The first three rounds

[TheCat]

The first three rounds present a dilemma, you should try and accumulate chips if you can but you don’t want to risk short stacking yourself.

Are the best players entering the pot if they can get in cheaply with almost anything hoping to hit the flop? Especially so in the first round, if you can get in for 15 you might hit two pair with any two cards and double up.
However if I hit something good but not great, like TPTK, I’m not calling any big raises from anyone no matter how loose. My edge in this games comes when blind stealing begins so why go out early if you don’t have to.

Any thoughts?

[citanul]

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The first three rounds present a dilemma, you should try and accumulate chips if you can but you don’t want to risk short stacking yourself.

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your statement up there should be enough for you to figure out what kinds of hands you should actually be playing in the early levels.

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Are the best players entering the pot if they can get in cheaply with almost anything hoping to hit the flop? Especially so in the first round, if you can get in for 15 you might hit two pair with any two cards and double up.

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no

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However if I hit something good but not great, like TPTK, I’m not calling any big raises from anyone no matter how loose. My edge in this games comes when blind stealing begins so why go out early if you don’t have to.

Any thoughts?

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that is wrong, and has been discussed a lot, especially recently by adanthar, who has made it one of his pet issues.

citanul

[TheCat]

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that is wrong, and has been discussed a lot, especially recently by adanthar, who has made it one of his pet issues.


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Could you post a link to that thread please. I'd be very interested to read it.

[citanul]

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that is wrong, and has been discussed a lot, especially recently by adanthar, who has made it one of his pet issues.


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Could you post a link to that thread please. I'd be very interested to read it.

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er, nah, you can find it. it's a thread started by adanthar, recently, called something like "i'm only a coinflip, so i fold."

citanul

[pipes]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The first three rounds present a dilemma, you should try and accumulate chips if you can but you don’t want to risk short stacking yourself.

[/ QUOTE ]

your statement up there should be enough for you to figure out what kinds of hands you should actually be playing in the early levels.

[ QUOTE ]
Are the best players entering the pot if they can get in cheaply with almost anything hoping to hit the flop? Especially so in the first round, if you can get in for 15 you might hit two pair with any two cards and double up.

[/ QUOTE ]

no

[ QUOTE ]
However if I hit something good but not great, like TPTK, I’m not calling any big raises from anyone no matter how loose. My edge in this games comes when blind stealing begins so why go out early if you don’t have to.

Any thoughts?

[/ QUOTE ]

that is wrong, and has been discussed a lot, especially recently by adanthar, who has made it one of his pet issues.

citanul

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What is extremely wrong with treading carefully with TPTK early on? Especially in multiway pots. The pots are not that big so you are not making a huge mistake by folding if you face some heat.

This is why the implied odds on hands such as pocket pairs are through the roof if even 2+2ers are going to the felt on level 1 with one pair.

[citanul]

[ QUOTE ]
What is extremely wrong with treading carefully with TPTK early on? Especially in multiway pots. The pots are not that big so you are not making a huge mistake by folding if you face some heat.

This is why the implied odds on hands such as pocket pairs are through the roof if even 2+2ers are going to the felt on level 1 with one pair.

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you're adding more stipulations to the scenario than were implied. you are clearly right that if you have say, A7 on a 7xx board, and you're facing big bets, you should be gone. however, too many people think that they should fold AK on Kxx boards for instance facing heat 2 or 3 way. that is bad.

getting out of the way of a donkey because you think there's a chance you could bust, and "your edge comes later, not earlier" is a bit out of line. you should have an edge on your opponents at all stages of the game.

citanul

[shejk]

Two pairs aren't much good. They'll bust you pretty often when you do flop them. Better play your quality hands only, unless you can find a golden opportunity.

[pipes]

In the first 3 levels, I play tight both pre and post flop. Calling preflop with anything adds up fast, especially if you are forced to call a few min-raises.

Hands I usually play
1) Any pair
2) Axs
3) Two suited broadways (most 2 broadways for that matter)
4) Suited connectors
5) Few unsuited connectors such as JTo and T9o

But I agree, TPTK is not a hand to go down with in level 1 even if get a read that your opponents are loose and/or overvalue their hands.

Some of your edge comes from not doing anything stupid early on and simply being around for the all-in fest on the bubble.

[ripped]

You are playing WAYYY to many hands. My question to you is this..Why would you play Axs or hands like JTo? The only hands they are going to win you are straights and flushes and will only get you in to chasing trouble when you flop open enders and 4 flushes. You said you agree with tossing TPTK but you are playing horrible hands. The first 3 rounds you should be playing tight as all hell and limping a HELL of alot. I dont even raise with TT or JJ in these rounds anymore. I limp to see a flop and fold when I miss.

[hummusx]

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The first 3 rounds you should be playing tight as all hell and limping a HELL of alot.

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Huh? Shouldn't you be 'playing tight as all hell' and FOLDING a hell of a lot?

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I dont even raise with TT or JJ in these rounds anymore. I limp to see a flop and fold when I miss.

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Wouldn't this be position dependant? Are you going to open limp in CO+1 with JJ? I'm not, even in the early rounds.