Online Poker Low Stakes Vs High Stakes

The odds of hitting a massive jackpot on cheap games are astronomically high. High-stakes online jackpot slots offer another alternative. You must bet a lot more to play these games, but you’ll also enjoy lower odds on the top prize. Again, I personally like to mix up my play between high and low-stakes games. The majority of people on poker forums seem to multi 4-6 tables at a time, but does anyone actually single-table a high stakes game instead? What are the advantages and disadvantages? I'm not very experienced so I could be wrong but I feel like you could make more from single-tabling a 1/2 game than 4-tabling a.25/50 or.10/.25 game.

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On Wednesday night, Phil Hellmuth and Antonio Esfandiari each put up a $200,000 buy-in for Round 3 match in High Stakes Duel. Hellmuth was actually in for just $50,000 having won Round 1 for $100,000 and then using that to also win Round 2 for $200,000.

SPOILER ALERT BELOW

Playing at PokerGO Studio at ARIA, sans masks for the first time (except for the dealer), Hellmuth completed the hattrick by once again defeating Esfandiari. Prior to the match, Hellmuth did say that if he won, he would exercise his option to cash out (which a player can do after three wins). As such, the “Poker Brat” locked up a $400,000 payday and two new players will start the next duel at the $50,000 buy-in level. Who and when the new match will take place is to be determined.

PokerNews has compiled six of the biggest and most interesting hands from Round 3, which as you will see largely went Hellmuth’s way from the start.

First Blood to Hellmuth

In the first notable hand, the blinds were 200/400 when Esfandiari raised the button to 1,000 holding the . Hellmuth defended with the and the flop came down . Hellmuth check-called a bet of 400 and then checked again on the turn.

Esfandiari, who had straight and flush draws, continued for 3,100 and Hellmuth called before checking in the dark. When the completed the board on the river, Esfandiari bluffed by firing an overbet of 14,100. Hellmuth, who had the best hand with a pair of kings, called and took down the 37,200 pot to pull out to a 213K to 186K chip lead.

Full House for the Poker Brat

With 1,600 in the pot and a flop of , Esfandiari checked with the and Hellmuth bet 800 holding the . A call was made and the appeared on the turn.

Esfandiari checked and called when Hellmuth bet 3,500. When the paired the board on the river, Esfandiari checked for the third time and Hellmuth bet 12,000.

“You’re going to have to show me the king,” Esfandiari said before dropping in a call and seeing the 32,300 pot pushed to Hellmuth, who chipped up to 229K while Esfandiari dropped to 170K.

Hellmuth Takes Lead Back from Esfandiari

At the 500/1,000 level, Hellmuth limped the button with the and then called when Esfandiari, who had pulled out to a very small chip lead, raised to 3,300 with the . The flop gave both players a pair but it went check-check nonetheless.

On the turn, Esfandiari bet 2,700 and Hellmuth just called with trips to see the river. Esfandiari checked but wasted little time in calling a bet of 7,000 from Hellmuth, who took back the chip lead.

Flush-Over-Flush Cooler

At the 600/1,200 level, Hellmuth limped with the and Esfandiari checked his option with the . The flop gave both players a flush and Esfandiari checked. Hellmuth bet 1,300 and only to have Esfandiari check-raised to 4,300. Not to be outdone, Hellmuth three-bet to 10,000, and Esfandiari called.

The turn gave both players a flush but of course Hellmuth’s was best. Esfandiari opted to lead out for 16,200 and Hellmuth just called to see the river. Esfandiari bet again, this time 33,800, and Hellmuth raised 40,000 more.

“That’s pretty special,” an exasperated Esfandiari exclaimed. He called nonetheless and dropped to 102K while Hellmuth chipped up to 297K.

Hellmuth Lays Down Straight Flush Draw

The duo jostled for a long time exchanging small-to-medium-sized pots, during which time Hellmuth shoved all in more than once over an Esfandiari open such as when the former jammed for 144K with the after the latter had opened for 6,000 with the .

Then, with the blinds at 1,500/3,000, Esfandiari raised to 6,000 holding the and Hellmuth defended his big blind with the to see a flop.

Hellmuth checked-called a bet of 6,500 with his straight and flush draws and then checked in the dark headed to the turn, which was the . Esfandiari bet 15,500 and Hellmuth just folded.

“You call all-in on the flop?” Hellmuth asked. Esfandiari responded that he would have. “I don’t think anyone else folds my hand there.”

Both Nick Schulman and Ali Nejad agreed from the commentary booth.

Hellmuth Closes It Out

In what would be the final hand of the match, the blinds were 1,500/3,000 when Esfandiari limped holding the and Hellmuth raised to 13,000 with the . Esfandiari responded by jamming for 129K and Hellmuth snap-called.

“Nice hand, Phil,” said Esfandiari. The flop meant Hellmuth’s kicker played, but some a nine would chop it given the king on board. The turn meant a jack would result in a chop as well, but the river was a brick.

With that, Hellmuth went 3-0 against Esfandiari to claim a $400,000 prize. Hellmuth had already stated that if he won, he wouldn’t continue, which means a new High Stakes Duel match will start with two new players at the $50,000 buy-in level.

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Small stakes cash games — whether live or online — can be profitable, but only if you're able to avoid the following much too commonly made mistakes.

Mistake #1: Fancy Play Syndrome

Fancy play syndrome is trying to pull too many moves on a simple-minded opponent. Let's be honest, when you are playing $1/$2 at the local casino or $0.05/$0.10 blinds online, your competition is not always world class. In fact, a lot of the time, they are either total beginners or just one step removed from that.

When you make that four-bet bluff preflop with ace-rag in order to 'merge your range,' this is going to go completely over their head most of the time. They will just call you down with their pair of tens and you will often lose to a superior hand. The same thing goes for trying to run big, creative bluffs after the flop against low limit players.

Often you have very little history with these players and your 10th-level thinking is just going to be completely lost on them. There are opportunities to make plays here and there in small stakes cash games, but by and large success comes from just playing by the book.

Mistake #2: Short-Term Thinking

One of the classic mistakes that players at the micros make is thinking too much about the short term, and forgetting the long term. Your aces got cracked three times in a row? Aces must be a terrible hand. We better just limp and play a small pot next time! Ran into a higher flush a few times lately? Small flushes must be a terrible hand. We better play it more cautiously next time!

I hope you can see the egregious mistakes in thinking here. Aces are obviously a great hand and will be a massive long term winner for you — your biggest winning hand, in fact — which is why you should always play them strongly. Flushes also make us a lot of money and should also be played strongly.

The mistake here is getting too wrapped up in the short term. Crazy stuff is going to happen in this game over small sample sizes. Don't let it cloud your thinking and alter your better judgment.

Mistake #3: Slow Playing and Under-Betting

Most players in small stakes cash games are passive. This means that a lot of the time — unless you happen to cooler them massively — the only way that you are going to win a big pot against them is if you build it.

Checking your two pair on the flop and turn to get 'tricky,' or betting 30% of the pot in such spots to keep from 'scaring them off,' are not effective ways to build a pot. Another key hallmark of small stakes players is that they like to call a lot if they have something that they consider good, giving you all the more reason not to check or bet small with your two-pair hands.

Just because you bet big with your big hand and they folded a couple times in a row, that doesn't mean that slow playing and/or under-betting the pot are superior plays. (Once again, this would be an example of letting short-term thinking overwhelm your thought process.)

The key thing that you need to realize is that while small stakes players are passive and they love to call, they still have to have something to do so. Most of the time in this game nobody has anything at all. Don't make the mistake of blaming your aggressive actions on players folding to your bets.

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If you bet big with your good hands, you will simply win bigger pots at these stakes. If they fold, it was because they didn't have anything. Getting trappy or under-betting the pot is not going to solve that for them. Make sure that you are always making effective value bets at the lower stakes and you will profit the most.

Mistake #4: Overvaluing Top-Pair Hands

A big mistake a lot of people make at the lower stakes is overvaluing their top-pair hands. Top pair is a fantastic hand in limit hold'em, but in NLHE when the pot gets significantly big, it is often the case that somebody has two pair or better.

Since we know small stakes players are typically passive, you want to look out when they start raising you in a big way, especially on the 'big money' streets (the turn and the river). This means that they want to play a big pot.

Trust me, the large majority of the time, they aren't bluffing. They are trying to take you to value town instead. Versus the tight regulars at these stakes in particular, it is important to respect their aggression in spots like this. If you can learn to throw away top pair in these situations from time to time, it will save you a lot of money in the long run.

Mistake #5: Getting Tilted by the Weaker Players

Bad players are going to give you more bad beats than anyone else. This is because they like to chase every draw, stick around with every bottom pair, and sometimes even stay in hands with nothing at all. At the small stakes there are more bad players than at any other limits. So it is very important that you learn how to deal with bad beats.

Simply accept that bad beats are a part of the game. If the weaker players could not get lucky once in a while, then they would not keep coming back again and again. Then the game would cease to be as profitable.

Note also that qualifier, though — they get lucky 'once in a while.' We tend to have mass amnesia about all of the times that they miss their ridiculous draw and we win a nice-sized pot off of them. And we make a huge deal out of the couple of times when they hit something silly and scoop the pot.

Once again this is another form of short-term thinking. The bottom line is that the weaker players are often fighting a huge uphill battle versus the fundamental mathematics of the game. They cannot win in the long run when playing the way they do.

Final Thoughts

It doesn't take some kind of super genius to beat small stakes cash games. These games are still by and large relatively easy and chock full of bad players and weaker regs even in 2016. The biggest reasons why most people do not achieve success in these games are they shoot themselves in the foot with fancy plays, they focus too much on the short run, and they are too easily tilted by the weaker players.

One of the biggest keys to success at the lower stakes is really just to stick to the basics and not overthink things so much. Hopefully a few of the tips in this article will help keep you on that path.

Nathan 'BlackRain79' Williams is the author of the popular micro stakes strategy books Crushing the Microstakes and Modern Small Stakes. He also blogs regularly about all things related to the micros over at www.blackrain79.com.

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