Thread: Stepping up
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Old 12-18-2005, 11:19 PM
Harv72b Harv72b is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Baltimore, MD
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Default 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.
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