Taking a 50k hand shot at the Party 30/60. Feeling a little nervous.

[Nigel]

Hi all,

I debated whether I should even post this, but I'm going to go ahead and hope I get a few responses - maybe even someone is about to make the same move up. I've decided to give the 30/60 a 50k hand shot and see if I can improve my earn above what I'm making in the 15/30. At the very least, I'm hoping it stays the same and I don't have to run off with my tail between my legs.

If possible, for my first 10-20k hands, I'd like to try to decrease my variance, as I have heard people advise thise when moving up; that, and losing $10k+ in a day would probably make me need to vomit. I often hear some posters talk about how they play a "lower variance" style and they attribute that as to the reason why they don't have the swings that some of us do. Any suggestions for how to actually do this??? Also, what is a good VPIP in this game given semi-solid post-flop skills? (emphasis on semi, lol)

Post flop, where do I want to be making my inevitable mistakes. Do I want to be erring on the side of folding too much or calling down too much in this game? Too aggro or not aggro enough? I don't want to play weak tight, but the jump to higher levels always makes me think everyone is making crazy moves until I realize it's basically the same old game and 'ABCish' play works best. Honestly though, I guess I'm a little spooked by how tough people have said it is, and I have only played a few thousand hands in it to date. Also, it's hard to ignore the money at this level, even properly bankrolled.

Anyway, I was hoping I could write something more coherent here, or come up with better questions, but it just isn't happening. My brain is a little fried and this move up is making me nervous, so sorry for the scattered post. Basically, I don't like the idea of potentially finding out I'm not very good at this game - for so many reasons, the most crucial of which being that I think within a few years time, when all the pros are left playing each other, most of the higher limit games online are going to be this tough, or tougher; even 10/20 and 15/30.

Any helpful advice or inspirational words to help me get my skirt off would be nice and I'm sure I'll be repaying the favor, quite literally, by helping you guys with next months rent check through my donations in the 30. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Thanks for reading,

Nigel


One last thing, I don't know if it's of interest to people, but I could put up some sort of progress journal, although those things can be annoying. Seriously though, if someone would find it helpful, I could perhaps post little updates on how goes the battle.

[tomahawk]

I have no experience in the 30/60, but I'm thinking about testing the waters myself, so a journal to see how it goes would be great.

Good luck!

[La Brujita]

In a full game a VPIP of 16.5 wouldn't be too far off I don't think. Good luck to you sir.

[Turning Stone Pro]

Don't ever forget, it's always 90 feet to first base.

GL,

TSP

[Ray Zee]

since you are new there you will get more calls and maybe more bluffs at you. so play tighter starting hands and keep your loses low for each session so you get a feel for the game without ever being very stuck. good luck.

[flub]

If you win at 15 you'll prob win at 30. 50k is too much. If you lose 15k move down. I vote for no journal.

-f

[beerbandit]

[ QUOTE ]
If you win at 15 you'll prob win at 30. 50k is too much. If you lose 15k move down. I vote for no journal.

-f

[/ QUOTE ]

he said playing 50k hands

[beerbandit]

[ QUOTE ]
My brain is a little fried and this move up is making me nervous, so sorry for the scattered post.

[/ QUOTE ]

calm down and play your game


good luck

cheers

[danderso8]

[ QUOTE ]
If possible, for my first 10-20k hands, I'd like to try to decrease my variance, as I have heard people advise thise when moving up

[/ QUOTE ]

Avoid the short handed games. there's a lot of money there, but a ton of variance. Also, don't multi table it till you have really paid attention to a single game for a while and have decent reads on at least a few players at your table.

good luck,
dan

[Nigel]

First, let me say thanks for the good wishes from everyone who responded, and for the advice, it's very appreciated.

As for the poker, well, the first day of 'full time' 30/60 had mixed results. I played mostly full games, a little short-handed (some of the games looked juicy), and some heads-up as well - so much for avoiding variance!

I felt like I might actually run well for once on a move up, but that was soon to be proven not the case as I lost some huge, huge pots, only winning with 44% of my sets/trips (the 44% all being, unfortunately, rather small pots). The vomit factor was also quite high when, I lost two hands almost the exact same way! Heads up with the big blind. Once with A's once with K's - BB donks out low pair (same freaking low pair both times, coincidentally), they trip up on turn, I call down and raise river, hoping to avoid being 3 bet if they have the damn low pair. Both times I get 3 bet, both times I paid off... yuck. What can I say, I suck. I decided to call it a day soon after this as I made back to back "monsters under the bed" plays, once of which included only calling down with a set of A's, something I'm not sure I've ever done before. So like I said, I quit for the day; I know subtle-tilt when I see it.

As for my impressions, well, it's a different game than the current 15, that's for sure. It's much more like the old 15 in terms of the donk factor, maybe even worse in some ways. On that note, while I love a good donkey as much as the next guy, I do get a little nervous that there is some monkey business in this game. Some of these guys 3 betting and capping total crap in multiway pots after not playing any hands for 3 orbits always seems odd to me, but hopefully it's not a big problem.

Some thoughts on the differences:

Aggression: Make a hand, get paid huge. The games are tighter, the pots are smaller, but when you hit, you have the benefit of everyone trying to go Johnny Chan on you. Works out great when you have a monster. Sometimes they show you something decent, sometimes they turn over total junk. I guess they think if they raise you enough you'll fold the nuts. Unfortunately for me, every time I had a second best type hand today, it was in fact second best. It was only on my monsters that I seemed to run in to the whack jobs. It balanced out, but it would have been nicer the other way around.

Bluffing: People do lay down, but I guess you really have to learn who. I made 2 turn CR semi-bluffs/river continuations against guys that I was positive had nothing but weak aces, and both times I was called down, and both times all they had were weak aces! On fairly ugly boards for their hands too. Guess I need to pick my spots better?

Inducing bluffs: Some of these guys just bluff like there is no tomorrow, so I would say in whole I've ratcheted down my aggression a good deal, which has been resulting in some extra BB's for sure. I'm finding myself check-calling a lot more in this game so far. We'll have to see if that continues to work out.

Blind stealing: Wow, much harder so far, or it could just be my small sample size, but I am definitely finding myself having a hard time firing the second bullet with junk. It's never a matter of if you are going to be check-raised, it's just a question of if it's going to happen on the flop or the turn. I'm going to need to make some adjustments in this department for sure, these players are not going to be easy to just run over. Maybe I need to embrace the concept of showing down K hi and A hi here more often, but it never seems to work for me when I try it!

The money: It's big, at least for me. Not in terms of poker, but real world value. When you get rivered out of 3 or 4 $1200 pots in one session, you think man, I'd be up $5k more for the day if not for a few 2 or 3 outers. It's going to take some getting used to. $5k actually has some decent real-world purchasing power, and it kind of blows your mind that so much can hinge on so little. Going to take some getting used to as I start to play in higher games.

Well, that's about all that comes to my right now, I'll post in from time to time on how things are going, and I'm sure I'll be posting some hands I butcher, but otherwise there's not much to do but keep playing and see how things look at 50k - if I make it that far!

Thanks again for reading,

Nigel