Hello all,

I enjoy poker a lot, but I am fairly inexperienced. I play online for play chips, and read articles and forums. I consider myself to be a solid player, but there's tons of room for improvement.

I play with friends each weekend in tournaments with 6-10 people where the buy-in is usually around 10-20 dollars. The game is usually pretty loose and is for fun. The skill level of players ranges from a few guys like me who play strong to guys who play for fun and are very bad. I usually have no trouble avoiding an early knockout because I play fairly tight early on, but I don't accumulate chips as well as the loose-agressive guys who play lots of hands and win huge pots when they hit straights and flushes. It normally gets down to 3-4 player, with me still being in the game but i constantly can't get to heads-up play. My problem at the end is usually that I become short stacked against some of the other good players, and end up losing an all-in race pre-flop.

If anyone has tips on how I can become a better, winning player, I would appreciate it. If you can also post articles or books that helped your game that would also be great. Thanks!

- play strong when in position (Make raises or reraises pre flop when on or close to the button and take control of the hand)
- play small ball (Make your bets and raises fairly small. You risk less to win the same amount)
-don't defend the blinds too widely (you will almost certainly be playing out of position in situations like this. Don't call a raise simply because you have already put in a BB)

There are loads more tips but these are three simple ones that should be easy to remember and implement but take a while to master.

also, you seem to have not really played the way that people here do. you play for fake chips and in friendly tourneys, and no offense, i am sure they are fun, but nobody there really cares if they lose. its not the same level of poker.

if you are losing in those games, you could be playing a style that will lend itself much better to playing in games and tourneys with people who take the game seriously.

bascially, check out the forum and take in all you can. you'll be crushing games in no time.

finally, i will give you the best advice that i ever got that is obvious now, but when i was a beginner, i was shocked: dont worry about if you win money or lose money, worry about the decisions you made. poker isnt about whether you made money your last session...its about if you can make good decisions in the long run. if you can, the money will come, but the money is a byproduct of making good choices, and not in itself what your goal should be

If you can pick your seating, try to put yourself on the left on nitty players and on the right of aggressive players. Play conservative and when you are in position, hammer on the blinds by opening/c-betting. Start out with 3BB's but as the game progresses shrink the bet size. I like to drop down to 2.5 and then to 2BB (if they fold to it). You want to avoid getting in pots with good players and look to get into pots with weak players.

When you get chips, make sure you get aggressive in position. Winning dead money is how you build your stack up and have a legitimate chance at first opposed to bleeding out and dying. Also, when you're low in chips start opening up your range late in position. It's better to push and get called by a better hand where you have a chance at winning than blinding out.

what is the pay-out structure of your tourney? winner takes it all?

If yes, then it makes less sense to play tight at the start. You have to look a the situations.

Are you winning in play money? try some free-rolls. Tourneys and cash games are very different.

If i raise 3bb preflop in position, how much should my c-bet be and on what flops should i c-bet

The payout structure is normally second gets money back, winner gets rest. I win some in play money but since i don't follow bankroll management i usually lose it all on a bad beat if i build up my chips.

When I feel I'm not playing against good people, I c-bet pretty much everything but according to this cool new HUD I am really really aggressive. I still think it's a good idea to c-bet most hands. Paired boards are the main thing to c-bet and cards that didn't hit the caller's range. (low cards, usually). From there, I like to make up excuses to c-bet because I like to c-bet everything.

-I make sure people know my favorite hand is K10 and I like to cbet k's and 10's. People respect it for some weird reason. I don't even usually raise k10 lol.
-I love c-betting draws. If I get called, I justify it as building the pot. When they fold, I justify it as taking down a pot I only had a 33% chance of winning.
-I cbet small stacks because they are likely to get into all in or fold moments.

I usually just c-bet the same amount I do preflop. While I don't think that's correct as the pot is bigger and the odds change, it usually works for me (people fold) so I see no need to raise it. I'll change the size if I need to protect my hand or how I think it'll impact the other player, though. (IE if you raise it a dollar a player won't call with second pair)

This is an incredibly broad question. In general there are very few flops on which you should cbet 100% of your range unless you're doing something exploitably (arguably there are some - for instance 222 BTN v BB).

One key mistake i always make is that i overplay draws and get screwed when i dont hit my draw. I understand pot odds in terms of calling bets, but I'm not really sure how to bet a draw on the flop. Does it make sense to bet 1/2 pot if I'm c-betting with a flush or straight draw?

Too broad again. Post some hands.

Sorry i understand its broad, i just don't understand if i should bet a draw on an otherwise dry flop.

I think it depends on how you want to look the line you're taking. For example, if it's a decent size pot and I semi bluff for a 1/2 pot to full pot. I am trying to say, "I have a good hand I don't want flush draws still in". As a result, your play on the turn and river should be align with that idea.

If you're worried about misplaying your draws, you can always check and get a free card to evaluate your situation too.

Welcome to 2+2, you've stumbled onto the best resource on the planet for turning you into a winning poker player if you are willing to do the work.

The site is huge and takes a good month or 2 to get your bearings, but trust me it is worth it. And I apologize in advance for what I'm about to say, please don't take any offense, my goal is to help you get better.


There is no way to say the following without sounding like a condescending prick (which I can be on occasion) but I guarantee that you and your friends of 10 people are huge fish that the average winning 2+2er would completely destroy. Playing for play money and playing friendly home tourneys with the same 10 or 20 people over and over again does nothing but reinforce -EV terribad fishy play.

Poker is a complex mathematically based strategy game with clear +EV and -EV lines (EV = expected value). The complexity is such that with variance the game appears completely random as far as who wins and who loses when nothing could be further from the truth.

So the first part of you getting better is to realize that you and your friends are in all likelihood horrible players.

Second part (which you've done) is to find 2+2 and read up on all the stickies we have around here at the top of the forum.

Once you start doing that, you need to deposit $50 on an online poker site and grind 2NL WHILE you read up on poker and read the various 2+2 articles and archived threads.

Lastly, you need to become a regular member who POSTS once or twice daily getting involved in discussions and strategy posts, even if it is just to ask questions like, "Hey guys, I'm new and don't understand why we don't shove here so we can win..."

Anyways, good luck. If you are willing to do the work and become an active member this site can help you beat your friends and family within a few weeks and turn you into a winning player in a few months.

Thanks for the feedback, i don't take any of it negatively. I know my friends and i are all bad players relative to the rest of the poker world. I'm glad i finally became a member here so i can become better. Thanks for the help.

Yeah definitely don't take any of it negatively. There are some amazing people here who can definitely help you step up your game.

Welcome aboard.

Read a book about ABC poker, to generalize it play fewer hands and play them aggresively