[rookieplus]

I got semi-flamed for this question many months ago including an insinuation that "you must really suck" if you can't beat such a game. I do well both online and B&M in my limited play (strictly a recreational amateur at this point) so I know I don't suck (and that I'm really not that good yet either).

My take on this is as follows:

1. Because the NL game is a slower game (more chip counting, longer deliberations) you're lucky to play 25h/hr and 20h/hr is hardly unheard of. People who bust out rebuy at the table and that takes time away from playing the next hand. Sometimes people buy in while you are on the clock (which is both rude and infuriating - get your chips at the cage please).

2. At 20h/hr you have to contribute $18/hr between blinds and hourly rate. Not that your blind $$ is lost, but in many NL games, someone will raise to $10-$15 so you're not seeing a flop for your blind too often if you hand is merely average.

3. At the low hands/hr rate, it is possible, even likely that you could go 2 hours without seeing either a playable hand or a hand that would justify getting invloved in a big pot.

4. Unless the table is a brand new table, someone will be sitting on a significant stack and will be able to bully you off drawing hands.

5. There's always a maniac or two who will be totally unreadable simply becasue he doesn't know how to play.

6. Seats change so often that establishing any sort of useful table image is harder than most people think.


7. Dealers at the baby NL games are usually the bottom of the barrell so the games are not policed very well (re angle shots, string bets, etc.).

8. More often than not, there are freinds at the same table so the possibility of collusion is a factor that must be considered.

9. At some casinos (Foxwoods for example) you can't reload to get back to $100 until you get down to $40 so if you lose one hand, the next one you want to play is likely an all-in.

10. Related to #9, post-flop play is all but non-existent in the baby NL game. You're not going to be a good player if you don't learn post-flop play and because most of us want (and need) to get better we need post-flop play.

11. And finally, far too many hands end in showdowns so you really do have to have the best hand to win the pot.

For the above reasons, I shy away from these games and stick to 5/10 or 10/20.

Don't get me wrong, I love the NL game and play NL tournaments both online and B&M. I just think that this particular game is a bad proposition for many players including me.