no SnGs) - and get hammered when I do.

I was just reading some of Tommy Angelo's stuff over on pokerpages, his comments about NL poker pretty much covers it. Comparing NL to limit poker is like comparing basketball to golf. Not only does skill in one not transfer to another (completely, at least), they aren't even the same game.

Yes, it's quite possible to be good at more than one game (heck, look at the posts talking about transferral of skill from CCGs and other non-poker games), but you need to remember when switching gears that you're essentially playing a new game with a new ruleset, and that's where most of us get hung up. Everything looks pretty similar.