Start Safely With Micro-Limit Poker

Things you will learn:

• How to get the most out of micro-limit tables

At the micro-stakes tables, if you have taken the correct course of action pre-flop, then post-flop play should take care of itself. You just have to look at the flop and ask yourself if you are willing to proceed any further with the hand. It doesn’t matter if it is top pair, middle pair, a draw or absolutely nothing.

If you have decided that you are going to play this hand (based on who is in the hand with you and the texture of the flop), you need to commit to that course of action and make a bet or raise that follows through with your plan.

By doing this, you eliminate the guesswork; you eliminate the ‘What do I do if someone moves all-in or calls me?’ thought process. You are going to play the hand and it doesn’t matter what your opponent does. If you lose the hand, then you just reload and try again.

More often than not, though, you are going to win and playing like this is the key to being a successful micro-limit player.

Here's an example:

Let’s say you have A-K and raise pre-flop to 60c - six times the big blind in a $0.05/$0.10 game. You started the hand with $9. You receive two callers and the pot size is $1.95. The flop comes K-6-2. You have decided that you are going to play this hand, so you need to make a bet that follows through with your decision to do so.

You have $8.40 left after your pre-flop raise. You don’t necessarily want to move all-in here, but you do want to make a bet that will lead to you doing just that on the turn. But what bet can you make that, if called, will give you the opportunity to move all-in on the turn?

A $1 bet would not do it. If you are called, you would then have $7.40 left and a $3.95 or $4.95 pot, depending on how many called.

What about a pot-sized bet? That would leave you with $6.45 and a pot size of $5.85 or $7.80. This is about right. Make a pot-sized bet and if you are called, put the rest in on the turn. The key is finding a bet that will make your decision on the turn automatic. Don’t be scared of thinking ‘what if’ and don’t be scared of cards that are still to come. If you make the decision on the flop to proceed with the hand, be willing to follow through regardless of the action that follows.

If you are serious about playing micro stakes, it is very important to be able to consistently beat the game at this level.

The problem most people have with this concept, however, is picking the wrong spots to proceed with. They will decide they are going with A-K on a K-Q-J flop in a four-way raised pot, or that they are going to go with 5-4 on a 6-7-10 flop. Make the hands that you are going to go with ones that are likely to be the best hand or have a good chance of improving to be the best hand.

What type of hands should you be willing to proceed with?

Obviously, the monster hands like sets, full houses, flushes and straights are no-brainers. Other hands to consider are top-pair hands, middle-pair hands with outs and big drawing hands (for example, a flush draw with two overcards).

One caveat to mention is if you flop a big hand, you might not want to make the big bet that might get your opponent to fold. Here, you don’t mind the tough decision on later streets. Base your bets on the number of opponents you are facing and the amount they will likely call to stay in the hand with.

The only way to make anything near to a creditable amount of cash from these stakes is by playing multiple tables. If you play four $0.05/$0.10 tables you can realistically expect to make $5 an hour if you really know what you are doing.

It’s hardly going to pay off the mortgage, but it’s about the same as playing $10 Sit & Gos and you will learn more about playing poker in the process.

But make no mistake, playing multiple tables is tough - primarily because the more tables you are playing, the less accurately you are going to be able to figure out how your opponents are playing. Fortunately, players at the micro-limit level routinely play the same way and because of this are generally easy to predict.

By limiting your pre-flop selection to certain hands and situations and only proceeding post-flop when you have hands that you are willing to commit to, you can - and should - play more than one table at a time. How many though? There is no correct answer. It will vary from person to person.

Start with two tables until you are comfortable handling the actions and decision-making processes. Keep adding a table until you have reached your threshold.

Whatever number of tables you settle on, bear in mind the following thoughts:

• Be patient
• Pick the right hands and situations
• Follow through with the hands that you do play
  

If you can do that, you’re going to crush the micro limits.

Avoid draws. Draws are the biggest chip leaks for most players. In cash games, chasing draws can be one of the main differences between being a winning player and a break-even player. The biggest problem at this level is chasing draws when the implied value (the amount you will receive if you hit your draw) is too low.

Don’t bluff. Because of the small amount of money involved, players will usually look you up. Bluffing is much more effective at the higher stakes and in tournaments where people can’t re-buy. Unless you have an absolute dead read that your opponent is the Rock of Gibraltar, you should avoid bluffing in micro-limit cash games.

Make value calls. If there is one thing players do more than call in these games, it is bluff. People in these games love to bluff. They think it’s the only way to play poker. If you’ve seen a player routinely getting out of line with their bets and hand selection, don’t be afraid to make that call on the river.