The Mind of a Typical Micro Stakes Fish

C

CrushTheMicros

Rising Star
Bronze Level
Joined
Feb 5, 2010
Total posts
4
Chips
0
There are typically several “levels of thinking” when describing the though process of a poker player. The number of levels varies depending on who you ask and on what day it is. For our purposes, we’ll use 5 levels of thinking to describe poker players:

·Level 0: I know nothing
·Level 1: What do I have?
·Level 2: What does my opponent have?
·Level 3: What does my opponent think I have?
·Level 4: What does my opponent think that I think they have?

Guess what levels most micro-stakes players are thinking on?

If you guessed anything but levels 0 or 1, you are probably overcomplicating your play at the micro-stakes tables. Most players at the micro-stakes limits are, at best, only thinking about what cards they hold. More importantly, they are also thinking about their hand strength in absolute terms. Most micro players have a hard time letting go of pocket Kings when involved in a multi-way pot with an Ace on the board. Your job is to take advantage of these mistakes.

Most micro-stakes players, for all intents and purposes, play their hands face up. More often than not, a micro-stakes player who checks a dry flop such as 2-5-9 rainbow and then bets the turn when an Ace comes probably has the Ace. My suggestion is to take virtually everything you see from a typical micro-stakes player at face value. Sure, you open yourself up to being bluffed on occasion but in the end, your win-rate should improve.


While understanding that typical micro-stakes players play their hands up, it is also important to realize that they are also inherently suspicious. There is always a table sheriff or two around to call you down to make sure you aren’t bluffing, especially if he has ANY kind of hand, including Ace-high. This ties in with the notion that most of these players value their hands in absolute terms (Level 1 thinking).

At the end of the day, it is critical to recognize that the term “what you see is what you get” almost always applies to micro-stakes players. Generally speaking, a bet from someone means they have “something” and a check almost always means weakness. If you are the aggressor in a hand and a player simply calls your bets, it generally means he is drawing or has a marginal hand. Understanding these mentalities is critical to beating the micro-limits.
 
ZZFLOP

ZZFLOP

Rock Star
Silver Level
Joined
Jun 18, 2008
Total posts
239
Chips
0
Good post, but this strategy doesn't work at all micro-limits, 50 NL is also considered micro but there you'll have to adapt your play to the level 2 and 3 players you mentioned.
 
the lab man

the lab man

CardsChat Irregular
Silver Level
Joined
Jan 12, 2006
Total posts
3,557
Awards
1
Chips
1
Welcome to the forum Crush, I am sure you can help us a great deal by answering some of our questions and joining in the strat threads.

As poker players, we are sometimes a suspicious lot, so I checked crush out and indeed found out about his book.

This is not an endorsement but he has indeed writen a book.


We have some great players here who are always willing to share ...please feel free to join in.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
C

CrushTheMicros

Rising Star
Bronze Level
Joined
Feb 5, 2010
Total posts
4
Chips
0
Good post, but this strategy doesn't work at all micro-limits, 50 NL is also considered micro but there you'll have to adapt your play to the level 2 and 3 players you mentioned.

Agreed. I should have clarified that. I would say this is pretty accurate up through Nl10 and even some NL25. You are correct. Once you get above that level, things get a bit trickier.
 
moeraj

moeraj

Rock Star
Silver Level
Joined
May 15, 2009
Total posts
181
Chips
0
You are right crush and I use this knowledge to my advantage every day. If someone does slowplay me or play their hand tricky I tag them for future references and play them more carefully next time.
 
T

Tangerine 53

Rock Star
Silver Level
Joined
Jan 1, 2010
Total posts
367
Awards
1
Chips
4
Like others I like the analysis here and have been trying to see where I rank on this scale. I'd like to think that I'm somewhere between 2 and 3 although judging by my play sometimes it's definitely lower :)
 
thepokerkid123

thepokerkid123

Visionary
Silver Level
Joined
Jul 31, 2009
Total posts
917
Chips
0
Like others I like the analysis here and have been trying to see where I rank on this scale. I'd like to think that I'm somewhere between 2 and 3 although judging by my play sometimes it's definitely lower :)

When you're playing micro stakes you shouldn't be thinking on a high level. It's pointless to think more than 1 level ahead of your opponents.
 
C

CrushTheMicros

Rising Star
Bronze Level
Joined
Feb 5, 2010
Total posts
4
Chips
0
When you're playing micro stakes you shouldn't be thinking on a high level. It's pointless to think more than 1 level ahead of your opponents.

I think this is the problem with a lot of the poker books on the market today. Most of them are written with thinking opponents in mind. The best way to beat the micros is to play a simple and disciplined game.
 
Top