getting ready to graduate to 25 NL

[will641]

I am just starting to dabble in 25 NL. I have around 20 buy ins, so if i lose a couple ill just move back down immediately. What adjustments should I make, if any?

[bigspenda73]

learn to count your money faster?

[Numbr2intheWorld]

Don't make any adjustments, play the same as you always have. 25NL is easy but varience is a bitch so don't worry if you have to move back down.

[grnydrowave2]

learn to count your money faster?

lol, yeah pretty much

[Robb]

Don't make any adjustments, play the same as you always have. 25NL is easy but varience is a bitch so don't worry if you have to move back down.

I agree. I have 35 buy-ins at $.05/.10, so I'm under br for $.10/.25. But I've taken some shots there at tables that were mostly small stacks for the buy-in. The game is not noticeably harder, but I agree with the variance. I've lost hands like AA against JJ, and had to quit, move back down. But I've won some immense hands with things like A-high flush by turn, all-in by river against air. I'm overall ahead at the higher limits, but I'm trying to build br at the lower level before moving up for good.

Folks in this forum have gotten on me for moving up without sufficient br, and rightly so. One excuse, I'm trying to earn a bonus and it's difficult to do at $.05/.10. Absolute gives out bonus points based on the number of $10 hands you see the flop on. So I take VERY selective shots at very specific tables, and I leave immediately if the table fails to meet my selection criteria. And I take my shots only after strong winning sessions at the lower limits, maybe up $8 - $10 quad tabling at $.05/.10. That gives me some peace of mind playing the big pots fearlessly.

Maybe not exactly textbook, but I have found that "warming up" at the lower level lets me focus well and get in the right mind set for playing. The psychological side of moving up is important. I plan to warm up for a minimum of a half hour at the lower limits, even when I'm properly br'd for the higher buy-in, just for a psychological edge. A half hour of quad tabling at $.05/.10 is usually long enough to stack a fish, often as many as 3 or 4.

For you br nazis (don't move up until you have 20+ buy-ins at the higher level), I will move back down when I get the bonus complete and stay there until I have the proper br. Then I plan to take my shot. I expect to successful right away, when I'm rolled properly. The game isn't that different from $.05/.10, imo.

[Robb]

learn to count your money faster?

lol big - it's true. I can't wait to be playing $.10/.25 full time. There is some serious dead money there on Absolute, where I play right now.

[IowaSkinsFan]

It's no different the only way you're going to do badly is if you start thinking the regs are somehow way better (lol regs).

[Kagey]

1. Don't try and economise by betting less. You see players all the time playing with scared money, if you have to bet 2/3, bet 2/3 pot.

2. Try playing one table just to get a feel for it, and suss out the regs.

3. As mentioned. Players are no better at 25nl, than 10nl. As you move up you'll find that there are many player who deposit 100 dollars on a Saturday night, and have absolutely no interest in learning poker or building a bankroll, many of these have no interest in mini mico-stakes.

[biondino]

There are fewer terrible players so you need to be able to identify them (and the few decent players, usually by-the-book TAGs) and target them. Make sure all your raises are proper sizes, keep bluffing to a minimum (but keep c-betting when circumstances are right - you very seldom get 25nl players floating or bluff raising on the flop).

[Robb]

There are fewer terrible players so you need to be able to identify them (and the few decent players, usually by-the-book TAGs) and target them.

PokerTracker and PA HUD work really well for this. You can download Excession's full ring ratings for PT here:
http://www.andymcnish.btinternet.co.uk/NL50final.TXT

T-rod did a 6-max version you can find in this thread on Bet-The-Pot:
http://www.bet-the-pot.com/forum/poker-article4082.html

I use PA HUD to determine looseness and aggression. Within 50 - 70 hands you can mostly ID the TAG's. Reads tighten up on other stats only after 200+ hands, but basic reads on loose-tight and passive-aggressive seem reasonably good after 50+ hands.

Make sure all your raises are proper sizes, keep bluffing to a minimum (but keep c-betting when circumstances are right)

Playing sound poker with solid c-bets, probe bets and extraction techniques is fun. These tables are loose enough to reward you with calls that are bad. Sure, there are some suckouts, but there are enough nice wins when I bet it right, put them in the proper range, and get paid off that it helps me realize I'm playing soundly the vast majority of the time. They're just bad enough to show down with air/bad hands, but good enough that I need to play well.

you very seldom get 25nl players floating or bluff raising on the flop.

Oh, but it's so fun when you do! Again, PA HUD will help ID the fish. For the super- agro player who may or may not be fishy, I do the following: I know that typical hands with two cards of different values hit the flop about a third of the time. Anytime a guy's flop aggression percentage is 50% or more (with at least 20 flops seen), I'm very suspicious of his values. I'm looking for a reasonable hand to take a shot at him. TP w/ medium kicker + a small draw minimum, but I'm gonna rr and try to take down the pot. Often, you can get a (non-fishy) aggressive player to play back at you without good values. And it's a great feeling when it happens.

These plays will increase the variance, however, with several nice medium-sized pots won without a showdown, the occasional showdown from way behind where hero loses a big pot, and nearly as often a showdown where hero has an even chance to win a big pot. If you pick your spots (and I rely heavily on PA HUD reads for this), aggressing against these players is +EV for me, and it allows me to target a group of players probably 70% of which is fish. Yeah, 30% can either really play and know basically what they're doing, but I think overall the super-aggressive players are +EV for the TAG's willing to take the occasional shot.

.

[v2k]

Great post Robb.

[Robb]

Thanks, v2. I'm spewing chips tonight, tho, lol. So take it with a BIG grain of salt. In my defense, I posted yesterday when I wasn't exhausted. Think I'll sleep off my bad beats and try tomorrow. Peace.