It´s a very big issue, but one that I think I improved a lot. I was used to screw up 3-4x a day. Just to show how soft 5nl is, when I still find a few posts here and there about this limit being reg infested and rake being unbeatable. Even making big mistakes, it´s still possible to get a positive (even if small) wr here.

But you´re 100% right. That 2bb100 lost is the difference between my current 10nl performance (negative) and being breakeven/not losing $ there.

While it´s impossible to be 100% tilt and error free imo, I think incremental improvements are the way to go, and if I can manage to keep improving, eventually my winrate will become higher in both limits.

Thank you for the advice 291, I figured a few things more about my game that I´ll share later (today or tomorrow).

So, coudn´t help but look at my results. And we´re back on track. Unfortunately (for my poker goals, that is) won´t be able to put much volume again tomorrow, since it´s the day the cleaning lady comes to my apartment, and I usually spend the day out while she´s here.



Anyway, as I said in the post above, the other change I made is the opening sizing from cutoff and button. Snowie uses a bigger sizing from both steal positions, but while I think it´s reasoning is correct, it doesn´t apply to the micros. A common leak which everyone seems to agree is that ppl don´t defend wide enough, so why put more money in the pot if I can get the same effect with less? Simple logic right? So, by doing that, I can open up my range a little more, play ip vs soft competition more frequently, and lose less in nsd when I get 3bet by the blinds and have to fold. Also less complications as I should defend less.

Other minor "improvement", a little bit controversial maybe, is that I´m not playing deep anymore. If I get 150bbs deep or more, I leave the table. Tilt -EV from losing a big pot/screwing up a nice day of "work" is way bigger than any edge I might get vs fish deepstacked. And 100 bb poker is imo what real poker should be anyway

Cheers!

Good adjustments regarding opening sizes. If you raise 2x it only has to work 50% of the time to be profitable. On passive tables this is huge. Another reason to do if is if you are frequently getting 3 bet . It make its less expensive for you to fold/less profitable for the 3 bettor.

If you feel any discomfort playing deep-stack then you should always reset. You never want to feel this way as it will make you play different/potentially more mistakes as you are worried about losing profit. I will say this though, you can get some serious win-rate from playing deepstack. People are still going all in pre with AKo for 200bb, still calling all ins with overpairs for 200bb on the river and just generally making mistakes. I would really advise trying to get comfortable with being deep, but completely understand that right now your +ev resetting. I remember recently I got stacked in a 600bb pot where villain went nuts on me with a gutshot on the flop in a 4 bet squeezed pot and somehow got there on the river. Don't normally get too emotional but that one was pretty brutal, felt pretty sick over it. But then I realised I had like 90% equity on the turn and 90% of the time he bluffs it off to me. It's a bad feeling but it is what it is, you want to push your edge as much as possible and eventually you will find your edge gets a lot bigger the deeper you play as you get more comfortable.

PM me if you want to talk any specifics etc.

Is that in full ring where they don't defend enough? Is it maybe because your stats are too nitty and they fold more because of that? From my experience in 6max, when I looked at this in my database a while back, they seem to defend too much. I remember looking to see if I could auto-profit by stealing with any two, and I couldn't because the population was defending more than the required MDF. So raising small might even be a mistake, because then you're encouraging them to call more. Which means more rake paid, and when you expand your range to include a lot more of the weaker hands, it's even worse.

I'm not saying it's the case for you. And if you're playing full ring, maybe it's different. I'd just suggest actually looking at your database to confirm they're folding too much (if you haven't already). If they are, great! Then continue on. But if not, then maybe rethink that.

That's part of why I'm gonna experiment with the opposite approach and use larger raise sizes (with tighter ranges) lol. I'd rather encourage them to fold so I can win the pot preflop without paying rake. And if they do still call too wide, then it means more profit. Win-win, hopefully.

Hey 291, thanks for all the tips. Definitely will PM you if any specific strategic question comes out. Thank you very much.

Hello PokerPhilosopher. I´m slowly departing from my nitty ways lol (currently 15/13 at FR, was 13/11 before). Anyway, considering just my steal % success rate and the amount invested (3.5 bbs per my old snowie sizings), it was obv a minus ev move. My steal success from the BTN is 56.5%, and from the CO is 48.7%. Let´s say it drops (it will, I´m sure, with the sizings change), to 50% and 40%. Idk but I think it´s a realistic guess.

But we can´t forget one of the most important things in poker: position when postflop. My most profitable position on the tables is the LP (BTN and CO in that order), for obv reasons. Pretty sure the same happens to you. So even if we go postflop, we´re in a spot where we´ll make most of our money anyway.

Also, opening for less, we keep spr higher. Coupled with LP ranges, and position, it also adds a few evbb/100 to the game. Lastly, I forgot this but 291 remembered the point: villains are less incentivized to 3bet you (less bbs to win, for running the risk of playing oop the whole hand or being 4bet), and you can also defend less when it happens.

Last, LP preflop ranges are a nice tool but they are not to be used as a static thing. Adjusting for table stats (who is in the blinds), even if you´re playing zoom, is important.

I´ll try to play a few k hands with this strategy (I guess 50k should be enough for an initial testing) and then see the effects and if it works as planned or not.

Cheers!

Actually, last time I checked I had the biggest RFI winrate when in EP, and it wasn't even close lol.

I would think the smaller you open, the more your opponents would want to 3bet. One, they don't have to risk as many BBs to 3bet a smaller open. Two, smaller opens are usually done with wider ranges, so they can then 3bet wider for value (and consequently bluffs). And three, min-raises rub people the wrong way and they'll want to punish you for it. Ok, maybe the last one is a little tongue-in-cheek. But them 3bettting more isn't even necessarily a bad thing. You just have to make sure to defend sufficiently.


If you were opening 3.5bbs, you needed a success rate of at least 70% (from EP to BU). So that shows they aren't folding enough. If you min-raise, you need a success rate of about 57%. That's about what you're getting right now on the BU, and higher than what you're getting on the CO. And that's with your large 3.5bb open! Drop your open size, and they will most likely defend even more.

All I'm trying to say is, I don't think you're going to get enough folds to make it worth it. Feel free to go ahead and try it anyway. I'm just trying to help give you the information you need to make a more informed decision.

2nl, 5nl and 10nl. Including all tilt and spew at the later

I understand your point of view. But remember, while steal success (or the folds you get from any position, for that matter) is important, they´re not an end in itself. Every single hand in your range has an EV when you choose to open it, and it´s not necessarily from the times everyone folds to you. Pretty sure the EV of your AA´s would be a lot lower if you never got any action with them.

Cheers!

Try filtering for just hands that you RFI with. Then the picture might be a little different... at least for me it is.

Yes, every hand in your range has an EV. But the same is true of your opponent.

Yes, the EV of AA would be lower if you only got folds. But, I don't see how that applies.. It's not like you're only getting folds, even if you keep using 3.5bb opens. We already know they are still calling too much. And if for some reason they start folding too much, then yeah, your EV with AA goes down. But then the EV of your weaker hands go up.

I'm not saying don't try it. I try things all the time it seems hahaha. See if you get the results you think you will. If you're opening smaller because you think people fold too much, then I think that's incorrect. That's all I was trying to say lol.

Ok, I think I got what you´re saying. Actually, the winrates when you RFI should be quite similar once you get a reasonable (very big) sample size due to tighter early ranges/looser later ones differences. Still, I´m winning big when I enter pots in LP, even when steal success is lower than the money printing level.



Now check this, vpip yes, rfi no. Cold call. Add both. 3bet/4bet etc aside, adding both should tell you why LP is overall more profitable. If you think about the cold call ranges, and the old principle on how to construct them, you´ll get my side on why LP should be more profitable. Check your db also. Last, wr from EP are lower in the end obv bc you fold the majority of your hands from there.

One thing to know is that some regs may start 3betting your min opens because a lot of fish like to min open and they may use this population read to target you if they perceive you this way. Doesn't matter too much on regular tables but trust me on Zoom they really go after you, even with 2.5bb sizings.

Philosopher, your biggest RFI win-rate coming from EP is probably because it's the strongest range on a table and therefore has the most fold equity.

I change my sizings table by table, player by player. It's a dynamic thing. You should have a default of 2.5/3 and then deviate based on the passiveness/aggressiveness of the table. It's fairly simple. If someone is folding 80% of bb why would you 3x? If you keep getting 3 bet then raise less often and raise smaller. To be honest it's not too important as a whole, it's just a minor thing to implement when you notice something preflop you can take advantage of. It's not going too have too much of an impact on winrates.

FazendeiroBH, I'm not disagreeing that LP is more profitable overall. I don't have PT4 open to check, but I'm sure it probably is. I just meant LP is less profitable for me when RFI.

291, interesting idea just occurred to me after reading your post... why not open a lot wider EP and open a lot tighter LP if that's the case? Ok, probably a silly idea hehehe.

I think it´s a sample size problem, since we (usually) open less hands from EP. Also, we have tighter ranges as 291 pointed. I´m still pretty sure the winrates when RFI will converge to similar values after you play a few million hands more

Cheers!

Didn´t think I would be able to put any reasonable volume today, but I was wrong. Despite winning, unremarkable day. Had an annoying peruvian reg sitting at my left in 3 tables and 3betting me all the time. Went to showdown once vs him, nothing unusual with his hand choice. Also, he´s a loser over decent sample in my db but vpip, pfr and 3bet seemed normal for a TAG almost nit (almost like my stats lol) but decided to instaquit the tables anyway and get better seats. Not that I wouldn´t be able to defend, just that I don´t think it´s the most profitable spot to be in.



It seems I need 23 bis to complete 100 buy-ins won at 5nl (18 in aiev), so I decided I´d like to do a final sprint in order to reach that milestone. Why?

1) Prove to myself that I improved and I´m not a meh 2 bb/100 reg anymore. I´ll check my wr over the last 100k hands after I finish to see if there are real improvements.

2) It´s a cool milestone, even if it´s cool just to myself.

3) Catch some momentum in order to move up to 10nl without any negative bias and also without any irrational feelings towards anything.

I think I polluted this thread with so much graphs, so from now on will post only number of hands played and, once a week, $ results. Images only after reaching this goal. Removed completely the graph from hem2 in order to not have the temptations I usually have while playing

Cheers!

Not sure where you play or what options you have, and haven't played reg sped tables for several years, but I'd just move in an eyeblink if it were me (unless the table was really fish heavy) You don't make money trying to battle back at regs who have position on you.

GL with the move up to 10nl, even if you are on stars we won't bump into each other (unless you switch to Zoom).

Always fine to move when someone is 3 betting you a lot. Pretty sick volume by the way.

Good luck with your goals, hope you get there soon!

Good luck with your quest for 100 BIs! Shouldn't take too much longer with some run-good lol. Always good to move up while feeling good!

Thank you guys. I´m gonna do my final session now. In my experience of all those sundays, this is the time of the day when the aggressiveness go away (they either pass out after drinking and getting wasted the whole sunday, or lose motor coordination and can´t button click anymore ). Even when I lose big (not the case today from what I´ve seen on the tables), I usually make a few stacks back this time. Let´goooooooooooo!!!!!

1933 hands played today. While I can´t be sure, think I made a profit. Unremarkable day again, but my expectations for this evening proved accurate: people way more calmer and passive

Can´t remember if I ever posted my story about how I learned about poker, and my early attempts before learning how to beat 2nl. So, here it goes:

Learned the basic rules, hand rankings etc during high school. We used to play Vampire The Masquerade during the intervals from class (#lolnerds). One day, everyone was tired of it so we decided to play something new. A friend taught us how to play 5 card draw.

Don´t remember any specifics, just the buy-in 10 BRL, which was equivalent to about 10 USD back in the day (brazilian currency fluctuates a lot between overvalued and undervalued levels, out of curiosity, 11 years ago it was less than 1.70 BRL for 1 USD, got higher than 4 during the worst of the 2014/16 crisis, than went all the way close to 3, and now is getting closer to 4 again).

Also remember that I won a lot, they dealt (or I drew, don´t remember) quad aces and a royal flush in my first 5 hands.

Poker fever came and disappeared very quickly, and it wasn´t until the mid/late 2000s that I would heard about it again. It was a lazy saturday morning and I remember watching High Stakes Poker, which was broadcasted by Fox Network here in my country I think. Out of curiosity, and seeing how many people were interested in this game, decided to relearn the basic rules, learned about online poker (pokerstars) and decided to try the play money.

Basic strategy that I remember reading was play tight and aggressive. My interpretation was: Play QQ+ very agressive, trying to move the money in preflop (easy at play money, anyone who played there know this right?), and limp called all broadways and TT-JJ. Ended up winning almost 1 million in 2 or 3 weeks playing NL1K (200 bbs deep).

Thinking that I was a genius, the next poker prodigy (sorry PokerPhilosopher, coudn´t miss the joke ), decided to deposit real money, 50 USD if I´m not mistaken. Was planning to shortstack NL1000 but stars didn´t allow that, so went all the way down to NL25. Somehow, managed to win a little bit, and decided to try NL50HU. I think I lost my roll in 2 or 3 days.

Not giving up, and thinking the problem was my bankroll, deposited 200 USD a few weeks later. Again, coudn´t sit in a NL1K table, so decided to see what other options I had. Found the MTTs and tried a few of them. Just as happen to a lot of donks, binked a 215 sattelite for one WCOOP event (again, not sure, but was one of these big series). It was a 2 day tournament, and I was pretty excited (and certain) that I would be the winner. Fortunately, I wouldn´t be able to play both days, and decided to convert it to T$ and grind HUSNGs. Idk why or how, but managed to breakeven at the 1.5 and 3.5 normal and turbos.

With my new roll, decided to go back to cash (NL1K), but I think the tables were full and fish doesn´t like to wait, so thought it would be nice to instead play a little bit lower. NL200FR seemed a better option, too BR-nitty I thought (2 buy-ins BRM for a level is too much for a genius playmoney millionaire), but np, instead of getting my million in 2 weeks, it would take 10 maybe. I was very patient back in the old days.

Anyway, I survived 5 days before losing it all, and actually won a little bit in the beginning. Also, I remember getting the HHs from stars a few years ago and I ran way belloow EV. My EV was positive over about 1k hands or so.

After recovering from the lifetilt and becoming interested again (took years, up to 2012 if I´m not mistaken), made another 50 USD deposit, and decided to try again MTTs. This time, I was more serious and found a nice little ebook about MTTSNGs, the old 4.40 180 man if I´m not mistaken. Boy, it was soft. Obv ran hot, but remember binking one and getting 2 fts in my first 10.

Also, found 2p2 and just by reading threads discovered tools like HEM, table ninja etc. Bought all of them and, by reading magorko´s first thread (2012 I think), decided that the best option to get rich quick was to masstable them, 24 to be exact. Obv, couldn´t concentrate in anything, the HUD was almost worthless since I wasn´t trained, so my basic method was just playing QQ+ and playing it very aggressive no mather what happened.

I think I lost about 10 buy-ins in 30k hands. Fortunately, I was becoming aware of a few things, was reading more, reading 2p2, and finally discovered a thread here about how to crush the microstakes. Began to win at 2nl. Later, found the old Blackrain79´s book, and it was all that I needed to win at 2nl a few years ago*.

*Btw, I played deepstacked in the old 40-250bbs tables, and think it was the biggest reason for my very low variance 2nl graph. Ironically, now I´m running away from playing deep lol.

That´s my story.

The thread I was talking about. Don´t think it works anymore, even at 2nl, but a few years ago it was enough to beat this game.

And my biggest inspiration , even though I never posted anything there.

I really admire your approach and dedication to the game man. I have no doubt you will have success as you move up. I wouldn't be shy in taking shots (sorry if you have discussed this earlier).

If you ever want to talk hands or honestly are interested in being staked for a couple of levels up send me a DM.

Good luck! Sub

1631 hands today. Tables seemed soft, more than I would expect for a monday. Even played vs 2 maniacs, but coudn´t get any playable hands or spots vs them, so had to let the other regs get the money for themselves.

I´m a little bit tired, so even though it´s still early, I won´t play more hands today. Probably just watch a movie and then fall asleep.

Thanks guys, will sub your threads. IllSkill, thank you for the kind words. Definitely want to talk hands, as soon as I move up again, will start to post HHs here so you guys can give your honest opinions and criticize my plays

About staking, I´m afraid I´ll have to refuse this one, as I can´t see myself having any motivation to grind if it´s not 100% my money there. But thanks, really appreciate your offer.

Cheers!

You're crushing the games you play, maybe you are tilting when you move up. I think with those results you could beat nl25 easily if you played in there like you played those 1m hands.

Gl, man!

vaaaaaaaaamoooo!