Hey guys, I just start playing 2NL 6 days ago, I've worked my way up to playing 12 tables, and had a few questions.

Before my friend got me to play on UB, I was reading Gus Hansen's Every Hand Revealed (iirc I heard about 2+2 in a Jimmy Fricke interview on how his mom visited the site), which I found to give me some nice knowledge on position and proper betting, but as far as what range I should be playing I quickly found out the difference between tournament and cash play, and the massive difference between the range you should be playing at 6 player tables vs. 9 player tables. So I tightened up, downloaded pokertrakcer, and have been up every day since and doubled my original $25 deposit.

I seem to get myself into trouble w/ medium pairs 88, 99, 1010. I have trouble telling far I should be willing to take these hands preflop. I always seem to get myself in to troublesome situations with these.

I'm also confused about what to do when 3 to a flush comes on the board vs. my set, usually if I have a set w/ a flush draw on the board I'll pot bet because I'd rather just pick up the pot right then, and I don't want to give them the odds to call.

So if anyone could direct me to where I could find more stuff on maximizing EV that'd much be appreciated.

I'm fairly comfortable playing large numbers of tables, because I just stopped playing a game called Warcraft 3 to come play poker, some people like Elky and Rider have had some success with this , so I'm comfortable playing a large number of tables, but I'm wondering at what stakes I should back off from playing a large number of tables to better focus on improving my game. I have a decent understanding of position, cbetting, pos raising, and pot odds, but I'd like to read some more stuff on it. A lot of these plays don't really seem to work at micro stakes either so I've just been playing solid tight poker.

I've heard a lot of different opinion on at how many buyins you should have before you move up to next level of blinds, but what is appropriate I've heard anywhere from 10 to 20 to even more.

Hey. Welcome to the forums.

I'm not exactly sure what all your questions are.. lol.

Read the stickies on the top of the forums for lots of FAQ. If you are unsure of the way you played a hand throw the hand history in the hand history converter and post it on this site. Many helpful people will give you some great insight.

When a 3 to a flush comes on the board and you flopped a set just bet for value. If someone flopped a flush on you it's just a cooler (with 2 suited cards you have like a 0.70 chance to flop a flush), besides you have a redraw to a full house. Just fire near pot sized bets for value. Don't be scared. However if the 4th flush card comes and you don't have that suit you have to slow down. Try to get a free card and get the board to pair for your full house. And stack some fish who thinks his flush is good.

As for number of buy ins. Personally I like more then 20. I like 30. Some people like 40. This is also a good number. Better safe then sorry. When you are just learning it's best to have that extra cushion to help protect you from a bad run of cards. And to cushion you from the buy ins you are going to lose that you wouldn't otherwise if you were a more experienced player.

As for the medium pairs. These are really situational. You should start posting these hands in the microstakes forums.

Gl

Regarding buy ins 20 is alright for 2nl because there is never a fear factor involved with losing 2 or 3 buyin in a bad session.When i moved up first to 5nl though i had about 23 buy ins and i was still afraid of losing a buy in.At one stage i lost 3 buy ins in about 15 mins with set over set/runner flushes and runner runner full house over my set.I **** myself and dropped down because i thought i wasnt good enough but it was just the mental factor,i lost 15 dollars where at 2nl it would have only been 6 dollars.So i still play 2nl occasionally to get confidence back and make sure i have a good roll before i move up again.Iv a 140 dollar roll now and im playing 5nl again,As you are moving up the limits dont rush into moving up and make sure u have a bit over 20 buy ins because you will play with scared money/ if your on a bad run you feel as though the level is too strong for you.Now if i drop 3 buy ins in a session i just think of it as 3 buy ins and that i still have another 20 in the bank to use.