Would you consider me ready for Micro?

Hello all, Relatively new poker player, I am 23 years of age. Back in my teenage years I would play poker once in a great while and was so-so at it.

Discovered this forum a few weeks ago and have been reading the crap out of it. I am going to download poker tracker and poker hud before I start. I am going to play a very tight UGT and MP, and play a little looser (suited connectors and A/8o+) on the CO and button pending how many hands are in. I believe a bet/fold strategy at these stakes is a good start for a beginner.

I am still looking for a really good thread on this board that explains the vpip/pfr numbers in relation to what you should do with your hand.

I am also unsure if I should start playing at absolute with its 150% bonus or FTP with its 100% bonus. Ive heard both are somewhat loose at micro, however.

Still need to comprehend EV and fold equity, as well as pot odds.


I am hoping to make this a profitable endeavour, seeing as I have lots of spare time in the coming months. I believe it is possible if you put your mind to it. 6 years ago, I didnt know anything about cars. I found a forum called svtperformance, and now I have a built 97 SVT Cobra. I am hoping to translate that here.

I would say learn pot odds as a matter of urgency, and then go for it. You can pick the rest up as you go. Pot odds are of the utmost importance in my opinion at the micros, because this is where you will get a massive edge with relative ease. Fold flush draws when price is bad, make flush draws pay more than they should, there's a ton of money to be made at 2nl just in this area of poker, because 80%+ of people WILL NOT fold a flush draw for pot size bets. As long as you employ a mathematical strategy with and against draws, the rest will fall into place with experience while you make money.

EV and fold equity is way beyond the scope of most 2nl players, I'm still trying to learn these. I won't step up until I have it nailed.

Oh, and always put your opponent on a range, adjusting it with every action. For example, someone whose stats are running at 9/4 over 100+ hands, raises under the gun, you can go ahead and fold AQ because his range has it crushed (JJ+, AK). But if he's running at 47/22, you can go ahead and raise, because his range is weaker than our hand (22+ A2s+ A7+ broadway etc); these ranges may be wrong but it's better than not putting him on a range at all. If he reraises, adjust his range and make a decision, I wouldn't want to say what to do now because I don't really know. I'd probably fold, unless I'd seen him shove ace rag in the past, but you make your own mind up!

Always try and make a note when you see something either weak or strong, for example...
limps utg with AA then flats a x5

It might not mean every time he limps utg he has AA, but it helps to know he's capable of it.

"I am still looking for a really good thread on this board that explains the vpip/pfr numbers in relation to what you should do with your hand."

I'm sure there's a thread that could tell you a billion times better than I could attempt. I just use these numbers to get an idea of what kind of player I'm up against, but they aren't the only thing I use when making a decision, in fact sometimes they can confuse matters further. Obviously the lower the vpip, the tighter the player, and the higher the pfr, the more aggressive the player (pre flop), but these figures can only tell us about a player pre flop, so we have to take into account board texture, betting action, notes and other stats that we can find in poker tracker, such as fold to 3bet%, but we need a good sample of hands to make good use of this stat, more so than for pf action alone.

Sorry I should let others talk, I keep thinking of things to add!

I think you already know enough to play 2NL

Also, I think you'll enjoy this:

http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...re-123008.html

Good luck, hope to see you around

Come to our IRC chat room. Also you probably shouldn't try to clear bonuses YET because you need to play at least 25nl to clear the bonuses sensibly so start @ 2nl on stars I think? spoonitnow knows more about this then me. Once you get rolled for 25nl you can begin to bonus whore for a couple months and build a pretty decently sized roll in this time.

Thanks for the helpful words all. Ill take a look into IRC for sure. Thnx Ona I just absorbed a bit about Pot Odds.

best bonus you can clear at 2nl is to deposit on stars using holdem managers get it free link and once you have 225 points you get 75$ credit towards purchasing holdem manager. Don't do the full tilt one as you will lose rakeback.

Since you are new(ish) to cash poker theres a good free video series giving a basic playing style to beginners at 101 series full ring. This should give you a grounding so that you can learn to beat 2nl without getting fancy and picking up lots of bad habits. From there you can build on your game to start beating higher stakes with what you learn in the beginners digest.
other free videos are at www.pokertrikz.com and also at www.tagpoker.com . although tagpoker is now aimed at HUSNG's which aren't a good place for beginners to start learning to play.

if you want to pay for some video instruction , check out www.grinderschool.com

Hey Jhart.

Welcome to the forums. I started 1 month ago (NL2) and in this time I learned 2 important things which will help you to beat the micros.

1 - Believe your opponents!
If you raise preflop and you don't hit at least toppair or a flushdraw and they bet, just fold. Fold fold fold. Even if the board is like 279 rainbow and their bet doesn't make any sense to you, fold. They probably made a terrible call preflop and sucked out on you.
Is this weak? Sure it is. Will your opponents be clever enough to exploit your weakness? Hahahaha...NO!

2 - If you have a big hand, bet big!
Don't worry about scaring your opponents away. Just bet. Bet every street and bet big (at least 3/4 potsize). I have seen people call every street till they were allin with 56o on a board full of highcards. Even if someone folds who might not have folded if your bet was smaller, don't worry because if someone calls your big bets, your winning will make up for the small pots you lost. Big time.

I know you can find exactly the same advices in the Beginners Digest, but I thought hearing this form a guy who is in the same boat as you migh help.
When i started out, I was stupid enough not to follow those 2 principles and so I called bets and raises believing I could outplay my opponents on later streets. I couldn't and that's why I lost about 1/2 of my bankroll in the first days. I was stupid enough to believe that my oppnents would actually care about betsizing and so I bet small in order to keep them in the pot. They don't care. Just bet and hope they have some trash like bottom pair. They will call.

I hope this is helpful to you. Even if it's not, I'm still glad I wrote this down because this way, I'll always remind myself of how to beat the micros.