Fuel, Lucko and myself are already signed up.
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My third attempt at cracking 10/20 again fell short. Part of it was bad beats; part of it was bad play.
I lasted longer at 10/20 this time than in my previous tries, in part because I came prepared with 30+ buy-ins. I played 10/20 as my main game for all of January and the beginning of February, and I quit down five buy-ins overall. It's a small amount in the grand scheme of things, but I wanted to step down and recoup before I lost any more.
There's a clear difference in skill level between 5/10 and 10/20. I remember when I first started playing 5/10, I thought it was easier to beat than 3/6. That was not the case at all this time.
Sure you'll still occasionally find donks who will make the game good for a short time before they go bust. But in general, most of the players share a couple of common traits: they're relentlessly aggressive and they know their fundamentals. You don't see nearly as many minraisers or passive calling stations.
I could have easily won big if a few key hands had gone differently. I won't waste time recounting the beats. If anything, the coolers reassure me that I'm fully capable of beating this limit, but I may not be quite ready to handle it full-time just yet.
My worst mistake at 10/20 -- and this is a big one -- is that I had a hard time finding the fold button when I had a clue I was beaten. There's more bluffing at higher limits, so I found it easier to rationalize calling with top pair or an overpair. Sometimes I was right, but not often enough.
So until next time, I'll go back to working on shoring up leaks and rebuilding bankroll at 5/10 for a while. I want to get safely into the black for the year before taking another shot at 10/20.
I thought a little about just staying at 5/10 permanently. I could do that and be relatively happy.
But I don't think I can remain stagnant when I feel confident that I can beat the bigger game. Now back to work.
4 comments:
I just had a discussion with a friend about deciding to stick with a limit and simply ground out money.
Much like you, even if I reach my goal of $5/$10 NLHE, I still push for the $10/$20 games and those beyond.
I'm not a pro. I'm in this to prove something to myself. I'm in this to win. I play poker for respect. And I play poker for money.
The higher the games I can play, the more checkboxes I can tick off.
Have fun rebuilding the bankroll and I look forward to the day when you start crushing those $10/$20 games.
I thought the most recent Taylor Caby video was interesting -- where he was showing the loose style that he maintained was necessary to beat the highest limit games. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on that style of play.
Maybe comparing notes with someone like Weak Player is in order?
10/20 is a beast for sure - no donations there.
If anyone (other than the almighty Fuel oc) can handle 10.20, it's gotta be you. The way you approach the game is levels above the majority of players I know.
So go now: re-group, re-build, and when you're killing it, please re-port how you did it!
:- )
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