A while back you could play and beat the Mircostakes games by playing a TAG strategy, that is play tight, play position, play your good cards, can you still do this and beat the Mircostakes games? I mean the game has become so much harder than before because everyone has just gotten so much better, do you need advanced knowledge of the game to beat even the Mircostakes levels? This is true? What level does the game become serious and you will find very good players?(both online and live). I keep hearing and reading how the game is almost impossible to beat because the players at all levels(even the Mircostakes) are so good that you need advanced knowledge to beat the Mircostakes and you need even higher advanced knowledge to beat the higher up levels. How much truth is to that?

Also how has the game changed since, say the poker boom?

yes, you can beat the micro stakes by playing tight. there's still enough idiots about.

Going out on a limb here since I don't play online any more.

Yes, TAG will still do OK in the micros. My guess is that winrates will not approach the "standard" 4-6bb/100 that was common mid-late 2000s. But you should still be a winner...with added rakeback as a helper.

The thing I think is the heart of this question is....how does TAG play?.... because it does vary between this TAG and that TAG. In other words, TAGs come in different flavors and sizes. Some of these will be winners.

What kind of TAG do you need to be to be able win at Microstakes these days?

Thanks for the correction.

OP question is can I play like a robot and win?

Maybe at the lowest stakes. You really need to learn how to play to beat any level though.

TAG =/= good at poker, who knew?

A good one, obviously.
There are tons of average nitregs. Some do a little better than breakeven if they run well. Many give up after a while, when their dull strategy doesn't lead to good results. You have to keep working on your game.

How do you define a TAG?

Think of common things that TAGS do differently. Shorty answer is ALL TAGS run 11/9. All TAGs CBet an A-rag-rag board. All Tags raise with their good draws OOP. All statements are incorrect.

This should get you started on thinking about how you want to answer my question

/Socratic teaching

Fish question, but what do you play if not TAG, or your variation of TAG?

Basically, I'm looking to put as much money in when I'm (or think I am) ahead and until then wait for the right situation and play tight
For me it's more of a waiting game then anything else when I play..

It all depends, Persifal.

Even in the micros, if you hand read well..... you will find orphan pots all over the place that are yours if you dare take them. Please don't play poker using only hand strength to determine your level of activity. I know you did not specifically say you only use hand strength....

Micro learning lesson in here somewhere.......

If you play tight as a tick EXCEPT you actively seek out orphan pots (therefore no longer tight as a tick)..... your opponents might actually start looking you up more.... increasing your payout on your monsters. So 90% of the money you put into pot is because you have excellent equity. 10% you are trying to take advantage of one singular situation.....of which you win often (as a bluff?....no, as an orphan stealer)

Fun fact, you can orphan steal and get called. very likely villain will put money in on a later street and you can fold without showing your trash........ except two things. (1) you are in the hand from the start as a tight TAG,,so obv you had SOME value (equity). (2) you are smart enough to let it go. do not double barrel without VERY good reasons.

In game example: You call on the button 97o after a few limpers. (Is this too loose for a TAG? On the button, no. But really NOT FROM ANY OTHER SEAT please. This single point leads many graphs to spin downward)
The reason you play any hand is to BUST or BLUFF (see my COTM from 2009) So the flop misses you. But probably missed everyone else too. (There is a COTM related to flop texture. OWN that thread). Hand gets checked around. Throw out a 1/2 pot chip, scoop and muck. nh

Micro FR Concept of the Month Index.

GL

Which leads me to Part II.

Another TAG may be tight as a tick but his "specialty" is blind stealing.

parandy, what might be other examples of a tight TAG branching out....thus you can't comfortable put all TAGs in the same basket?

/Socratic teaching

I'm playing 5NL on PokerStars and the amount of bad players is surprising considering that I keep reading that online poker has become so much tougher. I guess people are talking mostly about mid and high stakes when they say that. I do some basic table-selection at 6-Max 5NL on PokerStars, and usually end up on a table with one or two whales and three or four TAGs and maybe one nit sometimes, and even of those TAG guys, usually only a couple of them have their post-flop game sorted. Just because a guy has TAG preflop stats doesn't make him a good player.

Personally, I think a more balanced strategy is better than just "playing tight", mostly because most of the tables will be made up of TAG players and fish. The ideal counter to a TAG player is not playing TAG yourself. So play LAG against the TAG guys and TAG, ABC-poker against the loose-passive fish. If there are any nits, just get out of their way if they show any interest in the hand and you don't have something very strong (although if you do happen to find a nit playing back at you while you're holding the nuts, you're pretty much guaranteed to get his stack).

One tip I might offer in my relative inexperience, is that I see a lot of TAG players that stack off light against the bad players, "because they're fish" and then get beaten when the "fish" turns a decent hand. I suspect they're doing things the wrong way round. Against the fish you want to make a strong hand and get him stacking-off with TPTK, you don't want to gamble with him with middling hands just because "he's a bad player so he couldn't have a hand".

All just my 2c. Before I get flamed, let me say, take it with a grain of salt. If I actually knew what I was talking about, I wouldn't be playing 5NL (although I am running up my bankroll at that limit currently).

Thank you for the links and advice King, much appreciated

The obvious question would be how to handle nit TAG's, fit or c-bet/fold types?

Hi King Spew, for me a TAG is someone who plays a tight game, bets their good hands, waits for good situations, you have provided very good information, I never knew their were different kinds of TAGS. I will digest all of your information and that will give a good idea of where I am at and how I need to play and thanks for the links and I will have lots of other questions, so be ready to answer them LOL.

1st rule about playing against TAGs might be to find the TAGs that are "sticky" (can't release a one-pair hand like AA or KQ w/ appropriate board) and make a color code note for quick reference.

How would you play THAT guy?

*tough to find when you are 6 tabling and don't HEM review session deep enough.

Against that kind of TAG, I would value bet hands two pair and slow play when I have his hand beat.

n e v e r s l o w p l a y a m o n s t e r against a sticky player.

NEVER say never in poker....except here, amirite?

Try to get at least two streets of values out of it, up to 3/4 pot bets as I want him to call, not fold. Run a lot of speculative hands against him.

I'd probably not be able to pot him, unless he 3 bets pre with something like AA/KK or runs two top pairs in a set...but then again, calling those bets (3bets) with speculative hands seems like a spew (poket pairs would be the best here IMHO)?..At least against just one caller. Against more than one I'm ok with calling.

I can only go on table info as a I play on Unibet so I no longer use any trackers and the tables are anonymous and random.