[DrewOnTilt]

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Importance of tells: I am paranoid that my mannerisms/expressions will give away my hand, and that I will no longer be able to notice it when my opponents do this as well. For the purpose of a (hopefully) good game, need I be concerned with more than simply viewing my hole cards in a consistent manner and controlling the hand shake? I feel that this probably won't be an issue, but just want to see how alert of it I should be. Last time I played live I was totally unaware of anyone else's reactions. I've read Caro's book but just haven't been able to focus.

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Don't waste your time on this. It is the rare player at low limit holdem games that can pick up on tells. Focus on improving your game skills instead.

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Sitting down: I'm adequately rolled for 200NL, but have never played it. It's my understanding from these forums that live games are generally much softer than internet games (even party I hear!). I also hear the rake is much higher in small stakes live games. For those reasons I'm assuming I should sit as high as I can without the bet sizes/ roll limitation restricting the effectiveness of my play due to psychological effects. Is this logic valid?

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Yep, sounds good to me, but remember to consider the overall table atmosphere. A $100 max buyin table full of rebuying donks with lots of chips on the table is better than a $200 max buyin table full of rocks with nothing more than the minimum stack.

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Moving up: I have also heard that many vacationers play a small game, and when they double up will try a bigger table. The reasons they do it are likely just to try to gambooool it up, but can this be a legitimate strategy or is it just more likely to eat away winnings? For example, if I'm at a $200 and win a $300 pot, would I be a fool for giving the 500 game a shot? I think this most likely depends on my own comfort, but if I have a 4500 roll after that win, is it just a baad idea to try this even if I'm comfortable?

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The decision on whether or not to move to a bigger game should be made based on your bankroll size as well as your self confidence. I've slowly moved up from 2-4 to 20-40 limit games over the past year and a half as my skill has grown. Give the bigger games a go if you have the roll and feel good about yourself.

That being said...

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I would not rebuy at this level if I lost even as a favorite, so is that enough reason not to try it?

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If you're not prepared to go bust then you have no reason sitting down at the game in the first place.

Last night at a live 20/40 game I took my biggest loss ever in terms of raw dollar amount. The game was deliciously retarded, but I kept getting spanked by the table maniac. It was ROUGH. But I expected this to happen at some point, and after I lick my wounds a bit I'll be right back at it, same level. If you can't approach a game with this mindset, don't sit.