$100NL desperately need help! (kinda long)

[DWarrior]

I recently switched from $50NL 6-max to $100NL 6-max on Prima, and I'm having some serious problems adjustding. Both levels are pretty much tight/weak min-raising nut peddlers, but for some reason I could beat the $50NL games for about $20/hr, and just can't beat the $100NL.

My PT stats:
VP$IP: 18.67%
VP$IP SB: 32.67%
Won $ When Saw Flop: 38.78%
Went to SD: 21.55%
Won $ at SD: 57.4%
Raise PF: 8.82%
Flop Aggression: 4.36
Turn Aggression: 1.91
River Aggression: 1.97
Overall Aggression: 2.83
Check-Raise: 0.63%

Total Hands: 12,075
Loss Rate per 100 Hands: -1.91BB

My biggest problem is that I pay off almost ever hand because I have trouble recognizing when these people are holding what. The standard pre-flop bet is minimum, and it doesn't necessarily mean AA. A raise post-flop is 99.9% of the time either minimum or all-in, and most people just check-call. It almost seems like people will not continue unless they have a set or better.

The result is that my Aces and Kings get settet on regular basis, and my AK and AQ are losing hands. One answer is to just slow down once they call my bet, but that doesn't seem like a good idea, I'll just become one of the tight-weak players.

Basically, it seems like I lose almost every big pot I'm involved in.

Looking over the biggest losses, I think the general trend is that I get sucked into betting the whole way:


** Game ID 442853323 starting - 2005-08-01 16:30:10
** Rovinj [Hold 'em] (0.50|1.00 No Limit - Cash Game) Real Money
- MP sitting in seat 1 with $58.30
- CO sitting in seat 2 with $10.00
- Hero sitting in seat 3 with $126.90 [Dealer]
- SB sitting in seat 4 with $43.90
- BB sitting in seat 5 with $56.80
- Villain sitting in seat 6 with $119.40
SB posted the small blind - $0.50
BB posted the big blind - $1.00
** Dealing card to Hero: Queen[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]
Villain called - $1.00
MP folded
CO folded
Hero raised - $5.00
SB folded
BB folded
Villain called - $5.00

** Dealing the flop: A:diamon:, K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 6[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]
Villain checked
Hero bet - $6.00
Villain called - $6.00

** Dealing the turn: Queen:diamon:
Villain checked
Hero bet - $15.00
Villain called - $15.00

** Dealing the river: 5[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]
Villain checked
Hero bet - $15.00
Villain went all-in - $93.40

Replaying this hand, I'm wondering if I should bet/fold the river, or if I should just check? He's been calling me the whole way, so he's either slowplaying top two or a set, chasing a flush (pretty unusual at this level, but there's always one), or has an Ace.

Hero called - $93.40
Villain shows: 6[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 6:diamon:
Villain wins $237.30 from the main pot

Had I bet-folded hands like this instead of bet-calling, that'd decrease my losses by $200.

--- Hand 2 ---

No reads, recently moved to this table. The only thing I know is that Villain wasn't doing anything extraordinary

** Game ID 451799500 starting - 2005-08-08 22:45:22
** Heart Of Gold [Hold 'em] (0.50|1.00 No Limit - Cash Game) Real Money

- UTG sitting in seat 1 with $42.05
- MP sitting in seat 2 with $170.93
- Hero sitting in seat 3 with $173.85
- Button sitting in seat 4 with $61.38 [Dealer]
- Villain sitting in seat 5 with $95.50
- BB sitting in seat 6 with $48.17

Villain posted the small blind - $0.50
BB posted the big blind - $1.00
** Dealing card to Hero: K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]
UTG called - $1.00
MP folded
Hero raised - $5.00
Button folded
Villain called - $5.00
BB called - $5.00
UTG called - $5.00

** Dealing the flop: 4[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 3[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 2[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]
Villain checked
BB checked
UTG checked
Hero bet - $15.00
Villain called - $15.00
BB folded
UTG folded

** Dealing the turn: 10[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]
Villain checked
Hero bet - $95.00

Is this a really terrible play? I normally don't overbet, but I figured if I make any bet, I'll have to call his raise. Perhaps the correct move was to check and see what he does on the river.

Villain went all-in - $76.00
Villain shows: 2[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 2[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]
** Dealing the river: 10[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]
Villain wins $199.00 from the main pot

-----------------

I'm looking over my losses now, and I see that most of it is just dumb plays, stuff I'd never do if I was fully rested. For one, I'd never stick around with A4 (from BB) after a guy makes a huge river bet. I'm looking over my hands, and I'm so amazed at the player in my seat, I see how terrible my plays are. I have to stop doing stupid crap (guy raises to $4, I re-raise to $9 with AK, where I know the correct move would be to raise to $12 or $14).

OK, I sorta answered some of my questions. Basically a big problem I have is playing tired, which causes me to slip and make plays like the two above. I should also slow down when all I have is a pair and the board is not scarry.

I should also keep my GT+ running to see the player icons. I realized that it's difficult to pick up information about players, as most of it is pretty subtle, while playing three tables. I take notes on players, but they rarely come in handy due to the high turnover.

Any other suggestions that I'm missing?

[JustToast]

These are 6-max stats? Sorry, those look like good stats from full ring. You're virgin-tight for a 6-max game.

Bump.

[TreyOfLight]

[ QUOTE ]
These are 6-max stats? Sorry, those look like good stats from full ring. You're virgin-tight for a 6-max game.

[/ QUOTE ]

This advice goes double given your description of the opponents. If they won't pay off with TPNK, you can be in there stealing pots like crazy. Get busy.

You need to stay aggressive and stay on top of your game. Make bluffs at small pots, and stay fairly aggressive on the hands that you hit. Try to get into hands where you have position more often too. 20/hr does not seem like an hourly rate that can be held for a long period of time at 50 NL and maybe you didnt have quite enough hands in to be looking at statistics quite yet. Just look at every lost hand and review. Did you bet it right? Did the other player get lucky? Did the other player ever give you any hint that he hit that set? etc...As long as you are able to look at your game and learn from the mistakes that you made, thats what matters if you want to improve. btw, if someone is check calling you like with your AQ, just check the river, no need for a bet on that board. These hands sometimes happen, the key is to make sure you can avoid as many as possible, It could be a really bad run, try getting to 25000 hands and see how you do.

[subzero]

[ QUOTE ]
These are 6-max stats? Sorry, those look like good stats from full ring. You're virgin-tight for a 6-max game.


[/ QUOTE ]
I agree. Why don't you try full ring? Or, look for looser tables (tables with a high % of people seeing the flop). This may give you more action on your big hands and more opportunities to be up against 2nd best hands.

The big thing I see is a pot control problem - neither hand you posted qualifies as a monster on those boards but you played them like the nuts - if your opponents are letting you steal enough to break even you can afford to slow down and play smaller pots with good but not great hands like the two you posted. Specifically I would check behind the river in hand 1 and check behind the turn in hand 2 - you can then call a reasonable river bet.

[DWarrior]

Thanks. I'll try moving to full-ring this week and see how I do. I knew I was playing way too tight for 6-max, but that'd mean opening up and playing hands like KTs and K9s.

I think part of my losses are due simply to bad luck, but most of it is from not paying enough attention to the action. I've reviewed several more of my hands, and I know I've made at least one mistake on 90% of my losing hands. The sad part is, if these hands were posted on a forum, I would be able to comment on it and say where the Hero went wrong, so I think it's really an experience issua.

I'll move to 10-handed tables and play 2 tables. I just need to get in the habbit of identifying the correct play on the fly, as opposed to being able to analyze it on a message board. I'll also make it a point to pay attention to the hands I'm not involved in.

By the way, $20/hr on $50NL isn't impossible. $7/hr came from rakeback, and I played 5 tables, that's only about $2.5/hr per table, which is 2.5 Big Bets