Time to switch to limit poker?

[SnakeYankley702]

I had the thought imbedded in my head I was a good no limit player player...Until I started playing online poker..When I play live I have no problem playing no limit...But for online poker I have been losing a fair share of money playing no limit, yes I have taken some insanely bad beats, more then I could ever imagine..But there comes a time when you have to put your foot down and say this isnt working out...Should I switch to limit hold em? I have a good understanding of the game because I read sklanskys book on small stakes hold em...I guess I always avoided limit because I thought it was less profitable, but looking at avg pot stats it seems more profitable if your hands hold up...any suggestions?

[argybargy2002]

The thing about limit poker that you have to understand if you're a no limit player looking to make the switch is that limit is a game of the best hand versus a whole bunch of draws. There will be many times where you have the best hand by far only to be called by a bunch of people on the turn and lose to what looks to be a blank on the rivwer. What makes the game so great is that if you play correctly you will be on the right side of the equation most of the time (and earning lots of "Sklansky dollars"). What makes the game so bad is that you can go for huge stretches where you just can't buy a trick. You'll get sucked out on constantly, over and over again.

Therefore, if you decide to make the switch (and I did, so its very possible) you have to have
(a)a big enough bankroll (300BB is reccommended but I actually think 400 would be a better figure for a NL convert),
(b)the knowledge and ability to rationalise the fact that you will go on some horrendous downswings where there is nothing you can do, even if you're playing perfectly.
(c) the patience not to go on tilt even when the most outrageous beats occur and/or you get cold cards.

I play live 5-10 and wouldn't go back to playing NL consistently but my old NL buddies think I'm mad. Take your pick.

[SeaEagle]

Both versions of holdem are wickedly profitable if your hands hold up. Master that and then teach me how to do it.

[SnakeYankley702]

thx guys

[Harv72b]

How long has your online losing streak at NL lasted? That makes a huge difference, obviously...even a bad run of 10,000+ hands could easily be chalked up to just running poorly, as opposed to not being able to consistently beat the game. At any rate, I would think that if the vast majority of your poker experience lies in NLHE, then trying to switch to LHE while also adjusting to the peculiarities of the online game would only make things rougher on your bottom line.

You should also keep in mind that online games are generally much tougher than their live counterparts at the same limits. While 5/10 LHE at your local cardroom/casino might be a cakewalk, the online 5/10 game is most assuredly not...the ability to play multiple tables at the same time, combined with the increased number of hands per hour per table (and no tips, lesser rake, etc) means that even in small stakes games you are going to run into a lot of full time players, some of whom are very, very good. It's very feasible that a good player could earn a pretty comfortable living playing 2/4 online poker...and I'm sure that a few people do. I'm sure the same holds true for NL games as well.

So just because you may have been beating up on 1/2 NL B&M games in the past, does not mean that you're a good enough player (yet) to consistently beat the online 1/2 NL games. The general rule of thumb in limit is that an online game is roughly equivalent to the live version 3 levels higher...so the average opponent in a 2/4 live game is probably on the same level as the average player in a live 8/16 or even 10/20 game. Again, for LHE, but I'm sure NL is similar in this regard.

As far as sheer profitability, I'm sure that a very good NL player will end up with a higher average win rate per 100 hands than his LHE counterpart. But the LHE player will find it easier to play more tables at once, at will get in a few extra hands per table hour as well, which probably evens it out.

[BK1248]

[ QUOTE ]
I had the thought imbedded in my head I was a good no limit player player...Until I started playing online poker..When I play live I have no problem playing no limit...But for online poker I have been losing a fair share of money playing no limit, yes I have taken some insanely bad beats, more then I could ever imagine..But there comes a time when you have to put your foot down and say this isnt working out...Should I switch to limit hold em? I have a good understanding of the game because I read sklanskys book on small stakes hold em...I guess I always avoided limit because I thought it was less profitable, but looking at avg pot stats it seems more profitable if your hands hold up...any suggestions?

[/ QUOTE ]

the thing is that live poker is so easy, a monkey can beat a 20-40 live game, u might have trouble with limit online also because the players are 1000% better even as low as 1-2$ in the old party games, gl tho.

[SnakeYankley702]

seaeagle, ur from anna arbor michigan? I used to live in michigan...i have to say, GO BLUE!