micro limits are impossible

Yay, obviously I'm new to cc, but definately not in poker... I make a killing in live games, my nickname has been lucky since I was about 17, people who have played their whole lives wont come to my house game because eventually I just stack them over and over. But whatever I do, it is suicide online at low limits.


If I ever won consistantly at .10/.25 or ever.25/.50 I would gladly jump up in stakes to avoid most of this:

1. You simply cannot bluff: Example: I resraise as small stack on the button with AQ off suit. BB only one to call - had played loose all day. Flop is suited rags, he bets out - out of position with that crap hand but only 2 BBs. I know he called with atc, and I think he paired up, so I smooth call. the turn is a random face I miss of another suit - he checks... which he never does, unless he has something, so I check behind him, to look like I have a high card flush draw, then the 4th suited card hits, he bets out again - just 2 BBs, which is extremely weak (50 cents) even for a value bet, so just to test him on his flush card, I reraise him to 3.50 (7 times the guys bet) And after his time is almost up, he calls... with two pair, no flush and takes it down since I had AQ high. Was this an amateur bluff, or just a bad idea at micro limits.
2. backwards is perfect... My roommate makes a killing online, couple hundred a night, but always recognizes me as a much stronger player, since I pretty much taught him how to play, and always take his money at live games... but he plays 4 tables and just plays weak tight until he hits the nuts and goes all in, which is percieved as a bluff almost EVERY TIME, and gets called. It's amazing how backwards this is, but it works really well for him.
3. PreFlop raises are never ever respected. Which you think would be good, especially when you get AA, KK, AK suited.. etc. But some solid hands with position which would normally be perfect for a raise, like 10J suited and up, are now called down and destroyed by atc. Plus, once the pot has built up, you will have multiple callers, with multiple draws, and eventually be looking at a board you can't stay in and fold.
4. 989-1: is the odds to flop a set and lose to runner runner quads, and this has happened to me twice in 3 days in .10 .25 games. I retired after the second time it happened, and will only play some tournements from now on, and of course see you guys on the freeroll each week

thanks for getting through my rantings, hope to post much much more on here. Hope you guys can deal with my live game stories.

PS - got my first (and lmost likely last) royal flush last friday in my house game. My roommate has had 4. All on Full Tilt.

I'd strongly suggest reading Killer Poker Online by John Vorhaus. It deals mostly with the transition from live to online play. There's more to it than you would think.

As for bluffing online - specifically at 50NL and below, well you can pretty much forget about it. Playing a solid TAG game online with well-disciplined bankroll management rules, tilt control and paying good attention to your players tendencies can be enough to make a very good profit.

I'll check it out, but after the two boat under quads... so soon, I need a break from online poker for a while. I really like some of the stuff I've seen on this site so far, and can't wait to play you guys if not for some real stakes, at least in some free rolls for now.

thanks again.

I played the lowest limits on pokerstars and frankly i havent seen the type of loose play that people complain about. Yes you see it on some hands, but thats normal.

In general ive found everyone to be quite tight.

I know what you are talking about, I started playing lower limits and found it very difficult to bluff, any time I would try I would get called with low pair or something like that. I finally just stopped bluffing, ever, in low limit ring games. This has been working much better for me because people will still call me with their low pair, but I am never bluffing, so I win. If I dont hit top pair or better I fold to any bet.

You're right, never bluff.

On microlimits (at UB), I do 2 things.

A) I identify who is also playing really tight like myself. There are a few players at each table who actually know how to play (1 or 2). I avoid them like the plague since they're not easy money.

B) The only preflop raise anyone respects is all in. I'd do that with AA, but everything else, I'd just call.

C) Play anything that can make the nuts. Any pocket pair to make a set, suited connectors, suited aces. When they hit, they hit the flop in a big way, and then just make the other guys pay you when you make your hand by making potsized bets.

D) Never "play fancy". This means no bluffing, no slowplay. When you don't have a sick hand, don't bet. When you do have a sick hand, make massive, over the top bets. The donkeys will call you.

E) Wait until the last card. At lower limits, if there's a flush draw on the board, people will call anything to stay around and see if they make their flush. By dumping money into the pot, you're just making the suckout worse for yourself when the club comes on the river. Wait until at least the turn card to start hammering them.

You may want to take the plunge towards .50/1 or 1/2. It's where I've played most of my online poker. You still run into some loose players and bad beats but not nearly as many as those micro limits.

To make money in the micro games, do not bluff. There will be plenty of hands where you actually have something and you can make money by betting big against some dork who thinks his pair of nines are still good on a board of nothing but face cards. It's a riot.

E