Small Stakes No-Limit Hold'em

I figured I would take the intitiative to help Pete out by starting this study session for Part 2, Beating 1-2 online 6 max.  I am not qualified to teach any of this, but I figured I could start it by posting questions as Pete did for the First Session, then everyone can give their input. 

Since Part 2 of the book is so large, I'll break it down by section, and start with the Intro and Blind Stealing.  Whenever anyone else (or Pete) wants to take over, just let me know!  I am only doing this because No one seems to have taken an initiative.  Please feel free to post other questions/comments or if any of my questions/comments seem irrelevant.

Introduction

1) How do you feel about the assertion by the authors that 1-2 NL 6 max is indeed a threshold for professional play?

2) While mastering the tactics in this book for online 1-2 6max, what qualities from this book do you think will be most useful in live "brick and mortar" card rooms?  Have you played any live brick and mortar recently and felt like an "nfl player on the field with 14 year olds?".  Tell us your story!

3) The Authors assert that anyone who can make a living playing 1-2 online 6-max can also make a living playing live 2-5 or 5-10 NL.  Does anyone feel that you could make a living off of 1-2 NL live, given the weak nature of the games?

4) While developing a robust strategy is obvious necessary for most online games, what is the lowest limit for playing a simple strategy and still profiting?  Is it different for different poker sites? 

Stealing Blinds and Playing Position

next time

I guess I can give a report of my little trip to New Orleans weekend before last.  It was my first real cash game since reading SSNLH and I was playing 1-2.  I've read that this game is hard because the $12/hr time charge kills you.  I must have just had a good night.

A year ago I hit Shreveport 1-3 at the shoe and turned $100 into $2200 by the end of about 10 hours of play.  I felt much more confident in this session and played from about 10:30pm to 2:30am and turned $100 into $1127.  Not a bad night and it payed for our vacation we were taking.  There was the $300 that I lost in an hour in Oklahoma in February but  I don't like to talk about that :)

It is tough taking most of these concepts to the 1-2 tables because you just never…in any case get a 'steal' opportunity preflop.  I'm not sure I saw a single flop with less than 3 players that wasn't all in.

The bigest concepts that helped me out were big bets for big hands and small bets for small hands.

I had a nice Check raise to a maniac when I flopped the Nut Flush with AdQd.  I ended up getting his stack in the middle on the river and that took me up to around $400 on the night.  The maniac took a good bit back when I wasn't brave enough to call a $125 turn bet even though he was on tilt and I had a middle pair and a great draw.  I ended up finishing the guys night when I called his bluff with my Top Pair Ks.  The guy blew through about $1200 in 2 hours and a good bit of it ended up in my stack.  

I was probably up at about $1300 around 1pm but stuck it out for another hour and a half because I get so few chances to play and I'm too chicken to put any money on an online site.

There were also a couple of folks that I tried to isolate with minimal success.  It is just too hard to get people out of the pot.  My standard raise was either to 10 or 15 and I would get 2-3 callers.  Folks played horribly after the flop and most of my money was made with folks folding to 2/3 to pot sized bets on the flop and turn when I flopped top pair.

As far as what hands I was playing, I was really loose on the Button and the Cut off as a I had a woman after me that didn't play a single hand in the 1.5 hours she was there.  I did play a number of suited connectors in early position when someone I wanted to play with had already entered the pot and that turned out well for me on a number of seeming dry boards that set up for me nicely.

The first couple of orbits I was really tight.  By the end of the night I was probably too loose with my new found wealth.  If I had really tightend up when the maniac left I may have been able to up my winning quite a bit.  Hind sight is 20/20 but I'm pretty sure that most of the folks at my table at the end of the night were pretty solid.

There was also something about 33.  I flopped a set twice with that and no one saw it coming.  Or the 2d3h that I played on my bb that hit a flush on the river.  That guy hated that….but he never pushed me.

Could I make a living at it?  Probably not online. I'd love to be a simi-pro at a B&M but the closest card room is 2 hours away and is 2-5.  I don't quite have a bank roll for that.