Active participation

You can sit at an online poker table with all sorts of motivations such as for entertainment, for diversion or for profit. However you can only make a profit if you actively participate in the game. This means making reads based on bet sizing, speed of bet and frequency of actions. If you actively participate in the game then you constantly make judgements as to whether the table is profitable and aim to sit in the most profitable spots. This is less easy when multitabling but can still be achieved in a limited sense once you have gleaned stats of the other players. I noticed this afternoon that I was in a profitable spot with position on some sticky/calling station type players and better still the players behind me were tight, known regulars who will happily fold their blinds to a button open most of the time. The table was thinning out so I was due to leave in one orbit or so.
I played the following hand in this game which typifies my active 'A game' decision making skills and highlights where some of the regular players are routinely making mistakes. It was on the face of it an entirely ordinary hand of absolutely no note but it is in the details that the benefits of active participation can be found.


$0.02/$0.04 Blinds No Limit Holdem Table Maraba 6 Max (Real Money)
Seat 9 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 2: top_jimmy ( $5.44 )
Seat 4: ROCK ( $2 )
Seat 6: TIGHT REG( $4 )
Seat 7: TIGHT REG ( $4 )
Seat 9: FISH( $4.94 )
top_jimmy posts small blind [$0.02]
ROCK posts big blind [$0.04]
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to top_jimmy [ Kd, Qs ]
TIGHT REG folds
TIGHT REG folds
FISH calls [$0.04]
top_jimmy raises [$0.14]
ROCK calls [$0.12]
FISH folds
** Dealing flop ** [ 9d, Jh, 3c ]
top_jimmy bets [$0.14]
ROCK folds
** Summary **
top_jimmy did not show his hand
top_jimmy collected [ $0.35 ]




I raise preflop for value and to try and get heads up with the fish with a strong hand KQ, which even in the blinds/out of position will play well against his limp-calling range. However the rock in the big blind calls and the fish folds so my initial plan is out the window. On the flop I bet as a semi-bluff with 4 outs to the nuts safe in the knowledge that I can lay it down to a raise and the rock merely folds his 22,44,55,66,77,88,AQ,AK,AJ,KQ, and occasionally a random suited-connector or Ax suited but I doubt it in this case. I made my bet size small (14:35) because I thought that puts some pressure on small pairs and does not waste money should he give me 'the business' on the flop (JCarver TM) and raise it right back.

If the rock had been actively participating in this hand, instead of waiting to flop the nuts then he would have noticed a few things about this hand.....


1. My raise the small blind range is pretty strong but based around decent Ax, best Kxsuited, all pairs, maybe higher suited broadways.
2. His flat the big blind range is pretty strong also, probably stronger than my raise range, even after a limper.
3. He is in position on the flop once the fish folds so he can call flop and see what I do on the turn
4. The flop can conceivably hit a flatting range better than it can hit my raising range so he can call flop and
know that it would set alarm bells ringing with me, the out of position player. He would likely get a free turn card on a lot of middly turns since he should have seen me back away from wet boards in this game and others.
5. I was varying my cbet size in this game and therefore he could reasonably conclude I am likely to be weak when I bet out small, since this is how most bad microstakes players play.As it happens he cannot actually know this about me specifically since I also bet small for value against rocks and on drier textures but most players always bet proportionally to their hand strength.
6. If he reraises the flop then I have a very difficult decision, even with AJ which would have made top pair top kicker, since he he is so uber tight and passive.

ABC

ABC poker can mean a lot of things but to most exponents it signifies 'bet or raise when you have a good hand and fold if not.' I should have moved up in limits by now but have had a break from poker, returned and played terribly so I have now set about fixing my game at the lowest limit before moving up. I have adopted an ABC style which means interpreting the strength of my hand in the face of fishy actions and then asking myself the question 'can I bet for value?' and if the answer is yes I bet and if it is no then I check.

I took a break from poker because my priorities in life were out of balance and poker easily swallows up a lot of time. I decided to concentrate on guitar playing for a while, practicing determinedly to get my 'chops' back together. Sadly my RSI flared up yet again so I have had to cool it on the guitar front and having just emerged from a long holiday I couldn't help but drift back into poker when I was unable to sit and stroke my axe all day (ahem!)

I have a tendency to turn into a stubborn call station if I do not play for a while. I imagine all sorts of trickiness on the part of my opponents. This is a terrible disease and the cure is ABC poker which I am now taking in regular doses in the hope of a swift cure. Last night I sat down with a note which said 'only bet for value', plus a further note regarding tightening up my cut-off range.  I proceeded to lose more and more and more and more and more until.....I actually flopped a hand. I made a flopped underfull on JJ9 board holding 99 and almost tripled through versus a calling station chasing a straight which he made (70/9 below) and another hopeless case who folded the river, presumably with Ace-high (AQ likely) or a small pair in the pocket. By this time I had watched showdowns, made some notes, amassed some stats on my opponents and I realised I was on a table with the 4 weakest players I have ever seen.  I was so tired my vision was blurring a bit and my head was thick but I kept going determined to stick to my ABC plan on a table where it would be most profitable. I simply bet when I made a hand and checked when I did not. Apart from one accidental semibluff in a bad spot and one disciplined laydown (with set on 4 to a str8 turn, multiway when led into for pot by a station) I rallied against creative thinking and kept it simple.

For stats fans I enclose a HEM screenshot of the table, the most revealing stats are the first two numbers vpip and pfr: 'voluntarily put into pot' and 'pre flop raise' stats respectively. An ABC player at 6max/shorthanded will run at something like 22/18  entering a pot with just over 1/5 of hands dealt and raising most of those before the flop. Below is a screenshot the worst set of stats I have ever seen on any one table all at the same time. By the way I know my 15/11 is incredibly tight but those stats are cumulative and I mostly play full ring/9 handed where 15/11 works profitably. I have yet to play enough 6max to effect my stats significantly. In the shot below I 4x'd QQ pre and got 4 callers so I should have raised it more preflop but I was tired and had to leave soon after this hand even though it pained me! 70/9 in the small blind was chief donator.