Poker is similar to a ladder that everyone is trying to climb at all times. It is rare that someone sees a rung on the ladder and just decides to hang out there for a while. There are some levels that are real sticky though; 5-10 to 10-20 NL is one. It’s a real big jump from either of those games up to 25-50 NL. There are many reasons for this, but none more important than the ability to deposit. It is difficult to deposit 5k or more online, whereas 1k to 2k is not as difficult.

For limit poker, I still contend that 30-60 is the stickiest level. If you have ever tried to walk down a ladder, it is not as easy as walking up. Mentally, that holds true for poker as well. If you have to change your screen name, do it, but don’t let your ego cost you expectation.

Recently I sat down to play a guy at 20-40 limit on Bodog. He was sitting there alone with a dollar denomination lower than the normal buy in. Sometimes a player is playing possum doing that, but I do not really care. At this limit, there is not much I have not seen. I had been hearing that the games everywhere were getting a little tougher, but since I play mostly heads up, I had not noticed it that much. Typically, players that play heads up often are a little better than the mean, but the little areas are where you will make your money. I noticed right off the bat that we were playing smaller pots, so I was trying to steal blinds more and make more plays at pots. In reality, what I was trying to show this tight player was that I would just run him over.

He immediately fell right into the trap and began three betting more. We played a pot until the river, and he made 2 pair on me. Up until that point, we had not seen a river, and we were 20-30 hands in. I had successfully changed his behavior. Unfortunately that hand screwed me. He was up on me about $500 and went back to playing tight, so I went back to running him over and got all $500 back. Once again he loosened up, and we took another hand to the river where the kicker played, and he had the bigger kicker. I decided to quit playing the guy once I was even again (which I will talk about later). I got back to even and said, “Good luck to you.” He had not said a word up to that point, but immediately went into “poor me” mode, saying how badly I play and such. Here was my response to him:

1. I have 2 kids that are very smart. They will require a college that will be expensive, and I owe them that. I owe you nothing.

2. While I can see that you are not a bad player, you are certainly beatable.

3. Even though I may (or may not) be able to beat you, the time it would require is more than other opponents I might face. Why would I decrease my pay for ego?

There are a number of factors to think about regarding today’s poker players. Many of today’s players are younger, so the value of money is relative to your life experience. In other words, going broke may not mean that much to this guy. He might actually want the challenge or want an opportunity to improve his play, which can be more valuable in the long run. There are many players that have continued up the ladder while I have stayed at the level I am at. Improving is less important to me. Being aware of the circumstances in the games I play, however, is of extreme importance.

Here are some things you absolutely need to be aware of as play tightens and you have to make decisions about what games and limits you play.

1. You need to be tracking your stats. If you are not, you are the sucker. If you are trying to play poker for a living (or even as a serious hobby) and you are not keeping track of information, you are missing a key component. Do you really think a stock broker goes to work daily with no information and relies strictly on his/her past performance? I would imagine some do, but not the good ones.

2. Moving down is not always the answer. Game selection could be just as important. Finding a time of day that fits with your style could actually help get you through a tough time.

3. When markets change, there are new opportunities. In other words, with all of the people leaving your former limits, that doesn’t mean that the people higher are moving to yours. While there may be fewer games, those games could contain more fish.

4. Moving down in limits is not the end of the world. Once again I will go to the stock brokerage world for an analogy. The good ones don’t try to make lemonade when there are lemons; they wait for another opportunity that could exist later. They tread water for the most part and try not to lose their shirt, or they go to a niche they might be good at. By no means would they press the pedal to the metal.

5. If you plan on quitting playing someone, don’t be afraid to quit while down. The decision you made is likely the right one, and there is easier money elsewhere (which is the opposite of what I did in the above example, proving that I am still learning).

Many people can’t remember what it was like when they were not winning a ton of money daily. If you have been around poker for a while, you have seen some things come and go. The important part is that while you may indeed need to take a decrease in pay at some point, you should not compromise all of the gains you have made foolishly. Keeping track of your information is more important now than ever before. When markets are changing, data is very important.

I wish you all luck at the tables.