Simple Question

[gotmarc]

I built a bankroll of about $500 playing home tournaments against people that didn't have a clue, so I haven't really played at the casino except for a coupele times in vegas where i played limit $2-$4, but it's hard to beat the rake in short handed games @ those limits.

I've got to admit there are some things in Super System that are confusing. Some of them just do no work when there's "not a lot of money on the table." The going all in when you get re-raised on a double belly buster draw. . . I could see this working if you have a $20,000 stack, but it won't work with a $20 stack. In most loose onlne games you'll get called too much to be profitable. This is where i made the majority of my mistakes.

I also recently read the No-Limit Lowball section of the book, also written by Brunson. I would imagine most people just skip this section nowadays since you can't harly find lowball games other than triple draw 2-7. Brunson said he had an argument with his calaborators Mike Caro & the late Joey Hawthorne about statistics. According to Brunson, ". . .in No-Limit you're typically betting about the size of the pot. So . . . if you get called (or raised) over half the time, it's a losing play." Well, at the modest limits I'm starting out at you get called over half the time.

I re-reading Sklansky and Miller's NLHETAP book. I've been taking notes and as an aside it also taught me how to calculate child support. I also find Harrington's c-bets a lot more "reasonable" than Brunson's. They just make more sense.

As a result, I've noticed I do a lot better at sit and goes than ring tables. I use two totally different styles. Do you think my EV would be better if i used a style similar to my sit & go strategy at the ring tables? That is a tighter more patient strategy closer to Harrington's tourney style rather than Brunson's super aggressive style?

[lucky_mf]

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I re-reading Sklansky and Miller's NLHETAP book. I've been taking notes and as an aside it also taught me how to calculate child support.

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NLHETAP is definitely an intermediate book. Aside from the chapter on preflop raising guidelines it doesn't really offer much in the way of of a recipe for how to play. Beginners are likely to be overwhelmed and advanced players will read it and say "I already know all this stuff."

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Do you think my EV would be better if i used a style similar to my sit & go strategy at the ring tables? That is a tighter more patient strategy closer to Harrington's tourney style rather than Brunson's super aggressive style?

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The thing is Doyle's strategy is only aggressive post-flop. The better shorthanded players today raise a lot more hands pre-flop that Doyle recommended. They are also very aggro post flop, but fall short of pushing it all in every time they flop a double belly busters or flush draw and get played with. There are different kinds of draws, different board, and different kinds of players. Depending on the combination of draw-board-player different plays are going to be better.

For example, a very tight player in early position raises and you call on the button with QTs. The flop comes KJ2 (rainbow). You have an open str8 draw, but your opponent probably has a hand like AK, KK, or AA (given that he is tight and raised in EP). Here you really don't want to get pushy with the draw because he will likely call or raise (you are not going to be able to get him to fold and he might raise you off your draw). You are much better of calling and trying bust him when the A comes.

If the the flop were the same but suited in spades and you held QTspades, you may want to just go ahead and try to get the money in as you are a likely a favorite and you don't want to play the draw a street at a time. Also, if the raise was from an aggro player in the CO, you could play the draw much more aggressively, because he isn't going to have a hand to call with much of the time.

I think a "common sense" approach to the aggro style advocated by SS with a wider pf raising range (depending on your ability level), less c-betting, and a limited use of over-bets (i.e. not pushing $80 into a $20 pot) is probably the best strategy to beat most cash games these days.

Lucky