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  #1  
Old 11-21-2007, 05:53 PM
Asgrow13 Asgrow13 is offline
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Default Story of a SSNL wannabe

So I’ve been sort of lurking around SSNL for a while now, but thought I’d actually take some time to tell my story and get some advice on where to go from here. I’ve been playing online poker on an off for a few years now, alternating between SNGs and 6max NL cash games. Had some success in both, up a bit overall, but about 6 months ago I decided I wanted to get serious about cash games. I put 2k online, and started playing .5/1 nl 6max. Here’s what that looked like:



In the beginning I was running mad hot and became wayyyy overconfident that I was crushing the game when in fact, I was not. I was running at around 26/12/2 which I now know is pretty awful. As you can see, eventually my luck turned around and I quickly lost everything I had made. At first it was due to running bad, but I’m pretty sure I tilted off a few buyins in there too near the end. I was totally disheartened, having lost everything I had made so quickly and being forced to face the realization that I was not beating the game as solidly as I had thought, if at all.

Ended up taking a break from poker for a while, and when I had cooled off and was ready to get back into it, a close friend of my suggested I play 20k hands of 25nl where I KNEW I could beat the game. I was overrolled for this game, and knew this wasn’t necessarily the most profitable thing to be doing at the time, but it seemed like a good way to 1) gain back some of the confidence I had lost before and 2) work on fixing some leaks and improving my game. Over the past month and a half I’ve put in just over 18k hands at 25nl, which has looked like this:




Started calling less, getting into more of a raise/fold mentality preflop. Tried to get more aggressive postflop, become more positionally aware, value bet wider etc. Also learned a lot about dealing with running bad – it’s way easier to deal with getting sucked out on for $25 than it is for $100. I’m trying to reach a point where I can ignore the dollar amounts and just play my best poker at all times. It was nice cause the players are sooooo bad at 25nl, but I still think it’s been a valuable experience. I’m planning on finishing up the last 1700 hands over Thanksgiving break.

So for those of you who are still reading (thank you), here are a few questions:

1) Should I jump right back into 100nl, hoping that with the experience I’ve gained I’ll be able to be at least a slight winner? Hopefully I can continue to improve and eventually become a solid winner at this level.
2) Am I better off staying at 25nl for a while longer and continuing to tighten up my game and fix leaks? I still think the spread between my VPIP and PFR is too big, so working on getting that down (any suggestions?). I also think my aggression factor is too low, meaning it appears I do too much check/calling. SH58’s recent post about his downswing gave me some ideas on ramping up the aggression postflop which I think will be good.
3) Anyone have any thoughts on how winrates translate between 25nl and 100nl? I know this is tough to estimate, but I’m curious what a 6PTBB/100 winner at 25nl should be able to beat 100nl for. I’m also curious what you think most of you winning SSNL players would beat 25nl for…

I know this was long, and I know some of it relates to 25nl which is not SSNL, but I thought the post was relevant enough to post it in SSNL. Anyway, thanks for reading, please let me know if you have any thoughts or comments about any of this or what path I should take from here forward. I’m confident that with some more hard work I can eventually become a solid, winning SSNL player. Thanks for listening.

Asgrow13
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  #2  
Old 11-21-2007, 06:11 PM
AllIn3High AllIn3High is offline
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Default Re: Story of a SSNL wannabe

Play $25nl, regain confidence, move up slowly.

Stop worrying obsessing about winrates, play good solid poker, post hands, comment on hands, get better.

Also, 10k hands is NOTHING. There isn't anything to so say about stats from 10k hands.
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  #3  
Old 11-21-2007, 06:17 PM
tubasteve tubasteve is offline
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Default Re: Story of a SSNL wannabe

dont skip nl50. pleaaaaaaaaase dont skip nl50. 100 plays much tougher than 25 or 50.
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  #4  
Old 11-21-2007, 06:22 PM
EddieRooo EddieRooo is offline
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Default Re: Story of a SSNL wannabe

and I dont think 6bb/100 at 25nl translates that well to 100nl.... dont miss out 50nl if you are trying to get better (ie not worried about how much you are winning/cashing out)
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  #5  
Old 11-21-2007, 06:23 PM
dirtylobster dirtylobster is offline
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Default Re: Story of a SSNL wannabe

[ QUOTE ]
dont skip nl50. pleaaaaaaaaase dont skip nl50. 100 plays much tougher than 25 or 50.

[/ QUOTE ]
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  #6  
Old 11-21-2007, 06:24 PM
sixhigh sixhigh is offline
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Default Re: Story of a SSNL wannabe

Your stats at NL25 look way better than your stats at NL100.
You should consider moving up slowly. I.e. if you have the roll to play NL50, do it, gain confidence at this level. Play tons of hands and improve your skills. 18k hands still is pretty much nothing.

Your AF is on the low end, you're probably missing valuebets on the turn and river.

Winrates normally don't translate at all, esp. when you're just starting out. Fwiw, when I started playing NLH I was a loser at NL25 for over 20k hands, moved up to NL50 due to an MTT score and averaged over 6PTBB for over 50k Hands.
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  #7  
Old 11-21-2007, 06:29 PM
kaby kaby is offline
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Default Re: Story of a SSNL wannabe

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
dont skip nl50. pleaaaaaaaaase dont skip nl50. 100 plays much tougher than 25 or 50.

[/ QUOTE ]

[/ QUOTE ]

there is a skill jump from nl25=>nl50 (way more regs, they almost all are weaktight but it's different from a nl25 table with 4 fish and one 24/12) and nl50=>nl100 imho
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  #8  
Old 11-21-2007, 06:36 PM
Asgrow13 Asgrow13 is offline
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Default Re: Story of a SSNL wannabe

Sorry, should have mentioned this... the reason I ignored 50nl is that I play mostly on Bodog where there is 6max at 25nl, 6max at 100nl, and only full ring at 50nl. I've also been playing some on UB lately though, so maybe I'll just switch to UB full time so I can put in some time at 50nl.
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  #9  
Old 11-21-2007, 06:38 PM
nuggetz87 nuggetz87 is offline
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Default Re: Story of a SSNL wannabe

maybe this is just me but i've never been at a point playing online where i was actually concerned when i got stacked once or had a bad set of SNGs...that's just silly.

being properly rolled is huge, you can't play your A game if you're scared the whole time.
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  #10  
Old 11-21-2007, 06:39 PM
dirtylobster dirtylobster is offline
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Default Re: Story of a SSNL wannabe

Sounds like a plan.

EDIT: Moving to UB I mean.
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