I feel like I'm not playing poker

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rdmd

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sorry for the vague title guys but didn't know how to explain it otherwise. the thing is that I'm playing micro stakes for about 2 months maybe, studied some books. when I'm playing, I play between 1-3 tables, and all I'm doing is waiting for a good playable hand and play it. if I miss the flop,I don't call bets. I'm a breakeven player at this point. I feel like I'm not playing poker because all I do is wait for a good hand and when I hit the flop I put more money in it.if I miss I usually don't do anything else. I do occasional bluffs when I know opponent was chasing a draw and missed it,and sometimes I c-bet as a bluff when I miss the flop. they say I should be playing abc poker at this point (0.01/0.02 stakes), is that what I'm doing? I feel like I should be trying to outplay opponents all the time,do fancy bluffs etc. I'm looking for some input on this please.

and on a quick side question, what do you guys think about me as a beginner multitabling? I do it because as I said I'm playing nitty maybe max 20% of hands and if I play 1 table most of the time I'm just sitting,most of the time is spent waiting. I do try to read their betting to figure out tells. so for my growth as a beginner,would you guys suggest multitabling or 1 table?

thank you.
 
EvertonGirl

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I cant give you help with cash games as I only play tournaments.

I would personally play 1 table as you haven't mentioned anything about position. Do you still wait on good cards when you are in LP. Position is very important in poker.

There is nothing wrong with playing a tight game, but you need to play with some aggression, say you are on the button with A7o and the BB calls your attempt to steal the blinds and you miss the flop which has a K on it, if the BB checks you may as well try a Cbet, if he raises you fold. You sound like a passive nit to me. The way you described what you do on the flop will become obvious to your opponents and they will bully you off a hand.
 
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hffjd2000

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If you are breakeven at 2 months time, then you are good already.

Consolations for it are experience, earned points/status and other cleared bonuses.
 
Olegan163s

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Not bad to play like McDonald. Expand the range and makes the continuation bet.
Do you play poker. Congratulations.
 
Marcwantstowin

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Hi rdmd.

Firstly, I don't think that playing 2/3 tables at once is a problem. However, as EvertonGirl says you may need to put more into "what you are doing?" at a table. i.e Are you "labelling players and seeing how you percieve they play?" I think you may need to concentrate more on your opponents and less on what cards you are playing. I know that sounds a strange thing to say, but there are plenty of players who play with a certain amount of aggression when they are on button for instance, whatever cards they have.

I would suggest you try looking at your opponents more while playing micro-stakes and build your bankroll.

There are plenty of threads on here about cash games, and you will no doubt find them very helpful........Gl.........:D:D:D
 
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rdmd

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thank you all for replys.

Evertongirl, yup, I pay close attention to position,sometimes turning down marginal hands because I'm oop.I don't play speculative hands early on etc. You are right, I'm a passive nit. In a situation like you described, I do c-bet usually. but overall I am a passive nit and I do get bullied out of the hands. it would be better if I could be aggressive nit I guess.


hffjd2000 that's what I was thinking. I try to play lots of hours and because I'm a beginner I thought being breakeven was a good result. I couldn't survive any other gambling game like blackjack if I put this much our into it.

Olegan163s I want to expand my range but I don't think I'm good enough with the postflop play,so I think I would lose money in the long run. And you are right with the c-bet, on the book small stakes hold em, Ed Miller said just c-bet because on micros they will fold too often. but I just get scared.

Marcwantstowin yup I try to read my opponents,but I do it less successfully when multitabling, but I still try to watch and also mostly make my decisions based on their betting sizes when multitabling. trust me I'm trying to build my bankroll haha, I'm trying to get my bankroll to 100$ so I can move up to 0.02/0.05. the max buy in is 5$ so I figured since you need 20x buy in,you know the math :D but it will be hard I think,should I move to next stage sooner,maybe with less bankroll say 40$? but that would break the rule of 20x buy in but is it really that important in micros if I'm not playing way over my bankroll? right now I have 17$. and I'm looking to the threads,I usually read the hand analysis.

thank you all for the replys.
 
Miroslav_GG

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All I can tell you mate is, keep playing the way you are comfortable, sure there is some certain details you can learn in the future, but at this moment just play your game. As an example, when I started playing with arround the same BR you have, I was making some rly big wins, But I was playing exactly the opposite of your style. I was super agressive and that's why I had some big numbers. When the varience comes...pfff I go broke. Playing like a nit you will learn a lot and lose less.
 
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If your break-even, then it can be because of 2 things: Maybe your not laying down enough hands, when you have a marginal hand. Otherwise you may have problems to extract maximum value (for example if you hit your set: don't slowplay!). Try to find out what it is.
 
StuffBarnaul

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I played such stakes same strategy SSS, but with starting hands chart.
This stakes are very fishy. Choose tables with PFR>40%, the more the better, raise preflop and c-bet often. When you will make 3-4k hands, look for your stats and compare it with good players.

Good luck, poker is great fun.
 
PapaC

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Good tread. I only have one thing to say really. That is, you are right where you need to be. All you need to do is keep asking these good questions, and use what you hear. When I came here, I had 12 years of poker under my belt, but didn't know a damn thing about poker. So I asked questions and tried what they were telling me. A lot of it really works too LOL. GL
 
A2345Razz

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I PERSONALLY would play 1 table for the 1st 10k/20k hands of poker and really concentrate on reads, playing a bit more aggressively as time passes and trying to put people on ranges of hands and check to see how right you were at every showdown.
 
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rdmd

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thank you all for replys and suggestions guys.

Miroslav_GG, I also played aggressive for a while, but not like super aggressive. I was light raising with my suited connectors,always making steal attempts on button etc. I don't know if these are agg for you guys but for me it was. Yes I had more swings when I was playing like this,more big wins and more big losses.

Xmaster, when I have a marginal hand I play with check/call. sometimes they show worse hands,sometimes they don't. yup,I never slowplay my set, I have studied some cash game books, so I *try* to play a good game I pay attention to those things.

StuffBarnaul, I play at blackchip poker and there is no traffic and its full of nitty regulars like myself. the game is tight,like really tight most of the players are like me. when you raise sometimes everyone folds. I know that people are getting smarter but low traffic in bcp is really bad,I will move on to a different site in the future but I don't want to run away. if the games are tight so be it,I tell myself I should still be able to beat them, I hope at least :) I will take your advice finding tables over 40%.

PapaC, thank you :)

A2345Razz, this makes sense. I will play on 1 table for a while. when you mean 10-20k hands, do you mean the ones that I'm also not involved in? so ex: in an hour maybe the TABLE plays 100 hands but because I play really nitty, I'm not in most of them but I will still be observing the table every hand. so the 10k hands you mean, are those the table hands or the ones I participate personally?

and as a general question to everyone, bankroll rules say 20x max buy in is needed before jumping to a bigger stakes. for me to jump to 0.02/0.05 I will need 100$ (max buy in is 5$). right now my bankroll is 17$. I can just deposit 100$ but I want to beat the stake then move up,so for me to get to the 0.02/0.05 stakes should I grind until I have 100$ or do you guys think maybe 50$ would be enough bankroll for me to move up, maybe the rule isn't THAT important in these micro stakes? what do you guys say?
 
Samango

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A2345Razz, this makes sense. I will play on 1 table for a while. when you mean 10-20k hands, do you mean the ones that I'm also not involved in? so ex: in an hour maybe the TABLE plays 100 hands but because I play really nitty, I'm not in most of them but I will still be observing the table every hand. so the 10k hands you mean, are those the table hands or the ones I participate personally?

Yes 10k-20k includes all the hands that you are dealt, even if you fold.
Folding is actually a positive action. weaker players will call many more hands hoping to get lucky and lose chips almost every time.
Folding is contributing to your break-even status.


and as a general question to everyone, bankroll rules say 20x max buy in is needed before jumping to a bigger stakes. for me to jump to 0.02/0.05 I will need 100$ (max buy in is 5$). right now my bankroll is 17$. I can just deposit 100$ but I want to beat the stake then move up,so for me to get to the 0.02/0.05 stakes should I grind until I have 100$ or do you guys think maybe 50$ would be enough bankroll for me to move up, maybe the rule isn't THAT important in these micro stakes? what do you guys say?

Regardless of your bankroll, you will need to be beating a level before you move up. When you move up and play for higher stakes you have the potential to win more in the same timeframe.
Given what you have told us, you would be lucky to still break-even and would most likely lose money, but quicker
The same also applies to multi tabling, if you are beating one table then 2 or 3 at a time may make you more money in the same timeframe, but as you are break-even, you are not gaining anything.
Concentrating on 1 table only may tip you over into a winning player. Then you could slowly add tables. Winning at 1 is better than b/e at 3

As has already been stated, if you are just starting out then breaking-even is doing pretty well, many people never get beyond being a losing player. Keep it up :)
 
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rdmd

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samango, thank you for your reply. I will take your advices. but how long do I need before I know I'm winning? I mean after how many hands do I have to take a look at my score to know if I'm a winning player? because I don't want to keep playing micro 0.01/0.02 forever, and my sample size is 2 months of playing so its too small of a sample size. maybe 10k hands? so after 10k hands if I'm winning and have a decent bankroll say from 17$ to 50$,would I be good to move up? I'm not sure if my question is clear,I just don't know when I would be ready to move up,because your answer made me think,I could just catch some good cards in a row and make a better bankroll maybe but it would be just varience and I wouldn't be ready to move up then. before,I just thought I would need to grind up to 100 then move up, but its more complex than that maybe.
 
PapaC

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Hi again rdmd. No matter what level you play, when you move up it's going to feel like you are out of place because with every level the bets and pots are bigger. When I made a $50 deposit at Full Flush I started where you are at, and I have only made it to
.05/.10 because my BR won't handle anymore. So I think the most important thing is to let your BR tell you when you can move up. Man just keep going and don't get in a hurry. Have some fun and at your level try some different things. But be careful, because it's not easy to get players to fold at your level either. GL
 
kasper447

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To play for real money you must always have an amount 20 times the buy-by-level, for example, if your bankroll $ 1,000 limit should be $ 0.25 - $ 0.50, since the sum of the maximum buy-in is 50 $ ($ 20x50 = $ 1000). With the game in the CIS you only need to shell out 2-4% of your bet for the game. Thus, the winner of the $ 1,000 bankroll capacity can play in tournaments Sit with buy-ins $ 20 $ -40 including Reiki. Playing in a MTT bankroll of $ 1,000 has to spend on the game only 1%, therefore, the player should not be spread MTT $ 10 per game. This is quite elementary basic, but a clear plan, which can adhere to each player who wants to keep "within the permissible." GL.
 
jazzaxe

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Deposit some money so you can make bigger bets when you are ahead and you won't have to win showdowns to get money, you can win by making the other guy fold.
 
jayrock334

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breaking even is good if you play to win money and for fun. look at this way at least you have not lost any money playing.
 
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chloebrand

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When you are playing microstakes, you shouldn't worry about playing tricky poker. Stick to the basics, and learn your game, develop and grow.
 
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If you are breaking even, then you are actually doing good, as the rake at the micro levels will eat at your profits if you aren't playing poker well.
At the lower limits, there are MANY marginal players, and you need to be playing basic poker (i.e. bet with good hands, fold bad hands). Many players won't fold and don't watch what you are doing, so just bet when you make a hand. Don't bluff too often, and then only against people you have identified that it will work against.
When you do move up, make sure your bankroll can handle the variance.
 
YOSEF19888

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More aggressive

sorry for the vague title guys but didn't know how to explain it otherwise. the thing is that I'm playing micro stakes for about 2 months maybe, studied some books. when I'm playing, I play between 1-3 tables, and all I'm doing is waiting for a good playable hand and play it. if I miss the flop,I don't call bets. I'm a breakeven player at this point. I feel like I'm not playing poker because all I do is wait for a good hand and when I hit the flop I put more money in it.if I miss I usually don't do anything else. I do occasional bluffs when I know opponent was chasing a draw and missed it,and sometimes I c-bet as a bluff when I miss the flop. they say I should be playing abc poker at this point (0.01/0.02 stakes), is that what I'm doing? I feel like I should be trying to outplay opponents all the time,do fancy bluffs etc. I'm looking for some input on this please.

and on a quick side question, what do you guys think about me as a beginner multitabling? I do it because as I said I'm playing nitty maybe max 20% of hands and if I play 1 table most of the time I'm just sitting,most of the time is spent waiting. I do try to read their betting to figure out tells. so for my growth as a beginner,would you guys suggest multitabling or 1 table?

thank you.
Your game is good for playing tournaments but you play Cash you need Aggressive
;)
 
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