GTO Wizard: 3 Mistakes Low-Stakes Players Make
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Many new, and sometimes experienced, poker players will struggle to produce results better than just breaking even, or only win a small amount.
There is always a reason, or reasons, why this is happening. In the short-term, it could just be that you're running bad and the card distribution isn't going your way lately. But if the disappointing results have been going on for quite some time, there's a good chance you're making one of the three mistakes listed in this article, and we've got some advice on how to correct the errors.
Mistake #1: Slowplaying on Dry Boards
You have A?8? on a K?3?8? flop in a heads-up pot. Your opponent raised from the button and you called from the big blind. What's your play here? Check-fold, check-call, bet, or check-raise? Fifteen years ago, it was often common for players to check and then just call if the opponent bets in that spot on a dry board. The thought process was "I don't want to raise into a king and I don't want to raise a non-paired hand out of the pot."
But, thanks to solvers such as GTO Wizard, we've learned in more recent years that doing so is a mistake. Slowplaying on dry boards doesn't put enough pressure on the marginal hands. It also allows your opponent to take control of the hand and/or catch their suck-out card on the turn or river if you simply call the bet.
The best play, assuming the button bets, is to go for a check-raise to either take the pot down while your pair is good or force your opponent to put chips in the pot behind.
What if my opponent is overfolding? In this case, the same strategy applies. Even if your opponent seems to be folding any time they face aggression, the solvers still say the correct play is to check-raise strong hands on the flop so the button is forced to pay us off with bluff catchers. If the button is overfolding, our bluffs become positive expected value (+EV). And if the button is calling wide, our value hands make more money.
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Mistake #2: Not Betting Big Enough When Your Opponent is Capped
Bet-sizing is often a problem for many low-stakes players — and even high-stakes crushers. Correctly choosing the right bet-sizing can be the difference between breaking even and getting a big win.
At the end of the day, bigger bets make more money. Here's a great example: for a bet of $100 into a $100 pot, your expected value is $50 based on EV = (bet size)*(calling frequency), whereas the EV is $67 for a wager of $200 into a $100 pot.
Now, that's not to say you should always polarize your bets and bet twice the size of the pot. There are only certain instances where it pays to polarize the hand with a 2x pot-sized bet, and many spots where solvers call for a downsized bet or a pot-sized bet. You can always find out if you're sizing up your bets correctly by opening up your GTO Wizard.
Not Betting Low Equity Hands Enough
Not betting enough with low equity hands can be troublesome to many low-stakes players. And it can lead to unnecessary bad beats or not getting enough value out of a hand.
The goal is to balance your range as much as possible and to not be so predictable. Focus on betting your low equity hands and trying to take down pots as early as possible. Hands such as J-10 offsuit, Q-8 offsuit, etc. You aren't destined to win monster pots with these hands so if you flop a pair, it's usually best to bet instead of slowplaying or trying to set the trap.
These are just three common mistakes made by 90% of all low-stakes cash game players. So, don't feel bad if you fit into this category as most of your opponents will be making the same errors. But if you work at your game an correct the mistakes, you'll be one step ahead of the competition.
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