Microlimits

[Maurader1]

Hi All,

I'm pretty new to the poker games, have mostly been playing freeroll tourneys and learning a bit from that...I started reading the forum and am learning tons from the posted hands etc. On of the things I noticed was to bet aggresivly when you think you have the best hand. I played a hand at Pacific, microlimit 0.01/0.02, BB, and flopped a boat, with like 7 players in the pot. SB bets, and I raised, and the next 5 people folded. Should I have just called, expecting to get more money in the pot from those who would probably call one bet?

Is it possible to beat microlimits, like 0.01/0.02 or 0.05/0.10 or am I just wasting my time? And if I move up to 0.25/0.5 and up, will the things I learn in the microlimits have to be adjusted?

Thanks all!

[Harv72b]

In a .01/.02 game, the field folding like that is an extremely rare result of fastplaying your hand...far more often, you'll see people cold calling your 2 bets or even raising you.

As you're probably starting to pick up from reading this board, the key factor in when to slowplay a hand is not what you have, but rather, what you think someone else might have, and the likelihood of them making a good second best hand. That, and the size of the pot. If 7 people saw the flop, then the pot was already large...you want to bet and raise quickly, both to punish people for trying to draw out on you (even though most will be drawing dead in that case), and to grow the pot large enough that your opponents will want to chase anyway. You will very rarely find yourself in a situation where you should slowplay...although all of us tend to slowplay too often.

Microlimits are an excellent place to gain a basic understanding of the game. A big part of playing poker on the internet is being able to see the proper play quickly...and the only way you can gain that skill is through repetition and experience.

It is possible to "beat" microlimits, just keep in mind that even if you're posting an incredible win rate of 10 BBs/100 hands, that's still only 20 cents at .01/.02. You're not going to make money playing ring games at those stakes...but you are going to hone the skills you'll need to make real money at higher limits somewhere down the road.

As far as the higher limits...each time you move up a level, you will have to make adjustments to your game (less so in .25/.50 & below). In the most general terms, the higher the stakes, the more aggressive your opponents will be, and the more aggressive you'll need to be.

I'm sure you've seen this suggested in other threads already, but if you haven't bought a copy yet, Small Stakes Hold 'Em by Ed Miller, David Sklansky, and Mason Malmuth is almost required reading if you want succeed in this game.

[Maurader1]

Wow, thank you for the awesome indepth response...I will really have to check out the suggested readings :P

I guess the assumption is that you are trying to win money from the people who are playing, who are not playing by the principles in SSH? Because if everybody reads SSH, and follows it, would it not be impossible to win?

Anyways, thanks for your thoughts!

[PokeHer]

Believe me, not even close to "everyone" reads SSH. And not everyone who reads takes notes on it and then reads it again multiple times. Once youve read it once, reading it again takes much less time, and you get much more out of it. But trust me, if you ever seen anyone who voluntarily puts money in the pot over 30% of the time (which is TONS of people) chances are good that they have not read this or any book on limit hold'em.

[Maurader1]

I will have to ask this question, because I have still not read the book - what does it mean to put money voluntarily into the pot?

[Harv72b]

Any time you click on the "call" or "raise" button preflop, you are putting money voluntarily into the pot. Basically, it gives a more accurate potrayal of how often you see the flop, by excluding times when you just check through from the big blind.