dreamer13
Legend
Platinum Level
A person with little knowledge or weak intellect who is completely unwilling to cultivate.
The difference between a Noob and a Newby is that a Newby is a naive beginner with enthusiasm and intelligence but no experience at all, while a Noob is a bad player with poor intelligence and no desire to learn anything at all. How to play against Noobs:
don't be afraid to bluff;
watch your sizing and bet as much as your opponent calls;
be a little more aggressive, there are plenty of them among newcomers.
The difference between a Noob and a Newby is that a Newby is a naive beginner with enthusiasm and intelligence but no experience at all, while a Noob is a bad player with poor intelligence and no desire to learn anything at all. How to play against Noobs:
don't be afraid to bluff;
watch your sizing and bet as much as your opponent calls;
be a little more aggressive, there are plenty of them among newcomers.
ChubbySin
Rock Star
Bronze Level
So im currently using PokerStars and PokerTracker to play poker. Im quite new and i dont know how to find people as good as me or below my level... i've been getting crushed lately on 1/2cents tables (like 2-3 weeks no withdraw yet). I only play them because i want to learn and when im ready i will go on 2/5cents. Im currently watching podcasts and other things.. but i dont think anyone told in them (as far as i've seen) how to find newbies in poker.
You found one, me, myself!
ObbleeXY
Visionary
Bronze Level
Welcome to Cards Chat.
As a person new to Poker, coming here is the first step to becoming a winning poker player. But it sounds to me like you want to be a winning poker player after only performing step 1. Unfortunately, that is not how poker works.
You are most likely getting crushed because you do not yet recognise what good poker looks like.
Your starting point seems to be looking for people who will simply hand their money over to you. Again, not really a plan.
What you need to understand is the difference between someone who will put the work in to get their desired outcome vs those who simply want a magic lottery outcome for no investment.
As the song goes...you only get what you give.
So, if you're not willing to put in the work, just stop now. You will lose your investment. Sure, play for fun if you want, but your cashes will be less than your fees+rake.
But if you're willing to do the work, then WELCOME!
First things first. Do the Cards Chat 30-day Poker School. I don't care if you think you know the game...there are aspects in this course you won't have come across, and they are essential to becoming a profitable player.
Second -- had reviews. Every session needs to either start or finish with hand reviews. You need to review your play with the following goals in mind:
For hands you lost --
Should you have been in the hand in the first place?
Examine betting and bet sizing.
If you lost, could you have done so, losing fewer chips?
(ie was it *your* betting which resulted in a large loss?)
then start looking at options for reducing this leakage.
When examining your winning hands
The biggest thing here -- identiy what you did right when getting people to fold when bluffing.
When you win pots by showdown --
Examine your betting pattern and your opponent's response. Could you have squeezed more out of them?
When you win without showdown but have a showdown quality hand, (ie opponents fold), could you have extracted more value?
...
etcetera.
One of the ways I've improved my play is to work on my positional range strategy.
By this, I mean, seriously considering which hole cards I am willing to play from which position. Most newbies will discover that tightening up their range generally, and in early positions specifically, will stem the flow of your chip leakage.
You also probably need to be dropping AXo hands from your range, at least some of the time, particularly in early position.
You should probably be dropping limping a a standard practice and reserving it for specific situations. Similarly you should be taking advantage of limpers (LIMPER'S TAX!), but beware of trappy AA limps.
Starting out with PT4, although there are loads of stats to get involved with, the one to start with is VPIP. Generally I label players as Nit, TAG, LAG, Fish based on VPIP. Really, it just gives me an indication of the width of their range. Nits tend to only play premium hands and pocket pairs, perhaps with the odd suited 87. So once I'm constantly updating these assessments as the hand count goes up. I'm more likely to see a raise as legit from a Nit or TAG (tight, aggressive) than I am from a LAG (Loose aggressive).
You might find it useful to combine the power of PT4 with the colour labelling that the poker stars interface offers. I lavel Nits one colour, TAGs another, LAGs another, etc. It is a good visual to warn me against snap calls. Against fish, I just play my range straight up against their range. It allows me to call wider and catch more bluffs. Whereas against a Nit, there are different reads and strategies that can be employed...(generally, start with aggressive...and if they show a lot of interest in the pot, attempt pot control...try to limit the risk)
Have you formulated your strategies for different points in the game?
Early, you have more chips, so CAN play more loosely, but this is a mistake too many people make. Early game is your chance to establish your table image. If you come off looking like a donkey, that could be your image all game. Better to start tight as a drum and loosen up as the play progresses. You retain your image, and this resepect will get you lots of folds where a loose image will experience calls 3/4-bets.
Get some poker buddies to study with.
Poker is a great game to play...but it can be even better when you play and improve with friends. When you play whilst others are watching you play, many people will tend to play better poker. Fewer of those stupid hero calls which lose that stack you've spend three hours building.
End game
Spend some time and money playing push-fold exercise (e.g. on DTO App). Final three is very different from normal poker...and if you want to win, you need to get closer to Game Theory Optimal (GTO) play. You have to kow which hands you should be folding and which you should shove.
I've played poker with some gerat poker players...and when it gets to heads up, they play the same game they always play and wonder why they never get better than third place. I like SpinNGos for this part...it's good practice.... but don't let end game behaviour creep into Early/Mid game strategy and tactics.
I could go on for hours...but hopefully this gives you an idea of what sort of things you can focus on instead of searching for more people like you.
...but if you have PT4...you can treat anyone with a VPIP over 40 as a fish...(assuming you have plenty of hands with them)...and deploy fish-farming strat against them.
The nets...just keep attacking them until they wake up...and then be careful.
Cheers,
PS Don't overvalue unmade premium hands (e.g. AKo) and be very careful with JJ. It looks like a premium made hand...but it lies!!! It is, to pairs, what a lone Ace is in your hand. It's better than nothing....but a lot of other nothing hands can crack it.
As a person new to Poker, coming here is the first step to becoming a winning poker player. But it sounds to me like you want to be a winning poker player after only performing step 1. Unfortunately, that is not how poker works.
You are most likely getting crushed because you do not yet recognise what good poker looks like.
Your starting point seems to be looking for people who will simply hand their money over to you. Again, not really a plan.
What you need to understand is the difference between someone who will put the work in to get their desired outcome vs those who simply want a magic lottery outcome for no investment.
As the song goes...you only get what you give.
So, if you're not willing to put in the work, just stop now. You will lose your investment. Sure, play for fun if you want, but your cashes will be less than your fees+rake.
But if you're willing to do the work, then WELCOME!
First things first. Do the Cards Chat 30-day Poker School. I don't care if you think you know the game...there are aspects in this course you won't have come across, and they are essential to becoming a profitable player.
Second -- had reviews. Every session needs to either start or finish with hand reviews. You need to review your play with the following goals in mind:
For hands you lost --
Should you have been in the hand in the first place?
Examine betting and bet sizing.
If you lost, could you have done so, losing fewer chips?
(ie was it *your* betting which resulted in a large loss?)
then start looking at options for reducing this leakage.
When examining your winning hands
The biggest thing here -- identiy what you did right when getting people to fold when bluffing.
When you win pots by showdown --
Examine your betting pattern and your opponent's response. Could you have squeezed more out of them?
When you win without showdown but have a showdown quality hand, (ie opponents fold), could you have extracted more value?
...
etcetera.
One of the ways I've improved my play is to work on my positional range strategy.
By this, I mean, seriously considering which hole cards I am willing to play from which position. Most newbies will discover that tightening up their range generally, and in early positions specifically, will stem the flow of your chip leakage.
You also probably need to be dropping AXo hands from your range, at least some of the time, particularly in early position.
You should probably be dropping limping a a standard practice and reserving it for specific situations. Similarly you should be taking advantage of limpers (LIMPER'S TAX!), but beware of trappy AA limps.
Starting out with PT4, although there are loads of stats to get involved with, the one to start with is VPIP. Generally I label players as Nit, TAG, LAG, Fish based on VPIP. Really, it just gives me an indication of the width of their range. Nits tend to only play premium hands and pocket pairs, perhaps with the odd suited 87. So once I'm constantly updating these assessments as the hand count goes up. I'm more likely to see a raise as legit from a Nit or TAG (tight, aggressive) than I am from a LAG (Loose aggressive).
You might find it useful to combine the power of PT4 with the colour labelling that the poker stars interface offers. I lavel Nits one colour, TAGs another, LAGs another, etc. It is a good visual to warn me against snap calls. Against fish, I just play my range straight up against their range. It allows me to call wider and catch more bluffs. Whereas against a Nit, there are different reads and strategies that can be employed...(generally, start with aggressive...and if they show a lot of interest in the pot, attempt pot control...try to limit the risk)
Have you formulated your strategies for different points in the game?
Early, you have more chips, so CAN play more loosely, but this is a mistake too many people make. Early game is your chance to establish your table image. If you come off looking like a donkey, that could be your image all game. Better to start tight as a drum and loosen up as the play progresses. You retain your image, and this resepect will get you lots of folds where a loose image will experience calls 3/4-bets.
Get some poker buddies to study with.
Poker is a great game to play...but it can be even better when you play and improve with friends. When you play whilst others are watching you play, many people will tend to play better poker. Fewer of those stupid hero calls which lose that stack you've spend three hours building.
End game
Spend some time and money playing push-fold exercise (e.g. on DTO App). Final three is very different from normal poker...and if you want to win, you need to get closer to Game Theory Optimal (GTO) play. You have to kow which hands you should be folding and which you should shove.
I've played poker with some gerat poker players...and when it gets to heads up, they play the same game they always play and wonder why they never get better than third place. I like SpinNGos for this part...it's good practice.... but don't let end game behaviour creep into Early/Mid game strategy and tactics.
I could go on for hours...but hopefully this gives you an idea of what sort of things you can focus on instead of searching for more people like you.
...but if you have PT4...you can treat anyone with a VPIP over 40 as a fish...(assuming you have plenty of hands with them)...and deploy fish-farming strat against them.
The nets...just keep attacking them until they wake up...and then be careful.
Cheers,
PS Don't overvalue unmade premium hands (e.g. AKo) and be very careful with JJ. It looks like a premium made hand...but it lies!!! It is, to pairs, what a lone Ace is in your hand. It's better than nothing....but a lot of other nothing hands can crack it.