Small Stakes No-Limit Hold’em

Hey!

I'm a winning player at FR NL10 and NL25. To improve overall I want to start playing 6max as well. I heard about this book and am realy interested but will it be interesting for a NL10/25 player? For the moment I play basic abc poker with succes at FR. Are the concepts not to 'advanced' for the players I'll play against in 6max 10NL/25NL or just not applicable or does the book also gives a good base to start playing 6max as well (like first chapters) and will give the opportunity to improve faster?

Ok, I'm sure the book is worth a lot on the long term for me and all the small stakes players but is it usefull to try to play another strategy on the NL10 tables then abc-poker? It's just that most of the time i try to do a 'fancy' play, it doesn't work just because a lot of these players call almost everything or bet 'strange' with mini-raises all over the place, a lot of limpers every hand. I just play sets or good draws postflop if I can see the next cards cheap cus there's almost always someone in the hand who has at least 2 pair in the end.

My question basicly is: if I try to play like instructed in the book, will it help me in short term to crush the NL10 even better or do I better wait until I have a bankroll to try to play NL50 because the other payers will be better overall.

Post edited 3:06 pm – July 17, 2009 by jdk050507
Post edited 3:07 pm – July 17, 2009 by jdk050507

I may be able to help some.  Before I read this book, i played a VERY Straightforward at 10NL FR, averaging 3.3 BB per 100 hands over a very long time/hand sample.  This was wtih no players stats and using the concepts in PNLHE V1. 

Using this e-book so far……studying and applying the concepts a little at a time……, I have moved up to 20NL FR and have been averaging (over a small hand sample, mind you) well over 10BB per 100 hands. 

Just based on my experience (and please disagree with me but tell me why!)…..I think your better off sticking to Full Ring and working your way up sticking to full ring………and THEN switching over to 6-max if you want.  This is just my opinion and based on my own experience………its seems to be better for me………as I don't seem to have a grip on 6-max yet. 

However, the concepts in this book are golden and THEY DO WORK ………but it takes allot of time and effort………..first to study the material……….then to apply it to your game. 

Like I said, I am just a micro player BUT I have moved up a level and applied these concepts……..and I'm not making a living playing 20NL obviously, but I make money and have fun doing it on my own schedule and own time. 

One thing this book has been helping me with allot is stealing, and selective aggression to steal pots. 

One thing I can say is golden at the lower levels like 20 NL FR is blind stealing.  I cleanly steal the blinds almost once per round on average……especially because there are allot of weak-tight-passive tables at 20NL FR. 

I have been running good, so I'm just hoping I can weather any storm when it comes. 

-Jdk

I started playing SnG's, then switched to FR cash, and now play 6max cash, and I have to say my game has improved so much more during my run at 6max.  You find yourself in so many difficult situations in 6max that you just don't see as often in full ring because I feel like ranges are more defined in full ring.  And you are playing so many more hands with the same people, you can really get to know your opponents better, play more hands with them in the same amount of time, and pound on them.  Plus, I hate playing nit poker because I find it boring, so I could never go back to FR because I just find it too boring and it doesn't give me the room to play a 28/26 style or so.

With that said, this book will still help your FR game.  I just feel like if you really want to get good at profiling opponents and exploiting them, playing more hands (both # of hands dealt and your actual holdings) against fewer opponents would be the way to do that.

Also, I play 6max 10NL, and for the first time ever, my "Won money without going to showdown" line has been positive in my last few sessions, and this is a direct result of stealing more/raising more against weak opponents/overall aggression, all of which came from this book.

Post edited 4:30 pm – July 24, 2009 by Hitman

ABC poker works at the smallest of stakes because the opponents aren't sophisticated enough to exploit it, and continue to give you edge.  ABC poker doesn't work against more sophisticated opponents because they're able to determine what you're doing and squash you like a bug with proper adjustments.

The book is filled with stuff you will need to know moving up.  There are sections where they address adjustments vs. weak players of various kinds, and adjustments vs. strong players.  The adjustments vs. strong players won't be too relevant to a 10NL player yet.  The adjustments to the weak players will be, as that's your playing population largely.  So I would say that some of this book will be relevant immediately, and all of it will be relevant eventually. 

You certainly don't need this book to ABC off 10NL, but as jdk's post says, the relevant parts of this book will help you make adjustments from ABC poker to increase your win rate vs. the weaker players you're frequently up against.