I know I am not playing better, why am I winning now?

[binki]

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You are playing tighter and if I read you correctly, not taking your weak hands as far. You are observing and studying your opponents and taking advantage of their mistakes (they bluff too much.) When you are down, instead of tilting and playing more hands, you are buckling down. It sounds to me like you are playing better.

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Thank you for the insight. I am still combing through my hand histories to see what I was doing different. I am still concerned about vairance being a part of this since I have only been at this level for about 3 weeks but I am encouraged by my results so far.

One nice thing about the number of sites hosting USA players being reduced is the volume of players available at this level. It seems I rarely see the same players no matter how many times I come back or when I play. While this has a downside of learning new players, it also means they don't know me (I hope). Thanks again for your input.

[2461Badugi]

Tight-aggressive-passive works really well at 10/20 and tougher 5/10 games, where you get a lot of TAG/sLAG players who just can't stop themselves from betting even when they know they shouldn't. They're trying to be thin value bettors but forgetting the value part.

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I never play for more than 2 hours at a time

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Good. If you were playing long sessions before not playing tired could be a big part of your improvement.

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and if I am ahead by $100 or so I get up and do something else.

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You'll get flak for this here but it's fine. Online there's almost always a good game just waiting to be jumped into. If you want to take a break, take a break; forcing yourself to keep playing is bad.

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If I am down I play even tighter until I get at least back to even or loose my buy-in.

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This is not so good. Don't tighten up because you're down, continue playing your game. Don't play short-stacked in limit games. Be willing to leave games down if they're bad, or if you just feel like it. At least your two hour rule keeps you from staying in a sinking ship forever, though.

[iggymcfly]

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I decide to try a higher level and start playing $5/$10 and $10/20 limit HE and O/8.

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I never play for more than 2 hours at a time and if I am ahead by $100 or so I get up and do something else.

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This is the answer to your "success" here. If you quit whenever your up 5 BB and chase your losses when your down, it's really easy to put 10 or 12 winning sessions together in a row. You could do the same thing betting $25 a hand at blackjack and raising your bet if you lose.

However, just like in the blackjack scenario, when you do have a losing session, it's going to be a big one. You could make 5 BB for 10 sessions in a row, then lose 75 BB in one session, and be back in the red.

It sounds like you're already starting to get this concept, but there's no benefit to hitting and running whenever you book a small win. Just stay in the games as long as they're good and you're fresh, and see where your game's actually at in relation to the other players.

Also, against some LAGs, it may be OK to trap occasionally, but make sure your not giving away bets by checking behind middle pairs in position, etc. A good LAG will be able to hammer a TAP all day. Not saying that all the LAGs your playing with are good (most of them probably aren't), but the ones that are will be able to beat you consistently if you let them off easy on the river all the time.

[rebuyboy]

You moved up to where they respect your raises.

[binki]

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You moved up to where they respect your raises.

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No kidding. Sheesh, I should have moved up a long time ago. I can finally turn a bluff now and again.