Getting Killed in Vegas 2/4 Games and Can't Find a Way Out

[Yepitis]

SSHE takes awile because you got to get the full understanding of what they are saying to make it work. It's easy to take bits and peices of it but that can hurt your game badly.

[Frond]

Also, if you are going to keep playing SSHE, get used to the swings of 30+ BBs cause if you are playing aggressive as most of us are and recommend, you will be doing a lot more betting/raising than just calling. You will be contending for less pots but they will also be bigger on avg. becasue a lot of the pots will be raised PF by you or 3 bet by you preflop. This is something that Bernie pointed out to me a while back. Less pots played but bigger pots played. And it doesn't take a lot of these pots to book yourself a nice win. You can win just a few of the huge ones and do well for your session. In fact there are times where if I had just won one of the really huge pots in a session I would have booked a decent win.

[KitCloudkicker]

op, is this your blog? lol

[fishyak]

[ QUOTE ]
op, is this your blog? lol

[/ QUOTE ]

Please for the love God and all that is Holy, LET THIS THREAD DIE AND START A NEW ONE!

[gobbledygeek]

Good luck banzi. Hey, maybe start posting some problem hands and responding to other problem hands. The feedback you get will be very helpful (to yourself as well as to clueless noobs like myself).

[Hair_of_the_Dog]

I play in games like this as well. I pretty much think of any bet or raise I make as a value bet. If most people are calling I'd better have the goods. The great thing is you can just wait for a good hand and the calling stations will still pay off. This is only true in some games. They tend to be rather boring (and frustrating as you have pointed out) because you end up folding so much. The nice thing is you can generally play more drawing hands (suited connectors, small pairs & Broadway cards) because you aren't likely to be raised.

I played in a game last night where people would just call pf with AK-AJ, KQ (suited or not) and some big pairs. They are so afraid of getting "sucked out" on that they aren't aggressive. It's funny because this very thing lets the drawing hands in.

The LAG version of this is a bit different. If there is only 1 LAG I often isolate him with big-med hands. If there are multiple LAGs I tend to wait for a big hand and let the LAGs do the betting for me (unless they slow down).

This might sound similar to what you see, but you end up losing. It happens. I find that I might be stuck a rack in an 1hr, but 20 min later get my rack back +$20-50. These LAG games can take your $ quickly, but pay very well too.

Like someone posted earlier reading SSHE should help a lot. You might also consider getting a pshyc book as well. The Poker Mindset seems to speak to dealing with these ups and downs well. It is a little more touchy feely than other poker pshyc books, but it is good for dealing with tilt associted with what look like losing streaks.

[Scal007]

Hyperrrprank...

Just to clarify for me.... if you have TPTK the correct play is to come out betting and reraise if raised.... Stay aggressive.

Is there any situation where a check/raise would be warrented in this type of situation?

[AlienBoy]

[ QUOTE ]
Hero: AKh in cutoff. I raise to 4. Five people call.
Flop AK7 rainbow. Checked to me, I bet. One caller.
Turn 2 unsuited. I check, he bets, I raise, he calls.
River 2. I check, he bets, I raise, he re-raises, I cap, he calls and shows me A2.


[/ QUOTE ]

No one is folding an ace on this flop in 2/4 like ever.

The problem here is obvious - your postflop play is poor.


PF: Good
Flop: Good
Turn: Lead out, this is the wrong time to check raise.
River: WTF??? You couldn't have played it worse. Check/call or bet call here.

Read the post flop sections in SSHE, and post more hands here. You're not winning at this game because if you are playing hands like you played this one, you are losing because of your play, not variance.

You can buy SSHE (Small Stakes Hold Em by Miller/Sklansky) a book with a red cover, at Gambler's General Store. Go buy it today, and read it. Then re-read it every three months.

The Vegas 2/4, 3/6 and 4/8 games are more beatable than Los Angeles games due to much lower rake. If you can't beat these games, it's most likely NOT variance, but IS you POST FLOP PLAY.

Preflop play is basically rote. Simple. Post flop, you need to be on the second level at all times, and you can NOT just play your cards. In the above hand, you should have been thinking "gosh, what does this guy 3 bet me with on the river?"

Simple: What floats on a river? A BOAT.


AB