Am I still playing too tight?

[Norb]

I have played small stakes FR Limit now for about a year and this was going quite well. Recently I moved to short handed limit (6max) and now I'm trying to adjust my play. First time my preflop hand selection was quite too tight but I noticed this and adjusted appropriately.

After this adjustment, I played about 1000 hands and it worked quite well. But now, it seems like I'm under a witch's spell. I can play as well as possible but there goes nothing further. My winnings are stagnating and I don't know what's wrong. Because I know that my postflop play is quite well, I can only assume that I'm still playing too tight.

But how can I determine this? Here are my momentary PokerTracker stats:

VP$IP: 26.72%
PFR: 10.63%
Flop AF: 3.26
Went to SD: 30.92%
Won at SD: 54.97%

My PFR is a litte bit low but I think it's because the copetition plays very loose and I have nearly always limpers in front if I enter at middle or late position. But the other values seem to be ok. Could somebody help me? Which value is a good indicator about my preflop looseness? How can I adjust my play to win again? Or am I maybe on a downswing?

Thanks very much for your help!

Kind regards, Norbert

[nickg1532]

26 vpip is fine imo, but you need to raise more pf.

edit: i see you realize your pfr is too low. don't be scared to raise your good hands even with limpers in front of you.

[511 Peas]

I realize my low amount of posts may make this advice seem questionable, but you should seriously consider reading Sklansky/Malmuth/Miller's SSHE ("Small Stakes Hold 'Em) as your stats (nice, save pf raises) are telling me that you haven't. If you have and own it, RE-READ PARTS ONE AND TWO, as you simply must push your edge pre-flop. Re-read it, or buy it; it is invaluabe.

There is another side to this: When not raising much pre-flop, YOU ARE NOT FEARED. When your opponents don't feel the pressure of your superior play at ALL time during the hand (pre-flop, in this case) you are NOT feared, thus giving your opponents ample opportunity to make casual and relaxed decisions (as you've forefitted your chance to "get their hearts beating"). When they're relaxed and confident, they make better decisions. When you've raised after three limpers, those limpers are now thinking "oh [censored], why did I get involved here" instead of "let's contemplate what this flop is going to mean for my hand."

Yes, you're giving up plenty of cash by failing to push your edge pre-flop, but you're almost more importantly allowing your opponents to play better, more thoughtful poker (not to mention encouraging them to limp and suck-out on your TT and KQos). MAKE THEM CRAP THEMSELVES. It's in your best interests.

Conversely, do you tire of getting sucked-out on by T-5 suited? Don't like the fact that you can't bluff a pot in a low-limit 6-max game? IT'S BECAUSE NO ONE FEARS YOU. Many of them are going to stop doing so when they realize (either truly or falsely; it matters not).that "the best poker player at the table has yet to act."

THEY MUST FEAR YOU. If not, you are forefitting one of the most powerful advantages in 6-max hold 'em: FEAR AND DOMINATION.

I know where you're coming from. I played similarly when I first transitioned to 6-max. Force yourself to raise properly, even if you don't want to or find it counter-intuitive. If you need guidelines for doing so, consult SSHE. DO NOT GIVE UP ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL WEAPONS IN POKER: FEAR. Doing so is crippling your bankroll.

Take care, and I hope to see you on the tables- raising me off hands and pots.

[Norb]

[ QUOTE ]
I realize my low amount of posts may make this advice seem questionable, but you should seriously consider reading Sklansky/Malmuth/Miller's SSHE ("Small Stakes Hold 'Em) as your stats (nice, save pf raises) are telling me that you haven't. If you have and own it, RE-READ PARTS ONE AND TWO, as you simply must push your edge pre-flop. Re-read it, or buy it; it is invaluabe.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you very much for your advice! I own this book already for about a year. The first time when I studied it, I was a newbie and had, of course, big problems in understandig the content. In fact, this is for sure no book for beginners. Later on, when I played full ring already for a few months, I took a second look inside. But because some people told me that the described concepts within this book are too aggressive for full ring play, I oriented myself more by reading other literature. Of course there are quite helpful chapters inside this book but I used only few things from SSHE.

But now, I think this book is the real stuff, especially for short handed play where you need to be much more aggressive. I will study it once more.

[ QUOTE ]

I know where you're coming from. I played similarly when I first transitioned to 6-max. Force yourself to raise properly, even if you don't want to or find it counter-intuitive. If you need guidelines for doing so, consult SSHE. DO NOT GIVE UP ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL WEAPONS IN POKER: FEAR. Doing so is crippling your bankroll.


[/ QUOTE ]

How long did you take to master the short handed tables?

I have some more questions. Maybe you or somebody else could give me an answer please.

In case of full ring play, it is said, that you should abandon your hand if you don't hit anything reasonable on the flop. Not on the turn, on the flop! I ex. if you have 2 overcards and don't hit anything on the flop and there are no backdoor draws, it is a very marginal case and you should better dump them. But in case of 6max tables, I often recognize, that my opposition bets out with nearly anything, even if they don't connect to the flop and later they get lucky and make a higher pair or something else usable and beat me. Is this a correct play for shorthanded tables? I guess not, am I right???

Something else causes me big headaches. Normally it is said, that opponents who bluff by themselves are also bluffable by other players. But I have quite often the impression that my opponents are calling stations but they try to bluff others (especially me!) quite often. Can this be true? How to play against such opposition?

And one last question about my preflop hand selection. Now I see the flop overall with about 40% of my hands (from all positions, blinds included). Is this a good value? Or does it need some more tuning?

Anyway thank you (and other board members) a lot for your help! This discussion forum here is really great and the people give me valuable hints to improve my play.

With kind regards, Norbert

[slvrlakesmoke]

V$IP is fine, but you need to raise more preflop. Try to get your PFR up to around 15% or so. Also, I don't know if this is just me, but I think that you should show down more hands, as many marginal hands become profitable in 6-max. My "went to SD" is normally around 40% or so. Increasing your number of showdowns will decrease your "Won at SD" slightly, but not doing so means that you are passing up some +EV opportunities.

[TheHip41]

went to SD, 30% in 6-max = getting run over