Starting Over - I need some advice

[ItalianFX]

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Italian,

have you read abdul's preflop strategy guide? rather than follow a chart exactly, think about why you are deciding to play KTo in some situations and not others. or against which players and tables you can 3bet KQs, etc...

know what I mean? you're not going to actually learn much from following a chart (though if you don't have the basics down it's definitely very helpful)

just my .02

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Never heard of that page until just now. I found it and will read it in a few minutes. Thanks.

And just for future reference: Abdul's Short Table Strategy

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actually I was talking about this, but everything this guy has written is worth reading IMO

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Even better. Well, I guess I pulled out something else that is useful.

[StellarWind]

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work on your preflop play mainly at first. go on a mission to figure out why your vpip is 18 and around here 25 is the norm.

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No! No! No! This is very bad advice.

Continue to play tight and work hard on your postflop play. Once your postflop play is solid and you are confident in it you can slowly start adding hands preflop. Playing tightly will not have any serious impact on your chances of being a winning player at 0.5/1. Most of your profits at that level are made by using strong starting hands to flop good hands and pulverize clueless opponents.

Postflop skills are where the money is. The only really important thing about preflop is don't completely screw it up. Any reasonable preflop strategy will work pretty decently.

The big advantage of playing tight is the hands between 18% and 25% are only marginally profitable for me. For OP they will be a constant source of losses because he doesn't have the postflop skills needed to make them profitable. They will also drive his variance up and it sounds like he needs some peace right now.

In summary let me say that in the bigger scheme of things it doesn't matter whether you open KJo UTG 6-handed or steal from the cutoff with JTo. It never did and it never will. Things like knowing how to value bet the river and when to get away from trap flops are what the game is all about. Not preflop nuances.

BTW, Mr. Wookie is dead right. I started this game two years ago literally not knowing the rules. I don't analyze other people's hands for their benefit. Doing the analysis myself has taught me almost everything I know about poker.

[ItalianFX]

Thanks guys for everything. I have been reading a lot, but so much that it's way late and I need to get some sleep so I can do it again.

I'm going to be starting a police academy on Monday (Jan. 9th) so most of my day will be committed to that, but when I am not busy with that or other personal things, I will be studying again, more and more.

Please keep the advice coming. It is really helping out a ton!

[sudic]

I'm in the same boat with you ItalianFX.

I guess I'll follow the same advice that they are giving you.

Good luck!

[car ramrod]

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Hi jba

I agree with your sentiment here, but it seems Italian needs some structure and work on basics before he can delve into stuff like abdul's writings. That's why the chart he linked to would be a great thing to follow. Nothing wrong with memorizing a chart and then, once you have it down pat, start to think about why you are doing what you're doing. That's how I did it, anyway

Btw that chart is pretty solid.


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Italian, don't take this the wrong way, but if you are using a chart to play pf, and you are still unaware of when raising a hand like QJo or KTo can be correct despite what a chart tells you, maybe you should not be playing 2/4 6max.

I would play .5/1 6max at Party, from what I hear that is super easy.

I have read your posts, and tried to respond to your hands, I think you are a decent player and it's good you are trying to improve and you are taking the right steps, but I would take a step back from 2/4 for a short time.

Hope that helps.

[ItalianFX]

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Hi jba

I agree with your sentiment here, but it seems Italian needs some structure and work on basics before he can delve into stuff like abdul's writings. That's why the chart he linked to would be a great thing to follow. Nothing wrong with memorizing a chart and then, once you have it down pat, start to think about why you are doing what you're doing. That's how I did it, anyway

Btw that chart is pretty solid.


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Italian, don't take this the wrong way, but if you are using a chart to play pf, and you are still unaware of when raising a hand like QJo or KTo can be correct despite what a chart tells you, maybe you should not be playing 2/4 6max.

I would play .5/1 6max at Party, from what I hear that is super easy.

I have read your posts, and tried to respond to your hands, I think you are a decent player and it's good you are trying to improve and you are taking the right steps, but I would take a step back from 2/4 for a short time.

Hope that helps.

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I definitely am steping away from 2/4. The BIGGEST reason I was playing there was because the bonuses I was trying to clear. It's tough playing smaller limits when you have to have a certain amount to the rake. Empire is pretty easy to clear and the games are pretty soft.

All-in-all, the variance swings are making my heart suffer because I'm trying to gain a bankroll, not lose it. I am too results oriented thinking that 100$ is a good day, when I should be thinking in BB, not $$.

I started a new database on Pokertracker and so far I am doing well. I played 1/2 on Empire because I am finishing up the last 30% of my bonus and I think it's ok to do that on Empire for the time being. I'm probably going to give up on the Absolute bonus, that is alot harder to clear. I'm not down much on that site so it's not that big of a hurt to walk away before it gets worse.

Whatever I lost now, so be it. Studying the game, improving myself, will gain all of that back eventually.

[ItalianFX]

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if you are using a chart to play pf, and you are still unaware of when raising a hand like QJo or KTo can be correct despite what a chart tells you, maybe you should not be playing 2/4 6max.

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Can you elaborate as far as QJo and KTo being correct despite the chart?

[car ramrod]

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Can you elaborate as far as QJo and KTo being correct despite the chart?


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it's been a while since I looked at the charts but, I would assume it says you should not play KTo with 1 limper when you are in mp1. Now, lets say the utg limper is 65/3/.7. I am rasing this and trying to isolate teh bad limper.

A lot of pf plays are situational, so only using a chart will mean you miss out on some +ev spots. But, it's not a bad place to start.

The important question to ask yourself, is why should I raise pf, or just limp behind 3 other limpers. Don't do it just b/c teh chart says to, once you understand why you are doing it, the game gets easier.

[jba]

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if you are using a chart to play pf, and you are still unaware of when raising a hand like QJo or KTo can be correct despite what a chart tells you, maybe you should not be playing 2/4 6max.

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Can you elaborate as far as QJo and KTo being correct despite the chart?

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here's what I and and I think others were talking about

two situations:

you are in the hijack and the co, button, sb, and bb are all very loose, like 40-50 VPIP. maybe a couple of them are aggressive as well. I'm folding this, because KTo is decent hand but it plays best in heads up situations, and playing it multiway in a raised pot in bad position is a money burner. But give me QTo in the hijack against weak tight players and I'll raise it all day.

I think the point is to look at the relative strengths and weaknesses of a hand, realize that in some situations a hand can be a winner but if you change one or two things about the table conditions it's a big loser. Understanding these things can go a long way in improving your game.

I think StellarWind nailed the thread though. It's postflop mistakes that will tear up your earn, and I don't think there's anything wrong with an 18 VPIP if you're finding yourself lost and out of position a lot postflop, the rake is high (cutting into your WR on marginal hands), and your opponents are unobservant.

[SomethingClever]

Were you playing 1/2 and 2/4 6-max on Absolute? Because those games are awful relative to those at Party and Poker Stars.

Also, you're weak-tight. You're not playing enough hands, and your postflop advice is consistently too conservative.

So, my recommendation is to move down to, say, .25/.50 6-max on Stars and play a little looser and more aggressively. If you have a reasonable hand and the pot is heads-up, make sure you're getting to showdown a lot. Stop seeing monsters under the bed and continue getting bets in the pot when you have strong hands. Keep reading hand posts both here and in Mid-High short handed.

Good luck.

Edit, I just read Stellar's post and it is better than mine. While you will eventually need to loosen up, your postflop leaks need immediate addressing.

Out of curiosity, what is your Went to Showdown % in poker tracker?