Help me develop my game

    • Schnitzelfisch
      Schnitzelfisch
      Bronze
      Dabei seit: 08.11.2008 Beiträge: 4.952
      Hello!

      Firstly, I appologise for my english language. The reason for me posting this topic here is that the english FL strategy discussion is pretty much dead, whereas the German FL player base is full of experienced players who might be able to help me with my issue. I would try to write this post in german language, but with my limited german knowledge this would most likely turn into a mess that rarely anyone could understand as I probably would not be able to express myself properly.

      So firstly, a little about myself. I've been playing FL for some time now, was an english FL voluntary hand judge a year or so ago, but then took a break from poker and came back to climb the stakes. I've had no problems beating 0.5/1 and 1/2, I'll be moving to 2/4 in the next few days. Whereas I am sure that I could beat the 2/4 and probably even 3/6 using mostly the pokerstrategy learning material, I am not sure if this would maximize my winrate at these limits.

      While on the lower limits, the valuetowning with good hands was probably the easiest way of making profit, this probably changes now. The regs will be a bit better and will probably balance their lines etc., I can also expect more agression. I would firstly like to know how to exploit this TAG style? If we have the information that villain c/r with draws and made hands and sometimes pure bluffs on the flop or perhaps calls flop, raises turn with a hand or just for a free SD, how do we adjust to him? On the other hand, I would like to develop a style that is rather agressive and not very exploitable itself. It is probably more LAG like, but I do not want to become a spewy LAG, I actually want to develop a game that will be more +EV than the standard TAG. From what I've seen so far at 2/4, people do give some more respect to raises and tend to fold more, so I should abuse that. So let's see some of my ideas about the game:

      Preflop:

      Implementing deception caps with some pocket pairs, suited connectors etc. to mess up my table image and percieved ranges. Along with that, I was thinking about loosening up especially on BU (and perhaps a bit on CO if there isn't a loose BU behind me) and then mostly make the oponents fold postflop. Another concept would be to try and isolate and isolate 3-bet weak players as much as possible, preventing the regs from being able to enter the hand and just outplaying the fish postflop.

      Postflop:

      3-bet the check/raises more often, also 3-bet the call flop raise turn more often with medium pairs etc., use c/r and call flop raise turn myself more often. Implementing 3-barrelling more often in my game (I really need some help with this as I'm not sure when I can 3-barrel and when I can't). Attack the multiway pots where noone seems to have the interest in the pot more often.

      Now, the problem that I see with all of these concepts is, that every time someone would have a hand, I would get valuetowned. And every time someone would come to showdown with me, they would get a read on me and might be able to exploit my game. Now the question is, when should I stop being agressive and just give up? When people with low AF will go crazy, I will of course be able to give up the hand, but when regs go crazy, they could still very well be on a draw or a made hand. Of course the board texture plays big part in this, but if the regs are good enough to make deception caps/3-bets preflop, then everything gets very complicated postflop. The solution that I see is to mix up the LAG game with the TAG game - this way, When I feel that people have seen too many of my bluffs, I would focus more on playing premium hands, get less respect and get payed off by worse hands. When they adjust to this, switch back to LAG and abuse them again, making my game more unexploitable?

      Please post your thoughts!

      Primzi
  • 1 Antwort
    • cjheigl
      cjheigl
      Moderator
      Moderator
      Dabei seit: 09.04.2006 Beiträge: 24.843
      The number one consideration in playing low to mid stakes is that your winnings still come from the bad players, not the good. Battling it out with other TAGs simply is a waste of time and most likely of money. If you play against other TAGs you will fell compelled to beat the rake. Table and seat selection will be your most valuable tools to beat the tables.

      That said, your best weapon against other TAGs is having position. Unfortunately having position on a TAG is also a luxury as you are much better off having position on a fish. The situation you most likely will have position on a TAG is in a blind steal. If you want to get somewhat looser and more aggressive it is best to do that in a blind steal situation. But you should be careful to not overdo this as your opponents also will have trackers.

      There are two styles of play: exploiting weaknesses to maximise winnings and balancing your play to minimise exploitation by your opponent. These two styles contradict a bit, as maximum exploitative play is by nature exploitable itself. Your goal would be to exploit your opponents as best as you can while being not too explotaible yourself. So whatever line you do consider to add to your game, balance the range of your lines. Mix your range with good hands, draws and bluffs.

      For example you consider 3-betting the turn with medium pairs. In general I don't like this kind of play as it isn't designed to achieve much. When 3-betting the turn you have one of two goals: maximising value or improving fold equity against better hands. 3-betting with medium pairs can't improve your fold equity much because you are not likely to get many folds from better hands. It doesn't maximise value also because your up against a range which has the better of you and you won't get much value out of hands which are worse than you. A better way is 3-betting the turn with good made hands with which you have a value bet on the river if called mixed with draws and sometimes a bluff. If you do it this way you will get more value out of your good hands and you will profit from fold equity.

      Preflop: if adding deceptive plays, do it in late position. This improves the chance you will have position postflop. Position makes exploitation easier.

      Postflop: as position is giving you an advantage, exploitative play is the way to go. When you do not have position emphasize balanced play. Of course if you have good reads on your opponent feel free to exploit them out of position as much as you can.