I've been playing Texas Hold'em since I was 12, I'm now almost 21 (legal to gamble at 19 in Canada), I've been to the casino quiet often and I really just don't know what stake level is for me, I find micro on PokerStars too tempting to play more hands making less money, and I find that 2/5 nl is the same, moving up to 5/10 nl is too risky as I don't want to bring myself up just yet.
Simply how do I go about stealing more, but playing less, keeping a tight aggressive vp$ip? Is there anyway I can play weaker hands and still profit?
Joined: Mar '11
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 55 (M)
Posts: 7371
I would just gradually move up the levels when you are comfortable at one level. When you are consistently winning at one level i would move up to the next and so on. But i wouldnt put my whole bankroll at risk by moving up too many levels
Joined: Feb '11
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 59 (M)
Posts: 5712
You are never going to make big money by playing always tight regardless of the level you play at. You need to invest some time in reading, studying or video training sessions to understand different styles of play to maximise your ROI.
Joined: Nov '12
Location: Canada
Age: 55 (M)
Posts: 4675
Posted by damosk: You are never going to make big money by playing always tight regardless of the level you play at. You need to invest some time in reading, studying or video training sessions to understand different styles of play to maximise your ROI.
G'day mate
Well I can not dispute the above quote. The best thing you can do for yourself is invest in your education as a poker player. Read books and forums, study video's & take advantage of training sessions when you can. Become a student as well as a player of the game and it will make you a more profitable player over the long haul. Learn Bankroll Management!
Joined: Aug '09
Location: Chile
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 1353
Interesting topic.
I would recommend that you play loose-agressive. It's actually the best strategy, however it is also the hardest to dominate. Your post-flop game need to be very good to maximize your profits with this strategy, and that requires a lot of reading and practice.
In the other hand, if your post-flop game is weak you must play tight-agressive, to make your decisions post-flop easier. However, in my opinion it will be harder to get profit at some levels .
Posted by cLIVEEE: Simply how do I go about stealing more, but playing less, keeping a tight aggressive vp$ip? Is there anyway I can play weaker hands and still profit?
To steal profitably, it's good to look at the "fold to steal", and "fold to c-bet" statistics for the players on your left. For example; when both players on your left have a "fold to steal" of 80%, and the hand is folded to you on the button; you can raise 3BB with any 2 cards (you'll only get called 64% of the time (80% of 80%)). So 2/3 of the time you get BB+SB without resistance; the other 1/3 you get raised, and just fold, or get called, so you'll see the flop as the pre-flop aggressor.
Even when their "fold to steal" is lower, but have a high "fold to c-bet", you can still take the pot often enough to profit, by c-betting the flop.
Also this works particularly well against players that multi table, since they tend to not notice it too quickly, having checked the "fold" button as soon as they saw their hole cards...
This is just an example where it pays to play any 2, but it gives you an idea, of how much you can extend your range, by spotting leaks in your opponents.
Joined: Dec '12
Location: Bulgaria
Age: 47 (M)
Posts: 1022
Posted by Plexo: Interesting topic.
I would recommend that you play loose-agressive.
Hello cLIVEEE,
This is very serious that you play since you were 12. I am sure that soon you will hit the big jackpot. You already have the experience through all these years. As Plexo said I would recommend you as well to play agressive, but mostly LIVE poker at the casinos. There you can win a lot of money, just for 5 hours. This summer I played a lot of live and it was for the first time in my life. It was exciting!
I sat at a table fulled with Jews, my favourite players $1/$2. I entered with $100 and I won more than $1000 for five hours. Come to Bulgaria next summer and we will play live here at Sunny Beach:
http://platinum.bg/poker-room at my favourite casino fulled with Jews, Asians and other nationalities, but mostly with Jews. They are golden mines.
Online I would recommend you NLH $1/$2 playing very agressive, but when seating at the table you have to be the chip leader! This is very important. Actually it depends what is your bankroll and how much, what levels you can afford to play with. Be independent. Don't take loans! Play with your own money!
There are a lot of Christmas promos at PokerStars for $27 million in December, so you can play some tournaments as well.
I wish you good luck with your poker career, but I don't know why I think soon or later you will hit the big jackpot! I am serious. 8 years of playing is a serious thing, plus you already played live.
Joined: May '13
Location: Mauritius
Age: 32 (M)
Posts: 2688
Hmm looks like you have some experience but were you learning the right thing since you was young or not?, My advice buy some poker books, watch poker videos, there are lots everywhere just google it, relearn the basis, just to make sure that you are playing correctly.
Start with Micros move up when you feels good and for live you can play higher stakes as they are a lot softer.
Play full ring then when you have mastered it, you should be able to play 6 max easily where the play is more post flop.
In the end, watch videos etc and you will go there.
Joined: Aug '10
Location: Germany
Age: 52 (M)
Posts: 2219
It gives not one answer for all players. One player is a big stack, a other a short stack player. The next question is your bankroll. Did you have certainly 100 stacks for nl10, than you can play this level.
$1/$2. I entered with $100 and I won more than $1000 for five hours. Come to Bulgaria next summer and we will play live here at Sunny Beach: 
