I'm stuck. I can beat the 10/20 games at Party for a mediocre amount (little less than 3bb/100) but whenever I play higher I get burned. For now I'd be content with a higher winrate in the Party games. I just can't seem to find the direction I should look at. I know there are people crushing the - as far as I know - tougher Stars game. I feel like my own game is falling apart rather than improving.

Most hands I read on 2+2 involve postflop play. Someone has a good but not great hand, maybe two pair on the turn, and faces heavy action. The goal is to milk the opponent for the max if ahead and get out cheap if behind. Some sort of hand reading is employed and a play is decided on. These problems are interesting, but usually not too hard to solve using logic. Once you’re in a certain spot, you put the variables in the logic machine that is your brain, perform some rudimentary calculations if necessary, and come out with the most +EV solution.
However, it is much harder to decide in advance which hands are going to be +EV and which are not. In my opinion, deciding on a hand range preflop, with accompanying game plan postflop, is the most difficult and therefore most important part of winning NL.

I’ll post the questions first, and attempt to answer them myself in greater detail later. Too complex? Probably yes. But any hint in the right direction is helpful.

Because most commonly, effective stacks will be 2K, assume this to be the case. Also assume that all players involved are solid TAG and know this of each other. PT stats, I dunno, VPIP 16 PFR 7? They should be interchangeable.

Concept 1: Player A has AA and raises from EP. Player B knows A has a good hand, and calls (for 5% of his stack or less) with 55 hoping to break him. Who is the 'money favorite'? What if A’s hand range is AA-TT, AK and AQ, and B’s QQ-22, AK, AQ, and T9s-54s? (What does he do with KQs and QJs?) In general, if we pick any hand out of both players’ ranges, what’s the play and who’s the favorite?

Concept 2: Player A again raises from EP with AA-TT, AK or AQ. Player B reraises pot to ~300-350 with KK or AA (not an uncommon range on Party). Folded to A. What’s the plan? Suppose B has KK and A calls. Now what?

Concept 3: More generally, what should a player’s hand range be for any given spot? It seems that this has been worked out mathematically for limit, but how does one go about such a thing in no limit?

I call with small pairs because I think it is profitable. PT shows that it is. I raise with big cards because I think it is profitable. If I were to play against myself, this presents a paradox - one side should be the favorite, so one side must be making an error in playing. Similarly, I fold KK to a big reraise because often I'll be staring down the barrel of either the other KK or AA and I'm a huge underdog. But I also don't reraise very often, because what am I to do with AK or QQ if my reraise is called? I started reraising with air or at least sub-standard hands lately. This went well at first, but cost me big in the end. I need to balance my game plan, but can't because I feel I don't fully grasp all the complexities of the game.

I hope this will spawn an interesting and rewarding discussion.

Cheers,

H