Critique my $10 early game

[ECdub]

Okay, so i've been playing $10 buy-ins, and have a routine pretty solid right now. But i'm looking for leaks, so here goes:


In the beginning i play very VERY tight. As suggested in one of the stickies, i am looking for "my hand" and only investing money in that one. Hands i will raise with in a table of 10 people still in the game are: AA, KK, QQ. Hands i will limp with, or call a small raise with are: AK, KQ, AQ, AJ. I also try to limp in position with suited connectors, depending on the situation. All of the above varies with the texture of the table. If i'm at a tight table, i tend to play more hands than if i'm at a table where everyone pays to see the flop.

The idea is to double up early, but if i don't, the rest of my game falls apart. Unless i get lucky midgame, i end up being pushed out on the bubble because of my short stack. However short my stack is, however, i usually don't fold to pressure from the big stack. I know his job is to raise with trash to outblind the short stacks, and if i have an even mediocre hand, i'm calling.

Cliffs: if i don't double up early, i'm screwed. What to do?[/b]

[GatorJH]

The best advice I can give is to go get Harrington On Hold 'EM (Volumes 1 and 2). If you are finding yourself shortstacked on the bubble you are continuing to play too tightly as the blinds increase and aren't watching your chip stack in relation to the blinds, other stacks, etc.

Another possibility is that if you are playing that tightly you are also probably very predictable. Are you noticing that players are dropping out of hands that you get involved in, or are taking you out of hands where the flop missed you? If that is the case you have become too predictable and need to mix up your game a little more.

Most importantly, at this stage you should make it a habit to review the history of your games as it is easier to see mistakes or lost opportunities after the fact than in the heat of the battle.

Finally, post a few of your hand histories here. Not the entire history, but a few select hands that you wonder if you could have played differntly. There are some awesome poker players who post here on a regular basis and I have learned as much from reading their posts as I have from any book that I have read.

Good Luck!!!

[Stripclubjunkie]

You gotta raise AK, its to weak to only call... I would only play suited connectors if I can get payed off, when I hit...

Strip

[konahead]

you can limp in with pretty much anything if you're on the button or CO and the blinds are low - try to get lucky cheap. Even if you don't hit, you can steal the pot fairly often. Just don't try to bluff more than 2 opps, preferably only one.

And if blinds get to 100 and you're still under 1000, make a play. Raise a good size from the button to clear out the dead wood and aggressively bet any flop that doesn't contain face cards. That will usually get you through a couple of blind levels. (be prepared to dump it if you encounter resistance...)

Just make sure you understand your opposition when you get involved in the hand. It works best against a tight player, since it's easier to put them on a card range and know when they missed. DO NOT try this against the big stack, nor against a loose player that will call a raise with any two cards. But it beats getting blinded out, or losing all of your fold equity due to stack size.

[drmcboy]

limp pps before you limp SCs. Limp both more than you would AQ/KQ/AJ. Those are much better raise/fold hands at this stage. Raise AK almost always.