New to 1/2. Always this aggressive ?

[fishman]

Been playing .5/1 for about 6 months successfully. Bought Pokerthacker about 6 weeks ago to confirm what I thought was a decent win rate. Since then I've logged 15k hands at about 4.9 bb/100, 19 vpip, 7 pfr%, officially categorized as TA, etc. So, with about 450 BB in my bank roll, I move to 1/2 full Friday night.

Whoa ! I used to be the aggressive one. Now, the aggr seems out of control. There is rarely a pre flop that is not raised, and many are 3 bet. The aggr continues post flop. Really caught me off guard. I'm pretty sure I can handle this as I did recover as the weekend went on. Was just initially shocked at how much different this was compared to .5/1.

So, is this typical, or did I just hit one of those days ( weeknds, etc ) ?

[Reef]

1/2 is more aggressive than 50 cent but not by that much.

[einbert]

Party 1/2 is pretty aggressive, much more so than .5/1. Your stats from .5/1 are good--of course you'll need to adjust your game to win at 1/2, but if you can do that then you'll be fine.

The games at night are much more passive than the games during the day, so if you want to gradually adjust you might want to start by playing at night. Also good table selection can help, but remember the crazy maniac LAGs can be very profitable. Learning how to play correctly against them is going to be crucial once you get to 2/4 and 3/6, so you should really start trying.

Keep at 1/2 though--don't go back to .5/1 unless you drop a lot at 1/2. I think it's important to persevere at this level as it really is a breakthrough level. The game probably changes more at this point than it has any other transition for me so far. The lessons you learn at 1/2 are going to be crucial once you get to 2/4 and 3/6, so take this opportunity to really enhance your understanding of the game.

Just some thoughts from a player who has recently been through this same transition.

[Urban]

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The games at night are much more passive than the games during the day

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Which time zone are you talking about here? UTC perhaps? I've just entered this scary level myself and any help is welcome!

[einbert]

I'm playing from the Eastern Standard Time zone (UTC-5). I believe the games became more passive around 9 pm EST and stayed good until maybe 6 am EST.

If you spend most of your time at 1/2 at night then you should at least do several sessions during the day to get a feel for a more aggressive game. At 2/4 and 3/6 the games are even more aggressive so it really pays to get a feel for playing against aggressive players. The hardest part about adjusting is probably getting used to the bigger BR swings, but you will get used to those soon too.

Just remember that if you're studying 2+2 diligently, have read and mostly understand SSHE, and are a proven winner at .5/1 there is no reason you can't succeed at 1/2. It is more difficult because it requires you to think through your decisions more but it's not really as hard as it seems at first. It is scary jumping up a level, especially when the jump is a 2x jump--but if you have the bankroll and the preparation for the level, you will be fine as long as you keep studying and learning.

What I'm saying really is don't be intimidated.

[fishman]

Thanks for the reassurance. I have studied the appropriate books and here as well, so I felt I was ready. Just hit me kinda hard at first.