Am I ready for the jump? 35k stat check up.

[handsome]

[ QUOTE ]

They go fast if you play enough tables, 700hands/hr gets you to 180k pretty fast. 12-tabling .5/1 makes me $28/hr, and if I'm clearing bonuses, that can be $80-$100/hr easy. I can't achieve that at any other limit, so that's where I play mostly.

[/ QUOTE ]

Move up and become a better player.

[k000k]

[ QUOTE ]
Move up and become a better player.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ya I know, I know.. I always play higher limits on the cryptos, a little $1/2, mostly $2/4 and £1/2, and I'm beating em all there, but I just can't seem to get positive in party's 1/2 game.. I'm still down a few hundred bucks in something like 12k hands. It just pisses me off, makes me frustrated, win a little or lose a lot.. I can't remember the last time I was happy at the end of a $1/2 session on party. I destroy .5/1, it's easy to justify staying where I know I can make a few $'s.

[davelin]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
You're a tad loose-passive.

[/ QUOTE ]
Would it really be more optimal to have a very high AF and a low VPIP in loose-passive 0.5/1 games?
When you have the odds to limp with a less premium hand PF combined with the fact that your opponents play very bad post flop.
When you have the odds to call more post-flop.
When raising to protect your hand is ineffective. (It does work better on the turn though)
When you have no idea if you are beaten on the river with your TPTK by the calling station with pairs of 7 and 3.

[/ QUOTE ]

Your statement doesn't make a ton of sense to me.

[/ QUOTE ]

Read it again.
I'm questioning a low VPIP - high AF approach in loose passive 0.5/1 games.

[/ QUOTE ]

Okay I did and it still doesn't make sense to me -

1) I'm not advocating a super tight, super aggressive strategy, I just said he was a TAD (i.e. slightly) loose passive.

2) The OP's VPIP is about 24% but his PFR% is about 9% which means he's limping or cold-calling 15% of his hands. This is probably higher than almost everyone who's played in micros for a significant amount of time. If his stats were more like 24/12 then I could live with it more because that means he's isolating, open-raising and blind-stealing more. Pre-flop raising is generally good in the right circumstances because it gives you position and initiative. OP's blind-stealing stats indicate this to me as well.

3) I don't think many would say than an Agression Factor less than 2 could use a little improvement to just right above 2. Again, I'm not saying bump it to 3 or 4, it's just been shown time and time again that Passives usually make much less than Aggressives.

4) What does "When raising to protect your hand is ineffective" mean? When you raise your good hands/draws it's value if they call and protection when they fold, good both ways. If every micro-opponent out there called you on every single hand to the river, you would net out to be a big winner long-term.

5) "When you have no idea if you are beaten on the river with your TPTK by the calling station with pairs of 7 and 3." Huh? Calling stations looking to hit their 4-5 outers against you will pay you off in the long term. Bad opponents = $$$.

[nsdjoe]

[ QUOTE ]
i can't believe you played 35K hands at .5/1

[/ QUOTE ]

How long were you at .5/1? Anyone know what a good rule of thumb is as far as #hands before moving up? Or is it completely on a case-by-case basis of when youre ready?

[droolie]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

They go fast if you play enough tables, 700hands/hr gets you to 180k pretty fast. 12-tabling .5/1 makes me $28/hr, and if I'm clearing bonuses, that can be $80-$100/hr easy. I can't achieve that at any other limit, so that's where I play mostly.

[/ QUOTE ]

Become a better player.

[/ QUOTE ]

FYP. The limit you play does not define your skill level.

Moving up is not the only way to become a better player. While it certainly helps to consistently play against tougher competition the limit amounts are arbitrary. Some .50/1 games play like higher limits (early on at a 2+2 table before everyone gets drunk, for instance) and some 3/6 games play like the fishiest of .50/1 games. Sure the average .50/1 game is way fishier than the average 3/6 game but to assume you can only get the type of competiton you'll see at 3/6 at 3/6 is incorrect.

I've been playing poker online for almost a year and continue to learn new aspects of the game every day. I still have a lot more to learn and am quite sure I will continue to learn regardless of what limit I happen to be playing.

I've played over 50K at .50/1. Why? It's fun and I end almost every session way ahead. Reliably making $30 and hour while having fun and almost zero risk is not a bad thing.

Many of us have very different motivations for playing poker. Personally I am very risk averse and do not enjoy winning more money if it feels like a grind. I have played higher limits and been successful but I always come back to .50/1 because there is no stress. I have enough stress in my regular job that when I come home and play at night the last thing I need is more stress. The actual gaming experience of winning 5+BB/100 and winning 2+BB/100 is vastly different. Though I have won more money per hour playing some 2/4 and 3/6 stretches the experience was not as enjoyable for me as a typical night of playing .50/1 clearing bonuses.

If winning the maximum amount of money is your only motivation, regardless of the emtotional toll, then by all means move up every time you have the roll but don't assume that's why we're all playing poker. I'm quite confident I'm a better poker player fundamentaly than many of the players who do quite well at higher limits but the circumstances of my life suit making lower amounts of easy money playing micro limits better. Perhaps you could argue I am leaving $$ on the table by being a pussy or whatever but poker has been fun for me almost every night I've played. Not many people, even the most successful of players, can say that. I'm reasonably sure I will begin playing exclusively at higher limits in the not too distant future but I feel very comfortably defending anybody who decides that .50/1 is the game for them. It's fun. Fun is +EV.