Why does everyone keep calling me?

I've had a very frustrating few days this week and lost about $1000. Here's a major problem I keep running into:

Everyone calls my pre-flop raises.

Here's what I raise on: Pocket pairs, suited connectors, and any 2 split cards 10 and above (10 J, J A, etc).

I don't bluff with preflop raises, at all. Yet everyone calls me without a second thought. This rarely occurs when any other player raises. When another player raises, they'll average 2-3 callers on a full table, but when I raise, I average about 5.

I raise the same general amount that everyone else does pre-flop. Granted, when I raise, I like having at least a few callers to get some value out of my cards, but with 5 callers per raise, alot of people see the flop against me with complete and utter crap...and they hit.

It's just really frustrating to have a guy with 7-5 offsuit call my $10 raise in a $1-$2 NL game, and then hit two pair or an open ended straight on the flop just to suck me out further down.

Am I doing something wrong?

Should I tighten my starting requirements for a raising hand?

Loosen them?

Why does everyone call me?

If you raise with TJ or any 2 cards T or higher (like QT) I can see why they call. I would too /images/graemlins/smile.gif
What's your PFR%?

PFR%? Don't know what that is.

Also, I thought raising with any two cards 10 or up was value betting, to prevent limpers?

These are beginner forums so help me out a little =/

Sorry if I came off wrong there. You're right, this is the beginners forum.
I'm a beginner too but I'll help as much as I can. Someone correct me where I'm wrong.

You need to tighten up. From EP (Early position) I only raise with premium hands such as AA-99, AKs-AJs, AK and AQ.
From MP I loosen up a little. From LP You can raise with hands such as A8s or ATo if there is no raise in front of you of course.

When someone else raises in front of you, you need to tighten up a lot.

Now, if I saw someone raising with 89s I'd sure as hell cold call that bet with hands such as AJo or even QJo. And if the flop comes TQ2 I'm gonna raise your bet.

Also don't raise with ANY pocket pair. AA-99 are good since they can win unimproved. They don't have to make a set to stand a chance. 44 won't win many hands unimproved though, hence you want to see the flop as cheap as possible. If you miss your set and have no straight draws, fold those 44's.

PFR% = preflop raise %, how many times you raise preflop. Your % has to be really high? I have a PFR% of about 6% which is a little low, but I'm working on it /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Hope that helps

Thank you for the advice.

Yeah, my PFR % is probably around 20%-25%. I guess you're right, that does seem a little high.

I'll adjust my play and tighten up a bit, thanks.

[SheridanCat]

It appears you're playing no-limit hold'em, right? Pick up a copy of Ed Miller's Getting Started In Hold'em and study the no-limit section. It's basic and short, but it'll give you some guidelines to follow.

I agree with the advice you've gotten. You were very loose, and I guarantee people out there have been tracking your play with Poker Tracker, so they knew you were looose.

Good luck,

T

[4_2_it]

Where did you get the any two split cards 10 or above advice from? That is horrible, I would be very skeptical of any other 'advice' they gave me. Most poker books have starting hand charts.

Head to Barnes and Noble and read the first couple of pages of a few books (look for 2+2, Miller, Jones) and see whose writing style you understand the best. eventually you will probably buy more books, but start with something that you find easy to read.

Keep in mind that you seem to be seeing two different things here - one good, one bad.

The good is that guys with 75o are calling your raises - while they will occasionally hit their cards and suck out on you, there is no question that calling a raise with 75o is a -EV play - and over the long term, you will take money from them.

The bad is what others have pointed out - because you are raising with less-than-premium hands, people have, correctly, loosened up their calling requirements against you. This can work in your favor when you actually do have a premium hand (assuming that you raise the same with AA as you do with JT - which is pretty crucial if you are playing loose, as you seem to be), but for the most part, it will work against you.

So you definitely need to tighten up your starting hand requirements - and particularly your starting raise requirements.

My only word of caution is that you do not do a complete 180 and turn into a rock. I am curious how you use position to determine when to bet, since you did not mention it in your post. It is one thing to raise with JTo UTG, quite another to raise with that when you are on the button and you sense weakness.

Buy Getting Started in Hold'Em and follow the Starting Hands Chart. It will give you a line of which hands you should play in each position.

[Cooker]

[ QUOTE ]
Thank you for the advice.

Yeah, my PFR % is probably around 20%-25%. I guess you're right, that does seem a little high.

I'll adjust my play and tighten up a bit, thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

Your PFR % is higher than many people even consider optimal playing standards. At weak party tables I will often play 22% of hands, but I am ususally only raising with solid values. I ususally play closer to 15-18%. Solid values are AA-99, AK, and ususally AQ. I usually throw in KQs and some other hands in later postion too. What sources have you been reading to end up with this style? Super System would be my guess. If you raise 89s (and similar hands) from any position every time you get it, you are probably making a huge mistake. This hand is trash and should usually be folded preflop. Pick up a copy of Getting Started in Holdem. I think you will learn a lot. The advice in Super System is solid, but you must understand when and how to use it depending on the game conditions. Good luck.

I would add that if you are playing NL, you'll want to have starting requirements that are higher than what you'd play in Limit. In limit, depending on your position, two suited cards can have +EV, where as in NL a good player is going to raise enough post-flop to make drawing to a flush very expensive if you don't have outs to other draws. GSiHE is good, if you like NL, Harrington on Hold'Em is great. Playing hands with low EV or even marginal EV means you have to be much much better at reading your opponents post-flop.

S

[TaoTe]

I haven't read any other replies, but I can imagine that they'll read somewhat like mine.

You're playing way too loose. You need to start to play a tight/aggressive game of NLHE. In general, tight is right. Whoever gave the idea of raising with any cards ten or higher doesn't know what they're talking about. For the most part hands like KQ, KJ, KT, QJ, QT, etc. are trap hands when in an early position. Some of the better ones become playable in a late position.

The important thing is that you have to learn to play tight. You want to play loose? That's fine, but you must understand tight/aggressive play first, develop some serious hand reading skills, and be prepared to lose. Don't jump into loose/aggressive play. To quote a famous movie, "First land stand, then learn fly. Nature's rules, not mine."

[GrunchCan]

You've already gotten most of the advice you need (read GSH). I'll just hasten to point out the obvious, since nobody else did:

[ QUOTE ]
I've had a very frustrating few days this week and lost about $1000.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you're a beginner (presumably true based on what you've told us about your game, and the fact that you're posting in the beginner's forum), and you've lost $1000 in several days, then you're playing much too high. What level are you playing where you can lose that much that fast, and why are you playing that level? It took me several months to lose my first $1000 when I was green.

[Hoss1193]

I'm a limit player, not NL...but I've played enough NL to know that standards are tighter than for limit. And your raising standards are way too loose even for limit.

You mentioned raising with "suited connectors" without specifying rank. I hope you mean hands like KQs....if you're raising (regardless of whether NLHE or LHE) hands like 65s, then heck yeah, people are going to call you with anything. That's probably an even bigger mistake than raising with "any 2 cards 10 or higher", particularly for NLHE.

I also infer from your post that you're primarily talking about a full-table situation (since you mentioned "5 callers"). I don't want to draw conclusions about where you've learned to play, but frankly, most of what a lot of new players know about poker is what they see on the tube. Keep in mind that TV coverage doesn't show every hand; they edit out the relatively straightforward or insignficant hands which make up 95% of the action. And most of the coverage focuses on final table action, with many of the hands played after the field has been whittled down. At this stage, based on a myriad of factors (the cards themselves not necessarily being the most important), raising KTo in UTG+1 is often the right play...that doesn't mean it's the right play most of the time (it isn't - folding is).

I apologize in advance if this last bit was too presumptuous regarding your poker experience...didn't mean it that way. Just thought it was a point worth making.

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

Everyone calls my pre-flop raises.
Here's what I raise on: Pocket pairs, suited connectors, and any 2 split cards 10 and above (10 J, J A, etc).

Are you aware that you're raising too often with weak hands? That's why you get called all the time.

Do you realize that JTo is a really weak hand?