[pzhon]

By the way, NL $50 is not considered medium stakes. Perhaps it ought to be, but it is still considered microstakes. The small stakes NL forum primarily covers NL $100 and NL $200.

The basic answer is that almost all players find lower stakes games easier, and the downswings are less severe when your win rate is higher. Your win rate rises quietly when your opponents play badly in ways you don't have to exploit actively. For example, you will more often see someone check behind on the river with a very strong hand in lower stakes games. Your opponents will fail to make profitable bluffs, and will not size their bets properly. You don't have to do anything to benefit from these.

There may tend to be more multiway pots in low stakes games, and you may want to exploit a slightly different set of weaknesses, but if you have a solid win rate at NL $50, you should have no trouble beating NL $10.

While it is possible that you have simply hit an exceptional streak of bad luck, my guess is that you aren't beating NL $50 for very much. Perhaps you are making some plays that work at NL $50, but you don't know why, and don't know how to adjust to NL $10. Are the stack depths the same? Are you relying on implied odds that are not present? Do your tactics rely on the presence of players who fold too much?