Over the past year I have done extensive research and studying in order to construct a preflop range that is as close to optimal and unexploitable to an aggressive villain who likes to 3-bet. (by making sure hero's opening range is balanced with the proper ratio of value bets/"bluffs")
I've also attempted to find an optimal 3-betting range that would also be unexploitable and as close to optimal as possible. what ive found suggested by most high-stake professionals is to balance your range by 3-betting the top of hero's value range, flatting the strong-middle of hero's range, and also 3-betting the low middle part of your range that is slightly too week to flat.
In addition to my pre-flop work i've also done similar work on my post flop play mostly involving balancing my range to be unexploitable/unreadable in order to attempt to play as close to optimal as possible.

After doing all of this work to my game i have noticed that in $1/$2 NL a lot of advanced strategy and theory is not really applicable at this level. (or necessary even if applicable) I mean the whole concept of balancing your range is to stop from being exploited by a good, thinking, aggresive player isn't it? when your opponents aren't good, or they're not thinking and are "just playing poker" then the question has to become "am I worried about my opponent exploiting me"? or "am I trying to exploit my opponent"?
At that point I dont think that it is best to try to play optimally but to play exploitatably. which leads me to my question...

What are the most exploitable general villian tendancies at this stake level? (obviously this is a player specific question, yet i know that villians at certain stake levels have many similar general tendencies.)

what moves or lines are profitable?

what moves or lines are unprofitable or should be avoided?

what leaks are common?

any Misc info or things i missed to mention would be appreciated.

If youre at a table that has a "good player" just get a change. There are so many 1/2 tables what youre saying about balancing is useless. This dosent even come into play much at 2/5. If I'm at a 1/2 table at MS with another reg we do our best to not even get involved with each other.

And the only thing you really need to do to beat these games are not tilt and play abc poker.

i agree that balancing is somewhat unneccissary at this stake level but my question is- if balancing is not neccissary, what lines are going to be most profitable now that we dont have to be concerned with balancing our play? I agree also that not tilting and playing abc you can milk a meager win rate, but i also think that is how the majority of regs at that level play ne ways so theres not that much seperation there. plus the respect factor at $1/$2 is almost non-existent so playing abc can be frustrating as well. with such a low level of play at a $1/$2 level i have to think that you should be able to exploit bad villain tendancies without playing just abc. right? or maybe i'm wrong.

what are you looking to exploit?

a player at this level calls too much and does not understand betting. so raise and valuebet relentlessly. find the max amount players will call at your table. at 1/2 i have had pf opens upwards of 25 called.

players view big bets as money. not in relation to pot size or stack size. this may sound like it contradicts my first point. though they just arent thinking about what they can buy with that 12 bucks they just called out of their 150$ stack... they arent realizing they called off 10% of their stack with a random hand. they dont care that they now hit mid pair no kicker and call off 30 bucks. but they will stop and fret over the 150 bet on the river when pot size dictates.

i put you on ak players love to think they can read hands and will almost always find a reason to call you because they put you on ak. they want you to be bluffing! they are coming to the poker room for a thrill. they came for action. they did not come to fold. this is all the more reason you should never be bluffing players here. never, ever bluff a random. you need very solid reads even on a reg to be making a bluff. i dont care how frustrating playing abc poker is. its right.

if you do not know what tendancies youre looking to expliot how can you do it?

The above poster is completely right.

Exploiting 1/2 and 2/5 is dead simple.

Play ABC, value town your villains to death.

Most players here are not thinking about ranges, 3-bets, pot-sizing, etc.

They're just playing their cards.

They view the chips in absolute terms of monetary value relative to their personal wealth, not in relation to the pot, stack size, etc.

Play tight, solid poker. Wait for good cards in position, and beat the games until you can move out of the low stakes...

nice post grindme.

Opponents that suck at spelling are generally not detail-oriented.

My number 1 thing to win more......when you have what you are sure is the best hand and you decide to raise for fat value, come up with the perfect bet size you think they will call, then add about 25% more to it cause they will still call 25% more if they were calling the other amount. That will increase your wins by 25% alone.

thanks. i got sidetracked by the gf which is why you got the abridged version. im gonna dereail here for a second and ask where you play? ms or fw? i live right down the road from you in branford. which is why i ask.

Opponents that are detail-oriented are generally nits... thus nits spell well.

Are there any other specific spots/scenarios/leaks that we can look to exploit against general villian tendancies at the $1/$2 tables?

Again. We don't need specific spots/scenarios at this level of play. Just wait until you have solid equity, and value-town them to death.

The best way to exploit a $1/$2 table is just to play solid ABC poker and get your money in good spots.


Why?

List of the biggest problems $1/2 players have:

1. Most (80%+) $1/2 players are fish/recreational players. On a basic level, they lack strong fundamentals, don't have much reasoning for their plays, and just do thing because they "like" to.

2. They call preflop with weak ranges out of position. For example, they don't understand that a hand like suited connectors gains value IP, playing deep, in a multi way pot. They just know that they like suited connectors because they can make a flush or a straight.

3. They lose track of pot-size, pot-odds, screw up bet-sizing, etc. 1/2 players tend to think about chips in absolute terms of real-world monetary value. This leads to a lot of improper plays.

4. They play face up. Most 1/2 players have exactly what their repping. Occassionally you'll stumble across a player who thinks he is "aggressive/bluffy (LAG)", but really, he's just loose/bad.

Most players at this limit play weak/tightish poker, and often have exactly what they're repping.

5. They can't fold. Most 1/2 players can't find it in them to fold a hand like TPTK in the face of aggression, or fold a NFD even when given horrible odds.


Again, the best way to beat 1/2 is to play solid ABC poker. Pay attention to their ranges (often weak), and just value-town them to death. They're there to have fun, see cards, drink, and gamble. Don't try to get tricky with these people, don't try to out level them, because on a broad scale, they just don't get it.

One thing that has really helped me is just watching your opponent pre-flop, almost every single one of them will look at their hand before it's their turn to act signaling if they are going to call/raise/fold. Not only pre-flop but post-flop too, I've stolen so many pots IP because the opponent just looks so un-interested in what is on the board.

While I don't have much experience live, I think the biggest thing to consider is your bet sizing and the fact that they don't 3bet pre or post flop light in general.

Since they are so passive you should be betting your big hands very strong and not trying to "suck them in" with small bets. Like a previous reply said, if they are calling then they are pretty much calling no matter what sizing you use (within reason of course).

I learned pretty quickly how strong getting 3 bet from the average live player is. This is nowhere near playing online 6 max

If you're getting 3-bet preflop at 1/2, it's pretty safe to assume a range of QQ+.

Seriously though. It really is.

How to exploit 1/2 players its simple. Plays Axs and take advantage of weaker players drawing to the non-nutflushes.

Play small pairs so when your opponents flop TPTK and you flop a set. You can possibly take their whole stack.

Play most of your pots in position so when your loose passive villains check 2 streets you can stab at the pot to take it down.

Play high suited connectors for 2pair and straight value. When you crush the board they won't ever fold their AK or AQ.

Concentrate on Turn and River play, most if not all your opponents will play their worst poker on these streets.

Yeah, that's what I mean.

I realized how passively people play AK and AQ after seeing it flipped up time after time postflop in multi way pots when they had just tagged along preflop.

Then, the range people vocally put me on when I kept 3 betting in position was ridiculous. They were giving me so much credit everytime—so it pretty much reveals the strength of their own/average 3 bet range.


One more observation: People play way too speculative hands compared to their stack size, or play decently good to strong hands way too passively given their small stacks.