Getting killed at this level. Some common hands for review.

I'm 28k hands into this level, and the variance seems crazy. I'm up about 15 buyins, but that's after a downswing of 7 buyins. I've been up and down those 7 buyins so many times now, it's mental.

I'm really not sure where I am at these stakes anymore, even though I was making 17BB per 100 Hands at NL5 after 80k Hands.

I don't really know at what point I'm over-posting, so please let me know when that happens.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (5 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

BB ($7.50)
UTG ($9.85)
MP ($9.85)
Hero ($13.15)
SB ($10)

Preflop: Hero is Button with T, A.
2 folds, Hero raises to $0.4, 1 fold, BB calls $0.30.

Flop: ($0.85) J, 3, T (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.6, BB calls $0.60.

Turn: ($2.05) 6 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.

River: ($2.05) A (2 players)
BB bets $2.6, Hero ????


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PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (6 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

UTG ($4)
MP ($10.15)
CO ($6.50)
Hero ($13.40)
SB ($14.30)
BB ($11.75)

Preflop: Hero is Button with K, K.
1 fold, MP calls $0.10, CO calls $0.10, Hero raises to $0.6, 2 folds, MP calls $0.50, CO folds.

Flop: ($1.45) 7, 7, 9 (2 players)
MP bets $1, Hero raises to $2, MP calls $1.

Turn: ($5.45) 3 (2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $3.4, MP calls $3.40.

River: ($12.25) 8 (2 players)
MP checks, Hero ???

This hand may not be that exciting, but it represents quite a common dilemma for me. Should I, or shouldn't I fire the third barrel when the board is scary and I'm in position? Am I really getting called but enough worse hands to make it worthwhile betting? I was worried that it looked very much like his flop bet was because he had at least trips, then worked out he had a customer, and so was letting me do the betting. Too paranoid?


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PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (5 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

UTG ($9.65)
MP ($4.20)
Button ($14.20)
Hero ($10.55)
BB ($10.15)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, K.
3 folds, Hero raises to $0.4, BB calls $0.30.

Flop: ($0.80) Q, 8, T (2 players)
Hero bets $0.6, BB raises to $1.2, Hero calls $0.60.

Turn: ($3.20) T (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $0.5, Hero raises to $2, BB raises to $3.5, Hero calls $1.50.

River: ($10.20) 7 (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $5.05 (All-In), Hero ???


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PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (5 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

BB ($11.50)
UTG ($5.05)
MP ($5.85)
Button ($16.25)
Hero ($10)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, A. UTG posts a blind of $0.10.
UTG (poster) checks, MP calls $0.10, 1 fold, Hero raises to $0.6, BB raises to $1.8, UTG folds, MP folds, Hero calls $1.20.

Flop: ($3.80) J, 4, K (2 players)
Hero bets $2.4, BB raises to $9.7, Hero ???

Villian is 32/16/2 over a v. small sample. I'm behind his range, but behind enough to fold with those odds?

unrelated to HH's, there is no difference between 10nl and 5nl, or very little.

hand 1: bet turn. as played call.
hand 2: make a real raise to about $3.5. as played shove river.
hand 3: dont c/r this. lead again. as played fold river
hand 4: raise to .7 pre and 4 bet his ass. call all in on flop

hand 1: call as played. I would bet the turn here almost 100% of the time also.

hand 2: dont minraise the flop. Raising here is good, but make it atleast 3x. As played bet the river. This is a 9 here way more than a 7.

hand 3: b/3bet flop seems good here. Villain calls with a ton of draws. If you flat call the flop minraise then lead the turn because villians range is weighted heavier towards Q's after another T comes off on the turn. As played probly fold the river. I dont like it getting 3:1 but its probly correct if villains not a total retard.

hand 4: 4bet some pre since your OOP. as played i snap call.

The feedback is much appreciated.

I've heard a lot of decent players say that there's essentially no difference between 10NL and 5NL, and that if I make 17BB/100 at 5, then I should make at least 15 at 10NL playing exactly the same way. But the thing is, decent players play much higher levels than this, and so probably haven't played all that many hands at my level (or if they have it may be so long ago that things have changed) - to them, over a small amount of hands, it may seem the same. Is this the case with you? Are you mainly a higher level player who's merely glanced at 10NL, or have you got a lot of experience here? To me, they seem a hell of a lot different. People are check raising my c-bets, and floating me a hell of a lot. People are double barreling more, and folding a lot less to my bluffs.

Am I loosing because I think it's different but it isn't? Or am I loosing because it *is* different, and I just haven't found my feet yet?

just learn how to adjust to the player and you'll be successful at any limit. you shouldn't be thinking in terms of 5NL being different than 10NL. think about the players. if we had helmuth, ivey, hansen, ferguson, negraneau, and you at a table playing 5NL, i'm sure you would play differently.

To be honest, at Stars 10NL, I see so many players come and go, that's it's hard to build a read or a good amount of data on 90% of them. I have a few players that I have a lot of data/reads on, and that's fine, but most of the time I just have to use a kind of "Default 10NL Player" model because I really don't know anything about them.

Originally Posted by DJJunkPauds

To be honest, at Stars 10NL, I see so many players come and go, that's it's hard to build a read or a good amount of data on 90% of them. I have a few players that I have a lot of data/reads on, and that's fine, but most of the time I just have to use a kind of "Default 10NL Player" model because I really don't know anything about them.

just assume they are all donkeys, which all of them are.

1) Call. I might *think-think* shove if we didnt have the A

2) Bet the river. Its probably going to be a shove at this point. He can have JJ/TT or anything with a 9 (but with JJ discounted because of preflop). The way hes played it looks like we are ahead (and the board isn't that scary) and there isn't alot hes getting away from so stick it in.

3) This is a weird line but it almost always seems to be a monster. Its really hard to find a fold somewhere since all the draws missed on the river and you are getting massive pot odds the whole way along. I think the river is a fold and I think there probably should be one somewhere before. Maybe raise the flop again and probably fold to a shove?

4) Instacall because it's a 3bet pot and hes loose and its very drawy.

Try to post some reads with your hands, even if they are only stats.

You're losing a ton of value on late streets, because you're afraid of betting into better hands, when worse hands will call.

Spot the guys who check made hands too often, and value bet everyone else thin. Also, play more drawing hands against those guys who check strong hands, and pot bet strong when your hand hits against them. They tend to under represent their hand, which has the effect of trapping themselves when you make, because they feel you're playing into their trappy weakness.

You'll think it's funny the first time someone slowplays AA, you hit a weird straight, and they get stacked. They'll start swearing in the chat about how horrible you are, and how AA is the worst hand in poker because it never holds up.