Tonight I made the decision to move up from .02/.05 to .05/.10 after easily defeating the lower limit. Unfortunately, I lost about twenty dollars in a half an hour. I was playing exactly the same way I do at .02/.05 but was just getting killed.

Some things I noticed that was completely different is that the play seemed to be much looser. I was betting beat by hands like 74s and K10 (both of which drew a three of a kind). The thing is, these people were calling 3xBB pre-flop raise with those kind of hands. Every hand that seemed to be a bluff was really a marginal hand that hit the board well even after calling a 3xBB pre-flop raise. I did not understand why people were calling a standard pre-flop raise with such hands.

I also noticed that people were betting 5xBB as well. I am starting to think that raising 5xBB at this limit is saying that they have a hand like KQ or AJ (hands that are not quite premium, but can still inflict some damage) while the people were calling 3xBB with junk.

My question is, do people play with more of a loose aggressive style as you move up limits?

When I give these limits a second run, I think I will three bet more often with pocket face cards, and raise 4-5xBB if there are no raises before me. Should I start calling more hands pre-flop even with 3xBB raises? Any advice would be more than appreciated.

Thanks

What are your stats for 5NL? (+ xx/100 hands for xx,xxx hands)

Post some of your hands (in ring hand analysis thread), perhaps we can give you some constructive feedback on them. You say there are many loose players, what positions are they playing these hands?

First off, how many hands at your new level did you play? IF it's less than a few thousand, you can easily chalk it up to variance. But perhaps, it's not. Without the stats that prof asks for, we can't really give ya any guidance.

Read this Article: http://www.pokerforums.org/poker-new...ease-read.html IN there are a bunch of links to bankroll management and When to move up a limit. Read them and see if you apply to those rules.

How many hands did you play at 5nl? What was your BB/100? How many tables do you play at once?
Do you have a HUD?

Generally play does get a bit more aggressive as you move up, you run into more skilled players who push the boundaries of what is profitable. I'm on Pokerstars and just made the jump to 10nl myself (for the 3rd time). Play does seem a more aggressive, more 3betting and more raising postflop definitely. I think at 10nl you have start paying more attention to opponent specific tendencies.

As ProfNabeshin says, post hand histories with any stats or reads you have. Try to analyze the hand as best you can on your own, that way we can point out any flawed logic as well.

At 5/10 that's only two buy ins... Nothing to worry about, if 20$ is too much to loose then your playing too high.

Originally Posted by ImNotSpecial

At 5/10 that's only two buy ins... Nothing to worry about, if 20$ is too much to loose then your playing too high.

I buy in $10 at 25nl....what? lol

Well, I made another attempt to play these limits today, but I played a couple shorthanded tables. I had a lot of success with the shorthanded games and nearly made my money back. I found the shorthanded games to be much easier with a lot less variance.

I am starting to think Marm may be correct about the variance situation. Most of my money lost was due to large pots where I got sucked out on. The thing is, I couldn't believe that they were calling me down with what they had. I am definitely a tight-aggressive player, and I am very selective on which hands I play in certain positions.

For example, I had KQ in middle position and the players fold to me except for one who decides to limp. I raise 3xBB and everyone folds except for him who calls. The flop comes Q4K rainbow. I bet 1/2 pot and he calls. The turns is a 4 and I bet 3/4 pot and he raises. I figured he did not have a four considering he called a raise pre-flop and a bet on the flop, so I call. the river is a 2 and I bet the pot. He calls and shows a 74 suited. That had me completely baffled and did not know what to make of it. Most of the hands I lost were very similar to this. Every time I lost a big pot, the hand that my opponent would play just stunned me.

While playing shorthanded, I was playing my regular game, just a little looser with more re-raises, and did great. As of now, I am completely confused on how to play the full ring games at this limit.

You might have just got unlucky. I would say give it more time it seems like you didn't play that long. Are you playing more than one table ? Some tables can just be a little crazy and if your playing just one than it really isn't a good sampling. The more tables you can play effectively you can reduce your variance,,the key word being effectively..good luck.