Trip Report: Beating NL25 and NL50 (long)

[ajmargarine]

Backstory--

I got my start in real money poker at the beginning of this year when I won $40 in a 1000 player freeroll. The next afternoon I won a $5 small MTT for about $160. So, within 36 hours I went from diddling around in play money tournaments to having $200 in an online poker account.

I hadn't discovered 2+2 back then and I had no ideas about bankroll management. I continued to play in small tourneys, but also played in NL100 cash games with my tiny roll. Somehow, I built onto that $200, got better, found 2+2, got better, made some profit and eventually became a consistent winner at NL100, pulling out a monthly "paycheck" which was greater than the income I was making at my regular job. I dabbled at a level higher, and at a level lower, but over 90% of my time was probably spent at full ring NL100. I never added outside money to that $40, just kept building on it. I kept a full roll online, and was taking out money monthly, so it was all good.

A month ago, I cashed out some of my bankroll and took a two week vacation. It was very fulfilling to take a trip paid for exclusively with poker winnings. Sadly, while on the trip I ran into 2 major unexpected expenses. The only way I could really pay for them was to cash out almost all of my remaining poker bankroll. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

I would have probably cashed out everything but I had a withdrawal restriction on one of my accounts. And so when I got home from vacation, I had a grand total of $44 left in my online bankroll. First day back, I started to think about budgeting and what I could cut back on to get some dollars back online so I could continue playing.

While mulling this over and not really coming to a clear solution to the matter, I started wondering what I could do with the $44 I still had online. I rationalized that my entire poker bankroll was built from a $40 freeroll profit back when I had no clue what I was doing. Now that I have a partial clue, maybe I could do something like that again.

I decided to give it a few days, and see if I could build that up into something semi-respectable. I split it into 4 buy-ins of $11 and sat down at NL25. I played over the next few days and slowly but surely built it up. $100, $200, $350, $500. Up and up it went. Soon I had enough for full buy-ins at NL50. I kept playing at that level, completely enjoying and reveling in the challenge of building a bankroll from nothing.

My normal bankroll for NL100 is 15-20 buy-ins. Last week, I got within that margin playing NL25 and NL50 starting with $44. Took almost 2 weeks, but I got there and am now back playing NL100.

I'm posting this story as an encouragment to others to keep plugging away. And, I'd like to share a few of the basic things I learned and emphasized while playing these two levels. If you are new to NL or are struggling to beat games NL50 or lower, I hope this will help you a little bit. Here are some basic tips:

1. Starting hands, starting hands, starting hands.

This is half the battle at these levels. Your opponents like to play any ace, any king, anything suited, etc. If you put money in preflop with better hands than what your opponents are putting money in with, you will win at this level.

Most games are generally loose passive. If you take the opposite tact, tight aggressive, you will make a profit. It seems so simple, that with one concept you can beat a game. But, IMO, it's true. You enter pots with better cards, you come out ahead at this level. It takes discipline and patience. When you keep seeing 63o, Q8s and J4o take down medium sized pots, you become tempted to jump in with those type hands yourself. Don't do it. Play better cards than your villians, and you will be profitable at this level.

2. No Bluffing

There's a good news/bad news thing happening at < NL50. The good news is that THEY DON'T FOLD. You get called down with worse hands all the time. They chase draws to the river despite the poor odds that you are giving them. In the face of overwhelming evidence that they are toast, they still call all the way down with TP 2 kicker. That's the good news.

The bad news, is the same, they don't fold. Bluffing at these levels, IMO, is -EV. Try as you might to represent that flush or straight, they generally don't believe you and will go into c/c mode. They notice their hands first and foremost, and give passing consideration to what you may be holding. So if bluffing is part of your game at this level, try going without it for awhile. I doubt you are missing profit, and I think your BB/100 will probably rise.

Continuation betting is an exception. If you PFR, a CB will still be profitable versus 1-2 opponents. 3 or more villians in the hand with you, give it up if you don't hit something on the flop.

IMHO, if you simply follow #1 and #2 here, you will show a consistent profit at NL25 and NL50.

3. Value Betting

I think you'll win if you follow the first two tips. How much you win will be determined by your skill at value betting. It's always nice when we scoop a pot. But if you and I play the exact same hand, and you win a $9 pot, and I win a $11 pot with the same cards/same situation, those extra few BB's add up over the session and over the long run.

Seriously focusing on getting more value from your made hands will really help your bottom line. They like to call here, and they will almost always call a larger amount than you are thinking of betting. At one point, I picked a number I thought was good to bet on the turn or river, and then added 1-2 BB's to that, and bet the new number. I got just as many calls as I thought I would, and made more profit because of it.

To effectively value bet, you need to put your villians on a hand. Which can be difficult at this level, because of the wide range of hands that they will be playing. But if you can read hands here, you can read hands anywhere.

4. Learn the value of position

Stop playing so much OOP. Play more in position. Position is king in NLHE. Learn it, live it, love it.

5. Suited connectors, in position, can be gold.

One thing you will see at these levels is alot of minraising and minbetting. They simply don't understand the concept of giving poor odds to drawing hands. You will very often have pot odds to draw to straights and flushes. Sometimes, you have third pair and you still have pot odds to continue in the hand to try and improve because the betting habits of villians is so poor. Alot of times you have odds to draw, and the good news is that if you hit, you will still be able to get more money in the middle with your nut hand, because as I said earlier, they don't believe you, and they don't fold.

6. Embrace 6-max, SH, and HU.

I've always played full ring. I know the fishiest games are 6-max. I've always been hesitant to go down there though, and my tight style seemed off for 6-handed games, and forget about anything shorter than that.

During my time at these levels, I grew to love 6-max. And give me something 4-handed, and I was giddy. If you are a decent player, the skill difference short handed is magnified between you and your opponents. Learn it now on the cheap, and when you move up you will feel at home in the most profitable format in online NLHE.

7. Learn to multitable.

I am still behind the curve a bit on this. I've always been a two-tabler. And am just now getting more comfortable 3-tabling. But the more hands you see, the more decisions you make, the more chances you have to outskill your opponents.

Plus, IMO, it helps with tilt. Being card dead makes me want to play more hands and puts me in more marginal situations. Which when I lose a few, I can frustrated and slide closer to that tilt line. If you are playing more tables, you have more chances to wait for solid starting values, and don't encounter card deadness as much.

8. Be respectful

Players make bad plays at NL25 and NL50. There are alot of table coaches who berate them for doing so. Keep your mouth shut. These are the levels where alot of people are trying out online poker for the first time. Don't open your big mouth and give them a reason not to come back.

Also, respect their efforts. 90% of the players are, just like you, trying to make a profit. Some of them will actually put you on a hand. Some of them can lay down a nice hand in the face of aggression. Some of them can make nice plays against you. Some of them are better than you. Take notes on whom you need to watch out for. Respect certain opponent's play and treat everyone with respect.
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Well, I better stop there. It got a lot longer than I thought it would. And I still could make about 10 more points. I hope you enjoyed the story, and I hope some of you are helped by some of the basic advice and encouraged to know that you can beat these games consistently as well. Gluck at the tables.

-aj