Is A Higher Limit Game Easier For Some People?

[QTip]

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After almost 200K hands at all limits

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I average almost 5BB/100 at $10-20 and up

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Are you sure about this?

[SeaEagle]

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Could it be that some people have a playing style that tends to fit in better at a particular limit, so while the higher limit game is not easier in general, for them it is?

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I really don't think this situation occurs very often, if at all. Higher limits have generally better players. "Better players" doesn't mean just "more aggression" or "tighter" or "better hand reading". "Better players" means, in general, "better at taking advantage of their opponents weaknesses."

Let's suppose PlayerX is a habitual bluffer. Now in theory, you could argue that PlayerX will have better results at 5/10 than .5/1 because 5/10 players are more capabible of folding to bluffs than .5/1 players are. And while this may be true for a short while, there are also a larger number of 5/10 players who will adjust to PlayerX and start punshishing him for bluffing so much. And I have to believe that the money lost because opponents adjust to PlayerX has to far outweigh the money won because PlayerX's bluffs work more often.

As a sanity test, try applying this to any other skilled discipline. Are there baseball players who are better against major league pitching (with better pitches and better pitch selection, and better adjustments to the batters tendencies) than against minor league pitching? I suppose there may be rare cases, but there aren't many.

Part of the beauty of poker is the huge impact of short-term luck. People can play thousands of hands and have an earnings rate that far exceeds their actual quality of play. This makes it very hard to accurately judge the calibre of their opponents, and makes it easy to say things like "I'm doing good because this level is easier than the other one" when, in fact, it's just short-term luck doing its thing.

[paperboyNC]

If you play brick & mortar poker, you are paying $4 in rake per hand + $1 in jackpot + $1 in tip + waitress, chip runner and cashier, valet parking tips, etc.

It's very hard to overcome all of these expenses playing $2/$4. So it can be much easier to come out on top playing a higher limit.

paperboy

[MaxPower]

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Could it be that some people have a playing style that tends to fit in better at a particular limit, so while the higher limit game is not easier in general, for them it is?

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As a rule, this isn't true, but there are exceptions to every rule.

Most of the people who claim to lose in small games, but beat big games don't have a clue.

There is a well known donator who plays at the Borgata. He told me that when he plays 20/40 he doesn't take it seriously, but when he plays 40/80 he plays "real poker." So I told him, "Wow, imagine how good you could be if you played 80/160!"

[SeaEagle]

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It's very hard to overcome all of these expenses playing $2/$4. So it can be much easier to come out on top playing a higher limit.


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True. But this has nothing to do with playing style. This is simply a function of the economics of B&M poker.

[silkyslim]

i know its not necessarily true but I find 2/4 easier than 1/2. Do you know why, because when I was playing 1/2 I had 50,000 less hands under my belt.

[MaxPower]

One thing is definitely true. Loose-passive players are the most profitable opponents to play against by a large margin (no matter what your individual style). No other type of player even comes close.

In the mid-limit games online, they are almost non-existent.

In mid-lmiit live games they exist, but the are a lot more lags.

Lags are not nearly as profitable as loose-passives, and they are much more difficult to play against.

[sfer]

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There is a well known donator who plays at the Borgata. He told me that when he plays 20/40 he doesn't take it seriously, but when he plays 40/80 he plays "real poker." So I told him, "Wow, imagine how good you could be if you played 80/160!"

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I told you this in confidence you bastard.

[sudic]

Ok Guys!
This is a true story!

I have a friend who plays low level semi-pro.

He's been playing about six years.

1st year he lost a few thousands.
2nd year he broke even.
3rd year he won back what he lost the first year.
4th year he won $43K
5th year he won $105K
6th year (this year) he's averaging 20K a month.

He almost played in the WSOP but he chicken out at the last moment.

He usually plays 30/60 and up.

When I asked him did he ever play at the low limits he said he played some of the spread limits 1-5 for a little while, a couple of months, then moved up.

His coach is one of the guys who do play in WSOP and those types of tourneys and wanted him to move up to the real money.

I have watch him play online in some of those 30/60 and up games and he does win hundreds and some time 1K in a hour or two.

He only plays a couple of hours a day and his bankroll is over 100K!

One time I was whining to him about the bad beats and suck outs that was driving me crazy and he decided to play at 2/4 and show me how its done.

Guess what!
He couldn't win!

He only played for an hour on three boards but the best he did was break even on one of the boards.

I know its a very small sample size but all his semi-bluffs, c/r, aggression., etc didn't help.
They just called him down every hand.

He finally admitted that he doesn't have the patience to win at such a low money level.

It was a question of desire not skill!

It can happen in other areas of knowledge.
A Grandmaster chess player who doesn't have the patience to teach a beginner or a math professor with several letters behind his name who can't get across algebra to his students.

Oh well my 2.5c worth.

Sorry for the long post!

[Shiva]

Unless Poker Tracker is lying I am quite sure. I think Crunchy's point is right on. I have only 25K hands online at $10-$20 and up by playing a tighter more boring brand of poker at the higher limits. Playing exclusing at $20-$40 in the Bay Area live ring games I notice similar behavior in those game as well. Guys at lower limits taking their shots in a much more aggressive, deceptive and generally looser game than the online $3-$6. What I was trying to say is that adjustments are need to succeed at each level.