another stupid moving up post

[krammatrix]

I play 2-4 and beat it consistantly. I know I am impatient, but I feel like I'm a pretty good player and could beat the 3-6 game and higher. I dabbled in 3-6 and 5-10 and won most of the sessions, but I didn't feel like I was surrounded by awful players like in the 2-4 games. With a bankroll of slightly over 1k, is it totally stupid to move up right now? I played before and made about 1.5k playing 2-4, then quit online poker, and now im back again and up to 1k, so I feel pretty confident in that game. The 3-6 games and 5-10 games seemed so much tighter, are those games that much tougher? What advice would you give if I were to transition to those games? Sorry for the stream-of-consiousness post, I just finished a 12 hour session [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Thanks in advance for the replies

[Nick C]

Personally, I'd prefer to have over 1K for 3/6, but if you have money outside your actual bankroll that you can reload with, then an insufficient roll becomes less of a concern. I'd want to have about $1,800, though, and I'd really prefer to have $1,200 for even 2/4.

Anyway, based on what I've encountered, I think 3/6 is more difficult than 2/4. However, I haven't played 2/4 for a few months and am kind of out of touch with that game.

[handsome]

I wish I could beat 2/4.. anyway, IMO you're very under-rolled. I wouldn't play or recommend playing 2/4 without 500 big bets, which is $2k. Regarding your questions, 3/6 short-handed took away a lot of the 3/6 full action, while 5/10 has always been pretty tight.

Why did you decide to quit online poker? Was it the whole "quitting while you're ahead" thing? That only applies if you're a long-term loser, and poker is a game where skilled players definitely have an edge. So I don't quite get why you'd quit, unless you thought you were a losing player that just got lucky. It kinda sounds like you need to do some research, so go ahead and use the search button [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[krammatrix]

Handsome- I quit because it was taking over all my time. I was doing bad at school because of it, and had to take a break. Now i'm on break, and i can play again. What I really want to know is how much better the 3/6 and 5/10 games are than 2/4, and how big a transition it is. Thanks

[Harv72b]

You need more than the approximately 185 BBs you have right now before you move up to 3/6. As Nick said, this is less of a concern if you don't mind reloading out of pocket, but it is still most definitely a concern.

I've said it many times before, and I'll say it again: the move up from 2/4 to 3/6 is the toughest one you'll face as a small/medium stakes limit hold'em player. The games are much more aggressive, you will find yourself in far more short-handed situations on the flop, and the aggresion you face will be much more focused (in other words, the bluffs will actually be believeable fairly often). While the lower limits (and yes, the higher limits) generally allow you to adjust with only minor tweaks to the playing style you're used to, 3/6 involves learning whole new skill sets that were mostly or completely unnecessary at 2/4 and below. This is not a jump that you want to make too quickly.

I would recommend that you continue to slog your way through 2/4 for the time being, building your bankroll & fine-tuning your game. Go ahead and take some shots at 3/6 while you're at it if you'd like (assuming you're keeping a buddy list of poor players, a great way to take a shot is to follow one of your buddies to a 3/6 table), but with the understanding that it's just a shot until you have the proper (300 BB) bankroll to make the move completely. While you're at it, I'd recommend playing some 1/2 6max (as always, I'm assuming you play on the party skins; if you're on a different site which offers 2/4 6max, that would be even better). 6max experience will give you a huge head start for the higher levels, as you'll learn proper aggression, how to play mediocre hands with position, and how to steal blinds & defend against steal attempts.

[krammatrix]

Thanks for the very informative response harv

[Nick C]

[ QUOTE ]
Handsome- I quit because it was taking over all my time. I was doing bad at school because of it, and had to take a break. Now i'm on break, and i can play again. What I really want to know is how much better the 3/6 and 5/10 games are than 2/4, and how big a transition it is. Thanks

[/ QUOTE ]

For me, the jump to 3/6 from 2/4 was the biggest one I'd made (in terms of how people play) except for my jump from 0.5/1 (which seems like a world of its own to me).

That said, I think being under-rolled (which in my opinion you are) is a bigger concern, which is why it's what I emphasized in my original response.

I've dropped $400 in a single night in 3/6 before. And I think I've been fortunate so far never to have had an even larger one-session loss. (I don't play nearly as many hands per week as some of the posters here, but a -67 BB session is a fairly modest loss, I think, in terms of how bad a bad session can go).

[baronzeus]

If it makes you feel more underrolled, I play 3/6 and 5/10 6max with somewhere between 8 and 10K in my roll.

<---- NIT.

Also, I recommend building up a bit more and moving to Short handed games, as that's where the money is.

[hobbsmann]

[ QUOTE ]
I've said it many times before, and I'll say it again: the move up from 2/4 to 3/6 is the toughest one you'll face as a small/medium stakes limit hold'em player. The games are much more aggressive, you will find yourself in far more short-handed situations on the flop, and the aggresion you face will be much more focused (in other words, the bluffs will actually be believeable fairly often).

[/ QUOTE ]

Harv, nice post. This was pretty much my experience exactly. I took shots at the 3/6 game and seemed be a breakeven player for a while, but once I caught on moving up to other levels (3/6 -> 5/10 -> 3/6 6max -> 5/10 6max -> 10/20) really didn't seem too bad at all. Of course I would also recommend running well, it is the choicest way to move up limits. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Also, to the OP, I definetly waited till I had between 300 and 400BB for a level before I took a shot and had a plan set up to move back down if I hit rocky waters.

I am another 2-4 player in a similar situation to krammatrix. I am also thinking about moving to 3-6 but every time I play I find myself playing very scared for my bankroll and not making the type of moves I do in 2-4. Right now my bankroll is right about $1200, I want to get to $1800 before I make the 3-6 move, but is $1800 really enough for a new 3-6 player? or would $3000(500xBB) make more sense? If it helps I play on a site that is primarily for sports betting, so most of these players are just degenerate gamblers blowing off steam from losing bets.