** Official Beginners NL Holdem Stats Thread **

It's time to update this thread a bit.

Today @tdammon shared his results with us and here is a short overview of his base.

I'm sure many members will be happy to offer advice and support to help @tdammon on his journey!

1. Results
Total

Win Rates by position

Table selection (Fish VPIP 45%+)

Despite the suboptimal selection, your results in this sample are impressive.

Your table selection could be improved, as you played at tables with good fish only 35% of the time.

Given the ample selection available at micro-stakes, it's worth investing more effort into finding more favorable tables.

2. Spots

In general, the reliability of these indicators tends to decrease in a small sample size, particularly in 3-bet pots.

3. Preflop

The preflop looks solid except BB calls. It looks like you're defending roughly the same range against all positions.

Take a closer look at your Big Blind ranges. You should consider widening your calling range against the Small Blind's opens.

Additionally, you can incorporate more 3-betting, especially against opponents who fold frequently to 3-bets.

4. Postflop

It may be worth increasing the number of bluffs on the turn and river after cbetting the flop.

In addition, I would be able to bet the flop more often with value and bluffs. Right now your flop checking range looks very protected (Xfold Turn 37% IP and 31% OOP).

Also, consider increasing your Delayed C-bet frequency. This can be an effective exploit at the micro stakes.

Low Folds vs Cbets OOP. You could consider defending less frequently, although upon reviewing your hands, I didn't find any instances where folding on the flop seemed warranted.

Your relatively low preflop calling frequency might influence this.

X/Raise OOP is good, but Raise IP is too low. Also low Float Flop IP.

The sample size for 3bet pots isn't great, but one noticeable aspect is low raises, both in position and out of position.

5. Summarize
Overall, it was challenging for me to identify any significant leaks in your game given your impressive results.

Your strategy in single-raised pots appears quite balanced, perhaps even overly so.

While balance is not a negative, I would suggest focusing more on exploiting opponents' tendencies at these limits rather than strictly adhering to balance.

Based on your performance, I believe your skill level is sufficient to comfortably beat NL10 and be competitive at NL25.

However, there are areas for improvement, particularly in your table selection.

Additionally, consider refining your big blind defense ranges and honing your skills when defending against 3-bet pots.

These adjustments could further enhance your overall game.

Best of luck!

Thanks for the review @slyless !

I do find myself checking back a lot of my strong hands thinking V can bluff into me. I'm worried about being exploited when I show weakness, but maybe that isn't a concern against the majority of the 5nl pool.

I am surprised, but happy, to hear that you think I could beat a higher game. Personally, I feel clueless in most spots postflop and feel like the vast majority of my winnings come from fish that show up and 5 bet A7o and get stacked within 10 hands lol.

I will have to work on table selection. Any suggestions for how to quickly identify fish? I have a HUD but it is hard to tag someone with less than 50 hands played and I feel like most fish just donk off a stack and leave.

If you hold a strong hand, it's advisable to bet. Using weaker hands like TPWK, MP, WP for bluffcatching.

These players typically have an incomplete stack and frequently limp. Positioning yourself against them is crucial.

Often, identifying them as recreational players doesn't take long, especially after showing a few showdowns.

If such players are absent from the table, it's better to find another one where you have an advantage.

Hey everyone!

Today, we're presenting another brief base review of the user @Aergiia, who embarked on their poker journey at the nl5 limit.

If you have any feedback or additional insights to contribute, we're always open to constructive criticism!

1. Results

Total

Win Rates by position

Table selection (Fish VPIP 45%+)

A selection rate of 28% is quite low and could benefit from improvement.
Working on this aspect of your game can significantly enhance your mathematical expectation without altering your overall strategy.
This skill becomes crucial at higher limits, where opponents are more competitive.

2. Spots.

3. Preflop

The Open Raise on SB looks too wide but I think it’s okay because opponents are still not good at defending the big blind at these limits.
Low 4bets. You need 4-bet wider on CO/BU in position (maybe just variance).
High 3Bets on SB and very low 3Bets on BB.
Don't mind cold calls from free positions, but I would use them exclusively in spots with fish.
Otherwise, it's better to simplify your strategy to 3bet or fold, especially on SB where we always play out of position postflop.
Too wide calls on BB against MP-CO and wider against BU. It shouldn't be like that.

4. Postflop

First of all your aggression is too low. You need to increase your aggression on the flop and turn.

Also, you have a high Went to Show Down (the normal value is 26-28); Low Won When Saw Flop (45-49%); Low Won on Show Down (together with the WTSD and WWSF, this can indicate that you play passively and often reach the showdown with weak hands.)

Low flop Cbet and very low delay Cbet on the turn.
You should bet more CBet on the flop, and bluff very wide when your opponent checks twice. This is a very profitable line on micro limits.
Also, your Check on the flop and Fold on the turn looks high.
This means that you are CBetting with a strong range and leaving a lot of trash in the Check range.
This is a vulnerable strategy that allows thoughtful opponents to exploit you.
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High Check/Fold and complete absence of Checks/Raises on the flop.
Low delay Cbet.
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Looks okay. Maybe you can defend less on the flop.
This will allow you to slightly increase the Folds on the flop but lower them on the turn and river.
You have a Check/Raise on the flop and that's a good thing because it's your main defense weapon.
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High Folds on the flop and Low Floats.
BB vs SB is the main scenario in this spot and we need to be able to defend well in these wide ranges.
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3bet pots follow the same trends as Single raise pots.
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5. Summarize
Despite performing fairly well, there are still ample areas for improvement in your game.

1. Enhance your table selection skills, particularly in the 5-max format. This format can add extra rake, so it's crucial to identify where your edge lies. Avoid playing at tables where you don't see profitable opportunities.
2. Refine your preflop strategy, especially in defending blinds more effectively in the 5-max format. Now your out-of-position BB call result is -125bb/100 which is worse than if you just folded all your hands preflop (-100bb/100).
3. Work on your postflop strategy, starting with single-raise pots. Develop a solid plan for barreling in and out of position and improve your defense in BB vs SB scenarios. These adjustments will improve your game in 3bet pots as well.

Keep striving for improvement, and best of luck on your poker journey!

Could you please help me to calculate my win rate for 10,000 hands played [Uploading Image...]

Hey all, I'm not here to complain about variance but my graph literally looks like it got doom switched since 3/31/24. I have not switched stakes at all - my average buy in has always been about $8 MTT's on ACR. There are PLENTY of donks at that level. Just looking for some pointers or any advice on what I should look at changing in my strategy or even game selection.

Before 3/31/24:

After 3/31/24:

I know my first 14k hands is over a small sample vs the last 44k hands but these two graphs almost look like two different players and I have no idea why other than taking some brutal beats recently.

The only changes I've made to my play style have been to tighten up a little when OOP as I was trying to limit the bleeding in the BB and the SB. Doesn't seem like that has worked. I know this is really a top level view of what is going on but if anyone can offer any pointers on what exactly I should be looking at to try and improve I would GREATLY appreciate it.

Some other questions I had -

Should I drop lower down in stakes?

I don't normally play more than 3 or 4 tables at once. I personally think that I may do better only playing two tables at once as I am able to focus on player tendencies more. The HUD isn't always perfect especially over a small sample. However, maybe I'm just leveling myself.

How much attention should I be paying to the HUD? I always try to factor in VPIP, PFR, and 3bet Freq before making my decisions. Are there any other stats that you all use to make better decisions?

I find that I have trouble continuing on turns/rivers when my opponents start to polarize - especially playing villains with small HUD sample sizes. When should you continue with more middling hands post flop, if ever? I'm trying to improve my red line but that seems almost impossible at these stakes where opponents make more calling mistakes as opposed to folding mistakes.

If you've come this far I just really want to thank you for reading! Appreciate any and ALL help!