(forgive spelling mistakes, I am wearing a cast on one hand... stupid football)
Note: This applies to 6max far more than FR. It applies somewhat to being in MP-LP in FR.
I don't know about you guys, but everytime I see a flop and there are chips in the pot, I want them. I don't care if there are 20bb's in pf or 2bb.. I want them in my stack.
Aggression wins money, period. Sure, playing passively against a maniac is right
sometimes... but I want to be that guy people play passively against. It makes life easier for me, because I decide when the money goes in and when it doesn't.
So, first let's deal with pf. I raise a lot pf (in 6max about 25% of my hands, maybe more haha). I do this because I am aiming to win the pot, and I'd like some money in there to win. Plus, raising gives me the ability to take down the pot when we both have nothing on the flop.
caveat- Know when not to c-bet. This depends on two factors very heavily-- Board Texture and Number of Villains. I might c-bet into 3 weak opponents if the flop was 842r. I'd check often vs. 2 opponents if it was K87 two-tone and I held AQ.
Knowing when to/when not to c-bet will help your winrate a lot.
Another reason I'm consantly raising and stabbing is that it helps me get paid off when I hit the flop hard. However, I'm not convinced it helps that much in a world where villains think about their own cards and not yours.
However, villains will play back eventually. It's important to know what to do-- and this means knowing your villain.
Lets say I've been hammering on a villain all game, stealing blinds with any A, any K, and most suited Q's. I open from the CO with A T . Villain calls in the BB. The flop comes down T 8 3
Villain checks, I lead for the pot ( 9 bb), Villain c/r for 32bb. Many people advocate folding here. With no image and playing a TAG game, folding may be the correct play here. But, as it stands, it may not. What hand would villain play like this? Very few that beat you from the average villain!! Do you think your average SSNL player c/r a
set/2pair on the flop, into a pf raiser?? No! Rarely. I am more frightened if I lead and am smoothcalled. I call the c/r and play poker on the next two streets, thinking pot control on the turn, and value on the river. You will be amazed how many times you are shown J
8 here.
The point is this: when people are willing to play back at you with less, you can value your average hands higher. How much higher is up to you--and up to your read of a villain. I try to avoid situations like the one above without a read, or when I first sit down.
important caveat--> when you are raised on the turn... your top pair is still not good, even considering the previous statement.
Lastly, know when to go TAG. Playing LAG gets a table worked up. If people start calling pf raises en masse, or reraising you... its time to stop raising 56s UTG and look for value from your big pairs. You'll still get the action, and now you always have the cards.
Playing tight pf is rarely, if ever, wrong.
I know a lot of you are interested in loosening up your game, I hope this was somewhat of a brief outline. It's not as long as Pokey's... but then again, Pokey can't count to 1600.
So heres a brief outline
1) Attack, pf and the flop. Put money in the pot, scoop it to your side.
2) Know when to c-bet and when not to.
3) Be strong when you connect- your opponents are likely to play back with less than you're used to.
4) Read the table so you know when to slow down and tighten up.
One more quick thing to highlight- As you raise more pf and c-bet the flop constantly, people start floating you. Its not hard to notice... often the answer for me is double barrel bluffing. It is a powerful weapon... use it against the right opponents.
Remember- Only an idiot bluffs a man he knows will call him!!
Disclaimer- the word is still out as to whether or not I'm good at poker. So don't take any of this too seriously.
You Should Open Limp... (RichC.)
...NOT!!!
First, to clarify, open limping is when you are the first one to enter a pot and just limp in.
Limping behind someone is a different strategey all together. I will limp behind someone if I know I can stack them when I hit big.
But, on to Open Limping:
I feel this is one of the biggest leaks in a players game. Open limping is a pure chip spew. It tends to leave money on the table when you hit big, so you are therefore losing value.
What do I mean by this? I'll give you an example from a 1/2 NL Live game from a while back. This was a regular game that I played in about 3 days a week.
Hero is in MP1 with about $150 behind. (I know this is bigger stacks than many uNL players are used to, but we all know that this is about as micro as it gets live)
It folds to me and I have AA. I limped in for $2.
My friend (who also happens to be MP2) raises to $10 Button calls.
Back to me, I reraise to $30, MP2 thinks and finally calls but I can tell he knows what I have.
Button folds.
Flop is AAJ, Turn x, river x.
Awesome, i flopped quads. It was checked to the river when i finally bet $20 and he called and said "Show me your aces"
So, in this very hand, and many more like it, had I just made a standard raise to maybe
$8 in this case, I more than likely get to reraise all-in. My friend had KK, so yes, I left A LOT of chips on the table that should have been shipped to me by getting it all in PF. I figure that I cost myself $100 by limping that hand. This is just one example, there are many many more like it.
Back to my intial point.
Open limping will cost you money in the long run. This is a very hard concept for many players to grasp. Many do not want to raise SCs UTG, but yet they want to see a flop, so they limp in. When they miss, they feel that they got a chance to get away cheap while still playing a flop. IMO, this is bad for business. If you raise, you immediately take control of the pot until either everyone folds, calls or raises you. When called, you dont have to hit your hand, just evaluate the flop and determine if your opponent hit his hand.
Either way, you should make a c-bet.
An example or two: (assume full stacks for both examples at 50nl) You are UTG with 9 7 and raise to $2.00
One caller and the blinds fold (not taking out the rake) pot is $4.75
Flop is 7Q6r, one spade.
Middle pair for you, lead out for $3.00
This is a fairly standard value bet and you will usually take down the pot.
Hand 2:
Again, you are UTG with 7 4 and raise to $2.00 One call and the blinds fold.
Flop is 744
You just flopped a monster. Our natural tendency is to check raise or check call here.
Wrong. Lead out for $3 again. Why would you bet this monster you ask? Easy, no one in their right mind can put you on 74s and will believe that you missed this flop and a good aggressive opponent will try to take this away from you with A high or and over pair like 99. Also, your hand isnt the nuts and you make it pricey for an over pair to draw out against you that 5% of the time that they do.
Now, think about if you had just limped in with those hands, odds are that you are leaving chips in your opponents stack that rightfully belong to you.
Both examples are hands very similar to hands I have played. You dont have to play the LAGtard game that I do to never open limp. TAGs should not be open limping either.
Now, you ask, arent there ever times that you should be open limping? So glad you asked. YES there are, but IMO, these type of situations occur more in tournaments than in cash games. When someone is constantly raising and reraising you, then open limping a big hand is fine IMO, but refer back to my first example and how I left a lot of money on the table and you will find it is still better to raise and then reraise them to get it all in PF.
I'll leave you with this example from the same 1/2 NL Live game.
I had been playing a fairly aggressive game and had been getting reraised all night long, felt like every hand actually. I had managed to build up to about $400 despite have gotten played back at all damn night when this hand, one of the biggest live pots I have ever seen (and won for that matter) came up.
I am UTG and raise to $10 with KK
2 callers and then the expected reraise to $90. One more caller. folds back to me and I am just sick but I'm not good enough to fold KK PF. I just say to hell with and push, 2 folds and then the other two both call. I had them covered. We all flip, my KK>QQ>JJ and your hero wins about $800. I also won a tournament about 7 hours later.
Sorry slight brag at the end there, but I hope I have provided you with some decent examples of why you shouldnt be open limping.
~Rich