I've been playing poker for about 2 years and I would consider myself a semi-intermediate 2/4 and 3/6 player. I would say after the first year my game improved considerably but as of late, I'm finding it harder to make additional steps forward. I've made a list of questions that if answered would help improve my game. Any help on this list of questions would be MUCH appreciated!

-I feel I don't have the memory that many strong players I've met have. Many appear to be able to recall with vivid accuracy the details of every hand. I obviously don't have this skill so I'm wondering what events of the hand I should prioritize (bet patterns, seat positions, flop cards etc).

-What are the steps to becoming a better hand reader? I can put people on hands more accurately when I'm not active in the hand. When I'm involved in a hand my tendency is to gravitate towards crediting players with hands that might beat mine. In some spots this is a major leak for me because I miss value bets and don't play aggressively enough to protect my hand.

-Along the same lines, thinking in terms of improving hand reading, what is the lowest hanging fruit? What spots are easiest to read hands?

-When sitting down at a table what are your priorities in terms of observing player behavior? Currently, I look for a couple things 1) Who plays weak hands 2) Who is capable of folding a hand after an obvious draw is made 3) who calls down light

-What tells do people find the most profitable? I look at heart beats in the neck, heavy breathing, and where their eyes go after a bet is placed. Although I really don't think I'm getting as much as I should from body language because I tend not to remember the action that occurred in previous hands.

-When tables become wild or even short-handed and wild I respond by tightening up to premium only hands yet still throw in a couple suited connectors in appropriate spots. This means I'm folding my blinds a lot more than in a normal game. Does the action and pot size when I play premium cards makeup for the blinds I'm losing (especially in short handed situations). My problem in these spots is not knowing where I'm at after the flop because the LAGs are betting every street.

-What are some of the common mistakes that intermediate low limit players make?

Many thanks in advance for your time!

At 2/4 and 3/6, with 7 to the flop ignore all but the most obvious tells: see who's grabbing chips to just call or raise on your left. No wonder you're overwhelmed.

Focus more on who raised pf, and their ranges for this (since they are so narrow), keep an eye on the size of the pot at all times in bets, jam your draws + strong hands in multiway pots (playing a few more suited connectors in lp for cheap).

I'd say less looking at the heartbeats on the neck or dilated pupils (wtf), start calling your BB more when shorthanded, and open raise more in LP

Post hands here, ask questions, participate!. Oh, and move up to 8/16 or 6/12 kill if you want to make a little money. 4/8 and lower aren't beatable with $5+ rake.

While on the subject, I'd like to be a theoretical physicist, any quick tips?

If you're looking to remember hands better in the future, don't be afraid to bring a scratchpad or something to the table.

Don't try and do too much. Start with putting villains on a range of hands, based on the situation, and narrow down from there. For the most part, stories about putting a guy on an exact hand and making a hero call are just that: stories

When you review posts on here, try and respond without reading other responses first. Some of the older guys are such great writers on here and have such a good grasp of this stuff, it seems so easy. Don't be afraid to be wrong

Shorthanded is so much fun. You'll be c betting 100% 3 way in no time.

Complete grunch trying to answer your questions...Simply remember who donks with a strong hand, who doesn't. Which FEW players can c/r the turn/river without a HUGE hand. Almost every c/r on the big streets is a HUGE hand. So consider everyone who does having a HUGE hand, unless you labeled them prior to being able to bluff (rare, especially at this level)

Don't be afraid of a player's hand until they raise you. If they have you beat and never raise you, oh well. But for the majority of people, this is VERY sound advice.

Paired boards where someone calls a double bet cold on the flop and c/r the turn. This is ALWAYS trips+ 99.5% of the time.

If you want me to rank those 3, I would say: 1, 3, 2. 1 is most important because you can raise them preflop with weak hands like K9o and A6o to isolate, and then 3 because you can value bet light. Where the only value you get from 2 is bluffing a draw, which means you need to float the said draw in hopes it comes in.

The most profitable tell is betting tells. Other than that, it is sighing or acting weak and then betting. They have you beat.

If the table becomes shorthanded and wild, and you TIGHTEN UP, you will lose so much. You will get ran over. Do you understand that at a 10 handed table, you raise on the button with a wider range than UTG? If so, you can figure out why you need to play looser the shorter the game gets.

Bluffing with showdown value. Not bluffing enough. Not value betting a scare card. Bet/calling too much. (all of these are gold, if you understand all 4 of these, you are close to expert at 10/20ish limits)

That_pope, awesome post! By bet call do you mean you have been leading the betting all the way, you bet the river and then get raised, instead of calling we should be folding?

Yes, bet/folding the river is a skill that saves a lot of money.