Can I make more at NL than limit?

[joop]

I'm currently playing 2/4 limit at Party, but I'm thinking of switching to NL. Given that I play 6 tables, making 2.5bb/100 (including rakeback), that's $35/hr. What would the equivalent hourly rate be for a comparable NL table? I consider 2/4 limit to be beatable just by playing ABC poker, so I'd be looking for the NL equivalent. Is it possible to 6 table NL as easily as limit? I hear of people beating NL for "10ptBB/100", but I'm not sure how this figure it worked out? I'd like to change as I'm finding limit quite boring and the variance is killing me. Is the variance at NL a lot better?

Thanks in advance.

[-Skeme-]

Yeah, the variance isn't as harsh in NL. Others who play both frequently can probably give you good advice.

[DavidC]

link

[FreakDaddy]

I played 1/2 and 2/4 limit before I moved to NL. I was running about 2.4 BB/100 at 1/2 and around 1 BB/100 at 2/4. I'm crushing the players at 25/50 NL and just beginning to play 100. IMHO, limit players in general are smarter players than most NL players. My experience at limit and how I think about the game has allowed me to run about 28PTBB/100 at 25 (9K hands) and 20PTBB/100 at 50 NL around 17k hands. If you've solidified yourself at limit at those levels then you'll probably double your hourly rate at least.

Also I played 4-5 tables at limit and I only play 3-4 at NL because reads are much more important at NL, where as limit you can pretty much play ABC poker and win.

[joop]

Thanks DavidC and FreakDaddy, your posts answer a few of my questions. Although I'm still trying to work out exactly how much can be made.

50NL sounds quite beatable, and 10PTBB/100 would be a reasonable winrate.

10PTBB/100 is equal to 5 x BB/100, given that the BB at 50NL is $0.5, that's $2.50/100. Playing 2/4 with a 2.5BB/100 winrate would be $10/100. FreakDaddy also mentioned I may not be able to play as many tables at NL, so this would cut down my hourly rate also.

Moving up to 100NL would double my $/100 to $5/100, which is still a long way from $10/100 at 2/4, and still I may not be able to manage 6 tables.

Do my calculations make sense here? It seems that playing one table of 100NL, I would make HALF the amount that I would make at one 2/4 limit table. (Assuming 10PTBB/100 and 2.5BB/100 at NL and limit respectively). Does this sound right??

[FreakDaddy]

NO, a PTBB is double the BB so if you did 10PTBB/100 at 100NL that equals $20 per 100 where as your 2/4 rate is $10 per 100.

[joop]

aaahh, yes... thanks FreakDaddy, I see my mistake. Geez, not sure how well I'll do if I can't figure basic math :P

So I guess the medium is about 50NL equating to 2/4 limit, given the stated winrates, perhaps with a lower hourly rate at NL due to less tables.

This leaves me wondering how difficult the move from 50NL to 100NL is. I think I would have to improve my game a fair bit to pull 2.5BB/100 from 3/6 limit over 6 tables, and this would only be a 50% increase in earnings. Moving from 50NL to 100NL would be a 100% increase, so this would be the sweet spot. Does anyone know if the competition gets considerably tougher at 100NL?

[joewatch]

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This leaves me wondering how difficult the move from 50NL to 100NL is.

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In general, there is not much difference between the games on 50NL and 100NL. You will encounter mostly loose player and some tight players at both levels. The key to winning in the long term is knowing how to adjust to table conditions. IMHO, the main difference between the two is psychological - when you move up, all of the sudden the size of your pots potentially double on every street and that can seem like a lot of money. When you are used to semibluffing for $5 in 50NL, this might be equivalent to a $20 semibluff in 100NL.

I personally play only $1bb games because I play for fun, and a few hundred won/lost isn't much money to me. But if I moved up to $2 or $4, that could mean $1000 lost in a bad week, which would matter to me. NEVER play with scared money.

[joop]

Hey joewatch, thanks for the advice. I know what you mean about being able to handle the extra money flying around. I think I'll start at 25NL and see how I go from there; maybe jump to 50NL pretty quickly, but log a good amount of hands there before thinking about moving up. No doubt I have a lot to learn.

[ghostface]

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IMHO, limit players in general are smarter players than most NL players.

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Isn't it more like they accidentally make correct decisions more often when faced with calling a bet? (i.e. inability to set pot odds)