Re: Big pot with TPTK
 

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If you are a good player but perhaps not the best player at the table, it seems like it's better to go with a medium stack around 50 bb instead. That way you still cover most of the poor players and you don't risk as much against the good players.

Thoughts?

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The nuts or close to it will stack the good players and the bad players. If you aren't buying in full because you are scared of the better players I think you should move down. Donks get big stacks sometimes too.

Adapting your play against players is a GOOD thing. Loosen up with position to isolate the donks and foldout the tighties; be (much) less likely to commit your stack with a hand like TPTK vs a tighty than a loosey. You already know how to do this, so don't buy in short.

Re: Big pot with TPTK
 

I have not played much 10 max. Is it standard to raise with AQ here? I always seems to remember some bad experinces with this hand at 10 man tables.

Re: Big pot with TPTK
 

I guess you are right. But I just recently began playing NL. I played limit before and as you know it takes a while to go from loving the TPTK to be careful with it. So at this moment I'm probably not good enough to have a full buy-in. And hey it's hard to move down from 0.10/0.20. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

When I started playing NL i played KQo, KJo, KTo, ATo and such hands alot more than I do now. I guess they are mainly good limit hands.

Now I'm aiming for a straight or a set. And of course TPTK with AK or AQ. I play 8-handed.

And of course I raised with AK every time when I began playing NL. I really don't like AK as much as I did playing limit. If I'm not first in with AK I hardly ever raise with it. Perhaps to isolate 1 loose limper once in a while.

My main weakness is that I am always afraid that I have a set up against me if I'm getting raised on the turn. If I have two pair and no straight or flush is possible and a tight player raises I'm always afraid of the set. And if I don't have top two (A5 from BB or something) and the board is AT95 I'm not very happy with my hand at all. Then it is easier having a small stack.

Cash games NL is so much different than SNG and tournaments. I have learned that the hard way. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

I have read all the classic NL books. The one I like the most for cash games is probably "Championship nl & pl hold 'em" by Cloutier.

Re: Big pot with TPTK
 

Well played. The other option is to push the river, as Villain might check behind with a worse queen which he surely won't fold if you push. I don't see myself getting away from this here.

Buying in for 50BB
 

Barry Greenstein's book points out that there are some advantages to buying in fairly short. The main one seems to be that you have a bigger stack when you are playing well / winning.

I gave this a try for a week or so (about 4000 hands) and results-wise I didnt notice much difference from buying in for 100BB. This was playing 6max 50c/$1.

Afterwards, I decided that playing 100BB was much simpler, especially when 3-tabling, as the way you play hands at 50BB should be different to playing them at 100BB. Having different stack sizes at different tables could un-necessarily confuse things.

I reasoned that if I was worried about being outplayed by big stacks to my left, it was better to switch tables (there are plenty more fish in the sea), and so i reverted to playing 100BB.

Re: Buying in for 50BB
 

If you have a smaller stack it seems like players doesn't recognize you as a good player as when you have a big stack. I think I have been getting more calls on my big hands when I have played with a smaller stack. But then again that could be variance.

And having 50bb doesn't change the way you play much. You still have quite a big stack. The thing that differs is of course calling raises which is harder to do because you get worse implied odds.

Re: Buying in for 50BB
 

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If you have a smaller stack it seems like players doesn't recognize you as a good player as when you have a big stack.

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I agree with this, to the extent that my 'default' rating of a 100BB player is higher than that for a 50BB player.

I think that having 100+BB against another player with 100+BB you can play more on the river,but with 50BB you are often pot-committed or all-in by the turn. For the better players, this is a big advantage.

Re: Buying in for 50BB
 

I guess I am a 50bb player at the moment. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
I have only played NL cash games for 3 weeks and 20 000 hands.
So I'm learning alot every time I play.

I have been studying alot prior to starting out with NL though but I need the playing experience. And one thing that is hardly mentioned in the books is how to play TP.
So that one has been the hardest part.

Re: Big pot with TPTK
 

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I don't like playing pots this big with one pair but as far as I can see, the only two ways to avoid it here are to find a way to fold postflop, or to change your preflop play.

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I'm lost on hands like these. Specifically, top pair OOP. Would love to see more comments.

What about checking the flop? I know he hit it, but the real problem is OP's preflop raise got called behind, and he's OOP for the hand.

I think the preflop raise is fine, I'd make it too to buy the button, but if unsuccessful I'd slow down immediately. With these cards, the caller has you over a barrel, and you're likely to win a small pot or lose a big one.

Check the flop, planning to call a modest bet, and either fold (more often) or checkraise and be done thereafter (less often) any bet of 2/3 pot or more.

Reasonable?

Or maybe checking invites too much aggression, and ~1/2 pot, say $7, would be better, fold to a raise?

Re: Big pot with TPTK
 

[/ QUOTE ]Another option with these stack sizes is to checkraise all-in on the turn, although I don't know if typical players in this game are aggressive enough to make this your best move.

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What about checking the turn here? I think if villain checks behind, it would be safe to assume he is on the draw. However if he bets, you are in a bind and do not have much info on what villain could have. Soah, what would be the purpose of the c/r here? Is it to end the hand here (since this is hard to play OOP) if villain is bluffing? I have been in the same situation as OP many times recently and think these types of hands are extremely difficult to play.