This is an unquestionable 'dont stop raisin' hand, right?

[Felipe]

Don't stop, Raisin!

[bottomset]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
3 folds to a maniac who raises. You are next to act in MP2 with 8 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 8 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]. Your play?

All fold to an unknown button who raises. You have 9 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] 9 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] in the SB. Your move?

[/ QUOTE ]

Probably raise and call.

I don't see how that justifies reraising a tight MP3 with 7s...

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um calling with 99 in the SB against a button open-raise is pretty bad, you absolutely need to 3bet, first off the hand plays better HU, than 3way, secondly you take the initiative in the hand, and can often make your opponent fold incorrectly.

as for 77, evidently against you 3betting 77 OTB is a bad (re:this isn't a good thing) because you don't adjust your open-raising standards properly, and are too tight, you should have a fairly broad raising range from MP3

[KSOT]

[ QUOTE ]
as for 77, evidently against you 3betting 77 OTB is a bad (re:this isn't a good thing) because you don't adjust your open-raising standards properly, and are too tight, you should have a fairly broad raising range from MP3

[/ QUOTE ]

I tried to listen to advice like this in the past, but every time I get fancy and put it up with mediocre hands I end up hitting top pair with someone else who has a better kicker, or being called the whole way by an overpair. I always seem to get screwed in one way or another when I play weak hands strongly, so I rarely bother anymore. Isn't my goal at the microlimits to play ABC poker anyway? Why shouldn't I just push my strong hands for value? Why try to take control with bad hands when nobody ever folds anyway?

[livinitup0]

[ QUOTE ]
Button is 32/7/2.33

Party Poker 0.50/1 Hold'em (9 handed) converter

Preflop: Hero is CO with K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]. MP3 posts a blind of $0.50.
<font color="#666666">4 folds</font>, MP3 (poster) checks, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Button 3-bets</font>, <font color="#666666">2 folds</font>, MP3 folds, <font color="#CC3333">Hero caps</font>, Button calls.

Flop: (10.50 SB) 5[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">Hero bets</font>, Button calls.

Turn: (6.25 BB) 4[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">Hero bets</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Button raises</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero 3-bets</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Button caps</font>, Hero calls.

River: (14.25 BB) 9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">Hero bets</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Button raises</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero 3-bets</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Button caps</font>, Hero calls.

Final Pot: 22.25 BB

Do any of you slow down?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, the river. AA or 4X

[bottomset]

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I tried to listen to advice like this in the past, but every time I get fancy and put it up with mediocre hands I end up hitting top pair with someone else who has a better kicker, or being called the whole way by an overpair. I always seem to get screwed in one way or another when I play weak hands strongly, so I rarely bother anymore. Isn't my goal at the microlimits to play ABC poker anyway? Why shouldn't I just push my strong hands for value? Why try to take control with bad hands when nobody ever folds anyway?

[/ QUOTE ]

I think the most common problem I see with .5/1 players, and the biggest reason they struggle as they move up, is that they don't appreciate position enough, and don't make adjustments to

A. their open-raising standards
B. their blind defense standards

I see way to many stat posts with ASB @ 14%, or FBB &gt;75, granted blind-defense and blind-stealing aren't very important at .5/1, if you table select good, but this is the biggest stumbling block IMO when it comes to moving up to the tighter games.

the main problem is that you can't really make rules for stealing and defending, since so much of it is villian-dependent, I might have a huge stealing range against 2tight-predictable blinds, and a fairly tight range against better, or very Laggy blinds, same applies to blind defense, if Mr. Rock or a 60/2 open-raises from the button, I'm gonna tread pretty lightly(some rocks do open up some, but a 60/2 almost never opens up because of position), where as I'll play a lot of hands against players that open-raise way too much, or don't adjust and play very fit or fold postflop. There are some really good posts about blind-play and stealing blinds by players far superior than me, I'd suggest reading up on those, Peter_rus had a bunch of good ones, I don't have links on hand.

as for the nobody ever folds bit, yeah they fold far less than they do higher, but they also rarely raise, and tend to be very obvious with there play, so you can control how the hand goes postflop, I'm not suggesting a balls to the wall, betdown Qhigh after openraising preflop, if the board is bad, or you don't have the best hand, and won't get them to fold, take advantage of your position, and take the free shot at improving to the best hand, they will give you far too many chances to outplay them postflop