Okay, so, I kept playing HU sngs but running like shit. I went to my friend Sam's today, and asked him if I could 4-6 table NL$200 on his account, and I'd cover my losses. I ended up winning $450 after about an hour and a half, which was a nice confidence booster. When I get back to my home laptop to grind NL$50 for a bit with my $720, I end up losing 2.5 BI, then end up losing the next session I play when I was just shortstacking juicy NL$100 tables. For example, I remember losing KK to K9o aipf, AJ to 33 because 33 called a reraise preflop and flopped a set, my AT on a flop of JTT turn 8 vs Q9, and just dumb hands like that CONSTANTLY happening. It's just a neverending streak of annoyance where I can't have 2 winnings days in my fucking life. W/e, things will change soon. I may keep doing this with my friend, as well as going to live games, and taking a slight break from online MSNL.

Verneer, I lik eyour question about the skills set of a NL$100 reg vs a NL$400 reg...I'll actually explain the skill set diff between a NL$100 reg and a NL$200 reg, and a NL$200 reg vs a NL$400 reg:

NL$100 and NL$200 skill set difference: They're not a ton different, but I remember this was a big and difficult jump for me back in the day. The main thng is that NL$200 players will often not c/r bluff obvious flops (like 882r, J42r, etc flops) unless they have it. They're more likely to c/r very drawy flops where they can rep a multitude of hands on later streets as a bluff. They're also capable of merging their range and shoving over valuebets if the board is scary. They are pretty much more aware of what they're representing. They're more capable of making 4bet bluffs, resqueezing preflop, floating in better spots, and playing more pot control. They're also better hand readers, and can fold overpairs, as well as go wth shoves that are thinner than what one is capable of making at NL$100. Ppl are more fearless and more aggressive than at NL$200, and start getting fancy (maybe a little too fancy for their own good), but overall play decently straight-forward.

The main difference between NL$200 and NL$400 is the aggression. People at NL$400 are often fearless, and it's all about putting in the last bet (at least preflop). There is constant 3betting and 4betting. I've noticed that at NL$200, people often 3bet preflop without a plan, while at NL$400, if you get 3bet preflop and you shove, the person often either quickly folds or quickly calls, because it was planned out in their head. Their preflop 4betting ranges are also polizared...or at least should be. At NL$400, people are also very capable of telling when they're tilted/playing bad (my obv weakness), and also pay attention to when others are not playing their best. They play a lot based on flow and dynamic- if someone is getting frustrated, people will go out of their way to play pots with that person, because that person will eventually spew off their chips out of frustration. A lot of NL$400 regs will also game select, which often many NL$200 regs don't do. I'd probably say that most NL$200 regs do not analyze their hands in PT and surround themselves with a strong group of poker players as friends; instead, they let their ego take over and assume they can single-handedly destroy bigger games because they're winning at the moment. However, NL$400 regs often do things like post on 2+2, constantly watch vids, and often talk to others that also play at midstakes about questionable hands that they played. A lot of NL$400 players are also capable of making CIB-type plays (click it back...making a tiny raise or reraise) as both a bluff or with the nuts. They do it with hands occasionally like AQ on a random Axx flop in order to induce. This happens occasionally at NL$200, but NL$400 players often are capable of putting you to the test with the minimal amount of chips needed (ever wonder why the most successful 4bets are something like $105 to a $48 3bet)? They often give off the illusion that they are playing looser or crazier than they really are- NL$400 regs are often good at disguising their ranges and playing style until you have many hands on them.

Let me know what you all think, but I personally think that those are the skill sets of the different limits.

MarkWalhberg, btw, I'm too lazy to check my HEM, but I'm pretty sure we've only had a few hands together, and I don't believe we've played any big pots. Sn is a secret hehe.

Okay, so hopefully during this break I can do some more NL$200 6max hands at my friends; that way, I can really pick out when I'm feeling best so I can play as optimally as I can...plus when a person is behind me it is quite helpful. I'm planning on going to a live game next weekend too, or possibly even Wednesday. If one is playing live, it's not only easier, but it's much easier to step away from the table, and having a finite amount of actual paper money instead of virtual money makes it much easier to have managable losses. I'm ready to get into teh pokerrrz! Tonight I plan on getting disgustingly drunk for my friend's bday though... :)