Adjusting to ultra tight microstakes
Hi all,
Giving online poker a try after not playing in ~10 years. One problem I'm having is adjusting to the incredibly tight ranges of the players here. I'm at a table right now with players with the following vpip/pfrs:
- 8.5/5.1
- 18/13
- 5.4/5.7 (this one might be a typo in retrospect, not sure how pfr could be higher than vpip. Might have meant 5.7/5.4)
- 12/10
These ranges are so tight the guys show up with SOMETHING nearly every time. Yes, I can occasionally steal a pot when they miss, but pocket pairs are such a large part of the range at 5.4% or 8.5% that I'm often putting good money after bad here.
How does one adjust to play appropriately against ranges like this? Yes, I can bet my position to try to win the blinds more often than not, but winning 1.5bb every rotation or two is tough when any time big money goes in the others guys have something good.
Guess I'm just looking for advice on how/what I should be doing, because I can't figure it out!
5 Replies
Sounds like a dream table.
As for the adjustments... fold when you don't beat a range of TT+ AK and they're putting money in the pot?
Move tables. You can beat players like this but it's not where the money comes from.
if you can't move or if you're in a fast fold pool with a lot of players like this then there are certain exploits. For what it's worth though, although these are all clearly nits, #1 and #3 are ultra nits. They are so tight that they're basically empty seats.
In general though for nits:
- Open your range up more in late position since they won't be defending their blinds enough
- Be extremely wary when they make aggressive actions since they will be so much further up in their range
- Don't 3bet their early position opens as much on the BTN. For example I like to flat hands like AK, KQs, AQ, JJ, TT in order to keep their ranges wide. Feel free to 3bet a polarised range though since they'll overfold - note this doesn't apply to the ultra-nits since they're ranges are so tight to begin with.
- If they raise you at any stage post-flop just fold unless you have a monster or a big draw. Do not bluff catch against them. They always have it.
- They often give away the size of their hands with the size of their bets. Near pot-size bets on the turn are almost always very strong hands.
- If they bet on the river they generally have TPTK at the very minimum
- Conversely if they check the river when OOP after betting the turn then their range is extremely capped since they tend to do this more for pot control than to set up check-raises. They are then vulnerable to large over-bet bluffs.
Basically with nits it all comes down to fear. That's the over-riding emotion driving them. That's why they're not playing wider ranges. They hate the uncertainty around playing more marginal hands and not being sure of how to play them when they miss flops. They don't want to put money in the pot unless they think that they're a big favourite to win it back. That's why you need to be wary when they start to pile the money in. They aren't bluffing because they don't trust bluffs. They only trust hand strength.
Move tables. You can beat players like this but it's not where the money comes from.
if you can't move or if you're in a fast fold pool with a lot of players like this then there are certain exploits. For what it's worth though, although these are all clearly nits, #1 and #3 are ultra nits. They are so tight that they're basically empty seats.
In general though for nits:
- Open your range up more in late position since they won't be defending their blinds enough
- Be extremely wary when they make aggressive actions since they will be so much further up in their range
- Don't 3bet their early position opens as much on the BTN. For example I like to flat hands like AK, KQs, AQ, JJ, TT in order to keep their ranges wide. Feel free to 3bet a polarised range though since they'll overfold - note this doesn't apply to the ultra-nits since they're ranges are so tight to begin with.
- If they raise you at any stage post-flop just fold unless you have a monster or a big draw. Do not bluff catch against them. They always have it.
- They often give away the size of their hands with the size of their bets. Near pot-size bets on the turn are almost always very strong hands.
- If they bet on the river they generally have TPTK at the very minimum
- Conversely if they check the river when OOP after betting the turn then their range is extremely capped since they tend to do this more for pot control than to set up check-raises. They are then vulnerable to large over-bet bluffs.
Basically with nits it all comes down to fear. That's the over-riding emotion driving them. That's why they're not playing wider
Thanks for the advice. I can't really move tables (playing 2NL on ACR and there's only ever a single 9-handed table available, although I do sometimes play 6 handed as well). I'm following some of the advice with the wider late range (I'm playing 24/17, with a lot of that being BTN and CO raises with lighter hands), but I'm definitely calling down a little wide or trying to bet them off hands that I think are marginal (but maybe aren't). I'll take a look and try to put this into practice. Appreciate it!
Find a new table with recreationals on it (arguably with these stats they already are but you probably won’t win much).
If you have to stick around, open range then fold near range to any raises. Bet every time they check post.
Find a new table with recreationals on it (arguably with these stats they already are but you probably won’t win much).
Not sure if online poker got softer in the last few years, but when I played on-line a table with 5 regs and a whale was already consider decent, the one in the OP would have been a slam dunk sit.
You're definitely making money against three people with a 10< VPiP.
