25nl vs. 50nl on Stars

[PokerFun007]

I am one of many here on the forums that have tried to move up to 50nl (I find myself grinding at 25nl again till I win a bit more...).

I think the difference in play at 50 is significantly different than at 25. Here are my observations. Please comment and expand on this.

Bet sizing: At 25, the average player does not know how to prevent us from drawing to a flush or a str8, or they blow us out of the water and make it too easy to fold.

Players at the 50 level have a better understanding of bet sizing. They all tend to know the old maxim, "Big bets for big hands."

Patience: I can't tell you the number of players I've taken between $3-7 off of after they suffer a bad beat (or a good beat for that matter). Pay attention, and free money is ours...if we have an above average hand.

At 50, players are much more likely to dust off, buy in full, and continue.

Premium hands: At 25, there is no such thing as creativity. If a re-raise seems crazy big for a player's profile, they have a monster. Rarely do you see players re-raising pre-flop with AK. Because of this, I find 3 betting a wider range can be very +EV. Usually it folds to me. Otherwise, the CB will work wonders on getting a single opponent to fold.

At 50, players do various things with premium hands to extract dollars...often my dollars...

Player stats: At 25, looooseness reigns supreme. Players call way too much in every circumstance. I believe a tight aggressive player could do wonderfully well at 25nl just playing for value and never bluffing at all. This makes the implied odds much better at 25.

At 50, players come in all shapes and sizes, and just because a player has loose pre-flop stats does not make them a fish. They may play great after the flop. Implied odds for flushes especially are quite low. I can't tell you the number of times I've hit my flush (calling because of pot+implied odds) only to get nothing for hitting it. Straights retain their value more at this level, especially if they are more hidden.

Disagree? Agree?
What else do you all think?

[Mike Kelley]

I'm definitely in the camp that thinks 50NL is tougher than 25NL. That's all.

[ship_it_trebek]

Any higher level is going to be harder than levels below it in some aspect

[Semtex]

the only difference i've noticed is there is a ton more limp/calling preflop in 25NL, and of course a few more idiots. my win rate at both is pretty similar, and i never find myself adjusting my game that much.

[Chargers In 07]

[ QUOTE ]
the only difference i've noticed is there is a ton more limp/calling preflop in 25NL, and of course a few more idiots. my win rate at both is pretty similar, and i never find myself adjusting my game that much.

[/ QUOTE ]QFMFT.

The thing I think is different at the $50 is that you should be more aggressive because people will fold more often and alot of pots will be HU and 3-ways.

[CalledDownLight]

nl50 is really really weak tight. Raise a lot preflop and cbet a ton. Don't be afraid to fire multiple barrels. Its very very beatable and aggression is the most important aspect at this level imo. Also, don't be afraid to bluff scare cards or float and take pots down on the turn.

[arras]

Maybe I'm just running like God, but I've been doing much better at 50nl than I did at 25nl except for the first few times I tried to move up.

Edit: I agree with what CDL says, agression has been my friend.

[rdrr]

I lost money at NL50, then promptly moved up to NL100 [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Abdullaev]

I agree that 50NL is more difficult than 25NL in almost every way, but that really isn't saying much. It's as if you want to beat up two grandmas and you can't decide which one to take out first. You can beat 25NL without playing poker. I've tried some different approaches, and one braindead default is to solely setmine and raise AA-KK-QQ. You can 12-table 25NL with this strat and surf the web and win. I can't say the same about 50NL, but ABC poker is all it takes in those rooms.

[grouchie]

i want to beat up grammas