I'm Loving PokerTracker (Warning: Long w/Stats)

[Tom Bayes]

Disclaimer: If you hate posts when somebody gives their PT stats for a small sample (<50000 hands or so), stop reading the post now!

Well, I decided a few weeks ago (mostly as an intellectual challenge) to get PokerTracker and use it to work on my limit holdem ring game. I've set aside $300 at Party to start at $0.50/$1, with the eventual plan of moving up limits as I build a 300BB bankroll for the next level (retreating to the previous level if necessary). I've played a decent amount of online limit holdem from microstakes to $3/$6 and I have been successful in the limited number of B&M sessions at the $3/$6 to $5/$10 level in Tunica and Evansville, but I've never really seriously focused on limit holdem.

I've read most of the standard books (Lee Jones, Sklansky, Super/System, Gary Carson, no Ed Miller yet) and have always fancied myself as a "tight-aggressive" player.

I'm a person that loves math/stats, so pouring over the statistics given by PokerTracker is something I actually enjoy and it (for me) makes limit holdem more fun. I imported the auto-rate rules written by "bisonbison", a big poster on 2+2.

My inital goals with the software were to:
(1) Analyze my own game and try to identify leaks/holes
(2) Study how the better players I encounter play hands by going over their hand histories and stats
(3) Identify the worst players and add them to my Party buddy list so I can see them again :-)
(4) Import notes into Party with the autorate description and pertinent stats for my past opponents for use in future games.

Well, after about my first 700 hands, I was dismayed to see that while I was pretty tight and aggressive preflop, I was actually fairly passive post-flop. I saw that I called much more on the flop and turn than the best players in my small database. So the first obvious flaw in my game is playing too passively post-flop. Using PT as a "fish" finder is working well, although frankly $0.50/$1 Party is a freaking aquarium. If the known "fish" leaves the table, I often stay anyway because there are other players at the table who are future "buddies".

As of today, I'm up to ~2000 hands at $0.50/$1, still a very small sample. I have finally gone from tight-aggressive neutral to tight-aggressive aggressive according to the autorate (i.e. I've gotten more aggressive post-flop). Here are some of my stats for you to poke fun of:

BB/100 Hands: 3.50 (Standard Deviation=16.88 BB/100)
VP$IP: 15.51%
Preflop Raise: 7.19%
Went to Showdown after seeing flop: 28.94%
Win $ at Showdown: 53.68%
Total Aggression Factor: 2.17 (Flop: 2.42, Turn: 2.60, River 1.67)

The hand I've won the most money with is: AA (yes, it is a good hand!)

The two hands I've lost the most money with are ATo and A9o (Uh-oh, I see another leak to plug)

Flame away!

[Derek in NYC]

You are winning too much at the showdown. This may mean that you are making too many river folds.

[Michael Davis]

Yes, that showdown number is much too high.

You should be playing a few more hands and raising preflop more often, particularly with position (I'm guessing).

One experiment I think people should try is to raise every time they play a hand from the cutoff.

-Michael

[TXTiger]

I just wanted to let you know that your win$ at showdown is not too high. You can do a search and see previous discussions on this. I'm at 55% and this seems to be the range where many of the winning players are.

[liquidboss]

[ QUOTE ]
I just wanted to let you know that your win$ at showdown is not too high. You can do a search and see previous discussions on this. I'm at 55% and this seems to be the range where many of the winning players are.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, I was confused by this too. I thought somewhere around 50%-55% was good.

[Michael Davis]

I apologize for my BS post. As others have pointed out, your win% at showdown is fine. I must have mistook it for another stat. Mine is 54.26%.

-Michael

[Tom Bayes]

OK-thanks to everyone for their comments. So it appears my win at showdown % is probably fine, although I do think it is quite possible I fold too much at the river. In general, I tend to be eager to fold. I probably don't complete the small blind enough with several limpers (a common situation at small stakes Party) and I sometimes find myself giving opponents too much respect (i.e. he bet, he must have that flush, I fold TPTK, oh no he had 2nd pair /images/graemlins/shocked.gif). Taking better notes and having info from PT will help me know at least some of my opponents-who to respect and who to attack.

Since at low stakes Party you will inevitably be facing many unknown players due to the large player base and high turnover rate at tables, do you assume a $0.50/$1 player is decent until he proves himself an idiot or vice versa? How does this change (if it all) as you progress up?

I'm also intending to start posting some interesting hands with tough decisions to the small stakes forum. I looked over a bunch of hand histories last night, but found that the potential postable hands were either: (1) just routine & boring hands; (2) bad beats (I played like I should-chaser hits 2 or 3 outer); or (3) obvious mistakes on my part that I don't need help finding. When I find a good hand where the best play is unclear, I'll put it up. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Rudbaeck]

[ QUOTE ]
Well, after about my first 700 hands, I was dismayed to see that while I was pretty tight and aggressive preflop, I was actually fairly passive post-flop.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think alot of poker players would benefit from hard numbers on their post-flop aggression. I too thought that I was more aggressive than I was. Getting PT probably upped my post-flop aggression more than any other source, now I couldn't avoid the fact that I was way too passive. (SSH got me to apply that aggression in the right places. Still making ridiculous amounts of mistakes, but it's getting better.)

Actually I think a fair number of the Card Player columnists and noted poker authors would rate as TA-N in Bison's system.

[captZEEbo1]

hands like AT and A9 really depend on your position. If you're in EP, you're better off mucking IMO. if you're in late pos, and there haven't been many limpers, it's probably worth a raise. Hands like A9 and AT are really so marginal, if you aren't really good at post-flop play, you don't want to be playing them. You have to look at how many times you'll be able to outkick people, vs the times you'll get outkicked. ATs and A9s are pretty quality and in fact, if you know how to play Axs (and what position to play it from), you can really play any Axs. The biggest problem with AT is that your kicker SEEMS good, but it's really not, so you if you called a raise with it, and you hit your flop, you'll probably call all the way down, when you are a dog. One other problem with a hand like A9, when the board comes up like 952, someone could have limped easily have a hand like TT and have you really confused, and you'll just pay them off all the way down assuming they are a fish.

Someone said a hand like AT at a full ring game, its like 1/3 that someone has and AJ+. The times that you have people outkicked, there's a decent chance they won't pay you off b/c they might not even be in the hand. The other thing is, the times people do have AJ+ and you have AT, you'll just pay them off, that's why A9 and AT are so marginal. AT is quite a bit better than A9, b/c of straight possibilities though.

But congratulations on your work thus far! /images/graemlins/smile.gif I'm convinced that tight-aggressive is the only way to play limit. It really seems like you are doing well too