After grinding it out for 6 months or so (and doing quite well for my bankroll) at .5/1 up to 2/4 limit holdem, I've decided there's more money to be made in NLH ring games.

I am a decent NL tourny player (fair at sit n goes), but as far as ring games go I feel somewhat lost when playing hands like AK/AQ and middle pairs. I've played a few sessions of .5/1 NLH lately and played them pretty much as if they were the early stages of a MTT. Playing very tight (about 16% VP$IP), not stealing blinds, but being very aggressive on the hands I play until I see a very clear sign to slow down.

Here's a few hands that I think might not have been optimal play for a ring game (unless otherwise noted I have no real reads and all stacks are deep $80+ and the players are tight/passive). Also sorry, but the hand histories I saved don't seem to take well to bison's converter

hand 1-

Villain was kind of a passive donk who would call down with any piece of the board, even tpgk. I probably should have bet the turn, not sure why I check-called.

ololo posted the small blind - $0.50
Stoneface_2 posted the big blind - $1.00

** Dealing card to Stoneface_2: 10 of Spades, King of Diamonds

7ClubFlash called - $1.00
LordPavlos folded
BBighand called - $1.00
tunih folded
USADOMINATES called - $1.00
minky123 called - $1.00
zbizzle folded
checkmynuts folded
ololo called - $1.00
Stoneface_2 checked

** Dealing the flop: 3 of Spades, King of Clubs, 6 of Clubs

ololo checked
Stoneface_2 bet - $4.00
7ClubFlash folded
BBighand folded
USADOMINATES folded
minky123 called - $4.00
ololo folded

** Dealing the turn: 9 of Spades

Stoneface_2 checked
minky123 bet - $4.00
Stoneface_2 called - $4.00

** Dealing the river: Queen of Spades

Stoneface_2 bet - $5.00
minky123 called - $5.00

minky123 mucks: 10 of Clubs, Queen of Clubs
Stoneface_2 wins $30.40 from the main pot

hand 2-

Besides my limp (which I don't mind, since most pots weren't raised) I think I represented the straight well on the turn. I figured him for a much better thand than what he had, hence the large river bet.

tunih posted the small blind - $0.50
checkmynuts posted the big blind - $1.00

** Dealing card to Stoneface_2: 5 of Hearts, Ace of Hearts

USADOMINATES folded
freddieb1921 folded
Handyman1968 folded
Stoneface_2 called - $1.00
ilmercato folded
NightWolf74 folded
oldspice123 folded
nascarl folded
tunih folded
checkmynuts checked

** Dealing the flop: 4 of Hearts, Jack of Hearts, Queen of Hearts

checkmynuts bet - $3.00
Stoneface_2 called - $3.00

** Dealing the turn: King of Diamonds

checkmynuts bet - $5.00
Stoneface_2 raised - $15.00
checkmynuts called - $15.00

** Dealing the river: 3 of Spades

checkmynuts checked
Stoneface_2 bet - $20.00
checkmynuts called - $20.00

checkmynuts mucks: Queen of Clubs, 4 of Clubs
Stoneface_2 wins $75.50 from the main pot

hand 3-

His minimum reraise from early position set off warning bells, but with such a weak flop bet I guessed he had AK or maybe a medium/low pocket pair. Any way I could have bet this river better? I was torn between going all in hoping he'd think it was a bluff, or making a $15-25 bet.

freddieb1921 posted the small blind - $0.50
sonnybone111 posted the big blind - $1.00

** Dealing card to Stoneface_2: 10 of Diamonds, 10 of Clubs

Stoneface_2 raised - $3.00
ilmercato raised - $5.00
ololo folded
oldspice123 folded
nascarl folded
NightWolf74 folded
PrOTECKuRnUT folded
USADOMINATES folded
freddieb1921 folded
sonnybone111 folded
Stoneface_2 called - $5.00

** Dealing the flop: 4 of Diamonds, 7 of Spades, 4 of Clubs

Stoneface_2 checked
ilmercato bet - $3.00
Stoneface_2 called - $3.00

** Dealing the turn: 3 of Diamonds

Stoneface_2 checked
ilmercato bet - $6.00
Stoneface_2 raised - $16.00
ilmercato called - $16.00

** Dealing the river: 10 of Hearts

Stoneface_2 bet - $25.00
ilmercato folded
Stoneface_2 mucks: 10 of Diamonds, 10 of Clubs
Stoneface_2 wins $72.05 from the main pot

hand 4-

I was much more aggressive with my hand than I had planned to be, but if he called or reraised me on the flop I would have been done with the hand.

d83kldjw posted the small blind - $0.50
Stoneface_2 posted the big blind - $1.00

** Dealing card to Stoneface_2: Jack of Spades, Jack of Diamonds

cj2004 folded
BBighand raised - $3.00
-S-C-O-T-T- folded
rackled folded
SteepandDeep called - $3.00
d83kldjw raised - $8.00
Stoneface_2 called - $8.00
BBighand folded
SteepandDeep called - $8.00

** Dealing the flop: 5 of Diamonds, 4 of Spades, 3 of Clubs

d83kldjw bet - $8.00
Stoneface_2 raised - $18.00
SteepandDeep folded
d83kldjw folded

Stoneface_2 mucks: Jack of Spades, Jack of Diamonds
Stoneface_2 wins $50.85 from the main pot