A Weak Player
Hello,
For more than a year now, I’ve been playing NL Holdem on and off over the internet. Well, I’ve tried reading some books before and I believe because of my effort I became a great, reasonable player.
Earlier part of the year, I took a $40 dep. bonus to $2000 in just two months time being at .25/.50 NL, 2-tables. Well, I played fairly tight with only the top 25 hands or so however I believe my play was weak and I’ve been stuck at $1800. In late position, I was able to pull off some steals however only small pots. I remember I almost gave up on suited connectors as I failed to release in case I hit a pair. And the cards, well, they’ve been coming in spouts. And in cases when I had good cards, I was okay however if not so good ones, my weakness was very obvious. Any advice for a weak player?
By the way, one time I missed on the flop the last five times, it was then hard for me to raise to $4 with AK. I then figured out that once I saw some players played AK differently. Some raised small, large and some all in with it. Now, say someone raises strong in early position, what’s the best way to play AK?
Many thanks,
Calvin
Calvin,
If someone in early position raises with A-K, the best play usually is to fold the hand. A-K is a drawing hand and must hit in order to actually become a hand. Otherwise it is ace high.
As far as your play, you are playing a cash game. If you play solid and have spout of no cards, then your best option is to sit back and wait for cards. You can try and play some marginal hands for cheap flops, but if your normal style is working, then stick with it.
You will at some point want to expand playing hand ranges some, but don’t do it just because you are having a dry run of cards. Those happen. When you get suited connectors, let them go if you don’t his strongly. Strong with 9-7 suited does not mean flopping a 9. It means flopping an open ended straight draw or a flush draw.
If you are still up $1760 on your $40 deposit, that’s good. Keep up the good work.
