What to do here?

Pipunch

PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalances_hunterSmall blind £0.02£0.02£7.04Rage425Big blind £0.04£0.06£4.14 Your hole cardsAK   pk21Fold    ginger729Call £0.04£0.10£3.92jiminy5314Call £0.04£0.14£2.79PipunchRaise £0.28£0.42£4.19s_hunterFold    Rage425Fold    ginger729Call £0.24£0.66£3.68jiminy5314Fold    Flop  5106   ginger729Check    PipunchBet £0.50£1.16£3.69ginger729Call £0.50£1.66£3.18Turn  J   ginger729Check    PipunchCheck    River  3   ginger729Check    PipunchCheck    ginger729ShowK5   PipunchMuckAK   ginger729WinPair of 5s£1.53 £4.7

Pipunch

See i'm thinking i should have kept the pressure on, although this same player was calling with anything.

If i'd gone all in i don't think he'd even have folded. Should i maybe give up on the hand once i don't flop anything and wait until i do connect with players like this?

I'm struggling to know what to do, these sorts of players are calling massive pre flop raises with nothing and are then difficult to get off the hand. Any advice is appreciated thanks.

Lambert180

Raise pre is fine.

I probably c-bet a big smaller, because at this level it'll either work or it won't regardless of how big it is, so save some money for when it doesn't

After he calls the c-bet, I think you just gotta check it down because you probably aint gonna get rid of him. Annoying but if he calls more than 75% of the pot with bottom pair, you'll probably be burning money trying to get him off the hand.

Lambert180

I know it can be annoying when they call with junk and hit something, but two thirds of the time, a random hand will miss the flop, so a small c-bet, around half pot, will often get the job done.

EDIT: for what it's worth, I see you around quite a lot and generally don't sit at tables you're on because there's much easier money around, so you can't be doing too bad.

Pipunch

Thanks for the advice! I'm trying to hone my game (i'm pretty terrible atm i think) because i can double my bankroll in one day yet then burn it all off the next through stupid mistakes. One problem is there's so much conflicting information out there. Some places say don't ever play anything except premium hands at this level, others say when you do get a premium hand bully them others say let the fish bet into you.

I've gone from £120 to £30 in the last day and a half and to be honest i've been playing pretty solidly, i've been on the end of some really bad beats but there are still the times i'm making ridiculous calls when i know i'm beaten - i think convincing myself to trust my instincts is half the battle. Having said that, just learning from one source of reliable information would be handier!#

I'm just in limbo at the mo - i know that once everything falls into place i will be quite decent but it's getting there that matters at the mo. I can quite easily leave the 2/4p tables with £30 (and often do) but then the next day i'll reload 5/6 times on one table and it's all gone. Would just like a bit of consistency to be honest!

Lambert180

Read this mate and you'll never look back:

https://www.skypoker.com/secure/poker/sky_lobby/poker-school/beat-small-stakes-cash-games-1?tracking=pokersleftnav

It was written by Dohhhhhhh (you might have seen him round here giving advice)

The majority of people at this level are loose and passive, so they call alot but don't bet much (I've seen people check down to the river with top pair). So when you hit, you gotta be betting big because they call with alot of junk, but if you check, they very rarely do the betting for you.

It's all in that guide anyway.

Pipunch

In Response to Re: What to do here?:

Read this mate and you'll never look back: https://www.skypoker.com/secure/poker/sky_lobby/poker-school/beat-small-stakes-cash-games-1?tracking=pokersleftnav It was written by Dohhhhhhh (you might have seen him round here giving advice) The majority of people at this level are loose and passive, so they call alot but don't bet much (I've seen people check down to the river with top pair). So when you hit, you gotta be betting big because they call with alot of junk, but if you check, they very rarely do the betting for you. It's all in that guide anyway.
Posted by Lambert180

Thanks for your help mate. To be honest in the last few weeks i've been learning a lot - i was very very frustrated with playing the low limits because i didn't know how to beat them and i came on here moaning about 'stupid' players. From watching SkyPokerTv and reading posts on here a lot i'm realising that it's the correct decision making that matters.

I was rather immature and frustrated about the whole thing but the community on here is fantastic and i've actually learned a lot about mindset when approaching the game from listening to Tikay on telly haha. Bad beats happen, whatever. Make the right decisions.

I'm determined to keep on learning because i think i can be better at this than your average joe and i enjoy the game and the community.

I suppose i am still a pokerbaby (the date of my first post was about a week after i even learned the rules) and have much to learn.

Thanks for your help again and i will be posting more regularly once i figure out what i'm doing (hopefully with the help of that thread you posted). Cheers and happy easter!

Dudeskin8

Yep pre fine.

Cbet defo can be smaller, 35p here would do job.

After flat call very good to shut down even when another overcard comes as they'll never fold a pair here.

Pipunch

So my play was ok apart from the c-bet?

Think i need to eat a bit of humble pie and give you a bit of an apology dudeskin, i remember getting a bit aggro with you when i was on the receiving end of a bad beat and you tried to put me straight. Turns out you were right all along!

Lambert180

Yeah and it's not even a problem that you c-bet, it was just a bit bigger than needed.

Basically, if they fold you win, if they call, that's it, you're never gonna get them to fold (and you've got nothing). Most players at this level don't look at the bet size in comparison to the pot or anything like that. So if they will fold for 50p, then they'll fold for 30p too, so you might aswell save yourself 20p on the times they call and you have to give up.

Dudeskin8

Yep all about sizing and Lamby's right in that if you make it 20p less every time in one evening, for say 20 C-bets that = £4, or one buy in so very important.

Don't remember bad beat moan but thanks for apology anyway lol

Spikelad

Pipunch i like your preflop raise and the fact you cbet out on the flop even though you missed completely.As the guys have already said just bet a bit smaller when this happens as longterm you will save money.

I think for someone new to the game you are well ahead of schedule in your development as a player and urge you to stick with nl4 and keep analysing your own play,you will get there mate,it takes time.

AMYBR

Cbet size is relative to our goal.

Make your c-bet whatever your v/b would be.

Dudeskin8

@ AMYBR - This isn't relevent at NL4 mate but obvz further up you go more it is. 

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