Pre-flop fold % Pokerstat question (long, sorry)

Hello,


I use the pokerstat program to log all my hand histories on Paradise Poker. When working out my pre-flop fold % should I be taking hands where I am in the blinds into account? It seems to me that including figures when I have seen the flop from the big blind without having to call a raise distorts my true pre-flop fold %, or is this just standard practice? Including hands where I am in the blinds my pre-flop fold % is just under 73%. Excluding these hands it rises to over 80%. What do these figures say about my game? - I am sure 73% is too loose, (especially when I look at the figures in my database for players whom I consider to be good and see that they all post fold %'s in the 80%+ region), but I seem to be doing OK with these figures. The hand size sample for these figures is 11,200 mainly at full tables. Incidentally it is shocking to see how much I lose in the blinds. Since I started using Pokerstat my overall winnings stand at just over $1,000, but this figure would be a lot higher were it not for the blinds. I understand that it is probably impossible to win out of the blinds, but I am still surprised to see how costly they have been to me.


Any thoughts on any of this appreciated. Hope you had a nice Christmas :-)

The hand size sample for these figures is 11,200 mainly at full tables. Incidentally it is shocking to see how much I lose in the blinds. Since I started using Pokerstat my overall winnings stand at just over $1,000,


Very respectable. My figures on my account (I used to share someone else's account, but obviously I cant get the stats for that) are about 45,000 hands played with winnings of $3,000. That's almost all at 1/2. I have played some 2/4 and (during the dark times!) .50/1, but they'd about cancel each other out. (Except that 2/4 was where I had most of my disastrous 200+ BB downswing... grr... 850 bucks in the account and I nearly lost the lot...).


My flop percentage is 23%, but I don't think it's at all wrong to get looser, in the right situation. The "right situation" is, say, on the button with a hand like J9s. I automatically fold all the suited one-gappers below QTs (unless the whole table limps) so that's one area where i could play more hands (I guess it's kind of bizarre that I will play a lot of the lower suited connectors in late position with limpers just as automatically as I muck J9s). I believe that it's a better idea to find a play style which suits you and stick to it, rather than try to squeeze every last drop of equity out of marginal hands you aren't comfortable with. But at these limits if you're comfortable playing 27% of hands, then go for your life.


What limits do you mostly play at? I've seen you at 1/2, but only once. (And why are you still posting in the beginner forum? You're a winning player! /images/smile.gif )


Oh and something out of my playbook for playing out of the blinds which you can take or leave: When I flop a top pair or good second pair, I will almost always check and then raise a late position bettor (there's ALWAYS one....). Not only do I get to see whether someone in early position has me beat, but I force out all the drawing hands (its possible mathematically speaking that I want them to call and draw incorrectly against me, but there are play problems that doesn't take into account: what do you do when three players call and a king turns? When I'm out of position, I'm usually keen to just pick the pot up). Another advantage of this is that when they play back at you, by a reraise or raise on the turn, you can be virtually sure you are beat.


So if I bet out at you from the blinds, generally speaking I am either betting a draw or looking to reraise you. It's up to you to decide which it is /images/smile.gif


This turned into a long late night ramble, so apologies, but I hope there was something useful in it /images/smile.gif


Chris

Thanks Chris - I play mainly $2-$4 sometimes £1-$2 and .50-$1. Have dabbled at $3-$6 and $5-$10 but was way out of my depth at these limits (particularly $5-$10). I still post on the beginners forum because I still have a lot to learn and many basic questions to answer. I wouldn't call myself a winning player yet - I lost a lot of money when I first started playing and won't be convinced I've turned the corner for a while yet. The last few months could just be a lucky streak for all I know.