Micro-stakes situations that I don't feel comfortable with.

[oskar]

I had two hands today that I never like to play, and I certainly don't like to play them the way I did... if I was playing higher - it would have been a fold in both situations, at 5$NL I simply don't know. In both cases I pretty much had no information on the player other than that they are playing 5$ NL.


first one - 6 players - 1 limper UTG, I have AA in the SB, I raise 4xbb, big blind calls, limper folds.
Flop comes JJQ
He bets 1/2 of the bot
I call
turn comes a blank - 345 - something like that - rainbow board.
He moves all in, which is about 2x the pot.
I call

#2
9 players
I have 77, I limp in MP... at least 4 other limpers.
Flop comes 579 all clubs.
I overbet the pot slightly - button min-raises.
I call. - we're heads-up
Turn comes a 3 - no club
He bets about 2/3 of the pot.
I call
River A - no club
He goes all-in for a little more than the pot.
I call.

I didn't like to call in both situations. I didn't like that I had to give up the lead, and I didn't like that I was playing against people who I can't put on a brain.

anywho.
So this is my first post...
I really like this site, let's see if it helps.

[WillburForce]

Welcome to FTR!

Hand 1: I raise more pre. at these stakes people will call with rubbish like Q-J - lets charge them for the privilege. I'm not folding A-A here.

Hand 2: I'd have gone all-in over his his min-raise. I'm defo not folding trips at these stakes. He has a flush? "NH" reload.

[oskar]

Welcome to FTR!

Hand 1: I raise more pre. at these stakes people will call with rubbish like Q-J - lets charge them for the privilege. I'm not folding A-A here.

Even with just 2 other players in the pot?

Hand 2: I'd have gone all-in over his his min-raise. I'm defo not folding trips at these stakes. He has a flush? "NH" reload.

That's definitely an option. But if he has 2 pair, overpair... he might get away from it...

ah, well - probably not

My second thought was, that another club might shut him down, and if it doesn't, I'm pretty sure I'm beat.
It just feels so bad if you make those kind of moves, and you're beat. - But you're probably right. 3 out of 5 times I'll have the best hand here, and worse hands will call.

[WillburForce]

with out stack sizes its hard to be more exact.

hand 1 : I repeat don't fold A-A without a solid read at 5nl.

hand 2: forget losing value at these stakes. If they have 2 pair they're coming with you, if they have top pair they're coming with you, if they have bottom pair they'll prob come with you!

[oskar]

Stack sizes all pretty much around 100bb
I tried the "table selection" strategy that some guy proposed here - which is to select an empty table and sit down with a non-scary 85bb or something stack, which has worked out pretty well so far.
And this was pretty early on a table I opened.

I might as well tell you how it came down - on the JQQ board the villain was on a complete bluff and showed a 7 high, and on the other hand he flopped the nut flush. And that's why you're probably right. There are players capable of bluffing the raiser with pretty much no hand, or maybe they even think they're betting for value in that spot with top pair.
I used to take the "everyone know what he's doing unless proven otherwise" approach.
I don't want to sound presumptuous - but it looks like 80% of the people at these stakes border on retardation... minimum betting the nuts, and calling overbets with gutshots.
But I still feel like I'm just breaking even with these kind of calls. It's one thing getting called, and another having to call 2 times the pot with just one pair.... just doesn't feel right.

[aka_red]

if you like your hand and they raise you just go all in :]

[BankItDrew]

this might sound counter productive but i think you played both hands just fine.

[Erpel]

Ok, few thoughts from a newbie.

People at these levels generally suck. But don't take my word for it - or anyone elses for that matter. You need to witness it yourself and here's how you do it. Play one table only. Open up a hand history window next to the window. Every time a hand goes to showdown read the hand history and every time each of the people involved in the hand act you consider if the action they made were correct or not based on what they actually had. If you see them doing something that you think is probably notably wrong, take a note on that player. Doesn't bet overpairs, bets AA weakly, plays any two cards at random.. the possible comments are endless. Just take them down on the player.

You will be taking the same notes on lots and lots of different players. This is good, as it will make you not just conclude that they are terrible, but also exactly in which ways they are terrible. You'll be able to conclude some general trends about 'players at these levels' and can devise strategies that effectively counter them.

As you get better at the whole thing you'll want to get away from sweeping generalizations about players at a certain level or with certain stats, but they're a good stepping stone to learning to predict what your opponents are holding and playing.

Don't assume that 80% of players know what they're doing. Also don't assume that 80% of players don't know what they're doing. Instead - take down the facts of hands you've seen them play and use THAT rather than arbitrary assumptions.