To believe or not to believe (in people) ...

So I'm trying to really analyze my game and figure out weaknesses so that I can improve.

One thing I've hit on recently is that I have problems believing people online. I play both live games and online and I've always tended to do far better live. But recently I've discovered that I'm literally throwing money away online by making bad calls simply because I think the person is playing position or flat out bluffing.

I'm not sure why this is. Does anyone else have this problem? Maybe it's just a lack of discipline on my part (not laying down big hands even when it looks like I may be beat) -- but I don't seem to have that problem when I'm face to face with people.

Does anyone have any tips for this -- other than the obvious

Tough topic. When I'm trying to decide whether to call w a bluff catcher online, here are the things I think about:

1. Given the preflop action, what range of hands should he have? In a limped pot it's obviously harder to do this, but if he raised UTG it should be a little easier.

2. Given the actions on each street, is the story he told about his hand consistent? Does it make sense?

3. Does he look like a spazz?

4. Is he super passive postflop and just shoved all in on the river?

At microstakes, we make most of our money value betting and stealing, not by bluff catching. So in general I'm inclined to let those strong-ish hands go in the face of action, esp from a passive player.

But if the story they're telling throughout the course of the hand doesn't make any sense...

Thanks for the quick reply. I think you're right of course. I don't know what's wrong with me. lol.

I tend to play 26 to 58 dollar SNGs, and when I play cash online I usually stay around 1/2 or .50/1 NL. Playing live games I'll go a bit higher though.

Not sure if that makes a difference ...

Live is easier than online at same stakes (general rule, but almost a fact)

SNGs are different than cash....pick one and stick to it.

You're probably playing out of position a lot if you're the one calling all of the raises. If you have position you should be controlling the betting. Work on your position!

Slyc. I found your 1-4 steps very appropriate, I also tend to have a hard time finding my position, and I love to see the flop... I tend to call almost anything trying to catch something big on the flop. More often then not I find myself blinding to death... Is there a stead fast rule of thumb to what to call out of position? or what to position to play... When I play position I tend to play behind the blinds, but patients is not my strong suit am I playing position correctly at those times or am I on a beaten path going no where?

Welcome to CC cascadia!

Good questions - I'm going to answer somewhat indirectly and ask that others amplify. What you're describing is not going to work well at cash games (I mostly play cash) against reasonably competent opponents - it's just too expensive to play too many hands passively. If you're talking about tournament/SNG play, there are times to do that (I think), but I'm the wrong guy to talk about them.

There are a number of good threads in the forum that talk to this topic - here's one 10k post: micro stakes full ring guide [long]