ABC Poker

[mollila]

What is ABC poker? An ABC player plays systematical, albeit predictable poker. By the book and by the numbers. ABC poker is a profitable low stakes style of play, but more experienced players at higher stakes can and will take advantage of it.

How to Play ABC Poker

• Bet strong hands.
• Fold weak hands.
• You are not on TV, so avoid fancy bluffs and plays that are not necessary.

Just do what is necessary and play good cards for good odds and stay out of trouble.

Would you recommend to play ABC holdem at low stakes?

[Wyte22]

I completely agree that ABC poker is absolutely the most profitable play style in the low stakes range. It is just not possible to use the more advanced skills at low level because your villians will either try to outplay themselves (Fancy Play Syndrome), they will try to bluff entirely way to much and for way to much or they will play soo straight forward that you can read their every bet and know where you are. The trick at low stakes is recongizing who is who at your table. Slow playing, 3 barrel bluffs, multiple level thinking, check raising (less so than the others but they won't respond much differently to it than normal betting since the amount of money in the pot is soo low), stop and go play are all moot and should not even be considered until at the MIN $1/2NL (or $33 SnGs, some $22 but it is a give a take with that).

[phosphorescence]

meh, ABC is boring.

i think as long as you know your opponents tendencies, you can make fancy plays against them and will win more than if you just played ABC, even at micro levels. plus, it makes for a more interesting game. this is a game remember, it's supposed to be fun! :P

certainly in MTTs you cannot play ABC all the time (maybe just in first few levels), if you don't make any moves late on you'll be blinded away.

edit: as i just noticed this is in the beginners forum, yes i would agree that to begin with you should play ABC poker. bluffing takes some experience to understand properly (how/when to use it etc) so don't bluff until you are a more accomplished player or you could lose quite a lot.

[RiverstarsVictim]

As this is the beginners forum I would most definately recommend ABC poker for newbs. I would also recommend making many notes on your opponents (a free feature in most rooms that many just ignore). As time goes on you'll start recognising who the regulars are, many of these will also be playing ABC poker whilst multi-tabling. You'll soon learn it's easy to make plays on these predictable players. As been said, it's simply knowing your opponents. Notes, notes, notes

[eLiRan]

i guess ABC poker is profitable at low stakes, but i think that more experienced poker players will catch on that and will take advantage on the way you play..and then you will get mad cuz ppl always raise on you, and then at one point you will break and go all in with 2-7...:P

[frob23]

If you're going to do anything that's not ABC poker at the micro-limits, you had better be in late position. People usually play exactly as the strength of their hand would dictate that they play, so the more information you have about that, the better.

If you're going to bluff, be prepared to fire two barrels. People love to call on the flop with almost anything. And if you're called on the turn, you shouldn't be firing a third barrel on the river unless you're certain the person was on a draw and missed.

But for the most part, playing simple and basic poker is the way to win at the micro limits. That and tilt control. There will be times when you just keep getting your money in good, over and over, but still lose. Just today, I had two hands where they money went in on the turn and the other guy had 8 and 5 outs respectively. Both times, he hit and I lost my buy-in. But that's the game. If I could get my money in that good every single hand, I would and I'll never mind the few times I get drawn out on.

[Clearwheezy]

I 100% agree that playing ABC poker in tiny micro's (redundancy excused), is a necessity. I would almost call it a religion. That's why you'll see me playing multiple tables. I get bored. It's just important to also realize you're sacrificing information opportunities when you play multiple tables.

[RiverstarsVictim]

It's just important to also realize you're sacrificing information opportunities when you play multiple tables.

All too true fella, which takes me back to my earlier post, notes notes notes.

In case I forgot to mention it, notes (tells) are an essential part of poker . No excuse for lesser concentration on villains. If you really have lesser concentration, you're playing the wrong table.

[FlipCoach]

What is ABC poker? An ABC player plays systematical, albeit predictable poker. By the book and by the numbers. ABC poker is a profitable low stakes style of play, but more experienced players at higher stakes can and will take advantage of it.

How to Play ABC Poker

• Bet strong hands.
• Fold weak hands.
• You are not on TV, so avoid fancy bluffs and plays that are not necessary.

Just do what is necessary and play good cards for good odds and stay out of trouble.

Would you recommend to play ABC holdem at low stakes?

I only play ABC poker when I'm flipping

[travz21]

You can win all the way up to nl400 fullring probably just playing ABC poker and being a really good hand reader. Maybe up to nl25 6max. Any higher than that and you start getting 3bet 50% of the hands you 2bet by losing retarded regs, which is easier to play against than passive fish. So either way you should be making money in poker. In fact, I think everyone probably does.