Trouble beating 2NL

For the past few days I've been playing at the 0.01/0.02 9-max cash games on pokerstars. I've been having a bit of a trouble progressing and sizing up my bankroll which is only at about 16$ right now after a series of bad beats.

I have been using basic ABC poker, no fancy stuff. Sometimes I semi-bluff when the situation calls for it. I'm pretty aware of the importance of position and I've been using HEM to get reads and things.

I'm not sure what I need to be 100% on to beat this level. I sometimes see people talking about 3-bets, C-bets and all that but then others say that it's pointless and just basic ABC poker is enough to beat it .

If someone could maybe give me links to some good articles and threads on the matter I would be very thankful .

Hyski said:

For the past few days I've been playing at the 0.01/0.02 9-max cash games on Pokerstars. I've been having a bit of a trouble progressing and sizing up my bankroll which is only at about 16$ right now after a series of bad beats.

I have been using basic ABC poker, no fancy stuff. Sometimes I semi-bluff when the situation calls for it. I'm pretty aware of the importance of position and I've been using HEM to get reads and things.

I'm not sure what I need to be 100% on to beat this level. I sometimes see people talking about 3-bets, C-bets and all that but then others say that it's pointless and just basic ABC poker is enough to beat it .

If someone could maybe give me links to some good articles and threads on the matter I would be very thankful .

Click to expand...

The key to beating 2nl is to make strong hands and get your stack in.


I have over 211,000 hands of 2nl. I chronicled a lot of it in my own thread. https://www.cardschat.com/forum/poker-goals-challenges-wins-46/


I also made a post on another thread that gives some general guidelines to playing 2nl. It is here: https://www.cardschat.com/forum/lea...-how-play-table-full-191650/post-1662931.html

There is an excellent series on the dragthebar.com website by a famous grinder named Blackrain79. The 1st part is here: https://www.dragthebar.com/poker-forums/showthread.php?t=5076


A couple of general rules about playing 2nl;

don't bluff
never slowplay your big hands
You have almost zero fold equity so don't re-raise your draws, float with air or try any other fancy plays. When you have it bet, when you don't check/fold.


As soon as you have $ 150 in your bankroll move up.

Here's how you beat 2NL:

Raise & C-bet flops until you're blue in the face. When they play back, you fold, unless you have something better than TPTK. Then put all the money in.

When in doubt, value bet.

Thanks

Thanks alot for your replies.

I still have a few questions:

1) Is multi-tabling is a good idea, and if so when I should be doing that?
Previously I was doing 4 tables easily but it felt I was just playing rather than learning.

2) should I c-bet even though the board did not hit me?

3) Is there no other way to see the dragthebar video than paying?

Hyski said:

Thanks alot for your replies.

I still have a few questions:

1) Is multi-tabling is a good idea, and if so when I should be doing that?
Previously I was doing 4 tables easily but it felt I was just playing rather than learning.

2) should I c-bet even though the board did not hit me?

3) Is there no other way to see the dragthebar video than paying?

Click to expand...

The goal at 2nl is to amass enough bankroll to move to 5nl. If you can mulit-table and make more money playing several tables instead of one then do it.

Hyski said:

2) should I c-bet even though the board did not hit me?

Click to expand...

#2) The actual answer to this is very complicated, but the short answer is that you c-bet on flops that you miss if your opponent is likely to fold. "Likely" depends on a lot of things such as the flop texture, how bad they are, how much you bet, ect. However, if you always bet 60% pot on the flop after you raised, you probably wouldn't be too far wrong.

Hyski said:

3) Is there no other way to see the dragthebar video than paying?

Click to expand...

Nope. Don't pay for a DTB membership. Their content is excellent, but you should be able to beat 2NL without a coaching site. The hierarchy of learning resources goes like this:

1) Internet resources (such as this one). There's a crazy amount of free content out there, its just harder to find.

2) Hand analysis forums. Post hands, get your leaks fixed here.

3) Books. Library cards are free, and books cover the basics well. I'm a fan of Ed Miller's books for NLHE, like [ame="http://www.amazon.com/No-Limit-Hold-Theory-Practice/dp/188068537X"]this one.[/ame]


4) Video training sites like Drag the Bar. If you don't like reading, these sites are good. Plus they provide better content than books. However, they also often cost money. The best way to obtain them is to use promotions like this one.

5) Personal coaching. When you've exhausted all your other learning resources, having a really good player look at every facet of your game really helps. But this is expensive!

You sound like you have a bunch to learn about the game and the best way to do that is read posts here on the forums. It sounds like you do not have a three bet game at all and you have no idea about c-betting board texture, which are very common with newer players. I played around 200k hands down there and ran about 14bb/100. I played break even until I did reading and figured out that I played entirely to passive. Passive players do not make money in this game at all. You have to raise and re-raise those big hands and play pots in position and steal when you see weakness. This all comes from putting in the time and getting burnt by the same old things and then one day you wake up and realize that maybe you shouldn't play like that.

1.) Read about c-betting and board texture.
2.) Read about position
3.) Do not go all in Preflop with AK. (Unless you have a read on a certain player, this is a post flop hand that tons of people play wrong at the beginning)

Best Strategy at 2NL is patience and discipline.In fact all the beginners know the simple rules ABC of poker but not all of them apply them for different reasons.
There is a line i sawin "Small Stakes Holdem" by Ed Miller, David Sklansky & Mason Malmuth. "Big Hands big pots, small hands small pots". When you are unsure of your hand check for pot control or fold.
Try to put yor stack in with maded hands but fold marginal hands when you see resistance.

And always remember:At FR top pair in a multyway pot is weak, do now slowplay your big hands(flush, streight, set) because you will pay badly a lot of times, and do not bluff. Cbet sometimes when you miss the flop but if you face ressistance just give up. The money you will save by folding will be a big part of your profit at the end of the day.
Texture of the board have some importance at FR microstakes. You have to filter the average players from the fish because fish is where the most money you'll win. Fishh will try to see the river with one pair, fish will chase draws , fish will try to bluff with air on the turn.

one good advice I can give you is that top pair top kicker is not a good hand when you get check-raised on the turn or someone shoves over the top on the river, no matter how fishy they are, in long term, if you can give it up your ride at 2nl will be much smoother.

swingro said:

Best Strategy at 2NL is patience and discipline.In fact all the beginners know the simple rules ABC of poker but not all of them apply them for different reasons.
There is a line i sawin "Small Stakes Holdem" by Ed Miller, David Sklansky & Mason Malmuth. "Big Hands big pots, small hands small pots". When you are unsure of your hand check for pot control or fold.
Try to put yor stack in with maded hands but fold marginal hands when you see resistance.

And always remember:At FR top pair in a multyway pot is weak, do now slowplay your big hands(flush, streight, set) because you will pay badly a lot of times, and do not bluff. Cbet sometimes when you miss the flop but if you face ressistance just give up. The money you will save by folding will be a big part of your profit at the end of the day.
Texture of the board have some importance at FR microstakes. You have to filter the average players from the fish because fish is where the most money you'll win. Fishh will try to see the river with one pair, fish will chase draws , fish will try to bluff with air on the turn.

Click to expand...

Here is the line you didn't learn in that book, "At 2nl TPTK is a big hand". Until your opponent takes an aggressive action (betting or raising) you should be value betting TPTK relentlessly. Checking for pot control just limits the amount of your winnings.

I bluff with air on the turn. I r fish!!!

WVHillbilly said:

Here is the line you didn't learn in that book, "At 20/25nl TPTK is a big hand". Until your opponent takes an aggressive action (betting or raising) you should be value betting TPTK relentlessly. Checking for pot control just limits the amount of your winnings.

I bluff with air on the turn. I r fish!!!

Click to expand...

fyp.

Advice

c9h13no3 said:

Here's how you beat 2NL:

Raise & C-bet flops until you're blue in the face. When they play back, you fold, unless you have something better than TPTK. Then put all the money in.

When in doubt, value bet.

Click to expand...

Due to some negative comments from c9 in the past, I hate to agree with him. However he is totally right about NL 2 here. Pokerstars games also run quite tight and you can pretty much run over the competition with lots of CBetting.

When in LP raise pretty liberally and keep it somewhat tight early. Sticking to just a tight preflop game and needed to always "fit or fold" on the flop before CBetting will keep progress slow.

Well dont bluff.
Position is very important.
Choose flops where you cbet.
Play only strong hands