Some preflop spots 2NL

[JoeHaw]

Should I have maybe not 3bet it in the first place? I had to call the 19 cents, right?

Villain was 53/21 no 3bet over 21 hands

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP1 ($0.97)
MP2 ($5.51)
CO ($3.30)
Hero (Button) ($2.32)
SB ($2.28)
BB ($0.09)
UTG ($0.78)
UTG+1 ($2.91)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Q, Q
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.02, 1 fold, MP2 bets $0.10, 1 fold, Hero raises to $0.29, 3 folds, MP2 raises to $0.48, Hero calls $0.19

Flop: ($1.01) 8, A, 3 (2 players)
MP2 bets $1, Hero folds

Total pot: $1.01 | Rake: $0.05
------------------------------------------------------------

These tables are all freaking 42/6 at 2NL I swear to god- am I still folding my QJo utg? A5s? KTs UTG+1 w a limper?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (7 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP1 ($1.43)
MP2 ($3.97)
CO ($3.36)
Button ($7.50)
SB ($5.28)
BB ($3.02)
Hero (UTG) ($3.81)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Q, J
Hero calls $0.02, 1 fold, MP2 calls $0.02, 1 fold, Button calls $0.02, SB calls $0.01, BB checks

Flop: ($0.10) 6, 4, A (5 players)
SB bets $0.06, BB calls $0.06, Hero folds.........

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP2 ($0.84)
MP3 ($4.90)
CO ($8.08)
Button ($4.08)
SB ($2.39)
BB ($3.88)
Hero (UTG) ($2.46)
UTG+1 ($1.45)
MP1 ($3.94)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A, 5
Hero calls $0.02, 1 fold, MP1 calls $0.02, 1 fold, MP3 calls $0.02, 3 folds, BB checks

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP3 ($2.19)
CO ($4.90)
Button ($8.08)
SB ($5.42)
BB ($2.45)
UTG ($1.32)
Hero (UTG+1) ($2.52)
MP1 ($1.45)
MP2 ($3.94)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with K, 10
UTG calls $0.02, Hero calls $0.02, 2 folds, MP3 bets $0.06, 2 folds, SB calls $0.05, BB calls $0.04, UTG calls $0.04, Hero calls $0.04

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AQo vs. 3bet from 29/9 and 4.5% 3bet over 109 hands? I don't remember his stats while this happened, so the 3bet might well have been zero then, I don't remember.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP2 ($4.97)
MP3 ($2.86)
CO ($2.09)
Button ($2.19)
SB ($4.78)
BB ($0.90)
Hero (UTG) ($8.18)
UTG+1 ($5.31)
MP1 ($1.85)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Q, A
Hero bets $0.06, 4 folds, CO raises to $0.24, 3 folds, Hero calls $0.18

Flop: ($0.51) J, 5, K (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $0.26, Hero folds

Total pot: $0.51 | Rake: $0
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[Keith]

You need to tighten up your UTG opens. Read rentons starting hand guide http://www.flopturnriver.com/Small-S...y-Preflop.html whichs is AJs and better as a minimum for full ring .Learn how to play the good hands before you start experimenting with marginal hands.

[Luco]

Play less hands.

Hand 1: fine
All others: fold preflop
AQo hand: raise to 4bb pre, fold to 3bet

[Hoopy]

Hand 1: 3 bet and call is fine, flop is a fold as all you beat is a bluff and TT/JJ. Without the ace (overcard) on the flop I ship it in, what does everyone else think?

Hands 2,3,4:All standard folds utg, position is the nuts in NL limp calling these hands in early positions can be exploited even if they don't realise it at this level. Check out Renton's pre-flop guide in the digest.

Hand 5:Fold to the 3 bet, his range is (roughly) JJ+ and AK considering his stats.

[okiman]

Play less hands.

Hand 1: fine
All others: fold preflop
AQo hand: raise to 4bb pre, fold to 3bet

+1

[JoeHaw]

Yeah, yeah- I've read all the starting hand preflop strategys out there- I was just curious as to if the 6% preflop raise from the tables I play at made any difference.

Is there anyway to do some math about that type of thing? Trust me- I believe you guys, but ive just finished reading a few of ISF's big posts and I'd like to understand the game on a conceptual level rather than just listening to people who are better than me tell me what to fold UTG.

And I sorta was thinking I should've folded that AQo.

For the QQ, say there was no ace, theres a big differnece between ME shipping it in and HIM getting it in, right? Say he donks a dollar either way- can really call that w no ace there? Does it kind of depend on if I put TT and AQs in his 3bet range? (which i wouldnt)

[linaker]

Yeah, yeah- I've read all the starting hand preflop strategys out there- I was just curious as to if the 6% preflop raise from the tables I play at made any difference.

Is there anyway to do some math about that type of thing? Trust me- I believe you guys, but ive just finished reading a few of ISF's big posts and I'd like to understand the game on a conceptual level rather than just listening to people who are better than me tell me what to fold UTG.

QJo, A5s and KTs are trap hands. If you raise them, or call a raise with them, then a large part of you opponent's range is going to consist of hands that dominate QJo etc. In a raised pot, if you have QJ, the flop is Q75 and you bet out from UTG, the hands most likely to give you action are AA, KK, AQ, KQ, QQ and you are in poor shape compared to those. You will lose chips to find out you are beaten. So with hands like QJo, you mostly either lose a big pot or win a small one.

OK this is micro stakes, so you can win a big pot on a QT5 flop from someone with Q9, KT or 66, but it takes skill to fold QJ to the nit with AQ, but crush the fish with 66.

QJ etc do better in position. If its folded to you on the BTN, then QJ is much more likely to be the best hand. There are just three hands left in the pot rather than 10 if you have QJ UTG. The idea in poker is to put money in the pot when you are ahead, so if you raise QJ, you are much more likely to be ahead if you are on the BTN than UTG.

If QJ hits a good flop then its quite likely someone else will have a hand they want to play. So if you are on the BTN and four people have limped, it can be profitable to limp and see a cheap flop. If the flop is KT9, then its probably big pot time. The more players in the pot the better, as the likelihood of someone having something good like K9 increases.

You are also more likely to make money on some less than dream flops. In this case, if the flop is Q75, its less likely that AQ, KQ or QQ are out there, because most people raise those hands. So it is easier to play your hand more aggressively.

You asked if the 6% pre flop raise makes a difference? I am not sure what you mean by that, but if you mean your opponents are raising 6% of their hands on average then if you limp UTG, about 50% of the time, you are either throwing away your hand or calling a raise with a hand like QJ, KTo which will only have about 33% equity against the best 6% of hands. The rest of the time you will be playing a multiway limped pot from UTG, which can seem like its the same as playing one from the BTN, but its not. Its easier to play a Q75 flop with QJ, when its been checked around to you, than when you are first to act.

Starting hand charts tend to pick hands that are easier to play post flop. If you have AK then you will hit TPTK a third of the time, and while that can be beaten, you dont have to worry whether the person betting into you has a better kicker or not.

It is relatively easy to play Ad5d if the flop is 3 diamonds. But that happens very rarely and if you play it UTG, you will mostly miss the flop entirely, have to play a flush draw correctly or have a tough decison on how to play an AT4 or K95 flop. Thats why playing these hands is not recommended for beginning players, especially out of position. I hope this explains some of the reasons why some hands are recommended and others aren't

[Muzzard]

1. 3bet is fine, sometimes I get it in vs fish pre. Sometimes I fold to the 4b, sometimes I call sometimes I shove, depends on what sort of fish it is and how lightly he stacks off pre. Some fish don't 4b without AA and you're implied odds are pretty close postflop to be set mining.

2. Fold pre, position is going to be the key to beating fish, value bet the crap out of them with good hands. QJo is too marginal UTG, if you're the first to enter a pot always raise imo. BUt still QJo is too weak 7 handed

3. Fold pre, too weak to open and don't open limp

4. Fold pre, I don't mind isoing a player who limps alot. But I wouln't iso a utg limp utg+1 as there is too much risk a lot of others will call behinnd and you'll be OOP with a pretty weak hand.

5. Fold pre to the 3b, you're going to be out of position and it's goign to be tough post flop coz ur goign to be playing for stacks alot with the worst hand. Also, even though the 3b is coming from the cut off ppl are rarely raising UTG opens light as ur range is pretty tight - or shoudl be.

As for opening UTG I think 55+/AQ+ is fine, personally I never open limp. That's why I tend to fold small pairs as my fold to 3b woudl be pretty exploitable if I included every pair UTG.

I don't mind you open limping say 22-55 pre or even just opening 3bb/4bb for all pairs. I doubt you're goign to get exploited at 2nl.

I think a key to improving your game is to stop limping/opening limiping with weak hands OOP. Play sttrong hands OOP, play weaker hands IP esp if your the first to open the pot in LP - steal blinds etc. Punish llimpers IP. etc

[JoeHaw]

Alright, I'm convinced.

thanks for the feedback