Tricky situations on the flop

Lately I have faced three situations that are somewhat similair and right now seem pretty lost and am looking for some guidance on;

1. I am IP (usually Button, CO) and a very loose player open raises from EP. It is folded around and I flat call with a hand like AJo or KTs or something,thinking that by flatting I keep his A6o and K7o hands in play but it seems that usually the flop misses me completely and villain c-bets. I usually end up folding in frustration but sometimes I'll call with the plan to bet/raise the turn but villain refuses to go away. Sometimes these loose passives will flat my flop bet and I'll check behind on the turn and face a small river bet. Feeling safe I'll often call to find that by gosh, he had the AK after all or worse, had the A6o but flopped 2 pair.
2. I am OOP and a very loose player opens from LP and I 3bet from the blinds with a hand like AQo or 99. Villain calls, I miss completely with AQ or get 2 overs to my 99. If I check villain frequently bets here but if I bet he usually calls.
3. I am on the button with a playable hand like A3s or KJo and open raise for .07. SB min re-raises to .12. If I call here villain almost always c-bets and since I usually miss I fold in disgust. Am I better 4 betting these hands in these spots?

Some of this maybe distorted perception. I think I am in my first real downswing since dropping to 2nl (I'm down about 6BI this week) but I seem to be floundering lately. I feel like I am letting VPIP/ PFR stats are lulling me into a false sense of security.

So what I'm wondering is; are hands like AJo & KTs good enough hands to flat a raise IP vs a donkey? Are hands like AQo & 99/88 strong enough to 3bet a late position raise by a LAG? Or do I have it reversed? Should I 3bet semibluff the AJo type hands knowing I could have some postflop equity if he calls and instead flat call with a much better range QQ+.AK here? And what does that do for playing OOP against a button with a very wide range? I feel that set-mining won't work here unless villain is agro-maniacal he won't stack of with TPWK if I hit my set.


I think these problems are one of the prices I pay for targeting the loosest 2nl tables with the biggest avg pot sizes on Full Tilt, that is fold equity is virtually non-existent against so many villains. I have started to tighten up again as a consequence and have started folding weak Broadways/ small suited Aces and 22-55 until the CO. Whenever I am dealt KQo QTs anytime but CO/ Button I just roll my eyes in disgust. I'm thinking that if I go back to my 12/10 game and go back to folding dominated hands against a raise, even IP vs donkeys I'll avoid the win small pots/ lose big ones and just look for FAT value when I make a monster.

1. I don't think floating works well in micros, only at NL25 and above does the play work to some extent. With AJ and KT won't you be better off just folding them especially against someone who c-bets relentlessly. Those are trouble hands. Even if you flop top pair you don't really know how you stand in the hand. I would just muck them facing an EP raise.
Your reasoning for flatting to keep dominated hands in might be fine in theory, but in practice how comfortable are you about getting it in with top pair good kicker? I would only do it with AK, AQ, and sometimes KQ as the chance of being dominated ourselves is a lot less.
2. Don't get discourage by missing the flop when you are the 4-bettor. If we have zero to no equity postflop. e.g. AdQd on the three-heart flop with no A or Q, then it might be a good idea to check/fold or fire a c-bet to try to take the pot down, although the latter option isn't really preferred since we can't really double barrel the turn.
The fact that we are OOP makes playing medium pairs a tricky proposition. This is such a nature of those hands and you can't really avoid it. Remember, you don't have to win every pot that is out there, even in a 4-bet pot, chances are you only invest about 10 big blinds into the pot, hardly approaching commitment threshold. If you're unsure of how to proceed, check/folding isn't always bad, especially in micros where one can earn a decent amount of profit playing ABC.
3. Again, 12c is like 6 big blinds. The min reraise pretty much priced us in that I will only fold offsuit K-rags and ace rags to those raises. If you miss, then there's no shame in cutting your losses on the flop.
4. Move up! You might have dropped 6BIs but I'm confident you're still properly rolled for NL5. It's not like NL2 are full of idiots or fishes, but you'll surprisingly learn a lot more as you move up. You've read a lot about poker, but trust me, those advanced concepts are almost of no use at the smallest of stakes! One argument for quickly moving up when you are properly rolled is to avoid paying atrocious rake. You're currently paying 6.66% at NL2. At NL25, this number will drop to 5%. That will affect your winrate a lot trust me!
5. Don't rely too much on HUDs. Sometimes it pays to also pay attention to your opponents and the cards they show down without relying on statistics which might not even be significant due to small sample size.

GL at the tables

One piece of advice. Read the board texture on the flop, this will help you to decide if a bluff is good etc against different player types.

Remember when 3 betting etc. You need to think what there calling range is to such a bet, and do you dominate that when they call.

Also less flatting at this level and start building a pot.

Fx, you have had very good success in .01 - .02 play the game you have been playing is what you should do.You should review back when you did the best and see what you changed. Maybe nothing, but might have changed something in your play style that is a leak. good luck

On #1 prob fold on there flop cbet unless you have over cards to the board then maybe flat but a reraise would prob work better.

#2 Maybe call there raise pre instead of reraising and keep pot small. If you hit your A on flop dont bet let them do all the betting and they will, flop, trn and river..( i recomend not playing this way everytime you do need to reraise with hands like that more times than not preflop )

#3 Maybe reraise them to .20 when they raise to .12 see what they do, if they reraise back fold prob.Or call the .12 reraise on the flop.

Dont 3 bet

If you are up against the loose player in some of these situations; dont 3 bet. You will have good implied odds when seeing the flop. Your raise against these guys has no real fold equity, so it is really just making the pot bigger and more likely you will get blown out of the pot. I think he will become all the more likely to bluff at you as the pot gets bigger. Just call and take a flop with him...Liza