The microstakes are usually where players begin their fortunes. Personally I started at 10nl, meaning the blinds are 0.05 – 0.10 and the max buyin is $10. If you have a bankroll of
$200 then you can properly play this level, but there are definite pitfalls in playing a level so low – usually the competition is super bad (can put strange beats on you) or doesn’t
take the game seriously (same result). Here are some hands that can come up while playing these stakes and through use of the replayer you can think the hand through and make the right
decision.
Hand 1 – River Bet with Top Pair
Our hero here makes an ill advised continuation bet out of position and is flat called and then it’s checked through to the river. With so many coordinated cards do you make a fold,
call, or raise?
Recommended Answer: Although there is a chance that you are beat here, this is a call. The reasons for making a call:
- The hands that beat you are: AK and AQ (a possibility because at 10nl these players are not re-raising preflop and
just calling a raise), a hand with a 2 in it (unlikely since he called your preflop raise), or some bizarre two pair holding like 34 or 45 or A8. This is enough to think that calling and not
raising is the best option.
- You’ve only shown strength preflop and continuation bet on a ragged board. Him calling your flop bet
indicates he might have an 8 or was on a straight draw with 56 or even some possible over cards like JT or QJ or KJ. Because of this he’ll throw out a bet a lot of the time as a measure
of last resort because it’s the only way he can win the hand.
Hand 2 – AK air to big river bet
My first instinct when I watch this hand is that our hero here should have raised the all in with AK to protect his hand instead of pricing in someone with TT or JJ or something to that
effect. On a very coordinated board our hero properly checks it down to the river with the player behind him and on the river the villain throws out a huge bet. What do you do?
Recommended Action:Fold in a heartbeat. What on earth do you possibly beat here? AQ? AJ? Those are really the only possible hands that you can beat. JT has
two pair, TT makes a set and 99 makes a straight. Heck 22 beats you, so you just let this go and let one of the other guys pick this one up and wait for the next hand.
Hand 3 – Another Top Pair on River Example
Another tip here is that our hero had many places to continuation bet and didn’t take the opportunity. With two over cards and the nut flush draw our hero definitely should have cbet
this flop. To boot, the Ace falls on the turn and our hero checks again (presumably to check-raise) but there were no takes. On the river the 8 falls, and there are no straight or flush
possibilities and he throws out a raise to our small bet. What do you do?
Recommended Answer:Raise that mutha! This villain has shown no strength whatsoever (call and checking to the river and now a raise). Could it be an 8? No. An 8
would have led out with a bet on the flop. Busted straight or flush draw? Certainly. Maybe a weaker Ace like AT? Certainly. Either way you are definitely ahead and
he’s probably not realized that he’s practically committed to the hand with his entire stack. Put him all in, this is a +EV (positive expected value) situation.
In this article we'll look at some hands from my hand histories at low stakes, specifically $0.50-$1 No Limit Hold'em (both 6max and Full Ring) and also give HUD stats of the villains and see
how that might affect our thinking in terms of making a decision.
