I have read quite a few books on poker, GTO, etc. I have my ranges memorized. I have the math down-pat for the most part. However, I consistently lose online and in-person.

I believe it comes down to two things:

1) I am afraid my opponent *could* possibly have a better hand. I will have JJ and get 3-bet, and I will go all-in and get snapped by aces. Or, I'll have the nut straight but be worried about the flush. I wind up over-folding to non-nutted hands.

2) I am too worried about my opponent bluffing. So, after folding to a few river all-in shoves by my opponents with a non-nutted hand, I will then call in that position and my opponent, of course, will have the nuts. Seems when they try to bluff me I fold, and when they don't bluff me I call. Just always feels that way.

So, basically, my opponents bluff me or over-raise me and I fold with the better hand. Or, when I get fed up or *think* I have the best hand, I call or raise and get beaten by the nutted or better hand. Seems like I'm always on the wrong side of the fence.

What is your question?

Thank you. I did kinda forget to ask the question. My question is...

What can I do to stop losing given the above? How can I adjust my game so I don't get railroaded by bluffers and over-agressive players at the same time finding ways to call the big flop/turn/river bets when I don't have the cold nuts (say middle pair) but actually do have the better hand? Like I said, I'm either calling my opponent's value bet and getting crushed or folding to a bluff, and I keep losing. What can I do to stop losing? lol

This post sounds a bit more like whining than looking for productive answers. Obviously there's no way you're only calling vs value and only folding vs bluffs. There's also not nearly enough information about your play to give productive advice.

I suggest posting some hand histories or your stats over a decent sample and getting more concrete feedback. Odds are you're making lots of mistakes you don't even realize you're making.

The only way you're going to fold to all of your opponents' value hands and hero call all of your opponents' bluffs is by having the name Mike Postle.

I find it strange that you ask this question when you have read GTO books.

Because GTO will tell you to balance your ranges in such a way that your opponents can't exploit you. However this doesn't mean that you will never fold to a bluff. Or that you will never call with the second best hand OTR.

However it will get the chips to your stack in the long run. And unless you warship John Keynes this is going to be how you will have to do it.

Are you facing a bet OTR and are you debating a hero call? Find out where you are in your range.

Debating a value bet OTR? Find out how many combo's villian has in his range that we can get value from.

Just play your ranges and you don't have to doubt everything.

Start with the absolute basics and post your "GTO RFI's" and then post a screenshot of your stats.

Post some hands in the micro-stakes subforum also. No one can answer your question without additional information other than saying, git gud kid.

I think, after some thought, I can drill the question down a bit. I'm not looking for exact specifics on specific hands because this is such a generic question/problem. I have a really really tough time with LAGs. When I'm doing HU 1v1 poker, anyone with 75+ VPIP, 25+PFR and 10+ 3-bet just crushes me. I think in general, even though it will sounds stupid, I try to play poker in a mathematical way to try to guarantee wins and reduce variance/luck. So when I have A2 off and I get 3 bet to 25% of my stack against a huge LAG with those above numbers, I freeze and usually fold. Then, my stack gets whittled down, and I get forced to all-in with a bad hand on a weak stack.

Somehow, these LAGs seem to be post-flop oracles and fold when I hit it big, but sometimes they will 3 bet and jam on the river with 64 off and have nothing on the board (I've caught a few). When I'm playing 9-ring games, I constantly lose blinds, raises, etc. to super aggressive LAGs. So, I have a problem with aggression when I don't have the absolute nuts.

Do you guys adjust ranges when playing LAGs? Maybe an exploitative strategy that opens your range and you just 4-bet the LAG with QJs or KJo or something? I'm not sure how to approach them.

lags are entitled to more bluffs(raw combo numbers, not %) because they hold more value hands(raw value combos).

funny thing about bluffcatching is that calling flop or turn bets with near pure(no draws) bluffcatchers is typically a mistake unless you expect very cheap or free showdown in no limit holdem.

this is why(relative to my best estimates of gto frequencies) preflop, flop, and turn I call more draws and bluffcatchers vs players that check more often on later streets. its also why i call less draws and bluffcatchers vs players that bet more often on later streets. its about equity realization.

think about (gto ev) for your opponent, compare to (acutal ev) for your opponent, figure out where they're losing ev. this is where you can earn exploitive profit.

Exploit. Get ready to lose chips, in order to gain information. The issue is you need more information on player tendencies.

if raise heavy players are exploiting you then you’ll need to learn how to call down more against them. Try and keep the pots small and showdown with top pair weak kickers and 2nd pairs on dry boards.

Keep this vague rule of thumb in mind: raise abuser (agtard) > fold abuser (too nitty) > call abuser (call station) > raise abuser