When a PokerEDGE subscriber's game gets stuck in a rut, they will post their stats in the PokerEDGE Community Forum for a critical review by the members.
Of course, make sure your ego is in good shape and your skin is thick before posting your stats at the sacrificial alter. But, the insights you will gain are priceless, even if they do come at the expense of everyone else having a lot of fun.
The following forum thread is a good example of how you can receive a near instant tune-up for your game.
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R. Steve McCollum
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Help, please look at my stats...
Playing 6max NL cash
Hands Played: 2196
BB/100: -0.63
VP$IP: 12.36%
PF-Raise: 7.86%
(FL-See) Aggr: 2.61
(FL-See) (LP) Aggr: 3.28
PF-Coldcall: 3.00%
Steal Blind Attempt: 12.20%
Fold SB to Steal: 85.71%
Fold BB to Steal: 88.46%
(FL-See) Win: 39.36%
(FL-See) Fold: 44.95%
(FL-See) SD-See: 35.64%
W$SD: 48.51%
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Let me at him...........Let me at him.
You have 2 hours to change your mind, Then your all mine.
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When do ringside seats go on sell?
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Apparently, it's Astroglide'n'Ride Night...should be a fun one! Although, Astroglide was initially developed by NASA to help their astronauts...umm, er, ahhh...help them get through the long journeys, it has become a very viable commercial product!
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So instead of you helping me you act like a bunch of trolls?
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lol...and in acting like a troll, which isn't probably much of an act for Paul, he will tell you more of what you need to hear than what you want to hear.
I'll wait until Paul chimes in before saying anything about your stats...
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Trolls? Not exactly. Romans at the coliseum? hmmmmm
You really are among friends.
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First of all, n0sc0p3, lets start off by saying welcome to the forum. The reason why they are responding to you that way is because of my post. I have a habit of starting things off a little harshly, for example:
You should change your name to n0cluE1, because that is how you play.
I could go on but it seems you dont have a sense of humor so I will give you an honest analysis of your game even though I find that people with attitudes wont listen anyway. Thats why I insult them is to see if they have the attitude for poker or not. Guess what catagory I put you in?
Anyway, for the analysis.
VP$IP 12.36- Way too low for short table. You cant just sit around for hands because the blinds will eat you alive.
PFR 7.86- Way too low also especially for your tight hand selection. Grow some balls.
FL see aggr 2.61. See advice for PFR. With such a tight starting range, you should be able to c-bet and steal alot of pots if anyone at the table is paying any attention at all.
PFCC 3.0- This is the one stat that proves you arent a total donk. You could probably actually PFCC a little more but as a tight player, I guess this is OK. You just cant be this tight, especially at short tables.
FL See, SD See 35.64- Now you grow some balls? This is way too high. I know you start out with mostly premium hands but you need to throw them away when you miss and stop playing the chase and pray game. It seldome pans out.
Overall, I would say that it appears like you are playing scared. I honestly think you need to get to Full tables and try and develope some sort of game that works for you.
Now for the Troll comment. You and power are probably right but do not start by insulting my friends. This clearly controlled the direction my post went. I still gave you my honest opinion of your game. You can decide now if you want to discuss your game more or be a dick.
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Darn, I forgot a stat.
Steal blind attempt- 12.20. Have I suggested you, ahh, nevermind. This is way too low too. You need to steal blinds a hell of alot more just to cover how fast the blinds come around. Get this up to at least 25 if you have any chance of the blinds not eating you alive.
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Don't the fold bb & sb stats seem high for a short table? Seems low 70s would be better. Probably letting himself be dominated too much.
So, is it really tightness, or just playing too timid?
Blow some sng buy-ins to experiment with loose/aggressiveness. Because the short table is all about LAG. IMO
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Ok, noscope, you are new here so, I'm going to presume that the troll comment was an attempt at humor, and we missed that cue. Generally speaking, if someone around here asks for an analysis of their stats, that person will get a prompt and honest assessment of their posted numbers from the forum members. Occasionally, if someone, in this case Paul, believes they can give a proper analysis but are too busy playing six, nine, or however many tables they will post like my friend Paul did.
If you read the post about posting your stats, which I believe you would have or you likely wouldn't have made that your first post about your stats, then you should know to expect a razzing...maybe you have trouble accepting the razz and that is fine but life is too short and we try to enjoy ourselves while helping others as much as we can around here...it makes for a good, strong community...but I've gotten off on a tangent, now about your stats...
First off, your game is way too tight for the 6-max and is even borderline too tight for a full ring game, but that is another story altogether. You aren't a total lost cause but I think you read a book about only playing solid starting hands but forgot to see that its recommendations were for full table play, not short.
You need to defend your blinds and steal blinds much, much more to have any chance of surviving the feast that is short-ring. I would be looking to see double or more on the steal attempts and the fold to steals start plummeting to the 55-70 range to give yourself a chance to make a hand. Preflop play is fairly straight forward but the money is won and lost post flop and that is where your game needs the most improvement.
Do you find that you are getting in with good starting hands but getting crushed by some fool who played 6-5 suited and their pair and straight draw crushed you AQ?...this pertains to balancing your range, one of the most important aspect of any player's game...ask anyone and they will tell you this...you may even know this yourself (In which case, why aren't you already balancing your range?). If you haven't heard of this read up on it.
Any analysis on your stats that I could give would be very similar to Paul and Steve's advice so I am not going to say what they said again.
In the end, lighten up, loosen up, enjoy the game.
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Well sorry if I offended anyone, but I was offended when I posted. Yes I am new to the forums, and have been playing poker on and off for about 2 years, but I have come far because I used to lose all of my money. Now I keep it even. The gold does not smell that far away...
I forgot I left a small detail out. I buy in for 20 BBs, and raise hands like 66-AA, AK, AQ, AJ, AT and KQ, c-bet on the flop if I don't hit and usually this gets a insta fold. Most of my profit coming from this, and during all-in races with 99-AA and AK, it's about even wins/losses. I don't know if I should add more to what I should go all-in with preflop cause I'd hate to tip that in the wrong direction. And what is countering my c-betting is losing all of my blinds.
My problem is I just dont know what hands I should add where, and havent looked into blind defending ( I know what floating is, if that's at all related )
I would play full ring, but my pokerroom only has like a couple of these going at a time. The 6 handed ones are very popular and full of fish
And you can't say I'm a donk and then say I'm too tight. Donks arent tight. PE says I'm a bomb/shark alternating sometimes.
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Shortstacking is a gameplan that requires a different/simpler set of rules than any fullstack game style. Preflop push hard or fold, in a world that's just black and white. The postflop game isn't nearly as important because you're either going to push hard regardless... or only fold if the one card you don't want to see hits the flop. You probably know this already but... players rarely get rich playing a shortstacking gameplan. Maybe the mistake you're making is this whole shortstack approach. It cuts your loses... but also doesn't allow you to develop any advanced strategies that a fullstack would.
Maybe it's time to read a few poker books and grow a pair and start playing fullstack. 80 - 100 BBs.
One question before I continue...
Is it possible that you supplied us with your fulltable stats even though you're playing short tables? Or maybe the stats you presented are with table size set to "Both".
Because I've never seen a short table player with stats as tight as yours. Although your shortstacking game as you described it could come close to those stat numbers.
And you say that your Icon shifts between a sark and a bomb. Given the stats you presented to us... I'd speculate that the reason it shifts back and forth is because your w$sd shifts between >50% and <50%. A shark has to have >50% w$sd. If it goes below 50%... you'd become a bomb.
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Yes, it would appear that with a larger stack you could, when in position!, experiment with a wider range of hands - the suited connectors, A-suited, most pocket pairs. Plus, steal more pots with air.
And, become less vulnerable to aggressive attacks against your blinds. As well as, launch some blind attacks of your own.
Again, you can play the stt sng, and get plenty of cheap training in these concepts against a mix of LAG, TAG, experienced and inexperienced players.
If you are just breaking even, then that could be a sign that you need to add these enhancements to your game to achieve profitability.
That's all I got...this is straining my weak troll brain...
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Being a short stacker does explain alot of things. Poker is about taking risks. The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward. Short stacking clearly limits the risk but also limits that reward. Your stats also indicate how you are afraid of taking any risks. This is what I really think you should work on. Untill you stop being afraid to lose money, you will never make any.
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Very well put, Paul.
And, isn't shortstacking mainly a hit-and-run type tactic. If you play long at one place, your opponents will figure you out. Then, they can bully and fold, and basically neutralize the shortstacker.
Since, I don't play cash games, I can only speculate as to the consequences of that style of play.
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Embarrassed to admit but I am certainly not comfortable risking too much because my bankroll is a bit small at the moment (under $15).
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Yep, that's a bit thin.
Here's the problem. A shortstack is a billboard announcement to an experienced opponent. He will test you to determine if you have typical shortstack tendencies.
If you are too tight/timid, he will bully you out of your blinds, and pots that should have been yours. When you attempt to play your good hands, he will fold. So, you get no action. It is a lose-lose situation.
You have perhaps 3 choices: 1) increase your bankroll and buy-in amount, 2) stop playing until you can do #1, or 3) begin a hit-and-run style, where you do not spend too much time at any one table.
And, if you do continue to play the 6-max, incline towards a more push-or-fold style. But, I don't think your br is near adequate for 6-max. So, consider full table TAG.
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If you are having problems finding full tables at the micro limits, you really need to changs sites. If you are not playing at .5/.10 stakes (or lower?), you need to drop down.
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Copyright 2009 R. Steve McCollum
