Freeroll tournament explanation

[lektrikguy]

Position is not important-it's EVERYTHING. If you're the first to act you'll play different than if you're on the button. As for more reading and less gambling, it's important to read but you gotta grind it out on the tables. Imagine going to school to be an accountant then the day you graduate you're made CFO. You'll drown the first week. Play the $1 tourneys and .01/.02 cash tables so you don't lose too much learning. If you play at Full Tilt check out the academy and watch all the videos, especially Ferguson's bankroll management. I see you made #62 on a 2400 man freeroll-nice job. Hope you see that you gotta start off easy in the first few rounds of a tourney and remember that its a marathon, not a sprint. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Smotpoker]

I actually made the switch to pokerstars after reading on another forum that FTP's rake on the micro tables is a whopping 10%. I like the FTP software better though.


I'm doing good at the tables for hours at a time. My chip stack will slowly but surely increase, and then in one fell swoop I will lose it all. The majority of the time its preflop and I'm calling all in with the strongest hand, I just always get outdrawn. I keep telling myself, just don't go all in. Fold pocket aces if you have to, just never call an all in unless I have the absolute nuts. I still do it though. On occasion I'll also call an all in from a loose player thats been bluffing a lot with my top pair or something and he's got the nuts. The preflop all ins at least I'm ahead, but I just can't go all in with top pair. /rant

 

[Smotpoker]

How do you read someone on a draw? I'm in position, making a 3/4 pot sized bet post flop after its checked to me and they call. I just don't know how to read that. I rarely get reraised postflop. So I could be looking at trips, pocket aces, whatever. Everybody seems to want to slow plays big cards. Then a scare card comes, say the board is 5d 6h Kh (I have Ks Jc). This is the cheapy tables so the pot is sitting at $0.16 (3x BB preflop and call). He checks, I bet out $0.12 with my top pair and I get called. River comes 8h. So there is a straight and flush draw on the board. Pot is at 30 cents

My questions are.

Why would someone with the cards required to make a straight with 5,6,8 calling 3x big blind raise preflop?

What would my next move be?

Do I make another 3/4 pot bet or go way over the top to try and force him out?

If he calls the turn should I fold my top pair?



These kinds of situations screw me the most. I either fold with the best hand or call a loose villian and he flops the nuts. I was at a table with this guy that bluffed and showed his cards after every hand. Just repeatedly bluffing and showing his 10/2o 7/4o etc. I finally get a hand and call and he's got the nuts. And people on the cheap tables call pot sized bets on the turn with just a draw. Hell I've seen em go all in on the turn with a draw. I just find these situations the hardest to read (and they get me in trouble)

I guess this is just a price of playing poker Another weird thing I had happen last night on PS. A guy joined one of the 1cent/2cent tables, and bought in for $1 ($5 max). He called all-in preflop every single hand. I was the first to call with an AQo (I wouldn't call a legitimate all in preflop with this, but I said what the hell). He turns over J7o or something. So I win and the rest of the table gets the hint. This guy keeps going all in with shit cards, keeps getting another $1 buyin after losing. He threw away about 7 dollars this way and just left. I don't really understand what was happening there. He was pretty much just throwing away money.

I don't expect anyone to reply to this whole monster of a post, just pick a section

 

[Smotpoker]

First win! And I didn't realize it wasn't a $1 buy in till it was over.

 

[testreet]

Keep in mind that you can't cash out unless you have made atleast 1 minimum deposit of real money onto your poker account. I just recently found this out for myself but thankfully I have made deposits in the past

 

[Smotpoker]

TWO IN A ROW!!! I meant to pick a $3 table this time and also went with 18 instead of only 9. I can't believe it. I'm in shock.

 

[Smotpoker]

3 in a row!! I'm scared to play anymore, I had to have gone through a years worth of luck in the past several hours.

 

[Smotpoker]

Well, I tried a $4 180 seat SNG and got trampled, so I gave one more go at the $3 18 seat SNG and got a 2nd. Nearly doubled my bankroll in one night.

 

[PNJs_dad]

I believe your doing the right thing by studying and asking questions. But don't forget to gain experience through play. The best way to learn poker is to learn from your mistakes. You won't learn a thing (as much anyway) from a freeroll win or even a small MTT/SnG win. You will learn a ton from losses. I remember mistakes that cost me wins/cashes alot more than than victories.



If you learn anything first though it's this:

Good bankroll management is NUMBER 1!

 

[Smotpoker]

So as was evident by my play last night I think I have the early/middle stages of SNG's down fairly well.

Early: Play very tight, only play good cards in good position, try and get an all-in early with the best hand.

Middle: (for 9-18 man SNG's I think the middle is when it gets to 6-7 handed, this may be different for much larger MTT's). I loosen up a bit, I'll play good cards out of position and weak cards in position with as small of raises as possible because most of the time the flop is going to miss me.

Late: Here is where I have my problems. I tend to tighten up more when it gets to 5 handed play. Unless I have pocket J's or higher or AKo or better I'm usually going to fold.

I need to play it more by ear I think, as some people also tighten up late trying to get to the next money level, and others really loosen up.


So to the root of my question. Heads Up. My wins last night were fairly easy after HU play started. The games ended fairly quickly, I would always raise preflop and it tended to make my opponent fold, so he was folding when I was the BB and when he was the BB. So I was winning the lowball game fairly handily.

My last game in which I came in 2nd I got really schooled by the guy I was playing against. He was doing similar preflop raising as I was doing, but I was calling with 7,9o and other mediocre hands and missing the flop and then having to fold to any of his bets.

I have trouble reading hands when its HU as a smart player isn't going to deviate much from his preflop ritual based on his cards. At least I don't, regardless of what I have if I'm not folding I'm raising 3x BB, from pocket Aces to 2,4o.

So the only real question in this post... Where is a good source of reading material/training for heads up play?

Thanks!

 

[MaxiRodriguez]

"heads-up no limit hold'em" by Collin Moshman helped my HU game drastically. The book is written very well with strong and worthwile content throughout. The book is peppered with examples that help you to relate to and simply the tactics and moves mentioned in the chapters of the book.

I bought mine from Amazon.

 

[Smotpoker]

Thanks!

 

[ZCorky]

Your winning streak looks nice but just remember to keep your bankroll management under control. Moving up when on an upswing isn't so bad, but moving up on a downswing/tilt and you are going to lose all of your hard work.