I’m still playing the $5/10 limit games on Party Poker. I haven’t played more than two tables at a time yet, but might try 3 or 4 soon. I’m feeling more and more comfortable with the stakes of play. The biggest differences from the lower limit games are there are more opportunities to steal and you tend to need better hands to win a large pot.

Money comes and goes a lot faster than it does at $2/4, so the bad beats sting more as well. Most major pots are around the $100 range and they’re usually heads up at the end. You might have a chaser or two calling to the river, but it’s rare to see more than 2 people at showdown.

It’s still a rare situation when I can lay down top pair with a good kicker or fold a big over pair, but I’ve done it a few times and been right. Poker Tracker is much more useful at the higher limits. It doesn’t take long to figure out if a player is there to play poker or if they’re simply using gambling for entertainment.

I’ve been able to put a couple of moves on some decent players, but I’m sure I’ve folded the best hand when others have pulled the same moves on me. I’ve called a turn and river bet a few times when I was pretty confident I was beat, but I also ended up winning some of those. My game is far from perfect, but it’s feeling better than it has in a long time.

I’d have to look at my stats to be sure, but I don’t think I’ve had a losing day at the $5/10 tables yet. I’ve had losing tables, but they’ve always been offset by a big win at another. Last night I play two different sessions for a total of 3 hours or so and came out about $240 ahead, pushing my bankroll back over $3,000 for the first time all year. I must be doing something right.