preflop opening ranges at the micros

[Haze of Spade]

hi i have doupts about my adjustments. i used to open very nitty from ep and mp and it worked well from 2nl to 10nl.
then i recognized that the better regs took advantage of that and i was very easy to read.
so i started to add suited connectors and suited aces without a fish or small stack with position on me, to ballance my range somehow so that i can represent more flops.

now i start to doupt if that is even necessary because my winrate got really bad.
had some nasty downswings where i couldn't do anything about it but despide of that i often end my sessions break even and it seems i just wont get up.

at the same time i think my postflop game got much better, so i wonder if i should just get back to my nitty range and compensate this unballance witch my new postflop skills.

i'm thankfull for any advice!

 

[MemphisGrind]

hi i have doupts about my adjustments. i used to open very nitty from ep and mp and it worked well from 2nl to 10nl.
then i recognized that the better regs took advantage of that and i was very easy to read.
so i started to add suited connectors and suited aces without a fish or small stack with position on me, to ballance my range somehow so that i can represent more flops.

now i start to doupt if that is even necessary because my winrate got really bad.
had some nasty downswings where i couldn't do anything about it but despide of that i often end my sessions break even and it seems i just wont get up.

at the same time i think my postflop game got much better, so i wonder if i should just get back to my nitty range and compensate this unballance witch my new postflop skills.

i'm thankfull for any advice!

Well yes, balance is important you may have added to much of your range. It could be just dial it back small bit like instead of adding suited connectors and suited Aces (dependent on fish or small stack with position) maybe try adding those hands in a balanced manner, such as once every 5 or 6 orbits open with a suited connector or suited Ace.. will still give off the tight raising range numbers but if you get caught or make it to showdown will really throw off your opponent. the whole point of balance is that we don't become exploitable and adding more cards to your range is just opening yourself to get beat. Glad to hear you have expanded your post flop knowledge! You get the balanced range down mixed with your newly found post flop skills you will be a force to be reckoned with!

 

[alvinw]

Ok, I only hear about when you come first into the pot. whats your 3bet % ? are building pots in position vs bad players? Are you Cbetting too much now when raising with your new found opening range? These are things that questions you will need your Hud to figure out for sure. But what you can do is see if you're betting your draws too much and when you're not getting there are you just folding? are you over bluffing? I found that win i opened up my range I found more spots that I had never seen and I had to start learning all over again. The Turn is the most affected street when you open up your range. So look at your turn play and how you're playing rivers when you brick the draws you are now flopping. are you bluffing enough? also, how are you playing 2nd pair? these are the questions you need to ask as you watch Hud reviewer. Hope this helps.

 

[Haze of Spade]

so my wider range is only 14%, before that it was like 7% lol
i thought about only opening this range once in a while but was to lazy using a randomizer. i will definitely try that!

my 3bet frequenzy over the last 20k hands is only 5% but on some tables its up to like 15% when the situation allows it. my overall stats are 19/16/2 btw.
oop i mostly 3bet for value and ip i mix in some bluffs even vs an utg raiser.
i didn't change much to my former play here but i got a bit of a better understanding now what my value range exactly is against specific players.
i used to flat some of the hands that i now 3bet for value and that actually got me out of the trouble i used to deal with.

i used to cbet way to much and give up when i missed but i changed that drastically now only cbetting 31% of the flops, always with the intention to either continue the turn or at least check call the turn.
maybe i should cbet more dry flops? i kinda gave that up cause people just never fold lol.

against calling stations i don't even cbet my weak draws and if it's likely the flop hit my opponents range i play these also more passive. but when flop goes check check i raise the aggression on the turn if i am somehow connected to the board or even with air ip and continue on a good river.

i always think about what hand i can represent from the actions i made on earlier streets and if i can get a fold from my opponents range.
my bluffs don't get called too often and i usually don't put too much money in it, even in 3bet pots it works well. i think if i have a leak here i'm probably under-bluffing.

2nd pair i play as bluff catchers against the more aggressive ones and against passive players i bet them either for value or protection.

Thanks for the replies btw!

 

[MemphisGrind]

so my wider range is only 14%, before that it was like 7% lol
i thought about only opening this range once in a while but was to lazy using a randomizer. i will definitely try that!

my 3bet frequenzy over the last 20k hands is only 5% but on some tables its up to like 15% when the situation allows it. my overall stats are 19/16/2 btw.
oop i mostly 3bet for value and ip i mix in some bluffs even vs an utg raiser.
i didn't change much to my former play here but i got a bit of a better understanding now what my value range exactly is against specific players.
i used to flat some of the hands that i now 3bet for value and that actually got me out of the trouble i used to deal with.

i used to cbet way to much and give up when i missed but i changed that drastically now only cbetting 31% of the flops, always with the intention to either continue the turn or at least check call the turn.
maybe i should cbet more dry flops? i kinda gave that up cause people just never fold lol.

against calling stations i don't even cbet my weak draws and if it's likely the flop hit my opponents range i play these also more passive. but when flop goes check check i raise the aggression on the turn if i am somehow connected to the board or even with air ip and continue on a good river.

i always think about what hand i can represent from the actions i made on earlier streets and if i can get a fold from my opponents range.
my bluffs don't get called too often and i usually don't put too much money in it, even in 3bet pots it works well. i think if i have a leak here i'm probably under-bluffing.

2nd pair i play as bluff catchers against the more aggressive ones and against passive players i bet them either for value or protection.

Thanks for the replies btw!

sounds good! bluffing is tricky mainly only a valuable move when your perceived range is obviously ahead of the board and even then it's absurd how many players don't pay attention or are not even on that level. stay away from bluffing stations, or newer players. I will also add the same way we talk about adding in suited connectors and suited Aces to your UTG opening range consider throwing the bottom of your range into your 3 betting range against passive players. Not often obviously but it's a very profitable move for balance. Your game is solid which is a good strategy against the low stakes.

 

[Haze of Spade]

sounds good! bluffing is tricky mainly only a valuable move when your perceived range is obviously ahead of the board and even then it's absurd how many players don't pay attention or are not even on that level. stay away from bluffing stations, or newer players. I will also add the same way we talk about adding in suited connectors and suited Aces to your UTG opening range consider throwing the bottom of your range into your 3 betting range against passive players. Not often obviously but it's a very profitable move for balance. Your game is solid which is a good strategy against the low stakes.

nice thanks for the feedback!

i made all these changes not too long ago cause i thought that's the right way to go but variance was crazy and i just don't have such a big sample size yet.

 

[Haze of Spade]

as we talk about bluffing, i just saw that happen:

888 Poker - $0.02 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 4 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (CO): 142 BB
BTN: 100 BB (VPIP: 23.75, PFR: 15.84, 3Bet Preflop: 4.52, Hands: 2,192)
SB: 94.5 BB (VPIP: 100.00, PFR: 50.00, 3Bet Preflop: 50.00, Hands: 5)
BB: 119 BB (VPIP: 26.98, PFR: 22.97, 3Bet Preflop: 11.53, Hands: 3,638)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 3♠ J♦

fold, fold, SB calls 0.5 BB, BB raises to 5 BB, SB calls 4 BB

Flop: (10 BB, 2 players) 8♦ 6♦ 7♠
SB checks, BB bets 6.5 BB, SB calls 6.5 BB

Turn: (23 BB, 2 players) 7♣
SB checks, BB bets 14.5 BB, SB calls 14.5 BB

River: (52 BB, 2 players) 5♥
SB checks, BB checks

SB shows K♠ 2♥ (One Pair, Sevens)
(Pre 42%, Flop 22%, Turn 32%)
BB shows K♦ 5♦ (Two Pair, Sevens and Fives)
(Pre 58%, Flop 78%, Turn 68%)
BB wins 49 BB

I really wanna know what goes through a stations head lol

 

[Misaki]

BB just makes an isolation to 5bb. That's acceptable. On flop and turn he has decent draw so he barrels what's ok. On river he hits some showdown value so he checks. Not bad play.

and SB is just a fish who looks probably for a King lol

 

[braveslice]

"so my wider range is only 14%, before that it was like 7% lol" If you double your range in one go and still make profit, that is really really good. No worries there. It takes time to change your game, no idea how long, but given 7% range is so different than 14% range for me at least 20k hands. Everything changes there, especially when going from tight to wide. What used to be value, is now only 50% value, that will need more lines and bluffs, calls and pot control....