Struggling mightily with the transition from .50/1 to 1/2

[bills217]

1/2 has been an absolute disaster so far.

The problem is, I really don't think I've been playing bad.

I'm not saying my game is perfect, but I feel like I play what should be well enough to at least break even at this level...I'm a proven winner at .50/1 (over 3.5 BB/100), I've read SSHE, HPFAP is on the way...I play mostly Party and some Stars, maybe 70% full ring and 30% SH.

My VPIP is 18.73, W$WSF 30.6, WTSD% 32.29, and W$SD 53.28, over 7600 hands. PFR% is 10.53. My winrate is -3.54 BB/100.

I KNOW this is a small sample size, and I know it partly/mostly could just be due to variance, don't need anyone to tell me that, but I'd like to quit hemhorraging money, so any thoughts/suggestions are welcome. It seems like I never have a winning session (and by session I mean a ~600-hand session 4-tabling). I wouldn't worry about a streak like this much at .50/1 where I know I can win, but I haven't had ANY success at 1/2.

Luckily I've been playing for bonuses and playing some NL and some tournaments so my bankroll isn't shot. I'm still playing on an $800 bankroll.

[TommyChong]

I've had the exact same experience. The thing is, I don't think that $1-2 is really that much different and I think my numbers are more less due to variance (not to say that I am playing perfectly because I'm most definitely not.) How many hands did you have at .5/1?

I would recommend to start single tabling. Try to get good reads/notes on opponents where you play most often. After 10k hands I'm still single tabling and I now realize how much work I still have to do. No way I could concentrate enough and learn to incorporate the concepts I have learned 4 tabling. Someday hopefully, but not yet.

[mxer7734]

I too struggled at the transition from .50/1 to 1/2. I was making 3.72 BB/100 at .50/1 over 18k hands then proceeded to drop to -1.72 BB/100 hands at 1/2. I decided to start studying and playing six max so I played .50/1 6-max for awhile and did well so I moved to 1/2 6 max and played 10k hands for 2.79 BB/100 hands. I am now playing 2/4 full (getting ready for the transition for 3/6 6-max) and am doing quite well over the first few thousand hands. I ran very hot for over 8 BB/100 hands for awhile then the cards hit me and am now a little over 2 BB/100 hands. I have yet to come back to 1/2 full though. Maybe the journey to 6-max improved my full ring game as well and maybe thats the reason for my better results at 2/4 full. I know it has improved my blind defense and stealing immensly and also my aggression jumped up about .50 overall. Maybe thats worth a shot. Just my two cents.

One last thing, is it just me or are there a huge number of awful players at 2/4 full? Maybe I'm just getting lucky and finding good tables but I almost always seem to find 1 or 2 50/2 or an 80/40 maniac at my tables.

[cgwahl]

I've been having the same problem going from .25/.50 to .50/1...I've lost a lot of money so far.

It wouldn't bother me too much, but its over not too many hands (1,000 to 2,000).

Luckily, any money I have lost is being supplemented by .25/.50 and bonuses, but its real discouraging.

[Menamino]

I don't know why, but the same thing happened to me when I jumped from .5/1 to 1/2 at first. I lost about 3.5BB/100 for 7k hands and figured it was due to variance, but was worried since it happened right as I started off. But now after about 70k total, I'm up to 2.8BB/100 on the plus side.

I re-read certain sections of SSHE and re-took the hand quizzes of both SSHE and How Good is Your Limit Hold'Em and improved my game as well. There were some holes that needed to be filled as well.

[macdaddy991]

Keep on working on your game. I went about 10k hands before I worked my way out of the red, and then for the next 10k hands I ran about 3bb/100. I cannot say that anything huge happened to my game, it just clicked. It will happen. 7600 hands is small. You keep working on your game, and the good results will come. Besides 2/4 was a cinch after all the work I put in at 1/2.

[DZgroundhog]

I hear ya. I just recently moved up to 1/2 and I feel like people are reading me like a book. I'm willing to chalk up most of it to variance because I haven't played many hands yet but it still bugs the hell out of me.

I start to think that the play is a lot better at 1/2 and then I watch somebody win a 40BB pot when people refuse to fold a baby flush or trips for four bets on the turn and river in a 4-way pot. I guess I'll wait about 20,000 more hands til I start to get worried.

[McNeese72]

Damn, I'm not alone!!

I'm running a +3.78 BB/100 at .5/1. But after the first 1,000+ at $1/2 I was -3.94. I know some of it was variance because I was very cold decked. Seemed like I was blind betting my money away. But some of it was mental because of the increased levels of the bets causing me to tighten up and not play my normal game.

Right now, I just moved some of my bankroll from Pokerstars to Partypoker for the first time. I cleared the bonus and I'm going to feast on the beginner tables as long as I'm eligible to play then. Then I plan on playing a lot of .5/1 six max to help my game and then try again a $1/2.

Doc

[thelyingthief]

maybe your success at .5/1 was luck. maybe your failure at 1/2 is luck.

[TarHeel100]

I would recommend going w/ a single table for a while. You might just need a higher level of concentration at this limit and aren't at the point yet where you can multi-table at it.

If you can single table and really focus on your reads and what your opponents are doing, you may be able to make a big bump up.