palmerd2's cash game strategy, analysis, and study thread

To my fellow CC'ers:

I have been intending to start my own cash game thread here for a couple weeks now, but really wanted to provide the forum with something besides the usual session results and tricky hands. Therefore, I have determined that this is going to be more of a strategy thread where I will post mine and links to other's thoughts on micro no limit poker. Of course, there will a fair amount of self-analysis but I am striving to keep from being results-oriented. Here, we will primarily be discussing game theory and ways to consistently beat micro-stakes online poker.

-David Palmer aka "da Prez"

A little bit about me:

I just graduated college and currently work full-time at an office. I have always put in my forty hours, then sit on my ass and do nothing. Poker has changed that completely, because now instead of playing video games or going out drinking for cheap thrills, I can make money doing something I enjoy.

I have been playing online poker since June 2010, and got serious about it once I deposited $300 on Stars. Since then, it has been up and down with a lot of down coming from playing Blackjack. I am about a breakeven player lifetime, with $542 cashed out and $520 deposited. I currently have $140 on Merge and no funds elsewhere.


Graphs and Results:

Please look me up on PTR to view my graph (link here) or use Poker-Edge (link here). I started out on MTT's on Stars and Bodog but then switched to Merge cash games two months ago. You can still find me playing the occasional Dollar Dazzler or $2 Bounty tournament. I spend the majority of my time, however, playing 4NL, usually between 8 and 16 tables depending on time of day. I average about 640 hands per session, and my average session time is ninety minutes. I also have begun integrating some 10NL into the mix, playing 4 10NL and 8 4NL tables at the same time. I use Pokertracker 3 for stats tracking and also participate in Ventrilo chat for hand analysis and study. For details on that please PM me.


Short-term and Long-Term Goals:

My current goal is to qualify for the 100 Seats to $100K freeroll. In order to do that, I must make a minumum of 250 VIP points per week, which is about 15,000 hands at 4NL. However, since I am playing 10NL, I am shooting for 10,000 hands per week (1,500 hands per day).

Long-term, I want to be rolled for 25NL ($500) by December 31.


This Thread:

I will use this thread to share and discuss strategy and mental game for the micros. I may post a few hands, but all hands posted will serve to illustrate an example or to demonstrate an error on my part. I welcome everyone on this forum to share their thoughts on the micros with me here.

Yes, there seem to be a LOT of different cash game threads this month. Will be interesting to see how educational this one might be.

Give this thread a read:

http://www.deucescracked.com/forums/...ay-DC-Grind-on

Maybe playing 16 tables isn't the best way to use your time playing poker.

@F4STF0W4RD: I will try to stimulate some good conversation about strategy. No bad beat hands or tilt hands will be posted... I promise ;-)

@jbbb: The reason I play so many tables is because I am playing FR. My stats are 14/8 over 38k hands... so I'm folding over 8/10 times. That gets pretty boring on 4 tables, trust me!


PREZ BASIC STRATEGY FOR MICROSTAKES (MORE TO FOLLOW)

1. Bankroll - 20BI minimum if you are playing more than 6 tables. Only move up if you have won at least 20 buy-ins at you current level over a sample of more than 20,000 hands. A good BB/100 is 2.0 or more over at least 20,000 hands. More on moving up stakes and combining stakes later.

How do you get that info? Create an account for free at pokertableratings.com. There you can see your BB/100 as well as your winnings after rake. If you are multi-tabling more than 4 tables, or are playing more than 2,500 hands per week (10,000 per month) make sure you have Pokertracker or HoldEm Manager so you can get your Vpip and PFR stats.

2. Stats - The ideal stats for the micros vary by your playing style. However, at full ring games, your Vpip should not exceed 15 and your PFR should be no less than half your Vpip. For example, a 12/8 will see much more success than a 12/2. More on that in future posts.

3. Gameplay - Tight is right at the micros. Avoid entering raised pots with marginal holdings. i.e. CO raises to 0.30, BTN folds, Hero calls from the SB with A T of spades = wrong!! You should either 3-bet or fold. Raise 4x from EP, 3.5x from MP, and 3x from LP or the SB. When entering a raised pot, come in with a 3-bet that is at least 3x the original raise. Example: MP raises to 0.35, fold, fold, fold, Hero on the BTN raises to 1.25 with A K offsuit. Much more on gameplay to follow.

4. Mindset - If tilted, do not play. This is best learned through experience. When I tilt, i like to jump in the pool for a bit or go play billiards. Also, my stop-loss is 2 BI... this may be a little conservative but it works. Finally, learn to not until you win or lose a certain amount, but to play for a certain amount of time or for a certain number of hands. Much, much, much more on mental game to follow.

5. Tournaments and Cash Games - Keep your tournament play separate from your cash game play, do not play both at the same time! They are completely different entities and combining them can cause confusion at best and a misread/misclick at worst.

This interests me. In his Little Green Book, Phil Gordon said that he tends to raise 2.5bb from EP, 3 from MP and more from LP. He was probably talking about tournaments, though.

Coming from a tournament background, there was a pretty steep learning curve, even for micro-stakes. I still have a long ways to go, but there are a few things that I've come to realize that I hope will help others who are making the transition.

1. Stacksizes - In tournaments, average stacks can be anywhere from 10BB in turbos to 40BB+ in deepstack tourneys. In cash games, you should be coming in with the maximum buy-in every time, usually 100BB on default FR tables. However, a misunderstanding arises where some play cash games much more loosely, especially in position i.e. 24/8 or 20/14. While this can work well at 6-max, FR tables require much tighter play. Play hands the way you would with 20BB left in a tournament.

2. Hand Selection - Here are how I believe one should play their hands at the micros (25NL and below).

a) AA and KK - raise strong regardless of table action. Example: Hero has AA in the SB. UTG raises 4x to 0.40, fold, fold, fold, fold, HJ 3bets to 1.50, everyone else folds. Hero 4bet raises to 5.00.

b) AKs, AKo, QQ, JJ - raise if first in, smooth call out of position, 3bet in position, fold if there is to much action in front. These hands can be very difficult to play when you miss the flop. Usually my line is to cbet in position or call any cbet out of position on any dry board. I then check the turn in position, or raise 3/4 pot if it is checked to me out of position. I am folding the turn if villian double barrels and I am out of position. More on postflop play in future posts.

c) AQs, AJs, AQo, TT, 99, 88 - raise if first in, smooth call regardless of position, fold if there is to much action in front. I do not 3bet these hands because they are easily dominated, but I do call 3bets. Keep in mind that you are not forced to cbet these hands either, nor should you feel pressure to call a cbet if you whiff the flop. These hands can cost one a lot of money in the long run when they are taken to far. More on playing semi-strong hands later.

d) AJo, AT, A9, KQ, QJ, JT, 22-77 - fold unless in LP, then raise 3x. Fold to a 3bet. Play with extreme caution! Same on Cbetting and calling Cbets as above.

e) KJ, KT, K9, QT, Q9, J9, and suited connector or one-gapper - never raise with these hands. Only limp or call from the blinds if you are getting 4:1 or better. If you make top pair, treat it as second pair because of your poor kicker. These are speculative hands and should be played for straight and flush possibilities, not top pair.

f) Everything else fold regardless of position.

3. Aggression - Cash games require much more caution than tournaments. Save money by learning to fold to 3bets, fold to checkraises, and fold to over-the-top bets. At the same time, capitalize on your strong holdings by 3betting, check-raising, and betting over the top.

As mentioned before, I use Pokertracker 3 for stat tracking and database purposes. The HUD, a statistical overlay that displays on each table, can be configured for cash game stats. However, its default configuration is extremely lean and leaves out a lot of critical information. Here are some relevant statistics that are very important to pay attention to when multi-tabling cash games. If you have a HUD, I strongly suggest you implement these stats into your current set-up as they can make or save you lots of money.

I do not display HUD stats on a player until I have 100 hands or more. This is conservative, but it helps me make my decisions more confidently against them. Until I have 100 hands on a player, I treat them as unknowns and adjust my play accordingly (much more cautious).

LINE ONE:

Vpip: A player's VPIP illustrates how often he or she limps or cold calls preflop. A significantly low vpip is 8 or less and is color-coded red. A significantly high vpip is 24 or more and is color-coded green. When multi-tabling, I can simply look at the color of this number and can tell whether to call, fold, or raise light.

PFR: A player's PFR shows how often they enter a pot with a raise preflop. A significantly low PFR is 6 or less and is color-coded red. A significantly high PFR is 16 or more and is color-coded green. When multi-tabling, this number helps me to decide when to fold, cold-call, or 3bet.

3B: The 3-bet is a very important statistic to have on the HUD. A 3-bet of 2 or less is significantly low, and a 3-bet of 8 or more is significantly high. I often find myself getting 3bet, especially at 10NL, and this statistic helps me decide which line to take. Against players with a low 3-bet, I will fold Group C hands and worse, while against players with a high 3bet, I will 4bet hands in Group C or better. Otherwise I am calling the 3bet.

CB: Another useful statistic, this number indicates how often the player C-Bets the flop. High C-Bet is 80 or more, while a low C-Bet is 20 or less.
FCB: This indicates how often they fold to a C-Bet. High FCB is 80 or more, while a low FCB is 20 or less.


LINE TWO:

Flop AF: How aggressive they are on the flop.
Turn AF: How aggressive they are on the turn.
River AF: How aggressive they are on the river.

Please share your HUD profiles and how they are similar or different from mine.

Subscribing, will add more later, but GL Palmer.

and LOL at this crap above my post (If you dont know what I mean, it has been deleted, which will surely happen soon)

I had heard that, at the micros at least, bluffing was easier in cash games than it is in tournaments?

Just subscribing I'll read the posts later. Some stuff doesn't make much sense but I just read through it. Sorry if you already mentioned it but are you playing what stakes and FR or 6max?

From what I see, you are playing FR so nevermind my previous question.

Does that mean you will raise 4BB for AA and KK and less for the rest? If so, your hand will face up for the more aware player.

Those hands are ahead 2/3 of the time you miss the flop. I personally 3bet/4bet with any of those hands.

Opinions differ but I personally limp from BTN (or CO if a nit is behind me) if there are more limpers and I hold either a small pocket pair or a suited connector.

You are playing higher stakes than I play but I see something I did some months ago: you want a way of playing your hole cards. For instance when you say that you fold small and medium pocket pairs to 3bets you are not considering villain or stack sizes just the fact that you have pocket pairs smaller than 88. If I'm deep and the villain that 3bets is deep, I'm calling 22 anytime. If a maniac 3bets me and I'm holding a pair, I'll call 3 streets with it and expect to win.

Much more caution to the villain...
If I'm check-raised by a nit, I muck my AA because I'm pretty sure he has at least a set. If I'm check-raised by a maniac, I shove over my AA.
If a nit overbets the pot by the river, I might muck my bottom set. If a maniac overbets the pot by the river, I might call with A high.

Sorry if this post sounds bad in any way but I'm really tired and writting in a rush.

Happy grinding!

I'm altering my fishy strategy to your ranges. I'm also going to multi-table since the boredom of staring at 1 table with predictable players leads me to make really bad choices. I just downloaded PT3 but there isn't a lot of tutorial so I am at a bit of a loss as how to use it effectively.

I used your strategy today with mixed results. Played 2 tables over 5 1/2 hours. While early on I had marginal success over 200 hands the later sessions were terrible. It had more to do with getting terrible cards and my strong hands (AA, KK, AK, and pairs in late position) getting crushed 4 of 5 times. Bodog just seems to hate me, I lost about $2 in the end after being up by as much as $5. I had the lowest VPIP on the tables (except for 1 nit who I have 500 hands against). Over about 800 hands I had the FH 2 times, 1 straight and several sets and trips that got crushed by straights and flush draws. 1% of my hands were better than a pair.

I'm curious to know how you did.

When I first started playing poker I was looking for a "painting by numbers" way to play poker, where I had a set of rules of what to do with different hole cards in different positions. Your guidelines in this thread appear to give a set of "painting by numbers" guidelines.

However what the regulars keep trying to bang into our heads is that poker is not actually a "painting by numbers" type game, and the way you play shouldn't be all about your hole cards. Position is extremely important, but how you play is also determined in large part by who you are playing against, and your reads (if any) of how they play.

Hey Palmerd2 you still alive? been 2 wks since last post, how you doing at the tables?