I got a question asking how successful I have been in integrating the Cardrunners offense into my game. Specifically, was I able to transition from tight-aggressive play to loose-aggressive in shorthanded games?
The easy answer is, "not really."
I've tried to loosen up, especially in position, but I find that it's very difficult (read: unprofitable) when I try to play the role of the LAGgy pro. I know it works for Taylor Caby, but I'm not there yet.
That said, adapting the mentality of LAG play has absolutely helped my play, even if it doesn't necessarily work out in reality. I place more importance than ever on playing from position, and I try more steals from late position. While tightening up a lot from the blinds, I feel pretty comfortable raising with a wide range of hands when I have the positional edge.
Let's look at some stats. These are my Full Tilt numbers in shorthanded games only:
October:
VP$IP: 22
PFR: 13
WSD: 17
W$SD: 59
November:
VP$IP: 23
PFR: 15
WSD: 17
W$SD: 55
December:
VP$IP: 23
PFR: 12
WSD: 18
W$SD: 52
I don't know if much insight can be gleaned from those numbers. They're still fairly tight -- by comparison, my full ring VP$IP during those three months was 19.
I can think of a couple of conclusions:
1) I'm still a tight-ass, but it doesn't really matter. These are just numbers, and they don't really describe my postflop play, which is more important anyway. A couple of months ago, I posted about how I was worried that the blinds were killing me. In retrospect, I believe I was wrong. The blinds always and forever will suck money from my stack, but they'll never cause me to go bust. Loose calls out of position are a much more severe evil.
2) I call too much on the river (see November and December W$SD). I'm not sure what the ideal winning percentage at showdown is, but my results seem to reflect that I make more money when I call slightly less. Interestingly, my losses over the last three days seem to be in part caused by shoddy river play: 20 percent WSD and 45 percent W$SD.
You don't have to be this great LAG player in 6-max games who can make ungodly reads and bluff people off their Aces at will. I aim for a looser game, but tight play still works well.
Thanks to easyE for the comment.
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2 comments:
Yeah, my stats (for VP$IP) and PFR are about the same, actually. I think Andrew Wiggins offers some hints in his videos on how to become more LAGgy, starting to raise more in early when he wants that kind of table image.
The numbers look tight but I'm convinced it's the right way to play for now...
Hey, thanks for making a whole post about this - very interesting. After some experimenting with the LAG style myself (rather disastrous experimenting :D), my numbers have settled down to pretty much what you show. The problem I've had with trying this style is that too many people are willing to call you down with marginal hands. So you really have to be selective on who to use this against. Which is why I've found my numbers coming down to about what you mentioned. Then again it could be that I haven't fully grasped these concepts . . .
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