Microstakes: Am I playing too tight?

[acky100]

Hand 1 is good, checking at any point would be bad, bet turn bigger though like .55 or something to get stacks in on rivers

 

[acky100]

Folding QQ in hand 4 to the 4bet is fine, if hes a fish or an aggressive reg then you can 4bet shove or 4bet and call it off. Definitely folding is the best play vs passive players and most tight
regs though.

 

[c9h13no3]

The advice here is good, but I want to add one general remark.

You're most certainly playing too tight. You're also playing too loose. Poker is a game of specific situations (which is why it's good you're posting hands). Learning when to play loose (against bad players, in position when stealing, ect.) and when to play tight (against good players, out of position, ect.) is what separates good players from bad.

Try not to think about poker in such big general ways. Instead, get more specific. Try to find leaks like "am I stealing too infrequently?" or "do I c-bet too much?". Those will be far more instructive than looking at some HEM stat and making a broad generalization about your play.

 

[Arjonius]

Hand 3 - Set: Another example where I got it in bad. Should I have slowed down on the turn. When I saw the A I was glad as I thought he might be on AK or something.

In general, it's important to look at your actions vs. opponents' entire ranges, not just their actual holdings. After you've seen what he had, hindsight is 20/20. But you can only base your evaluation of how good or bad your decisions were based on the incomplete info available when you made them.

 

[honeycrush]

Some really great advice here. Thanks Acky and Arjonius.

The advice here is good, but I want to add one general remark.

You're most certainly playing too tight. You're also playing too loose. Poker is a game of specific situations (which is why it's good you're posting hands). Learning when to play loose (against bad players, in position when stealing, ect.) and when to play tight (against good players, out of position, ect.) is what separates good players from bad.

Try not to think about poker in such big general ways. Instead, get more specific. Try to find leaks like "am I stealing too infrequently?" or "do I c-bet too much?". Those will be far more instructive than looking at some HEM stat and making a broad generalization about your play.

Thanks c9. Now you've really confused me! No - I do understand what you're saying but find it hard to get an accurate read on the situation in Zoom with so few hands on opponents. I will try to fine-tune my thinking in the way you suggest. It may take me some time though...

 

[c9h13no3]

Thanks c9. Now you've really confused me! No - I do understand what you're saying but find it hard to get an accurate read on the situation in Zoom with so few hands on opponents. I will try to fine-tune my thinking in the way you suggest. It may take me some time though...

Well the best thing you can do is just post hands. There we see how you play in specific situations, and can address leaks we see. If you just post a stat like 20% VPIP, its really tricky to provide any useful advice. And you're doing that, so I guess I'm just saying "keep it up!"

 

[GWU73]

Overall your original stats looked pretty solid for a micro stakes full ring game. I play "semi-Loose Aggressive/Aggressive" and my stats are similar: 17/12 for my last few thousand hands. Some tables it is 9/7, on others it is 25/21. The main thing with starting hands and raising vs. calling is who you are playing, followed by your position.

A lot of people think you should have a smaller gap between your raise and limp stats, and that you should always be isolating limpers when you enter behind.At times that is right, but if you are playing speculative hands vs players who will let you in cheap, and pay you off; limping is the correct play. It gives you great implied odds, and helps keep your stack from draining away.

Your newer tighter stats are great in theory, but in the micros it is easier to win stacks with speculative hands. If you can fold early and often with non premium hands like 67s; see the flop. It is also important to remember that people like to call, so raising calling stations with 88 is a losing play. They will call you three streets with trash that was never really that far behind and river a better hand. Personally I think the uber tight strategy many people like is better for limit and for absolute beginners.

 

[BigBucksBobby]

hey wanted to know how do i find out what leaks my game has and dont know to do it i heard leakbuster what is that any way please people let me know and thanks

 

[honeycrush]

Overall your original stats looked pretty solid for a micro stakes full ring game. I play "semi-Loose Aggressive/Aggressive" and my stats are similar: 17/12 for my last few thousand hands. Some tables it is 9/7, on others it is 25/21. The main thing with starting hands and raising vs. calling is who you are playing, followed by your position.

A lot of people think you should have a smaller gap between your raise and limp stats, and that you should always be isolating limpers when you enter behind.At times that is right, but if you are playing speculative hands vs players who will let you in cheap, and pay you off; limping is the correct play. It gives you great implied odds, and helps keep your stack from draining away.

Your newer tighter stats are great in theory, but in the micros it is easier to win stacks with speculative hands. If you can fold early and often with non premium hands like 67s; see the flop. It is also important to remember that people like to call, so raising calling stations with 88 is a losing play. They will call you three streets with trash that was never really that far behind and river a better hand. Personally I think the uber tight strategy many people like is better for limit and for absolute beginners.

Thanks GWU73. Yes, the more I play, the more I realise that I have to alter my play to my actual situation rather than trying to blindly follow prescribed strategies from books. As an absolute beginner though I'm probably better off playing tighter rather than looser until I improve my post-flop play.

 

[honeycrush]

hey wanted to know how do i find out what leaks my game has and dont know to do it i heard leakbuster what is that any way please people let me know and thanks

Hi - looks like you've been banned for clicking the link in that phishing email. Sorry to see that.

Thought I'd reply anyway in case you see this. Leakbuster is a program from the people who provide the poker tracker called Holdem Manager. It's not free but if you have a free trial of HM2 you can also trial Leakbuster. You only get a basic report until you buy the full thing but it will check your starting hand range and a lot of your pre flop play (VPIP/PFR) etc and show you your basic leaks.

 

[honeycrush]

Down another 2 bi's. I think I'm at fault this time though.

Hand 1 - Set: I didn't raise here as thought it might be a good spot to setmine. Did I have the odds to do this? I put him on 22+ /AJ+ when he called the flop and though that only 77 would beat me. On the turn, I thought I'm only beat by 77 & A5. Is that a good enough reason to call or should I have put him on one of these hands? With the river he could also have me beat with TT. Should I have folded here?

No stats on villain.

poker stars, $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 9 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

Hero (BTN): $2.20 (110 bb)
SB: $1.49 (74.5 bb)
BB: $1.04 (52 bb)
UTG+1: $1.33 (66.5 bb)
UTG+2: $2.56 (128 bb)
MP1: $2.02 (101 bb)
MP2: $3.07 (153.5 bb)
MP3: $1.97 (98.5 bb)
CO: $1.17 (58.5 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BTN with 4

4

UTG+1 raises to $0.04, 5 folds, Hero calls $0.04, 2 folds

Flop: ($0.11) 3

7

4

(2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $0.06, UTG+1 calls $0.06

Turn: ($0.23) 2

(2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $0.16, UTG+1 raises to $0.32, Hero calls $0.16

River: ($0.87) T

(2 players)
UTG+1 bets $0.91 and is all-in, Hero calls $0.91

Results: $2.69 pot ($0.09 rake)
Final Board: 3

7

4

2

T

Hero showed 4

4

and lost (-$1.33 net)
UTG+1 showed A

5

and won $2.60 ($1.27 net)

Hand 2 - Set: Could I have played this better?

No stats on villain.

Poker Stars, $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 9 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

BTN: $1.85 (92.5 bb)
SB: $1.13 (56.5 bb)
BB: $4.83 (241.5 bb)
UTG+1: $1.25 (62.5 bb)
UTG+2: $1.13 (56.5 bb)
MP1: $1.01 (50.5 bb)
MP2: $1.54 (77 bb)
Hero (MP3): $2 (100 bb)
CO: $1.36 (68 bb)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with 5

5

4 folds, Hero raises to $0.06, 3 folds, BB calls $0.04

Flop: ($0.13) 5

9

J

(2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.08, BB calls $0.08

Turn: ($0.29) 4

(2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.20, BB calls $0.20

River: ($0.69) A

(2 players)
BB bets $0.44, Hero calls $0.44

Results: $1.57 pot ($0.05 rake)
Final Board: 5

9

J

4

A

BB showed 3

2

and won $1.52 ($0.74 net)
Hero mucked 5

5

and lost (-$0.78 net)

The poker gods in charge of sets are not on my side at the moment.