My Poker Stats

Villain is a 38/11/49%(2.45) aggro-fish.

Sorry, but when I see someone with those numbers sitting to my right, I think "yay, free money!" You're too passive preflop, too aggressive for your weak hand range postflop. However, given the horrible play at 2$NL, you're probably a big winner.

Stop limping so much, and start raising more. And just fold a ton of those hands that you just limp with preflop.

yeah, vpip/pfr/af stats would be horrible at higher stakes. If they work for you at 2nl, that's fine. Just realize that if you ever decide to move up, you'll need to play much tighter and to dramatically reduce the spread between vpip and pfr.

TX for the honest replys!

These stats were from the last 6 Months. When I started poker I was mainly playing the premium hands. So right now Im trying to widen my range. As for the limping, I think at these stakes it is inviting to limp and see a good flop that might pay you off.

I do very well right now but I definitely want to move up (someday). What stats should I be aiming at ?

There's no correct stats. If everyone you play with is a 100/100/0, then you're probably playing close to correctly. You could play a 40/10 style of poker an win, but the key word is "could", and you'd have to be flat out exceptional postflop.

Most good full ring TAGs have stats around here:

VPIP = 15%-20%
PFR = 11%-15%
AF = 2.5-3.0

So basically I have to get the VPIP down, which means less Limping/Flops ? I think with higher stakes, this will definitely go down.

Boro, yeah definitely stop limping so much and probably bet more preflop. What C9 posted here should be taken as gospel for you.

I will work on it, but I think it will be of greater importance once I move up. I found this on 2plus2 and it pretty much sums it up for the lowest of micro-stakes.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/32...stakes-340740/

Best Regards,
Boro

Limping a lot is certainly not the standard way to play this game. It doesn't mean you can't be profitable doing it. The player below crushes 100nl on FullTilt playing 20/5

http://www.pokertableratings.com/overview/betyarb

I still wonder how he does that, btw. Trying to play at his tables when i can in order to learn what he does so right postflop to compensate to all the money he looses preflop.

The 2NL tables, at least at PokerStars, are exceptionally passive. It's pretty easy to see a $0.02 flop. And, given that you can buy in for 250BB, I can see how someone with good post-flop play can be successful by limping with a very wide range of cards.

Personally, I stick with more premium starting hands, but I'm not surprised that this Speculator Style is so profitable at these stakes.

Yep the very deep nature of these micro table's means if you are table selecting a little and playing hands 250-500bb deep against people who will stack top pair type hands then limping more marginal hands becomes profitable. However once you move up the stacks become shallower 100bb, so the stacks you do win when you hit your monster will win you less, the players will also get better, meaning you will get less and less players stacking marginal hands post flop.

So yea, do what was suggested, unless you want to be playing the micros forever

BTW, i think this could be a very good argument for not playing the super micro stakes if you aim to become a player at decent stakes. It makes you pick-up bad habits that will cost you a hell of a lot more when you move up than what you gain by exploiting super fishes at the lowest levels.

Online poker is a game where you have a very limited time to take your decisions, so most of your decisions will be based on learnt behavior instead of in depth thinking, and that makes learning micro-stakes specific behaviors super expensive once you move up.

At 2NL you can get away with limping heaps since postflop you'll get called a lot when you make the nuts. You want to listen to other posters and drop some of your limping hands especially the ones in early position.

I would first start by maybe cutting the 40% VPIP down, and do it gradually. Maybe drop the unsuited connectors from your range regardless of position. Hands like A-x, KT, QT, unsuited would be next to go...

you are playing way too many hands. i dont like seeing more than 30% of flops. a good average would be between 20-25%. sometimes even less is fine. you just want to make sure you are playing really good cards. you win more and play better poker if you play less hands, but only really good ones

Hi there,

it has been a while, but I wanted to keep an update of my progress. I moved up only one level to the .02/.05 Blinds and got so owned it wasnt even funny. I have no problem being honest

Interestingly I still run very good at 2NL but I definitely see my weaknesses as you all told me in this thread (Special thanks to C9). I am not afraid of the "developing bad habits at because of playing 2NL" issue, as I for sure know that I have to work my way up and already identified some of my leaks in the game. I just didnt think that they appear so drastically within one blind level. But proves me right for stayin in my comfort zone for so long.

I think I will work on it as follows:

Event though I am very comfortably winning with my play at 2NL, I will work on changing it as proposed here in this thread (playing less hands, if one is worth playing it will be worth raising, else fold). I already have no problem folding the easily dominated hands like KJ facing a raise or oop.

I somehow am sure this will lower my win rate at first, but will increase my discipline towards moving up. Maybe I will mix my sessions, resuming my regular play and afterwards working on my game.

Another factor will be that right now I am shortstacking, buying in with only a $ and leaving when I doubled. So instead of moving up in blinds, buying in higher could be a "slow evolution". The shortstacking prevents costly mistakes, but in fact I know that it rewards mistakes (as I can do more mistakes without going broke on them). But in order to get better I have to overcome this "comfort zone".

Further I will start to multitable also and hope it will help me reduce my hand range.

I will keep you updated!

Yours truly,
Aggro Fish Boro

PS: See my other Thread for my story in poker

Oh and just to clarify: When I talk about my winrate I know it is pennies/pocketmoney, but that doesnt mean anything as I consider myself a student of the game. Nevertheless I am winnig which I see important for my mindset

You are exactly correct. Your win rate may go down because you are playing less hands and you will frequently get drawn out on with those hands. There is at least some debate as to what strategies work best at 2NL because of the massive amount of bad players... "schooling principle".

One is to play very tight and try to get as much money in the pot as you can with big hands and just roll with the swings.

Another is to play a more LAG game and make your winnings by outplaying your opponents post-flop.

I decided to just deposit a bit more so I could get past the damn 2NL because it's frustrating as heck and a few bad plays here and there can crush your win-rate at 2NL. Well actually I switched over to SnG's, but that's beside the point.. I moved past the $1 Sng's to the $3 and am having much better luck.

Point is: it's debatable what strategy is best for 2NL.. but one thing is for sure... you'll have to roll with the big swings that come with it.

P.S. winrate in cash games is typically measured in BB/100 (big blinds won out of 100 hands)
P.P.S. do yourself a favor, if you haven't already, get a stats program like Holdem Manager, Poker Tracker, or Poker Office. Or even FPDB (free poker database) http://fpdb.sourceforge.net/

edit: i see you already have a stats program :P so nvm that.

Hi,

its around 28 BB/100, which of course is only 56 cents LOL thats what I meant about pocket money, but I still win continuosly.

The swings are no problem, its a continious development which I think comes from strict bankroll management and the shortstacking. Heres my Graph from the last 6 Months:



But it is obvious that I need to work on my game because I do not want to be at NL2 forever. Bankrollwise I could afford a higher Limit, but I cashed out and as I saw the last days am absolutely not ready.

BTW, I played the 1$ SNGs exclusively for a while and was ITM around 25% of the time, so it was pretty similar to my cash games. But Im a ring game player, SNGs and tourneys are just for fun while I want to generate a continiuous gain at the cash tables (even if it takes me years

Best Regards,
Boro

I use Poker Copilot for Mac, but I will definitely get my hands on HEM or maybe PT (I would prefer HEM, but heard that PT is coming for Mac - might take ages).

If you're not already multi-tabling 2NL, then maybe you should start playing a few extra tables. You can cut down your hand range and actually increase your hourly rate, even if your BB/100 goes down slightly.

Also, if you're buying in short, you should do some reading on "short stack strategy", because there's definitely some moves you shouldn't be doing with a short stack. Like calling a bet with a low pocket pair to hit a set; you simply don't have the chips to make that move profitable.

I wouldn't worry too much about developing bad habits at 2NL. I think every poker player should have a gear that they can use to play against the worst players. You'll need it less and less as you move up stakes, but you'll definitely still need it.

I'd wish you good luck, but with sound bankroll management and a desire to constantly improve your game, it looks like you don't need it.