Guide to Beating 6-max Microstakes

I wrote this as an email for a friend of mine who is struggling to beat $2nl.
He did/didn't have any idea of position or any range of starting hands - your typical microstakes player.

Disclaimer : I'm by no means a great player - I'm now playing $50nl having worked up from $50 approx 6 months ago (playing 20ish hrs a week), so I guess I'm doing something right.
This was how I played $2nl through to $10nl - at $25nl you have to get a bit more tricky - though not alot.

I thought it may be helpful to have a guide for noobs to refer to. So any thoughts/ ammendments that can be made are much appreciated (incl if you just think its sh*te)

ok then here it is:



Willburs Guide to beating micro-stakes no-limit 6 max ($2nl, $5nl, $10nl).

Beating the micro-stakes is all about playing position and good cards. no need to get tricky - the players you're up against aren't good enough to notice.

6 max table = SB (small blind), BB (Big Blind), UTG (Under the gun), MP (middle position), CO (Cut off), BTN (button).

o = unsuited s= suited ie AKo or AKs

The CO and BTN is where we make most of our money. And Sets. Learn to love sets...

When I say raise it is generally between 3x or 4x the Big Blind. but at $2nl always raise between 5x or 6x.
If in a raised pot I'd raise the hands below 3 x the pot (though you may want to leave out the suited connectors in a raised pot - but I'd play these also)

Pre Flop

Raising hands:

UTG : AA, KK, AKs, AKo, A-Qs, K-Qs, QQ, JJ, 10-10. fold all crap like K-J, A-J, Q-10 etc even if suited. FOLD.
MP: Same as above. though maybe add A-Js
CO: all above, plus add K-Js, Q-Js, 10-Js, K-Qo, also add PPs (Pocket Pairs) 55, 66, 77, 88, 99.
BTN: All above and also all PPs. Also add suited connectors 4-5, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, J-10. And also hands like Q-10s, K-9s,
SB : Same as UTG (if all folds raise 4x with all hands you'd play from BTN though)
BB: Same as CO (be prepared to fold alot to the BTNs raises - don't get tricky).

IMPORTANT Note: unless otherwise stated, limp in with all PP's and call upto 10x BB. You are looking for a set on the Flop. If you hit a set keep raising and get all-in even if theres possible flushes or straights. No set - fold to any raise.

Post Flop (don't worry if you think your play will look predictable - people aren't paying attention at these stakes)

If you get called (upto 2 players - if 3+ players call, check unless you have a strong hand) and are first to act always fire out a CB (continuation bet) of between 1/2 and 3/4 of the pot. do this regardless of whether or not you hit the flop.
If you get re-raised and don't have a hand fold.
If you have any hand like TPTK (top pair, top kicker), 2 pair, trips or a very strong draw (1 card to flush or straight) RE-RAISE and be prepared to go all-in. Flat call middle or bottom pair, if no improvement on turn 50% of time fire out a 3/4 pot bet, 50% check. Fold to a re-raise.

If you are last to act and they have checked, fire out a CB of 2/3 - 3/4 of the pot regardless if you have a hand or not.
If they bet, and you have any sort of hand re-raise 3 x their bet. Also re-raise any nut flush or nut straight draw. If they push all-in after your CB call with TPTK, 2 pair, trips or the nut flush or nut straight draw. Obv fold if you have no hand.

The Turn and River should play themselves - if you have followed above and are now on the Turn, facing a bet, pot odds should determine the play. If you have a TPTK+ be prepared to get all-in. Same on river - you should be pot commited with a good hand. Go with it.

Good Luck.

I like this guide. It covers starting hands and (especially) aggression well for people who aren't thinking about that stuff. I think the main thing that wasn't mentioned that bothered me a bit was Axs (in position.) I make a lot of money off the nut flushes in the micros and those hands are easy to play (draw if you have correct odds or fold.) Maybe I've just been getting lucky but those hands have such good implied odds with people stacking off on their trips or lower flushes. The guide is a little set-centric, but sets are pretty much the shit.

Anyways, nice post. I hope your friend does well with this info.

nit!
I think this would probably work at 50nl too...
nh

Originally Posted by bobdor

I think the main thing that wasn't mentioned that bothered me a bit was Axs (in position.)

yeah - i kinda deliberately left those off , mainly to show my mate that Ax isn't that good a hand. But in position I raise with Ax suited. but I think cutting out A9o/s and below will save a lot of money for newbies.

I think the main thing at micros is learning how important position is. Once you understand position you're halfway there!

Great guide. Where (if at all) do AQo and AJo fit in there?

PT

Originally Posted by SuperflyPT

Great guide. Where (if at all) do AQo and AJo fit in there?

PT

I'd play play A-Jo and A-Qo from button, A-Qo on the CO as well, A-Qo MP if no raise or limped too.

This may seem super nitty - i'd recommend play at least 2 tables - better with 4 so you don't get bored. But I found by playing like this, I always had action on one table - and when I did I had a solid hand and/or position.

Hope this is of some help - like I said it was thrown together as an email - all comments/questions very welccome.

This is a decent foundation but playing in this sort of robotic style regardless of villain is far from optimal and you will not achieve any sort of decent win-rate even at 2nl following this style.

The idea of the turn and river playing themselves is misleading imo. A better thing to say would be turn and river play are too complicated to go into in depth in one email and your play will develop with your understanding of the game.

Originally Posted by WillburForce

IMPORTANT Note: unless otherwise stated, limp in with all PP's and call upto 10x BB. You are looking for a set on the Flop. If you hit a set keep raising and get all-in even if theres possible flushes or straights. No set - fold to any raise.

Nope. I won't get into the finer points of whether limping or not is a good idea nor where to play what PP's in what positions, but you can only call raises against someone with between 12 and 15 times the money in his stack.

Calling 10x BB at $5NL is in effect calling $0.50. What if the opponenets stack is only $2 after the raise. This will lose you a ton of money over a short period of time. The opponents stacks and stats are the only consideration when calling raises for Axs and sets. It's about the implied odds of how much you will make by calling. To add to this, you cannot call with SC's either without at least 20x effective (lowest) stacks.

This is all baring the fact that we are playing a "set it or forget it" style of game. If you are playing aggressively and in position, these hands can be played differently, but if you have to ask how, don't play them otherwise.

I don't mind some of this guide, but it is a starting point for exactly what you have stated, 'micro stakes'. I see nothing wrong with playing like this until you have read some of FTR and have an idea of why we do things like 3 bet 89s from the SB or check KK on A high flops instead of betting to see where you are at.

I like most of this guide and agree with just about every response so far. The one thing I have an issue with is the blind play.

Originally Posted by WillburForce

SB : Same as UTG ([b]if all folds raise 4x with all hands you'd play from BTN though[b])
BB: Same as CO (be prepared to fold alot to the BTNs raises - don't get tricky).

You're better off playing the 'big card' hands than the connectors in this spot. OOP with 45s against a random hand isn't a great spot. We're raising light HU in the blinds, but people are calling light as well. Also, this is hugely player-dependent. I would go so far as to say that without a hud or a read I'd pretty much play caro-style fold or complete in the SB.

BB same as cutoff has it's issues as well. I think it stems from the main thing this guide is missing: a discussion of pot odds.

That said, very nice post.

calling raises up to 10% stacks with small PP = pretty big leak

Against typical uNL players, turn and river actually are playing themselves. Bet/fold good and moderate hands, check/call good draws (check back in position), bet/reraise big hands and check/fold the rest.

Go to SmackinYaUp's site if you want to learn SH basics.

Originally Posted by jyms

Originally Posted by WillburForce

IMPORTANT Note: unless otherwise stated, limp in with all PP's and call upto 10x BB. You are looking for a set on the Flop. If you hit a set keep raising and get all-in even if theres possible flushes or straights. No set - fold to any raise.

Nope. I won't get into the finer points of whether limping or not is a good idea nor where to play what PP's in what positions, but you can only call raises against someone with between 12 and 15 times the money in his stack.

Calling 10x BB at $5NL is in effect calling $0.50. What if the opponenets stack is only $2 after the raise. This will lose you a ton of money over a short period of time. The opponents stacks and stats are the only consideration when calling raises for Axs and sets. It's about the implied odds of how much you will make by calling. To add to this, you cannot call with SC's either without at least 20x effective (lowest) stacks.

Agreed. I'll ammend this when I get a chance to include stack sizes. When I wrote this I was only thinking of full stacks - and as we all know this is rarely the case - especially with all the micro-stake short stack (wanna-be) ninjas.

Badgers - also agree. I'll ammend this too. My general thinking was that if you've played like stated, by the time you get to the Turn/River your pot commited or have a hand that you can't fold anyway. But i'll add somemore.

Dev: I also agree that the blinds were a bit rushed- I'll try and add something else.

And back to Jyms point - it is defo a starter guide for micro-stakes. Nothing more, nothing less....the main idea was to bang into people the idea of folding crap out of position and playing your strong hands/draws hard and fast. And also to show why controlled agression through CBetting and value betting is vital. I'll have a read over it today and ammend somethings.

If it helps even one microstakes player start to win a bit I'm happy.

I like this guide a lot. I play very similarly. And win at 10nl. I have to admit I'm a lifetime loser at 2nl by about half a bb/100, so I don't know how well it plays down there. Those tables play almost like free money, so maybe less cbetting. But very very good.

Jyms, agreed, it's not elaborate or advanced, but it's not intended to be. I think it's a good starting point for a lot of people.

And here's another thing that irks me. I think everyone's afraid to post guides like this 'cuz they're worried they will get ripped apart. Everyone's a critic. I applaud Wilbur for posting this.

Instead of single lines for hands like AK (like my most recent original post), a guide provides some picture of how someone's game fits together, which parts of his range are played differently or the same and so on. I would be thrilled if more FTR folks would post guide-like material and discuss broad categories of hands and situations.

Finally, most folks take guides WAY too seriously. They are good starting points, but not even Wilbur is suggesting this guide covers every situation or will turn someone into an expert. It will help you learn about position, cbetting, and selective aggression. It will avoid some of the most obvious noobie leaks. It will preserve a noobie's br long enough for that guy to figure some things out on his own, tweak the guide into something personal and usable for his game and style. It will help any noobie that THINKS about it rather than blindly playing it.

Originally Posted by Robb

Jyms, agreed, it's not elaborate or advanced, but it's not intended to be. I think it's a good starting point for a lot of people.

And here's another thing that irks me. I think everyone's afraid to post guides like this 'cuz they're worried they will get ripped apart. Everyone's a critic. I applaud Wilbur for posting this.

Finally, most folks take guides WAY too seriously. They are good starting points, but not even Wilbur is suggesting this guide covers every situation or will turn someone into an expert. It will help you learn about position, cbetting, and selective aggression. It will avoid some of the most obvious noobie leaks. It will preserve a noobie's br long enough for that guy to figure some things out on his own, tweak the guide into something personal and usable for his game and style. It will help any noobie that THINKS about it rather than blindly playing it.

Thanks Rob - I was worried about posting it. But I'm using FTR everday and I wouldn't have the bankroll or be playing the level I am without FTR - thought I'd try and give something back.

As you pointed out I'm not claiming this is a defintive guide to winning poker - its a starting point for noobies. This is how I started playing and built a solid foundation to learn on.

The idea of the turn and river playing themselves is misleading imo. A better thing to say would be turn and river play are too complicated to go into in depth in one email and your play will develop with your understanding of the game.

Yea the turn and river are by far the hardest streets to play. I think at low stakes though most of your opponents are so bad that even if you suck at turn and river play you can turn a profit by just playing a decent starting hand chart and not folding good hands too often.

Originally Posted by Pelion

The idea of the turn and river playing themselves is misleading imo. A better thing to say would be turn and river play are too complicated to go into in depth in one email and your play will develop with your understanding of the game.

Yea the turn and river are by far the hardest streets to play. I think at low stakes though most of your opponents are so bad that even if you suck at turn and river play you can turn a profit by just playing a decent starting hand chart and not folding good hands too often.

They're hard to play, but at 10nl and less, it's really what Fnord calls "two street bingo." If a solid open raise and 2/3's cbet won't get 'em to fold, they're effectively all in. So the only real decisions you have to make are preflop and flop. Basically, if you're not pretty sure you're ahead (again, at 10nl and less), you need check/fold the turn/river. No bluffs, no semibluffs without MAJOR outs.

So I kind of agree with WilburForce - it's two street bingo, and with half the players not having full stacks, you rarely have anything like a hard decision on turn/river if you're agro enough pre and on the flop.

Originally Posted by WillburForce

Post Flop (don't worry if you think your play will look predictable - people aren't paying attention at these stakes)

If you get called (upto 2 players - if 3+ players call, check unless you have a strong hand) and are first to act always fire out a CB (continuation bet) of between 1/2 and 3/4 of the pot. do this regardless of whether or not you hit the flop.
If you get re-raised and don't have a hand fold.
If you have any hand like TPTK (top pair, top kicker), 2 pair, trips or a very strong draw (1 card to flush or straight) RE-RAISE and be prepared to go all-in. Flat call middle or bottom pair, if no improvement on turn 50% of time fire out a 3/4 pot bet, 50% check. Fold to a re-raise.

If you are last to act and they have checked, fire out a CB of 2/3 - 3/4 of the pot regardless if you have a hand or not.
If they bet, and you have any sort of hand re-raise 3 x their bet. Also re-raise any nut flush or nut straight draw. If they push all-in after your CB call with TPTK, 2 pair, trips or the nut flush or nut straight draw.

hmm so you really advocate 3betting and calling all-ins on the flop with straight and flush draws regularly? care to explain why? seems -ev to me, but then again i've played way more full ring than 6max so maybe i am missing something?

I'm personally happy to call with the nut flush draw or nut straight draw after I've been aggressive. I think at 6max you've got to be aggressive and be seen to be aggressive and happy to get your chips in. But really you're playing quite a tight range of hands.
My thinking as well, was that you'll be getting near enough, if not the correct odds to call anyway (as the prev betting has swelled the pot) - obv if you're both deep stacks it could be the wrong move - again this was a general guide on how to play, and how i beat the 6-max microstakes - some common sense is needed. People show up with such weird hands down there, when you've been aggressive and have a good hand or a draw to the nuts I say get your chips in.

Originally Posted by Robb

Originally Posted by Pelion

The idea of the turn and river playing themselves is misleading imo. A better thing to say would be turn and river play are too complicated to go into in depth in one email and your play will develop with your understanding of the game.

Yea the turn and river are by far the hardest streets to play. I think at low stakes though most of your opponents are so bad that even if you suck at turn and river play you can turn a profit by just playing a decent starting hand chart and not folding good hands too often.

They're hard to play, but at 10nl and less, it's really what Fnord calls "two street bingo." If a solid open raise and 2/3's cbet won't get 'em to fold, they're effectively all in. So the only real decisions you have to make are preflop and flop. Basically, if you're not pretty sure you're ahead (again, at 10nl and less), you need check/fold the turn/river. No bluffs, no semibluffs without MAJOR outs.

So I kind of agree with WilburForce - it's two street bingo, and with half the players not having full stacks, you rarely have anything like a hard decision on turn/river if you're agro enough pre and on the flop.

The exception to this is draws. I repeatedly see players at 2NL and 5NL calling pot sized bets on the flop AND TURN with FD, OESD and even a gutshot. They often fold to even a minbet on the river if the draw misses.

(Or they hit it and suck you out, like the fish last night who got it all in on the flop with TPGK against my set and hit a runner-runner straight. Cost me two buy-ins.)

Thanks for the guide, will be using it today!

Originally Posted by martindcx1e

Originally Posted by WillburForce

Post Flop (don't worry if you think your play will look predictable - people aren't paying attention at these stakes)

If you get called (upto 2 players - if 3+ players call, check unless you have a strong hand) and are first to act always fire out a CB (continuation bet) of between 1/2 and 3/4 of the pot. do this regardless of whether or not you hit the flop.
If you get re-raised and don't have a hand fold.
If you have any hand like TPTK (top pair, top kicker), 2 pair, trips or a very strong draw (1 card to flush or straight) RE-RAISE and be prepared to go all-in. Flat call middle or bottom pair, if no improvement on turn 50% of time fire out a 3/4 pot bet, 50% check. Fold to a re-raise.

If you are last to act and they have checked, fire out a CB of 2/3 - 3/4 of the pot regardless if you have a hand or not.
If they bet, and you have any sort of hand re-raise 3 x their bet. Also re-raise any nut flush or nut straight draw. If they push all-in after your CB call with TPTK, 2 pair, trips or the nut flush or nut straight draw.

hmm so you really advocate 3betting and calling all-ins on the flop with straight and flush draws regularly? care to explain why? seems -ev to me, but then again i've played way more full ring than 6max so maybe i am missing something?

100BB stacks
villain bets 4XBB's
you 3bet 14BB's
he calls.
pot 28BB's, minus the blinds for Rake
villain donks the flop 10BB's or more and you raise to pot(30BB's+)
pot is 78BB's or more depending on flop donk bet
you have 56BB's or less remaining with 8-9 outs (32%++)
he shoves, pot is now 146BB's or more and you have 56BB's or less

easy call.

Originally Posted by jyms

Originally Posted by martindcx1e

Originally Posted by WillburForce

Post Flop (don't worry if you think your play will look predictable - people aren't paying attention at these stakes)

If you get called (upto 2 players - if 3+ players call, check unless you have a strong hand) and are first to act always fire out a CB (continuation bet) of between 1/2 and 3/4 of the pot. do this regardless of whether or not you hit the flop.
If you get re-raised and don't have a hand fold.
If you have any hand like TPTK (top pair, top kicker), 2 pair, trips or a very strong draw (1 card to flush or straight) RE-RAISE and be prepared to go all-in. Flat call middle or bottom pair, if no improvement on turn 50% of time fire out a 3/4 pot bet, 50% check. Fold to a re-raise.

If you are last to act and they have checked, fire out a CB of 2/3 - 3/4 of the pot regardless if you have a hand or not.
If they bet, and you have any sort of hand re-raise 3 x their bet. Also re-raise any nut flush or nut straight draw. If they push all-in after your CB call with TPTK, 2 pair, trips or the nut flush or nut straight draw.

hmm so you really advocate 3betting and calling all-ins on the flop with straight and flush draws regularly? care to explain why? seems -ev to me, but then again i've played way more full ring than 6max so maybe i am missing something?

100BB stacks
villain bets 4XBB's
you 3bet 14BB's
he calls.
pot 28BB's, minus the blinds for Rake
villain donks the flop 10BB's or more and you raise to pot(30BB's+)
pot is 78BB's or more depending on flop donk bet
you have 56BB's or less remaining with 8-9 outs (32%++)
he shoves, pot is now 146BB's or more and you have 56BB's or less

easy call.

ya i guess i was thinking more about non-3bet pots like...
100bb stacks
you raise 4bb
villain calls 4bb
pot = 8bb
villain donks 6bb, you raise to 18bb, villain shoves
so that's 78bb to win 122bb

if you have 9 outs (35%) then this is an -ev call.