2/4 is destroying me (-700 bb stats post)

[rafiki]

hmm I think the went to showdown is too low for someone playing 20/16ish poker. I tried short handed 2 years ago and got absolutely blasted then. And then I started making a lot more calls in close situations and started taking down some good pots. It also helps create an image that you won't fold. that can be essential when trying to combat people looking to bluff you a lot. Personally I find the skill of short handed low limit games on stars to be absolutely terrible. So you must also be running bad, assuming you know what you're doing.

[detruncate]

I don't know where you're playing, but if you're in my 2/4 games I'd suggest:

1) Tightening up up front a bit. 17% UTG seems a bit much when you're almost always going to get at least one coldcaller/3-bettor and will have to play the hand out OOP for 2 bets.

2) Open up significantly in CO/BU. This usually means you should steal more. I've purposely trimmed my steal range a bit given the preponderance of loose/spastic players + relatively high rake, but even so mid 30s is where you want to get to at a minimum. Start adding some hands and gradually work your way up.

Also consider what you're playing vs a raise. There may be spots to 3-bet a bit lighter vs very aggressive players and/or coldcall multiway that you're missing out on.

3) Defend more. You're folding way too much. You probably don't have to defend as much as at higher limits for a variety of reasons, but at least get yourself into the low 50s fold to BB steal. There are lots of hands that can be played "fit or fold" profitably getting an effective 5:1 (pf + c-bet). Though you have to expand your definition of "fit" to include peeling some flops with 2 cards to 2nd pair, one over + bd draws, etc. on friendly boards.

4) Have a look at what you're doing from the SB. You can find some more completes in a 1/2 structure. It's almost always a combination of fewer steals, fewer defenses, fewer sb completions that are responsible for the difference between low and mid-high 20s VPIP for studious players. I've played both ways and this has been my experience.

6) Along similar lines, you can play some more hands from the BB vs a raise multiway. You're getting worse implied odds than from the SB in an unraised pot since you have to pay a full small bet instead of 0.5, but getting 7:1+ there are a whole whack of playable hands, and even 5:1 is plenty to take a flop with for many suited and/or connected hands.

6) Your aggression numbers are way out of whack. I honestly don't know how you get anything like 4+. You're not showing down that often, but even so that's hugely over aggressive. Does your software not come with a call button? Talk to tech support about that.

You seem to be playing a nut peddling style, and going overboard when you connect solidly to boot. Think hard about what sort of lines you're taking, and against whom. It's fine to go balls-out aggro vs a lagtard who only has one speed, but even at this limit lots of people will slow down more quickly than you might think. And many of them will take shots but give up when played back at. You let these people off the hook when you immediately go over the top every time rather than letting them bluff multiple streets when the board isn't too scary.

There are also lots of times where you're effectively a coin flip and both parties are committed to showdown. Or times you'd prefer to wait for the turn or river rather than just hammering the flop. And you don't always need to pump draws. Often just calling is a better idea if you're up against someone who's overwhelmingly likely to make it to showdown more often than you'd like.

Playing OOP vs a TAGgy 3-bettor sucks a lot. There's no way around that. They might be attacking you a bit light because you look exploitable, but chances are you're just running into big hands when you're weak. It happens, and it's tempting to think you're being picked on at the time. Maybe so... but probably not. Take a few more hands to showdown sometimes and/or throw in a semibluff here and there if you think someone is taking liberties. One of the nice things about being so tight is that your semibluffs get a lot of respect if you pick your spots well.

You're probably running a bit bad, but I've played more than enough hands using a similar pf range/wtsd % to know that it's very difficult to win money that way. You have to play especially well post flop since you're foregoing so many edges. You don't have to immediately aspire to LAGTAG status, but I strongly suggest making gradual changes.

Pick an area an focus on it for a while. Like tell yourself you're going to figure out why people are completing more than you are from SB, and which hands you should think about adding. Pay a lot of attention to what you're doing in game conditions. Talk out your reasoning as you go, a la JoeTall's famous suggestion: "there are 3 bad limpers in the pot, and I like to play against bad players... + the bb isn't very aggressive, so I'll rarely have to face a raise... which gives me a comfortable 7:1... I can complete my XXs." Once you feel you're on the right track, move on to another area.

Replying to posts + making some of your own about spots you're uncomfortable with would be a good idea. And watching a few videos (pay for play or some of the free ones floating around) may help you get some insight into what other people are doing and why.

Hang in there. If you work at it your results will improve eventually.

Best of luck and happy pokering.

[Oink]

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but if you're in my 2/4 games I'd suggest:


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Wow. You play 2/4? You post WAY too good to play 2/4 IMO

[rafiki]

holy heck I didn't even notice the AF. Ya I'd be curious to see how you get it so high with having such a low go to showdown rate. That can't be good. If you're putting in that many bets, it has to be with the intention of showing down.

[MartynasD]

Man.If u lost 700BB u are LOOSING PLAYER.DON~T play
unless u not care about your money,and playing for fun
2/4$ limits it`s easy to beat.If u loosing there u beter not play poker at all

[detruncate]

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but if you're in my 2/4 games I'd suggest:


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Wow. You play 2/4? You post WAY too good to play 2/4 IMO

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The money I make via pokering is necessary income for me, and I'm just coming back from burnout-induced roll depletion -- I hardly played for months, and didn't win much when I did, so I made the decision to dip into my roll and get away from the game for a while to try to regain motivation.

Grinding it out at low limits can be unfun. Plus I post better than I play for any number of reasons, and this seemed like a good opportunity to finally improve my game (in a relatively stress-free environment) to the point where I'm comfortable that I can hold my own vs you lot when I'm finally rolled for 5/10 again.

But I appreciate the compliment.

[Guy McSucker]

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holy heck I didn't even notice the AF. Ya I'd be curious to see how you get it so high with having such a low go to showdown rate. That can't be good. If you're putting in that many bets, it has to be with the intention of showing down.

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If you bet and raise a lot, your opponents have a lot of opportunities to fold, and if they all fold you don't get to showdown.

But high AF doesn't just mean a lot of betting and raising. It usually means a lot of folding too: if hero doesn't feel he can raise, he often mucks instead. That's why Oink and I think he's got too much of a fit-or-fold approach.

[pegboy]

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Man.If u lost 700BB u are LOOSING PLAYER.DON~T play
unless u not care about your money,and playing for fun
2/4$ limits it`s easy to beat.If u loosing there u beter not play poker at all

[/ QUOTE ]

The same might be said of your misspelling and posting.

[rafiki]

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holy heck I didn't even notice the AF. Ya I'd be curious to see how you get it so high with having such a low go to showdown rate. That can't be good. If you're putting in that many bets, it has to be with the intention of showing down.

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If you bet and raise a lot, your opponents have a lot of opportunities to fold, and if they all fold you don't get to showdown.

But high AF doesn't just mean a lot of betting and raising. It usually means a lot of folding too: if hero doesn't feel he can raise, he often mucks instead. That's why Oink and I think he's got too much of a fit-or-fold approach.

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Ya truth be told I don't know a lot about how the AF formula works. I just found his incredibly high. But if you're saying AF can be affected by folding a lot, then my answer is that OP is folding too much...

[sethypooh21]

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Man.If u lost 700BB u are LOOSING PLAYER.DON~T play
unless u not care about your money,and playing for fun
2/4$ limits it`s easy to beat.If u loosing there u beter not play poker at all

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The same might be said of your misspelling and posting.

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English is not his first language, dewd