The move to $50 NL

Okay, those of you have seen the hand histories I post (and granted there aren't many, plus I only post the ones that I think I play badly, so it may appear from HH alone I don't know what the hell I am doing)....

I am technically rolled for $50NL now. I weathered a huge downswing after first staring to play and over the last 20K hands or so, I am beating $10 NL for about 12ptBB/100 and $25NL for about 7.5ptBB/100. I have sat down at a $50 table as an experiment from time to time and not been comfortable with it. My questions:

Does it appear I have enough skill to play winning poker at$50 NL? Or do I still have far too many leaks to plug? Please be honest.

Also, how do you deal with the step up in aggression when you move up a level? It seems like people are inclined to raise/3bet a lot more at $50.

Should I wait until I hit $1500 to make the switch? I have to cash out about $100 to pay a speeding ticket, but other than that, my roll is just that, my roll. Extra money.

Thank you for the input...

Cards

As self-proclaimed owner of $25 and (for this month) $50nl, I'm gonna let you in on what I've noticed over 30k hands at 50nl.

Postflop aggression (especially when a villain raises) is damn near off the charts. C-bets (and more intelligent ones, not .25 into a $3 pot like in $25nl) are thrown out there like rocks in a stone quarry. For this reason, it's a little harder to stick around in those drawing hands for a nice price. Preflop aggression is usually taken a bit more seriously at this level...and after 30k hands my experience has been that shorties are for the most part still pretty easy money.

Personally I didn't make the move until I had over $2k, but I multitable heavily. There is still some pretty bad playing going on at $50nl, but you'll run into a little more friction.

I've seen a couple of your hands, but nothing really sticks out in my head. Take a shot if you want, don't be afraid to move back down...bankroll management rocks. There, I'm spent.

I started my Poker career in $50NL and in one wonderful week turned $50 into $1000.

So the answer to your question is - there are still enough donkeys at that level (the only difference was that I was a lucky one) to make money from.

On a more serious note, at that level I didn't go to many showdowns. Heavy pre-flop, heavy post-flop betting and that usually weeds out the ones with drawing hands.

Table selection becomes more important at this level. There are many rocky tables, especially during off peak hours (Party). Don't waste your time with those tables. These guys aren't betting unless they know they got you beat. Playing the right tables you can beat this level pretty easily judging by the success you have at the lower levels. Good luck!

I just recently moved up to $50 NL. I wasn't really comfortable with it at first either but I think the only way to get comfortable is to play it. I doubt it will really matter if you move up now or when you hit 1500. You can always move down as someone already said. Your win rate is similar to mine at both $10 NL and $25 NL and I think you should be able to beat $50 NL too. I only have 5000 hands at $50 NL but I've been running at 2 ptBB/100 and I was breaking even the first 3000 hands. I'm not completely comfortable with it yet, but I think I just need to prove to myself that I can beat the game consistently.

C-man,

You're good to go. Give it a shot...you will probably need to tighten up a bit though, especially in EP. My winrate went from 11PTBB/100 in $25nl to 6.5 PTBB/100 in $50nl so expect yours to decline to somewhere in the 4-5 range. I am still adjusting my game so I think 7-8 PTBB/100 is very doable for the way I play. The main difference I see is that players take pf raises a lot more seriously at $50nl. While I still see some junk calling my pf raises, the fold rate is very high. Post flop play seems to be about the same, however. Overpairs will pay you off when they are beat, flush draws are called at any cost, sets are paid off nicely, villain can't lay down AA, KK or QQ even if their life depended on it.

Im in the middle of the same move.

I will say 2 things.

first of all I dont think the play is too different. I think the two main things i have learnt so far is that you have to steal more often in small pots (dont take this too far though) and you also have to be more willing to let go of good but not great hands when fairly tight players raise and reraise into you. Think 2pair, or 7 high flushes. When players are 3-betting you at this level, they usually have something.

Someone wise once said "If you have the obvious hand then believe the raiser."

i dont know what site you play on but i found that 25pound nl is more profitable thatn 50 dollar no limit and you need a simillar bank roll...25 pounds equals aprox. 46 dollar.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dwags222

i dont know what site you play on but i found that 25pound nl is more profitable thatn 50 dollar no limit and you need a simillar bank roll...25 pounds equals aprox. 46 dollar.

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I would definatly agree with this. £25NL plays almost exactly the same as $25NL.

You play on Pokerroom dude. It's the same shit. The players are just the same as 25NL. You will find the odd clever guy so just mark him and you're good to go. There's about 4-5 decent rocks and the rest is what you're used to.

See you there when I crawl back up.

if you win at 25nl and have more than $800, MOVE UP.

I didn't play 50NL until I had around 1500

i wouldnt want less than $1k.

The rate at which you can lose when youre running bad would just plain make me shit myself with $800