Why do I suck at 10/20? (Long and cathartic)

[sammy_g]

I'm a breakeven player at 10/20 and up it seems. I admit it. If it weren't for rakeback I would be down, sadly. Here is the graph.



It looks like a sine wave, or maybe the output from a polygraph test. I'd rather look at a picture of the goatse guy. And yes that is a 350BB downswing.

Here is my 5/10 graph for comparison.



Now that's a graph! A nice, smooth upward gradient. 5/10 is like a vacation for me.

So what gives? I don't understand. How can I beat 5/10 for 2.5BB/100 and just break even at 10/20? Are the games really that different?

The frustrating thing is the average 10/20 player seems so bad! Some sharks inhabit these waters, but mostly it seems like guys with 40/20/1.5 type stats. It's not like they play well postflop. To me they appear bluffy, aggro, and, well, bad. How do they hold on to their money? Am I underestimating my opponents?

So judging from PokerTracker, I'm just a hair better than these folks. Not quite good enough to beat the rake. After 25k hands I can no longer just say to myself I'm running bad. I can't imagine that after this many hands my PT winrate is more 1BB/100 off from my theoretical winrate. At best I'm a small winner, but maybe also a losing player at these limits. I mean, look at the converging BB/100 graph.



I'm not posting this only to whine. I'm actually looking for advice. I'm a reasonably smart guy. I refuse to believe my ceiling is 5/10. I don't want to play small stakes forever. I want to get out of the kiddie pool. So what do I need to do to improve and beat this limit?

I thought about posting all of my PT stats and asking for advice. The last time I tried to change my play based on PT stats was a disaster. (This was a major cause of that first horrible downswing at 10/20 in the graph above.) Also I think my problems are mostly postflop. PT stats are better for judging preflop play.

I could post hands, but I'm genuinely not sure which ones to post. I might have some leaks in plays that I think are routine. Maybe I am making some regular folds that are actually hideous or calling down in spots where I am almost never good.

I am often lost in hands at this limit since the games are so much more aggressive. If I fold to those bluffy turn check-raises, I feel like I'm getting run over. If I call down all the time, I feel like I'm paying off too much. Aggressive games have a way of turning you into a calling station.

So what can I do? Get a coach? Find a poker buddy so we can sweat each other and discuss hands? Move back down to 5/10 and try 10/20 again when I think I'm a better player?

These results are all from 4 tabling. Maybe I should play fewer tables?

For those of you who struggled at first at 10/20, is there any adjustment you made that helped? Did something ever just click so you got it?

I've hit a brick wall. What do I do to improve?

Thanks...