Quote Originally Posted by fade177
Ok, I make better reads when less people are in the hands. However, what I'm hearing is that if I play tables where it's +50% to the flop, even as difficult as it may be to win due to aggressive play because of the callers, I'll learn to recognize when to make good folds. Cause as much as I don't like the idea of trying to play against 5 players in a hand, I do like the idea learning to make better folds, I fail to fold against the suckout quite often, especially when I'm not giving them odds to chase. The other day I lost $40 on a hand where I knew the villian had nothing and it was a 3 suited board, no straight draw, I bet the pot on the flop and turn and he called, I catch a back door straight and he ends up catching a Jack 2 back door flush, wish I could have folded to the all-in push even though I had caught a straight...
Yea, in NL a lot of profits come from big hands running into bigger hands. What you need to do is be on the bigger side more often than not. It can be hard to give up a good hand when you're sure that you're beat, but it gets easier with time. Its always gonna be frustrating to have to throw away a good hand though so get used to it. On the flip side, you do not want to turn into a scaredy cat and go folding every time someone bets. Finding a safe zone between foldy land and calling station land is going to come from judgement and experience.

Sorry for these huge posts by the way, I'm not trying to preach or be annoying. But anyways, with hands like top pair, you want to cut odds, but if there are five people in the hand with you, you don't want to go potting the flop, potting the turn, and potting the river because the pot is going to get huge and if just one of those people has caught something good, you're gonna go broke with the hand. Top pair and 2pair-ish hands are ones to play aggressively, but to also be willing to throw away as soon as the board gets shity and those calling stations suddenly come to life and bet. In other words, you want to give heat with those hands but take no heat with them.

What you're really looking for though are those huge hands where you're begging for callers. You know the feeling. Like when your AK hits an AKA flop or something like that. You don't need to worry about people drawing out on you, and the more callers the merrier. Those hands are where your big profits come from. In the low stakes games online, if you just camp for pocket pairs and sets you'll make money. ilikeaces taught me that when I was first starting.

click here for some strategy articles that might help. some of them are a little advanced, but some of them are pretty good too.

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