Time for a Change
So I returned home a few days ago from visiting family in California. I played 3 sessions of poker. 2 of them LHE and 1 1/2 NLH. I got my butt handed to me in the LHE sessions which is unusual. I was playing my normal tight aggressive game and people were just playing horribly in my opinion. I lost $500 playing 4/8 w/half kill and 6-12. I finally realized that 6-12 is now the new 3-6. I have been playing live poker in cards rooms for 4 years and have had always had winning years playing live limit ring games. This year I haven’t played much live as compared to years past. I haven’t added these results to my yearly stats but I’m sure I’m a small winner or even a slight loser this year in LHE. Now unfortunately I don’t have the BR to move up in limits. The highest I played this year was 8/16 at Pechanga Indian Casino and ended slightly down. That game was crazy with tons of donkeys and maniacs. I would like to move up into the higher limits but can’t afford it. I thought I was ready after beating the lower limits for the past few years but since I haven’t been playing much, either I’m rusty or need to change my strategy against this “new breed” of players. All I know is that LHE has become frustrating for me.
With that said I have decided that whenever possible I am going to play NLH exclusively. I played some 1/2NL at an Indian Casino over the holidays and even though my session was only an hour, I finished up $126 and realized that the players in these games generally are weaker than some of the LHE I’m used to playing against. I think I have played 6 NL sessions the last 6 months and have been a winner 4 of those sessions. Nothing huge or anything but usually at least 1 buy-in or more. As I build confidence in playing no-limit, I think this will be the path I take.
Has anyone else switched to NL from Limit and if so what have you noticed about the quality of play and what struggles if any have you had in adjusting?
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Comments
The California games are crazy in general, I really struggled with how loose the players were, especially the limit games. I agree with playing then NL games, but big raises do not really protect your hands either.
As a limit player, I can only say that the Bay Area games are very much beatable. Even the 20/40 can be beat with a good understanding of SSHE. You do need to realize that your money will come from post-flop play and that just tight pre-flop play will NOT bring you the money. Also, limit hold’em has a way bigger variance compared to your expected $-winrate. Stretches with losses of 200BB are not uncommon and will happen to almost player online. Live, especially in California, you need to work on tilt control, stay with your A-game and don’t limp 86s in MP, just because the game is wild. Don’t stay with your overcards past the turn, don’t bluff calling stations, raise you equity (!!!!).
Anyway, good luck with NL if you are leaving limit… 
Hey Stew,
I played a little limit cash games at the Hard Rock in Tampa. I played the 1/2 games though. This was before they had NL cash games in FL. It was non-threatening, boring and just a whole lotta calling. I was not a fan but I also never delved into the strategy.
I really like NL because of the way you can control the game with your chips. In the 1/2 NL games there seem to still be a ton of idiots calling things down. The gamblers who play at the track down here call pre-flop raises with 7-2 just to out flop your A-K.. It’s insane and frustrating. I assume it depends on the type of people who play in the card room. I played a great 1-2 NL game at the Bike in LA. I sat for about 3 hours and left up 3x my buy-in (max of $40). The players were easy to crack but acted like they were tough guys. I like playing there..
Good luck in your new game.. My New Year’s Resolution is to play more NL cash games too.. I’ve been playing sit n go’s and tournaments mostly in 07… I managed to have a winning year…