Poker clinic

MICRO MACHINE

I have been playing poker for nearly two years now and have read about ten books including those by Hellmuth, Brunson and Sklansky. I have very good people-reading skills and a natural flair for cards but the thing is, I am not winning! I’m wondering if this is because I am playing at micro-stakes no-limit tables ($0.10/$0.20), and am thus surrounded by fish who can’t be bluffed and will call to the river with complete bollocks?

Do you think that if Dave Ulliot was made to spend a year playing $0.10/$0.20 no-limit, online, that at the end of the year he would be substantially up or down? That for me would be the best indicator of whether or not the theory that ‘you just cannot win long-term at micro-limit’ is true or not. Actually thinking about it, Willie – do you think you would win long-term at the micro-tables?

Of course it might have nothing to do with the limits and may just be that I have some big lessons still to learn about my play, but I am beginning to wonder if it is not just the way I play but the games I am playing. Mike Bennett

The first thing we need to address is what you personally classify as a winning amount at these stakes. If you’re talking about the minimum buy- in of $5 a day, then my answer is ‘yes’, I definitely think I would win in the long-term, as would the Devilfish or any other top pro. It is possible to win consistently at these stakes, despite all the calling stations; though if you’re talking about winning $20k like Chris Ferguson then your task is going to be a lot more difficult.

By the sounds of your letter, it appears that you may be trying to bluff the unbluffable and make moves on players who aren’t sophisticated enough to respond. My advice is at these stakes is this: keep it simple. At the micro-limits you should be tightening up your hand range and pretty much only playing premium hands. If you hit the flop, you should be trying to protect your hand as much as possible.

Letting micro- limit players have the chance to catch up is pointless because they are always looking for reasons to call anyway. Charge them as much as you can to see another card and always respect any significant resistance – it almost always means they have something.

WE THREE KINGS

I never thought I’d be asking for advice on how to play flopped tripped Kings but here goes… Basically I was playing in a $5/$10 six-handed game and I was under the gun with A-K offsuit. My stack was around $1,200 and I raised to $35. The only caller was the small blind, a complete and utter donk. His stack was $1,300 but he had sat down with $2k about two hours earlier. So the flop came K?-K?-6?. The small blind checked and I bet $51. He called. The turn was the J? and the small blind instantly bet out $150. I was slightly worried about the flush but there was no way I was folding at this point so I just called. The river was the 10… and the small blind bet $300. What would you have done in this situation? Chris Morris

I think your situation is what they call getting ‘cold-decked’. Your pre-flop and flop plays were perfectly fine. You raised in early position with a strong hand in a six-handed game and you got one caller – a fish no less – so you couldn’t ask for much more. Things looked even better when you flopped trip Kings and only K-6 and pocket sixes were beating you. Unfortunately your opponent was a little passive and he just called your bet.

When the turn brought the flush, your situation started getting a little precarious. It got even worse when the small blind bet out, but it would have been absurd to fold when there was over $300 in the pot.

At this point, you had to hope for a cheap showdown on the river, but when the small blind bet $300 on a card that couldn’t have helped much (despite bringing the straight), you have to think you’re beaten. Far too many hands beat you at this point: any two hearts, K-J and don’t forget we already mentioned the possibilities of K-6 and pocket sixes. Even the fact that he is a bad player can’t convince me that it would have been right to call in this spot – I do hope you folded.