Playing a million online hands of poker is like living an entire lifetime in terms of experience.
seminole indian casinoYou’ll see every possible situation you’ll encounter in poker at least a dozen times over (sometimes much more). The good news is there are clear pecking orders when it comes to hand strengths on the river in a certain position.
It removes a lot of guesswork from the game. The bad news? There’s very little guesswork left in the game.
Everyone plays almost perfectly so you better have some tricks, tendencies or traps set if you want to make a living in these games. Here’s a look at 10 things that stood out most playing a million online hands of micro-stakes full-ring cash games.
1. Position Is King, Queen, Jack and Ace
I know this is nothing new but I had no idea how much of an advantage early position has until I saw my million hands.
In a full-ring game late position players only see about 28% of the flops while early position players see closer to 40%.
You're probably only calling from late position, anyways.
That means late position players are folding to one in three raises before flop action even reaches them. You’re probably only calling from late position, especially against tough players who don’t leak value hands like K‑Q or J‑J.
When you are actually in the pot from late position your opponents will bet two thirds of the time, often without a legitimate hand. They're just taking advantage of your weak position.
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wynnbet casino review2. Stealing is Pointless at These Stakes
At $0.02/$0.05 with a $25 max buy-in, steals are virtually nonexistent. Even attempts at steals only work about 10% of the time. Trying to steal these tables doesn’t work for a couple reasons.
First, everyone has position and will frequently check behind to enter the pot with a raise. Second, buy-ins are so low that it isn’t worth risking 80 cents to win maybe 50.
Don't waste your energy trying to steal these tables.
Not only that, but attempting a steal or raise with less than a legitimate hand will be called by a stronger hand nearly 75% of the time.
Don't waste your energy trying to steal these tables. Focus on creating opportunities to play pots out of position against weaker hands.
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3. You Have to Be Aggressive to Survive
How many times can you call a $0.02 raised to $0.04? If you said never, congrats! You would survive playing a million hands of micro stakes.
Calling is a losing strategy at the micros. Every single stat tells me that the more hands you play, the more aggressive you need to become.
If you narrow the gap between your calling and betting frequency the fish at these tables won’t know how to react.
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4. Fish Still Exist, But Are Few and Far Between
Unfortunately the vast majority of players at these limits aren’t willing to adapt and play a more solid, ABC style of game.
These players still exist; they’re just few and far between. This gives the edge to the aggressive player. Look for patterns in how the fish deviate from the tight-aggressive players.
Exploit their tendencies.
For example, I found one player who three-bet shoved on me every time I raised his opening raise -- even when I put in a min-raise! He also routinely four-bet shoved river cards at other players when he didn’t make his draw.
Players like this are exploitable. Look for patterns in how the fish deviate from the tight-aggressive players and use it to your advantage.
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5. Short Stacks Rule
Almost every player keeps their stack under $5, which means the vast majority of hands played will be with one player having less than 10 big blinds.
Most players don't adjust their strategy when they're short-stacked.
Best Online Slot Machines in PennsylvaniaMost players don't adjust their strategy when they're short-stacked. They use the same range as they do pre-flop. That means you can value-bet almost every hand you could possibly raise with.
For example, if someone opens under the gun and enters the pot with $2, I will reraise to $6 from the button with suits like clubs, diamonds and sickets.
These hands don’t play well post-flop, but when we’re reraising we will be winning against all of the small hands the opener enters with, while also convincing him to shove his air-hand right over the top of us!
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6. Posting the Blinds is +EV
Since most players keep such small stacks, posting the small and big blinds is extremely +EV at these tables. On average only 1.4 players are actually in the pot before the flop at these tables, meaning you’ll be playing seven-handed most of the time.
This extra few cents per orbit adds up after a million hands. It may not seem like much, but those extra BB/hour really add up.
Small edges matter.
Small edges matter.
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7. People Still Call With the Worst Two Cards
Despite billions of hands being played online each day, people still call with the worst two cards -- 7‐2 offsuit. These players are easy to spot because they always complain about running into pocket aces.
Just a heads-up: They will continue to run into aces … a lot.
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8. No One Know How to Play Straights
Straights are the largest source of difficult spots I find at these tables. There are clear pecking orders when it comes to straights depending on the position of the player.
A straight holds more equity when held by the button player than the small blind. But even with all factors considered straights consistently win you money at these limits.
Most players overvalue a made hand, specifically one that looks strong on the board. This leads to a ton of value-betting opportunity.
Check out this video where I break down five different river spots involving straights:
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9. People Still Don't Understand Pot Odds
After a million hands I haven’t seen anyone come out the winner of a massive bluff despite the odds being 10-1 against them. People still call with proper pot odds.
This means if you trap someone on the flop you can often make them pay again on the turn, particularly if you keep up the appearance of strength.
Keep up the appearance of strength and you can often extract multiple streets.
You can keep up the appearance of strength by betting all three barrels on a blank board differently. For example:
- Flop bet + re-spell + tap table on turn blank
- Flop bet + shake head “no” + point to card dead on turn blanket
- Flop bet + widen arms in celebration on turn blanket
Get creative and they won’t know where they are in the hand. You can often get multiple streets out of players who have proper pot odds.
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10. Tilt is Real
Tilt is as real at these limits as it is in the high-stakes live games. One thing that surprised me was how easily players can lose their buy-ins.
You’ll see someone start with $25 and within 30 minutes they are down to their last cent. When they realize they lost, sometimes they just give up and go surf the internet.
Losing isn’t supposed to make you money!
Losing isn’t supposed to make you money. But at these limits it sure does. I implemented a few tilt-getting tactics that were surprisingly successful.
I started raising almost every hand when someone showed signs of tilt. Not only are they prone to calling with bad hands, but they might shove on you next hand!
Another trick: Raise the tilter every time he limps. Eventually he will just fold all of his limping hands and become frustrated.
These tactics may seem dirty, but remember: Losing isn’t supposed to make you money. Take what the situations presents you.
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What I Learned About Micro-Stakes Cash-Game Strategy
So there you have it: 10 things I noticed after playing more than a million online hands of $0.02/$0.05 micro-stakes full-ring cash games. The biggest takeaway: Everyone plays almost perfectly so you better have some tricks, tendencies or traps set if you want to make a living in these games.
is online casino riggedThe more hands you play, the more aggressive you need to become.
The more hands you play, the more aggressive you need to become. Short stacks rule so learn how to play all types of hands raised or opened by short stacks.
And finally: Take advantage of tilt. Somehow somehow!
Jonathan Little began playing poker after burying himself in philosophy in college. He has, so far, authored or co-authored over 150 poker books and edited newsletters for Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu. Little is a octuple bracelet winner in Las Vegas. Follow him on Twitter @JonathanLittlePA.
