Something I want to improve on is playing in 3bet and 4bet pots. Right now I am not calling many 3bets or 4bets. And I am wondering if I should be doing this more in position. Especially 3bets. I am also wondering if I am missing out on spots to 3bet or 4bet. I think knowing when to 4bet is particularly challenging. Also cbet sizing can be tough for me sometimes. The pot is already so big preflop that it is sometimes tough to cbet the right amount that doesnt commit you to jams etc. I think a lot of poker falls in 3bet/4bet pots and if anyone has any advice I would love to hear it.

I recently played 140,000 hands at 4nl on the merge network. 4nl is .02/.04 blinds, No Limit Holdem. It is the lowest stakes on merge.

A lot of people, incorrectly assume it is easy to beat. Lowest stake = easiest stake right? No. I think that is 100% myth. And there is two major reasons why: 1. There are 6+ solid regs at every table 2. There is no max rake at this level.

These reasons make it very hard to beat. There are very good regs that are losing over 50k-100k hand samples. I managed a meager 2bb/100 over 140k hands. It was a super grind. Make sure you have rakeback if you are thinking about playing here. And be prepared to play nitty, but great poker. I made some of my biggest folds at this stake including folding KK pre 5 times and folding AA post flop a lot. It is a tough level to beat, take it seriously!

I read a great article about having the right mindset when you play poker, and decided it would be a good read to share. First I would like to share my own thoughts, but I will post the article as well.

As much as you hear this, it is so true: don't let your emotions dictate your decisions at the poker table. Focus on what you can control and on having a positive mindset. No one likes to hear bad beat stories, and sharing them only spreads more negatively, makes you focus on bad results, and keeps you from doing what you should do: play great poker. I think it is important to focus on what you can control. Focus on the process, not the results.

"And I'm just playing, didn't even know that I was winning" Drake

Here is the article that inspired me to post this:

http://betondrew.com/stay-focused-on-whats-important/

I went to the Rock and played a few live donkaments yesterday. The Rock is Rockingham Park in New Hampshire. I normally play these tournaments for fun since the rake is 20% for charity and the structure is terrible. Anyhow I was pretty card dead for all three tournies I played but wanted to post my bustout hands to get some response and to reflect on them.

#1 In the $50 donkament we start with 5k in chips. I was wicked carddead didn't get involved in one big pot and managed to steal blinds to stay around 5k the whole time. I was still at 5k at 400/800 blinds and got q10s on my BB. I wanted to shove before I got this low but there were no good spots. Someone minraised my BB. I normally fold here but since q10s was literally the best hand I had seen I flatted and figured I shove flops with some equity. 9 q 9 r flop so I check. He bets out and I snap shove all in. He had KK.

#2 In the $125 donkament. I have only played 3 hands all tournament and they were both all in pre. 10Js shoved over a limp and A9o btn shoved. These were the best hands I saw all tourney I folded every single hand up until those. Anyways I got QJs BB and it folds around to sb who limps. I figured I was ahead but didn't know how to take it down. 400/800 blinds so I made it 2200 thinking he would fall. He flats I have 8k behind he has 15k. 10 7 4 r we both check. 9 turn. he bets out 2500 and i shove over thinking I have two overs and gutterball. He snap calls with Q10. Blah.

#3 In the $80 turbo. Super carddead again. Didn't play any hands til blinds got up to 500/1000 and we start with 10k chips. I am at 8000. I shove EP k9o and brn reshoves 15k with a4o. I was happy to get it in live here but couldn't believe btn reshoved a4o. I hadnt played a hand yet and a4o is normally dominated by my range. SB was sitting out so I only had to get past btn and BB. Seems donkey of him but should I not shove there?

I found a good article by Daniel Slovoky (Chewy) on floating. It is summed up and paraphrased below but the original article is here: Floating

Many regs have the same big leak: they fire too many c-bets and give up too often when called. That's a huge opening for smart players who call those flop c-bets with the intention of taking the pot away when they check the turn.

The best candidate for a flop float is a player that habitually c-bets too often but doesn't fire nearly enough second barrels.

If you're playing with a HUD (heads-up display), the stats you want to focus on obviously are "flop c-bet" and "turn c-bet." If the flop percentage is super high and the turn percentage is super low, you've found a potential victim.

Any time you're bluffing in Hold'em, some equity is better than no equity. Plan A is to make your opponent fold, but with equity you have a Plan B. You can hit your hand and still win. It doesn't even have to be much equity. But some equity is always better than none at all.

So when you plan to float, make sure you have at least some equity. An overcard(s), a gutshot … hell, it can even be a backdoor flush draw. You just want something to fall back on in case he does fire that second barrel or he decides to check-call that turn bet. You want to have at least some outs.

If you have no equity at all but still really want to float, don't. Next orbit that player is still going to be on your right and he's still going to be mindlessly continuation-betting.
Just wait until you have some equity. You rarely should be pure floating.

Keep your goal in mind when you call the flop. The bulk of the money you make is going to come from when he check-folds the turn. The rest is gravy, which is why you choose a hand with some equity. Don't be as bad as those mindless c-bettors and don't just fold every time you miss the flop. Look for opponents with high c-bet frequencies and low second-barrel frequencies and call. These opponents are going to give up an awful lot on the turn. And when they do, it's free money.

We have all been in this situation many of times. It folds around to us in the small blind and were deciding whether or not to raise into the big blind. Some things to consider are hand ranges, our opponents playing style, bet sizing, our ability to play post flop out of position, and stack sizes.

I think more often than not we should raise the big blind. As far as raise size I like 3x-4x. Leaning more towards 3x. I dont think a minraise is enough to take away the big blinds pot odds to call very wide so 3xing makes it a harder decision for him. The more we think he'll fold to the raise and the more he gives up post flop, the more abuse we should give to the villian.

Here's a blog entry from another site that I think sums up some of these same points. FEEL FREE TO ADD ANY ADVICE ON PLAYING BLIND VS. BLIND

Blind vs Blind Play When it is folded to us in the small blind, we should raise a very wide range in an attempt to steal the blinds. We should do this until the big blind gives us a reason not to.
It is important to know how the big blind plays versus a steal from the small blind. We should know how tight or loose he is, his range for defending against a steal, how many tables he's playing, his postflop tendencies and any other information we feel is relevant.
Against tighter players and unknowns, we should continue to raise a huge range of hands from the small blind until they start playing back at us. Against more competent players who 3bet or call and play back a lot postflop, we should stick to a tighter range of premium hands together with a small amount of weak hands in order to maintain a balanced raising range.
When facing a limp from the small blind limp in an unopened pot, we should raise the majority of hands. A small blind limp is almost always a very weak hand so they will fold a large percentage of the time preflop. When they do call the raise, they will check fold most flops or will otherwise play their hand in a very obvious manner. Furthermore, we will have position and the lead so we can dictate the size of the pot postflop.
Raise Sizing
When stealing from the small blind, our open raise size should just be three times the big blind. A lot of players open to four times the big blind, but this is usually a mistake. When we raise bigger, we tighten the big blinds calling range as he will be less inclined to call with weaker or dominated hands. At the same time, we widen his play back at and 3betting range because there is now more dead money in the pot to win. For these reasons, the smaller raise size is much better.

Hi yall.

I just joined the ORG. I go by the name sharking, and I am d33p5t4ck3d on carbon. Plan on being a very active member and look forward to meeting new people. I am still trying to figure this site out. If anyone has any helpful pointers or information for newbies, it would be greatly appreciated. Cant wait for the series. I plan on making a name for myself, so whatever team picks me up consider yourself lucky. Good luck everyone!