Help me raise my VPIP

[stlip]

Another thing you should look at is your VPIP and PFR by position. Your EP standards are too tight on PP and KQo, but I think the biggest opportunity for improvement is when you've got the advantage of LP.

You say you open raise liberally in late position and will raise PP, but that's hard to reconcile with your overall stats.

I go ahead and raise any PP on the button against 1 or two limpers, three if two of them are poor players. I'll usually do it in the CO and MP3 as well if I expect that will buy the button.

Anyway, here are my position stats.

Overall I've got about 35,000 hands at 1/2 full (I'm just as comfortable at 9 max as 10) with blind steal attempts at 33 percent (34-35 if you just look at the last couple months) and a win rate of 3.4 bb/100.

[Go Blue]

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All I'm going to say about this thread is every one of you should read Ed Miller's SSHE. That'll help you correctly raise your VP$IP.

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Interesting that you say that. I've read SSHE several times and I've used that strategy for .5/1. However, what they say about 1/2 being full of rocks is true. This is why I've found it unprofitable to follow all the advice from SSHE in this game. For example, if you open limp with a low PP, you're just asking to get raised and maybe isolated out of position. Either way, you often find yourself heads up or 3 way in a raised pot out of position. I've found that it's only profitable to open limp like this when the table VPIP is high, which isn't the case many times at 10 max.

I'm not that intimidated by someone raising my small pocket pair. I usually still have the best hand heads up. If it's a multiway pot, I can fold if I don't flop a set or a good draw.

Looking at my PT stats, I'm showing a profit with my 22-88 play, and I'm basically just following what I've read in SSHE. But my sample size isn't very big, so it may be an anomaly.

I think your comments about table context are very important. If the table is tight you really cannot increase your VPIP from early positions for reasons you stated. However if that is the case you be able to play more hands in steal or semi-steal situations. I actually have a very high VPIP (~30 over 35K hands) and I do this through several ways 1) table selection finding the looses least agressive games possible 2) stealing and semistealing against tight players 3) lowering my standards a little when I'm entering a pot with loose player when I am not likely to have an good hands enter behind me. For example KJo, QJo, ATo, I will not play when I have the chance to be isolated by tougher players, but they are great if you are getting in the pot with 2-3 players that are playin Ax, Kx, etc.

[Saint_D]

I am working hard to lower my VP$IP. You shouldn't be looking for more hands to play pf. If you do that, you will be me. And that's leaky as hell.

Instead you should be looking for situations to play. You should pick one at a time and work on it till it's natural.

Two things come to mind.
1. Raise against weak players who limp when you are next to enter the pot with a good HU hand.

2. Work on a smooth gradation from early postion to late postion. MP2 and MP3 aren't miles apart, but I get the feeling you treat them like different countries.

GL

-D

[bottomset]

raising your VPIP is largely about situational raises, thats isolation, and steal-raises .. its all about position

[deception5]

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However, what they say about 1/2 being full of rocks is true.

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It is most definitely not a rock garden. At times it is tighter than .50/1.

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This is why I've found it unprofitable to follow all the advice from SSHE in this game. For example, if you open limp with a low PP, you're just asking to get raised and maybe isolated out of position. Either way, you often find yourself heads up or 3 way in a raised pot out of position. I've found that it's only profitable to open limp like this when the table VPIP is high, which isn't the case many times at 10 max.

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The tight chart advocates limping 77+ which does well even against a raise.