The Big 2

[ashmc2]

i know this Z, but i can't push myself to put $25 on the table. i think i'm afraid of making a bad decision and lossing it. scared $. i know your going to say move down to the .05/.1 tables until my bankroll can handle it. but i'm hardheaded and i'm making $ at .10/.25. your right though, i've had the nuts and allin action from to guys with over $25 at table. i made $20 on the hand instead of $50, and the biggest pot of my online career. yes that is a tear coming down my cheek. lol

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Necessity may be the mother of invention, but convenience is the whore.

[eejit101]

You need to get the sacredness out of your head. if you play the way you are doing, and are learning from the expert NL players at this forum (Zy, JD e.t.c) then you wont blow your bankroll. You will lose hands, eveyrone does, but playing the odds and buying in for the correct amount helps alot. I bought into a 3/6 yesterday with $250 instead of $600, first hand i end up all in with AA vs KK. If id have bought in for $600, id have $1209 in my face, but only $509 because i didnt do it. The guy that put me all in had ver $2k in his stack. It was the only free table and i made the mistake of not putting $600 in incase he was in anyway cheating sounds stupid yes, but id have 3 pints, but lets not get caught up on the idea of cheating again.

Buy in for the max.
Always raise 3x BB with AA/KK/Aksuited, and add 1xBB for every limper.
You will lose with AA 74% of the time heads up, but over time this 24% over the 50/50 shot will amount to loads and loads of money.
Dont be a pussy!!! if you can play, and win like you are doing, then why minimize your potential earnings?

[johnp158]

What are you talking about? First, there are definitely some hands you should add to that raising list, depending on position. I do 4x BB +limpers but that's a smaller detail. You will lose 74% of the time? Huh? Did you mean to say 24? Either way, no. No. First, there's no way you can put a percentage on something like that. It's all in how you play it. Second, your number should be way high. Looking at my stats, I win 91.23% of the time with AA and 85.94% with KK. Because I play it strong (this is NL). Usually this means a preflop raise and a bet on the flop. Sometimes, it means an all-in vs. KK or QQ, and it's easy money. Either way, you should be playing these hands in a way that wins much and often. Which is the way that has been described above.

I don't disagree with much of what eejit said except for the dubious statistics. And ditto on the table. Buy in for the max wherever you're comfortable putting up the max. Don't play for 25 until your bankroll and psyche can handle it. Until then, it's probably best to stick to the $10 tables. If a good argument can be made for you buying in $10 to a 25NL table, though, I'm open to hearing it.

[ashmc2]

This is my reasoning for not max buying. (Other than being a pussy)

I made a goodly portion of my bankroll up till a couple of months ago with this strategy. I know it is flawed, but it worked for me. (Because of the confidence issue. Remember?)

I started on the penny tabs with .50. Then I moved up slowly. As I stated before I only play NL. I would buy in at .05/.1 tab with $2 to $4 or $25 with $10. I would play tight. I would play in a hand and get all my $ in before the turn, with the best hand most of the time. I would get the call quite often with 2nd pr, draws, and shit-kickers, because I was such a short stack. They weren’t afraid the of my baby stack. I would double-up, usually within 10 to 30 min. Then before they noticed how tight I was playing I would leave and start all over again at a new unsuspecting table. (I give a snicker as I twirl my mustache) I would play 3 tabs at a time while doing this. This was my bread and butter for a year while I gained experience through sheer amounts of hands.

But I think I now have the experience to hop out of the nest and try a more straightforward technique and stop surreptitiously pick-pocketing the tards.

I'm ready to give out-thinking my opponents a shot.

[GTDawg]

I kinda started like you are talking about. Granted, I bought in for more and didn't start playing the 1/2 cent tables....but I understand the super-tight passive mentality you have/had. I've been blasted for it before.

However, the last few weeks/since maybe beginning Februrary or so...I've read a ton of this website and I've read a ton of the NL posts from people on here and becoming aggressive (in the right situations) causes a huge jump in positive results.

Only raising with the top 3-5 hands for Hold Em is like putting a "HEY I'M SUPER TIGHT" billboard above your head.

No, you're not going to go out raising everything, but there are times when it is warranted. And, you're going to have to change the style unless you want to keep changing tables every 30 minutes for the rest of your poker career.

Keep reading and reading and playing and asking advice and you can get it going in the right direction.

[eejit101]

Sorry, wasnt being clear enough.

1. the raising with AA/KK/AK suited was meant to be under the gun, your not "meant" to raise with anything else frm there.

2. I meant AA wions 74% of the time all in preflop against a random hand. According to the statistics in my face anyways.