Is 10/20 like 4x harder than it was 1-2 years ago?

[Jstyal]

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I think for an experienced player the winrate at 5/10 or 10/20 should be the same as 0.5/1... call me crazy but I believe it. The reason 10/20 is harder than 0.5/1 when you first learn poker is because of the increased aggression and because you simply don't have enough experience to know what to do in certain situations. Once you get more experience you can outthink the other 10/20 players because you have learned how they think. With 0.5/1 players there is often no rhyme or reason to what they do so, while they of course make more mistakes, it is difficult to outplay anyone and really get true value. That is a tradeoff. 5/10 and 10/20 are just different than 0.5/1, not tougher per se. Basically if you have many 100's of thousands of hands and have read these boards for 2 years or whatever, you should be able to beat 10/20.

And don't forget the much better rake at 10/20.

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I used to play .50/1 at party more than 3 yrs ago (and I have no reason to believe the landscape there has changed) so I speak with exp when I say I think you're crazy. heh. Anyone killing the .50/1 for say 4bb/100 is really killing them for about 9bb/100 given the rake penalty down there. That's a testament to just how bad the opposition is down there. Their gross preflop errors compounded by their utter lack of hand reading pre and post flop and their passivity makes them prime fodder. You cannot say the same for 10/20, where generally you find players a little better at hand reading, are way more aggressive (vs. .50/1), and overall players here seem to have some preflop stretagy vs .50/1 where no one has a semblance of a clue in that area. At .50/1 you dont have to play worth a damn postflop since only a good tight starting hand selection will get you $$$. Heck you don't even have to defend your blinds vs a blind steal. Just check your option when everyone limps in. But starting at around 10/20, you are forced to play postflop if you want to have a decent winrate. You are forced into stealing and defending your blinds; you are forced into dealing with tricky and aggro players; you are forced to deal with many more c/rs et. I don't think it's close.