Micro verses high limits cash games!!

Hi, looking for advice on playing poker online. I can play poker live (in clubs etc) and I do quite well, so I thought I'd look into playing online for a living, but wow what a different kettle of fish.

I thought I'd start on low limit buy ins - 0.05 - 0.10c, to see how I fair and for some experience at playing online, but everytime I at least double my money I seem to come crashing down no matter what I do. I can get premium hands but still get beaten. Has any one else had the same experience. When I research this I have read that in low limits, poker sites seem to have a 'fairness policy'? Whereas higher buy ins seem to be left alone. Does anyone know if this is true? And if it isnt whats going on, why cant I win on micro limit no matter what? Should I leave these alone and play on higher buy in cash tables and if so, what size would anyone recommend?

Thanks guys

I would say moving up is the worse thing you could do right now. Concentrate on beating the level your at or you will surely lose everything eventually, unless your a pro or something? and I dont mean that sarcastic either.

Is it possible to win on the low limits though, I see some very strange things going on, for eg, playing $6 sit and go, had AA, blinds going up quite high so went all in with 2000, got called by chip leader who revealed his cards to have 4 & 2 unsuited, then the flop comes - 4 4 & 2!!!!!!!!! Its as if he knew, is this normal? And why on earth did he call me with 4 & 2! Do you still see the same sort of thing happening on higher buy ins?

It is different. Most comparisons say $1/$2 live cash games play similarly to 0.05/0.10 games online in terms of skill level.

This is heading toward the "rigged" catchall thread that's already waaaay long.


Variance is going to be wide at 0.05/0.10 levels because the players don't understand things like expressed and implied odds, they just have a hand and want to see a flop. That being said, AA is supposed to lose to 98s one out of 5 times.

Then as you go up in levels, variance will swing also but more because the aggression levels increase as you go up in buyin levels.

I dunno about your own playing level, but the general advice is that if you can't beat the micros, you'll just get eaten at the higher levels.


And, not knowing anything about blind levels, stack sizes, ect, in your SnG example, if you're short and he's deep, it might be correct for him to call with 42s, or 72o for that matter, all depending on the situation.

Yeah not enough info was givin in the example, but it also depends on how you were playing in the SnG, if you were playing tight, he might of been thinking that his 4 2os were both live cards and he wanted to gamble with them. And dont worry to much about those kind of beats, they happen to me alot too.

You should move up to whatever stakes I am playing, those are the ones that are not rigged.

Welcome Lindy, to the Twilight zone that is the Micro's. Here you will see all sorts of crazy shit that you thought impossible !

...like, how can that guy call when i bet pot and a half on the flop, and put him all in on turn, when he only had bottom pair no draw? and i've got top 2 pair....only for him to river another 6 to give him trips. big sigh, huge feeling of dispair, wishing that bottle of Jack D was within reach.

It happens all the time. some players just call with anything. and don't forget, your probably seeing 2-5 times more hands per hour online, so you will see more of everything, not just suckouts.

i don't know anything about sites being rigged and to be honest it doesn't matter. you will get suckouts now and again, its just the way it is. this site is littered with bad beat stories, like the one you mentioned.

i read a post somewhere that said good players get sucked out on most, because you have your money in more when you're in front, rather than behind. it was a good point. another was: would you have done anything different if the cards were face up? if the answer is 'no' then you played correctly and got unlucky. (another post i read somewhere, not mine)

don't be disheartened by not winning much at these stakes yet, it does get better.

my advice, for cash games at least, would be to play really tight for a while and get a feel for the tables/players. Dont Bluff. Full stop. just don't do it. (well, alright, unless your SURE you'll get away with it, and i mean 99.99% sure) otherwise forget it, you'll get called down with bottom-mid pair every time.

If players at this level go all in - you'd better have one hell of a hand to call. they will almost always have an extremely strong hand. if you haven't then fold. this lesson will come learned anyway, but knowing it now may save you a few buyins. just move onto the next hand.

Look for the players that are weak/cally and play them. Make them pay to see cards on wet boards and when you hit make your bet sizing good.
slow play the idiots and trap them with big hands, letting them bet into you, trips is great for this.
Stay away from the regulars, those who aren't playing any/many hands.
use the player notes box and make notes on weak players, even more notes on good players.
add bad players to your 'buddy' list so you can search for them and sit at their tables.

i'd also suggest investing in some software such as Hold em Manager sometime in the future (there's loads of posts about it).

basically, just play ABC poker, enjoy your game and don't look to make quick money, it won't happen. its called 'grinding' after all.

I don't really play SNG's so someone else can give you good advice on this. But, I hope some of this helps you with your online cash game and i hope you soon start to enoy it more.

Good luck at the tables.

Truffle.

What stakes are you playing at?

At the same time, expect to see people putting their money in the middle with very weak hands. Things like A5 on a AKQT7 board for example, I see that a lot

The more you play, the better you'll get.

One experience I've had is when you get used to playing in higher level games then go back and play in micro you will not believe the hands some of these people are playing and how easy it is to push them off a pot well not to many times, just depends on what cards fall, LOL I mean there's been times I caught myself yelling at my pc screen, I don't usually do that when I play higher level games, I"m usually busy thinking about my next move

Try playing Rush poker on FT. Most players will not play really bad hands, will fold to a raise because they can move to the next hand right away. That's not to say that the Ax won't hang in to see the flop on a 3BB bet. So you still want to be careful. People do play a wider range than strictly premium, especially from position. Variance still holds sway.

Try it at the lowest levels -- even there, the play is somewhat better than on regular ring tables. Rush doesn't help you get the sense of real ring games, because you are not playing the players so much as the cards and position. Also, you cannot really build an image because it's new players each hand. (Unless they have a HUD.... but let's not go there right now.)

People play differently online than in person. There is no penalty for doing something stupid and getting really lucky. And only the player knows whether he's winning or losing. Some folks will say that because online play is tracked at various sites, others can indeed get a sense. But Rush is not tracked yet.

Another thing. Bankroll management.

You can play at any level you want if you can afford to redeposit when you lose your roll. If, however, you want to grow your bankroll and not sink more and more money into online poker, you need to set limits and move up and down only as allowed. Chris Ferguson's BRM plan works pretty well. If you are, overall, winning.

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Try and play .01/.02 that way you can start good BRM for a low price(40 bucks) and 2nl is easy to beat so you probably won't have a problem.