Being a low stakes poker player ever since I started with the game, one thing that I’ve never been able to comprehend is the mindset of a high limit player. That’s because I myself am not a high limit poker player and probably never will be. And just for the sake of this post, I define high limit as $10/$20 No-Limit Texas Hold’em play and $30/$60 Limit Hold’em play because both are out of my league.
I’ve always wondered how in the world some players can make that jump from $1/$2 and $3/$6 games up to the previously mentioned games and beyond. One obvious thing about these players and their mindset has to be that they are somewhat loose with money. After all, if someone is afraid to hit up a fast food joint because of the cost, then they probably don’t have the right frame of mind.
But getting more in-depth, there are a few things that I’ve noticed after watching some of these high stakes people play the game. For one thing, I have seen that these people tend to be far more aggressive than the average player would be. Anyone who is too conservative seems to either lose their bankroll or luckily jump back down a level or two before than happens.
Another thing that seems to be consistent with these players is that they also know how to pull back the aggressive play when the time is right. In fact, most high limit players seem to really know how to suck people into pots when they have a huge hand and want to disguise it.
The last element of a high limit player I’ve noticed is that they really have to have some pretty strong nerves and be able to overcome a bad day. Because, while they’ll often have days where they win thousands of dollars, they will also find themselves down a few thousand some days too. It’s almost the philosophy that some NBA shooters have where if they miss a shot the next one is going in.
Anyways, recognizing these qualities in high stakes players really makes me question if I’ll ever play at that level. And the answer for people like me, and others, is probably a resounding “No”!
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Interesting post. I fully agree with it. But probably there are also other factors. Like the BR, the odds calculation etc…
If I compare at the lowest limit, there is almost no difference between NL20 and NL50. But still it was a huge step for me.
Yea, there’s probably a lot of other things along the way I need to pick up like the odds calculation and stuff in order to truly understand the mentality of what it takes to be a higher limit player. I think it’s really interesting that you don’t really experience much of a different between the NL20 and NL50. Maybe someday I’ll try those limits out.