Need some advice

[margrades]

Just started to play for money at low limits 5-10 cents. Games appear to be fairly loose. Should i just sit back and wait for premium hands? Should i play out of position more often? Seems everyone goes to the river and catches a card. I really need to reread small stakes and advanced player by sklansky but need some advice from fellow micro players at this level

[Guitierez]

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I really need to reread small stakes

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... and protect your good hands, and make them pay for outdrawing you.

[BigBadBabar]

play good hands, be aggressive with them, and value bet a ton, and you should be able to beat this level without any trouble. there are some good charts around here with starting hands that should suit you fine.

[martybonus]

BBB gives some solid advice, as does Gut. I wouldn't worry about reading HFAP at these stakes. Even some sections of SSHE might get you into trouble.

You should know that raising for value and raising for protection come bundled together in a neat little package. So when you raise for value, you get protection free!

Your villains probably do NOT understand pot odds, so you should definitely ignore the bit in SSHE about raising MP for protection in big pots . PM me if you want more info, or just trust me on this. Raising solely to protect your marginal hands will only get you in trouble.

Instead, focus on raising for value. Raise TP where you can, or bet every street with it. The Raise-bet-bet-bet line will be your friend here. And as it happens, raising TP will serve to protect your hand anyway!

Cos these guys are going to call you down with bottom pair, MP, etc, no matter whether you raise or not. By raising for value with your stronger hands and NOT raising to protect your weaker ones, you save yourself from sticky situations with MP.

I guess I'm trying to say play ABC poker.
1) Use the 'loose' hand chard in SSHE.
2) Bet for value
3) be prepared to get sucked out on ALOT. Get used to it
4) remember that you way you play HU is very, very different from multi-way.
5) villains don't differentiate between how they play big and little pots. Take this into account when YOU play these different-sized pots.

best of luck!

[DigitalDeuce]

Do NOT attempt bluffs in multi-way pots..even HU most of the time (you can practice this with blind battles some here and there).

Instead, semi-bluff for value in late position (on the flop). Build a pot/thin the field and possibly buy yourself a free card for your draw.

You need a good hand to call a bet on the flop in a limped pot (adjust "good hand" based on the types of hands that are winning at your current table).

Be aware of your position AND the flop texture. If the flop has draw potential all over it and there are players behind you to act, consider folding to a bet or checking to see what happens (unless you have a big hand, then bet for value)

Remember, folding is OKAY! Every bet you save is a bet you earn. The fewer bets you lose the less likely you will be to tilt, which can be devistating at low limit (especially with a minimal BR)

Some will disagree with this, but fold small PPs in early position in games that are being raised a lot preflop, EVEN in low limit games. You're out of position and you'll HAVE to flop a set to win the hand. This will save you a lot of headache.

D_D

[Hoskinator]

Play Strong hands.

If you want to play a few more hands then play Axsuited and K x suited. You really only want to play these hands in unraised pots with a lot of limpers because these are good drawing hands and are only profitably with a lot of people in the pot (because you don't hit them very often). The other hand I like is a pocket pair, if you hit a set then come out betting, if you don't drop it if other people show some aggression (unless you have an overpair)

Basically you want to play good hands and play aggressively. So if you get AK, AA, KK then you want to be raising and reraising preflop.

When ever you hit the flop make sure you are betting it up and don't be afraid to reraise and be aggressive when you have a good hand. You have to bet to drive people out of the hand but you don't mind people staying around because it means they are putting in more money for you to win, sometimes they will win on the river but most of the time they are putting money in when they shouldn't and ending up with the second best hand.

You want to aim to have a rough V$IP of no higher than 23 and even that is maybe a little bit loose.

good luck

[Ampelmann]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I really need to reread small stakes

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... and protect your good hands, and make them pay for outdrawing you.

[/ QUOTE ]
Forget about this protection stuff until later. In a loose limit game you can protect from almost nothing. You value bet.

[Hoskinator]

I'll reply to my own post.

POSITION is key. Don't play marginal hands in early position because if someone has a good hand and raises you are in a very bad position.

Marginal hands - dangerous money leaks. Try not to stay in a hand with stuff like second pair and calling it down to the river. This is particuarly bad in multiway pots, you almost always lose. Remember you get nothing for second best hand.

COLD CALLING - don't call 2 bets (or more) with marginal hands like J10 suited, QJ etc. You will almost always lose and probably be dominated

I often write myself notes on what I think I done wrong in the last session or how I think I should play it properly after thinking about it. Here are some of the notes, excuse you the misspelling and all that. They are just things to think about

I need to tighten up and play position a lot more.
don't chase small pots with overcards

NUMBER OF HANDS PLAYED
I am playing too many hands epsecially out of position, I need to bring it down to low 20's

POSTION
I need to pay more attention to position and especially the different hands I play from different position. Don't find yourself with a good/marginal hand in early position because what are you going to do, come out betting or check and basically give up the hand.

STARTING HANDS
Tighten up. Consider the hand you are playing compared to your position

COLD CALLING
I think I need to stop cold calling with hands that aren't up to the task

RAISING
I think I need to raise more especially before the flop.

CAP IT
Just because someone has raised it, don't just call. if you think you hand is good then raise it up. This will stop people drawing out on me and put more money in the pot for me to win.

DON'T LIMP
either bet or fold

POCKET PAIRS
the only way you can win with pocket pairs in early position is by flopping a set, which is a 1 in 7 occurance. if someone raises you are surely not getting the odds to play this and also if you are in early position, it will be difficult to play if you miss the flop

J 10 suited
Don't play this from early position. It will only be good if you flop a straight. A flush could be out gunned, a pair could be very weak but you won't know it until the other players have acted. This is why you should only play this in late position.

STEALING BLINDS
Look to steal blinds if there are not many people in the hand and if no one has raised.

STEAL BLINDS FROM THE BUTTON + 1
same as above, it's more risky but could be easy money. Look out for an opportunity.

CONSIDER THE SIZE OF THE POINT
before every action you take you must consider the size of the pot because it effects everything. you want to gamble in the big pots (bluffing, waiting for an overcard) but think twice about such things in a small pot. don't
folding too often in large pots
playing too passively in multiway pots
PUNISH THE LIMPERS
Bet them all those limpers away, what are they limping in with anyway

SMALL BLIND
don't always complete the small blind if you have a terrible hand. Consider the size of the pot (pot odds) but also consider that you will have to lead off with this hand for the rest of the hand, is the hand good enough.

FOLDING - WHEN NOT TO
don't fold on the turn if you are in a hand with a fish, they will raise anything.
don't fold easily in a big pot

FOLDING - WHEN TO
if you don't have anything on the turn and there aren't many people in the hand - i.e chasing

CALCULATE THE ODDS
you need to know if its mathmatically the right thing to do. Especially when chasing flush, overcard draws. This practise will also mean the well known pot
odds will start to be remembered. Practise makes perfect.

BAD SESSION
review a bad session and see what mistakes you made

AFTER THE FLOP
calling preflop is not the biggest error but calling with rubbish after the flop is, don't, especially with J 10

MULTIWAY HANDS - POSITION - POCKET PAIRS, SUITED CONNECTORS, J 10 SUITED
you want to play these hands in big multiway pots, so you need position of at least middle position
Basically I think you are loosing to much money playing these cards in early position and then staying with the pot for a bet when the main monster hand is off and you are only in the hand looking for a pair.
BEGINNERS GUIDE LINE - Small Pairs (66-22)...If it has been raised in front of you, to play you need to be almost sure the pot will be five-handed or more.
REVIEW - MY SESSIONS
look at the last session in poker tracker and critique your performance, what went wrong and why. What would you do if you were to have that hand now.

REVIEW - OTHER PEOPLES STATS
looks at the winners on your tables, what statistics do they have and what are you stats

NUMBER OF HANDS PLAYED
I am still playing too many hands out of position

HAS IT BEEN RAISED
I need to take if there has been a raise ahead of me and then drop the more marginal hands

POSITION
this is the daddy of importance, the better the position the worse hand you can play. Don't play marginal hands in early position e.g. suited connectors, small pocket pair. you don't know if someone is going to raise it after you.

VALUE
when you bet on when it's a marginal decision, you should probably fold if its a tough decision but keep note of the bets spent and whether it was successful and profitable in the long to continue to bet like this and play like this.

CONTINUATION BET
look at the texture of the board are there straights, flushes? How likely is it that someone has something. look at how many people are left in the hand. The more people there are the less likely they are going to be driven away. This again shows the importance of playing in late position because you will be able to see if other people bet and how many people will be left in the hand. This way you can work out pot odds more accurately and know that people aren't going to raise it behind you.

ODDS
keep working this out and perhaps put a chart next to your computer. I should hopefully get better/quicker at calculating pots if I keep practising.

BLUFFING
It is more difficult to bluff with some types of flops since there is a good chance that your opponents either have a good hand or a good draw. Generally, flops with two high cards, two-suited flops, or two or three connected cards make it more difficult to bluff successfully. AGAINST MORE THAN ONE/TWO OPPONENTS BLUFFING RARELY IF EVER WORKS
Some of the more common bluffing situations include:
• A bet on the river when you have missed a draw and you thin] opponent has either a weak hand or missed a draw also
• A bet on the flop in late position when no opponent has demonstrated strength
• A bet on the turn in late position when the flop and turn have been checked
• Betting out of the blinds when all rags fall
• Betting out the flop after raising preflop
remember on the internet weak players will probably call you with anything and nothing
MISTAKE
is playing/continueing this hand a mistake
Players who make the fewest mistakes make the most money, so be sure to give your opponentsopportunities to make more mistakes rather than making a mistake yourself.

[martybonus]

my god hoskinator! that's some post/reply.

some minor corrections seem in order. It would hardly do if we gave inaccurate advice!

the raise/fold notion PF is not always good advice. entirely depends on the table and how many players have limped in. more limpers = more liklihood that you'll limp a playable but not raisable hand (eg 55).

this is the same for trash hands like QJ and 9Ts. I'm limping these if I have lots of callers in front of me. i'm never open-limping them though, even at bodog.

the 'fold in a marginal situation' advice is based on pot size. you're calling down in a huge pot HU, even if it's a marginal situation. but if it's a puny pot and multiway, when in doubt, walk away.

you'll hit a set on the flop with a PP more like 1/8 of the time, not 1/7. (2/50+(2/49)+(2/48)=.122 1/8 = .125.

you should review EVERY session to see how you played. a big mistake n00bs like me make is to only think about their game when they're losing.

with respect to c-bets, you probably should be c-betting on basically every board. stay in tempo.

[Ampelmann]

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DON'T LIMP
either bet or fold

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Well, actually I'm one of the guys that always say "don't open limp." But there are situations in which open limping is OK: 88 or 77 in EP (on loose passive tables any pp down to 22), suited broadways like KJs, KTs, QJs typically are OK to open limp in EP unless the table is very tough. If the table is very loose passive you can open limp JTs and middle suited A's in EP.

At very loose passive tables you can even open limp stuff in early MP (esp. smaller suited A's, some pp's).

However, when there are limpers in front of you, there are many hands you'd rather limp than raise or fold: middle and small suited connectors in LP, middle and small pp's in middle and LP, many suited 1-gappers on the button (depending on the number of limpers), middle and small suited A's in MP/LP, KJ, KTs, K9s, QTs, Q9s in LP (depending on the number and type of opponents).

Some of these hands (middle sc's and small pp's) become raising hands again if the following two conditions are met:
(1) the table typically is tough, tight and aggressive
(2) for this particular hand there are several limpers

At loose-passive tables you shouldn't bother to raise 87s or 55 in LP after 5 limpers. You only cut into your implied odds and they'll pay off anyway when you hit.

So, limping often is OK. Even open limping sometimes is OK. At loose passive tables even open limping in MP can sometimes be OK.