Learn to Play Small Pots Better to Improve Your Win-rate

Alright so I doubt I'll get much response to this because it actually involves discussing poker and it's not just some thread sayin "Pokerstars is Rigged" but what the hell.

So, I've had people ask me before, "What's the secret to improving your win-rate?" And I usually respond, analyze your game after and look for leaks. (post hands for analysis etc.) The problem with this is that when people analyze their session, human nature predominantly tells them to look at the big pots they played and analyze this. (Most hands posted in HA are usually like this) Now one might ask, "Well isn't this what I should be doing since big pots are most important?" The simple answer to this is "NOOOOO!"

The thing about big pots is that usually they play themselves out, at least for mediocre breakeven players which this thread is intended for. It's really hard to make a huge mistake in a big pot b/c the decisions are usually straightforward and if they are not then both decisions are usually relatively close in terms of EV. This is why, imo, you should be analyzing you small to mid size pots of the session.

These are the pots where say you Cbet a flop of 10 9 3 rainbow with 10 4, check back the turn, and say are faced with a decision to value bet river or not. (Just a quick example to get my point) You are faced with decisions like this every hand. These seemingly "small" decisions are the ones that separate the players barely beating or breaking even from the ones that are crushing the level.

By analyzing your play in these smaller pots, you can really help boost your win-rate.

i agree this is on of my greatest mistakes in ring is evaluating big pots and forgetting the small mistakes we all make during a session.

do you think that keeping the pots as small as you can without giving proper odds for draws to call, makes a big difference in your win rate (which was impressive btw) mistake of over betting drawy boards,raising too much preflop, bad sized c-bets, and c betting when we should be checking a flop, etc.

It is a valid point. Specifically how would you recommend that a player go about doing that ? Are you recommending that one should review every hand in a session, or only some sub-set ? If the latter, how does one select the hands to be reviewed ?

If reviewing a large number of hands, what are we looking for exactly ? What process are we using ? I don`t dispute that there is merit in looking at a wider range of hands. I just wonder how you recognise small leaks once you step back and take a wide-angle view.

Yeah, but pokerstars really *is* rigged.

FWIW, I totally agree. People leave way too much value on the table in small pots. There are usually great spots to value bet or bluff, but because the pot is small, they just ignore it and check the hand down (or call instead of raise).

C9 I think what he's trying to say is that Stars is only rigged in BIG pots, so if you want to beat the rigged site you have to do it in medium sized ones.

Nice post Rileyl and I agree.

I mean if one had infinite amount of time you could go through every hand but this is obviously not realistic. I usually just open up PT3 immediately after the session and just look through some hands trying to have an objective mindset. I usually remember certain hands I want to look at and if not usually just look at pots that are in the moderate size range.

What I'm looking for is spots where maybe a value bet on the river is warranted, or spots where a bluff probably could've won the pot. Or maybe spots where I Cbet when I shouldn't have. A spot I could've probably squeezed and I maybe missed. Just little things that most people don't spend near enough time going through.

The key is that if you spend enough time away from the table thinking about these spots then it will come naturally at the table without as much thought.

I could almost guarantee if you took some time and did this it would help any player a tremendous amount.

Lol yes exactly!

I've read an article online about this in the past - author was saying pretty much the exact same thing... 'reviewing small pots' and how this is where you'll make up the difference in your overall winrate.
I know I have a leak as far as making thin value bets on the river (one of many that is).

I think the problem alot of people have is that they get "satisfied" with what's in the pot and end up missing tons of chances for thinner value.

The key is to just get better and understanding what your opponent perceives your range as based on your actions. If your hand is better than what your opponent perceives your range as then you bet. This is kind of simplifying but it really helps to think about it this way.

If you've never value-cut yourself, you're not v-betting thin enough. Here's an example, and I totally expect this villain to call with 5x or pocket sixes pretty often (and I don't think there's many T's in his range).


Ultimate Bet, $0.50/$1 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players

Hero (MP): $341.29 (341.3 bb)
CO: $100.43 (100.4 bb)

Pre-Flop: Hero is MP with 7♥ 7♠
Hero raises to $3.50, CO calls $3.50, 3 folds

Flop: ($8.50) 3♣ 5♦ 10♠ (2 players)
Hero bets $4.85, CO calls $4.85

Turn: ($18.20) J♥ (2 players)
Hero checks, CO checks

River: ($18.20) 2♥ (2 players)
Hero bets $9.50, CO calls $9.50

Results: $37.20 pot ($2.35 rake)
Hero showed 7♥ 7♠ (a pair of Sevens) and lost (-$17.85 net)
CO showed 9♣ 9♦ (a pair of Nines) and won $34.85 ($17 net)

This is actually one of the things I am trying to work on in the game.

I cbet air a little too much and value bet thin a little too little making me look like a clueless maniac when I am really a multi-faceted genius!

I figure reign in my cbets a little and think about the right times to get money in and everyone at the table will begin to see my sparkletasticness for what it is.

So here is the question...

When your opponent is a little wild (or has he adjusted??) and likes to c/r value-looking river bets more than others at the table might, how do you approach the same sorts of situations?

You actually running into people who bluff ch/r rivers at the micros cAPS or are you just running into opponents at the top of their range? I don't know that I've seen too many people who bluff c/r the river. Generally just fold when you get raised on the river unless you're have the nuts or a read that you opponent get out of line too often on the river to always have it.

Well I play the itty bittiest tables. There are both maniacs and people check raising at the top of their range.

I know to avoid the solid players when they check raise and lighten up for the manics.