Your own top 5 tips for beating micros?

[blueskies]

I think the idea that micro players are idiots who'll call anything is a bad stereotype. Are there more idiots at micros? For sure. But in my experience there are regulars who know what they are doing too. Only playing premium hands is a better idea if you are playing on full tables. At 6 handed tables, you should loosen up a little. If you are too tight, then when you do get the super hands you won't get action if other players are semi-competent. How you play should depend on your tablemates.

 

[IcyBlueAce]

Oh another thing is you really need to look into which sites have soft players, bodog seems to be VERY VERY soft where FTP seems to have a lot better players.

 

[crowhui]

lol,i wish i would play 2-7 off more often than i should....

 

[forsakenone]

lost 3 way pot today with AA vs A4 vs Q10, i raised, flop came 4Q3 rainbow, i bet the flop, guy with A4 moves all in for 1.5$ more, q10 guy calls, i push all in, guy with q10 calls, total pot about 10$, he skipes a q on the river, i tilt, i exit game.

so my advice is, dont tilt (better yet dont play on tilt)when you get bad beat, will happen a lot!

 

[BigBelle]

Don't forget to be aware of stack sizes. i.e. don't try to set mine if the guy doesn't have enough sitting behind to give you the right implied odds.

 

[CntryBoys]

my best advice for micros would be not play them at all. there is to many loose callers and donks at micro levels

 

[KyleJRM]

my best advice for micros would be not play them at all. there is to many loose callers and donks at micro levels

There is no such thing as too many loose callers and donks. You might as well say "You win too much money'" or "Too many beautiful women (or men if you prefer) will like you."

If you can't beat the micros, you can't beat poker, for the most part.

 

[Elie_Yammine]

There is no such thing as too many loose callers and donks. You might as well say "You win too much money'" or "Too many beautiful women (or men if you prefer) will like you."

If you can't beat the micros, you can't beat poker, for the most part.

Disagree...Poker should be about skills much more than it is about lucky cards! And when you can't bluff people into laying down their hands because they call with anything and don't have the slightest idea of the game's most basic rules and odds then poker loses its charm!

Moreover, getting called by absolute rags just to see them hit runner-runner and seeing bad play rewarded over and over again is another reason why getting loose callers and donks suck!

You get tilted 2 much and thus won't play your best poker game, and since you're playing very tight and losing those few hands, you can't even recover what you lost through intelligent bluffing because you'll lose more...So you just wait for good cards to try and win or lose to another bad beat, taking it all down to luck! Where's the skill in that?!

 

[KyleJRM]

If you get tilted by donks winning with bad hands, then you get tilted too easily, and will lose money playing poker.

 

[steveestewart]

1) BRM
2) Play TIGHT!
3) Don't limp in
4) Don't slow play: WAY to many donks on those tables chasing the gold...
5) Sign up for anger management courses or take yoga

 

[GeoffLacey]

Disagree...Poker should be about skills much more than it is about lucky cards! And when you can't bluff people into laying down their hands because they call with anything and don't have the slightest idea of the game's most basic rules and odds then poker loses its charm!

Moreover, getting called by absolute rags just to see them hit runner-runner and seeing bad play rewarded over and over again is another reason why getting loose callers and donks suck!

You get tilted 2 much and thus won't play your best poker game, and since you're playing very tight and losing those few hands, you can't even recover what you lost through intelligent bluffing because you'll lose more...So you just wait for good cards to try and win or lose to another bad beat, taking it all down to luck! Where's the skill in that?!

1 - Value bet
2 - Value bet
3 - Value bet
4 - Value bet
5 - Value bet

Just because a different skillset is required to beat different limits, doesn't mean that there's no skill in it

And bolded part just doesn't make sense at all

 

[Ubercroz]

Disagree...Poker should be about skills much more than it is about lucky cards! And when you can't bluff people into laying down their hands because they call with anything and don't have the slightest idea of the game's most basic rules and odds then poker loses its charm!

Moreover, getting called by absolute rags just to see them hit runner-runner and seeing bad play rewarded over and over again is another reason why getting loose callers and donks suck!

You get tilted 2 much and thus won't play your best poker game, and since you're playing very tight and losing those few hands, you can't even recover what you lost through intelligent bluffing because you'll lose more...So you just wait for good cards to try and win or lose to another bad beat, taking it all down to luck! Where's the skill in that?!

poker at the micros is about skill, it just takes different skill/strategy to beat than it takes against more knowledgeable players.

The skills developed in the micros are important at other levels of play also. You need to understand how to beat a weak game and why hands have fundamental value.

This skill is what allows you to make smart choices against better players and why you can make moves against better players and why better players can make moves against you.

Poker is ultimately more about betting hands for value than it is about bluffing people out of pots. Bluffing is essentially a defensive tool, much like other things you do to balance your play. The bluff is so you can get calls from your value hands.

If bluffing is a big part of your game you may need to bluff less.

To beat the micros focus on solid value hands that you can play for value
avoid the regs who are doing the same thing.
Bluff less (cbets are okay)
play strongly in position
steal the blinds wide, but don't defend your blind steals- find a new table

 

[Pafkata]

Poker is ultimately more about betting hands for value than it is about bluffing people out of pots. Bluffing is essentially a defensive tool, much like other things you do to balance your play. The bluff is so you can get calls from your value hands.

Well, I probably have a weird understanding about poker. I always want people to fold. I really mean it. I have never lost a hand when my opponents have folded. I am betting air and top sets the same way. I don't like the idea of betting an amount which my opponent will call and get a cheap card to see.

My twisted logic and idea could be the reason why I can't move up from the micros

I don't think I can stop shooting big bets!

 

[Ubercroz]

Yeah big bets have their place, but bet air less.

The thing is when you are trying to get people to fold you lose value from worse hands. If you are playing scared and trying to get rid of competition then you may be losing value.

And while you have never lost a pot when someone has folded I imagine you have lost a lot of pots when someone does call. Think about that for a minute.

You also need to decide what you want to get out of poker. If you like winning lots of pots then bet big that's cool and you do win lots of pots.

I prefer to win money.

So if we get in a match I'll do my best to win more money and I'll let you win lots of pots.

 

[DoubleAA80]

Be prepared for super weird plays..

I see people 4 and 5 betting cards like K9 off, but playing them as if they were better than freggin aces.

True on this, had AA pushed with $6 and a player calls me with 8 6 os, hits a straight of course!lol

 

[salim271]

1. BRM (Funny... most important rule, one of the hardest to actually follow.)
2. Play like a nit till 25NL.
3. Don't overcomplicate things, bluffing is pretty much useless.
4. Reduce tilt. Nothing can blow a BR faster than tilting. If you cant stop yourself from tilting, whenever you feel anger coming on, just stop playing, some sites like full tilt have options where you can disable your money account for 12 hours or more.
5. Cant think of anything else.

 

[WiZZiM]

smash bets in until they cry....

 

[ongkie]

since it is micro, maybe wait for top ten hands and slowplay it.

 

[Poker Orifice]

There is no such thing as too many loose callers and donks. You might as well say "You win too much money'" or "Too many beautiful women (or men if you prefer) will like you."

If you can't beat the micros, you can't beat poker, for the most part.

I hear this statement ALOT on this forum & more often than not it's by players who play $1 & $2 MTT's.
Obviously when we're playing micros we need to make adjustments in our play (no sense in thinking on level 3 when opponents aren't even thinking nevermind on level1 thinking).
I'd have to disagree with your statement though. I'm am 100% absolutely positive that a great player would do far better to play vs. good players than vs. total donks. I would guar. that a decent player would fare better vs. decent players then against completely terrible players.

 

[Ubercroz]

since it is micro, maybe wait for top ten hands and slowplay it.

Don't do this.

Slowplaying big hands is a good way to not make money. You have to play agreasively when you have something.

You also can play more than the top 10 hands because more than that will get you value.

Tight play does not mean weak. Doesn't even mean playing a tiny selection of hands. It just means being judicious in the hands you choose to play and knowing WHY you are choosing to play what you are playing.

 

[ComplexPlaya]

At 20NL I see alot of nits, and regular tags. Against those, especially nits, it does pays off to do some FPS because many times you can see right through them.

The problem, my problem anyway is adjusting when I'm facing those bad fishes, the itch to cbet, double barrel etc. my raised pot when it fits my supposed range gets the better of me and I end up spewing $$$.

Anyway, so my 5 rules, not necessarily the best skills required but I'll try to put different ones than said already :

1) BRM has been said by anyone but I'll put it anyway

2) When facing nits/tight regs, go ahead and bluff when you think they have less than TPGK. You'll get the pot.

3) When facing fish/calling stations, value bet and be done with it. You can cbet the flop or better just the turn, but then be done with it if they call. c/f. Shutdown. Don't be like me! lol

4) Beware when they're betting big, especially shoving. Some of the fishtards bluff all ins sometimes, but mostly will have great hands. Don't call with perhaps less than two pair even

5) Watch out for short stacks, alot of them will just wait till you open raise so they go all in, but only with the very premium of hands...so don't call just because they're short stacks

 

[KyleJRM]

I hear this statement ALOT on this forum & more often than not it's by players who play $1 & $2 MTT's.
Obviously when we're playing micros we need to make adjustments in our play (no sense in thinking on level 3 when opponents aren't even thinking nevermind on level1 thinking).
I'd have to disagree with your statement though. I'm am 100% absolutely positive that a great player would do far better to play vs. good players than vs. total donks. I would guar. that a decent player would fare better vs. decent players then against completely terrible players.

I can guarantee that you are wildly wrong.

Poker is not a game of macho "I can beat the best." The edges of a good player over a decent player are tiny, and it becomes very difficult to beat the rake.

Nobody makes money at poker until bad players start shipping them easy cash. That's why table selection is one of the most important factors in winning.

 

[ComplexPlaya]

I can guarantee that you are wildly wrong.

Poker is not a game of macho "I can beat the best." The edges of a good player over a decent player are tiny, and it becomes very difficult to beat the rake.

Nobody makes money at poker until bad players start shipping them easy cash. That's why table selection is one of the most important factors in winning.

First of all, I think we need to define the notion of decent player, good player, expert etc.

Can I count myself as a decent player for the fact I'm a winning player, although I don't make much money but that means I'm better than 85% of the other players that are losing cash overall?

If I can, I know a good player will certainly kick my ass if I'm to play him now. What you say is probably true if you match up someone that has a 10 PTBB / 100 against a table of 6PTBB/100 winners.

But he has a point too, in that you find 'decent' or at least more knowledgeable players at higher limits than @ micro, however a good player will make much more money against them simply because of the much higher stakes. And the game becomes more predictable and less random, which is a good thing in my point of view.

Why would the top players in the world, online or offline play very high stakes otherwise, if not because they win (alot) more there? Someone who is a winner at $10,000 NL makes much more than he would at $1,000 NL although the players at the former level are much better I'm sure

 

[KyleJRM]

There are bad players at every level. There may be fewer of them, but I guarantee you the top players at the higher stakes are seeking out those bad players aggressively. They aren't sitting down at a table and thinking "man, it sure would suck if there were more awful players at this NL2000 table."

 

[kmixer]

1) Position is just as important as cards. Sometimes more important.
2) Don't limp
3) I know sometimes it pays off, but do not lose your stack on TPTK
4) Tighten up your starting hands. No, even tighter. Tiiiighhhhtteerrrr!
5) Never, even check if you think you are ahead. Value bet your brains out

Tighter than 15/8

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