No this isn't a rebuy, this is one of the Pokerstars regular nightly 1+.10 micro stakes buy ins. I typically play in the 2.20's but I occasionally mix up and play a little higher (3,4,5 or lower, 1 or the .5 nightly). As far as anything in particular I definetly remember playing a lot looser in this than I am now. The last month I have been working on tightening up my early stage play (you will see that I play a ton early in this one). The other thing I remember about this one is that it was the first time in a tourney that I managed to accumulate a real good size stack for the late run and I hadn't ever done that so wielding it was a bit new to me and pretty spewy at times. I am looking forward to what people see in this one! Can't wait to check out the feedback!

As an additional note, I believe I finished 15th (or 18th, can't quite remember),but I do remember it was the deepest run I have had thus far.

mistergj said:

Hand 15 (33): I like the raise pf and the call is fine looking to set mine as you're getting more than 15:1. When you don't hit and it checks round I think I check behind, although I don't mind the bet/fold in this spot.

–Looking back at this hand and thinking a little bit more, I am not sure why I c-bet it. The SB indicated strength pre-flop and it seems almost obvious that he was looking for a spot to check/raise now that I watch it again. I think you are absolutely right to go check/fold on this one (take the free card and see if I can hit it). 

 

Hand 16 (A9s): I make it 120 here to iso the limper. As played I think the minbet screams weakness so you are ok to raise it to price out draws, although I think you can make it less here, maybe 150 (pot). When he shoves he is repping enormous strength – the total opposite of his original flop bet. Whilst this might be a flush draw I think you have to fold here. He's not worried about your flop raise. Putting possible hands that would bet small and then shove into PokerStove AA,TT,55,ATs+,A5s,KhQh,KhJh,QhJh,6h5h,5h4h,ATo+,A5o we are only 14.9%, so this is a fold. We need 40.1% equity to make the call so we would have to think he is shoving 5x and Tx hands together with a load more flush and straight draws like KQ,KJ,QJ not of hearts.

— I struggle a bit dealing with pre-flop limping and hands that fall into this category (calling to flop huge). My raise/bet sizing is still pretty raw so I see dropping it down would still induce the same result (and save me chips). Not sure what I was thinking calling, I completely abandoned any logical plan that I could have had since I got attached to TP. 

 

Hand 17 (A5s): With just over 30BBs I think I fold here and look to preserve my stack. The cbet size is good, although if you're ready to go to the felt with this hand then you could probably make it more so that the turn shove is more pot-sized than 1.5x. If you bet pot then the pot is 675 and you have 695 behind. This is only if you want to go all the way with the hand though. I think I still fold pre.

— I think I was a little tilted on this one, I would certainly be folding this pre now. Not sure what the heck I was thinking. Betting line was odd, can't imagine what would call me other than something that had me crushed.

 

Hand 21 (62s): I think risking 30BB to win 2BB is not a great risk vs reward ratio. I would just check here and play the flop in position, trying to use that to your advantage.

— Welcome to my awkward and poor BvB play. This is an area I need to work quite a bit on.

 

Hand 27 (77): I find mid PPs quite difficult to play with only 30BBs, especially with a limp utg from a 25BB stack. If I was going to play this hand I would raise it to 160 (3xBB+1BB limp). When CO makes it 200 I just fold. Whilst he turns over a mediocre hand here and perhaps should be folding to your limp/shove I still fold as again he is repping a bigger hand than yours. Also, you don't have the odds to set mine here so just fold.

— Good point on this one, I definitely didn't read the action very well, big time unnecessary risk. 

 

Hand 28 (22): I raise to 160 again here to iso the utg limp. On A, K or Q high flops you can rep a pretty big hand.

 — Good call

Hand 29 (TT): I think you can make it 150 here and save yourself 5 chips! 🙂 When BB shoves you need 43.3% against his range, which I would guess at the following: 99+,AQ+ which you have 44% against so this is actually a call (or reshove to isolate). If the range is JJ,AK then it's a fold as we're only getting 33.6%. Tough spot. I'm not sure if it was on this site or somewhere else where someone said that if you feel you have an edge on the field then taking marginal spots like this is not worth it. So if you feel that then just fold.

 — Not sure why I made it 155, I guess I got a little button happy. I was having a hard time trying to figure out if this was just someone tire of me playing lots of hands or not. I'll make sure I add this line of thinking into what I'm doing, since I don't always do that.

 

Hand 33 (AJo): I fold this hand to the HJ open as I hate playing dominated hands. Did you have stats on him? If he was opening wide then flatting here is reasonable.  The original raiser's cbet is really weak and with the nut flush draw and two overs I think I raise here to like 475 and be happy getting it in. When BB raises the flop I just get it in. On the turn you are most likely behind and since your only real outs not are the 9 diamonds then you have to fold. However, if you do hit then you are likely to get the remaining chips from the BB, which actually makes this close to a call since you're calling 450 now to win 1050+450+430 = 1930, which gives you 18.9% so with 9 outs it's pretty close (20.5%). Would love to hear others' thought on this.

— I don't actually play with a HUD (can't stand the clutter on the screen) and I typically only play a couple of tables at a time so I think I do a decent job of following the action. As for a read on what he was doing, not sure. I find I have trouble with what to do with AJ(s or o) so I tend to flat a lot with it and see what happens post-flop. Once I picked up the nut-flush draw the plan was to call a flop bet and see what the turn brought (hope for a check if he was just c-betting, call a small second barrel or fold to a larger bet). I'm with you, would like to hear other thoughts on this one. 

 

Hand 42 (66): I don't mind the bet on the turn when both players check twice and I think the check back on the river is great.

— I have started doing this a lot more often after reading though the PearlJammer's discussions in Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time v1. If I have something with showdown value and my c-bet gets flatted and I am given the opportunity to control the pot size in a situation where I think my hand may be good, but I am not sure I tend to err on taking the free card and seeing what happens.  

 

Hand 45 (22): With 25BB I fold 22 here.

— Not sure what part of my brain thought an open limp was a good idea. Folding was a much smarter option. 

 

Hand 51 (A2o): With 13.5BBs you're close to push/fold mode so I would preserve your stack as much as possible and just fold here. As played I guess you have to call as 1/3 of your stack is already in.

— This seems just dumb on my part now…

 

Hand 53 (55): Now you have 40BBs you can open small PPs and rep bigger hands on most high card flops.

— It appears that my brain malfunction appeared again…wow open limping once more…watch out cause my spew may accidentally hit you! 

 

Hand 56 (QQ): You can raise between 2.5-3x +1BB limp here, so something between 280 and 320.

— I will definitely start working on my raise size consistency and getting into a range where I am not hemmoraging them unnecessarily. 

 

Hand 62 (KJo): I like isoing with hands like this in LP, but the utg limp on a 10BB stack looks strong. Has he done this before, or is he quite tight and him limping is quite unusual? If you're going to iso I'd make it more like 340/350 to prevent the SB and BB getting the right odds to call behind. When utg limper shoves you're getting better than 2:1 so you have to call, good call!

— I was new to the table and didn't recognize anyone so I think this falls into the “I got a bit lucky on that one” box. I will add the iso play improvement to the list to work on as now that you mentioned it I am just inviting everyone to the party on this one. Once he shoved I was going to call since I figured KJo was ahead of a decent amount of random players shoves at this level when they are short. 

 

Hand 83 (AJo): If you're going to play this hand then raise pre, as played I think I just fold as you'll be playing the hand OOP with a vulnerable hand, especially if you hit TP.

—  Yep, open limping especially a vulnerable hand is a terrible plan…certainly didn't think this one out at all.

 

Hand 85 (66): This is a tough spot as stack sizes make things really awkward. If Bu is raising wide then if you hit your set you probably won't get paid. You are getting the right odds to set mine, but I don't like flatting small PPs vs LP raises. 

— In general I don't give very much (if any) respect to button opens, SB opens so anything that looks playable I will usually give a whirl. Thinking about it I really did get myself caught in a lousy spot with no real plan or ability to get paid off if I hit. I don't like my play here much either.  

 

Hand 88 (33): I iso the limp again and rep a bigger hand, plus it's disguised when a 3 flops.

— I am starting to see a good sized leak in my game here. I tend to like to limp behind with hosts of different hands to be deceptive, but it really doesn't give me any of what I am trying for (hard to rep anything big as those hands typically will get opened). Another good area to work on for me.  

 

Hand 91 (87s): I like the play from start to finish – you're repping a big Ace by raising from EP and cbetting that flop. 

— Cool, looking at this hand I see what you mean from the prior. You can get more credibility for big hands on these flops by raising pre. If I flatted not sure anyone would have believed me and no way I can figure out where I stand. 

 

Hand 95 (QTs): I think you can raise here and try to steal the blinds, even though you just opened the previous hand.

— I think I am overly conservative when it comes to opening pots consecutively. No good reason I shouldn't have on this one. 

 

Hand 101 (KQo): I really like the iso, but I think you can cbet this flop. When you decide to bet on the turn I think you can bet much smaller, say 60% pot.

 — I think the Ace scared me. Bet sizing is looking like a pretty big theme here.

Hand 106 (A9o): Risking 35BBs here to win c.3BB is again not worth it. Why not raise 2.5-3x and fold to a shove?

 — This is just more of my bad BvB play. Gotta watch more of Hagbard's vid. No reason to not just raise and fold to a shove.

Hand 107 (K9o): If you're going to play this hand I think you have to raise and play the hand as the aggressor.

— More evidence of my limping problem. I think I was trying to just get in, see the flop and hope to hit it. Not sure what the rest of my plan would have been here. I think I would have been pretty screwed if a K hit. 

 

Hand 109 (KQo): I'm not sure how often utg has limped, but he only has a 5BB stack. I think you can iso here and commit yourself to getting it in with him.

 — Don't recall. I think he had pretty much shut down and was waiting for a spot, but can't remember.

Hand 113 (QJo): I think you can make it 3x here.

 — Sounds good.

Hand 115 (JTs): Whilst the caller has enough chips for you to call here, the original raiser doesn't and I would just fold this hand. When player bets I fold here as you're not getting the right odds. When he checks the turn and river I think you have to bet as it's the only way to win the hand as you have J high.

— Not sure why I even bothered continuing with the hand after the flop betting action. This was just spewy on my part.  

 

Hand 135 (A5o): With 14.5BBs you are in push/fold mode so you should look to preserve your stack to maintain fold equity. Just fold here.

 — Sounds good.

Hand 137 (KJs): I think this is a shove.

— Yeah, decent hand and position gives me a lot of represented strength. Missed opportunity.

 

Hand 139 (KK): By raising here I think you are repping a massive hand, so I would either just shove (preferable) or flat and get it in on the flop.

— Sounds good. 

 

Hand 141 (JJ): I like the flat pre and the flats on the flop and turn. When pfr bets so small again on the river it seems like he has a hand that is very nervous of the Ace so you should look to make it much smaller and hope to get a call from a hand like KK or a weak Ace. The board is paired and there's three to a flush so I doubt anyone would call here though!

— From the bet sizing I didn't think he was on an Ace, but rather the 8 or the 5. When the second 5 hit I was thinking I was going to give up to a reasonable size bet. When he led out small I figured I was getting a good price to see the river. When the J hit filling my boat I was really hoping he had the 5 and was going to call. Looking back since the flush draw hit, my line looked a lot like a FD so there was no way I was getting called.  

 

Hand 148 (55): Could you overshove the river after taking your whole timebank to think about it? He's flatted a big lead on the turn so probably has a fairly good, but not amazing hand. By shoving the river he might look you up with a mediocre hand thinking you're full of BS.

— Now that you mention it, I wonder if that would have worked? Would be interested to hear what others think. 

 

Hand 153 (AQo): You made it c.2.5x in the last round and now make it 2.8 – is there a reason for this?

 — Is being an idiot a valid reason?

Hand 158 (KQs): Love the iso here 🙂

 —

Hand 172 (KJo): Again, I think this is too much of an overshove.

 — Watching myself back on my BvB play is starting to make me sad…

HAnd 182 (KJo): I really don't like flatting here with an easily dominated hand. The HJ is repping massive strength and TP K kicker is not something I would want to get in on this flop against that action.

— That was atrocious wasn't it. Should have folded. 

 

Hand 193 (88): I think your cbet can be much smaller here, 9000 maybe?

 — This is where I think I started to get myself in trouble. I think my c-bet was less based on pure size and more on just trying to scare the other guy into having to play for his whole stack. Not a bright move on my part. 

Hand 198 (ATo): I don't like the flat vs an EP raiser, unless he'd been opening a ton. 

— At least I donk led to complete the lousy play. No sense stopping the horrid play with just a bad call… Not sure why I called other than I got attached to an okay Ax hand. 

 

Hand 248 (75o): Your pf raise size has suddenly gone up to 3x – is there a reason for this? Was the table not respecting 2.5x? If you make it 2.2x you save yourself a lot of chips when you get shoved on when trying a steal.

— Any suggestions folks have for a raise sizing strategy are good, clearly this is a huge weakness for me.  

 

Hand 270 (87s): Your cbet can be much smaller and still get the job done.

— Do most people c-bet 50-60%? Gotta watch the c-bet vid again. 

 

Hand 319 (74s): I would just limp the SB here.

— At least this is the last time I had to watch by terrible BvB play. Will certainly work on that.

 

Hand 323 (T8o): I shove quite wide with a 10-15BB stack, but this is a bit too wide from this position. T8s is probably in my range here, but T8o is a fold.

— Yeah, I hate myself for that shove, still do…

 

Few pointers. I noticed that I didn't really note when you made what I thought were good/great plays and this review just tends to look at where I would do things differently – there were a lot of good spots and perhaps you don't need me (or anyone else) to tell you that they were good. I hope the feedback was constructive – let me know if the language I use is ok! 🙂

 

I think you need to pick a preflop raise size and stick to it, somewhere between 2 and 2.5x once antes kick in.

 

Your cbets can be much less, somewhere between 50 and 60% of pot.

 

Check out shoving ranges – look up pushbot charts on google.

 

Hope that was helpful. GG

 

— Commentary is always helpful. I think you highlighted my BvB play as well at the above. I have a good range of vids to go back to and some more work to do. Thanks for taking the time to watch through and give me feedback!

Awake said:

Im studying early touney play at the moment, so I watched your tourney until the antes kick in.

 

Hand 16 (33)

I check-fold post-flop. The flop has not much texture and its tempting to take a stab at it, but you're up against 2 opponents in a pot that was 3Bet pre-flop. You needed to called pre-flop for set value, you didnt hit, move on.

Hand 17 (A9s)

I raise ONLY to 3/4 of the pot on the flop; to isolate the player with the probe bet and re-evaluate on the turn.

If he calls my flop raise, I can put him on a flush draw, a gut shot or an Ace. If a non-flush card hit the turn, I will bet to get value out of draws and Ace rag hands. I check the river whatever falls.

Im calling pre-flop for the implied odds of the flush, not willing to get involve in a big pot with just top pair and a vulnerable kicker. Its hard to imagine getting all-in on this flop and having the best hand often. I fold to his 3Bet all-in on the flop.

Hand 18 (A5s)

I fold pre-flop. I dont think its worth it to play Ace rag suited in this spot. Look at your stack size, it greatly diminuish your implied odds, and the value of playing such an hand early in a tourney relies on it.

 

Hand 22 (26s)

Reward-risk ratio is not attractive. I check here.

 

Hand 29 (22)

I Call pre-flop. I never fold here. I hope to see a cheap flop and hit a set. Theres alot of short stacks at the table, but I still have the implied odds for a set.

Hand 42 (Q8s)

I fold pre-flop. I have a marginal hand, I dont really need the 90 in the pot. Sort of raise I would do when antes are in.

Hand 43 (66)

I check the turn. You're up against 2 opponents, the board is drawing ugly so you wont steal the pot very often, and I dont believe value betting your sixes here is +EV. Maybe with a bigger stack I would try the bet, but with less than 2K of chips, I prefer to keep those 325 chips in my stack, and use them in a better situation.

 

Hand 48 (A10o)

I check the turn. You probably have the best hand, but against 3 players id rather play the check game and hope to win/split a cheap showdown. 

 

Hand 52 (A2o)

I fold preflop.

This is the sort of play I would try if the following conditions are there :

1) The limper is loose passive

2) The limper is not a small stack

3) I am not small stack

4) The players still to act are tight

And id rather do it with J9o than A2o because I can represent the A if it comes on the flop, I dont need to have it, so its like playing with 3 cards. And I would only raise to 280 before the flop, as to not built too big of a pot with a marginal hand.

Anyhow in this spot, I think its a clear fold, before even a dime of my money is in the pot.

 

Hand 57 (QQ)

I raise only to 280. I know this is a 1$ tourney and therefore players tends to call loosely pre-flop, but this is still a way too big overbet. You wanna build a pot, but remember you have 4 rounds of betting to potentially get it in.

 

— I think you covered a lot of the same spots that Mistergj covered. My BvB play is exposing me to way to much risk relative to the small blinds that I would pick up. I passed up on a couple of opportunities to leverage small pairs as well as flatting in some situations where I could have re-popped to represent strength. My bet sizing is bad news and erratic in this situation. I am working on moving to a standard of 3x until ante's, then moving to a 2.5x until I get late and then going to min-raising at the latest stages to preserve chips.

 

Thanks for taking the time to specifically look at the opening play. A focused look at this time period in the tournament is cool. I like to opportunity to look at specific times/events in tourneys and trying to extra the most learning as possible.

dvmarcilio said:

I'm excited to see some micro stakes play. I'm not alone!

I'll probably point out some stuff that was already pointed by our colleagues, but I want to write it before reading

the topic, besides lespaulgman's introduction.

I went through the hands pretty quick and didn´t get any reads on the other guys playing. I will point it out when I feel it´s needed.

And sorry for the english mistakes.

(Guitar speak: I love Les Pauls by the way. Already have a standard one

and looking forward to get a Buckethead model.)

Hands

 

#16 – I try to play as much straight forward as I can when playing these micro stakes.

      If I do decide do play this hand I would certainly raise, for value and considering position, as people tend to limp with any two. And by raising I would know where I stand too.

      The postflop play I really don´t know what I would do. That's why I like to raise so I won´t be in tought spots, in this case guessing if my 9 kicker is good enough.

#21 – I would never do that in the early levels, and maybe in the later ones. Too much of a bad hand to win 40 chips. I guess you could cause the same effect with a raise, more than 3x.

#29 – I don´t know if you got any reads on the guy that is on the BB and shoves, but I guess you could iso shove there too. But fold is ok, probably best.

      The thing that concerned me is that it didn´t looked very consistent when, in hand #27, you shove over with 77 a guy who raises 5x for two limpers, and then fold the TT in this hand.

 

#41 – Pretty standard open raise with a reasonable hand in the button. The thing is that the BB has 13.5 blinds. I would be a little worried.

#45, #53 – After seeing bigdog's early stages video I started to put in small raises when I'm willing to play low pairs. Except if I'm in late position and a lot of people already limped. All this considering mainly that I have a nice stack, and usually in the early stages.

      

#51 – Crazy hand. If I wanted to play that hand with 13 big blinds I would shove it. But after raising it to 4.5x and seeing a 3bet shove and a call I would definitely fold. A2 is pretty weak and anyone with other ace, which I think it's very likely, would be dominating me.

#56 – I like sticking to 4x-5x when limpers come around. This is a hint I got from a regular high stakes friend. But I would definitely like to see any videos from the pros talking about this specifically. Anyone knows if there is one ?

#62 – New table, I would ask if raising you were planning to call the UTG's shove. And you did. I liked it! I would only raise if I'm willing to call that guy.

#63 – Sometimes I would stick in with a call. But folding is what I would do almost everytime.

#82 – New table again. When moved I like to chill out a bit and see others playing. Not really sure if I would always raise there, but sometimes I would do it. I think it's pretty ok.

#83 – Again I don't really get when you raise the last hand and just limp this. I guess you have a reason, and I would love to know.

#91 – If I had a bigger stack I would open that aswell. I like to remember ,when wanting to opening hands in spots like this, how much I will spend to play.

      In this case: Only to open you spent almost 12% of your stack. And how much more if you would need to CBet post flop ? Considering that only one guy flatted, the pot would be 1635. An average Cbet would be 800, 35% of your stack.

      So the total of that would be 47% of your stack, just to open and make a Cbet after the flop. This would commit you to the pot, and that's pretty much what happened in the hand.

      Overall I guess you would have better spots to steal, if that's what you wanted. Note that if you had a bigger stack I would totally agree with the hand.

#101 – I prefer a Cbet on the flop, but I guess a Cbet on the turn would be ok too. I think the pot size bet is a little too much.

#106 – I don't really like the shove. You are in good shape, and so the guy. His stack can really harm you, and would you be called by worse hands ?

       I would just open between 2.5x-4x or maybe 5x. If I had a smaller stack I would shove, but with this stack I don´t want to risk.

#109 – Altough you have been pretty active, I would raise there and hope to everyone fold till the small stack who limped. He seems weak and I would be happy to call his shove with KQ.

#115 – I wouldn't call the bet on the flop, even considering the implied odds. Funny thing the guy limping with 95off. This shows what kind of guys we face on these stakes.

#133 – I guess you could shove it there. Viktor seems to be very weak, and if I'm not mistaken he is limping in a lot.

#135 – Not the play I'm willing to do with this kind of stack. With 5.6 M and 14.5 BB, if I'm willing to play it I would shove it.

#139 – I would shove over that but I like a lot the “small” reraise, or the stop and go. It's something that I have to do more. But the main reason that I would just shove it's putting me in the other guy's place. If I would play with you with that kind of stack I would just put you all in.

#141 – I would 3bet that pre flop. But considering the way you played it I guess a smaller bet on the river would induce more calling. Maybe something to 60% of the pot.

 

I will split this in another post as it's starting to get big and I don't have much time now. Looking forward to your feedback.

I think you hit pretty much on the common thread on this one. Last nights tourney solidified the marginal spot thoughts for me. I am disappointed I couldn't stay to hear BigDog as I had a couple of questions, but I will message him and see what he thinks. Overall my bet sizing and my willingness to get involved in way too many marginal spots seems to be something that is costing me a ton. I went back and looked at a couple of my deep runs and compared them to my early bustouts and the marginal hand play is a huge difference. I am actually pretty amazed at how powerful a highly ABC approach is at these stakes and how much you get paid off without having to be tricky at all.

I just wanted to thank everyone for taking the time to review this so far, it has been a really enlightening thread for me and I have some solid stuff to work on which is really exciting. I am enjoying watching some of the sweats and vids a lot more when I am trying to extract specific information and advice from them. I can't wait to work on incorporating more of these concepts and suggestions into my play and see what the results are. Hopefully in a short time we can review a nice takedown that will have plugged the holes in the dam!