So over the last bunch of weeks in chat I have seen loads of players pop in with “I can't believe this donk called my river bluff. I was repping an overpair the whole time and he called with bottom pair” or something of similiar vain. I thought I would share my analysis and thoughts on the micro stakes player in the hopes that my insights can help out newer players at the micro level or anyone struggling a little bit. This is going to be a little lengthy, but I think it is worth it (otherwise I wouldn't have written it :p ) so read through it and then I would be interested in any comments/thoughts. Feel free to PM or look me up in the chat (I am there most every night) and I would love to talk further. So without further interruption here we go

The Gman's Treatise on the Micro Stakes Villian

General Thoughts

With the rise of poker, the increased TV coverage and the accessibility of strategy books written by popular players (i.e. Power Hold'em Strategy by Daniel Negraneu) the average starting player is starting out with some key concepts figured out in their play, although they may not be totally aware. Some things to remember in general about micro stakes players in particular is they are aware of position to some degree or another. What do I mean by that, well specifically they are reasonably aware that the HJ, CO and BTN are where dirty rotten theives live (thank you TV for this one) and they will tend to defend their blinds very wide, because after all you have to be stealing wide from there, its what all the analysists and books say you should do. Be prepared to deal with some serious 3betting/shoving from the blinds if you show a tendency to play a lot from these positions on a guys BB.

Micro stakes players are not going to read your action or interpret your elaborate lines for what you are crafting. Save the effort, you are pretty much wasting time and energy. These players fundamentally understand that you miss more often then you hit and that showdown is the place of the greatest information as everyone is taught to never reveal any information about how you play (thank you to FKCoolers for some thoughts in this one and a change in my game — I'll explain later). They are playing their cards. This is something you just have to accept. Take the mega bluffs out of you toolbox, they don't work here. Waste of time. I know it sucks, nothing feels better than screwing a guy over and getting him to lay down a big hand to what he thinks is a bigger hand, but these guys aren't going to pick up what you are putting down. They are gonna figure out how to get to showdown if they connect and there is no two ways about it. Sometimes you may get them to fold, but more often that not you will be spewing chips and upset because nothing is working.

The concept of showing cards and when/how to show has always been a popular poker debate. At the micro stakes level players share a pretty common set of characteristics when it comes to “scare” cards. Nothing kills action at a micro table faster than an Ace or a King peeling off or 3 to a flush showing up. Thems the facts, if they aren't holding one of those, they are scared to death you are and that's it, action over. Thank you and move on to the next hand. Now don't get me wrong, i am not suggesting you stop betting when those cards hit and shut down, far from it, just be aware that more often that not the hand is going to be over right then and there. If it isn't they are holding something big enough that they don't care, be aware…bet with care. On that note there is a lot of exploiting that can be done here. Those cards can enable you to steal a phenomenal number of pots away, especially if you have shown down some hands to the table that were A) Big B) Contained some A or K combinations (i.e. AQ, AJ, AT, KQ, KJ, AA, KK). Showing micro players you big stuff will help re-enforce the #1 fear at this level… You always have it. Players in the micro's will believe that you hit the A, the K or have the stone cold nuts all the time, until they can prove otherwise (hence wanting to get to showdown), so do what you can to re-enforce the fear. Keep Fear Alive! Show the big stuff 🙂

// Addendum 10/27/10 –4pm//

I thought of this general element a little after I put this article together and I thought I would add it. Micro stakes players are aware of the c-bet in both directions (i.e. using it to take down a pot and knowing you are going to do it). This is kind of a pain in the neck in one respect as it will cause pots to get big by the turn, but there is a silver lining. Rarely will a micro player bluff the turn and almost never the river. So what does this mean for us, if you double barrel and you get called or re-raised, you are looking down the barrel of a much bigger gun. You can save yourself a ton of future equity by being judicious with your bullets. I am not advicating passive play here, but you need to be careful and understand double barreling and what it means. Remember, constantly evaluate for resistance (and not just re-raising/jamming over you, but calling you down). A lot of these players are aware that aggression is up and they don't want to scare you away so they will call you down with big hands as a means to get value. Remember your flop texture and scare card weapons though as mechanisms to make your c-bets more effective. Know what the enemy fears and use it against him!!

// End Addendum 10/27/10 –4pm//

Player Types

The Tight Micro Player

In general the player types you are going to run into in the micros are very extreme versions of what you are going to find the pro's talking about (not always the case as really good and really bad happens at every level, but for the most part the average random will display these tendencies). The tight micro players are going to show up with statistics that are extreme (11/4, 12/12, 8/6, etc…). So what can you expect from our tight friends, BIG CARDS. These guys have a love of paint and love Broadway more than a NY Socialite. If the two cards have faces on them then it is time to play. Don't expect to see much in the way of things lower than a T in their hands, it just doesn't happen much. Calling these guys and getting to a flop is going to be key. You can very easily get into an escalating betting war with them that they won't back down from (remember, BIG CARDS) so the best thing you can do is get to a flop (unless you are sitting on something huge, then go nuts, get it in and hope for the best). Once you get to a flop/turn/river be prepared to deal with some massive betting. If the board comes low cards (low suited connectors are a favorite of mine against these guys as they usually don't see it coming) be prepared to have them bet/3b you. 9/10 you are staring at 2 overcards that just don't believe you. You hit a flop hard, fear not, you will get paid. What you have to recognize though is to get max value, you need to get the money in then and their, remember your future value is based on cards coming that do not scare the hell out of them. I am not advicating dry shoving on them or that sort of thing, but work your bet sizing and raise/re-raising to try to get them to spaz, they have a propensity for it as they typically have big cards and don't believe you on low card boards so it is certainly possible. These characters are where you are going to score your easy double up's from when you smash flops.

The Loose Micro Player

These guys are the nusance at the table. They are going to annoy the hell out of you and cost you lots of chips trying to combat. Fact of life. These guys are gonna run wicked loose and play nuts (76/42, 42/35, 50/20, etc…). Playing against these characters is going to dominate your time at any micro table, they are everywhere and difficult. Unlike their high stakes brethern though, they haven't quite got the loose thing really figured out. What you see from these guys at showdowns are a lot more K6s, J2s, Q7o type hands a lot less 45s, 46s type stuff. They are in love with face cards, will play any one they get. Suited cards are the sexiest thing they have ever seen. Chasing straights and flushes are where its at. So how do we craft a strategy to deal with this, well you pretty much have it, just requires a little tweaking. First things first, you really don't need to adjust your range too wildly (i.e. typically we tighten up against loose players and loosen up against tight players). What really needs adjusting is playing post-flop with these characters as you are never really going to know where you stand. So first major change, c-betting becomes a lot less about giving you the chance to take the pot down and a whole lot more about value betting. The biggest thing to understand is that their call button is stuck clicked and they didn't get a fold button with their client. The raise button is where it gets weird, These guys are gamblers. They are playing tons of hands and they live for trapping you. It is what gets them up in the morning and to the tables. Making you go on wild monkey tilt is what theyare trying to do to you, don't let them succeed! Going into a hand with these guys intending to play for stacks is dangerous, those waters are not full of sharks, mostly a lot of nooses. Don't worry about leaving value on the table with these nuts as you are very likely to get slammed around by obscure two pair hands that river and such, so proceed with caution, don't be afraid to play pot control, these guys are passive post flop in general. Make sure you carefully evaluate what you have, your outs and how you fare against two-pair or better type hands (sets aren't as common as they usually act extreme pre-flop with these, i.e. a lot of dry shoving).

Conclusions

So what can we do to our play to make the micro stakes profitable? First things first, get comfortable playing ABC poker. You are going to see a lot more loose characters than you are super tight ones, just the way it is. Play them carefully, work them for max value without getting yourself in too deep. For everything that isn't a monster try to avoid commitment as you are never totally clear where you stand and the odds you are facing two live cards is pretty high. Our tight friends are where we make our money. They are the mayors of ValueTown. Big cards run the risk of being dominated against these characters, but suited connectors, suited one gappers, mid PP's will eat these guys alive when they connect with a flop as you are almost always looking at two overs. Be careful if they playback hard, and evaluate the board, history and where you think you stand. There is a lot of value there, just need to be smart about getting it.

Well that is my thoughts for now. I hope it is useful and I am looking forward to reading folks thoughts!

Lespaulgman (Pokerstars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker)