Pissing Away Bonus Money Like the Whore That I Am

[Genitruc]

I am a reasonably profitable sit n go/tourney player in the midst of my first whoring journey. So far, I have made 300$+ in bonuses but have pissed most of it away in the process of cashing it at 25NL tables. Besides a nice little run of bad beats (and ensuing tilt), much of this cash has been wasted by overplaying my position and making "sophisticated" plays/reads against calling stations, etc.

The biggest problem I have noticed is that I tend to raise fairly strong, but not monster, hands in late position (i.e. KQ suited, AQ etc) into 3 or 4 limpers. This is a play that I find useful in SnGo/Tourney play... but the more experienced low-limit cash game players can probably see where this is headed...

Most often, people just WON'T fold their K5 offsuit, so I end up playing a 4/5 way pot without the absolute nuts. I feel the need to conserve my TAGG image (mainly against opponents who have no concept of table image lol) and often c-bet, as stupid as that may be...

Should I just limp? Or should I NEVER c-bet and just give up my preflop raise whenever I don't hit top pair? Note : I will be cashing out a 225€ B ONUS on a B2B site where the play is UBER-LOOSE over the next week, so I will encounter this situation a lot... Maybe bigger preflop raises are the answer? (avg flops seens at the tables I am playing is anywhere from 50-80%!).

Thanks for any thoughts or suggestions.

[donnybaker]

Full ring? If the tables are that loose you have to raise more to thin the field. Make your standard raise 4 to 5 times. Tighten up if it's crazy loose and push your monsters. Don't continuation bet more than 2 people, someone will have a piece. Definitely play more hands in position (but not crap!).

[salsa4ever]

i'm a SNG and ring player... generally i'd say you're making a few mistakes that i made as well

tighten up pre-flop and play more tables
fold AJ, KQ in early position
and when you raise in LP you need to isolate the pot. If you have to raise 10xBB to do that, so be it.
You'll get a sense of how much to raise depending on how many limpers are in the pot. generally at 100 NL, 3xBB - 6xBB depending on how many limpers there are.

you'll get a sense of when to cont bet and when not to cont bet. do not cont bet on every flop, that is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. Generally I'd cont bet about half the flops I "miss" (rags to AK, overcards to PPs): you have to consider how many people are in the pot and the texture of the flop.

You need to bet a credible amount when cont betting. If you had AK, and the flop was A87, with 2 diamonds and the pot is $12, would you bet $5? In this position, I would cont bet $10 with KQ because it's credible that I actually have the ace. If you want to cont bet a 876 flop you're representing a big pair... and you'd probably have to overbet... so i wouldn't cont bet that flop at all.

I would consider limping more in LP on a really loose table. I would only raise AK, AQ and big pairs. the limp reraise in EP with KK and AA is also a big winner on a loose table, but be prepared to dump it if it doesn't work out.

learning the art of cont betting will transform you from a break-even session to winning, and from small wins to big wins. and probably could tighten up pre flop.

[DBL0SVN]

I am a reasonably profitable sit n go/tourney player in the midst of my first whoring journey. So far, I have made 300$+ in bonuses but have pissed most of it away in the process of cashing it at 25NL tables.

The rest of your post suggests you don't have a lot of ring experience. The biggest difference between SnG and ring is that you have much more folding equity in SnG and since time is running out towards the end, mediocre hands like KJ are very strong.

When I initially transferred to ring from SnGs, I did the same as you. you need to adapt your game for ring.
1. Patience!. Tighten up especially if bonus whoring. Basically, play only premium hands from position and never bluff - they will almost always call you down with middle pair.
2. In keeping with that, learn to let go of TPTK if the betting gets heavy beyond the flop.

Also great advice from salsa4ever.

[Blinky]

Salsa's post is goot.

A few more things I've learned from Party 25NL (hah - take it fwiw) -

If there are a bunch of limpers (and depending on how loose they are) you can also try simply stealing their limps from position with a solid raise. If they absolutely won't fold this won't work of course - the solution is to adjust your game.

Tighten up without position, but if you're in a table full of loose passive player, I'd highly suggest playing drawing hands in good position (CO, BN). You'll see flops for cheap and probably be able to draw cheap as well. Don't forget though that these types of hand can be very troublesome OOP.

Finally, table image doesn't really matter that much at this point, unless you come across an aware opponent.
I have also found that generally, "plays" don't work unless they involve a random all-in (which I never do).

[WhooFleuryScores]

Def be careful continuation betting unimproved overs in a NL ring game esp against calling stations.I recommend taking some of the advice in Bob Ciaforne's chapter in Middle Limit Hold Em on Overs.