$4 NLHE Full Ring: AKs strikes again... EP raise, button-caller

Villian Stats (VPIP/PFR/AF): 28/12/1

Villain also had 40% (2 out of 5) call preflop raise. Villain's stats are only out of 25 hands.

No Limit Hold'em $0.02/$0.04
Merge Network
9 players
Formatted by pokercopilot.com - Mac OS X hand history analysis and tracking


Stacks:
UTG - Hero ($2.78)
UTG+1 - robspats2 ($8.43)
UTG+2 - worsethanadonkey ($5.52)
MP - fromangryheads ($3.88)
MP2 - 4THEGOLD ($5.79)
CO - Bl1ndPyr0 ($2.00)
BTN - FriarMuck ($3.94)
SB - ark623 ($3.56)
BB - sotark ($4.15)


Preflop: ($0.06, 9 players) Hero is UTG with K♠A♠
Hero raises to $0.16, 5 folds, FriarMuck calls $0.16, 2 folds


Flop: Q♠9♦ Q♥ ($0.38, 2 players)
Hero bets $0.24, FriarMuck calls $0.24


Turn: J♦($0.86, 2 players)
Hero checks, FriarMuck checks


River: 6♥ ($0.86, 2 players)
Hero bets $0.32, FriarMuck calls $0.32


Total Pot: $1.50

Yeah. So my biggest questions are about what to do on the turn and river with the flop going as played. I feel fairly comfortable wit my c-bet, what with the paired board meaning he's hitting less often (although I think now I should have bet bigger on the flop). But I'm of course willing to be challenged on that too =)

I definitely feel like I have an okay handle on preflop strategy, and I feel comfortable with most flop situations, but I am sometimes unsure of what to do on turns and rivers that don't go the "expected" (or "hoped for") way.

C/f the river. I doubt your folding out any hand you don't already beat. Even 22-55 may call here.

I'm happy to not barrel the turn despite the straight draw. The board is too co-ordinated, villain is too likely a fish, 9x any potential straight draw snap us off, were only really folding out underpairs and air which may not even be there in the first place and our implied odds aren't good considering we're not fully stacked and we're not drawing to the nuts.

Don't like the river bet. Also play with 100bb.

Looks good but c/f river. I think he'll bluff catch with any pair and obv just fold out stuff we already beat

Betting the turn >>> Betting the river. Hell, if villain was a little more aggressive we could check/call the river before we'd want to bet it ourselves. Betting the river is mostly just burning money as people love to bluff catch on these paired boards.

jbbb said:

Don't like the river bet. Also play with 100bb.

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Okay, got it. I'm too weak here to bet the river. And as for playing with 100bb, I have a tiny bankroll... Should I still play with 100bb if it means playing with too few BIs for proper BRM??

You should have 20bis but 4nl Isn't hard to beat so you could be ok with less

Scourrge said:

Okay, got it. I'm too weak here to bet the river.

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You're still not thinking about this right. Its not that you're too weak, its what your opponent likely has, and if he's likely to call your bluff.

And the variance you experience (and thus, what size bankroll you need) is a function of both how much you buy in for AND the size of the big blind. So if you only have $30, buying in for $1.50 at 4NL isn't correct bankroll management. One of your biggest edges at microstakes is getting all in on the river, and if you're short stacked, you won't be maximizing that edge.

Bet/check/bet is a terrible bluff line at microstakes, especially when the board runs out clean.

You look very weak on turn. River bet is called very often here. I dont prefer betting turn, but its better than betting river. All low pocket pairs may fold turn.

c9h13no3 said:

You're still not thinking about this right. Its not that you're too weak, its what your opponent likely has, and if he's likely to call your bluff.

And the variance you experience (and thus, what size bankroll you need) is a function of both how much you buy in for AND the size of the big blind. So if you only have $30, buying in for $1.50 at 4NL isn't correct bankroll management. One of your biggest edges at microstakes is getting all in on the river, and if you're short stacked, you won't be maximizing that edge.

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Yes. I think I mis-spoke more than anything else. As for bankroll stuff, you still didn't really answer my question. Assume for the time being that I have $30, and do not wish to deposit further. Am I better off buying in for the max of $4?? This is only 7.25 BIs, so I'm skeptical. I haven't yet had a downswing that large but it wouldn't surprise me for a second if that were possible.

Although it hasn't been huge, I am (was?) in the middle of a downswing and am questioning whether I'd want to deposit again or not. Played in a $1.10 MTT frenzy today to take a break from cash games (I prefer MTTs) and made a nice $7.50 profit, and though that's not huge, it padded me back a little and was perhaps enough to not annihilate my confidence. I know I'm not a great player yet by any definition, but it scares me to think of losing consistently at micros.

It doesn't mean anything. Phil Ivey could lose 7 BIs playing NL4 in a day. Learn bankroll management. Don't be scared of losing, everyone needs to improve.

baudib1 said:

It doesn't mean anything. Phil Ivey could lose 7 BIs playing NL4 in a day. Learn bankroll management. Don't be scared of losing, everyone needs to improve.

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Thanks for the support baudib. I know that in my mind, but mentally knowing it isn't always enough, so it's really helpful to hear that coming from someone with a lot more experience.

Since I did manage to pad my bankroll back a bit today, I won't deposit yet. I'll at least give it another week or so, or maybe until I get my next pay-day (not a "real job" - just grading homework for the physics department at my university) so I have a little more justification.

Thanks again for the support, and thanks to everyone for the HA - I truly enjoy finding out just how bad (inexperienced may be a fairer word) I really am!

Are you better off buying in for $2 instead of $4? If your goal is to reduce your variance, then yes.

The problem is you'll likely see a small reduction in variance, but a big reduction in win rate if you buy in half stacked. So your risk of going broke is slightly smaller, but you risk toiling away in the micros for much longer. I personally don't think the loss of 50% off my win rate would be worth reducing my variance by 20%. But $30 isn't a ton of money to me either.

I always thought you have more variance buying in shortstacked?

I presume he means less variance in terms of $$$.

TBH if your roll if $30 and you have little idea of how to play poker maybe buying in for $2 is more sensible.

15BI is a lot better than ~8BI. Just make sure you study hard, post HH's and try and get your roll up quick enough so you can play full stacked.

I always thought you have more variance buying in shortstacked?

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I assume this is if you play like a proper capper, i.e. playing aggressively both pre and post flop. If you play the same as you would a normal player it's less $ variance.

This might be too tight but if I were you, I would shut down after missing the turn. We may be way behind any queen and also not doing too well against a 9 since we have nothing. AK looks great pre but without connecting on the flop, its just ace high and I would be scared of villain calling the flop bet.

jbbb said:

TBH if your roll if $30 and you have little idea of how to play poker maybe buying in for $2 is more sensible.

15BI is a lot better than ~8BI. Just make sure you study hard, post HH's and try and get your roll up quick enough so you can play full stacked.

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I'm no champion, but I wouldn't say I have "little idea of how to play poker." I'm on a -6 BI streak atm, but isn't that fairly standard for a downswing? It's just frustrating because my BR is so small to begin with.