A couple of small thing. I started playing limit and was slightly sucessfull.

The biggest difference in NL is implied odds vs pot odds. Pot odds are far less important in NL than implied odds. In deeper stack games you can call bets with big draws even if there is not enough in the pot to give you pot odds to call it since if you hit your impied odds take over.

Things you will like about NL:
1. You can actually protect your hands. The thing I hated about limit was I made a set with a flush and str8 draw on board and there was nothing I could do to keep people from drawing at their hands.

2. NL is less about your winning % and more about catching somone else making a mistake and taking their whole stack. I know a couple of winning players that have a low win % per hand.

3. Bluffing actaully works. I gave up trying to bluff in limit, it very rarely works, if you time it right in NL you can make good money knowing against who and when is a good time to bluff.

Things that you will have to adjust to in NL:
1. Limit is a somewhat protected game, you know you will be able to see a turn and a river by check calling. A good Nl player will not allow you to get proper odds to call on a draw.

2. Ax is weaker in NL than in Limit. I have seen a bunch of limit player loose big chunks of money with A9-AJ. Ace X is a scary hand to play in NL unless you make 2 pair or a redraw.

3. Hands that you calls raises with become very different in NL. In limit vs a raise if with not many people in the pot you fold your small pp, not in NL, a small raise makes it even more likely that you get their whole stack when you folp a set.

4. Suited is much less important in NL than in limit. In fact in calling a raise if you wouldnt call the raise with the same cards offsuit than dont call with suited cards.

That last one is news to me, Rhound. Why is suited less important in NL?

It seems to me, for instance, that Ax suited is insanely better than Ax offsuit in NL. Or do I just like Ax suited more than I should?

I'm probably wrong; looking to learn more.

K3nt,

He is talking about calling a raise. Don't call raises and chase with AX. In the lower limits you can make this play and it won't hurt so bad when you miss. Once you move up you never want to chase a raised pot. So if you wouldn't call the raise with A,Jo then don't call it with A,Js.

Now if I can limp I will limp with A,Xs. But I am also able to get away from a hand most of the time. Lets say you limp with A,8s. The flop comes A,J,8 rainbow. You bet the pot and it is raised back to you. Better have a read or let it go. Ask yourself why did I play this hand? Answer, I was hoping to flop the nut flush. Would I have played A,8 off hoping to hit 2 pair or TP crappy kicker? No I wouldn't be here if I wasn't chasing the flush. Hope this makes sense.

Nothing sucks worst then chasing a hand and losing a 1/3 to half of your stack only to have AA or trips hit the next couple of hands. Instead of doubling up your buy in you only doubled up 2/3rds or half your buy in depending on your play.

Good luck,
I also recommend if you do take a bad beat. Go ahead and buy in for the max again that way you have chips when you get a nut hand.

Ax suited is a decent limping hand in a passive game but or in position in a somewhat looser game. The major problem with Ax suited is that in an agressive game it is not a hand you want to call a raise with. If you flop the A you are not happy and often bleed of chips in a hand you are way behind. Also in a agressive game when there arent a lot of players seeing the flop suited A is not a hand you want to play heads up, much like suited connectors. You only flop the flush one in 119, and often times you dont even get paid off with it. In limit the power of a suited A is that if you flop the flush draw you are almost always getting odds to check call the flop and turn to see if you hit your flush. In NL you dont have the same protection and often you dont even get to see your draw if your opponant bets his hand properly. Of course this is just my opinion. Any other views????

Position, posiition, position!!!! It's so important to be in position in NL, so much more then limit. In a big pot..lets say you have something marginal...I dunno.

Like AK against two players. Lets say the flop is AQ9 with a flush draw. You bet the pot...one player calls. Turn is a T for AQ9T. You want to bet to knock out a flush and straight draw, but you may already be dominated.

It's hands like this that will either make you or break you. I feel naked in these situations if I'm acting in front of the player. There is really no way to explain it, other then for you to experience it yourself on a decent limit.

My other advice is to always bet the pot on the flop.. in normal situations or after a preflop raise..That way, no one can get reads on what you hold by the amount of your bet. Also pot sized bets may make a lot of opponents throw away their medicore hands (even if they are beating you.)

Thanks for all the feedback guys.

Lost 2 stacks last night with AA. both from middle position I raised 4 X BB and got it down to 2 or 3 and me.

1st hand lost to a set of 8s that was made on the flop I had position and he let me be the aggressor on the flop and turn, had all our money in before the river.

2nd hand I hit a set of A on the flop but it came all one suit. I pushed in and was immediately called by the BB who was the only one to call my pre flop raise. Didn't fill up and lost to the flush.

I'll keep playing and learning.

BK

all the above is good advice...a general bit of advice, is you'll have to let go many of your ingrained limit habits that you have that you may not be aware you have...read 2 or 3 books for now, over and over and over, TJ's Tourny book, SuperSystem by Doyle and Action Dan's new one...and i mean over and over and over...better to spend time reading about those hands, than losing a couple $1000 or more learning about it...
One other small example, J10 suited, limit players LOVE this hand... 95% of the time however, you better let this hand go in NL...ok, one more, A littles, let'em go...course depends whether we're talking about tourny or ring here...and A9 is an A little....AJo can often be an A little...ok, you got me started...K10, KJ, QJ, Q10 suited or not, big trouble hands, let'em go...(see, you like these hands in limit, don't you?)
ONce you get used to NL, if you can win at it, you'll never go back...However there was a very good Limit player on 'another' forum...she tried to switch to NL and got killed and wouldn't swallow her pride...kept playing it and got broke quickly...she could got back to Limit and make a decent living but was a bit too proud to adjust and learn...
GL to you!

i really like K3nt's no. 1 advice... that's Soooo true....
Some people just don't have the right personality for NL, but they do great at Limit...there's no shame in that, you MAY be just a better Limit player than NL, i don't know...you could make a great NL player...your comment something about the danger and risk in NL could be a red flag...here's a quiz...

a) would you rather go on a nice long hike and enjoy the scenery or sky dive from a plane?
b) if you had $50,000 life savings would you rather put it in a CD or buy all gold stocks with it today?
c) at 3 a.m. and noone's around, would you run a stop light while it's still red?
d) would you rather enjoy a nice ride in a cadillac or go 130 mph on a motorcycle?

slight tongue in cheek questions, but also can be revealing...

More good info to contemplate. Thanks.

I am on a great run right now despite some brutal losses and my bankroll is nice and fat (If I used the 20 buy in rule I could afford to play much higher but I am going to work up from the $25 buy in level).

If I find myself spiraling down (Bankroll and my mental well being) I have no problem going back to limit. I will set a loss limit of 10 buy ins as a sign that this game is not for me.

(I am up 12 buy ins so far)

Thanks again for all the feedback / advice

BK

I think a better stop loss is an analysis of your hands after maybe 15,000 or so. Most people can come toa realization about their skills in that amount of time. Also I recommend a system like PokerTracker to analyse what you have been doing and which hands are giving you the most trouble.