I just played my first ever fullring RushPoker (NL50) session and now got some questions concerning my opponents and strategy in general. I know the post is really long, but i would really appreciate if someone with a lot more experience would take the time and read through it.

Some things about myself: I'm a semi-professional HU sng player with a lot of experience in shorthanded games, although i haven't played them for at least 2 years. I've never played fullring cashgames before, but a friend of mine told me about the Rushpoker games on FTP, and after my first session, i think playing these was one of the best decisions i ever made, despite the fact that i got my butt kicked in this session :P In some spots it may seem like i'm being resultsorientated, but rest assured i know not to be, even though i guess some of my ideas are rather radical

So now to my questions:

basically in most big pots i lost today, i'm wondering if i was too loose. a logical assumption, given the type of dynamic i'm used to play.

I already use a very very tight strategy, and by what i've seen today I'm totally justified in doing so But I'm especially wondering about how to best play QQ and AK. I got QQ allin preflop 3 times today and always run into AA or KK. I'm definitly 3betting QQ, but is it really a good idea to 5betshove them? because most players are so so weak, i don't really think anyone is ever 4betting anything i beat. so i'm basically hoping to flip or split against QQ or AK. so is 3bet/folding AK and QQ an option? Or Am I leaving value on the table? (This, of course, just concerns me against fullstacked opponents obv.)

and i obv have the same problem when 4 betting QQ. as few people 3bet anything i beat and basically noones ever calling with anything i beat, should i just flat them to keep at least some dominated hands in (99,TT,JJ,AQ)? seems like a strange thing to do, as i need to hit a perfect flop to get anything out of it.

Btw, I'm already flatting AK a lot in position if only one player entered the pot. like someones raising utg, I'm in CO, i just flat AK, because i dont really see a lot of player raise/calling anything i beat in early position and to use my huge perceived postflop edge.



By what I've seen, the general tendency is to be really nitty when it comes to 3betting, but not when it comes to 3betcalling. especially this hand stunned me:


Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) - Full Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($21.25)
BB ($145.50)
UTG ($44.60)
UTG+1 ($50)
MP1 ($50)
MP2 ($75.65)
MP3 ($18)
Hero (CO) ($50)
Button ($50)

Preflop: Hero is CO with A, A
2 folds, MP1 bets $1.50, MP2 calls $1.50, 1 fold, Hero raises to $5.75, 3 folds, MP1 calls $4.25, MP2 calls $4.25

Flop: ($18) 9, 5, 8 (3 players)
MP1 checks, MP2 checks, Hero bets $13.25, MP1 calls $13.25, MP2 calls $13.25

Turn: ($57.75) 7 (3 players)
MP1 checks, MP2 checks, Hero bets $31 (All-In), MP1 calls $31 (All-In), MP2 calls $31

River: ($150.75) 5 (3 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $150.75 | Rake: $3


I was basically expecting to see TT and JJ or AKhh, maybe sometimes weirdly played AA, KK, QQ and sometimes get my asskicked by 99. I though that both don't really have any 6x in their ranges. I was totally stunned when i saw their hands. So my question is: is this kind of preflop behaviour standart at these games? or did i just ran into the two dumbest nuts in the bowl? and if it is, should i kind of try to potcontrol here? i don't really see how i can potcontrol this, but if people call with these types of hands, i expect to see a lot of sets/two pairs here when i get it in. is 3betting a lot bigger an option?


So the last thing i noticed is that people are really weak, nitty and passsiv postflop and that there are much more good hands than I'm just to. set over set and these kind of things seem to happen fairly often. basically whenever i got raised i saw a set. I'm used to be wonderfully happy when going broke with tp, but maybe i shouldn't be when playing fullring games. especially c/r seems to indicate that i should be folding anything but the nuts. correct me if i'm wrong

i think the best thing is to just post some hands i'm worried about.

btw, folding any of these hands seems waaaay to nitty to me, but again, i'm really concerned that i may have a wrong picture of these games. especially in the bottomset hand it seems totally ridiculous to even ask if i should ever fold here, but again i just wanna make sure, because i heard storys about very good player folding bottomsets in fullring games. but maybe that was live, i dont really know


Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) - Full Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (UTG+1) ($59.05)
MP1 ($108.80)
MP2 ($38.75)
MP3 ($6)
CO ($20)
Button ($50)
SB ($51.85)
BB ($20.75)
UTG ($31.25)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with K, A
1 fold, Hero bets $2, MP1 calls $2, 6 folds

Flop: ($4.75) 6, K, 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $3.75, MP1 raises to $16, Hero raises to $57.05 (All-In), MP1 calls $41.05

Turn: ($118.85) 10 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($118.85) 2 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $118.85 | Rake: $3


If i don't get it in on this flop, i never do. but than again, most people are not raising draws here, so i just beat KQ, and get my asskicked by all sets and 2pairs.



Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) - Full Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($25.30)
SB ($37.50)
Hero (BB) ($50)
UTG ($51.60)
UTG+1 ($46.75)
MP1 ($53.95)
MP2 ($80.75)
MP3 ($22.70)
CO ($139.05)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 8, A
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.50, MP1 calls $0.50, 4 folds, SB calls $0.25, Hero checks

Flop: ($2) 3, 5, A (4 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.25, 1 fold, MP1 calls $1.25, 1 fold

Turn: ($4.50) 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $3.75, MP1 raises to $7.50, Hero raises to $24.25, MP1 raises to $41, Hero raises to $48.25 (All-In), MP1 calls $7.25

River: ($101) 9 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $101 | Rake: $3


His Minraise on the turn looks SOOOOOOOOOO super strong. that's why I seriously though about folding here. his small 4bet makes clear that i'm beat, but now i think i'm priced in.



Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) - Full Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP2 ($50)
Hero (MP3) ($71.50)
CO ($11.50)
Button ($29.20)
SB ($25)
BB ($29.05)
UTG ($20.75)
UTG+1 ($50)
MP1 ($20.25)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with 5, 5
3 folds, MP2 bets $1.75, Hero calls $1.75, 1 fold, Button calls $1.75, 2 folds

Flop: ($6) 6, 5, J (3 players)
MP2 checks, Hero bets $4.75, Button raises to $10, 1 fold, Hero raises to $69.75 (All-In), Button calls $17.45 (All-In)

Turn: ($60.90) 7 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($60.90) 3 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $60.90 | Rake: $3


Okay, honestly, i don't think i can ever fold this, and it stands more as an example for the described bottomset question. the question is as mentioned above: is there any situation at all in which i should find a fold with a set on the flop.


Thank you to anyone who took the time to read through all this. And sorry to anyone who thinks i'm wasting his time

I have absolutely no idea what you are asking here or what the hands you posted are supposed to represent. I do have the vibe though that I think you are missing some key fundamentals and you might want to play further down into the micros for now and do some serious reading and studying.

okay... this kinda surprises me... I've never played fullring before and was told that these games were so bad that i should be able to beat them fairly easy with the handreading skills i got as a heads up player. it seems like this is not the case...

When playing HU SNGs, how often were you and your opponent sitting with 100+ big blinds? I'm guessing your hand reading skillset is tailored to the 20-40 big blind range where getting it in on the flop (or turn in #3) is probably fine.

in answer to your question

yes. dynamics at full ring are dramatically different.

your bluff calling range=your stack off range because you play sngs. while everyone else is bluffing some spots and sticking it in with sets or aces.

Easy fold he just always has it here. If you can't fold sets in Holdem I would suggest moving to PLO where you almost always have enough equity to GII on the flop

You need to study and move down in stakes.