[johnf]

I’m playing the .25/.50 limit games at Pacific Poker. I’ve had bad days and good days. However, I feel I’m doing ok. I’m at 2BB per hour after being up to 3BB+.

Most players at this level are horrific… Any Ace or Face cards will be played to the end, middle pairs, bottom pairs, you name it, they play it.

Last night was my biggest losing session at –40BB. I’ve heard that that is possible, just never experienced it. Started with my AQ flopping top two pair getting beat by a straight with a guy holding Jx. Called all raises with that hand. That hand didn’t tilt me, but the 100 hands after… that missed, were beaten, were folded to crap, certainly tested my vocabulary skills. J

Anyway, not complaining… just frustrating at times to only play premium hands that either don’t get hit by the flop or get beaten by unbelievable draws. I don’t subscribe to the conspiracy theories. I am a winning player… just a little gun shy at the moment.

I keep records of players that I see regularly, which is not many. I also keep a note on players that are really bad and have sucked a big one from me. ( I actually had the privilege of removing my money back from one of them based on past records of their play)

In order to try and improve my game, I have been trying to improve my hand reading skills. I’m finding it very difficult as they will bet into or raise with any part of the flop. Sometimes, I feel I’m way too cautious and fold to a raise only to see they were raising a middle pair. Or I have top pair and get raised… And I’m thinking they hit their crap card kicker for two pair, which is usually what happened. About the time I think they are raising with middle pair crap… they have the nuts!

Hell, sometimes I do better by not looking or paying attention. Its like every hand somebody wins after calling two cold and hitting their Q3o…but then again, the other 5 players that called the raise with crap… lost. J One method that worked…. I play two play money games at UB while playing the one real money at Pacific. The two play money games, I just play tight and fold after the flop if nothing hits…. No real skill involved there as everybody is in for max bets all the time. This keeps me from paying too much attention to the real money game. I seem to do real well on the play tables and better at the real money. This gives me the feeling that I’m paying too much attention to the play at the real money tables. I know that cant be good if I want to succeed in the higher levels.

Apart from the obvious raise when an Ace hits, can you really analyze the play at this level? Do I just need to keep playing very tight and wait for only premium hands, in premium position, that have premium flops?

[norshvind]

Before you start betting a lot at a table you should play pretty tight so you can get a feel for the table.

There are a lot of different type of players but you can spot them after a while

For instance Aggressive players will normally keep betting if they have a good hand even if they havent got a pair yet. They will try to bet people out of the pot to increase their odds in winning and if they do hit a pair you will most likely see the size of their bets increase.

Then there are the weak players who will have lets say AK and check until they hit a pair or fold to the aggressive players betting styles.

There are the tight aggressive players who for the most part play only premium hands. You will see them fold often pre flop and raise the pot when they have good hands. Normally if they dont catch a pair on the flop they fold as well to any reasonable sized bet.

There are the loose players who play any hand they can for cheap or limp in and then bet once they hit something they think is worthwhile.

I could go on and on but eventually you will get a feel for what type of player you are playing and you should be able to reasonably guess what he/she may be holding.

[johnf]

Yes you are right, I can usually spot the different types of players and that does help. I think I have the hardest trouble with the loose players... but usually they will bet on any part of the flop.

I have been reading Super Systems and just got to the hand reading section. That was pretty helpful. Explains how to work the hand backwards.

[norshvind]

The thing to remember is bet. By betting you can get a clearer picture of who is holding what. Now when to bet and how much is the key..

[pritz]

Don't sweat it. At .25/.50 limit, there's not much point in trying to read hands. It's only fifty cents we are talking about here, and people are going to call you down with anything and sometimes bet into you with worse hands. If a player will play any two cards, then you can almost never know what they have.

At these low limits the most reliable read is betting patterns. Generally low limit players are loose, but not aggressive. If someone who was calling you down all of a sudden comes alive and bets, you probably are beat. Most of the time these players won't bet or raise you without at least two pair.

[johnf]

Thanks, pritz... that's kinda what I thought and exactly what I see happening.

It amazes me that you will get 5-10 callers after the flop... Im thinking "What in the hell do these people have?" I know it's only .50, but that is 1BB to me and hopefully that 1BB will be worth alot more someday.

Super Systems has helped alot in understanding some of the finer points. I also think I'll go back and review some of the hands... Pacific has a replay section that you can watch old hands. This is probably a good habit to get into anyway.