starting back up again...

hey guys it's me again...

not too long ago i was forced to resign my job to go to the EMS academy so i had to withdraw all my winnings to pay for some bills...

just recently i got a job so i deposited 50 bucks in my pokerstars account but haven't played yet...

one of my friends transfered me 10 bucks on full tilt and i was hitting the 2NL tables and i was doing decent but not nearly as good as i was doing before and took some hits... it's kinda starting to make me doubt my abilities as a micro stakes grinder...

i'm rather very very rusty playing micros so before i actually sit down on my pokerstars account i thought i'd post here to see what everyone's thought about some things are...

i plan on playing 2NL until i get to $140-$150 and then move to 5NL until i get to $310-$320 for 10NL

anyways the question i have is pretty much this... for those who regularly play on stars and profit... what times are the fish most active on the site?.. how many tables should i play at the same time?.. i'm a positionally aware player but other than that what is the most important thing about micros to be a winning player?..

I can tell you what my biggest flaws were/are at the 2nl-10nl. Don't over commit with AK, but more importantly, ALWAYS put your villain on a range and start narrowing as the streets go on. Also post hands.


Make sure you put someone on a range and download pokerstove to see where you are at.

Originally Posted by xX zorrito Xx

what is the most important thing about micros to be a winning player?

Value bet more, bluff/semi-bluff less. Problem is, not a lot of micro players really understand what is or isn't a value bet. Learn to value bet, play tight and you profit.

to me the micros are about solid, positionally aware, TAG poker. way too much calling going on. cbets and fold equity diminish in value. value betting is the nuts. also a good spot to start/resume working on equity calculations. good luck!

ps your bankroll management plan looks good as well.

when i say micros, i really mean 2nl and 5nl, certainly at 25nl there are more interesting ways to exploit opponents than playing tight and not being passive. some people have learnt to fold.

anyways the question i have is pretty much this... for those who regularly play on stars and profit... what times are the fish most active on the site?.. how many tables should i play at the same time?.. i'm a positionally aware player but other than that what is the most important thing about micros to be a winning player?..

it took me like two weeks to beat 5nl and 10nl on stars starting like two months. the tricks for me are never slowplay, like everrrrr, when u flop top pair bet 80% of pot, when u flop a flush do the same, boat, quads, low two pair, AK flops an A, everything just bet 3 streets, avoid nits, leave a table if there isnt like 2 big huge fish, like 50/10 im talking, there are so many around, table selecting based on %on flop and then pick the tables with the biggest pots out of those.


never open limp, always raise unless theres some weird situation like deep stacked on co, u know button is raising 100% of hands so u limp 33 to set mine since he is a donk then call his raise rather than getting 3bet

fold to 3bets quite a bit from unknown fullstacks, most ppl dont 3bet enough at micros

play a lot in position...

that should be enough...

Don't allow draws like said before because almost 90% there is someone after it, it's always better small pots than lost pots!

They'll call with any draw. I think some of the people in the micro circuit think that if they have spades and flop 1 spade they are guaranteed to hit. When they do it hurts.

Originally Posted by flomarilius

They'll call with any draw. I think some of the people in the micro circuit think that if they have spades and flop 1 spade they are guaranteed to hit. When they do it hurts.

Yeah it's amazing how often that happens, that's why you gotta make them pay high for it.

Lol agreed.

You put you're opponent on a range and then play against that range. Nothing more, nothing less, just like any other level of poker. The amount of tables to play should reflect your ability to do this.

Doing things like "bluffing less" is retarded, because there are people at 2nl that can be bluffed. Things like "bet high for draws" is equally retarded, because you haven't accounted for how likely a draw is to encompass someone's range.

The above is why no one who's beat poker for any meaningful amount of hands has posted in this thread. There is no magical secret to beating poker.

Well imho I still think you gotta make drawers pay high so if they call it's a bad play, whether you win the pot or not.

I love it when JKDS comes in and says something about making ranges everytime people try to come up with a simple get-rich-fast plan for the microstakes

Who came up (or tried to) with a get rich fast plan?

Other people gave their two penneth worth, that's it.

The above is why no one who's beat poker for any meaningful amount of hands has posted in this thread. There is no magical secret to beating poker.

eh i think what i posted will help, u cant jus read it and dominate but its general things to keep in mind...

and since when is 5.12 bb/100 over 42k hands and 11 buyins below AIEV atm not a decent sample?

Since the people im referring to have played, and beaten poker, for more than a few million hands.

Originally Posted by JKDS

Since the people im referring to have played, and beaten poker, for more than a few million hands.

Nice !!!!!
Nothing wrong with that.

To clarify, im also talking about people that arent in microstakes but still post around the bc.

Also I've been rereading my posts lately and realize I've been coming across a bit douchy. So I'm gonna try to fix that by clarifying my original post in the thread.

When we play poker, we aren't playing against the level or limit. We're playing against the people there. While it is true that you might find more 80/2's over a large sample at 2nl than you would at 600nl, you would adjust and play against that guy the same way regardless of what level. However, just because there may be a large number of these guys at 2nl when compared to...lets say 10nl, it doesnt mean that we start playing against them differently.

To put it another way, suppose we have a guy that only raises AA, and never plays anything else. How would you play against him if he showed up at 2nl? At 100nl? You'd do pretty much the same thing right? You put him on a range (AA when he raises) and then try to play in the most +EV fashion against that range by choosing to do things that result in the most +EV actions.

So when moving up from say 5nl to 10nl, the only real thing that changes is that you probably see fewer fish and more people with decent stats. You may also encounter some people that 3bet something other than AA, and would have to learn how to play against that type of player. But then, ftr has articles that cover that kind of problem and asking a question like "how do i combat people that 3bet more often" is much easier to answer...although its still kinda vague.

Hope thats better.

JKDS IS FISH!

BET PEOPLE OFF THOSE FLUSH DRWAS!@!!!@!@##@!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooo

Just to be clear, I did mean that in a good way JKDS. I totally agree with you