I
ilostmysoul
Rock Star
Silver Level
I know maybe some people are facepalming, no idea. But today, for the first time, I played NL5. I'm a NL2 player and usually always end up with the same amount of money I started, so a few weeks ago I decided to stop playing cash, withdrew all my money, and going freerolls and satellites for a while.
And today I decided to approach the game with a new mindset. Deposited 20€ and went to NL5 for the first time. This time I paid full attention to game during my session (I'm usually watching videos, studying, whatever, and only playing when the window comes on).
My "old" strategy included trying to outsmart players, trying to figure out their ranges from zero, figuring them out, trying to bluff them, etc.
"New" strategy: I'm just calling out top-pair good kicker, and I'm folding it if the pot gets big, he overbets, or I'm multi-way and there is a lot of action. I'm not raising anybody if I have less than two pair. Unless I have solid reads.
And oh man. This worked. Perfectly. Soon enough I had reads on everybody. I knew the guy who wouldn't fold a bottom pair. I knew the guy you could shove to river if you had two pair because he would call a shove with as little as K-high. I knew the guy who would bet 1/2 every street with a draw and then bet big river if he hit, bet ridiculously small if he didn't. I knew the guy who would donk bet top pair and 2 pair but would check a strong flush and a set on the flop. Now I could deviate from my little strategy at will and be comfortable.
From someone who would consider himself lucky if he got 1BB in a 2 hour session, I got 5BBs in a 2 hour session today. I have to withdraw all my money because I kinda need it and I do not have the bankroll to play NL5. There was a hand there I probably would lose most of the time: I had trips with J kicker, he had trips with 8, but I had tons of reads on him for calling with a medium pair. I would shove here with a top pair and sucking out to trips if needed. Probably lucky that didn't happen. I didn't suck out on anybody or made any dubious play I can think of, every time I put money in the pot I was a winner.
I did get sucked out too. AA. We go on to 5-bet. 5-bet!!! At this point I'm expecting QQ+, maybe TT because this is micros. Nop. T8s. Got a straight on the Turn. Laughed at me on the chat. Few hands later (I was sitting with 200+BBs at this point, got down to the original 100BB) I have JJ on a 935 flop. I bet, he shove-raises after marvelous reads on hands like the above. Clear call. He had A3. I laughed back at him. I know I shouldn't have but eh.
So yea. Right now I'm seeing the game as really not that hard if you are paying attention. I think this strategy of just being conservative and patient, waiting for good hands until you have a read, etc. really works out. May not be the best out there, because there was a dude on my table sitting on almost 1000BBs and I had a lot of reads on him being super aggressive and making calls and bets I wouldn't consider making, but well... I'm happy with my results. Maybe I just had a good run, I don't know.
First time I actually paid attention to the game, and first time I learned how much variance even cash games have. Even bad players get lucky. The guy who called every bottom pair will have a FH sometimes. The guy who calls to the end with an ace will show up with a flush. And you'll be beaten because you're betting and calling him with almost anything. Except this time they actually do have that good hand in their range. This didn't happen to me today, but I watched a few hands where it would have if I joined was in them.
Also, this game really is exhausting if you are actually considering what your opponents could have, what they did before, how likely it is this is the same line or a new one. Gee. I would be able to play for 5 hours in a row sometimes when I was reading and the window popped up once in a while and I all had to do was click a button. Right now I'm not capable of opening a table for a few hours.
Anyway. What do you guys think? Good way to approach things?
Thanks for reading, happy 2020!!!
And today I decided to approach the game with a new mindset. Deposited 20€ and went to NL5 for the first time. This time I paid full attention to game during my session (I'm usually watching videos, studying, whatever, and only playing when the window comes on).
My "old" strategy included trying to outsmart players, trying to figure out their ranges from zero, figuring them out, trying to bluff them, etc.
"New" strategy: I'm just calling out top-pair good kicker, and I'm folding it if the pot gets big, he overbets, or I'm multi-way and there is a lot of action. I'm not raising anybody if I have less than two pair. Unless I have solid reads.
And oh man. This worked. Perfectly. Soon enough I had reads on everybody. I knew the guy who wouldn't fold a bottom pair. I knew the guy you could shove to river if you had two pair because he would call a shove with as little as K-high. I knew the guy who would bet 1/2 every street with a draw and then bet big river if he hit, bet ridiculously small if he didn't. I knew the guy who would donk bet top pair and 2 pair but would check a strong flush and a set on the flop. Now I could deviate from my little strategy at will and be comfortable.
From someone who would consider himself lucky if he got 1BB in a 2 hour session, I got 5BBs in a 2 hour session today. I have to withdraw all my money because I kinda need it and I do not have the bankroll to play NL5. There was a hand there I probably would lose most of the time: I had trips with J kicker, he had trips with 8, but I had tons of reads on him for calling with a medium pair. I would shove here with a top pair and sucking out to trips if needed. Probably lucky that didn't happen. I didn't suck out on anybody or made any dubious play I can think of, every time I put money in the pot I was a winner.
I did get sucked out too. AA. We go on to 5-bet. 5-bet!!! At this point I'm expecting QQ+, maybe TT because this is micros. Nop. T8s. Got a straight on the Turn. Laughed at me on the chat. Few hands later (I was sitting with 200+BBs at this point, got down to the original 100BB) I have JJ on a 935 flop. I bet, he shove-raises after marvelous reads on hands like the above. Clear call. He had A3. I laughed back at him. I know I shouldn't have but eh.
So yea. Right now I'm seeing the game as really not that hard if you are paying attention. I think this strategy of just being conservative and patient, waiting for good hands until you have a read, etc. really works out. May not be the best out there, because there was a dude on my table sitting on almost 1000BBs and I had a lot of reads on him being super aggressive and making calls and bets I wouldn't consider making, but well... I'm happy with my results. Maybe I just had a good run, I don't know.
First time I actually paid attention to the game, and first time I learned how much variance even cash games have. Even bad players get lucky. The guy who called every bottom pair will have a FH sometimes. The guy who calls to the end with an ace will show up with a flush. And you'll be beaten because you're betting and calling him with almost anything. Except this time they actually do have that good hand in their range. This didn't happen to me today, but I watched a few hands where it would have if I joined was in them.
Also, this game really is exhausting if you are actually considering what your opponents could have, what they did before, how likely it is this is the same line or a new one. Gee. I would be able to play for 5 hours in a row sometimes when I was reading and the window popped up once in a while and I all had to do was click a button. Right now I'm not capable of opening a table for a few hours.
Anyway. What do you guys think? Good way to approach things?
Thanks for reading, happy 2020!!!
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