beaston

The title says it all...I'm taking a break from NL for awhile - too volatile right now for my limited BR because of the holidays.

I don't get much from reading books, so if anyone could post some tips to help the transition, fire away!

bobbysands90

Either check your bankroll or your style.

Limit is more technical.

If you are playing above your bankroll, expect to get burnt, no matter how good you are.

I learned through limit. It taught me the basics. No limit was a soft blow.

Moving might weaken your play but it might help your weaknesses.

Im not a fan of limit, it puts me on the back foot but I have a loose style of play and its better suited to nolimit.

Try it for a few weeks but expect your nl form to suffer

Dyno_Don

I seemed to have learned a little more from NL on how to play limit games, but you can hone your skills by playing both types of games off and on.

I think you have to concentrate on the strategies in limit poker games a bit more than NL games though.
It is easy to get suckered into going all the way to the river if you don't watch your fishing attitude.

propiper

Odds

You can control pot odds in NL to an extent but in limit no such luck. Expect people to chase you just make sure you are not chasing bad odds.

Patience

Have it - Limit will try the very core of your patience.

Limits

They don't call them grinders for nothing. Not only play within your bankroll limits but know when it is not going your way and pack it in for the night. Lederer suggests if you lose 30% of your buy-in - go home.

Mistakes

I think they are magnified in limit. Most experts say that you can expect to win 2bb an hour playing limit. One chase gone bad, one raise that should have been folded can wipe out hours of profits.

I like to grind - yes it is boring but to me it is a steady profit.

__________________
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There's no use being a damn fool about it.

-------- W.C. Fields

catwoman

Can you please explain what "grind" means?

Thank you
poker for dummies

lol

propiper

In poker a "grinder" tends to go about playing poker in a workman like fashion.

They are sometimes called rounders. Sitting at a limit table "grinding" out a living.

The best definition I saw was:

__________________
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There's no use being a damn fool about it.

-------- W.C. Fields

Dyno_Don

I tended to start out like a grinder in a live poker tourney when I first started with live poker, and then would turn into a loose agressive player about an hour into it. I think that's where my calling an all-in pre-flop needs to stop, especially against a very tight agressive player.

I would make final table more often by playing the field more consistantly during a tourney, until the final table where a player needs to mix-up his or her game play. I have done this once in Vegas and it worked really well.

Since you tend to be a grinder propiper, I would have to be cautious playing at your table.
I bet as a grinder you also like to make a few bluffs during a tourney, just to mix it up a little.

beaston

Bluffing is over-rated, especially in big tournaments, especially offline...I guess it depends on the situation.

Dyno_Don

This is true, but it worked well when I tried it a couple times against a player at the final table at O'sheas in Vegas.

The player was in seat one and he bluff-out two players on the table down to nothing at this point. They eventually were bumped off the table.

I was watching his reactions and noticed when he was bluffing he would turn to the player in seat 2 and start a little chat about whatever.

I had a 10 4 off-suit in my hand, he raised and the 3 players after him all folded leaving myself to fold or call. I went all-in with a smile on my face.

It was so cool. He just looked at me. Then he says, "you better not be bluffing". I just kept smiling, and said, "oh, I might be, or not". Just before he folded he told me to show my cards, and then threw his away. So, I did the same thing and scooped up the pot.

That really p-issed him off. He looks at me with dagger eyes and says, "do you know who I am?" and then repeats hisself. I looked him square in the eyes and say, "no, I don't know who you are. But, do You know who I am?" He said, "well, no I don't". Then I said we were are then. He stormed away from the table to get another drink.

So, bluffing does help against another bluffer, from time to time.

bobbysands90

"Grinding Out Poker" is all about numbers.

A player playing 15 tables at 80% of his ability can grind out wins.

A player playing 1 table at 100% can have a higher win ratio, but all being equal will win less than the multitabler.

How to start grinding poker

Learn to multitable comfortably.

Start off with 4 tables. then 6 / 8 / 10 / 12

Early stages. Play extremely tight. only play your blinds unless you have pocket Q's (play them strongly) or above, limp in on lower pocket pairs and AJ+

Mid stages. Loosen up a little. Again play around your position but start to steal the occassional blind.

Later Stages. no limping, either bet pot size or fold.

Things to consider

1) Fatigue. If you are tired, take a break or you will find yourself playing hands you should have avoided.

2) At the later stages you will have less tables to concentrate on. You will have time to know who is stealing and who you can bully.

3) Keep a bankroll equivalent to 100 games. That should cover you. If you lose the lot, you are not ready to grind. Either drop the stakes, reduce the number of tables or go back to the basics to see where you are going wrong.

The best site to multitable is pokerstars. 2nd is probably fulltilt (max 12 tables) although FT can be a little laggy at times.