ABC Poker

[T_Khan]

Alrighty guys, so I've heard this term before (me being new to strategic poker and trying to learn) but what kind of things to learn would you guys say consists of ABC poker?

I'll probably be grinding it out in the .25/.50 or .50/1 nl tables.

[jyms]

Oh oh, Here we go, lol. I'll start by saying that ABC to me is "19 hands" and playing aggresive from position. Also I don't know what your BR is but it ain't grinding at those limits, it's poker. Unless you are playing outside of your roll and that will be brought up enough so I'll leave that alone.

[biondino]

Why on earth would you be playing $100NL as a beginner? If you really are a beginner, play $25NL maximum - less if you don't have at least $400 you're willing to lose.

[Rondavu]

Lol. If you don't have experience, then you shouldn't be playing for that kind of money. Your learning curve costs $$. Don't make it a lot of $$$.

[LimpinAintEZ]

ABC poker simply means showing down good hands - It means not getting tricky. Basically the term is used when your playing against calling stations - you only try to bluff players who are capable of folding...At low limits you want to play mostly ABC poker by playing the best cards and showing down the best hand - It's not really strategy so much as it's just meant more as a Don't Try to be tricky with the calling stations....

[T_Khan]

isnt .25/.50 cent blinds 25 nl?

[geoffm33]

isnt .25/.50 cent blinds 25 nl?

It's 100xBB so .25/.50 would be $50NL

Unless your on stars and can buyin to the .02/.05 for $10, maybe other levels do this, but I only know of the .02/.05. Actually made it easier for me to move up to $10NL (.05/.10) since I was already buying in for $10 a table.

[Awaji E]

First off, part of learning the ABC's is getting experience. You want to pay as little as possible for the experience, so get in at a lower level. I'm not saying you aren't a good player, but if you're just starting, you really should establish a winning record at 10NL or maybe 25NL, no matter what your bank roll. (Unless your bank roll is under $100, then find the lowest stakes possible.) As for ABC's, mine are;

A: Hand selection. Don't play suited crap, ever. Don't play unsuited connectors, ever. Only play suited connectors after limpers, at a passive table. (Those 3 can be tempting to me, but they're long-term losers.) Don't play with a kicker under 10, be careful with J or Q as a kicker.

B: Betting. Don't min-bet. Bet 3-5x the BB pre-flop, plus one for every limper. Post-flop is too long for this post.

C: Folding. If you've got a good-but-no-great hand, and a great hand is possible, and someone goes over-the-top at you, believe him. Espcially true as stacks get deeper.

[renegaderob1]

isnt .25/.50 cent blinds 25 nl?

On most sites, for No Limit Hold Em you can only buy into a table for 100x the big blind, so:

10c sb/ 25c bb = 25NL
25c sb/ 50c bb = 50NL
50c sb/ $1bb = 100NL

and the bank-roll management posts on this site generally refer to the full amount buy in you can bring to a table for no limit (so a 20x buy in for .50/1 would be $2k) and the big bets for limit (so a 300xbb for .5/1 limit would be $300).

Hope that helps

[jackvance]

ABC poker simply means showing down good hands - It means not getting tricky.

There you go, that's ABC poker.

[Lukie]

tight, agressive, solid poker

not losing much money with worthless/marginal hands

[Pelion]

Don't play unsuited connectors, ever.

Provided you arent calling raises with them, unsuited connectors are very nice hands to see a cheap flop with. Especially in a multiway pot.

[jackvance]

A good example of ABC poker:

** Game ID 813570341 starting - 2006-06-01 11:55:36
** Bloomsbury [Hold em] (0.05|0.10 No Limit - Cash Game) Real Money
- bascomeb sitting in seat 1 with $16.35
- alvanco sitting in seat 3 with $9.85
- jackvance sitting in seat 4 with $20.18 [Dealer]
- GUBALU sitting in seat 5 with $5.07
- xann sitting in seat 6 with $0.65
GUBALU posted the small blind - $0.05
xann posted the big blind - $0.10
alvanco posted to play - $0.10
** Dealing card to jackvance: Queen of Diamonds, King of Clubs
bascomeb went all-in - $16.35
alvanco folded
jackvance called - $16.35
GUBALU folded
xann folded
bascomeb shows: 5 of Diamonds, 10 of Diamonds
** Dealing the flop: 2 of Hearts, 8 of Diamonds, 6 of Diamonds
** Dealing the turn: 6 of Spades
** Dealing the river: 3 of Clubs
jackvance wins $32.70 from the main pot
End of game 813570341

another one

** Game ID 813524197 starting - 2006-06-01 10:38:37
** Bloomsbury [Hold em] (0.05|0.10 No Limit - Cash Game) Real Money
- frenchmark sitting in seat 1 with $13.55
- Dofarrell sitting in seat 2 with $1.70
- ACVantaa sitting in seat 3 with $10.55
- jackvance sitting in seat 4 with $3.95
- chamrock4 sitting in seat 5 with $5.40 [Dealer]
- orlandi sitting in seat 6 with $5.83
orlandi posted the small blind - $0.05
frenchmark posted the big blind - $0.10
** Dealing card to jackvance: 4 of Spades, 3 of Spades
Dofarrell went all-in - $1.70
ACVantaa folded
jackvance called - $1.70
chamrock4 folded
orlandi folded
frenchmark folded
Dofarrell shows: Queen of Diamonds, Ace of Clubs
** Dealing the flop: King of Hearts, Queen of Spades, 6 of Spades
** Dealing the turn: 10 of Spades
** Dealing the river: 10 of Hearts
jackvance wins $3.35 from the main pot
End of game 813524197

[Pelion]

A good example of ABC poker:

** Game ID 813570341 starting - 2006-06-01 11:55:36
** Bloomsbury [Hold em] (0.05|0.10 No Limit - Cash Game) Real Money
- bascomeb sitting in seat 1 with $16.35
- alvanco sitting in seat 3 with $9.85
- jackvance sitting in seat 4 with $20.18 [Dealer]
- GUBALU sitting in seat 5 with $5.07
- xann sitting in seat 6 with $0.65
GUBALU posted the small blind - $0.05
xann posted the big blind - $0.10
alvanco posted to play - $0.10
** Dealing card to jackvance: Queen of Diamonds, King of Clubs
bascomeb went all-in - $16.35
alvanco folded
jackvance called - $16.35
GUBALU folded
xann folded
bascomeb shows: 5 of Diamonds, 10 of Diamonds
** Dealing the flop: 2 of Hearts, 8 of Diamonds, 6 of Diamonds
** Dealing the turn: 6 of Spades
** Dealing the river: 3 of Clubs
jackvance wins $32.70 from the main pot
End of game 813570341

another one

** Game ID 813524197 starting - 2006-06-01 10:38:37
** Bloomsbury [Hold em] (0.05|0.10 No Limit - Cash Game) Real Money
- frenchmark sitting in seat 1 with $13.55
- Dofarrell sitting in seat 2 with $1.70
- ACVantaa sitting in seat 3 with $10.55
- jackvance sitting in seat 4 with $3.95
- chamrock4 sitting in seat 5 with $5.40 [Dealer]
- orlandi sitting in seat 6 with $5.83
orlandi posted the small blind - $0.05
frenchmark posted the big blind - $0.10
** Dealing card to jackvance: 4 of Spades, 3 of Spades
Dofarrell went all-in - $1.70
ACVantaa folded
jackvance called - $1.70
chamrock4 folded
orlandi folded
frenchmark folded
Dofarrell shows: Queen of Diamonds, Ace of Clubs
** Dealing the flop: King of Hearts, Queen of Spades, 6 of Spades
** Dealing the turn: 10 of Spades
** Dealing the river: 10 of Hearts
jackvance wins $3.35 from the main pot
End of game 813524197

How is that ABC poker? That second call is horrible.
To the OP ABC poker just means you bet your bet your good hands, call with odds for draws and fold your bad hands.
You dont try to get tricky.

[jackvance]

How is that ABC poker? That second call is horrible.

So you liked the call in the first hand?

[Seasider]

I dont think calling an all in with KQo or 34s is ABC poker either. ABC would be only go all in pre flop with AA KK and maby AK QQ in my book. Especially when calling a raise.

[yorib]

In few words: ABC Poker = Harrington on Holdem Vol 1.

[Pelion]

How is that ABC poker? That second call is horrible.

So you liked the call in the first hand?

The first hand isnt necessarily terrible. If its someone whos been pushing a few hands in a row then id probably call with KQ but you have to have a read.

The second hand is horrible even if hes been pushing any 2.

[Rondavu]

When do the clowns get out of the volkswagon?

[jackvance]

The first hand isnt necessarily terrible. If its someone whos been pushing a few hands in a row then id probably call with KQ but you have to have a read.

The second hand is horrible even if hes been pushing any 2.

My post was supposed to have been sarcasm, or irony or whatever - as it's quite clearly NOT abc poker. First hand went as you said, he had pushed the 2 or 3 previous hands. Second one was a simple mistake. I wanted to limp, but noticed to late I was calling a shortie push..

[Halv]

Sarcasm + beginners circle = false.
Irony + internet forum = false.

[T_Khan]

Thanks guys, yeah, i put in 50 bucks initially to PP, played well, but lost it to a couple bad beats (had trips but a guy had the same trips with a higher kicker one time (lost 20 bucks with that)) and then random other instances where i'm convinced it was bad luck.


heres the best part:

I go all in on a straight from the flop, (i had the nut straight j to 7) my hand was j10, and a guy calls with a jack, but the flop was missing the j and 10. Guy calls trying to suck out, and hits the 10 on the turn.....meanwhile 1 other person called my 20 dollar all in. I won his money, but this idiot sucked out on me with that 10. but i was like..alright i'll just chill out.. so a couple hands later, i have pocket rockets AA, and the board has something like 8 3 5 or something of the sort, and i had best hand, this guy that i'm sitting at the table with is the ULTIMATE calling stations (calls 90% of bets) and i go all in, he calls..turn comes and he hits his 8 set. this kind of stuff happened at least 5 times that day and i dropped a hundred dollars of my bank roll. kinda pissed, should i just take a break from online poker or something or do i still have the skill to compete.

BTW this calling station at the table has me completely suspicious, because he was hitting hand after hand after hand, (had over 150 dollars one point at a 25 NL after calling bets after bets after bets) and he was saying mumbo jumbo in the chat area like a bot would do.

thoughts.

btw thanks for the OPs helped a lot.

[andy-akb]

Ehh you played too high if you could lose your whole roll to a couple bad beats. If you just made the deposit you still had access to the beginner tables and should have played $0.02/0.04 even though youd still be underolled for that. Bad beats happen to everybody, you go broke if your BR cant absorb them.

Also, if a player is a bot then they dont get better cards than anybody else, so simply because he was hitting hands doesnt mean he is a bot, anybody can get lucky. And why would someboyd make a bot that says nonsense in the chat?