5/10 Initial Impressions

[SirFWALGMan]

I have now been playing 5/10 for over a week and I find it kind of frustrating. Some of it is because of my attitude probably. However I have only posted one win in the past week. I am up 20BB for the whole week. I am not too dissapointed. It could be worse.

Most nights at 5/10 seem to be huge swings. If you think about it this makes sense. For some reason it just looks weird. If I am playing 1 hand at 5/10 and I have $250 on the table it takes at least $40 to play it passively, and maybe up to two or three times that to play it aggressive. For instance last night. KK dealt to me. I Raise pre-flop ($10). I bet out on the flop ($5), bet the turn ($10) and the river which is raised and I call (maybe a mistake) ($20). So and average hand is 1/5 of my stack. My KK was beaten by a 69 straight which was made on the river.

So if I get sucked out 2-3 times I am basically out a buyin. Or close to it. At the 5/10 level I find this bothers me more. In addition the past week has been really bad and I have had swings of $500 down and up. Really hard to adjust to.

The 5/10 level seems to be much more aggresive and into bluffs. I started out being all huffy and saying "I will not allow myself to be bluffed". I think this is the wrong way to be. Play tight. Bet your good hands. Fold your garbage even if you think it is winning. Who cares if you fold you blinds to an attempted steal too much. Is this too much in the other direction?

I think in my last session, which was the one that put me up, I found my inner self and played a decent game. If the flop was coordinated and I had overcards then I folded. No chasing. I did do my share of bluffing, but not a huge amount. I did make a few mistakes. One of the worse was then the flop gave me 2nd pair and two to a flush. Three people in, and everyone is raising. I did not let this go. It ended up that the first guy had AK of my J high flush, and the other guy lucked into 9-10. I thought they might have both been on the flush draw. However it was too much money to continue on with 2nd pair. I should have folded when I said to myself "You should fold".

So if you go up realize there is much bluffing and gnashing of teeth. Wait your turn. Do not lose your patients. There are TONS of fish at 5/10. I do not care what anyone says. If you consistantly play every hand you are a fish. If you play A3 with a raise in EP you are being a fish. 5/10 is infested with fish. It is also alot more aggressive so just realize this, and stick to what has gotten you there. I am sure that there are adjustments that need to be made in order to win huge at this level. I will figure them out and experiment somewhat, but my game is decent and I cannot let myself get off my game because people around me play differently.

In a bunch more hands I am sure I will have a different viewpoint into the game. Hopefully I start beating it regularly. I will keep you posted on my progress.