Ed Miller's book

[mike4bmp]

I've read Ed Miller's book on Small Stakes Hold Em and was wondering if the strategies outlined in that book are appropriate for the microlimits. The book clearly states that it was written for small 3-6 and 4-8 games...what about online micro-limits? Are the same strategies going to work or is there a different approach that one should use when playing in these microlimits?

[Stephen Gray]

The strategies presented are perfect for the uber loose play that is rampant in the micro limits.

EDIT: Which is not to say that SSHE isn't applicable to tighter lower limit games.

[TeeVeeDude]

It's working for me.

I put $50 into PokerStars a while back with the intention of playing cheap multi-table NLHE tournaments. It turns out that I suck at NL tournament play.

So there I was with like 95 cents left in my account when my wife gave me a copy of Ed's book for Father's Day. I read the book and was about to deposit some more cash when I noticed that Stars has .02/.04 games. Well I figured if I can't beat those then I ought not to be playing.

My .95 is up to around $5 now. There are some surprisingly good players at this level along with a lot of fish. I'm going to learn everything I can here before moving up -- I'm not sure if that means actually building that $5 to $30 or so or if I'll redeposit. I kind of like the idea of building it up and working up a level at a time but at 5BB/100 hands it will take a lot of poker to win $25 at this level!

[jbird]

The general strategies presented in the book are FANTASTIC for the micros. You may experience a few more bad beats than you would at a higher level, but stick to the strategies, kick back and enjoy the bad beats, because it keeps your loose opponents playing the way they love to play.

[Absolution]

Especially pay attention to the sections where he mentions very multiway and very large pots. Micro is just at the extreme of everything. Pretty much every pot is a large to very large pot.

I think the one thing I don't get enough practice with in micros is some of the more interesting postflop play. A lot of times it seems like betting for value is about all I can do so it becomes very autopilot at these levels.

[Bradyams]

Mike, you'll find that Ed Miller's SSHE is the "Bible" around here.

[Greg J]

I really like stories like this a lot. There are plenty of guys like you that started at these lowest of low limit -- yr's truly among them. I wish you all the best. Keep crushing that .02/.04 game! It will take a lot of time but you will learn plenty about poker in the meantime. You can probably stand to play .05/.1 at less than 300bbs, since there is no rake -- this makes a HUGE difference. This means yr downswings should be lower, and so will yr risk of ruin. Plus the players there are mega weak. I think you could move up at ~200bbs and be okay.

I'm not sure you will get everything out of the Ed Miller book at first. You need to keep reading it. And after that, read it again. It's not a beginner's book, but you can still use it with careful thought and dedicated study.

Good luck to you!

[chaz64]

You may also want to get a copy of ToP, and re-read that and SSH until you feel you can correctly apply the advanced concepts at the table. Posting hands here of course will also help to make sure you are applying them correctly.

[mike4bmp]

Thanks for your guys' feedback...it is much appreciated! =)

[deception5]

They are absolutely appropriate for games ranging from .01/.02 up through 2/4 and even 3/6. I've even heard of people talking about 15/30 games that played like small stakes games. You just won't necessarily be able to apply all of the concepts at every level. Read and reread this book and master the quizzes. Notice that those 3/6 and 4/8 games the book was written for are live games. Live players tend to be much worse than online players at the same limits. If you can beat .05/.10 on a consistent basis online you can easily beat 2/4 live.

There's nothing wrong with starting small and building up. I put $20 in a year ago and worked my way up from .05/.10 up to .10/.20, .25/.50, .50/1.00, 1/2 and am now at 2/4 with a net profit of 4k. As long as you are willing to move down when running bad you will never need to put more money in.

At some point you'll want to pick up pokertracker and do some bonus hunting on the party network as this will account for a lot of extra profit once you hit .50/1.00.