beating regulars

[kimoz]

The games on party have very high average pot, and i play there and i think i am beating it, but ppl are 3beting very light there and fishes calls down with low pairs so i really wonder how to play against those type of players.

if a vid is not possible a comment about how to play against TAG regulars who squeeze alot, 3bet alot and about how to play against the fishes.

[TheDeKay]

If you play against good players it is easier to play quite TAG yourself. If you don't open with so many hands, their fold-equity by 3betting goes down a lot and becomes -EV, if they don't adjust.
You can call 3bets ip lighter, if they 3bet you light.

Well... against fish^^ It's not so hard to think of a way to beat a station, or not? :P

[ThatDeviant]

Against the regulars abuse your position and start 3betting lighter if they open up from the button and have a big steal % number. You'll be amazed at how many of them are playing robotic poker and are so easy to exploit. If a 19/17 TAG opens from CO then don't be afraid to bump him up if you have the button. Obviously you can't be doing this all the time but having position with the initiative has always been my way to beat these guys. Tighten up OOP against these and never limp in as the good ones will be isolating you w/ position all day long.

Against the fish just value bet them relentlessly when you hit a hand. Slow down on your continuation bets with air even in position and tighten up your stealing rnage if you have a station in the BB. When you hit, don't be afraid to go for three streets of value - you'll be thanking them for calling you down. When a guy is willing to call your bets w/ bottom pair then you know when you hit a set against him you'll be able to stack him.

[JibNinjas]

From the way that you say everyone is playing i would say that you want to also start to 3bet light into the fish and go for value. Against the regs, who are 3betting light, i would start to 4bet more. If they are squeezing light they you should 4bet. calling is going to put you in a lot of tough spots. You can start calling with hands like AJ or KQo that you might fold to a 3bet, but now should be a head of there range. small to medium suited connectors and 1 gappers are great 4bet hands, so if they call your decision on the flop should be pretty easy.

[no eff eks]

The best way to deal with regs at micro stakes is to avoid them. Table select so that you're at tables that have mostly bad players, and if there's one reg that's not a big deal. Even a table with two good regs is getting kind of weak since half the table is now made up of TAGs.

If I'm at a table where the average VPIP is under 35 I will leave (unless there is just one fish but we are both really deep). Sure, I can beat most regulars at my stakes for a small profit, but why do that when I can play against fish and make 5x as much?

[kimoz]

thanks for the replay guys.

i know that i always can switch to other tables, but i am trying to expoit some regulars, because i guess when you move up the stakes you will find tougher opponents, and from what i found it is sometimes easier to stack off a regular in a 3bet pot then a fish, coz the fish dont bluff often as the reg.


i hope we will see a video soon about 3bet pots in micro stacks

[zayphod]

I think i avoid regs to as much as possible, but if you are wanting to play them then I think a reasonable thing to do is go off of there stats and play them at a numbers game (also looking for other juicy stats that may help e.g. folds to cbets etc).

If I have a reg that i am wanting to punish a bit I will sometimes lower my VPIP to bring it line with theirs or to make it slightly smaller than theirs so i am tending to play a (hopefully) better quality of hand than them. This can be quite effective.

I still move tables though

[no eff eks]

I actually think the point should be made that at $50nl and below, most regs are really not any good anyway. I will try to avoid playing pots with good regs, but they are outnumbered 2-1 by bad regs.

It's not all that important to try to avoid regs -- what's important is to find fish and try to get a seat on their left.

At $50nl HU on AP there are exactly two regs that I consider any good. The rest are completely clueless (either way too nitty, way too aggro, or are just a giant station - mostly the 3rd option).

I guess my point is that you shouldn't fear regs... it's just better to play against hugely losing players than against small losers/breakeven/small winners. My second best poker investment after Holdem Manager was buying SpadeEye... it makes finding fish incredibly easy (and will datamine FTP and some other sites).