Stepping up
 

I've been playing 2/4 at Party and Paradise, and I've averaged 3.6 BB/100 since July 1, or 20K hands. So, I figure it's time to step up. I've been playing about 8K hands so far, but not doing so great, only about 0.3 BB/100.

Basically I find the competition much tougher. Average see flop is around 20 percent and often as low as 16 - 17 percent. You hardly ever see the flop for just one bet. It's much harder to get paid off when you do make a big hand.

How does this compare to other peoples experiences?

I'm not interested in a discussion around sample sizes or generic advise like "post hands". I just want to hear what other people who made the step up recently experienced.

Oh, and another thing - how do you go about choosing tables at Party? I mean, I don't really have time to sit for half an hour looking at one table to judge wether it's a "good" game, and to me, average pot size only tells part of the story.

Re: Stepping up
 

3/6 full on party blows, unless you're very good at outplaying wannabe TAGs. try 3/6 6max, but don't play with anything less than a 500BB roll.

Re: Stepping up
 

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3/6 full on party blows, unless you're very good at outplaying wannabe TAGs. try 3/6 6max, but don't play with anything less than a 300BB roll.

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You can drop down and you dont need 3k unless you have no SH experience. Donk it up in 1/2 6 max for a couple K to get your feet wet.

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Oh, and another thing - how do you go about choosing tables at Party? I mean, I don't really have time to sit for half an hour looking at one table to judge wether it's a "good" game, and to me, average pot size only tells part of the story.

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Datamine.

Re: Stepping up
 

I have SH experience, currently playing 2/4 full on Paradise/Party, $2300 Roll. What should my plan be? Party 3/6 SH? I heard Stars has good SH games too, never played there.

Re: Stepping up
 

2/4 to 3/6 is the toughest jump you'll make in small- to mid-stakes LHE. So don't get discouraged that it's taking you some time to adjust.

Practice better table selection--not all the 3/6 full games on Party are rockfests. I can't comment on Paradise as I've never played there, but believe me, there are some terribly bad 3/6 players on Party, and building up your buddy list to take advantage of them will do wonders for your WR. On 2/4 you could likely sit at any table and do alright--this will not be true at 3/6, at least not at first. Also, don't be afraid to sit down at a short-handed full ring table; these are often the best games you can find, and tend to remain good for some time.

Value bet relentlessly. Those TAG-wannabes mentioned above will call down with all sorts of stuff, be it underpairs, AK UI, or a busted flush draw that turns into 3rd pair on the river. Just because they play tight & raise preflop does not make them good players.

If you're not using PA Hud or a similar program, start using it. Keeping track of who your opponents are and your general reads on them is crucial at 3/6 and above.

You have the short-handed experience, which should help. Just draw on that. When it's folded to you in MP2, which will happen fairly often, start treating the game like it's a 6max table. Folded to you on the button, it's a 3-handed game now. You get the idea: steal the blinds, especially when the table is playing tightly. If it's playing that tightly, you can actually start stealing from much earlier in the order--not with complete crap hands, but with borderline ones like JTs or KJo or A8s.

Always pay attention to your own table image, because on 3/6 this will impact the way at least some of your opponents play against you. If you're whiffing with big aces & folding the turn or river a lot, expect to be played back at pretty aggressively. But if you're consistently hitting the flop and winning at showdown, expect to take down a lot of small pots with a turn bet even when you don't hit. And you can expect to steal the blinds more frequently when you raise preflop.

Really, it's just an adjustment that you need to make if you want to keep moving up. Sure, you could just become a short-handed specialist, and there's nothing wrong with that (particularly the way most Party 6max games run), but if your goal is to one day be a great poker player, you're eventually going to have to learn to beat the tight full ring games.

Re: Stepping up
 

At 3-6 you need to start practicing table selection. Open up 10 tables on party. Let PT input hands for about 20 mins before each session. Pick the 4 best tables or however many you play. Blind play becomes much more important. I improved my play in the blinds by playing alot of 3 and 4 handed poker. Also for the most part you need to stop limping with Axs and small PP in EP, unless your at a very passive table which is not the norm. Basicly tighten up early on, work on isolating weak TAGs or bad players, and improve your play stealing/defending blinds. At 2-4 you can be a pretty decent winner with just good preflop hand selection. At 3-6 you need to improve your post-flop play by working on the things I pointed out.

Re: Stepping up
 

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What should my plan be?

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Party 3/6 SH

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Re: Stepping up
 

So for someone who does like shorthanded would you suggest moving to 5/10 15/30? Or is Shorthanded 3/6 a must before moving higher?

Re: Stepping up
 

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So for someone who does like shorthanded would you suggest moving to 5/10 15/30? Or is Shorthanded 3/6 a must before moving higher?

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You want to move from 1/2 or 2/4 straight to stakes as high as 15/30? bankroll?

Re: Stepping up
 

Maybe you should try playing on a different site? I have only taken a few shots at 3/6 on Absolute and UB and their ASFs were 26.1 and 27.0 respectively.