I've been playing 2nl for a while, using nothing more than a starting hand chart. I took a break off everything computer related, but I couldn't keep away from poker, and I've started playing online again.

I would like to know, literally how do I improve? Anytime I try to read anything I feel so overwhelmed with information and I'm not sure what I should learn first.

I have Holdem Manager 2, which I don't really know how to use, so all I use it for is to revisit my hands after a session.

Here is my graph (all hands)

[IMG]http://s13.************/loena8nzr/allhands.jpg[/IMG]

And here are my stats according to HEM2

VPIP% 9.9
PFR% 7.2
3bet% 0.9
vs 3bet call% 23.8
4bet range 1.2
Sqz% 0.8

I realise you guys probably get asked this all the time but I feel so lost at the moment, I just need a friendly shove in the right direction. Since I've started playing again recently, I've forgotten pretty much everything, and I feel like I am making zero progress.

Thanks in advance..

Sklanksy has two books that I think are required reading when you are starting out in poker. The first one is "Theory of Poker" which is great for the basics and then he has one called "No Limit Hold 'em: Theory and Practice" which is specifically focused on NLHE. If you read those two from cover to cover several times and actually understand it, it would be hard not to be able to move up out of $2NL, $5NL, and $10NL on a site like PokerStars where there are a ton of players.

After that, you should just do a lot of learning at the table. Basically ask yourself :

- Where am I making my money?
- Which players?
- How?
- What mistakes are they making?
- How am I exploiting them?
- What are other players doing to lose money?
- The other players that make money - what are THEY doing differently?

... and so on.

That's a good and manageable place to START.

get that 9/7/0.9 to about 22/17/7 first

I hate to sound so cliche but practice, practice, practice.

I literally can't stress this enough. I started out at poker, did terrible, got better, went through a few downswings, got better, played more, etc etc

Only after playing a HUGE sample size of hands can you truly determine if continuing to play poker and getting better at it is +EV for you in the long run.

I think for someone playing 2nl, the micro-stakes threads should have plenty to offer.

There is one for 6max NL and also 9max NL

Post some hands that you find difficult, and try to understand the reasoning behind any strategy related comments you receive.

Reading and commenting of the threads of other micro players should also be beneficial.

I think live coach is a great option too.
My coach helped me to understand a lot of things that I couldn't get from the books.

Tsk Tsk Tsk, such awful answers so far. I'm disappointed in you guys!

The books that have been recommended on post 2 have some good content. However the author has never even played at 2NL or 5NL so a lot of the book will tell you to do things that aren't appropriate for this stake.

Practice is always advised, but practice does not make perfect.... PERFECT PRACTICE MAKES PERMANENT. This basically means you need to focus on quality and not quantity for a while until you develop the skills needed for profitable poker. Play 30 minute sessions with 10 minutes rest as a started as you try out new things. However, do these more frequently to make up for volume.

The problem with posting hands on the 6maxNL thread is you get answers from players who are on 25NL and higher stakes who have different postflop abilities and better decision making skills resulting in them giving their opinion on what they would do but you might not have the skill level they do. The result of this is you trying something you are not capable of and making bad decisions that cost you money.

If you want to crush 2NL and 5NL, there is only one book you need:

http://www.blackrain79.com/p/book.html

In a nutshell: Learn Less and Master More.

Crushing 2NL and 5NL isn't about reading as many books or learning about whatever theory, it isn't about complex ranging, combinatorics or anything else even remotely like that. I personally wouldn't even consider learning handreading yet at 2NL as people are too unpredictable and are near enough unreadable because of it.

Crushing 2NL is all about having initiative, position and strong holecards. It is about the absolute fundamentals of "Playing your cards and not your opponents". This is level 1 poker or ABC poker. The only thing you need to consider from your opponents is their betting patterns and what they tell you. It is about the stuff you already know but haven't mastered:

1.) Don't bluff or try and do fancy plays.
2.) Play supertight in early position, Play loose (40-50%) on the button.
3.) Bet big for value when you have it, bet huge and reraise when you have the nuts or close to it (top 2 pair or better on a safe board (no completed draws)).
4.) Fold good hands in situations where your opponents betting patterns show they have you beat (trips on a board with completed draws....etc).
5.) All players at 2NL are bad, try to find the worst players and a way to exploit them. Keep exploiting them.

Read that book and it will reveal everything! It is the BIBLE for 2NL and 5NL.

Good luck!

OP, it is pretty overwhelming, so I feel your pain. You are getting good info ITT, so keep reading.

I recommend you read the stickies in this forum as a starting point. Just work your way through them.

Ask questions, post hands and get feedback, this place is a great resource and you'll get all the info you need. You will often get pretty "tough love" type responses to hands so I suggest focus on the content rather than the tone when you see a reply like "What the hell were you thinking OP?!".

Ironic, because there's poor advice in your post.

I agree with getting Crushing The Micros and absorbing position and card strength ASAP, also practice is key.

It's incorrect to advise against posting hands for feedback in those forums, yes you get comparatively expert advice. This is not a bad thing. You get varying advice to most questions in poker (see this thread), so learning to filter advice is part of the deal.

Your suggestion about not playing your opponent is outright terrible. Exploitation is crucial to poker and 2NL is the best place to start because the main fish types (loose passives and maniacs) are extremely easy to find and exploit. This learning process should begin now.

Not learning poker maths is bad as well, pot odds and implied odds to call are fundamental.

To play level 2 poker based on your opponents, you need someone who is fairly predictable who plays systematically and consistent with a strategy.

2NL is an absolute circus with players who do not follow set tendencies for long resulting in people who follow your suggestion above losing money when the villain does something unpredictable. You cannot play your opponent successfully enough at this stake to make it profitable in the long run and you will quite often lose when they suddenly don't play how you thought they would.

Also, as so much money is being made through level 1 abc poker...2NL is not the place to learn how to play level 2 poker. I'd keep that for 10NL and above, perhaps you could start learning it a little more at 5NL but 2NL is a joke and a circus. This means you should only play your cards well and focus on your opponents betting patterns only.

I agree with table selection and it is included in the ebook, I also agree with targeting players who you can see are bad and you can recognize mistakes they make...but that is about it with regards to playing your opponents.

Point 5: Don't forget I said that!


I started this thread in response to things on here=> http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/32...-book-1415037/

As poker is situational, I have generalized a lot of things for simplicity but I believe the 10 points if followed will allow people to win 2NL!

I wrote a long post, then realised you had written lengthily about not exploiting people and then you said to exploit them.

So yeah, we should exploit them, the basics are not complicated and the process should start at 2NL.

You have to exploit players at 2NL a little differently, hence the contradiction:

1.) Don't try to put them on a range or a specific hand, however if they bet quite aggressively then always assume they are incredibly strong or have the near nuts.

2.) Keep your eyes on their VPIP and Postflop aggression factor. If VPIP is high at around 25+ (6max) or 20+ (Full Ring) and their postflop aggressior is very low (1.5 or below) then you have found a fish and should value bet heavily against them. However, you should also respect their raises more as they are passive.

3.) Nits are generally awful postflop and will not fold their strong starting hands postflop so aim to value bet your flushes and straights against them as most will not even considering what your strength is.

4.) Anybody with a postflop agg factor of below 1 should be considered as a mouse and overly timid. Any significant aggression will normally make these players fold so value bet smaller against them.

5.) Find the inelastic threshold relevant to your villain.

6.) Anyone with an agg factor of above 5.0 you should aim to induce bluffs from when you are super strong.

All this talk about not bluffing etc etc is just plain wrong. You need to learn how to put pressure on weak ranges from the start if you want to move up and be successful.

OP, if you want PM me I'll look over some of your hands, or sweat one of your sessions.

It's hard to simply outline a plan to improve, since poker is a very dynamic game, even at the micros. I also feel that a lot of posters don't give micro players as much credit as they deserve because they themselves are way head. For a new player, regardless of how terrible the other players are, the micros are challenging and even frustrating for many. While micro players aren't good, they know a lot more than you think and it doesn't take a genius to Google "poker strategy" and do some light reading on the importance of position, odds, outs, hand strength, etc. and even that small amount will improve their game tremendously.

The best advice I can think of is probably the broadest and most repeated. Pay close attention to position, hand strength, odds, outs, and be very aggressive when you have it. Value bet as much as you can. Don't get fancy with any plays, bet and raise when you have it and when in position, fold and check when you don't. Learning to fold has probably been one of the hardest things for me. Micro players lead passive lives, they check, they call, they fold. They don't bet out or raise until they connect something strong, so pay attention and re-evaluate the strength of your hand when they do donk bet, raise, etc. because most likely it means they have something big.

Aside from that, just plain play the game and review hands, post hands, etc. You will likely lose money starting out, just stick with it and pay attention to where you failed and why.

This is true, even at 2NL most players are trying to win. They may be really really bad at it but I think most of them have at least read something about how to play poker, even if they butcher the application.

To improve in anything, u have to practice. The more time you put in, the better your skill will be, but in poker there are crazy donk players here and there that mess up the play. Just have to play with an open mind.

This.

2 outers and 1 outers WILL bust you short term. Long term you can have the bankroll/experience to bounce back.

Nope.

What you practice matters a lot more than the Quantity of practice.

Perfect Practice makes Permanent.

What that basically means is whatever you do when you practice, you will reinforce and make it into a habit. If you play poorly when you practice and keep playing poorly, you will reinforce this bad habit meaning you will become even better at losing poker. This is why it is important to ensure you are practicing the correct techniques at all times during your games and stop when you no longer have the focus to play using the techniques you wish to practice.

I've recently started having a small 3-minute break every 15 minutes as I am learning a few new skills and need to focus on quality which I can only achieve from focusing hard for 15 minutes then resting. I play zoom so it is easily done for me with this method.

Really try to focus on what you are practicing and ensure it is a Quality then Quantity approach.

Wow, such great advice in this thread, thanks to everyone who replied.

Yesterday I bought the book "Crushing the Microstakes" by Nathan Williams. I read about 80 pages in and my immediate thoughts are 'wow, it's going to take a long time to make all these adjustments to my play'.

So since yesterday I've been working on making my own range of starting hands wider, and understanding my opponents stats with holdem manager. My plan is to take one new concept and apply it to my game until I understand it completely.

Thanks again for the replies and advice. I can assure you I found it all valuable and will act on all of it.

Probably a dece book choice for a modern online poker newb, post hh is micro nl of tricky spots will help you.

Thanks DrDanimal I will certainly be doing that also, starting right now