No-limit hold’em cash games have been the staple of internet poker over the last five years, particularly in the exciting and aggressive six-max format. In this time the highest stakes available have skyrocketed from $5/$10 to a nosebleed $500/$1,000, allowing a large number of young players to build heaving bankrolls, with many scoring winnings of $1m or more. But what does it take to win at the highest stakes and what separates low and mid-stakes grinders from those playing the bigger games?
In lower-stakes games it is ‘fairly’ easy to win simply by being reasonably competent and not making common mistakes such as playing weak hands out of position, stacking off too lightly and tripping yourself up with fancy play. By the time you reach mid-stakes games of $1/$2 up to $3/$6 you start finding that most players are much more competent, especially preflop, and understand the mechanics of the game such as three-betting, four-betting, continuation-betting, double-barrelling and so on. Often they are members of training sites and have been able to adopt the ‘standard’ strategies that have guided other players to success.
Mixing it with the big boys
Once you reach the higher-stakes games of $5/$10, $10/$20 and beyond you will encounter some incredibly strong players who not only have the mechanics of the game worked out preflop, but make few postflop errors and have well-balanced ranges for most of their actions. At this level, particularly in games that start out 100 big blinds deep, psychology plays an enormous role, since regular players rarely make large technical errors. In the $25/$50+ games, where everyone plays well, this becomes the primary factor.
At these higher-stakes games, adjusting to your opponents, understanding their thought processes and trying to outplay them becomes the main goal. This can also be seen in the general development of the game over recent years, where loose-aggressive play led to light three-betting, then light four-betting, and now light five-betting. Players are now prepared to four-bet for value with a wide range and call all-in equally so, since they expect their opponents to be three-betting light and shoving with wide ranges that might include small pairs or semi-bluff hands like suited connectors. It’s a different game!
Higher-level thinking
So, with that in mind, what are some of the specific things higher stakes players are doing that lower stakes players aren’t?
As discussed already, many players in today’s mid-stakes games understand the basic strategies needed to win, such as light three and four-betting, barrelling and so on. However, to win at $5/$10 or higher you not only need to understand these strategies, you have to know how to apply them effectively and how to adapt or change them according to your opponents. In other words you have to be a thinking player, rather than an automaton simply applying the same strategies over a dozen tables at a time. Usually, if you watch videos of higher stakes players, you will find a constant stream of consciousness relating to their table image and that of their opponent, as well as general and recent history that make up the game flow. These are the kinds of considerations that decisions are filtered through in order to choose the best course of action.
Shifting gears
For example, three-betting is a standard action preflop, but you must pay attention to how frequently you are doing it and to whom, then note how they adjust to it. Perhaps you have decided to relentlessly three-bet a player on your right (or have just been dealt lots of good hands in quick succession). Now you can see if they start four-betting you or get otherwise frustrated, and if so wait for some better hands to three-bet with in the immediate future in the hope of getting paid. If any hands are shown you can also start to determine their four-betting range. If it is very polarised to only very strong hands for value (such as Q-Q+) and bluffs, you may be able to open up your five-bet shoving range since it is likely they will often fold.
Postflop you can make similar adjustments such as exploiting players who continuation-bet too much by check-raising more often. Or you might target players with other unbalanced tendencies such as playing weakly on the turn. There are countless areas that can be focused on, and in regular high-stakes players you will rarely find large leaks, but by detailed analysis and psychology you can look for areas to attack them in where they are vulnerable.
Game selection
However, while finding ways of exploiting strong players is all well and good, as you move up you will also find that your edge reduces and your variance skyrockets, particularly in aggressive games where players are prepared to four and five-bet light and there is an increased frequency of preflop all-ins. For this reason you have to pay even more attention to game selection, since you will be unlikely to have much of an edge against the best players. Of course, from time to time you may want to challenge yourself by playing them for the experience and to improve your game, but for the most part you should be focusing on your primary task: finding and playing weaker players.
Unfortunately, the new wave of higher stakes hold’em players has swung the ratio of regulars to fish unfavourably in the last couple of years, so you will need to have some firm reads on your regular opponents as well. In the absence of softer targets, exploiting other regulars is an increasingly important part of the high-stakes player’s game. Knowing how people are faring overall in their games is important too, since a downswing or bout of tilt can swing things significantly in your favour for a short period.
Reviewing and reworking
As discussed previously, small tendencies can still be very exploitable even in regular players. Make sure you build up a databank in your notes or elsewhere with key information that you think you can use to your advantage.
The standard of high-stakes six-max no-limit hold’em in the current climate isn’t as easy as it once was, so you may wish to explore other variants that are out there like Omaha or deep-stacked games, since there is much less information available about them and fewer players have managed to play a huge number of hands. And as ever, you should remember that the games you play in are not static, and you will need to constantly review and rework your own game and approach if you want to experience long-term success.