Playing adjustments from $1/2 to $5/10

[Izverg04]

I've played a few thousand hands of $1/$2 6-handed on Party and like it so much that I want to try moving to $5/$10.

What adjustments should I expect to make?

Here are the highlights from PokerTracker for my $1/$2 stats. I have played 6,237 hands.

I always pay a lot of attention to table selection while playing 2 tables simultaneously.

Table stats:
ASF=61%
VP$IP=50.8%
PFR=8.8%

My general stats:

VP$IP = 24.5%
PFR = 10%
Aggr.flop = 3.6
Aggr.turn = 3.0
Aggr.river = 2.4

Went to SD = 27.8%
Won at SD = 61.9%

Most stats I've seen in other posts show more hands going to the showdown. Am I doing something wrong? I don't like chasing with overcards, so when I don't pair up typically I'll bet once if I raised pre-flop, and check-fold after. Of course, I make adjustments for habitual bluffers, and my winrate certainly has not suffered. Can I expect the same style of play to work at $5/$10?

Winrate = 10.05 BB/100 hands

Winrate by position:
Button = 0.19 BB/hand
CO = 0.11 BB/hand
UTG+1 = 0.15 BB/hand
UTG = 0.21 BB/hand
BB = 0.02 BB/hand
SB = -0.01 BB/hand

Great, I break even from the blinds! Unfortunately, that's not sustainable just like this line:

AA, 24 hands, 6.2BB/hand

Still, even considering that I've been running well I don't think my winrate is going below 8BB/100 hands at 1/2 if the opposition doesn't tighten up. So what should I expect at 5/10?

[Apocalypse]

" I have played 6,237 hands."

perhaps you're the new phil ivy and this is all you need for progressing from amateur level to expert level(yeah yeah i know what you billion/zillion folks are thinking but its all relative ppl [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img] ), but most humanoids would like to play AT LEAST 4 times that before considering stepping up this high

"winrate: 10.05BB /100 hands"

YOU ARE THE NEW PHIL IVY [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] ....or you've been on a pretty awesome streak. I wouldn't take this as a given if i were you cuz you're earning twice the income a normal good lowlimit player would make. Get some bad streaks, get some normal streaks , now where you are at is my advice before considering stepping up

whatever you choose, all the best to it

[Izverg04]

Thanks for replying. I don't harbor any illusions: my winrate is the sum of all the negative EV that the other 5 guys choose to endure (minus the rake), but I am sure that it's not a fluke. By the way, I am sure 10 BB/100 hands is not attainable at any full table I've played at.

I agree that you should proceed through the levels, but sticking to a fixed strategy of, e.g. playing 20K hands on each level, is not too flexible in my opinion. If I find that $5/$10 is easily beatable, then I'd be wasting my time staying at a lower level, wouldn't I?

[J.R.]

If I find that $5/$10 is easily beatable, then I'd be wasting my time staying at a lower level, wouldn't I?

Yes, there appears to be a high opportunity cost to your continuing to play 1-2. (both in terms of $ and the continued development of your game). Bring a healthy bankroll and look to get to the showdown more often than at 1-2 (where your opponents raises are more likely to be legit and pots are more commonly multi-way) and 5-10 should be great for you.

[Schneids]

So you're up like $1200 so far in 1/2. Not bad, that's a nice start.

However, unless you're just planning on "taking a shot or two" and seeing how it goes and hoping to hit some wins right away to build the roll higher, $1200 is way too small to be able to sustain a 5/10 bankroll.

Nobody believes it until it happens to them, but it really is not that hard to go through a 120BB (or more... which is easily possible too) drought.
Yes, the numbers you've posted look 'reasonable,' so take that for whatever it's worth. Check the archives since this question about 1/2 versus 5/10 gets asked fairly frequently. You'll find some good answers by searching.

Basically, there's a few less clowns, a few more solid players, and the games are a little more aggressive.

[Izverg04]

Yeah, I'll have to fight my severe risk aversion Actually, with online bonuses and winnings from 15K hands of full-tabling, I have the $3k BR to play $5/$10. Still, I hate the possiblity of dropping down a grand. Hopefully, I'll start with a win and never look back!

[Schneids]

Well then, you sound a lot like how I started... I used to do full tables, then started short handed, and after a couple thousand hands at 1/2 6-max, moved up as fast as I could to 5/10 6-max and never looked back.

I hope the same happens for you, and wish you the best of luck.

[lefty rosen]

If you have fears of jumping too fast try other sites with 2/4 short, the rake is fairer than party and the roll swings will be double not 5 times. But once you are ready to commit to 5/10 short Party is the place to be.

[Monty Cantsin]

Ok, here's my story. Get our your handkerchiefs. I've been playing 5/10 shorthanded for about a month. During that time I've had some big swings but was profitable overall. Until this weekend. In one 10 hour session I managed to drop about 150 BB.

Here's the thing: I've had downswings before, but this is the first time I can say for sure that I was just getting outplayed. I totally got spanked.

The 5/10 6 max tables I had played before were just like smaller versions of regular tables but looser and more aggressive. These tables were a new beast entirely.

Close to zero unraised flops. Very few hands more than 2 players, but also very few unseen flops. Lots of raises and re-raises on the flop and turn, but not mechanical - Sometimes they would fold, sometimes raise, and sometimes simply call you down, and it wasn't easy to determine the quality of their holdings based on their actions.

I never fully adapted correctly. I became more aggressive but wasn't tenacious enough. I think I probably folded a bunch of winners. I know it sounds crazy but, because I was so much tighter than the other players and hardly ever entered a pot without cards with showdown potential, I think I would have done better at these tables if I hadn't folded a single hand post flop, and only decided where I wanted to bet/raise and where I wanted to call down.

I sat for way too long at tables where I just didn't have an edge. I think I suffer from a particular kind of tilt where I justify this for educational purposes - thinking that I was getting valuable combat experience. But I think a big part of it was stubborness and frustration, trying to "get even". Just stupid.

I'm sure some of these players were 2+2'ers. If so, and you're reading this, NOT THE FACE! NOT THE FACE!

I'll be back.

/mc

[Izverg04]

Ouch, sounds harsh. Hope I won't run into a table like that on my first try.

Table selection takes some discipline. I don't think I ever sat at a table for more than 10 hands, when I felt I could find a better one.