Quinner

So I actually have you all to thank, I haven't been posting on here but I've been checking the site from time to time, I've been grinding poker pretty steadily, and actually can officially say I am profitable at the 2/5 cent games haha great accomplishment I know. Thank you thank you.

I am now rolled enough to play exclusively in the 5/10 cent games. I also moved my account over to Titan for the bonus available there.

The games seem, different from the tiniest of the micro stakes. I look around and I don't see the idiotic mistakes I used to see people doing. (Raising with J10o from first position and stuff)

There's alot less callers of raises, and generally tighter tables.

In short, it feels like I've lost my edge. I seem to not be making money nor losing it at this level.

Usually I can look around and spot one soft spot per table but thats about it, and sometimes I don't see any....(guess that means Im the fishie!!)

My question is, when moving up in levels, and people are now playing ABC poker more or less correctly, or at least aren't making any terrible mistakes, what kind of mistakes are they making that good players can capitalize on??

I know its only 5/10 cent but the games in general do seem to be a lot more tougher. Its like everyone learned what I learned to be good at the last two levels and now we're all in the same pool. People aren't just going I have a straight!! ALL IN!!! Even if they have the idiot end of 4 to a straight on the table.

Maybe my game just needs more deception??

I think I'm going to stick to the ABC style I've picked up from the last two levels, and still not going to try to bluff because I do get paid off sometimes still, but I do think I need to work on some stuff.

Anybody thats been this route, have any tips that helped them move out of the micro stakes??

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Last night I stayed up late playing poker with Tarot cards. I got a full house and four people died.

jdAA88

Congrats on movingup! As for you losing your edge, I definitely do not believe that. From what I've heard about the Titan cash games, they are very soft and there are a tonne of fish up to 100nl (my friend plays 50nl and 100nl 6max on Titan).
If anything, I'd say you just need to table select more carefully, i.e. only play at tables where the avg pot size is at least 20bbs and where the players per flop % is at least 25%).

I'd say on any site, you can play ABC poker and make money all the way up to 100nl, maybe even 200nl, but table selection is key!
Another important factor with table selection is trying to be seated to the immediate left of a fish so you can just pound on them in position.

But trust me, there are tonnes of players still making terrible mistakes, especially at 10nl.

Btw I'm not sure if you're playing full ring but if you are I'd suggest you try out 6-max, your edge will be bigger against bad players.

pokerJAH

Maybe you should go back to the old site and try 5/10 to see if you notice any difference between sites? don't think there would really be any difference at these micro levels.

moose

+1 As you move up in levels table selection is key. I thought you were playing limit games? Even on a big site like FT at most I will find 1-2 tables worth playing at every level. Sometimes I will sit down at 2 .25/.50, 2 .50/1 and might be lucky to find one 1/2 limit table worth playing. 2/4 and up it gets pretty rare. Usually it is 5-6 tough players chasing the one fish at the table and when the fish leaves, everyone sits out. So instead of ABC poker, to beat the players you have to know the players, take notes and know how they play to outplay them. You can bet your opponents are doing the same thing to you. Also I believe most if not all of the regulars at that level will be running the same pokertracker HUDs as you so they will have the same information as you. Keep in mind that you will be grinding out 1-2 BB per hour so at .5/.10 you will make .20 per hour per table. So in the short term it is very easy to be losing money at -1 BB per hour or more.

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Graham

Congrats on the move, and like the others have said table-selection is key. Titan has a lot of stats in their lobby, so look for ones with a high preflop % and higher than normal avg. pot (at least thats what I like), but I guess depends on what kind of tables you were playing before.

Quinner

I think the biggest difference I've noticed is the frequency of the 3bet. What hands should be calling? Re-raising?? I mean for example. I like to to obviously re-raise AA, KK and sometimes QQ. Is there any other hands that could justify a re-raise?? Suited Ace King?

As for calling, what about suited connectors? Try and hit a decent flop right? What about small pocket pairs?? Hidden sets should get paid off by overpairs.

Thats my general thinking, without getting into specific playing styles and opponents.

I think to be honest right now I'm just running bad. Lots of times I keep hitting an ace or a king when I have Ace King, only to be run over by AA.

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Last night I stayed up late playing poker with Tarot cards. I got a full house and four people died.

Quinner

Wow Moose is that all I can expect to do I was doing plenty better than 2 BB per hour at 2/5 cent.....

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Last night I stayed up late playing poker with Tarot cards. I got a full house and four people died.

Richard~

I don't think there's a big difference between the micro stakes. You're probably running just a little bit bad and you think it's because people play better. You could try to get used to the new limit by shortstacking it (buying in for 20 BB's and putting the players to the test by being aggressive :P ) but I think you'll get used to it in no time.

Now the 3 and 4bets are probably the trickiest parts of poker and I think it's hard to set guidelines for it. Against a tight enough player I'm laying down QQ against a 3bet and against another player I'd more or less 80bet jacks ^^' You'll just have to experiment and develop a feel for who's making plays at you and who's not. I don't think you should ever go out of line and make bad plays yourself though, it's still micro stakes, just wait for them to ship it to you

As for suited connectors I like playing them in position against a raise by a person who's either very tight, or very aggressive (I prefer to play something like 56s to 910s because it's less likely you're dead if you hit the ignorant end of a straight). Tight and/or aggressive are the players you can get to stack off when you hit. When playing these you should really be praying that your opponent has you crushed pre because that is when he's gonna fall in love and ship you the cookies, take a look at this link for example :P

CardplayerTube.com - WSOPE 2008 Day 2 - Part 1

Hope at least some of this made sense and don't flame me too much, I'm pretty much a poker rookie myself so it's just my thoughts ^^' Gl adapting to your new level =)

pokerJAH

IMO, if your not playing suited connectors and small pocket pairs, there is a big hole in your game. Just playing top hands is not the way to make money in a cash game. Knowing your opponents and position are also key.

jdAA88

If you're playing 6-max, you need to 3bet way more, but it also depends on the villain you're 3betting obviously.
I'm 3betting AKo a tonne (rarely flat with it unless it's against certain regs for deception, etc).
There are situations where 3betting even 99, 1010, JJ is the correct play.
I will also 3bet s/c like 910s, J10s, etc because they flop so well and are very deceptive in 3bet pots, but once again I must stress this is villain-dependent.

With suited connectors, I'm usually only calling with them in position if there has been a raise and at least one other caller, but I try to avoid playing them oop.
There are times where if I think I can outplay villain postflop then I'll call HU in position with a suited connector.

With small pairs, I'm obviously calling all day in position, and only oop in blinds if the pot is multi-way.
I will sometimes 3bet small pps to a button steal because it's more profitable than just calling oop (bc you won't flop a set enough of the time, so by 3betting you take down the pot pre a tonne of the time, you can cbet dry flops/ace-high flops and get folds pretty successfully, and sometimes you will flop a set and get paid!).

pokerJAH

with small pocket pairs, I will usually follow a 10/1 rule. I'm not too concerned about position as long as I get the right price. This article has some good ideas:

Poker Articles - Set Mining

This article suggests a higher ratio than 10/1 so its really personal preference:

Set-mining | Strategy | Poker | Poker Player UK

Quinner

Oh I play these all the time, I was just curious about playing them after there has been a preflop reraise in the hand.

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Last night I stayed up late playing poker with Tarot cards. I got a full house and four people died.

Jason

best advice I can give right now after what I've read here is to remember this, small hands deserve small pots, average hands deserve average pots and big hands deserve big pots. Work on controlling the pot size... take the time to break out a pencil, paper and calculator and figure out what bet sizes get you where. if you want to get all in, use this to plan ahead for it so that when it comes time to get somebody all in you've already worked the numbers. Do this for different situations, say you only want to have half your stack in by the end, calculate it out what you need to bet out on the flop, turn and river to get you there then you'll be ready for it during play.

also start to work on your reads. constantly try to put people on hands and see how it works out.

position position position. work on researching this as much as possible. people lose so much money playing out of position. your hand range should change a bit from seat to seat or section of seats depending on if you're playing 6max or full ring


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