10 replies to this topic

[FOOSE1]

I have employed a strategy for lower limit games that seems to work really well and I was wondering if anyone else does the same thing or has any additional pointers that will help improve this style?In higher limit games I am, what I consider, a mostly passive aggressive player. I do change gears often but mainly this is my style.In low limit holdem' like .25/.50 NL I have been experimenting quite a bit to see basically what is the best way to take $$ from all the fish there. What I have come up with is this. Starting with table selection I usually pick a table that 50% or less see the flop. I also pick a table where the pot is only about $6.00 or less on average. The reason I do this is simple. AT THIS LIMIT, this is a very tight table. If someone bets a big amount (relative to the limit) I pretty much know they have something and can get out if I need to. But there is usually a ton of checking that goes on that allows me to steal pots, especially in position. On hand selection I do not play every single hand but I do loosen up a good bit playing a lot of connectors and face cards. If there are decent raises to me and I have a good starting hand I will play normal and reraise a good amount to get heads up like normal. Now this is the strange part that I will probably get flack for, If there are no raises before me I will only call with pocket pairs, Ak, AQ, etc. It sounds stupid to not raise the mere .25 bet with something like AK or JJ because of the potential to let somebody flop 2 pair or a straight or flush draw on you (which will happen occassionally). But my reasoning here is also simple. I can't tell you the number of times I have taken fairly big pots from guys/girls who call with A9 or similar thinking it is the nuts when an A hits on the board when I am holding AK, AQ, AJ, especially if I check into them. Or when I hit trips with my 66 on a flop like A 6 10. So I take the outdraws with a grain of salt and get as much out of the hands as I can when I have something. I also tend to not chase any hands (straight/flush draws) unless it is really cheap.Now I am by no means a great player. At higher limits (for me) $3/$6 or $5/$10 . . . I struggle a good bit to make any sort of profit or even just break even (usually I lose). But I have been tracking my play using this tactic for the last 4-5 months at .25/.50 NL and for about every 15 hours of play I profit about $130. Now I know this is only about $8.66 an hour . . . but I do this consistenly and don't experience the huge swings I do at higher limits. Besides that, just winning consistently is fun.Anyone else experience this or have any thing else to add??

[eiu_01_red]

I wondered which online poker game you use?

[FOOSE1]

Mainly at pokerroom.com

[SBriand]

That's where I play as well.Sounds interesting. I will try it this weekend to see what happens for me. I usually come out ahead playing 25/50. I seek out tables with about 4 or 5 players. In the full tables people seem to chase more and it forces you to only play top tier starting hands. With less people you can get away with playing Q7, K5, etc.Patience seems to be a big asset on those games as well, which is probably obvious.

[jayistheman]

i actually like to find the wilder 25/50 tables simply because i can double up a few times in good spots, and its not too detrimental if i get outdrawn for my stack. i would rather play a tight table for higher stakes because the "small" pots are proportionally bigger.... if there was a game with bigger blinds, then profiting one blind per hour will make you more profit than at the lower tables.

[Smasharoo]

You'd rather nut peddle at looser tables.That's all you should be doing at this limit anyway. Waiting for the nuts and collecting the donations.

[SBriand]

So I sat down today and played for 2hrs and 40 minutes on a .25/.50 Limit table(s).I was pleased, I used some of the above advice and came out $56.95 ahead.

[accolades]

That's pretty much how I play at Party, but I add a shady trick to the book. I've done it all along, and it's for my benefit, and then I watched Phil Hellmuth's online poker secrets last night and he said the same thing... I play "Hit and Run" If I sit down at a $25 buy-in NL game and I get up to $40-$50 I'm done. I logoff, read a book, watch a movie or check these forums! Otherwise I tilt and get too agressive, and wind up giving it all back to the player who deserves it the least. Did that today as a matter of fact, trying to play a lot of hands at Pacific to cash in the bonus... sat down with $10, got up to about $30, but I kept playing because I wanted that bonus... Next thing you know I'm rebuying... Then I did it again, up to $20. Ended up losing $30 on the day. If I had been playing my hit and run nonsense that I usually do I would have probably quit while I was ahead before I started thinking, "This A2s looks wonderful!" :)Anyone else here think that's shady of me? If Hellmuth recommends it, I'm pretty sure it has to be the beyotch way to play, lol.- Tim

[SBriand]

I see nothing wrong with that. I do it. Most people do it, and I have seen it in many books as a useful strategy. You are playing to make money, there is no rule that says when you get up that you have to give everyone the chance to get their money back. In the session I describe above I played for 1 hr. I was up $27.30. I got up abd played some XBox. Came back and played for 1hr 40 minutes and was up another $29.65. Then I quit. I quit both times because I was getting aggressive and starting to play loose as well. Not a good combination for me at least, so I chill for a bit, get my head on straight and then sit back down.

[Fluffyfrog]

A friend of mine has been logging his last 100 hours of play at 0.25-0.5 NL online. He says he has a win rate of $20/hr and a standard deviation of 58. He usually plays multiple tables.This is all a bit frustrating, when at the same time, i've logged nearly 100 hours of play at 0.5-1 limit. Win rate: 3, standard deviation 17. I usually play two tables simultaneously. We've both been playing about 8 months (only recently started logging results). I've done quite a bit more reading on poker than him, and know a lot more about the statistical part of the game.Based on this, it would seem as if NL is where the money is at. Any viewpoints?

[Spidurman]

Money is where you have the edge. Mine is split pot games, so I tend to only play them. Every poker player plays different situations/games differently - you go where the money is.In terms of the skills of the average player you will face: the worst are in holdem (television effect), the best in stud (less people are playing, more good players/table).