Struggling at the micros - Online 1/2c 6 max

Hi there,

I am playing online poker for 6 months now, predominantly 1c/2c cash game 6-Max online.

I started with USD 20 / 10 buy-ins at pokerstars playing c. 3500 hands and lost my bankroll. Afterwards studying a lot.

At poker888, I deposited USD 20 incl. bonus and freerolls US +20. Played c. 28000 hands and lost my bankroll of USD 40 / 20 buyins

At party poker, I am currently USD 30/15 buyins down after playing 20000 hands. With swings of +/-15-20 buyins.

HM3 win rate charts attached: Blue=Win at Showdown, Green=Net Won, Brown=Non-Showdown Wins

I have studied Massive Profit at the Micros (Blackrain), Chardchart 30day online course, Johnathan Little GTO optimal play and lots web literature.

For pre-flop play, I use predominantly GTO charts. According to partypoker leak assessment stats in pre and post flop play are fine, no major leaks identified. Instead high ratings at A-B level. Except for river agg % which is 51% instead of 33-39%. I have also reduced river agg % slightly but not impacting my winnings.

Cooler, bad beats and luck are in balance i.e. had the regular stuff AA over KK situations but QQ vs AA with a lucky set on the river. Sometimes, I feel that I am paying opponents off i.e. I have a set on the river, getting raised all-in after triple barrelling to find out my opponents have a straight or a flush sometimes full house vs. better full house, etc. If I have a the nuts opponents sometimes fold to an all-in raise and I am not getting paid. However on the opposite I get check raised on the flop with all-in Hero 7-8s / Flop:5-2-8 to find out my opponent check raised with A-Q for all-in and I win a nice pot (almost on tilt). Overall I think my MDF is fine to play unexploitable, since opponents are sometimes extremely loose so calling down with top pair on the flop makes sense and always raise/call all-in with sets, flush, straight or better.

I am a bit lost identifying the flaw in my game and unsure what to do next having played 50000 hands with bad results and w/o profit.

Welcome your thoughts about potential flaws, how to best approach and perhaps what else to study, questions? Or is 1c/2c max online cash perhaps to tough and not the place to be due to the high number of regs, pros, grinders who are always around and betting the hell out of it.

Best

Meister

Ok, It's hard to identify where you are going wrong without more specific details. Let me tell you, at the micros, you can literally not go wrong just played 20% of hands and only betting when you have a hand. If you NEVER bluffed at 2nl, you would break even at the very least. Not saying you should do that, but it's worth considering as it would make you a breakeven player or a small winning player.

Also I am willing to bet that you call way too much with marginal hands on dangerous boards. Look at board texture. Is it safe, or is it unsafe?

The only way you can really get help is by posting hand histories. Not of coolers, but of lots and lots of medium sized pots.

Thanks that's already helpful.

Attached I have additional stats incl. hand histories from 20000hand at PartyPoker which might provide additional insights.

- Positional play
- River bet efficiency
- River call efficiency
- CBET success based on board texture

Should I upload hand histories in txt or which format?

Way too aggressive for my taste. to push with middle pair is a little much for me but flush draw kind of makes up for it but why push? Is there really fold equity there for opponent if hes not putting you on a Q? what is your opponents range? Better to win a small pot then lose a big one!

Meister7775 said:

Hi,

One hand for review from todays online 6-max cash 1c/2c.

LJ: RFI 3.5bb (LAG player) (Stack 100bb)
BU: Hero 9d-8d calls (Stack 110bb)
SB: Calls
BB: Calls

Pot: 11b
Flop: Qd-8d-6s
LJ: Bet 7bb
Hero: All-in
SB: Folds
BB: Folds

River: Qd-8d-6s-6d-10h
LJ Shows QQ

Not sure if I have played correctly at the flop (Hero). Thought I have enough fold equity and 12 outer: 9 (flush outs) + 3 (two pairs). LAG opponent rivered a full house.​

Click to expand...

In your analysis you hold the 8d and also show 8d on the flop. I think perhaps it was the 8 of spades and the 6 of diamonds? Anyway if that's the case then you have a pair and a flush draw which is 30% against a flopped set.

It's still only 47% against AA with the ace of diamonds in villains hand and 53% if he doesn't have a diamond. And about 47% against all top pair type hands that hold a diamond. 50% against those that don't.

You need to ask what Villian's continuing range is here. Is he calling you with top pair? Perhaps. Depends on the nittyness of villain and your image.

So lets input this.

Against villain's calling range (and I'm being generous) you have 50% equity at best case scenario.
A lot of the time they'll have better than top pair, which means you're significantly behind.

How often do they fold here? Well that's difficult to say, but the pot is definitely not big enough for you to profit for all the times they fold, along with the times they call.

If the pot was 3/4bet then it changes a lot. There is now a lot more money in the pot, so the value of your fold equity goes up.

In a simple 2bet pot here, with few callers, it is not +EV to shove this hand. It's not massively -EV either. It's break even. But with rake, you need to be more careful.

Honestly, it's not totally incorrect to shove here. I've been plugging in the numbers to a fold equity calculator and if he folds 50% of the time or more, it's profitable. Having said that, it's far better +EV to simply call, and keep their bluffing range in, rather than fold out all the hands you beat, and only get called from ones that are flipping at best, or have you crushed.

Also, looking at your stats, you have a very high VPIP in the SB and the BB. Your winrate in the SB in particular is pretty bad.

You want about -20bb/100 in SB and -40bb in the BB. That's acceptable. You should really be tightening your range when out of position, which you will be in the blinds a lot!

Steal from the button with 50% if you like, but tighten that up in the SB. Also you have a 10% 3bet in the SB. I assume this is you restealing against a button or cutoff open, however you need to do this profitably against players who have a 80% + fold to 3bet stat over a signifiant sample. Don't 3bet your Ax garbage against players who are going to call you. You'll burn money.

These are my 2nl stats. Use them how you wish

1) Choose the right poker site

For 2NL cash games the best site is PokerStars, because they have the lowest rake of only 3,5%. 888 Poker is especially bad in this regard, and PartyPoker dont allow external HUDs.

2) Play less hands

Your VPIP is more than 30%, which is way to much. If you are struggling, you should bring it down to 20% for 6-max. When you are profitable, you can gradually move towards a LAG-style and increase it to 25% and possibly boyond.

3) Be positionally aware

You are playing way to many hands from SB in particular and not enough from BTN.

4) Forget GTO and fancy play

You are bringing a gun to a knifefight, when you study GTO to play 2NL or for that matter all the way up through the micros. The most clear sign is your showdown vs. nonshowdown winnings. Your nonshowdown winnings are higher than showdown winnings on both sites, and this is completely wrong.

Even at 25NL on PokerStars my nonshowdown winnings are a massively negative number especially post COVID-19. But this is ok, because my showdown winnings is an even more massively positive number, which bring my total winrate into dubble digit territory.

And this is how, you beat soft games. What do recreational players love to do? Call, call, call. So what should we do against them? Valuebet, valuebet, valuebet. Its really that simple. Sure I do some bluff catching as well, and I C-bet the flop a lot, but that is often not even really a bluff, because their range is so wide.

Your won at showdown is only a little over 40%, and this number need to be above 50% for optimal results in the micros. Playing less hands will help already, and the rest will come from folding bluff catchers more often and bluffing way less especially on turns and rivers.

5) Adjust to individual opponents / player types

Your overall stats should reflect, that you play against recreational players, because otherwise its pointless to play 2NL or any micro game for that matter. However with that being said, there are also regulars (mostly bad) at 2NL, and you want to play differently against them than against the fish. This is why, its very benefitial to use a HUD, which boils back to, why PokerStars is the best site for 2NL or frankly probably any cash games.

You read some of Blackrain79s stuff already, but this free article contain more recent and usefull tips on, how to beat soft games.

https://www.blackrain79.com/search?...:00+07:00&max-results=1&start=4&by-date=false

Thanks thats really helpful and your stats-winrate show that there is opportunity to win at the micro if you know how!! Impressive and a long way to go on my end!

Today, I had a break even or slightly loosing session playing two tables tight for 4h...overall disappointing always on the wrong side. That might be the major flaw in my game. 4 hours are a fairly good representation of the 20000 hands played before with similar situations.

It started with a big win...A-A (90bb). Afterwards spiral downwards..

A major suck out is hitting big. Full house over full house where I lost 45bb....I had JJ opponent called with Q-8o from the SB
River: Q-Q-J-6-6

5 example situations where I am not sure if played correctly, but for sure loosing pots and bb I could not win back.

I start with a positive aggressive play:

1.)
CU (Hero): 9s-8s Hero (Stack 90bb)
RFI: 3bb
SB (LAG): 11bb 3-Bet (Stack 150bb)
CU: 33bb 4-Bet
SB: Fold

LAG was always 3-Betting and I had simply enough; really did not want to play 9-8s against him. Therefore 4-Bet as a bluff.....?

Here a hero fold loosing medium pot.
2.)
LJ (LAG): RFI 3bb (Stack: 130bb)
BU (Hero): Qs-Js Call (90bb)

Flop: 8s-6d-Qd
LJ: Check
Hero: 3.5bb Bet
LJ: Call
Turn:
River:
Hero: 7.5bb Bet
LJ: All-in
SB has 7d-7s set

You never tilted off any of your winnings? If I am playing my A game I can grind 2bb/100 hands in 0.01/0.02 NL

But I can tilt off 3 buy ins in 5 min. So my actual 0.01/0.02 NL is like -10bb/100 hands.

Just to clarify, that red and blue line on your graphs are win without showdown (red) and win with showdown (blue)?

Your hand histories are ok, but they do lack lots of information. We need villain's stats, and not just "Tag" or "reg" or "lag" because it would be useful if we could actually verify your assessment as being correct when you label players this way. Do you have hud stats?

Hand 1: Fine in theory. But I have a suspicion you are doing this too often. At the micro stakes you want to CLEARLY define whether you are raising for value or as a bluff. If you are unsure, it's safer to fold. So, you can throw in the odd 4bet bluff with 98s but it really should be once or twice a session at best. Also, against true lags, you'll profit more by 4betting as a bluff and flat calling a three bet with paired value hands. So flat KK/AA, (not QQ yet as you might make postflop mistakes) and 4bet AK/AQs TT-QQ. Flat call 77+ and fold the rest.

2)Clear fold on river.

3) you didn't lose too much, there is a lot of Ax in his range here. Don't call three streets, but definitely call 1 street, and perhaps 2.

4) Cbet Flop! Don't need to be clever, you have top pair against a fish. Just bet for value and deny equity. Don't bluff river, don't ever bluff in this spot at 2nl. You're trying to be way too clever. Fish at 2nl can hardly see their own two cards through all the drooling, they don't think for one second what you have, just what they have.

Example at 25nl yesterday, I had AcTc and hit the nut flush, and the river bought fourth club. FOUR clubs on board, I shove river for value $19 and fish calls with AJ for top 2 pair without a club. I won $50 pot. Imagine if you shove there trying to rep the flush and fish just call you down with 2 pair. It happens ALL the time.


2nl= BET when you have a hand. Fold when you don't. That's literally it. Big hand = big pot. Small hand = small pot.

If you really want to get better, I suggest you make a 1 hour film of you playing four tables at 2nl (you play four tables right?) and just upload it and I will watch it and comment on what I see.

This is about the first hand you posted....

First thing that i notice is that you call from the button... WHY?
Now the 2 players behind you get pot odds to look at a flop with marginal hands...
You basically invite them to get lucky against you...
In this case it didn't matter, they folded on the flop. But next time you might lose against
one of these players, when you could have pushed them out of the hand with a 3bet...


But what has caught my attention the most:

According to your posting you had an 8 of diamonds... AND THEN A 8d HITS THE FLOP...

So you either play on a scam site or there is something wrong with the hand posting...
If it wasn't an 8 of diamonds on the board then you didn't have a flush draw and shoved with just middle pair....

You also complain about your opponent rivering a full house when he made it on the turn...
"LAG opponent rivered a full house."
But he would have you beaten even without making a full house. His flopped set would have been the winning hand too...
He is not getting lucky after he called your shove.

Mistakes happen... But this could also be a sign of not being focused enough. If you do not recall the hand correctly then there is no use in analysing it...

And this goes on...

"Hero calls, loosing medium pot:

3.)
CU (Hero): 9d-9s RFI 3bb (Stack: 80bb)
SB (REG): 3-Bet 10bb (100bb)
Hero: Call
Flop: 7h-6d-5s
Hero: 3.5bb Bet
SB: Check
Hero: Check
Turn:

7h-6d-5s-5d​

SB: Check
Hero: Check
River: 7h-6d-5s-5d-4s
SB: 10bb Bet
Hero: Call​

SB has 7d-7s set

This was the wrong call and cost c. 20% of the stack...I would never have expected a 3-Bet from the opponent with 7-7 therefore put him on the wrong range i.e. A-x crap...But this is a major problem that you cannot put opponents on a range at the micro stakes. Everthing is possible.​

Click to expand...

I would love to know how your opponent could stay in the hand by checking after you made a 3.5 BB bet ?!?
And why do you bet 3.5BB into a 21BB pot? With 6:1 pot odds you are giving your opponent a chance to
profitably call with a lot of hands....

​

And then you say you put him on a range of A-x....​

That is more like putting him on a hand, than giving him a range...​

Why do you think he doesn't have a pocket pair 10+ ???​

I think that would fit his pre-flop betting perfectly....​

Too late to keep editing prior post...

Even his 7-7 is in the top 15% of hole cards... That's far from "anything is possible"....
Aggressive players will 3bet with as much as 20% range on a 6max table,
especially when your bet could just be a steal attempt from the cut-off...

A few quick comments on your hands:

Hand 1 98s
4-betting 98s is a little FPS (Fancy Play Syndrome) and fits well into the picture of, what your main issue is. It worked this time, but in general people at 2NL dont like to fold to 3-bets or 4-bets, so this is something, you need to stop doing for now. Also your rationale, that you "had enough of him" is tilt, which is another winrate killer.

Hand 2 QJs
When he check to you, your top pair is usually good, and I want to bet it for value not just on the flop but also the turn. It can be fine then to check back some rivers, but the turn is where, you need to get value from his draws.

As played its really difficult to understand, what he can even have, when he check-jam for several times the pot. Like 5d4d exactly, which backdoored into a straight? Or a sandbagged set? Its really weird, but as you say, making these "curiosity calls" for stacks with one pair is a good way to set money on fire, so I like your river line as played.

Hand 3 99
Are you sure, the bet sizes are correct here? If you only bet 3,5BB on the flop into a pot of 21BB, that is way to small. You need to bet for value/protection, when he check to you. As in hand 2 you should also bet the turn. You should be ahead most of the time, when he check to you, even though this time he was sandbagging a monster.

The river is difficult for me to analyse, because I dont play the hand this passive, so I dont see the river like this. Any 8 or 3 has a straight now, and any 5 has trips. On the other hand he should have a lot of just overcards here, since you did not make him pay. So I guess its fine to call a 10BB bet into a 28BB pot.

Hand 4 KQs
Bet the flop for value. Rest of the hand is fine. Sure its a "WTF" feeling, when he flip over AK after limp-calling pre, but this is, what fish do. He got lucky on the turn and won a pretty small pot by playing so passive. It is, what it is.

Hi all,

Thank you so much for the input which is very valuable and much better than studying alone. I try to accommodate all the input in my game as best as I can today.

Apologies, the first hand I posted was wrong and caused a bit confusion. It was Qd-8s-6d-6h-10d, so I rivered the flush but was beaten by a full-house (-; Again. an aggro fish play in hindsight and need to get rid of in my game even when frustrated.

I also double checked 9-9 vs. 7-7-7 play and the flop was checked through by opponent and me...very passive play and not optimal. He sandbagged and perhaps wanted to get me check-raised all-in which did not work out due to my passiveness (-; I tend to play medium and low pair passive; small pot as long as I don't river a set.

Now, I will start todays session c. 4-6 hours and think that I can win. Need to find out how to make the video first. I am only comfortable with 2 tables at the moment.

Will be back soon. Thanks!

If you download Streamlabs OBS you can stream it to a twitch account you make. That will save you having to download and upload the video.

Hi,

Back from yesterday session which was 850 hands, VPIP 20%, PFR 14% / a bit passive. Winnings of USD 2.16 / 12.7 bb/100

Adjustments:
SB/BB
I folded all the crap, I checked from the SB and BB what you recommended. It is in contrast to GTO range however the right thing to do for 2/1c cash online. I tightened up on all positions when there was a raise in front of me; however opened up a lot more from the BU with all sort of crappy hands such as Q-5s, A-low off-suit etc. Figured out that most opponents who call from the SB/BB fold immediately if they do not hit something which is statistically 60% of the time. So I CBET 100% if they check. However fold if they donk and I have nothing. If they call my CBET and I have nothing on the turn, I give up not getting in trouble with fancy bluffs as before.

Low/Mid pair
I tried set mining thus not committing to calling anything if I did not hit a set and see overcards instead. If I hit a set which 10% probability, basically calling, raise, -re-raise on the river getting as much chips in the middle as possible.

Coolers
Got coolered as always with nut flush vs. full house (see two days ago - curious about probability that happing over 2000hands?), AA cracked via TT set however this time balancing out with wins from the a. set mining, b. cracking a slowplayed AA from an opponent with a straight.
Something to be aware of is probability for a full-house: It is 1% which is not as low as expected. So even with a nut flush to watch out for if the opponent is re-raising on a paired board. Question: The nut flush is not always the nuts and might fold to a re-raise on a paired board?

Fancy play: Was running a huge bluff and got called again...

I have a video prepared but the CardChat uploader is rejecting - the video is compressed and meeting the size requirements...
@General: Will try Streamlabs asap.

I have attached a zip file containing the download of the all the hand histories which can be imported into HM3 or PokerTracker for review.

Best

Meister

Ok cool, sounds like you're making reasonable adjustments. You're using a HUD right?

I have a tip for you that will save you huge amounts of money in the long term.

If Villian has stats somewhere around 18/12/2 or more nitty than that, they almost NEVER stack off with a flush on a paired board in a 2bet pot.

Furthermore, they'll never stack off with a straight on a flush board. 2nl is full of nits to go along with the fish. Nits hate to stack off without the stone cold nuts or close to. Remember that.

Finally, if a nit with stats like that above flat calls pre flop, and then raises/ shoves all in on the flop or turn on a dry board, it is almost always a set. Im talking 99/100 times, its a set. Nits are so transparent. They 3bet QQ+ sometimes 3bet JJ and just flat with 22+ and hope to hit a set. Big overpairs need to be laid down when the pot is 2bet, and villain raises flop or turn and jams turn/river.


PS
Most "TAGs" at 2nl are not actually TAGs. Their pre flop range of something like 20/18/3 makes them look more loose than they really are. Pre flop TAGs are almost always post-flop NITS. Remember that too. Sure, they'll run more bluffs, perhaps double barrel flop and turn, but that's still not for much more than 20% of their stack. These "tags" will still only stack off with the nuts, or close to, just like our earlier nit.

Thats a very good thought, so will be aware of these NITs. I was too much focused on pre flop ranges. The NITs are very exploitable if I make a hero fold facing extreme aggression from them.

I have uploaded the videos at YouTube









Starting the next session now. I am currently at party poker because I thought that I could benefit from HUD ban in terms of weaker play.

This is great, I mean without a HUD it's going to be a tough analysis but I can definitely take a look. Will do tomorrow. Thanks for upload.

Back from the session. Stacked off with AA and KK - no coolers and 2 buyins up to build bankroll. Call it a night and enjoy my winnings.


Tomorrow, I will play 888 or PokerStars using my HUD. Lots of data on the players over there and curious about your analysis.

If you could play on PokerStars, it would be great. I actually know a lot of the players there anyway. Ill watch your videos that you have posted already, but will be able to do more with a HUD on stars.

Poker Micro Stakes 2 1c 6max online Part I

4:39 A9s = Flat call pre with A9s out of position in the BB without reads. IP, this raise is ok. OOP, not so much.


6:10 Set of 3s= Bet 3/4th pot or even full pot with straight and flush draws with your set of 3s. Extract value, charge them to draw. They’ll call whatever the price is to hit if they have anything, and will fold regardless is they don’t. On turn, again, bet 3/4th pot or more.


10:20 9Ts = good check back on flop.


27:55 65s = For this price, you can call in the BB and play a flop in position.


28:36 KK = good 3bet price. Perfect sizing for 2nl. Perfect post flop play too. Unlucky turn card.
Is there no auto top up feature? If there is, turn it on J


29:51 QJo = This hand is too weak to be calling in MP2 v MP1, his range is much stronger than yours, you’ll often be dominated and what’s more, this matters even more when your stack is short. You’ll be pot committed on any top pair hand you make and you also don’t have the stack size to correctly draw to straights. Fold pre. If you were on the BU v CO, you could call this profitably. Once 3bet, good fold. Glad you didn’t call here.

Top up your stack to 100bb at all times J You can’t set mine as profitably without a full stack, and that’s where so much money comes from at 2nl.


44:34 K8o = You almost 3bet this hand. DON’T haha.


50:56 A4o = Raise, this is still ahead of all sorts of hands like KQ/Js, QJo KQo etc. Fold to 3bet. It’s ok to limp if BB is a rampant 3better though. Full range graph can be found here for SB v BB open ranges https://upswingpoker.com/use-these-4-rules-to-play-your-small-blind-smart/


Also, a nice rule of thumb in the SB v BB, is to check your top pair hands, and bet some of your air, and middle and bottom pairs. So check call with your pair of aces on this flop, and bet and Jack or 3.


51:21 TT = 3bet on the BU. You’re ahead of so much of his range. If he calls with AK/Q/J or any high unpaired hands, they’ll miss the flop 69% of the time, so you can Cbet and take the pot down. As played, your line post flop was fine.


53:18 A8s = Raise flop. One thing I’ve learnt at 2nl, is that so often, players bet 1/2pot with their air/weak Cbet range. And bet 3/4th pot with their value hands. Raise any 1/2pot bet with this draw. Call when they bet 3/4th pot bet or more. Good fold on turn, you don’t have the correct odds to draw, and also on a paired board, you’re less likely to have the nuts when you hit.


56:25 88 = You can sometimes call here, but also sometimes 3bet. You’re ahead of a lot of their range here and they’ll miss the flop a lot of the time.


1:00:26 QTs pre flop, this call is good, although you can occasionally mix in a 3bet. Post flop, I actually think you should raise his Cbet. Be careful with this, and don’t overdo it, but you have two overcards and a back door flush draw. He Cbet 1/2pot and this flop just doesn’t hit so many of his cards. If he bet 3/4th pot, you can fold. But with ½ pot here, you can raise with your equity. Check turn if you hit a pair for pot control, and also if you miss cos you’re now behind if he calls.


107:04 Don’t bet river here. It’s not enough for him to be scared of the flush, and he’s way ahead of your hand after he calls the flop. If he calls, you’re beat and if he checks back, you’re probably ahead of his air anyway with 99. What do you put him on when you bluff here? What are you trying to make him fold? Don’t bluff middle strength hands that have showdown value, a better hand to bluff here with is AJ/AT or TJs that missed etc.


1:18:42 T9s = Call here, you have a nice hand on the BU that can play some pots in position.


1:26 K3s = Don’t cbet this imo. Don’t bet turn, keep his bluffs in. Let him bluff his pocket pairs that contain a club.