Getting drawn out on at lower limits....

Hey....playing at $.25 - $.50 limit tables i'm finding it kinda frustrating at times when i'm trying to play good poker....i'm playing pretty tight and aggressive when i have good hands and learning to throw cards away when i'm beat.....but so often i get beaten by fools(maybe i think they are fools cause they are pissing me off and drawing out on me !!haha) calling my bets to the river with low pair or 3 to a flush on the flop then getting running suits to beat me or pairing they're second card on the river. Would it nearly be fair to assume that you may do better up a limit or two if you were playing reasonably well to avoid these players sucking out on you as regularly?? I understand that the standard of play is somewhat better but if you are playingwell yourself could it just mean less hands that you get drawn out on?? Some thoughts on this would be great.......i'll have days where i can't win a hand because of this happening! Advice please!!Thanks guys.....and gals

In a word, "no".

Getting sucked out on is much more common the lower the limits, but if you can't show a profit there, you won't show a profit at the higher limits either. If you play in a way that should be profitable (tight and selectively aggressive) then there's no reason you shouldn't be crushing a $.25/$.50 limit table. There is still variance, however, and no one can win anything if the cards aren't coming your way. But when your opponents go against their odds on a draw, you're taking their money. The variance will even out, and you will end up on top.

Make sure you're properly bankrolled, and fight it out. You'll see downswings, maybe as great as $50, if you're having a really tough time, but your bankroll should ideally be around $150 for playing at those limits, so you should be able to withstand it.

There are ways to increase your profits by using their tendency to draw out on you against them. For instance:

You hold
A♥K♣
UTG. You raise preflop. You get four callers, including the big blind.
Flop comes A♣9♦7♦.
Blind checks to you. "Standard" play might be to bet here, but you have to realize that the pot is already ~10 small bets. Another small bet will give everyone the odds to draw to almost anything, including inside straights. Instead, you check. What you hope for is that someone else, preferably the last position player, will bet. Then, when the action comes to you, you raise. That way, the players between you and the bettor will have to call TWO bets, instead of just one. That will not give them the odds they need to correctly call with an inside straight draw, and they should fold. If they don't, they've made a bad call, and will (in the long run) pay you off for it.

There are other variants of this type of play - where you're controlling the size of the pot to create unfavourable odds for your opponents - but this might be a start.

Oh, and I'd consider investing some money in a book. It'll pay off, bigtime.

Good luck.

Thanks....i have read a bit..super systems ...a bit of sklansky...and chan. I started with $100 got up to $210 back to $150 and am now about $175. After about 3 weeks playin a few hours aday....what would you consider "crushing " these tables?? had some tough games lately card wise like playing for 3 hours or so and only winning 2-3% of the hands had a few sesh's like that lately....ty

Making around $4 per 100 hands on average, is probably doable at $.25/$.50. Your bankroll has a good size for the limits you're playing. We all have downswings, and it doesn't have to be an indication of bad play at all (at least I hope not - they happen to me all the time!).

Pimping my own article, but have a look: http://www.cardschat.com/new-player-advice.php

Maybe you'll pick something up.