I feel too predictable.........

I am starting to feel that I am not getting enough out of my play. I play about 25% of my hands which I am happy with. When I get cards, I raise roughly 4-5xBB and follow that up with a continuation bet after the flop. I pick up my share of pots but nothing big. I often feel my betting is scaring opponents away..........I realize that I am predictable, but I am raising (but not reraising) with a lot of hands and am not a rock. I do raise post flop out of position, and that may imply power and cause a fold instead of a call. Perhaps a check raise would work but I kind of quit that play when I left limit. All I would gain is 2 more BB and might get royally hammered when I walk into trips....

When I flop trips, I am paranoid about straights and flushes, so I bet them. Same deal, I bet 60% to 80% of the pot and everyone folds to me. I have bad memories of slow playing hands but really don't think I am getting paid off enough for my good ones. Is my continuation bet too high??

I would be interested in hearing some alternate ideas for play on the flop when you have good cards against passive players.

Essentially I play a very similar way and have very similar problems. I think a lot of it is getting to truly know which hands will win for you (by which I mean will win IN THE LONG RUN) and which are less likely to, and make probably minor adjustments to your game accordingly.

But really I'd love to hear the responses of better players too.

Stakes you are playing?

At lower stakes I think you are right to bet hard because people will chase small odds. 80% of the players at small stakes probably not even notice that you are playing predictibly by the way. Are you bleeding lots of chips by getting called on your continuation bets?

Also I think you should pay attention to flop 'texture'. For example if you flop a set of sixes on a board, there isn't much chance that a chaser is gonna catch a straight of flush. Hence you can slowplay a bit more then if the board was At lower stakes I find that people will call you down with TPGK and less and you can take a lot of chips from them.

Originally Posted by Irisheyes

if you flop a set of sixes on a board

...you're going to get reported for cheating

couple questions.

why do you feel like your big hands need to get paid more/more often?

is it because you're having trouble making money?

did you ever think that it is possible that its not that you're not getting paid off enough on your big hands, but you're leaking chips?

As an experiment, keep track of how often you win a hand you play preflop. do you end up making continuation bets and folding a lot?

I have been playing 50NL and 25NL...........I have been successful overall but it has been slow lately.........so I have been analyzing my play for leaks. I have decided I play pretty good but I need to drink less!!!

Originally Posted by CrunchyNuts

Originally Posted by Irisheyes

if you flop a set of sixes on a board

...you're going to get reported for cheating

LOL!

A set of sixes? WE NEED A FLOORMAN ON TABLE 12!

Originally Posted by bumble

I am starting to feel that I am not getting enough out of my play. I play about 25% of my hands which I am happy with. When I get cards, I raise roughly 4-5xBB and follow that up with a continuation bet after the flop. I pick up my share of pots but nothing big. I often feel my betting is scaring opponents away..........I realize that I am predictable, but I am raising (but not reraising) with a lot of hands and am not a rock. I do raise post flop out of position, and that may imply power and cause a fold instead of a call. Perhaps a check raise would work but I kind of quit that play when I left limit. All I would gain is 2 more BB and might get royally hammered when I walk into trips....

When I flop trips, I am paranoid about straights and flushes, so I bet them. Same deal, I bet 60% to 80% of the pot and everyone folds to me. I have bad memories of slow playing hands but really don't think I am getting paid off enough for my good ones. Is my continuation bet too high??

I would be interested in hearing some alternate ideas for play on the flop when you have good cards against passive players.

If you can't bluff at your limit then start laying traps. Just do it every once in a while until you get better at it and people will start hating you. That's when you get paid off.

I was the same way as you because I was a limit player too. I hated all the suckouts I'd get playing limit so I would try to overprotect my hands. People pick up on that fast and don't give you action.

One simple fix I found was that in limit I was a check raising madman. I started doing that again in no limit and got paid off beautifully. Some people respond very poorly to being check raised over and over and over again. They start gunning for you and paying you off.

Also semi-bluff. When you miss, people will put you on a stone cold bluff.

If you're playing live games, don't show your hand when you don't have to.

Originally Posted by CrunchyNuts

Originally Posted by Irisheyes

if you flop a set of sixes on a board

...you're going to get reported for cheating

LOL!

It's a vary advanced play, not recommended for beginners!