Quote Originally Posted by Ash256
What is the best (but not obviously well-known) concept to learn in order to beat 50NL and up? (I.e. the stakes when your opponents begin to stop having their cards face up)
This is an awesome question.

I think what a lot of small stakes players are looking for is a simple phrase or paragraph that sums up poker. That is why there are so many questions that are very general, "what do i do in this situation if this guy c/r me on a board of this and i have this."

But the reality is that the paragraph that sums of poker is also general. IMO, the paragraph that sums up poker is this:

Poker is about predicting and exploiting. You must predict what your opponent has and how he will play as best you can, and from that analysis exploit that opponent (raising, calling, folding, sizing a bet a certain way) in the best possible way, the most +EV way.

This is the best concept for all players to understand. There is no one way to beat every opponent, but the approach to beating an opponent is always the same. Predict and Exploit. By playing a lot of hands, getting advice, and reading about hands, you become better and faster at this skill.

Small Stakes is different than High Stakes because in small stakes the players are easy to predict and are exploited very easily because they are bad (in countless ways). There are many players at 200 NL and 100NL who would get killed at at higher stakes because 1. they are predictable 2. they don't predict (read) good opponents very well 3. they don't know how to exploit good players very well.

So if you want some advice specifically for small stakes players, it's that most small stakers are very predictable (easier to read their hands, easy to know what they'll do) and are easy to exploit because they have a good amount of leaks. A lot of times, players exploit themselves with their own leaks, and therefore some exploitation is already taken care of for you.