Quote:
Originally Posted by callipygian
Breaking even as a HU player is waaaay differet than breaking even as a FR player.
A huge part of the shorter time frame to beating FR is the assumption that villains are too loose and simply by playing tight you're gaining a huge edge. (This may not hold true across all 20/40 games especially places that don't run bigger games.) To that end, robotic preflop hand selection is key.
You might even adopt an absurdly robotic postflop strategy like the following and still break even.
1. Bet-call TP2K+, see SD regardless of action or board.
2. Check-call any 8-out draw+ regardless of action or board.
3. Fold anything less than TP.
This is absolutely true. Indeed, this is probably the absolute key insight to full ring small stakes limit poker. If you understand this, you understand where the money comes from and can be a winning player. If you don't understand this, and think that the route to profitability is something else (such as outplaying opponents, postflop play, pure luck, etc.), you are highly likely to suck at limit.
The absolute fundamental mistake of the vast majority of live players in 8 and 20 games in Southern California, for instance, is the failure to understand this. And that's why they lose and the players who win all care a lot about getting pre-flop right.