Moving to mid-limits, avoiding traps

[ChicagoTroy]

I'm looking to move up to 10-20 soon, and I've noticed that when the occasional 10-20 player has sat in 5-10 waiting for a seat, I've been tricked by slowplays or cleverly played draws. The tricky plays at 5-10 tend to be wrong ones, but from some of these slightly better players at 10-20 they are correct, I would like to shorten my learning curve as much as possible.

Bob Ciaffone had a clever line about the later plays being more likely to be the truth than earlier ones when you're wondering what your oppenent is up to. Does anybody have any advice about detecting slowplays, bluffs, or other tricky moves seen above low-limit holdem? I know a lot of this will come down to accurate hand-reading...

[highlife]

in most cases 10-20 is not high enough limits yet to see enough tricky plays to worry about. 90% of the time thinking on the first two levels is fine and I assume you do that well if you are beating 5-10. the main thing about playing 10-20 is looking for the fishiest games and getting in them as soon as possible.

[anatta]

Get "Inside the Mind.." by John Feeney. He has two good essays on the transition to the middle limits. Regarding tricky players, you can play a little more passively against them at first until you get your bearings, checking the turn more and check calling them (which might be the superior play anyways if they like to bluff). However, I wouldn't worry about it. If your game is ready, you will be able to identify the same huge mistakes in your opponents. Game selection as the other post said does become more important as you move up, but I suspect that 10-20 level isn't really that tough anywhere.

[ChicagoTroy]

Thanks both.

Regarding the Feeney book, I've practically committed it to memory. GREAT book.

I'm probably just being a little over cautious since this will be the first time dabbling in 10-20. Beating up on the 5-10 mullets is easy enough here that that you can get a little complacent, so I want to avoid that.

[DcifrThs]

just make sure to watch EVERY SINGLE hand and learn how each opponent thinks. after a while you will encounter a session that changes your poker career. it will be the first time that you can actually see your opponents cards. the lighthearted feeling you get from it is unmatched. its a smooth domination that leaves your opponents totally bewildered, confused, jealous, and frustrated.

it doesn't happen all the time, but sometimes the groove and your play do the work for you...its a beautiful thing.

-Barron

[nummerfire]

I do not like when i am absolutely sure what my opponent(s) has, because most of the times that happens i am saving bets and not winning pots.

Kim

[Dante]

based on your name, I'm assuming you're playing at either Trump or Harrah's (near Chicago). I've been playing the Chicago 10/20 games (profitably) for about 4 years and the most common reason I find myself having bad sessions is blowing off chips by pushing unimproved raising hands against the calling stations (second is overplaying AA, KK, and QQ). Identify the calling stations early.

FYI - There's one older guy, who won't play any card under a ten, unless it's a pocket pair, from outside his big blind. Even T9s on the button.