smackinYaup, advice for party NL $25...?

Hey man,
Up until recently I had been playing mostly $5-$10 SnGs on Ultimate BEt. I did pretty well, definately profitable, but ended up losing back some profit in a 2 week bad run (bad play + bad cards). Anyway, I got the instantbankroll promiton (which if you don't know is a free $75 on party poker) and have been playing Party Poker NL $25 tables for the past few days.

I played the 6 handed tables, and after about 6 hours of play (spread out over 3 days, dont have my own computer so I can't be on THAT long at once) I brought my initial $75 up to $240. I was happy obviously, and have to admit that I was catching some nice cards.
My plan was to basically play mostly ABC poker, straight forward value betting for the most part... and LAGGing it up from the button or cut-off a little bit. This worked pretty well as I won about 6 buy ins in a relatiely short period.
Since then, my last 2 hours I have been pretty cold carded and leaked away $40. I think I've been trying to make things happen too much with mediocre cards, and in any case the bottom line is that my last couple of sessions have been negative. I'm still glad to be up so much from my initial $75... but am just looking for some pearls of wisdom as I know you kicked ass at this level.

I know you have HH posted all over this joint, but if you could summarize some of your main points/philosophies about the game at this level I'd appreciate getting it battered into my head again.
thanks

I'm not Smackin, but I'd like to reply anyway. Take it or leave it.

$25 NL 6-max should be very easy to beat with a very straight-forward strategy. Play ABC poker from the first four seats: raise your good hands, fold your bad ones. Use continuation bets on the flop if you raised before the flop (I recommend about 2/3 of the pot). Don't get too married to these hands if you miss though. If you get called pre-flop and then on the flop, you should probably let it go. From the cutoff and the button, limp or occasionally raise with suited connectors and suited one-gappers like 97 and T8. Try to go for straights and flushes with these hands, and play them as cheaply as possible. Finally, you can pretty safely limp any small or medium pocket pair from any seat, and call a raise of 2 or 3xBB with them to try to hit a set. Finally finally (sorry, thought of one more thing) hands like KT suited and Ax (where x is any card higher than 7) should be raised from the button with your standard raise, if there is no raise ahead of you & not too many have limped in.

It's about that simple. It's hard to tell from your post what you are doing right or wrong, and frankly your sample is way too small - and will be for some time to come. A 4 hour upswing or 2 hour downswing could mean anything, or nothing. Just focus on your game and accumulate more playing time.

thanks I appreciate those suggestions too. I fully understand why the strategy you suggest is optimal (or pretty close to it) for 6 handed $25NL... but I find myself straying away from it when I'm cold carded. Like, I'll find myself start calling with suited gappers UTG, or raising Ax suited from 3rd or 4th position. I think this is costing me money, but it happens kinda slowly so I don't really fully know how badly I'm playing when I'm playing like this.

It sounds to me like you already know the things you shouldn't be doing - so make a list of them and stop doing them. Call less UTG, and play fewer hands. Even in 6-max I often fold playable hands like AT and A9 from UTG or UTG+1. Ax suited is a pretty bad hand if the x is a low card... I pretty much fold that hand unless I'm on the button or the blinds.

I think dale hit just about everything you need as far as starting hands and such except with small pocket pairs, ill call up to 5 or 6 BB's or even more if im closing off the betting.
What else you need to do is not be shy to post up as many hand histories as you need help with. Any time you're playing a game and you make a big fold or a big call or had a really tough decision, go ahead and post it up here.

Keep putting in the hours because the biggest help is just gaining experience. Eventually you will get a better idea of when someone is married to a weak hand, trying to push you out, or really does have a strong hand. Knowing when to value bet the river, when to check/call and when to check/fold is a skill that will increase your win rate as well. If you hit TPTK against a loose calling station, you can usually value bet the hell out of them on a safe board. If you hit the same hand against a big bluffer its better to check and call the river.

Overall, you just want to keep your stack even or above from the occassional steal and showdown with TPTKish type hands until you can hit that one monster and destack someone.

Dont worry about table image. If you just play tight and camp for premium hands, you'll get them paid off plenty.


I know I've been kinda vague but I gotta get goin so if you have any other questions, don't be afraid to ask.

NP, thanks