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I want to change my game.

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pdfbq
Joined: 23.05.2008

Lately I play something like 22 / 18 / 14 so aggressive 3 betting and then I become 'relative' passive, I think aggression factor ~2 .5

Graph of last session:

Hand 1: Is a cooler, not sure though.. I knew he had AK but still called but with that SPR I don't know if I can fold.
Hand 2: I think he got me beat (but not sure)
Hand 3: Well...

Now I am getting a bit tired of this type of graph.
Question: Can someone point me out to a bit more variance type of play at these stakes.
Is it simply more 3 betting and frustrate your opponents?
Really... sitting and wayting for big hands is getting boring.

I am experimenting with bluffing at these stakes and I know people here say you should not do it this low
but I find it verry effective against regs or people who steal in the SB a lot.
Like: Call the steal... then call the cbet and on the turn bet with air.

So my question is: How to change my game, where to look??

Hope this is a question :f_drink:

PokerStars - $0.02 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Spoiler

BTN: 122 BB (VPIP: 51.39, PFR: 22.22, 3Bet Preflop: 11.11, Hands: 74)
SB: 183 BB (VPIP: 14.79, PFR: 11.27, 3Bet Preflop: 6.82, Hands: 143)
BB: 119 BB (VPIP: 20.69, PFR: 20.69, 3Bet Preflop: 7.14, Hands: 60)
UTG: 99 BB (VPIP: 26.17, PFR: 18.69, 3Bet Preflop: 7.89, Hands: 108)
Hero (MP): 126 BB
CO: 100 BB (VPIP: 16.22, PFR: 12.16, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 76)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 8♥ A♥

fold, Hero raises to 3 BB, fold, fold, SB raises to 9 BB, BB calls 8 BB, Hero calls 6 BB

Flop: (27 BB, 3 players) A♦ 8♠ 3♣
SB bets 17.5 BB, fold, Hero raises to 48 BB, SB calls 30.5 BB

Turn: (123 BB, 2 players) K♣
SB checks, Hero checks

River: (123 BB, 2 players) A♣
SB bets 79 BB, Hero calls 69 BB and is all-in

SB shows K♥ A♠ (Full House, Aces full of Kings)
(Pre 71%, Flop 15%, Turn 95%)
Hero shows 8♥ A♥ (Full House, Aces full of Eights)
(Pre 29%, Flop 85%, Turn 5%)
SB wins 252 BB

PokerStars - $0.02 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Spoiler

BTN: 126 BB (VPIP: 16.24, PFR: 11.97, 3Bet Preflop: 3.03, Hands: 120)
SB: 100 BB (VPIP: 24.14, PFR: 20.69, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 30)
BB: 56.5 BB (VPIP: 17.27, PFR: 15.11, 3Bet Preflop: 1.89, Hands: 144)
UTG: 160 BB (VPIP: 43.75, PFR: 31.25, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 16)
Hero (MP): 100 BB
CO: 364 BB (VPIP: 15.71, PFR: 11.43, 3Bet Preflop: 14.29, Hands: 71)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Q♣ Q♥

UTG raises to 3 BB, Hero raises to 10.5 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, UTG calls 7.5 BB

Flop: (22.5 BB, 2 players) 8♣ Q♠ K♦
UTG bets 11 BB, Hero calls 11 BB

Turn: (44.5 BB, 2 players) 9♣
UTG bets 11 BB, Hero raises to 22 BB, UTG raises to 138.5 BB and is all-in, fold

UTG wins 85.5 BB

PokerStars - $0.02 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Spoiler

BB: 127.5 BB (VPIP: 16.52, PFR: 12.17, 3Bet Preflop: 3.13, Hands: 118)
UTG: 96.5 BB (VPIP: 22.22, PFR: 22.22, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 28)
MP: 56.5 BB (VPIP: 17.52, PFR: 15.33, 3Bet Preflop: 1.89, Hands: 142)
CO: 122.5 BB (VPIP: 35.71, PFR: 21.43, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 14)
Hero (BTN): 111.5 BB
SB: 271.5 BB (VPIP: 14.71, PFR: 10.29, 3Bet Preflop: 11.54, Hands: 69)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 5♦ 5♠

fold, fold, CO raises to 3 BB, Hero calls 3 BB, fold, fold

Flop: (7.5 BB, 2 players) 3♠ 5♣ T♦
CO bets 3 BB, Hero calls 3 BB

Turn: (13.5 BB, 2 players) Q♠
CO checks, Hero bets 8 BB, CO calls 8 BB

River: (29.5 BB, 2 players) A♥
CO bets 28 BB, Hero calls 28 BB

CO shows Q♣ Q♥ (Three of a Kind, Queens)
(Pre 80%, Flop 9%, Turn 98%)
Hero mucks 5♦ 5♠ (Three of a Kind, Fives)
(Pre 20%, Flop 91%, Turn 2%)
CO wins 82.5 BB


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8 replies
Tim128
Joined: 29.01.2017

That 2nd hand is a call for sure, there is only one combination that beats you: TJ (assuming he 4bets KK) and you already put like 44BB in the pot.

He might very well have the TJ, but against that you have 20% chance to hit full house (or quads), and at NL2 people overvalue top pair a lot so I wouldn't be surprised to see KT or KJ here.

3rd hand I would play exactly the same, 1st hand is also fine, your holding the second nuts so it's really unfortunate that he got the only hand that beats you, I would never fold 2nd boat.


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scopinad
Joined: 13.06.2015

Problem is pre-flop, your range is always dominated and behind the villain's, tighten up.

A8 AK, QQ KK, 55 QQ


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Hesticus
Joined: 24.06.2008

Hand 1: I think opening A8s from MP is pretty wide but not wrong. I also think it's a cooler but keep your ranges sharp from each position to avoid situations like these.

Hand 2: UTG vs MP1 we can call with QQ. We should raise flop. How can he have you beat? With JT from UTG?

Hand 3: We should raise flop here. Call OTR is ok IMO.

I think from hand 1 and 2 you start to get biased and fold each time when you have a good hand. My suggestion is to record all good hands where you are ahead in equity and win vs hands when you are behind in equity and lose. You will see that eventually, you win more with the former.


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YohanN7
Joined: 15.06.2009

Your overall approach is possible to execute profitably. Here are my thoughts on maniacal preflop 3-betting:

  • Position, position, position, (am i repeating myself?), position, position, position, position,, position, position, position, position,...
  • Cheap is the key. Make small 3-bets. Make small c-bets. It suffices.
  • Each time you bluff (which is pretty much every time you press a button:]), target a hand (or a range of similar hands) you want him to fold. Assess the cost, and bet no bigger than absolutely necessary. (When preflop stealing IP, you actually don't mind a call, since, assuming you play well, you can steal a bigger pot postflop.)
  • People will notice what you are up to (unless you play zoom).
  • Steal much less on turn and particularly river.
  • The third bullet implies you have to do a shitload of hand reading. Get good at that. Playing TPTK on the flop is easy, but figuring out whether a steal is possible, and, if so, how much it should cost to get maximal effect, is not. Board texture is all here. Definitely do not use a standard size for all boards.

When I play in super-aggro mode, a session graph typically has long rising segments (say 10 successful small/medium steals) followed by a big loss (unavoidable) with this pattern repeating. Obviously, the key to winning is to keep all those steals cheap, and to avoids the worst disasters when losing big ones. Naturally, you'll also flop nuts once in a while (or be second best with second nuts), but these hands play themselves, and have little to do with this.

And oh, did i mention position? Position, position, position, position, ...

EDIT: After reading your posted hands (and your stats of 22/18/14 = VPIP/OPENRAISE/3_BET ???) I have these general comments:

  • Turning good calling hands into raising hands (stats indicate you do?) is not a good idea. You win more by calling than raising.
  • Raising big preflop (like 3.5x) is not sustainable if you intend to raise with garbage as well. Something like 2.4x will get almost as many folds. (Besides, you don't mind calls per above.)
  • Your bread and butter hands will be some that most people fold to an open-raise, say 8♦:6♦: or T♥:7♥: or K♣:T♠: . These are barely (probably barely not) worth a call. But they may be profitable to 3-bet. (Stats also indicate you are too tight open-raising?)

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pdfbq
Joined: 23.05.2008

Thanks everyone and Especially YohanN7 for reading my post well and make all the effort to answer it with for me very useful info, Thanks again!


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TakingAShot
Joined: 29.05.2017

Yohan's posts are amazingly helpful.

Do you coach, Yohan? Or do you just generously contribute to the forums here?


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YohanN7
Joined: 15.06.2009

Thanks. I don't coach, and, unfortunately for me, I am better at poker theory than actually playing. There are usually several hands in every session where I feel like biting my leg off one split second after having pressed the button:) In the forums, there's an undo button. In real poker, there's notX(


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TakingAShot
Joined: 29.05.2017

I hear you. The mental game is so challenging it's unreal. I've worked on mine tremendously over the past few years (on and off the tables) and I've seen, as well as felt, a lot of progress. Separating emotion from decision making is just absolutely critical when it comes to making financial decisions.


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