What's a good tactic for preparing to move up?

[Cerril]

Alright, so I need practice before I'm going to leave 3/6 behind. I'm not confident enough to just hop into a 5x game, and I don't feel like I have enough experience at shorthanded games to just jump right into 5/10 6-max.

So for those of you that passed out of 3/6 ring, what did you do? Did you play shorthanded at the same limit to prepare your mind for the aggression at shorthanded games, did you play the 'tougher' 5/10 games to get used to playing against better players, or did you just build up a bankroll and throw yourself shot-by-shot at the 15/30 games?

Incidentally, the origin of this question was the posts on game and seat selection.. I wondered if a certain flavor of 'tougher' 3/6 game mirrors the upper limit full ring games and might be proper practice, seeking out less profitable games intentionally to be able to get my feet wet without just discovering if I'm any good at a higher limit.

The other question is whether it's just a matter of game selection and bankroll at 15/30, and if I manage those things I could play there now if I'm a solidly winning 3/6 player. That's hard to believe, but if 15/30 is still staying soft (relative to the limit) and the 3/6 is getting harder, I suppose the softest 15/30 games just might be on par with toughish 3/6.

Anyway, that's enough theorizing, what are your opinions?

[SinCityGuy]

[ QUOTE ]
I wondered if a certain flavor of 'tougher' 3/6 game mirrors the upper limit full ring games and might be proper practice, seeking out less profitable games intentionally to be able to get my feet wet without just discovering if I'm any good at a higher limit.

[/ QUOTE ]

I play all of the limits at Party from 3/6 up to 15/30, and I can tell you that a tough 3/6 game will in no way prepare you for the typical loose/aggressive 15/30. There are plenty of 3/6 games infested with tight/aggressive multitablers; however, there aren't many loose/aggressive 3/6 games.

[Cerril]

I guess that underlines the dearth of my knowledge on the subject, then. I had thought that a TAG 3/6 would be similar to a LAG (for the limit) 15/30. So what would you suggest is preparation for a move up in limits? It doesn't seem like there's any continuity after 3/6, it's not a progression so much as a change in gears.

[SinCityGuy]

I would suggest playing the 5/10 shorthanded games before moving up to 15/30. The maniacal aggression will prepare you for what's in store when you move up.

[sfer]

I totally agree with SinCityGuy's assessment of 3/6 compared to 15/30.

I just jumped into 5/10 when the pot sizes were larger than average, which is to say late at night East Coast time, with average pots > $85. That's it, no other secrets. If you can, I would suggest running well when you take your shot. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

EDIT: To be clear, I jumped to 5/10 full. I think the overall badness of Party 5/10 and 10/20 is vastly overstated.

[Cerril]

Excellent! But that was one of two branches on my path to begin with (I had thought, from my original post, but maybe I was vague).

While 15/30 is a good ending point, I'm curious if there's a way to prep myself for 5/10 so I don't suffer a quick large downswing due to lack of skill. No matter how I look at it, it seems there has to be a better way than going into a game I -know- I'm not prepared for due to a different -nature- of the game. Or is there just no preparation I can do to have a better chance of playing a winning game out the gate, I just need to hold my breath, make some automatic modifications, and jump in?