"opening up" at uNL = drop in bb/100?

[phydaux]

I'm still playing 25NL because of BR considerations. My wife and I are both in school and money is tight. We agreed a year and a half ago that I could deposit $90.00 on Stars, but that was it. If I lost it, then no more poker.

I was a 2NL grinder for nearly a year before I moved to 5NL.

By this last July I was playing 10NL and had grown my roll to $250.00. I was crushing the tables with my nittish 15/9/3 ways, so I decided to take a shot at 25NL even though I was under rolled. It was at this same time that I decided to "open up my range."

I've finally grown my roll to where I'm "properly" rolled for 25NL. I've considered taking an under rolled shot at 50NL, but for Christmas I'm giving myself a subscription to Cradrunners (or Stox, haven't decided) and when I do that I'll be under rolled for 25NL again. I don't mind that, but there's no way I'm taking a shot at 50NL with a 5 buy-in roll.

I still feel like I have a skill edge over my opponents. Even playing 18/12/3 I don't find myself in too many situations where it's after the flop and I don't know what to do. I'm comfortable using pot control in marginal situations, and I understand that sometimes, based on my opponent's likely range, I'll find myself occasionally calling a value bet or folding to a bluff. The only real place I think I'm weak is checking behind on the river too much rather than value betting.

I might tighten back up. Probably not, though. It's kind of fun "splashing around" at 18/12/3. LOL! [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

[mce86]

Your overall numbers arent as meaningful as how you adjust to different players. Playing looser just sop ur stats look looser is ridiculous. If your playing loose against a 10/7 player and then you tighten up against a 24/14, ur playing bACKWARDS. The players around you should determine ur play.

[MadMike]

You'll naturally go from 15/8 to 15/12 as you move up because there will be way fewer hands with 2+ limpers in front of you, so you'll be limping way less.

Even if you use the exact same PF strategy, your stats will change depending on your opponents. Play a lot of passive tables with calling stations and you'll have a bigger gap between your VP$IP and PFR stat because limping is profitable, and limping behind in position with SC's is often more profitable than raising.

Higher limits give much fewer profitable limping opportunities.

[HesseJam]

15/9/3 are good stats also for NL50. Don't change anything only to get a certain target stat. #

I have about the same stats at NL100 and I do not think that I need to change anything to be more profitable than what I currently am (+2 BB/100). What I need to improve is my postflop play. Sometimes I am too aggro, sometimes I call too many large turn or river bets. This is what sinks your ship and not playing 2 more hands per 100. Also, stealing other's blinds and defending your own is more important.

[ActionStan]

[ QUOTE ]

Play a lot of passive tables with calling stations and you'll have a bigger gap between your VP$IP and PFR stat because limping is profitable, and limping behind in position with SC's is often more profitable than raising.


[/ QUOTE ]

Do you have any data to support this? Raising is more volatile, but I find it a little hard to believe that raising limpers who call too much pre-flop is less profitable than trying to catch hands. It's not like these guys play back much. They are passive limpers after all.

[King Spew]

[ QUOTE ]
If your playing loose against a 10/7 player and then you tighten up against a 24/14, ur playing bACKWARDS.

[/ QUOTE ]

You need to explain this better or noobs trying to learn may read this incorrectly.

[Xanthro]

I don't think you need to loosen up at all, especially just in prepartion for possible changes as you move up, MONTHS from now.

As you said, your Bank Roll doesn't allow you to move up, you're not in a position to reload cash if you bust, so grind at 25NL being tight and make some cash.

My stats at 25NL are around 13/9/3, and it's silly profitable.

Grind to $1,000, then move up to 50NL. Normally, when people move up they actually become tighter until they get a feel for it, so I don't see the logic in loosening up in order to prepare to move up.

[negipai98]

Interesting post and you make points that myself and other micro players certainly need to consider. For what its worth, my sense is that you should play the style that wins at that particular level and not open up your game unnecessarily just for the sake of making your stats more impressive or gearing yourself up for the level at which you will play in a year. The reality is that the game changes as you ascend levels, and what works at one level may not necessarily work at another.

From a personal perspective, I was playing about 17/8/3 at 25NL and winning to the tune of 6 PTBB/HR over about 13,000 hands (not that many hands, I know, but representative to a degree). Some may laugh at those stats but I was winning because at that level you really don’t need to do much more. So what did I do? Well, I thought about how easily exploitable this would be when I moved up and decided to pump up my VPIP and AF. The end result was my stats looked great and I went on a major downswing to the point that I almost needed to drop down levels. It would be overly simplistic to say that the my downswing was solely caused by my change in style. Could I have played better post-flop? Sure. Did I tilt along the way? Absolutely. But at the end of the day, my original style was working for that level and there was no real need to modify it. Finally I decided to end the experiment and get back to basics (about 18/8/3 now for 8000 hands) and am doing fine.

I think we always need to balance the need and desire for improvement with the reality of the particular games in which you play. In some ways we fall victim to insecurities about how we play vis-à-vis how top players play and succumb to the need to tinker with what is working. Again, this is just my humble opinion, but I would recommend simply focusing on winning at the level at which you are playing, then adjusting as you move up the ranks. If you are smart, observant and a hard worker, you will be able to make the necessary adjustments and be successful.