A list of newbie questions.

[Burcak]

I am a newbie to small stakes games (having graduated from micros recently). I wanted to ask a lot of questions that I think might also interest other newbies like me. I made this as a kind of list, I think it is way easier this way.

I have cruised through a list of "legendary threads" posted here yesterday, and I learned a lot, but don't remember seeing the answers to these questions, and some posts are very old, and the metagame might have changed. So if I ask something that was answered clearly elsewhere, excuse me, it isn't that I don't care, it is that I made a mistake.

Onto the questions;

[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] To put it frankly, I have only recently discovered (on these forums) that rivers are bluffable. Is there an estimation of the percentage of river bluffs one has to make? Like, if you are bluffing 15% of rivers, you are probably also bluffing in unprofitable situations etc.

[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] More on the river bluffs. On the hands that people post and ask for advice, they are usually told to bet more on the river when they have a good hand, and bet less when they are bluffing. Basically, people are told to bluff almost exactly half the pot when bluff, and bet the pot when they are strong. Am I misunderstanding something? Are these advices wrong? If not, what other bets are we making half the pot to disguise our bluff?

[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] My turn aggression factor is lower than both my river and flop aggression factors. I think this usually due to the fact that I want to be able to fold to a river reraise allin. Is this wrong? If so, why? And again, if so, what adjustment do I need to make? Note that my opponents usually have like 60bb, so if I bet pot, pot, I usually have to pay off to any river reraise.

[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] I am playing 4x9-player tables. I see most people play 6-player tables. Are 6-player tables so much more profitable that it is worth making the change? Is it possible to play equally profitably 6 tables?

[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] Who are those guys losing all that money.

[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] Let's think of an imaginary poker player called Phil. Let's say you will know Phil's winrate at the 50$ table, and bet on whether or not he will win (even marginally) at the 100$ table. What odds do you need to take, if;

-Phil is winning 10bb/100
-Phil is winning 7bb/100
-Phil is winning 4bb/100



[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] Watching High Stakes Poker on the laptop while playing 4 tables? Big nono? If my bb/100 is the same at both spots? Do I "learn less" while I am doing other stuff? Or is this just a concern of bankroll?

[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] You are playing "ABC" poker on your regular table. You notice some LAG takes advantage of this by making weird things like minimum raises, overbets etc. What should you do? I noticed that, if the blinds min raised everytime I raise, and c.bet everytime I call, there is no way I can play profitable poker. Moreover I might get off my game really quick, since I have no idea. What do you suggest?

[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] Do you think it is possible to learn to play LAG, so that even if you are playing TAG usually, you will have a better shot at knowing what the LAG does? Do you think it is worth it?

If this post is somehow inapproppriate, I won't be offended if you say it, and will refrain from posting similar things in the future.

Thx in advance, I would be grateful even if just a minority of these questions were answered.

[Rounder101]

I dont think there is a %of bluffs u should make on the river, it just depends on the situation. If a scare card hits u may fire, if u feel ur opponent is weak, fire again...

Turn is one the hardest street to play. Im not really sure about this, but my turn agression is much higher than the river AF. I would be interesting in hearing some other comments.

6max is a lot more profitable, much more fun, faster, and u improve much more ur game IMO. 6 tabling, ur BB/100 will probably decrease, but ur $/hour will increase, simply by the fact u will be playing much more hands an hour.
I dont think u improve much ur game by watching HSP, and it is a huge mistake, since u lose some concentration, especially if ur multitabling. I watch it for fun, but not while Im playing.
I think u should know how to play lag, and depending on the table, ur image, etc. switch to it from time to time. It might help to see how LAGs think and play, watching some videos on the internet.

[Conan776]

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[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] Watching High Stakes Poker on the laptop while playing 4 tables? Big nono?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, this show should only be watched in a sensory deprivation chamber or quiet sealed padded room so that the fullest possible awareness of Gabe Kaplan's comic timing may wash over you. Very +EV.

[Pokey]

[ QUOTE ]

[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] To put it frankly, I have only recently discovered (on these forums) that rivers are bluffable. Is there an estimation of the percentage of river bluffs one has to make? Like, if you are bluffing 15% of rivers, you are probably also bluffing in unprofitable situations etc.


[/ QUOTE ]

You don't just "roll the dice and bluff 11%" -- you pick good bluffing opportunities and you bluff at them. The bluffing opportunities depend on

- Your opponent
- Your table image
- The actions in the hand so far

Some opportunities are just obvious: you've got J[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] T[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] and overcall a small raise from CO (maniac) when you're on the button. Everybody folds. The flop comes Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] 9[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] 7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]. Villain bets, you call. The turn is 3[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]. Villain bets, you call. The river is 6[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]. Villain checks, you bluff.

Other opportunities are more subtle, and you'll have to decide on them based on your reads, your image, and your intuition. Only experience will hone this.

[ QUOTE ]

[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] More on the river bluffs. On the hands that people post and ask for advice, they are usually told to bet more on the river when they have a good hand, and bet less when they are bluffing. Basically, people are told to bluff almost exactly half the pot when bluff, and bet the pot when they are strong. Am I misunderstanding something? Are these advices wrong? If not, what other bets are we making half the pot to disguise our bluff?


[/ QUOTE ]

If the only time you ever make a half-pot bet is when you're bluffing, then yes, you're screwing up. Other times to bet half-pot include (but are not limited to):

- When you've got a mediocre hand OOP and you want to block the river.
- When you're afraid of a bluff and have a hand that can stand some heat.
- When you have a great hand but your opponent won't pay off anything but a small bet.
- When you've got a great hand and you want to look "scared" to induce a bluff-raise by your opponent.
- When you crush your opponent's range so badly that he can't possibly have anything strong enough to call a full pot-sized bet with.

[ QUOTE ]

[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] My turn aggression factor is lower than both my river and flop aggression factors. I think this usually due to the fact that I want to be able to fold to a river reraise allin. Is this wrong? If so, why? And again, if so, what adjustment do I need to make? Note that my opponents usually have like 60bb, so if I bet pot, pot, I usually have to pay off to any river reraise.


[/ QUOTE ]

Under normal circumstances I'd say "don't worry about stats, just play your game," but here your game itself is flawed. If you're checking the turn so that you can fold the river, you're playing too timidly. You check the turn when you have a good reason to check the turn -- pot control, free card, disguising your monster, slowplaying, inducing a bluff, earning a call on the river when it looks like you are "desperation bluffing," etc. I'll even occasionally do it for pure metagame purposes, so that my opponents know that a c-bet followed by a check doesn't automatically mean that I've got air. If your sole reason for checking on the turn is to give yourself room to fold to a river bet you need to rethink your postflop game. You can't always have the nuts; sometimes, you've got to get the money in the middle on a roll of the dice. Don't be afraid -- there's some good profit in it.

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[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] I am playing 4x9-player tables. I see most people play 6-player tables. Are 6-player tables so much more profitable that it is worth making the change? Is it possible to play equally profitably 6 tables?


[/ QUOTE ]

Most of us play six-max because the games are:

- Faster. You usually get about 100 hands per table per hour instead of about 75.
- Looser. The opponents are playing more hands so you've got more rich targets to choose from.
- Target-rich. Imagine if there's one complete imbecile at your table: a 92/3 fish who can't find the fold button with a flashlight. Would you rather be trying to carve him up with 7 other sharks or with 4 other sharks? With fewer sharks you get a bigger piece of the chum on average....

If the full-ring tables played as loose as the six-max tables, I think you'd get more money multi-tabling the full ring tables. They don't, so most of us find six-max more profitable.

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[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] Who are those guys losing all that money.


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They are your benefactors. Treat them always and forever with respect and kindness, for they pay your salary. (In other words, don't tap the effing tank.)

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[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] Let's think of an imaginary poker player called Phil. Let's say you will know Phil's winrate at the 50$ table, and bet on whether or not he will win (even marginally) at the 100$ table. What odds do you need to take, if;

-Phil is winning 10bb/100
-Phil is winning 7bb/100
-Phil is winning 4bb/100


[/ QUOTE ]

I have no clue because the question is badly defined. A "winning $50NL player" is not uniquely identified by a winrate. Some people win by set-mining, some win by short-stacking, some win by LAGging it up expertly. Some win by preflop domination, some win by postflop skill. In short, there are a zillion ways a player can win, and some of them translate well to higher limits while others don't. The least likely to do well would be the LPA who sees a bazillion flops, splashing around for 1 BB, hoping to catch lucky and make a mint on the flop. Given that the $100NL tables are more aggressive the LPA will find far fewer opportunities to "splash around," and his main source of revenue gets destroyed. Nits will also have a hard time, since a set-miner becomes glaringly obvious as the stakes advance. Play an honest and skillful ABC TAG game and you'll do about as well at $100NL as you did at $50NL. If you can adjust to table conditions, you'll do even better than that.

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[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] Watching High Stakes Poker on the laptop while playing 4 tables? Big nono? If my bb/100 is the same at both spots? Do I "learn less" while I am doing other stuff? Or is this just a concern of bankroll?


[/ QUOTE ]

You and your multitasking generation....Feh! Concentration is a valuable skill that is rewarded monetarily at the poker tables. Only when you know your opponents and their tendencies can you maximize your winrate. Playing on autopilot can be vaguely profitable, and if you're just in it for the money, spoiling an hour or two while you watch TV, then have at it. If your goal is to squeeze every last dime out of the tables and suck the marrow out of the bones of your fallen enemies then you'll need to do it with no distractions.

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[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] You are playing "ABC" poker on your regular table. You notice some LAG takes advantage of this by making weird things like minimum raises, overbets etc. What should you do? I noticed that, if the blinds min raised everytime I raise, and c.bet everytime I call, there is no way I can play profitable poker. Moreover I might get off my game really quick, since I have no idea. What do you suggest?


[/ QUOTE ]

This is the most basic of questions, and if you asked it in the uNL forums they would probably poke fun at you. The answer is "adjust." He's raising and c-betting you 100% of the time? You have tons of options.

- Four-bet all-in, either as a bluff or as a value bet.
- Smooth-call with a monster and call down, letting him aggro himself to death.
- Smooth-call with a speculative hand and raise any scary-looking flop, whether it hit you or not.
- Tighten up your preflop raising range and mercilessly hammer him with four-bets.
- Open-limp speculative hands on the button, rather than open-raising them, so that you get better implied odds.

Some of these sound crazy, but when your opponents are misbehaving wildly your best bets for exploiting them are often crazy-sounding.

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[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] Do you think it is possible to learn to play LAG, so that even if you are playing TAG usually, you will have a better shot at knowing what the LAG does? Do you think it is worth it?


[/ QUOTE ]

When I first started playing six-max I did this. I went to the $25NL tables and ran 35/25 for a few thousand hands. I won very little money but I learned an immense amount about the game. Give it a shot. Alternatively, buy a six-sided die and roll it every time you're in the small blind. If it comes up "6" then play the next orbit LAG; otherwise, stick with TAG. Your opponents will have fits trying to adjust to your random play, and you'll still learn a tremendous amount about the style.

[Conan776]

Everyone says 6-handed is the same as 9-handed if the first three players always folded, but I find the differences more subtle.

[ QUOTE ]

Most of us play six-max because the games are:

- Faster. You usually get about 100 hands per table per hour instead of about 75.
- Looser. The opponents are playing more hands so you've got more rich targets to choose from.
- Target-rich. Imagine if there's one complete imbecile at your table: a 92/3 fish who can't find the fold button with a flashlight. Would you rather be trying to carve him up with 7 other sharks or with 4 other sharks? With fewer sharks you get a bigger piece of the chum on average....

If the full-ring tables played as loose as the six-max tables, I think you'd get more money multi-tabling the full ring tables. They don't, so most of us find six-max more profitable.

[/ QUOTE ]

Of course, the contrary becomes true because of those beliefs.

--6 tops have a higher percentage of sharks. Even the fish figure this out, so there's more fish at 9 handed
--Hiding in the reeds can't be done as easily 6-handed. You can zero in on your targets; your targets aren't as likely to be zeroing in on you
--The game is tighter, which makes reading hands easier. Even if they are 20% tighter, with 30% more players, more players are likely to see the flop, so:
--It's a different zen. If you came up from playing SnG's, like me, you get used to the 9-handed game. If you've got the full ring game figured out, you might be best off sticking with what you know.

[Rounder101]

great post as always pokey