After watching a good amount of cardrunner videos, i may need alittle help with my PF play.

This may be alittle lenthy so i do apreciate the help of anyone that actually fills out the whole thing.

Now, this is just in general, obv different situations call for different plays, but IN GENERAL

What do you limp with

Early Position/UTG:


Mid Position -


Late position/Button -

What do you Raise with (and how much)

Early Position/UTG -
EX. xx (raise xBB)
xx (raise xBB)
xx
Mid Position -

Late position/Button

What do you call a raise with (3bbish)

Earlyposition -

Mid Position -

Late position/button -

What do you re-raise with:

Early position -

Mid position -

Late position -


I want to see what im doing wrong in my PF play

Really depends especially when you're talking about other people already in the pot. I could make a laundry list as it pertains to me in general. I'm guessing that you're asking about cash games?

Yes sir.

I mean, i think i have a pretty good grasp, just from seeing them play alot i feel like i obv dont have it as perfect as i thought.

This is my workout my rough spots month, so i figured i would get some others opinions on how they play

What do you limp with?

Open-limping's just something I don't do often. This really depends. At a table of calling stations, I limp a lot in EP with anything playable as good as Jacks and AK. This only works because they'll give you great odds, pay you off when you hit, AND won't punish you for limping. This is all a result of calling stations being non-observant.

After being the aggressor for 2 or 3 of the last 4 hands or just aggressive PF in general through the session, I almost never limp unless I'll in position after the flop AND there is a limper or 2 in front of me. Otherwise, it's dead money in the pot.

I'm supertight in the blinds behind limpers. If I complete the SB, I have a monster multiway hand (AK-AQ, AJs-A9s, suited connectors, 88-22, maybe KQs). I don't get involved OOP with A8-A2 and broadway hands. Your implied odds/reverse implied odds just suck with common cards OOP.

What do you Raise with (and how much)
I'm only talking about cash games, but my generic rule is (4+limpers)bb. If I'm not winning to put 6x in the pot after 2 limpers, I'll limp with as good as Tens and AQ in postion. With limpers, I generally follow a limper with a (5+limpers)bb raise with QQ-99, AK-AJ, and KQo OOP (the blinds).

Raising isn't about cards so much. Aggression is profitable with motivation. Ask yourself, "What do I want?" and you pave a path more profitable than using a hand chart. Honestly answering that question before every raise makes your desicion to raise, fold, or limp seem like common sense.

Raising depending on my position goes hand in hand with my image. I don't overrate my importance to loosely give myself an image as most people do. My perception on my image is mostly dependent on what I've done the last orbit or 2 when it comes to PF decisions. When you've prevented someone from playing their game for the last 10 minutes, they get ansy and start playing sheriff. Because of that, there are about as many times that I'll open the pot early with 46s as I'll open-fold AJo in MP. After you answer the question, "What do I want?" you need to honestly answer this question: "Can I get it?"

Facing raises:
Those 2 questions solve your problems with facing raises. In position, I seldom re-raise. The Gap Concept is more a limit poker and tournament poker concept than a concept that applies to big-bet Hold 'em cash games. But it still applies- especially when facing raises. But you'll have to ask yourself those 2 questions and just double or triple check your honesty.

If I limp in EP, I'm usually calling a raise behind me unless it's a monster raise. This goes back to limping in that you shouldn't be limping with hands OOP that can't stand a raise.

In the blinds, I make re-raises to take the lead with hands like AK-AJs, KQs, QQ-JJ and re-raises to take it down PF with hands like TT-22. Obviously, the lower the pair, the more situational the re-raise becomes. Facing an open-raise of 4x is much too different from facing a 5x raise that was made behind 2 limpers. The raiser needs to be stronger to make that raise in the second case and you have to be stronger just consider calling, let alone re-raising because you're sandwiched.

Hope that helps. Don't know if it's what you're looking for. A hand chart would just be trivial and serve no purpose.

i never limp in 6 handed after watching cr steve..

im assuming this is 6max because full ring is for gays



Early Position/UTG:
nothing, open limping is gay in 6max(and i rarely limp in general unless there are 2 or more limpers in front of me and i have a small pair or something), mostly because you never really are in early position, its as though you are at a 9 handed table and the 1st 3 people folded, so you are really in mid position. i still refer to "early position" in 6max, but keep in mind that youreally arent early. anyways, in ep in 6max i never open limp. if im playing the pot im coming in for a raise, and my range really depends on my table. Ill fold alot of junk ace hands, probably play A8s+, ATo+. I'll open with like KQ, KJ, QJ, type hands, and open raise 77+. i generally fold smallish pairs and s/c type hands just because imo, these hands are only really valuble in position. its hard to play postflop oop, especaily with weaker hands!

Mid Position -

mid position to me is basically like CO+1 to the CO, and this raising range is important because not only are you in later position here so you can open with a wider range of hands, but there will generally be a limper or 2 every now and then so you are going to have to learn to increase the size of your raise for the more limpers in the pot.

after 2 people have limped i generally am raising with the same cards i was in ep, just because the chances of the pot being heads up are a little less, thus, im going to be stealing less. i dont like cbetting into multiple people unless my image is good, and the board is good. flop texture is VERY important. every now and then you should also just not cbet with a hand that is likley to be good, but doesnt gain much value from betting, like ace high, or a small pair. not every time, but some of the time.
dont cbet really coordinated flops. like if you open AKd and get a caller and the flop comes like 678s, i would just try to show down your AK high here.
however if the board comes like Q22r, this is a great flop to bet because its likley to have not hit your opponent, and its hard for them to call unless they allready have a pair b/c there is no draw on board. (most people fold hands with 2's to a raise)

after 1 limper i like to isolate with a fairly wide range of hands, as i do when its folded to me. I'll still raise all ep hands, however here I throw in alot of suited connectors. this is because you want to play pots HU in position, and you want to show people you arent a nit so they give you action at the wrong time.


Late position/Button -
my range is super wide here.

folded to me on the button i'll basically open any s/c, any suited 1 gapper, and ill start throwing in hands that i hate to play like A7o, Q9s, etc. open all pairs, most aces (i fold A2ish hands some of the time, raise some of the time)
fold junk hands. you dont HAVE to play the button. dont limp on the button. thats the gayest play of them all.


as for 3betting people pf, just watch the empire maker CR video. he is good at this.

ok lets say you have AJs. the button open raises. just calling is a worse play than folding. why? when you just call you lose the pot to a cb 70% of the time. you can never steal the pot, and its hard to know if your hand is best even if you do flop with J or A. if you re raise pf, you take control of the pot and NOW you can lead at the flop no matter what it is. leading into the pfr with nothing is a terrible play imo, its really not a good line and i auto raise people on the flop no matter what my cards are alot of the time.

basically, if you are only 3betting with aces kings and queens, you are super easy to play against. you need to expand your range. it doesnt really matter what it is. like when the CO open raises, you can 3bet with tons of hands, just because its so unlikley he has a real hand. and even when he does have AK, hes going to miss the flop most of the time.



oh, another random note, play VERY tight from the blinds. most of your play should be raise/fold from the blinds. like if the button raises dont call with a s/c because you want to see a flop. u should 3bet him some of the time but generally fold, because you want to play these hands in position. u should also fold lots of hands from the sb even though its cheap. i see way too many people playing like k4, 24, 6T, shitty hands that arent worth anything. (unless of course table is wild and u get paid on 2pair every time. )


im really trying to make a video of my own, i need to figure out camtasia.

Heres what I currently do for 10max cash games:

First off, in full ring, EP for me is the first 3 spots beside the BB (u wanna play extremely tight from these first 3 spots cuz the position sucks so bad), MP is the next 2 spots, and finally LP is the last 3 spots, including the button.

So basically:

SB, BB
EP = UTG, UTG+1, UTG+2
MP = MP1, MP2
LP = CO1, CO, Button

EP:

Raise TT-AA, AK, AQs. Limp 22-99. FOLD EVERYTHING ELSE! (yes this means folding AQo as well)

MP:

Raise AQ. Limp AJ, AT, KQ, KJ, QJ. Also limp AXs provided there is at least 1 limper already in the pot (if not then fold). FOLD EVERYTHING ELSE! (other then the starting hands in EP obv.)

LP:

Since your position is very good now, you can afford to play alot looser, because ur positional value compensates for your card value. Keep in mind you wanna maintain yourself as an aggressive player, this means you should be raising with the "loose" hands, instead of limping (well, most of the time at least).

CO1: Raise 56s+, 57s+, 69s+, AJ, AT, KQ, KJ, QJ (only if their is 1 limper or less). If there are already 2 limpers in the pot, then just limp in as well. Limp in with KXs (K9s or under, KTs=raise from this spot) provided there is at least 1 limper before you, if there isnt, then fold it. Limp in with QXs as long as there is at least 2 limpers before you. (where X is 8 or less, Q9s+ = raise)

CO:Raise 56s+, 57s+, 69s+, AJ, AT, KQ, KJ, QJ (raise these hands as long as there is 2 or less limpers in the pot - if there are already 3 limpers, then just limp in as well UNLESS u have AJ, that should be raised accordingly). Raise 22-99 if there is only 1 limper or less in the pot, if theres 2 or more, then just limp in.

Button:Same as CO.


My basic raising strategy is as follows:

If I'm first in the pot, I will always raise to 4xBB.

For hands like TT-AA, AK-AJ, I will use 4x+limpers BB. E.g. TT in MP, facing 3 limps, I will raise to 7xBBs.

If im raising in late position with any weaker pf hands (e.g. 79s, QTs, KQ, 99), I will use 3x+limpers BB because I dont really wanna build the pot that big, I want to just establish myself as the pf aggressor, so i can cb the flop. So for example, I have KQ on the button, 2 limps to me, I will raise it to 5BB. However if its folded to me, then I will open raise for 4xBB regardless.


Hope this helps. =)

That's a great full ring approach, especially for games $400 and under, Eclipse. Curious as to how you play the blinds. I play the blinds a bit loose, but still cautious in full ring. The only full ring I ever play is live and that's cause people limp a lot and feel over-invested postflop.

The online games used to be like this, but everything I've seen over the last 5 months since I started playing NL again is that people play more raise/fold in EP and MP. Most of them are set mining or looking for straights and flushes so they're weak-tight postflop play after limping kills your implied odds in the blinds. More just my LAGtard-ass erring on the side of caution.