NineLions
Advanced beginner
Silver Level
I started a thread in this section offering to do some hand history review. PattyR wanted to take me up on it.
First off, Patty isn't quite the type of player that I had in mind for this 'cause he's already winning and does already ask for advice, so he's ahead of the players that I had intended this for. But we can all learn from review and discussion, so,
- you do seem to already know the value of hands in general
- you do seem to have some understanding how the value of hands changes with position
- you do know to cbet most hands
- you do know the value of raising. I think your stats from the small sample that I looked at had the VPIP/PFR almost the same
You said that you think that you have problems with small pairs, and from the sample you sent it looks as if you open raise all small pairs from almost, not quite, all positions. That's something that I do as well, but if you do so you have to be comfortable when you have to play postflop and there are overcards. From what I looked at you did fine, but if you're not comfortable, take a look at your database for the medium and smaller pairs from early and middle position and see if you're winning or not. I can't tell that from the sample. Not everyone open raises all pairs and if you aren't winning or don't feel comfortable, don't do it.
I think you 3 bet more times than you called in the sample that you sent. I was surprised. The 3 bets that you did were fine, but I didn't expect them given that you play a pretty tight game.
But I think you can call more often, especially at this level. Here's on that stuck out to me:
Party Poker - $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Holdem (9 players)
Party Poker Hand Converter Tool from CardsChat.com
SB: $9.84
BB: $12.25 (sitting out)
UTG: $4.20
UTG+1: $9.69 (sitting out)
MP: $10.37
MP+1: $1.78
MP+2: $22.26
CO Hero: $11.28
BTN: $10.40
Pre-flop: ($0.15) Hero is CO and dealt
UTG raises to $0.20, 2 folds, MP+2 calls $0.20, Hero folds, SB folds
I dunno why our converter thinks you're playing at partypoker, but anyway, you've got a hand that wants a multiway pot, you've got a small raise to call, you've got one caller, you've got a shortie but also a deep stack involved, and you've got position. Unless you really think someone behind is going to squeeze, this is ideal for flatting and seeing how they react to the flop.
There were a couple other times I would have opted to flat as well, but that was the most extreme. You'll find some players who play fit or fold on the flop and you can call their raises in position with a wide range with the plan of taking it away postflop on most boards.
The biggest thing that I'd recommend to you is to realllly open up your stealing range. You folded KT, 76, J8 from the button and more, and QJ from the cut off.Those are not power hands, but 3 or 4 handed with position I'd open far more, especially since you do seem to know how to follow up with cbets when called. The only thing to look out for is extreme calling stations, especially the ones who like to get aggressive postflop if you don't keep betting, or those few players at this level who 3bet steals frequently.
I didn't see a lot of postflop problems so I don't have a lot of hand histories to post here like I was planning to do. There were a few situations that I'd question, like firing two barrels with an underpair out of position even though the flop was fairly dry, and some hands that I'd consider opening like ATs from middle position and a couple others, but those AT and others are on the edge of personal taste I think, so folding is also okay.
Unfortunately I couldn't get the replayer to be nice and keep things in sequence so I didn't get any sense of table dynamics, though I did have the small sample of stats, but not enough to make useful comments about playing any specific players or to be able to tell if your folds on the button had to do with bad blinds to steal from.
But, open a wider range from the button! You'll collect more blinds, collect some more from cbetting. You'll also lose a few to 3 bets, but also find yourself with a unexpected two pair on the flop and stack some who doesn't 3 bet their AA/KK/QQ.
First off, Patty isn't quite the type of player that I had in mind for this 'cause he's already winning and does already ask for advice, so he's ahead of the players that I had intended this for. But we can all learn from review and discussion, so,
- you do seem to already know the value of hands in general
- you do seem to have some understanding how the value of hands changes with position
- you do know to cbet most hands
- you do know the value of raising. I think your stats from the small sample that I looked at had the VPIP/PFR almost the same
You said that you think that you have problems with small pairs, and from the sample you sent it looks as if you open raise all small pairs from almost, not quite, all positions. That's something that I do as well, but if you do so you have to be comfortable when you have to play postflop and there are overcards. From what I looked at you did fine, but if you're not comfortable, take a look at your database for the medium and smaller pairs from early and middle position and see if you're winning or not. I can't tell that from the sample. Not everyone open raises all pairs and if you aren't winning or don't feel comfortable, don't do it.
I think you 3 bet more times than you called in the sample that you sent. I was surprised. The 3 bets that you did were fine, but I didn't expect them given that you play a pretty tight game.
But I think you can call more often, especially at this level. Here's on that stuck out to me:
Party Poker - $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Holdem (9 players)
Party Poker Hand Converter Tool from CardsChat.com
SB: $9.84
BB: $12.25 (sitting out)
UTG: $4.20
UTG+1: $9.69 (sitting out)
MP: $10.37
MP+1: $1.78
MP+2: $22.26
CO Hero: $11.28
BTN: $10.40
Pre-flop: ($0.15) Hero is CO and dealt
UTG raises to $0.20, 2 folds, MP+2 calls $0.20, Hero folds, SB folds
I dunno why our converter thinks you're playing at partypoker, but anyway, you've got a hand that wants a multiway pot, you've got a small raise to call, you've got one caller, you've got a shortie but also a deep stack involved, and you've got position. Unless you really think someone behind is going to squeeze, this is ideal for flatting and seeing how they react to the flop.
There were a couple other times I would have opted to flat as well, but that was the most extreme. You'll find some players who play fit or fold on the flop and you can call their raises in position with a wide range with the plan of taking it away postflop on most boards.
The biggest thing that I'd recommend to you is to realllly open up your stealing range. You folded KT, 76, J8 from the button and more, and QJ from the cut off.Those are not power hands, but 3 or 4 handed with position I'd open far more, especially since you do seem to know how to follow up with cbets when called. The only thing to look out for is extreme calling stations, especially the ones who like to get aggressive postflop if you don't keep betting, or those few players at this level who 3bet steals frequently.
I didn't see a lot of postflop problems so I don't have a lot of hand histories to post here like I was planning to do. There were a few situations that I'd question, like firing two barrels with an underpair out of position even though the flop was fairly dry, and some hands that I'd consider opening like ATs from middle position and a couple others, but those AT and others are on the edge of personal taste I think, so folding is also okay.
Unfortunately I couldn't get the replayer to be nice and keep things in sequence so I didn't get any sense of table dynamics, though I did have the small sample of stats, but not enough to make useful comments about playing any specific players or to be able to tell if your folds on the button had to do with bad blinds to steal from.
But, open a wider range from the button! You'll collect more blinds, collect some more from cbetting. You'll also lose a few to 3 bets, but also find yourself with a unexpected two pair on the flop and stack some who doesn't 3 bet their AA/KK/QQ.
