Low Stakes Poker Sites

Moving Up: Beating Low Stakes Poker Sites

You’ve moved up the ranks. Finally, after thousands of hands at the micro stakes tables, you’re ready to make the leap: goodbye micros, hello low stakes poker sites. How do you adjust your game if you’re moving up from the micros? How do the different table structures play at the low stakes poker sites? And how can you beat the low stakes games?

Let’s find out.

Micro vs. Low Stakes Poker Sites

At the micro stakes poker tables, your opponents were generally:

• Too loose preflop
• Too passive preflop and postflop
• Positionally unaware
• Thinking on the first level

You made most of your money from playing uber-tight preflop and simply pumping the value when you hit a good hand. Since your opponents called a lot with poor holdings, it was pretty easy to make money this way. Your opponents at low stakes poker sites will generally have these same flaws. However you’ll run into some regulars whose games will be more refined. These opponents will play:

• Smarter preflop. That is, loose when appropriate and tight when appropriate.
• More aggressively preflop and postflop. No more call/call/call lines all the way to showdown.
• With positional awareness. Most will know that in late position it is correct to loosen up, and vice-versa for early position.
• On the second or third level of thought. That is either thinking about what you hold, or if more advanced, thinking about what you think they hold.

In sum, your opponents at low stakes poker sites will be competent. Thus you’ll have to think a bit harder about your strategy before expecting to run over the tables. In general, your profits in the low stakes games will come from exploiting your opponents’ leaks. Your average regular will have one or two glaring flaws in his game that you’ll need to take advantage of.

You could get by with a static strategy in the micros, because your opponents were universally bad; now at the low stakes tables, your opponents are uniquely bad. For each opponent, find the unique flaw in his game. Then, exploit that flaw relentlessly.

Cash Game Types at Low Stakes Poker Sites

There’s a big difference between the game types at low stakes poker sites. Let’s look at 3 different game structures: full ring, 6-max, and heads up.

Low stakes full ring games tend to be nit fests. Since there are 9 or 10 players in a full ring game, relative hand values go down as compared to 6-max or heads up matches. Most players know this, and tighten up significantly as a response. If you’re an action junkie, you’d do well to stay away from low stakes full ring games; they will surely bore you.

Low stakes 6-max games are a bit more exciting. There are fewer players than in a full ring game, so relative hand values go up. That means you can get away with playing weaker holdings, especially in late position. The trick to beating 6-max is to not get carried away with aggression. It’s tempting to play crap like 6-7 offsuit in middle position just because you can, but that’s a really bad idea. It’s key to stay focused on your strategic vision, and not to stray from your plan. If you’re able to stay in the zone, you’ll do okay.

Low stakes heads up games are even faster-paced than 6-max games. Since it’s just you and one opponent, relative hand strengths rise significantly; so much, in fact, that you should be playing almost any two cards from the button!

Heads up poker is more about playing your opponent than any other form of poker. Whereas in full ring you can rely to an extent on showdown value to win, in heads up you’re going to have bluff a lot. In most hands, neither you nor your opponent will have anything but a high card; so the art becomes to learning how to win money without relying so much on your poker hand.

Low Stakes Poker Cash Games: Three Golden Rules

It’s important to keep the basics in mind when playing at low stakes poker sites. Players often fall into the trap of thinking the game is more complicated than it is. Don’t psych yourself out. Cash game poker is easy. So easy, in fact, that strategist Ed Miller believes “there are only two ways to make money in no-limit hold’em”. Those two ways are:

• Make a better hand than your opponent
• Make your opponent fold

Taking this advice to heart, ask yourself before making any poker decision: do I have a better hand than my opponent? If you estimate the probability of your hand’s winning to be high, you can be comfortable getting your chips in. If you think your hand is weak, you need to ask: will my opponent fold to a bet? If you think the probability of your opponent’s folding to a bet is high, go ahead and fire away. If you think your opponent will stick around until showdown, don’t bet.

If in a hand you’ve asked both of the above questions and found the answer to be no in both cases, you can check/fold thereafter. You’ll be comfortable knowing that there was no possible way for you to win the pot; thus making your surrender an easy decision.

We can infer from the above an all-encompassing poker strategy. Our strategy will contain nothing but three golden rules:

• Bet when you’ve got a better hand than your opponent(s).
• Bet when you can make your opponent(s) fold.
• Check/Fold otherwise.

If you consistently follow these three rules at the low stakes poker sites, you’ll be miles ahead of the majority of your opponents.