Starting hand Concerns..

[JerBear77]

I am a pretty successful .50/1 and 1/2 player (1.3/BB over 30K hands)and have a concern/thought.

My VPIP is a little low by some standards (15%)
I feel that a weakness in my game is how I play marginal hands on the flop and later, therefore Im wondering how much money im loosing by tightening up my starting hand requiremnets.

Referring to the excel spreadsheet that charts the SSH starting hand requirements in the intro section, I have modified it a little on what I feel are marginal situations for me preflop.

The following are different than the Preflop chart for tight games at this spot..

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showfl...=14&fpart=1

AJo = RFI, in LP with limpers (3 or more) call.
ATo = Call everywhere but not call Raise

KQo = played same as AJo
KJo = CO or But

QJo = CO or But
QTo = CO or But

JTo = fold

T9s or better = play if multipot only.
KJs KTs =Limp only
QJs=Limp only

Any suited in SB = ONLY if multi pot.

Small Pairs = R if folded to me in LP, Limp in if multipot, fold otherwise.


--Sum it up, my thinking is that don't play marginal hands unless its a multi pot situation. Top pair with these hands with the calling requirements of these players just gets me in trouble most of the time.

[Aaron W.]

[ QUOTE ]
My VPIP is a little low by some standards (15%)
I feel that a weakness in my game is how I play marginal hands on the flop and later, therefore Im wondering how much money im loosing by tightening up my starting hand requiremnets.

[/ QUOTE ]

Your weakness is probably that your postflop play is underdeveloped because you don't play enough profitable marginal situations to learn how to play postflop.

You should be raising KQo. It will help to open you up a little bit. JTo can be limped in from mid/late position if you don't expect it to be raised. Start raising any hand you play from 3 off the button or closer if you are the first in the pot. Little adjustments like these will help you learn to play more profitably.

I'd recommend playing some .5/1 6 max to work on marginal situations. When you mention only ever limping hands like QTo I really hope you aren't open limping with them from CO/Button. Also folding JTo every time may avoid some close decisions later on but it can be a profitable hand if played in the right situations and if you want to improve your game you need to find ways to play these marginal hands profitably. Anyone can make money on premium hands but the way to success is paved on the backs of marginal hands. Eek out that .3bb's a hand and your BB/100 will go way up.