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Beginner needs help... please?

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  1. paul328 paul328 is offline

    Posts: 6
    Joined: May 08

    May 5th, 2008 (5/5/2008 9:31pm)

    ok so i'm fairly new to the world of online poker, and live poker as well, and i need some help. I've read two books, small stakes hold'em and theory of poker. I've been playing premium starting hands and tight, and loosening up depending on the players. I've been playing micro stakes starting from .5/.10 NL and occasionally play .10/.25 NL. I've realized i dont lose much at .5/.10 however i dont win much either. In the .10/.25, when i win, i win a good amount, and at the end of like a 3-4 hour session, i either make up what i lost, or i'm up like few bucks. I'm not really complaining about winning too little, cause obviously its micro stakes and i'm in the learning process to get better. I've put in $25 and made my way up to $104 in 2.5 weeks, but i think i just had a run of good hands and they all hit. I play tight aggressive like the books say to, but do any of you have ANY advice for me that will make me a better player? Do any of you have hints to "read" players online, like certain subtle things i should be noting but missing?

    ANY advice will be much appreciated, even if i already know it. I don't consider myself a fish or a donkey, but i'm no shark. oh, and any advice on $3.50 and $6.50 buy in SNG will be much appreciated as well. I'm on pokerstars. thanks in advance.
  2. jtown1010 jtown1010 is offline

    United States

    Posts: 23,112
    Joined: Jan 06

    May 5th, 2008 (5/5/2008 9:35pm) in reply to paul328

    I think you're winning a lot and playing pretty close to optimally at that level, I mean you 4.05x your roll in 2 weeks man, unless you're putting in high volume that's not bad. I really have no idea if you should be playing looser at micro-stakes limit poker, but a few hero calls and thin value bets here and there never killed anybody in min-bet AMIRTIE?
  3. almightyjean almightyjean is offline

    York, PA
    United States

    Posts: 76
    Joined: Feb 08

    May 5th, 2008 (5/5/2008 9:48pm) in reply to paul328

    I guess its just because of the type of people who play those limits, but IMO playing TAG works fine at .10-.25, but I've never won at .05-.10 without playing pretty LAG. I won about a hundred fifty bucks in 3 weeks playing a very LAG style in the full ring games at .05-.10, and I've found that I can tighten up quite a bit and still make money at .10-.25 tables. But even still, if you stick to premium hands, I think you're probably giving up some profit. The opponents are generally weak/disinterested enough that playing marginal hands in position is probably a good idea. Plus if you're trying to learn the game, playing a lot of flops is helpful. Along those lines, if you're only playing one table at a time, you probably won't sacrifice too much in your ability to pay attention to the other people by playing 2-4 tables instead of just one. Again, the more hands you can play, especially post-flop, the quicker you can pick stuff up.

    I say all of this as a fellow beginner; these are the things I'm trying.
  4. jtown1010 jtown1010 is offline

    United States

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    May 5th, 2008 (5/5/2008 9:52pm) in reply to almightyjean

    Jeez man LAG at micro-stakes limit seems like a disaster, especially when you're playing hella high for the BR.
  5. lind0 lind0 is offline

    Vancouver
    Canada

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    May 5th, 2008 (5/5/2008 10:13pm) in reply to paul328

    It sounds like you're out to a decent start. If I were to play the micro-stakes, I'd do exactly what you're doing. Learn to win as a tight player, then as you move up in limits you can begin to incorporate some more advanced concepts and experiment with different styles. The most common mistakes that are made at the low limits are that people play too many hands pre-flop, and they over play medium strength hands after the flop. The easiest way to exploit that is to play a tight range of hands preflop. Pretty much flop big or fold, and then punish people for their loose calls when you hit. There's a reason the books tell you to play that way... it works.
  6. paul328 paul328 is offline

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    May 5th, 2008 (5/5/2008 11:05pm) in reply to almightyjean

    thanks for the response. from my experience, when i play LAG, i usually on the norm end up losing, unless i get lucky and hit my hands. maybe i should just stop playing .05/.10. lol. do you always play full ring or 6 handed? i've only played 6 handed.
    Thread Starter
  7. paul328 paul328 is offline

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    May 5th, 2008 (5/5/2008 11:07pm) in reply to lind0

    yeah i realized most people do that and when i have the best hand or even second best they end up paying me off.

    do you or anyone else have methods or reading players online that they would like to share?
    Thread Starter
  8. lind0 lind0 is offline

    Vancouver
    Canada

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    May 5th, 2008 (5/5/2008 11:45pm) in reply to paul328

    I think "reading" people online is a combination of a lot of things, but mainly it comes with experience. All that really seperates the best players from donkeys is their thought process. The best players gather all the information, then they use deductive reasoning and logic, as well as a little bit of feel/experience/intuition/whatever you want to call it, to put their opponent on a hand range and play accordingly. As you gain experience, you can juggle more pieces of the puzzle in your head, and you'll get a better feel for what your opponents are doing. You'll also start to become more aware of what they think you're doing.

    My best advice is to just stick with the fundamentals for now: pot odds, position, stack sizes, etc, and just allow yourself to develop the feel as you go. It's not really something that can be taught. It sounds like you have a little feel already, so you're well on your way. The only way to hone your instincts is to play.

    If I had one piece of advice for reading people, it would be to listen to yourself. Learn to trust yourself and do what your instincts are telling you. Many times you'll find yourself saying, "why did I do that? I knew what the guy had and I still called, or bet, or folded, or whatever". Learn to be disciplined enough to make a big bluff or big call when you sense weakness, to fold when you sense you're beat, and to follow through with what the voice in your head is whispering (or screaming) at you to do. You have to allow yourself to be wrong sometimes, and trust that you'll be right more often. That's the real secret of the best players. They don't care if they look like an idiot. Good players look stupid all the time, but they take that risk and walk the line in order to play like geniuses.
  9. tmleafs1967 tmleafs1967 is offline

    Strathroy
    Canada

    Posts: 1,350
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    May 6th, 2008 (5/6/2008 12:11am) in reply to paul328

    I played my first two 6.50$ today and cashed 2nd and 3rd place for about 50$ paul, 2 games i played it seemed like i was playing in the 3.25 games and lower, very light and mostly ABC poker, i'll be playing again there tomorrow night after work to give it another shot, Maybe im just on an upswing I won a 1st round wsop freeroll seat also earlier to the weekly final.

    Cash games wise, i stay away from them, that all in button gets my BR in alot of trouble :). so ill be no help there :)
  10. tmleafs1967 tmleafs1967 is offline

    Strathroy
    Canada

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    May 6th, 2008 (5/6/2008 12:14am) in reply to lind0

    Betting patterns and snap calling time seem to be the best reads, USC called it a timer read i believe. And just from what Phil said I have picked up some decent tells on the betting patterns and tried to correct mine according to the correct bet as per HOH (harrington on holdem)
  11. PizzityPizzwnd PizzityPizzwnd is offline

    Mexico

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    May 6th, 2008 (5/6/2008 12:52am) in reply to paul328

    im going to give you the best advice you can possibly get...

    www.pokerxfactor.com

    pays for itself
     
  12. paul328 paul328 is offline

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    May 6th, 2008 (5/6/2008 3:31am) in reply to PizzityPizzwnd

    did it work for you? results positive?
    Thread Starter
  13. bigturns bigturns is offline

    Woodland Park, CO
    United States

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    Joined: Apr 07

    May 6th, 2008 (5/6/2008 4:09am) in reply to paul328

    Pokerxfactor is very good all the videos have stuff to learn from, watch all of Rizen's videos he is a good teacher.
     
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