O-Poker

I only played two tourneys this weekend and didn't finish ITM in either of them. I haven't been playing many tourneys lately because I have been focusing on the cash games. Sometimes, I wonder why I play tourneys when the cash games can be so profitable. (Although, tourneys can be profitable, too.) At times, it can be frustrating to play for 3 hours and bust out just out of the money.

I have been playing a ton of short handed 5/10NL on Full Tilt this month and doing very well (I'll post those results at the end of the month). I decided to take a couple of "shots" at 10/20NL on with some of the profits from 5/10. I didn't fair so well - overall I wound up losing 1 1/2 buy-ins over 7 sessions. During one session, I lost $1,000 almost immediately when I got all-in preflop with KK vs AK (AK bought in for $1,000). I then lost another $2,000 when I got all-in on a rag flop with QQ vs. a very aggressive player that happened to have KK. Take those two hands out of the picture and I was break-even over 7 sessions of 10/20.

Poker and your perspective on the limit that you are playing is all relative. I wouldn't think twice about being down 1 1/2 buy-ins during a session very quickly at 5/10, because I know that I can make that money back. For some reason, 1 1/2 buy-ins at 10/20 ($3,000) seemed like a lot tougher number to overcome - even though I was still up substantially for the week. When I first moved up to 5/10, I remember it being very hard to swallow getting stacked. It doesn't even phase me now. It is all a matter where your comfort level is.

After playing one limit for a while, you start to get numb to the swings, but it takes time. I think that occasional "shots" at a higher level (with your profits) help for when you finally make the step up.

There seems to be a HUGE jump in skill level between 5/10 and 10/20. The relative number of weak players is drastically reduced (at least on Full Tilt). I think I will have to move sites whenever I make the move to 10/20. I'm not ready for the step up yet. When I do move up I want to be ready - both mentally and bankroll wise.

Lee (Bill Ivey) has been having problems getting numb to the swings at 10/20 and posted about it on twoplustwo. His post and the responses are pretty interesting.

Empiremaker2 (a great aggressive NL player) made a comment that shows these feelings and how drastic the swings can be:

"All it takes is experience Bill. I used to be scared shitless of 10-20, but now I win or lose 15k in just about every session and I don't think twice about it"

I think I will wait a while before moving up.

cmitch