Poker Tracker shows I suck.

So I finally break down and buy Poker Tracker. I turned a $75 free dealy at Party into about $580 right now so I figure I'm a good player.

I fold crap like A6o and J8 all the time, I must be tight. I hammer guys sometimes when I have a good hand, so I must be aggressive, right?

My VPIP is 30.8. My PFR% is 11.7.

I am a Loose-aggressive/Passive (according to the default rules).

I am the one people look for at tables.

I apparently am really lucky so far.

Someone please mentor me.

PS: If anyone wants to hop on AIM and walk me through Poker Tracker and show me what all this means (because I have little idea), feel free.

Change Passive to Aggressive.

And 30 vpip is a little high for someone just starting out.

How many hands is this over?

The top 30% of hands are:

55+,A2s+,K5s+,Q7s+,J8s+,T8s+,98s,A7o+,A5o,K9o+,Q9o +,J9o+,T9o

Probably need to tighten up a bit.

I don't have AIM, but I can help a little

VP$IP is number of times you see the flop not counting unraised big blinds. The ideal for full ring that is tossed about around here is less than 20%. So look at the hands you like to play and trim about 1/3 of them. You can do this by not playing crap like KT and K9, A2, A4, etc, or a combination of that and using position. Example, dumping AT under the gun because it is easily dominated. You should do this as well by not calling raises with AJ/AQ/AT/KJ/KQ, for the same reason, they are easily dominated.

Preflop raise percentage....people may have different ideas, but I think you should raise at least half the hands you play preflop. Right now you are at one-third.

Read posts from people around here who are pretty well respected, like Renton and Lukie (these are some of the Taggier ones around here who are successful). Fnord and Gabe are good examples of more Laggy players who are successful. Soak up all you can.

Originally Posted by givememyleg

Change Passive to Aggressive.

It's over 8200 hands.

More fun: My aggression factor is 0.74

Thing is, I thought I _was_ being aggressive. Some of the stats may be skewed -- here's an example:

Let's say I was in the BB with suited junk, no raise so I check my option with 3 behind me. Flop comes out 2 more of the suited junk plus a blank. I'll check my junk draw because there's 3 behind me, 1st position checks, MP bets 1 BB (a quarter in my case), button calls, how can I not see if I can hit a 3rd suited card for a quarter? I call, and here we go.

Another situation: Same deal out of the BB, but I flop say bottom pair, guy min bets, I call OOP because hitting 2 pair or trips on the next card will pay, and if not it was 1 BB. Is this a really bad habit? I see it as a very small risk to hit bigger. Maybe I'm totally backwards.

That's all fine. But what are you doing when, say, you hit second pair on the button and it's checked to you? What about if you have the nut flush draw on a raggy flop OOP against one opponent? What do you do if you have AK on a Kxx flop and someone bets 2/3 the pot before you? Do you raise them, or do you check or call?

Originally Posted by biondino

That's all fine. But what are you doing when, say, you hit second pair on the button and it's checked to you? What about if you have the nut flush draw on a raggy flop OOP against one opponent? What do you do if you have AK on a Kxx flop and someone bets 2/3 the pot before you? Do you raise them, or do you check or call?

Situation one: I'll check behind about half the time.

Scenario two: Check it, call anything reasonable.

Scenario three: I call. Maybe 1 in 5 I check behind assuming the board isn't connected at all. I re-raise pretty much only when I have two pair or better. On a K 10 5 flop, is K10 in the range of most Party $25NL players? Yup.

You've answered your own question, I think. I bet/raise in each case:

1) they have checked to you. This usually means they have nothing - poker players, especially poor ones, are honest the great majority of the time in their bets. If they have nothing they will either fold or call - very occasionally they'll re-raise to be clever but not really at $25. I'd say 60%+ you'll take it down on the flop, and 20% you'll win on the turn or river because they float and don't improve. If they DO bet back at you, you can re-evaluate the turn.

2. You are 35% to hit your flush, so taking the pot down now is fine, hence the bet. If they fold, great; if they call, fine, you get to see the next card and may well hit the flush - even better, they may be chasing the flush too, in which case if you do hit you'll get paid off big time. Even if they raise you may still be getting good enough odds to see the turn.

3. Calling their bet here tells you nothing. If they do have KT in your example, what will you do when they bet the turn? Are you calling this down to the river? Because it'll cost you just as much if not more than re-raising here 80% of the time. If they DO have KT, and you re-raise, they may well re-raise YOU and you can safely lay down your TPTK. But if they just call you, they are likely to have a lower ace, in whcih case you control the pot, you keep them betting, and you let them call you down to the river with a worse hand.

Betting and raising requires you to know when to fold just as much as when to bet. But the control it gives you, as well as the information, is invaluable to your game and makes the cards that much stronger (thanks to fold equity, predominantly) than they would be on their own.

I know, I just have a tendency to take a minimalist approach.

Next question, would you recommend PokerAce HUD or GameTime +? Gametime is free but doesn't re-size well at all. PokerAce does but costs $25.

Thoughts?

You turned $75 into $580 over 8000 hands? You're doing fine. You shouldn't freak out about your numbers, there's nothing wrong with running 30/11, especially if you give up on junk when the flop doesn't hit it. I'd aim to be more aggressive post-flop though... 0.84 is pretty low, calling station-ish almost. My guess is that you could be c-betting and raising weak bets more. Biondino's advice above is good. Be a little careful when you start getting more aggressive though, don't start convincing yourself that you have a great hand just because you're betting like you do To start, only fire off a second c-bet if you think villain's on an obvious draw that missed or you have a read that you can push them off a hand. And beware of calling stations!

I haven't used GameTime+, but PokerAce HUD has been worth every penny.

I got it in my head to be more aggresive... and promptly lost QQ to AA after AA just called me down to the river and I didn't improve (no overcards there either).

Then lost KK against an AK shortie who flopped an ace, checked down to the river and i thought he was stealing (wtf?)

There goes 1.5 buy ins... luckily I stacked someone's TPTK with a set or I'd be down significantly... hanging around $564 at the moment.

Man if you're winning big, who cares.. if you start losing, then it's time for some introspection.

Originally Posted by jackvance

Man if you're winning big, who cares.. if you start losing, then it's time for some introspection.

Because I thought of myself being tight and aggressive most times... and I'm anything but. Plus I was up to about $615 and I lost 4 buy ins in about an hour a few nights ago, climbed back and I've been see-sawing the last 2 days.

I get the feeling that I thought I was a lot better than I was, and a lot of that was being lucky card-wise.

Originally Posted by jackvance

Man if you're winning big, who cares.. if you start losing, then it's time for some introspection.

That's kind of like waiting until the engine head cracks to change the oil....

Originally Posted by takesix

Originally Posted by jackvance

Man if you're winning big, who cares.. if you start losing, then it's time for some introspection.

Because I thought of myself being tight and aggressive most times... and I'm anything but. Plus I was up to about $615 and I lost 4 buy ins in about an hour a few nights ago, climbed back and I've been see-sawing the last 2 days.

I get the feeling that I thought I was a lot better than I was, and a lot of that was being lucky card-wise.

Playing loose and aggressive will cause more variance. That's not to say that you won't see saw if you play tight, but the fluctuations won't be as wild. It's good that you are analysing your game before it's too late. Alot of people wouldn't care until they started losing.

Originally Posted by grnydrowave2

Playing loose and aggressive will cause more variance. That's not to say that you won't see saw if you play tight, but the fluctuations won't be as wild. It's good that you are analysing your game before it's too late. Alot of people wouldn't care until they started losing.

Well I've been forcing myself down to about 26/14/1.33. I don't know if I can go much lower than t his... how people hit 12/5 (one guy I saw is 4/1... what the hell?) is impressive... I see possibilities, maybe I should be looking for reasons to fold more..

Originally Posted by takesix

Well I've been forcing myself down to about 26/14/1.33. I don't know if I can go much lower than t his... how people hit 12/5 (one guy I saw is 4/1... what the hell?) is impressive... I see possibilities, maybe I should be looking for reasons to fold more..

The best place to eliminate loose limps and raises is in early and middle position. That will save you money and lower those pre-flop numbers.

Originally Posted by cardsman1992

That's kind of like waiting until the engine head cracks to change the oil....

It's nothing like that.

Originally Posted by jackvance

Originally Posted by cardsman1992

That's kind of like waiting until the engine head cracks to change the oil....

It's nothing like that.

could be, the problem with poker is that you never get any direct feedback on how you are doing. often we play perfect and get stacked over and over again, but also play bad and still run good for thousands of hands. it all depends. as usual.

Jack,

With all due respect, not everyone can fly by the seat of their pants and try this and experiment with that. Not and keep their sanity, anyway. I applaud you because you seem like a creative, right brained kind of person. I wish I was more like that sometimes. But I think it is downright foolish not be constantly evaluating your play to see whether or not you are playing lucky or playing well. Luck will catch up with you, playing well wins in the long run. I thought I was crushing the game when I first started and got on a huge roll. One day I looked at a hand where I reraised J8 offsuit and bluffed a guy off the river by pushing. In isolation, that may seem like a great play. The problem wasn't that particular play. The problem was I thought J8 was a raising hand. Hell, I could make a straight with those two cards! I can push ANYONE off a hand!! I am BULLETPROOF! It wasn't until after the fact, when I was down to my last 3 or 4 buyins, that I really evaluated what got me there in the first place. I got lucky. I needed to get good. I still have a long way to go.

Damn, I wish I had checked the oil earlier.....

Originally Posted by cardsman1992

Jack,

With all due respect, not everyone can fly by the seat of their pants and try this and experiment with that. Not and keep their sanity, anyway. I applaud you because you seem like a creative, right brained kind of person. I wish I was more like that sometimes. But I think it is downright foolish not be constantly evaluating your play to see whether or not you are playing lucky or playing well. Luck will catch up with you, playing well wins in the long run. I thought I was crushing the game when I first started and got on a huge roll. One day I looked at a hand where I reraised J8 offsuit and bluffed a guy off the river by pushing. In isolation, that may seem like a great play. The problem wasn't that particular play. The problem was I thought J8 was a raising hand. Hell, I could make a straight with those two cards! I can push ANYONE off a hand!! I am BULLETPROOF! It wasn't until after the fact, when I was down to my last 3 or 4 buyins, that I really evaluated what got me there in the first place. I got lucky. I needed to get good. I still have a long way to go.

Damn, I wish I had checked the oil earlier.....

Good advice... still on a downswing, lost my stack when my top 2 got turned by a better top 2. Still, it's nice to have people play back to my c-bets now instead of always folding (guess I was kind of predictable).

All this newfound aggressiveness has gotten me stacked 4 times... down to $540... but I'm tryin.

Originally Posted by takesix

All this newfound aggressiveness has gotten me stacked 4 times... down to $540... but I'm tryin.

Post the hands in the hand histories forum! You might be getting too aggressive with hands like TPTK and two pair. And there's nothing wrong with scaling back the aggression if you don't think you have a feel for it right away.

Aggression is just another tool to be used in your poker tool box. Its not the be all end all answer. I started out passive, then switched to really aggressive. It wasn't until I worked aggression in "at certain times" that I started winning. Best line to remember -- "Play big hands for big pots -- small hands for small pots"

TPTK against a TAG or TAP is not a big hand

IMHO Pot control is much more important than aggression in the long run.

This is a VERY IMPORTANT POST for you and for other beginners.

AGGRESSION DOES NOT MEAN PUSHING ALL-IN IN NON-IDEAL SITUATIONS. Well, sometimes it does, but that will be the result of reads. What aggression means is not letting people see flops with junk; not letting people chase draws with proper odds; betting strong hands properly; raising and re-raising for value and for information; and FOLDING when the villain's response to your aggression tells you you're beaten.

Originally Posted by biondino

This is a VERY IMPORTANT POST for you and for other beginners.

AGGRESSION DOES NOT MEAN PUSHING ALL-IN IN NON-IDEAL SITUATIONS. Well, sometimes it does, but that will be the result of reads. What aggression means is not letting people see flops with junk; not letting people chase draws with proper odds; betting strong hands properly; raising and re-raising for value and for information; and FOLDING when the villain's response to your aggression tells you you're beaten.

Boy did I learn that the hard way.

Originally Posted by cardsman1992

Jack,

With all due respect, not everyone can fly by the seat of their pants and try this and experiment with that. Not and keep their sanity, anyway. I applaud you because you seem like a creative, right brained kind of person. I wish I was more like that sometimes. But I think it is downright foolish not be constantly evaluating your play to see whether or not you are playing lucky or playing well. Luck will catch up with you, playing well wins in the long run. I thought I was crushing the game when I first started and got on a huge roll. One day I looked at a hand where I reraised J8 offsuit and bluffed a guy off the river by pushing. In isolation, that may seem like a great play. The problem wasn't that particular play. The problem was I thought J8 was a raising hand. Hell, I could make a straight with those two cards! I can push ANYONE off a hand!! I am BULLETPROOF! It wasn't until after the fact, when I was down to my last 3 or 4 buyins, that I really evaluated what got me there in the first place. I got lucky. I needed to get good. I still have a long way to go.

Damn, I wish I had checked the oil earlier.....

Heh, well, in my case.. I self-evaluate way too much. If I run bad (which includes being break-even) over a short sample like 500-1000 hands, I'll try and start figuring out if something is wrong or if it's just variance. Funny thing, I also had that J8=raising hand thing for a short while, until I caught it and knocked some sense into myself. ^^

Half the time it seems like I have to rediscover stuff I already knew but forgot..

That being said, if I run good and win, I'm really not looking back if something might be wrong afterall or whatever.

Oh and to the original poster, using PO I found out I'm a lot tighter than I thought myself to be, and a lot less aggressive. It's actually only for a couple of days now that PO is branding me as "aggressive" postflop! I didn't even consciously change anything to my playstyle.. but who cares, really. I won money when it said I was passive postflop, and I win money now that it says that I'm aggressive postflop.. meh?

I don't feel like actually reading thread but I just wanted to say your subject title is hilarious.