What's the biggest difference between 2/5 and 1/2?

[afadeyi]

I'm thinking of moving up, but don't know what to expect from the 2/5 game. All responses welcome.

[*TT*]

The whole world doesn't play NL, please clarify in the future. Also discuss the card rooms you generally play in, the game structures will make a huge difference. You will get much better responses if you take my advice.

[Percula]

There are in general two primary differences between 1/2 or 1/3 and 2/5...

1) The ratio of really bad players to players that have a clue is smaller. While it is common to only have one or two "skilled" players at a 1/2 table, you will see 2-5 on a 2/5 table.

2) You play with $5 chips instead of $1 chips, at least when posting the blinds. [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

You typically will not switch between looking for solid players to looking for fish/soft spots until you reach 10/20 NL.

[TylerD]

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There are in general two primary differences between 1/2 or 1/3 and 2/5...

1) The ratio of really bad players to players that have a clue is smaller. While it is common to only have one or two "skilled" players at a 1/2 table, you will see 2-5 on a 2/5 table.

2) You play with $5 chips instead of $1 chips, at least when posting the blinds. [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

You typically will not switch between looking for solid players to looking for fish/soft spots until you reach 10/20 NL.

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arent all low limit NL games played with $5 chips.

[Dennisa]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
There are in general two primary differences between 1/2 or 1/3 and 2/5...

1) The ratio of really bad players to players that have a clue is smaller. While it is common to only have one or two "skilled" players at a 1/2 table, you will see 2-5 on a 2/5 table.

2) You play with $5 chips instead of $1 chips, at least when posting the blinds. [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

You typically will not switch between looking for solid players to looking for fish/soft spots until you reach 10/20 NL.

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arent all low limit NL games played with $5 chips.

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Thats why location is important. 1/2 or 1/3 games in Los Angeles are $1 chip games. Yellow ($5) games start at 2/3 blinds and above. 10/20 NL are played with brown $10 chips.

Because of buy in caps a 2/5 in Vegas will play far tougher than a 2/3 or 3/5 game in LA.

[LasVegasMichael]

In Vegas, all but one 1/2NL game is a red chip game (even the $50 max at Luxor is a red chip game). There is only one white chip NL game in town (Fiesta Henderson).

Outside of Vegas, though, some houses do some wierd stuff (like the $100 max white chip game at Morongo).

[RiverFenix]

The TAGs will be better, but that doesnt mean theyre more of them at the table. Generally the games in AC are a lot more loose and somewhat more aggro. Youre going to see a lot more gambling tourists at 2/5 since buying in for $200-300 seems small but the possibility of losing a grand at 5/10 is somewhat daunting. They go inbetween and choose 2/5.

[TheBronzer]

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The TAGs will be better, but that doesnt mean theyre more of them at the table. Generally the games in AC are a lot more loose and somewhat more aggro. Youre going to see a lot more gambling tourists at 2/5 since buying in for $200-300 seems small but the possibility of losing a grand at 5/10 is somewhat daunting. They go inbetween and choose 2/5.

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That's exactly right for AC...just more people willing to gamble it up who are not afraid to put their whole stack in the middle

they players are still horrible, there will be a few decent regulars, but you can figure out who they are rather quickly and then just stay out of their way

[Assani Fisher]

I'm going to disagree with the majority here: I actually think this is a big step. In fact I'd go so far as to say that its the second biggest skill jump behind only the jump from $5/10 to $10/20 or $10/25(the reason for this is that at many places $10/20 is the lowest stakes NL game to not cap the buy ins, which of course attracts more good players).

At $1/2 I've seen people raise 15 BBs preflop when its been folded around to them. At $1/2 I've seen people go all in blind for their entire stacks. At $1/2 I've seen people get so drunk that the casino has kicked them out. At $1/2 I've seen someone intentionally show their hand on the flop when theres tons of cash behind both players just so they can "get a read on their opponent."

I havn't seen any of this at $2/5. Now $2/5 is definitely beatable. But I'd say that $2/5 is actually "real poker." While they are bad at real poker, most everyone there actually tries to win and isn't just playing to have fun.

Although rare, its possible to have 5 or even more very good opponents at $2/5.

If its your first attempt, I would definitely practice good table selection.

[pig4bill]

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I'm going to disagree with the majority here: I actually think this is a big step. In fact I'd go so far as to say that its the second biggest skill jump behind only the jump from $5/10 to $10/20 or $10/25(the reason for this is that at many places $10/20 is the lowest stakes NL game to not cap the buy ins, which of course attracts more good players).

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In Vegas, I think that jump takes place at 5/10. Possibly because not many casinos even have games over 2/5.

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At $1/2 I've seen people raise 15 BBs preflop when its been folded around to them. At $1/2 I've seen people go all in blind for their entire stacks. At $1/2 I've seen people get so drunk that the casino has kicked them out. At $1/2 I've seen someone intentionally show their hand on the flop when theres tons of cash behind both players just so they can "get a read on their opponent."

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I've never seen that at 1/2. But then I don't know anybody that dates strippers either. Oh, wait. I do. But he doesn't play poker.