I dont have a lot of money to spend. My roll just shrunk from 280 to 220 in about 4 or 5 hours worth of playtime. I mostly played 5.50 mtt's and sng's where I lost mostly very close pots which Im not sure if it's variance or me just playing poorly. I've been losing with stuff like w/ QQ to AK, 88 to TT, KK vs AA. Its getting really frustrating.

So I took a little break from tournaments to play cash.

I've been playing the same game that I was crushing 5nl with. I don't play a ton of hands maybe (18-21vpip) and I generally don't cbet when I miss flops. The hand I lose the most with BY far is AK. I often 3bet pre with it and obviously AK misses the flop a ton of the time so I just end up giving it up to flop agression when I know they arent hitting as often as they cbet.

I think my problem is I am too weak-tight. I'm not very agressive postflop and I dont reraise cbets a lot like I know I should. I just don't know how to apply agression postflop, this is a huge huge huge leak I want to fix because people pick up on how weak I am postflop only after a few pots I get involved with and then they abuse me. Some guys will cbet behind me like 85% of the time and I just never know how to play back at them and It really really frustrates me.


So my roll now is $220 and I'm going to move back down to 3.40 sng/mtt and 5nl. As I try to grow my roll, whats the best way to improve without it costing a lot of money? I read some books but I really dont spend enough time learning the game as I know I should be in order to move up. I dont have HEM/PT3, I dont post hand histories all that much, I don't have anyone sweat me or coach me, I dont watch videos at all. All I do is play a lot of hands.

I have not been a good student, and it has most definitely hurt me.

The trajectory I set for myself was play uNL and move up as long as I was winning, try to make it to $500, cash out some of my roll to buy HEM and a stox/deucescracked year acct and go from there. Now I know that's not going to work unless I grind 5nl like a madman for another unbearable amount of hands. I think it would be +ev to buy some poker resource to improve my game over that period of time because of how it will help my winrate.

So now I ask, how do I move up to 10nl and not get abused like I have been without really making a gianormous dent in my roll? I can't buy everything I want all at once but I need to get something because 10nl is killing me.

Thanks.

Void06 on aim btw if anyone would be inclined to hit me up I would be very appreciative.

Poker Stars $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

BB: $14.55
UTG: $32.60
MP: $12.95
CO: $14.70
BTN: $32.45
Hero (SB): $14.20

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is SB with 7 7
1 fold, MP raises to $0.30, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.25, BB calls $0.20

Flop: ($0.90) Q J A (3 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, MP checks

Turn: ($0.90) 7 (3 players)
Hero bets $0.60, BB raises to $1.50, MP folds, Hero raises to $4, BB raises to $14.25 all in, Hero calls $9.90 all in

River: ($28.70) 5 (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $28.70
BB shows K T (a straight, Ten to Ace)
Hero shows 7 7 (three of a kind, Sevens)
BB wins $27.30
(Rake: $1.40)

multiply this hand like 6 or 7 times and thats a summary of all my money went in 10nl

thats a tough play, because he had a stand raise PF. Then he slow played the nut straight, as one probably should as that level.

You flopping trips was just the nail in the coffin I think.
Think of it this way though, that flop was extremely coordinated. So the chance for a monster hand was great. You have a low pocket pair. Your opponet could be slow playing trips on any of those. You essentially have the best in a series of bad hands, so you might want to keep the pot small. The better move (in hindsight of course) would be to simply call his first raise.
If he bet again with the 5h hitting, i'd be suspicious. Depending on the raise/bet size, you'll have to make a judgement call about folding. Your trips might work on a less coordinated board, and without the flush completing it might even appear good.
one piece of advice I always recite to myself as someone blows a pot up large is : "small hands, small pots. big hands, big pots". It's the price reason why you don't get too crazy with a TPTK on any type of coordinated board.

Hope that helps a little, don't get too discouraged, changing levels can be a very difficult and frustrating process.

Well KT entered my mind but its supposed to be a weaker hand or so I've been told. The fact that he raised in mp made me think it was a stronger hand like AK AQ or AJ. I thought it was a pair and maybe a straight or flush draw. I am ahead of all those hands and only behind KT and JJ AA QQ. I dont think he'd be giving a free card with a set on a board that coardinated so I really thought I was way ahead. I suppose I should have just called and re-evaled the river.

I can't fault the aggressiveness, I do the same thing, and is in fact something I'm trying to learn to control; running into traps.

Dropping ~10 buy-ins in tournaments is standard. You're rolled for the SNGs, but not for the MTTs. As far as play on individual hands and how they are played in these structures, post HH's in their respective forums.

You are rolled for 10NL, but might want to drop down to work on your aggression, not sure where you are getting your stats, since you say you don't have a tracker program. Be sure you are not overestimating your play.

Tight aggressive play wins at this level, you may be seeing a difference between 5NL and 10NL due to the typical effective stack size difference (200bb v. 100bb) the passive approach with the deep stacks may compensate for the bets you throw away when you give up on hands.

Don't go throwing money around think it will be magic formula for your game. Use the 60 day trial of PT3. Play 5NL, post hands in the uNL forums and read the posts for 5NL-25NL. By the end of the 60 days, you should have enough to buy HEM (cheaper for the micro edition), and feel ready for 10NL. You should probably focus on either SNGs or cash for now, MTTs are too high variance, just grind it out.

I would have raised or folded the 77 at that stake in that spot. Villain can def have k10 there and we don't know for sure what the other caller had. At that point if u get re-raised u can easily fold the 77 and if he just calls, u hit your set and collect. If villain just calls and with his k 10 its a -ev call and if he gets lucky and hits broadway then lucky him. More times than not they will fold or not hit the flop nearly as hard as u did. He got lucky and you got coolered. You could have got away from that, but I say this having done the same thing u did . It's ok because that call will be profitable in the long run as u will have the best hand there 90% of the time.

thats a great thing to do, i'm playing 5NL right now as well and am using the PT3 60 day trial. i hope to have made enough money after those sixty days to buy it, because it really helps my game alot.

Sounds like you already know what you are doing wrong... Take a break from playing and try studying the game a bit..

In regards to the KT v 77 hand .. its basically a cooler.. hes going to have a tonne of two pair hands that he'll stack off with..

Other than than, you know what you have to do to get better, so do it.

downswings happen all the time. suck it up and get used to it.

get pokertracker and look at ur stats

One of the problems in your game you said was people cbetting behind you like 85% of the time. Going with the easiest way to fix this problem, play less hands out of position.

I think in that situation, the best hand he can have is AQ AJ QJ two pair, becuause that 7 couldn't have helped him as well, so he must be slow playing something. All of these things he's slow playing have outs against you, and he might have a flush draw with it JK or JT of clubs, though less likely of course.

As such, that was a nasty situation, but still, I think putting it all in there is the right play, and you're not to blame. It's sad that that 7 had to come, and it's sad that you had almost 150bbs to stack off with, but that's poker.

As for improving-- eh, you need to study, but it could be varaince as well. I had 28bb/100 for almsot 1k hands at 25NL at one time, and that is definitely NOT my winrate.

As for dealing with C-bet, it really comes with experience, and I've gotten a lot better, trying to find a pattern; HUD stats like C-Bet percentages, fold to reraise, etc, and general weakness. For C-betting, see if a player would float with overcards, which lets you know whether you should check/fold when the ace comes, or if you might actually think the ace is a scare card, etc, and you need to start picking up reads on your opponents more-- I think that's where a winning micro stakes player slowly becomes a winning small stakes player, and probably beyond.

I'm still in that transition, but stuff like that has been really helpful to me.

By the way, try HEM! I prefer it by far.

Read all these......twice.

Micro Stakes Sticky
2+2 SSNL Master Sticky
Small/Micro Stakes Video Collection
Anthology

By the time you've watched all the videos in the third link you should have enough to sign up to a subscription site. Almost all training sites have free samples as well so go around to all of the sites and watch them.

Post hand histories you had problems with, that 77 hand is just a cooler don't worry about it. Because the BB wasn't the PFR he could easily have been checking 2 pair/pair + FD/etc. to the PFR looking to check raise, he doesn't even have to be slowplaying, checking a big hand to the PFR is pretty standard. Once the PFR checks behind he can even be bluff raising if he thinks you're just taking a stab.

Also, RESPOND TO OTHER PEOPLE'S HAND HISTORIES, having to go through a logical thought process and put it into words over and over again will be a huge help for your game. Having other people comment on your thought process and tell you it's bad/wrong will be a huge help as well (provided you've got a thick skin).

Playing is important but you have to put in the hours away from the table as well if you want to improve.

Regarding dealing with cbets. First of all you probably shouldn't be calling opens too light, you want to be the one raising preflop. You don't have the ability to coldcall a wide range profitably yet so just avoid it until you get better. That said, if you do decide to coldcall, the best spots to bluffraise are spots where you have overcards and backdoor outs. For example if you called an open with KhQh and the flop was Js7h3s that's a great spot to bluff raise because any K or Q often gives you the best hand, any heart gives you a flush draw and any A,T or 9 gives you a straight draw. What that means is that there's loads of cards which will improve you on the turn and allow you to follow up with a second barrel while having additional equity. Additionally, if a spade rolls off you can represent that you were raising with a flush draw and get him to fold.

It's worth noting that at 5nl/10nl right up to 100nl/200nl you don't need to bluff that much to make a substantial profit. Most player's mistakes will be to call too much so to exploit that we want to bluff less and value bet more.

Also, I believe HEM offer a 15 day free trial so you could download it, import your hands and post screenshots of your stats here so we could point out any leaks you may have. If you do decide to do this post a screenshot of the "by stakes" screen and the "by position" screen under the reports tab.

Don't worry about playing back at people at NL10. Villains aren't thinking at this level and won't fold bottom pair or any draw. Almost all bluffing, other than c-betting, is spew at NL10.

Getting coolered a bunch doesn't mean anything.

When I was starting out trying to build a roll at 5nl stakes I was given the advice by the 2+2ers to play pretty tight, mostly in late position, DO NOT c-bet that often because they'll call you down, but value bet relentlessly when you have a good hand.
I'll give you an example:

I raised in the cutoff with 88. The SB and BB called me. Flop comes 8h 2d 4s. Both check to me and I bet. SB called me and BB shoved. I called and the SB called. SB turned over A8. BB turned over A3. I read in the chat after the hand was over the BB was talking to the SB and saying that he (me) raised preflop so there is no way he could've hit that flop so I (BB) knew that my Ace high was good against that fish (me ). The SB was ranting on that he got so unlucky that his top pair "didn't hold up".

Now you tell me, why would you ever think about c-betting these idiots. They are non-believers and will pay you off big when you have hands. C-betting is something you should add to your arsenal when you move up in stakes. For now just play tight and get max value out of your hands.

PS: also mind you that there are actually (very few) tables, even at these stakes, where people will respect your raises and flop bets. At these tables you should steal blinds and c-bet relentlessly. But don't go overboard. Sometimes they will trap you.

I must say that's pretty epic.

At first I used to keep my chat off but then I turned it on because it's so amusing to read what these guys who think they know everything about the game talk "strategy"

this is true i was sitting in a cashgame and one guy was giving us all his super secret advice. we should play MTTs and stall every hand untill we reach our timebank. that way the people on other tables would hit all those bad beats PS sets up instead of us so that youll always ended up in the money. he ended by saying he cashed in 7 out 11 MTTs where he did that.

now that was pretty funny but what you describe was even more epic.

I hate life.


Poker Stars $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

Hero (MP): $13.90
CO: $12.00
BTN: $1.85
SB: $9.90
BB: $12.10
UTG: $17.35

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is MP with 9 9
UTG raises to $0.30, Hero calls $0.30, CO calls $0.30, 2 folds, BB calls $0.20

Flop: ($1.25) J 9 Q (4 players)
BB checks, UTG bets $1.20, Hero raises to $2.70, CO folds, BB folds, UTG calls $1.50

Turn: ($6.65) 2 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $5, UTG calls $5

River: ($16.65) 8 (2 players)
UTG bets $5.90, Hero says "nice catch", Hero calls $5.90 all in

Final Pot: $28.45
Hero shows 9 9 (three of a kind, Nines)
UTG shows T Q (a straight, Eight to Queen)
UTG wins $27.10
(Rake: $1.35)



Down $80 now at 10nl.

So far I hit about 10 sets in about maybe 150 pps preflop and lost half those pots. I can't take it.

You're just running bad.

I'm beating 10 NL at ~10bb/100, but tonight I am down 4 buyins.

Flush over flush twice.
Ran KK into AA twice pre-flop.
Bad beats left and right.

Ended -$42.

Running bad :P Can't do anything about it.

I am a lifetime winner at both 10nl and 25nl over a pretty significant sample. That said, I have had multiple 4 and 5 buy-in downswings and even a few 8 buy-in downswings, and even an 12 buy-in down swing. Happens.

The most recent downswing happened on Stars when I went down 8 buy-ins at 10nl. I am now back up 6 of those and almost completely recovered. If your game is solid, you will get back to even and then some, I assure you.

It's not that I'm out of position, I kinda said that wrong. (Preflop I am very selective with hands I play OOP. Like AQ+, KQs, and 22+. It's more the fact that I am weak postflop (although pretty agressive preflop) and people know they can push me off of hands quite easily because it's actually true. If I'm in position they will lead out with a big raise and OOP they will always reraise me if I bet or just try to push me off far more often then they have a hand. Like if I have AQ and the flop is 359r I check it and they will bet that spot well over 70% of the time and I usually just fold. I find it hard to fire multiple barrels when I don't hit the flop or turn despite the fact I know some of the times they are not ahead of me.

I think what is throwing me off is the bet sizing. Whereas in 5nl 50% of the pot might be .50 now it's a dollar or 1.20 and I THINK what my reaction is... "they make a big bet -> it's a bluff -> punish them with a weak hand like tpgk"

I'm spewing a lot just building big pots with small hands because for whatever reason it just feels to me like people are being much more aggressive at 10nl. I'm trying to play back without made hands too because I always just get the feel that they are behind me. Maybe I just need to nit it up, it works at 2nl and 5nl. I'm trying too hard to play "real poker" I suppose but at 10nl it's really just spew.

Get out of your weak tight mindset and start to get aggro..