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I'm still learning the game, and I realize moving up in limit brings tougher competition, but I'm wondering if I might not actually have MORE success at the 1/2 or 3/6 limit, and here's why.

Tonight, for example, I dropped $35 (again, not much, but more than I wanted to lose at that limit in one sitting), over the course of 4 hours despite playing very conservatively. I lost half a dozen pots on the river, to players who should have folded pre-flop with their cards, and certainly pre-turn. The one that really burns me was a 22 dollar pot, and I was holding Ac Kc, with the flop being 4d, Ah, Kh.

After the flop, it was me and two other players. Player A kept betting, and with me holding pairs of Aces and Kings I called, assuming he had something comparable. The turn comes and it's a 2. Player B folds. Player A checks, I bet, he raises. The river comes, another 2. He bets, I call- thinking he might have picked up the full house.

The cards show, and he's holding 2-8 for trips. He didn't even have a pair until the Turn, but he kept betting and raising, and he won the pot.

I know that in the long-term, players like that don't turn a profit, but I also know that I'm losing a lot of pots to those kinds of players. They don't fold so they're impossible to bluff, and I don't get enough strong cards in a session to make up for losing those tough ones.

I'm not trying to be Mr. Bad Beat Crybaby. I know that stuff happens and is part of the game. But you've played more than me, and I'm wondering- will that be less of a problem at higher limits, with likely better players?

Thanks again for the site. If you get a chance to pass along some advice, I appreciate it. If not, I understand you're busy.

Thanks!

Rich

Answer: I think I have three tips that will help you out some:

1. Be careful about moving up in limits too fast. Even if you know that you are better than the players there, just the nature of poker will nail you back down if you don't have the proper bankroll. There are fluctuations that can't be helped because the edges in holdem are so small. The worst thing that can happen is that you move before your roll can handle and you lose everything and have to start over again. For $3/6 holdem, $100 is a rack and that goes very quickly. A few hands and you are out. I remember back when I played $3/6, I would lose three racks in a setting sometimes and still bring it back to winning that day. Online games are tighter, but you still can have big swings. A $100 loss at a $3/6 isn't bad at all, which should put things into perspective.

2. Don't let the bastards get you down. This is easier said than done. Just remember that anyone who is willing to play 82 to the river is a Godsend and him winning a pot is second only to you winning the pot. There is bad play at all levels of poker, granted less at the bigger limits, but you'll still get badbeated in every way possible. Take the beat and move on to the next hand. Realize that nothing that is happening now is unique and these beats won't break you. The only thing that will guarantee your failure is if you let the beats get to you, causing you to play badly too.

3. TV has sensationalized slow playing. Slow playing in low limit holdem is a big no no though. And even at bigger limits it doesn't work that well either. Countless times on the way back home in the car I've talked with my buddy and said that I should have raised more early on in hands instead of waiting to pull the trigger, hoping to make more by slow playing and raising on a bigger betting round. The reason is not that I'm afraid of getting run down, but that often times the person won't have enough to call you with later in the hand, or a scare card could fall stealing your gusto.

Here is an example. Let's say you flop a set. Instead of waiting till the turn or river to raise, often raising the flop is better. What if on the turn or river a flush hits, or an overcard and the person betting into you now is afraid of it and just checks and calls? You never get the chance to make your big raise. Or the flip side is that you are afraid now and can't make the raise. An example of this might be if the four flush on the board hits or four to a straight. Now you call but you can't raise. Also, by raising earlier on you can sometimes make even larger pots because players misread your hands and if they do catch something like two pair later, you may get to cap the betting with your set.

So, the time to pull the trigger for you hand was latest on the turn card. I don't mind just calling the flop, but on the turn now is the time to raise. In those low limit games too, many of the players go to the river with gutshot straight draws so I would be less inclined to let them do that for cheap.

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