Turning to NL from FL (Advice needed)

    • emotv
      emotv
      Bronze
      Joined: 08.05.2008 Posts: 80
      Hi all,

      I am playing fix limit since 2,5 years. And i consider myself low limit pro (thanx to pokerstrategy) because i cash out every month and my only job is poker.

      I am also member of Turkish poker players Ass. Where we are organizing tourneys and freerolls for new poker players. And try to legalize the poker in Turkiye.

      I love FL But i can' t find enough tables at fix limit at the morning hours. And i love to multi table like (11-24). I am bored on 4-8 tables.

      A company offered me pro contract ( where i can't say the name here). I am opening a single fix limit table but no one comes and play. Now i decided to switch to NL Shorthanded. I got %75 rakeback from that pokerroom.

      I study a little from FL to Nl but i have some questions?

      1- In FL blind wars are very in the game. Like standart lines, blind defending , is it profitable on NL or blinds are not that important.

      2- What about the winrate in fullring fix limit i have 2.5 bb in 100 hands, what is the optimum winrates?

      3- The charts are much tighter than Fix limit charts , I don't like to fold with J9 st from MP3 to BU. Can i use looser charts for open raising?

      4- I consider myself TAG in FL, but i tried few hands (10.000) but i look at pokertableratings they flag me as loose agrresive player.

      5- I will learn try to learn shorthanded Nl at that rakefree poker room than move to pstars again where i am still continue play FL there...

      So is it bad to be a little loose or tight is right like in Fix Limit.


      thanx for reading and any comment is golden for me...
  • 4 replies
    • SickAtHome
      SickAtHome
      Bronze
      Joined: 19.05.2010 Posts: 465
      1.) There are more NL tables than FL - it was tough multitabling 0.1/0.2 on Stars while table selecting. Shorthand tables are also very common, and I'm sure whatever poker room you're with will have lots of those too.

      2.) Flush and OESDs are much harder to catch, and you can't just call small raises like in FL. Plus, you can make a lot more / lose a lot more from flushes and OESDs.

      3.) NL imo, is more about finding the fish. There's playing TAG like Pokerstrategy says, but singling out a fish and knowing his betting patterns - that's guaranteed to pay out nicely. (Find a fish and focus on busting him out)

      4.) Winrates can fluctuate a lot - depending on the length of a session, a few coinflips can make you have a deep negative winrate. However, over a period of time they should steady. (Playing on NL2, I had winrate of 30bb/100)

      5.) Blindstealing is very common too in NL, especially in SH. You'll get plenty of that.

      6.) The charts are tight because most beginners can't handle postflop. So play using the charts for a bit (you play poker full time, so shouldn't take you too long) and then make your own style. (it still shouldn't vary too much from the chart though)

      7.) FL, you play a lot more hands for drawing value. It's much harder in NL because most of the time you can't call +EV.

      8.) TBH, I don't think playing FL and NL at the same time is the best idea. I'd just concentrate on one.

      9.) Implied odds comes into account a LOT, so know your opponent! (I take a lot more notes playing NL)


      best of luck!
    • emotv
      emotv
      Bronze
      Joined: 08.05.2008 Posts: 80
      thanx for advice...

      I am still wondering any one of you guys who move to NL from FL, and decided to stay in NL after a while...

      What are the difficulties in NL?

      Btw i found a real job after playing poker for 8 months so i do not need to cash out that means i can move up safelly...
    • opal99
      opal99
      Black
      Joined: 05.02.2008 Posts: 8,270
      I used to grind 5/10 fl sh a year ago...

      Switched to NL and really like it. Although it's completely diff game i had no real problems to play NL50 from the beginning, so whatever you've learned in FL is essential here also.

      - The only real difference is tilt. It's much more difficult to recognize it in FL, but it's much more dangerous in NL - you'll spot it pretty quickly but it can be too late already ;)
      - stoploss is necessary in the beginning IMO
      - hourly rakeback sucks :f_p:
      - position is the key.. it's important in FL too ofc, but not that much

      btw: dont play FL & NL at the same time unless you feel superconfident i both.. I remember stox's video where he played 2 mid/high stakes fl tables and 2 nl, but that's not for everyone ;)

      Good luck!
    • SalamiandCheese
      SalamiandCheese
      Bronze
      Joined: 16.07.2008 Posts: 569
      • 28.10.2010, 07:56
      • This post has been edited 1 time(s), it was last edited by SalamiandCheese: 28.10.2010 07:59.
      I've been making the transition to NL the last couple months too. First lesson I remember happening to me is making my mid-high flush and getting stacked by the nut flush. In FL it's alright to call that one extra bet but in NL it often costs the rest of your stack to find out. Also getting a handle on how implied odds work in NL is another thing I had to work on, i.e. if I call this 2/3 turn bet with a draw, will I get a 1/2 pot size bet or better out of 'em on the river?