Please help!! Am I weak-tight??

[jacki]

I ask because I turned $50 into $900 since Thanksgiving playing $25 party NLHE, but the last 3 or 4 days have been awful...I've lost a bit over $100.

These 3 AT hands were all within 4 hands, and I wasn't confident in my play on any of them.
all the stacks were between $20 and $40. I have about $20 or so.
No firm reads on anyone, typical party table.

Don't be polite. Tear me a new one if I deserve it.

HAND 1:
HERO has A /images/graemlins/heart.gif, T /images/graemlins/spade.gif UTG+1 and raises to 3 (mistake 1?)
3 callers, including both blinds

Flop: 9 /images/graemlins/spade.gif, 5 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif, 3 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif
SB checks.
BB bets 4
I fold, along with the rest of the table. Weak?
(An aside: I have no idea how to play a raggy flop with 2 overcards. Tips?)


HAND 2:
HERO has A /images/graemlins/heart.gif, T /images/graemlins/spade.gif UTG (didn't notice then, but the same exact hand two hands in a row. weird)
3 limpers
Button raises to 3
SB folds, BB and HERO call(mistake?), and one limper calls

Flop: K /images/graemlins/club.gif, 3 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif, K /images/graemlins/heart.gif
BB bets $8 to go allin.
I fold, along with everyone else.




HAND 3:
HERO has T /images/graemlins/heart.gif, A /images/graemlins/heart.gif in the SB
5 limpers, I complete, BB checks. (raise here?)

Flop: 9 /images/graemlins/club.gif, Q /images/graemlins/diamond.gif, 6 /images/graemlins/club.gif
HERO checks.
BB bets 1
2 callers, and HERO calls

Turn: T /images/graemlins/spade.gif
HERO checks.
BB bets 3
MP calls, HERO calls (raise or fold, right?)

River: 5 /images/graemlins/club.gif
HERO checks.
BB checks.
MP checks.

BB has K /images/graemlins/club.gif T /images/graemlins/club.gif for a flush he was hoping to check-raise, apparently
MP had K /images/graemlins/spade.gif 7 /images/graemlins/club.gif

[eMarkM]

Actually, I think you're too loose. Muck AT in EP. The last thing you want is being out of position with this hand.

1) On the flop, you have nothing, of course you fold.
2) On the flop, you have nothing, of course you fold.
3) Complete, don't raise, you're out of position the whole hand. On the flop, you have nothing, of course you fold.

Generally, I rarely, rarely chase overcards in NL. I hit the flop and take command of the hand, or I fold to a bet.

[Zag]

"I ask because I turned $50 into $900 since Thanksgiving playing $25 party NLHE, but the last 3 or 4 days have been awful...I've lost a bit over $100.
"

Whoa! Short term results -- might not mean a thing. You can easily play perfectly and lose four buy-ins in a row, especially on the nutty, suck-out game of Party $25. Note that I suspect you were very lucky in your run up, and you should not expect those sorts of results as the norm.

Hand 1: ATo plays poorly in bad position, because it is hard to steal on the ragged flops. Fold this out of position. In position, if all have folded to you (never happens on Party $25, I know) then come in with a raise and be glad to win the blinds. If you are called and get a ragged flop, you might make one stab at it, but don't put too much money behind it.

Hand 2: Again, fold this in early position. The problem with AT in early position is that there are very few flops in which you will know what to do. If an ace falls, you might bet, but you are in trouble if you get action. If you get a T-high flop, then you are in OK position (but still vulnerable), but how often does this happen? Post-flop, of course you fold this.

Hand 3: AT again! Certainly complete in SB after 5 limpers with this. A raise might make sense if it is likely to win it right there, but it probably won't in this game. After you get two callers, you are out of position and there are not that many flops that you are really happy with. More likely you will find yourself in a spot like the last two, where you have to act first and don't know what to do.

When the flop comes up with crapola, just check and fold. You are likely drawing to 2 outs, because you can't count on a T being good, nor the A/images/graemlins/club.gif.

It true that it hurts to fold and then see that you would have won. But if you really keep track of these, you will see that money lost on the bad calls still overwhelms the money that would have been gained on the few times that they hit. It is just that you remember those, because they are big, whereas the calls that go nowhere are usually small (though far more numerous).

Play a lot tighter in bad position, and save your loose preflop calls for the button or the cutoff. Against a lot of opponents, look for hands that can make the nuts, and try to get to a cheap flop with them. Against few opponents, look for hands that will make strong pair or two pair, and then blow out people playing draws.

[crockpot]

hand 1 - how can you consider yourself weak-tight when you're raising to $3 on ATo in bad position? this hand should definitely be folded preflop, and if you're going to play it at all, raising will just get you into more trouble.

general rule: don't chase with overcards in no-limit. good fold on the flop, but this never should have happened.

hand 2 - calling this raise preflop is insane. you're asking to get your stack taken by AK or AQ if you flop an ace, or a big pocket pair if you flop a ten. even if you flop two pair someone may have a set. basically you want to flop exactly KQJ and have no one make a full house on the turn or river.

hand 3 - just limp. you are out of position and your hand prefers multiway action, not to mention that it is not strong enough to raise.

you consider yourself weak-tight when you call a bet on this board? you must be joking.

[Zag]

[ QUOTE ]
you consider yourself weak-tight when you call a bet on this board? you must be joking.

[/ QUOTE ]

crock, there's really no need to be insulting. Remember that there was some point in time when you learned this lesson. Were you an idiot just 5 minutes earlier? Everyone goes through this early way-too-loose phase, and jacki is unlucky enough to have gotten lucky during it, reinforcing some bad play. At least he (she?) is smart enough to come here and get some better info.

[jacki]

/images/graemlins/blush.gif
i asked for it /images/graemlins/smile.gif

i guess the answer to my question is 'weak' , not weak-tight.

So tighten up on AT out of position.
What about AJ? that's another one that gives me fits.....

[crockpot]

i don't mean to be insulting, it just seems like the poster is very misguided about what weak-tight play is.

if jacki was offended by my language, i apologize. it's good to want to get better.

[crockpot]

generally speaking, hands like AJ, AT, KJ and even AQ will get you into trouble if you play them as strongly in no-limit as in limit. two reasons: the penalty for making top pair and losing with it is much greater, and it is less likely that you will get significant action from a worse hand when the big money is going in.

also, your big profit potential with these types of hands still comes from getting a worse ace to keep calling you. thus you really don't want to raise and discourage a hand like A8 from coming in.

as a rule of thumb, i would almost never play unsuited KJ and AT. i might play AJ or AQ in good position, but if someone is raising me and all i have is top pair, i would dump it unless the raiser is a known LAG.

[PDX_David]

I love it when someone asks the questions that I have been having. Some really great advise and reasoning behind it...

Thanks
PDX

[crockpot]

you're welcome, but if you have questions, open up and start asking them. actively participating in the board helps your game much more than just browsing.

[rotation]

It makes sense that AT is unplayable at a full table out of position. As the game becomes shorthanded, when would this hand become playable? I would tend to raise preflop from any position if the game were 5 handed or less. Am I making a mistake here?

Thanks!

[tewall]

If the stacks are reasonably deep, AT is basically a drawing hand. You're hoping for two pair, straight or flush possibilities, or a T high flop. You don't really want to see an ace. If an Ace flops, you want to play very cautiously, as you're likely to be behind if you get action.

As a drawing hand, you want to be in position and get in cheap. Out of position you don't want to play it, unless your stack is small enough to go all-in with it. According to my calculations, using "The System", you actually could go all in with ATs in the game you were playing, assuming no goofs on my part. If your stack were just a little smaller ($3 less), you could go all-in with ATo.

[tewall]

It depends how deep the stacks are. If the stacks are shallow, you can take more chances with it, but if the stacks are deep, it has the same pitfalls as with a fuller line up.