Micro Stakes Online NL Poker Forums

This is something that is beginning to confuse me...I'm just not grasping some Poker concepts well...

I've watched the coaching tree and some other videos and they're great..but I'm still making some basic errors

Like..when to 3BET..obviously I'm going to be 3betting AA..KK etc...but lets say I 3bet AJ off...flop comes down pretty dry...and I continuation bet...and he isnt folding...I come pretty quickly unstuck..it seems I only have Plan A and if it doesn't work I'm screwed...

Also playing suited connectors..how to play against short stacks..

Stuff like Equity I dont't fully understand when I should be staying aggressive...I don't take odds into consideration either...

What should I do?

What type of questions should I be asking to improve?

Thanks

There are so many concepts that are important in poker that it's hard to get them all at once. The more you play and study the more things will start to make sense and you'll get those, "AH HA!" moments.

3betting. Basically 3bet when you think someone will call with a worse hand. For instance I won't 3bet a nit with AJ, but I'll 3bet a 80/50 fish who's min raising a lot and will call 3bets wide. There's obviously more to it, but that's just one thing to consider. Will they call with worse if you 3bet.

Also regarding having plans. Sometimes if Plan A doesn't work, it's best to just check/fold or give up. Trying additional plans usually gets you in trouble (does in my case). If I plan to 3bet a fish and take it down on the flop, if he doesn't fold the flop and you have no additional equity that comes on the turn or can come on the river, it's okay to give up on that plan. It's probably still a +EV plan in the long term, it just didn't work that time. The hard part is determining whether it's +EV long term and it's easy to second guess your plan based on short term results.

Generally don't play suited connectors vs short stacks. I'd rather have A9 vs a short stack then 87s. The reason is top pair hands are more important vs shorties because we're not getting the implied odds to hit a big hand. It obviously depends on the shorty's style but still, in general.

Equity is a tough thing to get until you work at it. You just have to play with Pokerstove, work on figuring out the equity in your head based on outs and practice, practice, practice!! .. It's like playing basketball, no one wants to practice shooting free throws. It's not fun to sit there and shoot 300 a day, but it's fundamental and very important to becoming an overall player.

The 2/4 rule is great for this and what I use. (here's the first quick write up I found on the 2/4 rule, http://pokerhomey.wordpress.com/2007/02/22/poker-math-made-easy-the-rule-of-4-and-2/) .. There are other quick math short cuts as well.

Poker can overwhelm you very easily. It's also tough because the results of a play aren't always consistent with whether it's the right or wrong play. Right plays loose and wrong plays win some of the time. This can really mess with your head when you're leaning.

I generally keep a list of concepts I need to work on or want to understand better (the list is endless). I'll take time to review a specific item, review hands based on the concept discuss the concept with other players until I understand it. That works well for me.