10 reasons why you play "TAG" poker at micro limit ring games and still lose money...

10 reasons why you play "TAG" poker at micro limit ring games and still lose money...

I hear so many (bad) players whining these days about how they can't beat micro limit games playing a tight & aggressive game. Well they're obviously doing it wrong, and here's why:

1) You fail to recognize that your good preflop hand does not mean squat if the flop comes out badly.

2) You can't fold top pair, because its the best hand the majority of the time.

3) You think playing KJ and AT in early position is playing tight.

4) You slowplay.

5) You think players notice your tight play.

6) You go on tilt when your AK loses to some idiot with 97.

7) You do not raise/re-raise nearly enough before the flop.

8) You think folding 98 suited in late position to a raise is playing TAG.

9) You don't want them to chase.

10) When your opponent hits his obvious draw, you proceed to spew money to him anyways.

Can't say I'm immune to these things myself, but this is generally why you're losing money. You're a giant implied odds machine that doesn't get enough money out of their big hands, doesn't understand pot control with your mediocre ones, and then you bluff way to much and go on tilt and spew off more money.

Excellant post c9.

I must admit i used to be a losing player at micros and if there was a tick box next to all your comments im pretty sure i would have been able to tick at least 7 of them.

Must read for anyone new or struggling with micros!

Sadly #5 Kills me at the table.

c9h13no3 said:

You're a giant implied odds machine that doesn't get enough money out of their big hands, doesn't understand pot control with your mediocre ones...

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Nice post C9, this was my favorite part, but all good points and I know I'm guilty of a couple of them. When I first read the title I thought it was another thread about why microstakes were unbeatable .

Excellent post and a very good order, I think 1,2,4,5,10 are the big ones.

Yeah I aggree with this only if your losing obv, I play TAG and LAG but its complecated anyways I still win with TAG, but then again theres numurous things on that list that I DONT do

Good Post

Nice C9

Although folding 89 suited to a raise in late position isn't TAG, that's just being overly nitty imo

Excellent post. I've been guilty of all of these at one point or another.

I think the slow-playing one is especially relevant to the micros. My biggest pots at the micros come from someone slow-playing themselves out of the lead. Slow-playing should be used sparingly, and even moreso at the cheap tables.

switch0723 said:

Nice C9

Although folding 89 suited to a raise in late position isn't TAG, that's just being overly nitty imo

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What I meant was a lot of people think that playing "tight" means folding hands like suited connectors to a raise. Instead they call with hands like QJ off suit. >_X

actually on the top pair not. When mt TPTK goes to showdown, over the long run im a looser at showdown with TPTK.

interesting...

Munchrs said:

actually on the top pair not. When mt TPTK goes to showdown, over the long run im a looser at showdown with TPTK.

interesting...

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Yeah, I guess I should say on the flop. But either way, the main point is that players spew money with these 1 pair hands.

love the post, think I will print it and tape it over the monitor

c9h13no3 said:

You're a giant implied odds machine

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This is so true for so many. I wrote a blog post about this a long time ago, where the conclusion was this:

MrAwesomeHimself said:

Have you ever wondered how the hell that donk could possibly call the flop with nothing but third pair and a deuce kicker (usually something you wonder when he turns two pair or trips to beat you)? Well, if you lost a lot of money on the later streets, you’ve validated his play. You’ve made what was actually a poor play into a correct one. Arguing that your opponent has no clue about odds and wouldn’t know what an “out” is doesn’t change that fact. It doesn’t matter if he knows whether or not he’s playing correctly, it only matters whether or not he does.

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c9h13no3 said:

What I meant was a lot of people think that playing "tight" means folding hands like suited connectors to a raise. Instead they call with hands like QJ off suit. >_X

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twas a joke

I fall into this category bigtime. The way I see it most of the time though I can make a big bet with a great hand get callers hit top pair 2nd kicker and still lose to a str on the river.

I am going to start with the following....

I will fold all crap hands
I will not bluff
I will fold if there is a better and i miss the flop.
I will not chase as I have accused others of doing when they beat me.

I look forward to hearing more from you guys.

those ten things would be good on a T-Shirt
cuz the pool has been there and done that!

Nice post!

nice post C9

so true

3) You think playing KJ and AT in early position is playing tight.

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How about AJo UTG or UTG+1

kmixer said:

How about AJo UTG or UTG+1

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I generally think folding AJ UTG is a bit too nitty. Players will call raises with AT (or worse) and stack off with just an ace at micros. However, I wouldn't fault you for folding it if you tend to get too deep out of position with 1 pair hands.

kmixer said:

I will fold all crap hands
I will not bluff
I will fold if there is a better and i miss the flop.
I will not chase as I have accused others of doing when they beat me.

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I wouldn't make rules that are set in stone here. There's a time and a place for making 3-barrel bluffs in microstakes just like there are in higher limits. Its just they're a hell of a lot more rare, especially at full ring.

And you still need to be able to c-bet against guys, or expliot people who c-bet poorly. And there are *certainly* times when you should chase draws if you know you have implied odds to go with it. Chasing draws can be *really* profitable in microstake games because players just cannot fold. You just need to make sure the conditions are there for you to chase.

Very good post. I had to overcome quite a few of these things myself a few years back and finally started beating the micro's after correcting my misunderstandings.

Great Post... yea guilty of #5 as well...

c9h13no3 said:

You're a giant implied odds machine that doesn't get enough money out of their big hands, doesn't understand pot control with your mediocre ones, and then you bluff way to much and go on tilt and spew off more money.

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Guilty of 1 + 10 i think.

Also how would you advise not doing the above statement because sounds like me when i dont fully concentrate.

Jurn8 said:

Guilty of 1 + 10 i think.

Also how would you advise not doing the above statement because sounds like me when i dont fully concentrate.

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Play more in position. And when your nitty opponent is calling you down, learn to check behind on a street when you have a mediocre hand. This will save you SOOOOOO much money when you check behind on the turn and he overbet shoves on the river.

I read this and decided to play in a $.10/$..25 ring game. I brought in what was left of my BR. $10. And I trippled up in 5 mins lol.

Very good post you touch base on many game play situations. Alot of players including myself have lost due any one of your points. The sd thing is breaking a bad habit of chasing then when you dont chase the card shows up and we are back into the habit of chasing. The worst chasing is the allin preflop I call it russian roulette and it takes no skill to play that way.