First Post - Strategy

[Canada Kelly]

First post, but have been browsing the site for some time now.

Tell me if this is a solid strategy for a low limit ($1-2, $2-4). I kind of took this from a post on here, but been really successful for me.

I had problems at the beginning mucking Axs and small pocket pairs, now I am doing pretty well just playing big cards and position. Here is the strategy.

Preflop:

I will Always raise with AK-AQ, AA-JJ.

I will Never cold call a raise without AK, AA-JJ.

I will always raise and reraise with AA and KK.

I will never play the following hands-
1. Offsuit aces worse than AJ.
2. Suited connectors worse than 67s.
3. Offsuit cards worse than 9T.
4. Offsuit 2 gappers other than AJ
5. Suited one gappers worse than 97s

If everyone folds to me in Late position, I will raise or fold.


Flop:

If I raised preflop, I will always bet the flop if checked to.

If I have top pair or an overpair, I will always raise the flop if someone bets before me.

I will not call on the flop with less than top pair, a 4 flush, or an open ended straight draw.

If I am checked to and am last or second to last, I will bet with any pair or any flush or straight draw.


Turn:

If I bet the flop and wasn't raised, I bet the turn.

If I am checkraised I will fold unless I have an overpair, 2 pair or better, or an open ended or flush draw.

If I improve on the turn, I will bet if no one bet the flop.


River:

If everyone checks to me, If I have top pair or better, I will bet.

If a flush gets there and I am first to act with top pair, I will check and call.




any input would be appreciated

[Lost Wages]

It sounds vaguely similar to this thread. (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Number=61954&page=&view=&sb= 5&o=&vc=1)

Lost Wages

[me454555]

[ QUOTE ]
First post, but have been browsing the site for some time now.

Tell me if this is a solid strategy for a low limit ($1-2, $2-4). I kind of took this from a post on here, but been really successful for me.

I had problems at the beginning mucking Axs and small pocket pairs, now I am doing pretty well just playing big cards and position. Here is the strategy.

Preflop:

I will Always raise with AK-AQ, AA-JJ.

I will Never cold call a raise without AK, AA-JJ.

I will always raise and reraise with AA and KK.

I will never play the following hands-
1. Offsuit aces worse than AJ.
2. Suited connectors worse than 67s.
3. Offsuit cards worse than 9T.
4. Offsuit 2 gappers other than AJ
5. Suited one gappers worse than 97s



If everyone folds to me in Late position, I will raise or fold.

[/ QUOTE ]

Seems solid so far but you really need to be more flexible and adjust for the other people at the table.

[ QUOTE ]
Flop:

If I raised preflop, I will always bet the flop if checked to.

If I have top pair or an overpair, I will always raise the flop if someone bets before me.

I will not call on the flop with less than top pair, a 4 flush, or an open ended straight draw.

If I am checked to and am last or second to last, I will bet with any pair or any flush or straight draw.


Turn:

If I bet the flop and wasn't raised, I bet the turn.

If I am checkraised I will fold unless I have an overpair, 2 pair or better, or an open ended or flush draw.

If I improve on the turn, I will bet if no one bet the flop.


River:

If everyone checks to me, If I have top pair or better, I will bet.

If a flush gets there and I am first to act with top pair, I will check and call.




any input would be appreciated

[/ QUOTE ]

Your entire postflop stratagy is too ridgid. You don't take into the size of the pot or the table itself. Those are 2 key factors that determine how you should play post flop. Keep posting hands on here and it will improve you game.

[Jezebel]

In all fairness, he did mention in his thread that he borrowed the advice from a thread on this forum, so I don't think he is trying to take credit for its creation, just checking to see if it is valid.

Kelly, Clarkmeister is a very well respected poster on this forum, and following his advice shouldn't get you into too much trouble /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[LetsRock]

It looks like it would be hard to get into too much trouble using your strategy as a baseline.

There will be times when you miss bets or other opportunities if your table is too passive.

There are times when you will lose bets because the table is too aggressive or you get trapped.

I've seen worse game plans, but if you plan to grow as a player, you need to learn when to modify your game plan for many given table conditions that can be quite dynamic like:

-Aggressiveness/passiveness of the table
-Your table image
-Positional opportunities
-Odds considerations
-Likeliness that opponent is misrepresenting his hand (bluffing (intentional) or downright clueless (doesn't know how good or bad his hand is)
-Particular opponents' tendencies ("this guy might fold a decent hand" or "this guy is a calling station" etc)

If you want to play like a robot, then stick strictly to your plan; otherwise learn to adapt.

[fluff]

Pre-flop seems ok, the only problem I have is with things like "always" and "never" is that anyone who's paying attention will read you like a book. And while maybe less than 20% of the people playing at these limits pay attention enough, even 1 player like that can hurt you.

Post-flop, any "rigid rules" without considerations of position, pot odds, etc. is just silly. They can be good guidelines, but that's about it. Imagine how much money you could make off of someone once you write down "always folds to a turn check-raise unless they have overpair, 2 pair or better, or OESD draw" in their notes. Just the other day I ran into a player like that on Party, she would always complete from SB, bet out on the flop but fold if it was raised. After a few times of this, it was practically auto-raise for the rest of the session for me if she's the only one in the pot when it gets to me.

Edit: That said, if you're brand new to the game, following those rules as a starting point is probably good, and will keep you out of trouble. But realize early that if you put some effort into it, you can do significantly better.

[Canada Kelly]

Oh yeah, I totally did take this from clark, the only thing was that I couldn't remember who it was from.

I had just cut and pasted to my work perfect for my personal use and then could never remember who the original poster was.

I apologize if i looked like i was stealing and then passing it off as my own

Thanks for the advice all

Kelly

[Lost Wages]

Not a problem. I guess you have been lurking for a long time! Welcome to the forum.

Lost Wages

[MaxPower]

Hi, Welcome to the forum.

To be honest I only briefly scanned you strategy. It seems OK.

My advice is to forget about having a strategy and learn to play poker. That involves playing your hand and the player/situation.

At the lower limits most of your opponents are so bad that you can probably win with a set strategy.

As the players get better they will exploit your strategy once they figure it out.

[GuyOnTilt]

I have no doubt that you'll show a profit at the micro's and low limits following this advice. However, if you want to learn how to play good poker, you're not going to be able to accomplish it by sticking to these strict guidelines.

GoT