Hello all,

I can often get stuck into various modes of play, sometimes I play very ABC, other times I become a spewey LAG, most of the time I try to be balanced TAG, but I get the feeling I am not at all as balanced as I'd like to be. I've decided, in efforts to become more balanced and have a sense of confidence in my decisions at the table, I'm going to construct 5 different playing styles (ranges, tendencies etc.) to cycle through at the table, maybe every 30 mins or every hand, haven't decided yet. I know many of you will say balance is not important at 1/2, but I think there are some benefits I would like to get out this. I'd also like to recognize when a certain playing style becomes more valuable given a certain table dynamic, and be able to use it more frequently.

Styles I hope to emulate:

TAG
LAG
Nit open range, tending to trap

suggestions?
suggestions?


Benefits I hope to gain:
a better understanding of various playing styles, for recognizing how villains are playing and what their ranges might be
discourage V's from bluffing us when we are looking for showdown ( include a mode where I am mostly trapping with strong hands and possibly show these hands)
encourage V's to pay off our value ( include a mode where I am capable of making bluffs I wouldn't typically make, possibly show these hands)(low frequency)

I've read varying results about open ranges for different styles, what are your guys thoughts, for a 1/2 game about %open, %3-bet, and %C-bet, so I can see what that looks like.

My initial thoughts on open%
..

UTG
TAG 12%
LAG 20%
Nit 7-8%

Not sure about 3-bet or C-bet frequencies. Also does anyone know any free poker software that can help me put these ranges together?

If you have any confident percentages for open, 3-bet, and C-bet frequencies for various playing styles please let me know. And any advice for overall tendencies to cycle through at the table that can result in me having a more balanced overall strategy would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for any help.

- Quinn

TBH, this is a waste of your time. Play tight when everyone is playing loose, play loose when everyone is playing tight and print money. If you are changing styles every 30 minutes, you'll be playing on average 2 hands during that 1/2 hour as tight and 3 hands when playing loose. Nobody is going to notice the difference with all the variance in hands.

No Limit Hold’em For Advanced Players

Agree that this is a waste of time. You should focus on making the most profitable decisions, not playing some pre-defined style.

Are you talking about preflop open play? If so, best not to deviate too far from established charts. Postflop the board is often gonna dictate how you play, just be aware of table dynamics and trim or add to value, bluff, and check ranges as necessary.

I generally default to Ed Miller's Ranges in The Course and then deviate that according to the table.

He's a little bit over-agressive with suitedness, e.g. his default is to open raise every suited ace in any position, when folded to, but in general I've found it a good guide.

Was talking about pre flop ranges, but also adjusting post flop tendencies. Trying to go into hands having decided some tendencies I plan to carry through the hand, and then cycle through these styles for balance.

Example: decide before the hand IÂ’ll be making thin value bets on River if situation provides the opportunity , decide before the hand that IÂ’ll be trapping with my strong hands, decide before the hand that IÂ’ll play a LAG style and be willing to double barrel bluff, or just play ABC for a given hand.

I will check out that book, I found tonight that it was a lot to keep track of, and there just ended up being a couple players that I needed to try and Isolate with position.

But in tough games, I sometimes feel the need to make my strategy more dynamic and be able to have a more diverse range in certain spots where I feel like a have a capped range or just face up monster. Just thinking about how to get VÂ’s to tread more lightly and pay me off more, wouldnÂ’t that be nice.

Think about the illogic of this statement.

i guess its referred to as being a station

This is not going to help you get better at poker. Focus on playing your best strategy and get really good at that. You're going to mediocre at a lot of things and a master of nothing. That's not how you win at poker

For you, software wise, I recommend flopzilla. Get it for a free trial and then pay the 25 dollars. It’s the poker equivalent of owning a 200 dollar graphing calculator. Learn how to use it, and learn everything you can do with it. Then read 2-3 books on serious nl concepts.

You don’t need a style preflop but instead a simple pre flop range of hands in each position that you can rely on so you can do your thinking on later streets.