Looking for Leaks
I haven't played at all since my last post, because I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong when I play these tighter games. I don't think the players I've been up against are any better, they are just playing tighter. Since all of the answers are hidden in the hands I played in the last two sessions, I've been analyzing the Poker Tracker numbers, reviewing how I played those hands, posting some of them on the Two Plus Two forums, and reading other hand posts to see how my play compared to the suggestions from the other players.I found a post by UATrewqaz on the Two Plus Two forums that seems to fit me pretty well. It wasn't directed at me, but it probably sums up my play better than I could:
Your postflop play probably isn't as good as the other TAGS. Playing the typical [idiots at the lower limits] you can just play perfect preflop strategy and still make money. Against people who are making [fewer] preflop mistakes your postflop play is really the only place to punish them.I'm doing ok preflop, but I'm not playing as well as I could post-flop. My Poker Tracker numbers (although the sample is tiny) show that I'm not being aggressive enough post flop. My review of some hands as well as the review on the forums said the same thing. There were opportunities to raise where I just called and ended up losing to a draw. I might have lost if I had raised and was called down, but by raising, I put the other player in a bad position where he's just as likely to fold a drawing hand.
I'm going to take a little more time to review my play before I play again. When I start back, I'll play one-hour sessions and review each one when I'm finished until I feel like my play is where it needs to be. I'm even considering some training advice I read somewhere on the Internet: drop down to a lower limit, and only bet/raise/fold post-flop on any hand I play (no calling). A session or two playing like this should help the aggression factor.
posted by Kent @ 10:03 AM
2 Comments:
When I first picked up PokerTracker, it listed me as playing Tight-Passive. I'd pick up a good hand pre-flop, bet it, then make my way to river to win or lose a small pot.
I then moved up to Tight-Neutral, where I'd bet my good hands and fold the rest. Here, I was winning big pots and losing small pots.
When you finally make the move to Tight-Aggressive, you're still playing the good hands pre-flop. Post-flop, however, you start to use bets to define your hands and raises to put other players on their heels. It's hard to do (especially when card dead) and I still don't play as well as I could, but it does work if you give yourself the experience necessary to learn the style.
Keep it up - you're doing fine and it will all fall into place.
Kent, where are you?
Don't sweat the results too much. I've been playing the 50c/$1 games since last June and I still have days where I'll drop $30.
I'd recommend using either Lee Jones' or Ed Miller's starting hand requirements. Patience will be your greatest weapon at these games. Even if you're down $10 because of a few pre-flop "pops" that didn't work out, just remember that it's all about increasing your EV at the time. Play each hand independently of any other.
If you do get stuck, try playing at PartyPoker - their games can be pretty soft. Check out Matt Maroon's site (www.thepokerchronicles.com) or raketherake.com for possible rakeback deals.
Anyway, just wanted to make sure you weren't giving up too soon or too easily. Poker's damned hard to play, but if you persist, you'll come out ahead.
Hope to hear from you soon.
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