Moving Up In Stake

I have noticed something strange recently about my results from my online poker sit 'n go's. It seems that the higher the stake, the more success I have. Here is a brief rundown of the past few months SNG results by stake.

$1.20 - PokerStars

These were very frustrating. I could never seem to get consistent results no matter how I played. Luck always played a major part in the game. It was as though I didn't have any control at all over them at all and although I played hundreds of them, I pretty much broke even. It was very frustrating as I expected to win these easily, but I found that other players wouldn't respect any raise at all and would go all-in with any two cards.

$3.40 Turbo - PokerStars

I found that I could play poker a bit more. By that I mean that if I made a big raise pre-flop, like 4 or 5 times the blind, people with useless hands like 3 4 off suit would fold. This I found a lot easier but as it was a turbo game the blinds went up a lot quicker and I found I had to push the action a lot more. This loosened up my play a lot and I learned how to play hands other than the premium hands like King King or Queen Queen etc. I did find though that people reverted to the old tactic of pushing all-in with crappy cards after 20 minutes or so, which can be either really profitable, or really frustrating.

$5.50 - BetFred

I changed sites for a few reasons. Mainly because the rake I was paying (the fee that goes to the site as a charge for playing) was taking up a good percentage of the profits I could have been making. By changing sites I managed to get a "new depositors" bonus which would make up for it. Also, it's never good to be playing at the same format and I just wanted to mix it up a bit. This is by far my most profitable game. Although I still find myself getting sucked out with people playing cards they really shouldn't be, I managed to out play most of the people I played on BetFred at the $5.50 level. I did make a rather strange observation though, people playing the $5.50 SNG on BetFred will type some really crazy things in the chatbox once they get eliminated. My favorite so far is "FU DONK MUTHER FUCER ND UR MUMMA". He wasn't happy.

Now I have heard a few theories about why I should be getting better results at slightly different levels and sites. One is that people who play at the minimum levels possible are players who don't really know how to play and will rely on luck. Luck being pretty much uncontrollable can really mess up your poker games. Another theory is that PokerStars is aimed at poker players, where BetFred (a major UK highstreet bookmaker) is aimed at online gamblers who happen to play poker. I guess this is like the pros who live in Las Vegas who play the holiday makers who happen to play poker and see a casino.

Something that is floating around in my mind is that it might just be that I put more effort and concentration into my play when the prizes will noticeably effect my bankroll. I hope this isn't the case because regular readers will know that I'm not here to make money, but to gain experience and learn how to play poker.

I am now thinking of moving up again to maybe the $11 sit and go's on BetFred. I think my bankroll will be able to sustain a few losses while I test the waters and get a feel for the game. Also I want to see if or how the play is different. I have made my live games harder by moving up a level from my drunken home games to properly run local tournaments and have done OK so far. So I feel that by moving up to the $11 online games would be just another small but vital step towards the top of the poker ladder.

As always, any comments, suggestions, feedback, or pieces of advise would be greatly appreciated.