Help out a mouse Party $25

[BradleyT]

I'm a PT mouse (14VP$IP 4.03PFR, 1.63 overall Aggression) and need to get more aggressive preflop, any suggestions?

I think my problem is limping too many hands in LP that I should be raising when there were already limpers.

With 2-3 limpers and I'm in CO/BTN should I raise
A) 88-99
B) 22-77
C) KJs
D) TJs
E) 9Ts
F) KQo

Do any of your answers change if I have 2-3 buyins and someone else who limped does too?

[amoeba]

full ring or 6max?

[BradleyT]

Full ring - I wasn't aggressive enough for 6-max and the varience was too much for me.

[amoeba]

A. limp if I feel rest of table is not likely to let go of TP on flop. Raise if I feel rest of table is too weak tight and I can move them off hands, outplay postflop.

B. limp

C. I almost fold this nowadays due to extraordinary amount of full ring party 25/50 players who limp AJ/KQ. If I feel that they are typically tight enough to fold AJ, KQ to a raise preflop, I raise. I don't like limping this hand.

D. limp, raise very seldomly to be tricky/buy button.

E. limp, raise very seldomly to be tricky/buy button.

F. raise a fair amount of the time.

[BradleyT]

Did you mean raise for F not E?

[amoeba]

sorry, edited for clarity.

[fimbulwinter]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm a PT mouse (14VP$IP 4.03PFR, 1.63 overall Aggression) and need to get more aggressive preflop, any suggestions?

I think my problem is limping too many hands in LP that I should be raising when there were already limpers.

With 2-3 limpers and I'm in CO/BTN should I raise
A) 88-99
B) 22-77
C) KJs
D) TJs
E) 9Ts
F) KQo

Do any of your answers change if I have 2-3 buyins and someone else who limped does too?

[/ QUOTE ]

Few suggestions by game:

6max: (or any other dumb-laggy game)

1. dont let the lags off easy. low agression with good hands works well against maniacs. Call a PFR with AA/KK and call down on nonscary boards, you'll love the results.

2. raise more with position. don't raise "this'll get me dominated kind of hands" tho (AJ, KT etc.), instead raise (moderately) the SC's. really preflop agression is way overrated in a Laggy game, unless you're the reason it's laggy.

3. raise less without position. limp/call with AK is fantabulous against lags. remember, against a table of dumb lags, you only have to win like 1/4 of headup hands to show a big profit.

10max: (or any other weak/tight game)

1. Take pots down preflop. I raise many more hands than most people would play in these games, so long as i have position.

2. Attack blinds, esp on 50BB stacks where they're 2x as relevant. in MP with 76s with no limpers in front? try a raise.

3. Be willing to re-raise with "marginal holdings" against a rock. calling a rock's PFR with AQ, JJ etc. is asking for trouble. conversely, switch your speed up with AA/KK and call PFR's more. one secret of rocks is that they have a hard time getting away from hands when you know you've got them nailed and you DONT play back at them. they're used to being paid off by trash and raised by monsters. bust em once by getting passive with a monster and then bully the hack out of them from then on.

fim

PS- realize that your style, while not great, is both a winning one and one that means you're progressing as a player. as per the oft-quoted article, you'll soon find yourself in lagtown and if you survive that, in PAG (Positionally agressive?) town where the real money is.

fim

[amoeba]

excellent post fimbul.

Especially the section on how sometimes calling down is the most profitable move.

[vanHelsing]

as usual, very good post fim.

[ QUOTE ]
...don't raise "this'll get me dominated kind of hands" tho (AJ, KT etc.), instead raise (moderately) the SC's....

[/ QUOTE ]
How to interpret 'moderately' here. Does that mean to use a smaller bet size or is this referring to the frequency?

[amoeba]

I would think frequency.

[fimbulwinter]

[ QUOTE ]
I would think frequency.

[/ QUOTE ]

yeah, i meant frequency, shoulda been clearer there.

the real point is that you wanna raise them in conjunction with your table image. if you've been cold for a while, people will think you only raise AA, so raising 89 is cool. conversely, when you're hot, you need to play tight ABC poker and nothing else because you will get all the action you want and then some.

fim