I can't beat the micro's

Whenever I take a stab at a higher buying mtt I always fair better then when playing a micro version? I ways bust to some ridiculous call like k2off ...

Lots of players are just there to play bingo and get lucky and maybe build a stack. Obviously, the more expensive the buy in, the less this tends to happen. I would say it's best to hold tight to your original plan; it's a numbers game. Don't call all-in shoves, just chip away till those players are all gone or stop with their antics. Good luck.

Well an hour will be your turn, just do not get discouraged. I think if you are not failing in the technical part, there is the possibility of having few games to evaluate any situation. Any sample below the millions of hands and thousands of tournaments is too small to gauge if you are playing poorly, or if it is just the game's natural mathematical variance. I would say that if you are starting it is more likely that you will need many hours of study while playing. rather than just simple mathematical variance.

I think this is the issue with tourneys, and specifically microtourneys where a lot of gamblers like to press their luck and are rewarded for bad play. Variance in tourneys can mean life-or-death in any given tournament and one bad beat can wipe away hours of hard work and good play.

It's because of stuff like this that I've shifted away from tournament play and started focusing on the cash game where variance doesn't cost that much and you are really working on playing better fundamental poker. It's much easier to operate under the belief that results of good play will be evidenced in your long-term winrate whereas in tourney play, your punishment for a bad draw with good play can be the effective end of your tournament life.

If you want to stick to tournament play, I think it's important to understand the long-term nature of variance even more so than in cash games, so there will be wilder swings in your bankroll as a result.

the winning strategy

There's just sooo many Crazy's in the room at all levels in the Micro's.
I entered a few, and more than often, Someone was all-in pre-flop every round until the betting become non-existant, especially at Hyper-blind speed...
So I devised a theory on how to win them!
Go All-in early in the game, and often...That's the only way to win.
If you lose, at least you didn't waste time... If you double up twice, sit out and wait for a long while till the real players emerge...but don't close your screen...just in case of AA and KK...
It's a luck game till the bums leave!
Either way, Micro's always have a lot of people and
"if you wanna win...you have to be all in"
~ Guru~:captain:

Yes, higher stakes are must easier to beat than micros. Move up as high as you can afford.

(before you lose you bankroll - I'm sarcastic).

If you can't beat the micros, you can't play poker. Getting lucky in a few MTTs doesn't count. The variance in tournament is very high.

Micros

Go to be very disappointed

maybe your game strategy adapts better to stronger players. If you lose against crappy hands, you should also win a lot against crappy hands. Probably you have to adapt your strategy to extract more value to weaker players.

I imagine that, or maybe its just variance.

It is my opinion, if can't have a plus win rate or positive ROI at the micros, you wont at any higher level. If you are crushing a level, then move up. If you are making excuses because you are not profitable, then spend time finding out why.

Go over hand history, find some leaks or where you could have made better choices. If you really think that theory of moving up based on being unlucky, then take the leap. Ask anyone, they don't mind getting beat way ahead of K2 off. You can't be that unlucky every time.

i only play micros (<$5) sngs/mtts because 1) i'm profitable and 2) i can multi task while playing. key is to be patient. get it in good and in the long run, you'll become profitable. there'll always be outliers in which a 72o will beat your aa. it happens to me, but you can't help it. sometimes it doesn't work out.

tight is right. I find that playing a little fit or fold poker at the beginning goes a long way. hit it big on the flop then let the other guy do the betting. Patience is key. Don't try big bluffs or anything fancy. There will be a time for that later. Keep in mind whether there are rebuys. that leads to lots of looser play too.

grumblbrumbl said:

Poker is a pleasure to play with people who know the rules of the game. Play against the macaque is not very interesting. At the micros are many amateurs who are doing what they want.

Click to expand...

I think it's harder to play against them.

Nit up and you will beat micros. You don't need to worry about people not calling you when you got something cause they won't even realise that you didn't played in a while

As someone already commented, its delusional to think, its easier to beat better players at a higher limit. Its not. And unless you have played 1.000`s of tournaments, you dont know your true winrate. So you are likely just suffering from entitlement tilt. You feel, you are supposed to win always against very bad players. But this is not, how poker work. So just let them have their moment and enjoy the sunshine run.

That being said, there are some adjustments, you need to make against bad players to get the best results, the main one being dont bluff them. In tournaments re-jamming A5s for 15BB is often profitable against good players, who understand ICM and fold, when they are supposed to. But against a donkey, who call with anything, you are kind of committing ICM suicide. So maybe just call instead or simply fold and wait for a better hand.

dgellitson said:

Whenever I take a stab at a higher buying mtt I always fair better then when playing a micro version? I ways bust to some ridiculous call like k2off ...

Click to expand...

People who play at higher buyins might fold more often to your bets in certain spots..... it might be easier to bluff them (in certain spots).... note key word is 'might'... but playing poker at any level involves adjusting to the opponents on your table (or in the hand you're currently in). If you can't adjust vs. the worst players & beat them, you're doing something very, very wrong.

If you are WILLING to do the work, you will 100% beat the micros!!! This is a fact! Back in the Fulltilt days the games were much easier and many good players (HS & MS regs.) from back then would not be profitable today in low stakes. I've heard of many from the USA who have tried picking it up again with a move to canada, only to do poorly even in low stakes. Others continue to kill it. It's all up to the individual. Most cannot get much better by playing poker alone. Some form of study is typically needed if you want to be a winner.
P.S. - winning is more fun in this game than losing. Studying is not always fun but if you can find the motivation it can be okay.

Poker Orifice said:

If you are WILLING to do the work, you will 100% beat the micros!!! .

Click to expand...

I believe this is the case and most likely OP you’re just experiencing a time of not the best luck in them. Make sure to zoom out, at least to looking at your results over the last hundred or so games, preferably your last thousand. Then try to take a peak at how you’re busting over the significant sample—are they just unavoidable flips/small edges or are they systematically something you should consider changing, such as if you happened to notice a lot of failed bluffs. Most likely I’d guess just a short run of not great luck, which I hope changes for you very soon

Sometimes it happens (an extremely rare exception to the rule) that you play with a limit higher, but you cannot win with micro-limits !!! Maybe you should just step over and continue !!! Or look for the cause of your failure within micro-limits. After all, this reason still exists and will be better for you if you find it !!!

bellicoso said:

Lots of players are just there to play bingo and get lucky and maybe build a stack. Obviously, the more expensive the buy in, the less this tends to happen. I would say it's best to hold tight to your original plan; it's a numbers game. Don't call all-in shoves, just chip away till those players are all gone or stop with their antics. Good luck.

Click to expand...

The micros and freerolls are more of a bingo game. You hit it right on the head. People tend to think eh it's only a tiny amount of money....let me play this awful hand and pray.

Most of the time when I play with high stakes, I keep calm and safe with my hands, having played micros gave me the experience I needed.

dgellitson said:

Whenever I take a stab at a higher buying mtt I always fair better then when playing a micro version? I ways bust to some ridiculous call like k2off ...

Click to expand...

The micros are a bunch of fish and donkeys punting off there chips for the most part, that being said, this should be easier for you to gain a large amount of chips fast in these tournaments. Luck does help a lot playing in games like these but it's not the only thing that matters (variance). Over time you should be able to figure out which players are just punting chips off or are actually playing the game properly and make gains off these poor players, it may not take as much time to figure this out as other larger buy in tournaments where play is generally more solid. The blinds will eventually weed out the fish and donks as well so the later you get in the tournament the better players starts to rise up. The play starts to become a lot better in later stages of micros.

The micros are the micros for a reason, they attract poor players. buy-ins 12 dollars and up seem to have players that understand the game a lot more, gamble a lot less, and just play better for the most part. These players understand the game better as a whole and will let you take a pot or two off them when you have nothing because they understand the value of chips, and the value of certain spots in which you could win or lose said chips or chip stack. Worse players don't tend to understand this or have little idea about.

These tournaments with higher buy-ins are not the best spot to win though, it may seem like it because the players are better for the most part but remember, it's not just about cashing in a tournament (making your money back), it's about taking it down or at least final tabling, where it makes it more than worth it, putting in hours of your life into said tournament. That being said, your opponents know this as well and will make it very hard for you to win or even final table. They will probably have more experience in playing higher stakes than you do, which may make there decisions against you much easier because your lack of experience at their level or stake. Your true experience will show in games your not bankrolled for or have as much experience playing in, and the regs will sniff this out and usually target you.

I would keep playing the micros until you can actually beat them, if you cannot beat the fish and donks how do u ever think your going to beat better players that are regulars at the stakes you take shots at. People that play higher definitely have more to lose when playing so they generally play better poker than the lower stakes. That being said they obviously still lose more than they win and are bankrolled properly for said games, as you should be. I am all for taking shots when you feel like your playing your best game and can afford it, but don't let your handful of better results cloud your mind and make you think you are good enough to hang with the players at that level day in and day out (especially when you can't beat the fish and donks in the micros). Poker is variance, and variance states that over time if you are at all a good player you should win over the luck of most players. The micros is where you belong until you have made enough money in them to move up, or you might be seen as that fish or donkey trying to get lucky playing a bigger game. Under 10 dollar buy-in tourneys are considered the micros to me and you can definitely find good solid games in that buy in range. Good luck to you in your future endeavors.

At any limit you need discipline and a balanced approach to the game. It is also necessary to qualitatively choose starting hands. You try to play fast poker, where they play only premium hands. There is no bingo by definition.

Yes, there are certain types of people who play better at high stakes. And the micro can't. There's nothing wrong with that. I think it depends on the mindset. Small bets. By the way, even in the Casino these people are. When I play slot machines I immediately play at rates of $ 1 - $ 5, and I either win a lot, or everyone loses, let's say 15 minutes. This me brings more pleasure than play on $0.01-0.05 cents. for me it's all nonsense. And here is my brother contrary will sit two days and play on $0.01 - 0.05 cents, I not understand his. So it's up to the people what the people are. If I have the cash on poker stars is $10, then I sit down immediately, either 6+ or zoom, for $5 - $ 10, but not 0.01 or 0.02, and well the more tournaments to 3 dollars. Yes they are, but sitting 5 hours in a $0.55 tournament and winning $2.78 is crazy. Unless of course you do not have quite a bankroll then Yes can still and stand to play mtt for 0.55. But when you have $50 in your account. My barrier is MTT with $11.

BoyNamedSude said:

There's just sooo many Crazy's in the room at all levels in the Micro's.
I entered a few, and more than often, Someone was all-in pre-flop every round until the betting become non-existant, especially at Hyper-blind speed...
So I devised a theory on how to win them!
Go All-in early in the game, and often...That's the only way to win.
If you lose, at least you didn't waste time... If you double up twice, sit out and wait for a long while till the real players emerge...but don't close your screen...just in case of AA and KK...
It's a luck game till the bums leave!
Either way, Micro's always have a lot of people and
"if you wanna win...you have to be all in"
~ Guru~:captain:

Click to expand...

That's a good idea. Hahaha)))

Tmoney999 said:

I am all for taking shots when you feel like your playing your best game and can afford it, but don't let your handful of better results cloud your mind

Click to expand...

I don't, I only ever play 10/15% max of br when taking a stab, otherwise I play mtt's at 2-5%. Thanks for the informative post.