Looking for tips to improve my game

[Dommer]

Hi all, my first post here but not my last [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

I'm currently a .25/.50 NL player at party poker, and my goal is to improve my game so that I could play 1/2$ or higher some day and I'm looking for some ideas on how to do that. I've tried moving up to .5/1 (at pokerstars though) multiple times and each times I eventually had to move back down.

I guess I'll start with some stats from poker tracker for the 22k hands I've played at party poker 50NL.

VP$IP - 13.4
PFR - 4.6 (it was at 6.8 not long ago at 18k hands, but I hit a bad run)
BB/100 - 4.4
Total Aggression Factor - .95

Basically what I do is raise with AA-1010 in any position, AKs or AKo in any position, AQ/AJ in lp, limp with small pairs anywhere, try to limp MP or later with AX suited, I don't really play suited connectors unless I'm in lp and theres a ton of limpers or I'm in the SB (never had any luck with em).

My pocket pairs AA-22 are very profitable, so I think I am playing those ok.

My AK-AJ need some work, I don't make much money with them. Basically my strategy with them is to raise 4-8x bb pre-flop (only go up to 8xbb with ak) depending on limpers and position. If I miss the flop and I'm only up against 1 person and the flop doesn't look like much hit it I'll do a pot size bluff, if it's more than 1 I won't try anything. I find at party poker my bluffs are continually called (even with nothing), and then once I check the turn they make a play on the river. So I'm kind of in a funk on bluffs, they seemed to work a lot better at pokerstars. I'll admit sometimes I go on streaks where all my bluffs are working though. Most often though I'll get 2+ callers and won't be able to try any sort of move at all.

I guess I'll talk a bit about my general playing style now..

The only bluffing or plays I make is on the flop, I never try a bluff or try to overbet the value of my hand past the flop. If I'm all-in on the river or turn or wherever you can be sure I have the nuts or have you on a hand I can beat. I really make no plays of any sort, if I'm putting my money in I'm showing down a hand. I've experimented with making plays and I've had some luck, but when I really sense weakness from a player I'm usually too afraid to make any sort of large bet. I think this leads to me being outplayed a lot by weaker holdings.

I tend to call small bets with top pair too much, I get sucked into calling min raises on the river when I feel I'm beat. I just recently got poker tracker so I've been keeping track of this, I think this is a huge area of profit loss. So I must misplay top pair.

I'll call with draws if its multi-way, or if I think I have implied odds. I really only play nut flush draws, I think this is an area of my game I could improve. If I have less than the nut flush I'm just too afraid to get a lot of money involved (unless I flop it). I also rarely hit straights, I barely make money on straights, I think just because I don't really play much cards that lead to hitting straights. I used to do semi-bluffs and similar things but I stopped doing those.

I don't handle aggression from other players well at all. I quite often make a bad call or get bluffed off the best hand. If I have a weaker holding (say top pair) it's very rare that I'll be able to play it just because I won't stand to any aggression with it. Quite often fear of losing dictates whether I make a call, and not sound logic or feel. This is a problem I've struggled with for a long time.

So basically that's my game, I tend to need very fishy players to make any money, better players know to avoid me. And the even better ones will actually know how I play since I'm so predictable and take advantage of it (this happened at pokerstars a lot at .5/1). Whenever I'd try to make the move to .5/1 I'd be making a lot more mistakes because of the more aggressive players and my strong hands were payed less, while losing more with my weaker hands.

Well, thanks for reading if you made it this far [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] I know this was all very general and I'll start posting specific hands soon, but any general tips or advice based on what I've said would be greatly appreciated.

If theres any specific part of my game that I should have talked about I'll be happy to.

Thanks in advance,
Dommer

[suspicious_mind]

Hi,

First I want to ask you what your bankroll is? It´s very hard to play correctly if you are worried about losing your buy-in. Remember you play poker for the long run not to make a score today, play your best game and don´t worry about the money. I suggest staying at your current limit or even dropping down untill you feel comfortable.

Your preflop strategy looks ok I don´t see anything wrong there, you might want to limp with the low pp´s but raising is good too. I assume you raise 3x BB first in and then add 1 BB for every limper, you migt want to make it 4x but 3 is fine. In some situation you might even get callers if you make bigger raises, remember that with AA they correct raise is the biggest one that will be called, and the worst that can happen if you raise to much is that you win the pot.

A more imporant part of preflop strategy is what you call raises with. A lot of people play way to loose when someone has raised. I basically only call with AK and pp´s when someone has raised, AQ and worse are situational.
Hands like KJ, KT, QT, AT, etc can be hard to play even in unraised pots when you flop top pair and you will probably want to fold those types of hands.

It´s really hard to point at anything your doing wrong without any actual hands but I think you might be giving you opponents to much respect in some situations.
You need to realize that your opponent might just be bluffing or value betting something you can beat. Watching your opponents and seeing how they play is very important in NL, you need to pay attention to what hands they bet in what situation, when they bluff etc.

Well that´s what I could come up with, probably not much help but post some actual hands and you will get a lot of good responses from better players than me.

[fuzzbox]

Some thoughts I have

1. See lots of cheap flops with speculative hands (suited and non-suited connectors and 1-gappers (even two gappers if you feel like it).
2. Call raises with hands that you can win a big pot or fold easily ... not hands that will suck YOU in to lose a big pot or win a small one. (Pairs are the best, but SCs are ok too, if the stack-sizes are big enough, small SCs are better than big ones here I feel (you dont often get tempted for a full pot bet with bottom/middle pair no kicker, but you might with top pair/good kicker). (e.g. 76s good QJs not so good)
3. Since they call too much you beat em by betting the hell out of your big hands.
4. Since you want to bet the hell out of big hands, you want to be able to hit big hands ... so see lots of cheap flops.
5. Dont raise so much with AK, cos if you hit your A and get action, you are likely not up against a weaker A, rather a two-pair/set type hand.
6. The money is made post-flop, not preflop, and its even more accentuated when you raise preflop.
7. See lots of cheap flops with speculative hands (I know I said this already, but I think its really important).
8. Dont slowplay anything (at these levels), come out betting and raising. Dont worry about "I want to get value", just go ahead and bet and raise like a lunatic. They will call. When they stop calling, start bluffing.

[schwza]

[ QUOTE ]
Total Aggression Factor - .95


[/ QUOTE ]

this should be much higher. mine (but for 6-max) is over 6. i much prefer to raise with top pair no kicker and find out where i'm at than the call.

[jhall23]

He may not have clicked the box that excludes PF numbers since he didn't say PFA. My numbers go from about 4 down to 1.02 when I include Pre-flop. And that is in my 6max stuff where I have about a 10% Pre-flop raise!

But I agree if it is post-flop only this should be higher. Otherwise he is probably nut peddling too much and if people pick up on it he won't get paid off on his made hands as well as not defining hands in play.

[schwza]

you're right, i was assuming post-flop only (and now that i think about it, my 6.4 number might just be the flop).

[joecacti]

man i love this one:

"8. Dont slowplay anything (at these levels), come out betting and raising. Dont worry about "I want to get value", just go ahead and bet and raise like a lunatic. They will call. When they stop calling, start bluffing. "

I did this for a long time, then a friend suggested I try the check raise. Did that for about a week, and it was bad. Went back to pot-betting from EP with what I think is the best, and my BB/100 is improved.

Mind you, a check raise can be very useful, especially when it's a check raise someone for all their chips. That really steams 'em.

Oh, and use gametime+. I can recognize VPIP without it now, but when I was learning, it was key to notice that someone was VPIP < 15% and just not get involved with them. It's just hard to maximize your BB/100 with tight-arse folk.

And choose tables with lots of people with VPIP >45%. Watch out for the SLAGS (VPIP ~ 30%). They're me, and we'll eat y'all up [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Most of winning at poker is playing with weaker opponents.

[kurto]

"Watch out for the SLAGS (VPIP ~ 30%). They're me, and we'll eat y'all up Most of winning at poker is playing with weaker opponents." I hate to generalize... but I'm uncertain about the SLags... After 2 weeks (small sample, I know)... I did a filter by BB/100 (figured this would be most accurate of consistancy) and the top 20 players, only one of them was a SL or Loose. Nearly all the top players in my short sample were either TAA or TPA or TAP.

Granted, I'm sure there are many many great SLAA... but most of them have, at least in the time I've been measuring them, been losers or marginal players. (Granted, if you can limp, SL probably works out better... I think the problem is many of them are calling raises with limping hands.)

[Los Feliz Slim]

Dommer,

Welcome to the forum. There's a great deal to be learned here, this community is the #1 factor in my bankroll increase and subsequent moving up of levels. You'll see a lot of the same points repeated, that's because they're important.

In no particular order, and all to be taken with boulders of salt:
- You need to see some more flops, 13.4 is a very low VPIP. Playing more marginal hands (although not total trash) in the CO or on the Button is a good way to start.
- Raising with JJ and 1010 in all positions is, in my experience, -EV. The money to be made off these hands, especially when you're in EP, is from hitting sets. Even when the flop is all unders, you will tend to not win a bunch of money.
- I'm also a fan of limping with AX suited, but you must be hyper-vigilant in getting away from these hands when you're A hits and you don't have a flush draw. This used to cost me money.
- Standardize your raises, the most common method is 4xBB + 1BB for each limper. If you're not comfortable with that size raise with the cards you've got, don't do it.
- Bluffing for the sake of bluffing without reads on specific players or a well-honed sense of flop texture is -EV. Players at these limits aren't paying enough attention, for the most part, to know when you're telling them clearly that they're beat.
- Min raises often indicate monsters. Don't bet when the only way you're getting called is if you're beat.

That's a random assortment of thoughts based on your post. Start posting hands you have questions about to get more specific feedback.

LFS

[zaxx19]

ITS REALLY QUITE SIMPLE.

You want to be able to play higher limits with the same Rock mentality playing passively and peddling the Nuts.

IT WONT WORK LONG TERM.

You simply have to make moves at higher levels. Just bc you can squeeze some profit by nut peddling @ low limits doesnt mean the same profits can be had @ higher limits consistently. If they were to be had logically...

MANY PEOPLE WOULD SIMPLY 16 TABLE 2-4 TABLES FOR 2BB/HR...

Nut peddling lower limits can be profitable and a simple way to make some $$$...

But dont confuse it with playing poker.