Help a donkey improve his game

Hey guys. Ive been stuck at a br of $46 for several sessions now. I would do well early in my sessions reaching up to $48 or $49 but then come crashing down to $46 and have to grind up again. I first thought that it just might be that Im not hitting my cards but looking at my stats at PTR, it seems that I am too aggressive in general. I've looked at my hands and except for AA and KK, the vast majority of my hands are losers.

http://www.pokertableratings.com/party-player-hands/ClubArrow77

I've been avoiding suited connectors because I don't feel that Im good enough to play them well yet but I seem to be losing alot of pocket pairs, even big ones like QQ and JJ. I obviously need to close these leaks if I want to get any better and actually be able to build a roll to move up. Im also losing quite a bit with AKo and AKs.

Im not sure what im doing wrong but I think it has to do with being too aggressive in general. I generally bet 2/3 to 3/4 of the pot and cbet often to get people to fold and rarely slowplay unless I flop a really strong hand (top set, flush, full house). My cbets have taken down pots where I did not connect at all but I also have chased opponents away when I hit an Ace or King with AK or queen with AQ. I do play weak tight in the sense that I rarely call, am rarely in pots unless I am the preflop raiser, and fold unless I connect with the board. I also might be losing alot of value because I chase away opponents who hold worse cards than me.

I've been reading the forums for a while and find contradictory advice for the micros. Alot of posts emphasize aggression and almost always cbetting/value betting. I play in the micros so I know that villains call with worse so I need to value bet my hands to maximize my gains. I should not slowplay unless I have the near nuts because slowplaying gives opponents to draw out on you and it is sometimes better to win a small pot than lose a big one. I cbet boards with a pair to see where I am at/take down the pot as it is. Im not trying to learn new tricky ways to destroy my opponents but Im trying to play proper ABC poker to profit in the micros. Any advice on what I should do to fill my leaks?

post more hands

bgomez89 said:

post more hands

Click to expand...

+ 1

2nl is ridic easy and straight forward. If you're having a hard time with it then you're probably making some pretty big fundamental mistakes. Posting hands is one of the easiest ways to learn. Put as much info about the hand/villains that you can.

Going from $49 to $46 is not a crash at all.

Yeah, 11 bb's per hand is SOOOOO bad. Break even stretches are SOOOO bad. I'm not one to tell someone not to improve their game, but seriously, until you go on a 10+ buy-in downswing you have nothing to complain about.

ohh don't start this shit..

'you don't run bad, until you've had a 20 BI downswing you haven't seen anything'

give him some advice.

breaking even at 2nl is a problem. OP, post some hands.. (probably big pots) where you're having problems to let people see what you're doing wrong.

best way to learn

Crashing down to BE?! Pull yourself together man!

I know that im not going down major downswings that I have a right to complain although according to a 2+2 threat, downswings of more than 3BI means there is something wrong with your game and its not just variance. Im not worried that I am crashing but more worried that I am not improving at all which is worrying at the micros where it sounds that ABC poker is enough to crush with.

Link to 2p2 thread please - but in the meantime I assure you being 3BIs down means f'all. Imagine having to fold when obvious rivers come in and they donk shove into you after you've put in two sizeable bets and have to then fold. Imagine that twice, plus set over set and AA < KK pre and we're already there.

How many hands of 2NL have you played for this BE stretch?

As already mentioned, post some hands if you feel as though you may need help in some spots.

ClubArrow77 said:

I know that im not going down major downswings that I have a right to complain although according to a 2+2 threat, downswings of more than 3BI means there is something wrong with your game and its not just variance. Im not worried that I am crashing but more worried that I am not improving at all which is worrying at the micros where it sounds that ABC poker is enough to crush with.

Click to expand...

Well my game must be absolute shit then since I dropped 10BI in <30mins.

Seriously, IDK what to recommend to someone who even thinks that can possibly be true. Practice flipping coins until you get good at not getting heads 3 times in a row, once you master that you'll avoid 3BI downswings.

I might have misremembered the content of the thread but I remember the lesson was you're not as good as you think you are so don't blame all your downswings on variance and all your upswings on your skill. Looking at my PTR stats, I know that I've got leaks to fill. I guess it seems hand posting is the best bet.

defintky post hands to imrpove. if i was a gambling man i would bet mone y that you struggle to fold hands when you really should. I fully beleive this is one of the biggest mistkaes most of us here make. There are obviosu spots where we get raised on the turn yet we still call it off cause we has over pair or something, this is a form of tilt i think but we all do it really, i think learnign when to fold is a prettyy good strategy to beat the baby microstakes. Sorry for grammar im pretty drunk right now but basically... stop calling in spots where you're getting raised/shoved over where you just hope they're bluffing you, because the majority of villains at 2nl do not have the balls to make crazy bluffs for the most part... but yeah, post lots of hands where you're losing to start with which arent completely obvious like AA < KK apif, and give as much info on the villain as you can.

Personally, I think you have probably identified many of your issues. Not being able to play suited connectors well, as an example, is a very good one. There is an area you may want to work on over time.

I think though your bet patterns may be your issue as well. I think you are correct that you are chasing away value. c-bet is a good way to get people out of hands, but it's also a good way to get people to stop playing hands with you as well for any value. You pull that stunt a few times, and people will start checking you down because they don't want to be your ATM.

Go back and look at hands other people play with success. Look at their patterns. Look at what they are betting, what they are checking, and so on. Look at the failures too, those are much more important in the end.

One thing that might be missing for you assessment is that you rarely mention the other players. Holdem especially isn't always about the cars, it's very much about the people in the hand and what they generally do. Thinking about what drives them, rather than only what drives you is a much better way to make money.

videos videos videos..are a lot of help. esp randy lew has youtube vids of playing online that has really helped my game def should go check them out.

BlueNowhere said:

Going from $49 to $46 is not a crash at all.

Click to expand...

True! LOL.. Losing $3? Man, come on bro, that's nothing!

Sounds to me like, some of your opponents might be getting a read on your betting patterns. Try mixing up a little bit. See what happens

Nice bump.

ClubArrow77 said:

Hey guys. Ive been stuck at a br of $46 for several sessions now. I would do well early in my sessions reaching up to $48 or $49 but then come crashing down to $46 and have to grind up again.

Click to expand...

this is the only part of the thread i read.

can almost guarantee that your biggest leaks are one or more of the following;
1. that you overvalue TT-JJ preflop (should not be getting these in at micros)
2. you setmine when you arent getting the correct price or are OOP.
3. you overvalue non-nut SD value hands and go to showdown too much in general (should be aroudn 28%)

cliffs; be more aware that you need to fold more often. since you wont be levelling micro players, a good rule of thumb would be; if you have to think about calling for more than 2 seconds, just fold.

god dammit rawone.