Starting in Micro-limit play

[kirkt]

Hi all,
I just started playing micro-limit poker on party poker. I've played in casinos and in home games for a short while now (a year and 2 years) with fair results. I'm slowly building my stack up until I feel buffered enough to sit down at a $1/$2 table. I have two questions for you.

A) Statistics. I understand concepts of basic statistics and some of the rudimentary poker stats- EV for example. Do I have to pay for this statistics program everyone puts up in the posts? How are the statistics it uses calculated? My geek friends and I could probably make our own on the cheap.

B) In micro-limit poker I encounter two kinds of tables:
1) A very loose, aggressive table where two or three players bleed out into two or three other players bank accounts over 20 minutes. Needless to say, I love this and add lots of buddies to my list.

2) A loose, weak table where bets and raises get no respect, people play through capped hands with J7, and people will call down almost anything, in the hopes of making junkyard two pairs and sets on the turn and river. The best payoffs have been to players who never bet and raise. This is unsettling to me. I seem to make better hands when I loosen up and chase straights and flushes into these sloppy pots.

Any advice besides buy the poker stat program, be patient and be on the look out for table type #1?

Thanks.

[TwoShedsJackson]

The stats program in question is PokerTracker, you can get the demo at www.pokertracker.com - you can import 1000 hands for free and see what you think. It's $55 and is worth three times that, at least, yes some geeks could knock up something similar in Excel but how long is it going to take? [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

As for table types, yes those are the main two types you'll get at lower limits, and both can be very profitable. The second type just needs more patience and emotional control [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Your Kings will be sucked out by the guy who cold-called a cap with T2o (just one choice hand for me yesterday), but you want them to do this.

Chase straights and flushes when you have the odds and when it will be the likely winning hand, why wouldn't you? Flushes are your bread and butter at this level.

Good luck [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[milesdyson]

Table type 1 are obviously the most profitable. All you do is wait for a good hand to isolate the chip spewer. Then you earn about 8+ BB every hand you're in with him. The problem is, these guys lose their money quick. They're rare to begin with.

Table type 2 is the predominent table at every poker site - because they are not determined by a sole, overagressive chip spewer. They consist of mostly calling stations who hardly consider pot size or pot odds when calling down. If they hit anything, they call down to the river. At these tables, you win less often than at tighter (more properly playing) tables, but the pot sizes are much larger. Believe it or not, they are extremely profitable.

I will mourn the day when people with J7 stop coldcalling when I raise with AJ, KQ, etc.

[kirkt]

so how do I play them?

Stay tight with starting hands and check raise the flop? Loosen up my hands and go after flushes and straights more?

[skoal2k4]

you want to value your suited connectors and drawing hands a bit more

[NateDog]

[ QUOTE ]
so how do I play them?

Stay tight with starting hands and check raise the flop? Loosen up my hands and go after flushes and straights more?

[/ QUOTE ]

1st read winning low limit hold 'em by lee jones. Play poker, then read, study, re-read, re-re-read Small Stakes Hold em by Ed Miller, David Sklansky, and Mason Malmuth.

[img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

[AngelicPenguin]

Buy Small Stakes Hold 'em by Ed Miller TODAY =)

[bozlax]

I agree with Nate. Read WLLH by Lee Jones, THEN read SSH. Jones's treatment is much more simple, and less backed by theory, but it's a quicker read and lets you start applying what you've read faster. But, soon enough you want a little more behind what you're doing and that's where SSH comes in.

WLLH you'll read once or twice, SSH will become the pillow your head falls on when you go to sleep at the computer.

[bleechers]

I would agree with others. Jsut play good hands and get your money in where you think you are ahead. My last sesion was my worest when comes down to it. After 4 very productive sessions I lost about 20 bucks (Playing 1/2, up 300 over weekend [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] )last night in hour and 1/2 this includes 4 hands where I was ahead from the Pre-Flop or Flop to Trun and got rivered. (Better 2 pair A's and 3's once to flop KQ two pair KQ's) and couple flush draws that complete on the river. Toady I plan re-read some stuff play hour or so tonight too.

[tiltaholic]

hi and welcome-

for the most part what everyone else said.

but also -- you will benefit from going through the archives of the microlimit forum and reading the "great" or "classic" threads. and, read as much of the micro boards as you can, particularly the veteran posters and their explanations to hand questions.