Beating low stakes holdem or SSNL holdem requires something very different from what it takes to beat middle and higher stakes games. SSNL (small stakes no limit) games are, as you might expect, easier to beat than the higher stakes poker games. And you can take a pretty basic formula into the micro stakes hold’em games and win. Depending on the site that you are playing on and the composition of the table, you can expect to run into only a few types of players in the small stakes holdem games. Identifying the type of player(s) that you are up against is an essential part of picking a winning strategy. These are the types of players you will usually run into in a small stakes hold’em game.

These are the types of players that you are likely to encounter in most small stakes no limit hold’em games. They are more or less organized according to how common they are. At many sites there will be more tight players in the small stakes games than donkeys. And at some sites there may be more donkeys than any other type of player. Regardless of the type of player(s) you are up against, you can use the above attributes to recognize their play and correctly identify, and categorize your opposition. Once you have identified your opponent’s play style, you can pick a winning strategy. Below I have outlined some basic and successful strategies for beating different types of players in the low stakes games.

Beating a Vanilla

The vanilla Player is probably the second easiest type of opponent to beat. Some Vanillas are better than others so it is important to treat each of your opponents at the poker table as a unique player and adjust to his or her individual playing style. Since Vanillas are fairly straightforward players, raises and bets typically mean strength, and calls can mean either strength or weakness (although if it means strength you are likely to find out about it no later than the turn). The best way to beat a Vanilla is to try to extract maximum value in the hand. Vanillas are likely to look you up with top pair no kicker, and second pair type hands. Value bets are very good against this type of player. Vanillas chase lots of draws also, so be wary of scare cards and try to use pot control tactics if the board turns sour. Don’t be afraid to bet all three streets for value with top pair top kicker (TPTK) or stronger. Typically you should beware a raise from this type of player!

Beating a Donkey

Donkeys are the easiest type of player to beat. Donkeys are typically huge calling stations although there are certainly a good many super aggressive donkeys (a.k.a. donks) that will raise all their chips off with over cards or a small pair (or weaker). First lets address the calling station donkeys. Super calling station donkeys should be treated as if they were Vanillas, but worse. These players are bad enough that you can value bet them with weak top pairs, maybe even second pair (although I would recommend playing a couple hundred hands with someone before making lots of value bets with worse than top pair). They will also be chasing a lot of draws, but fortunately when a donkey makes his draw he will let you know with a raise or bet. Calling stations do NOT bluff! If a calling station donkey makes a raise, you can safely muck marginal and even strong holdings (especially if a scare card comes). Super aggressive donkeys are a little bit different. Usually you will need to see some evidence that they are not simply holding a strong hand before you can identify a player as an agro-donkey. This evidence will come in the form of a showdown vs. an opponent in which the agro-donkey turns over a marginal or bad holding, or it will come in the form of many many aggressive raises and all-in bets. In either case, once you have determined you are up against an agro-donkey, find a place to call him or her down with a top pair or better type of hand (modify the range with which you are willing to call the donkey all-in based on how bad the donkey is). It is very important to try to get one on one vs. the agro-donkey however. Raise or reraise preflop to isolate if necessary.

Beating a Tight Player

Beating a tight player is marginally more difficult than beating a vanilla. The difference is that tight players don’t chase weak draws, and they don’t call you down with weak holdings. That being said, when a tight player is still in the hand with you after the flop (assuming he called your continuation bet), he is either calling because his hand is too weak to raise but he still believes it is the best hand, OR he is calling because his hand is strong enough that he doesn’t want to scare away action. If you have played a lot of hands with your tight opponent, you may be able to put him on a hand based only on him calling (some tight players always raise with strong hands). If your tight opponent is raising you, he is very likely to be holding the best hand and it is time for you to fold. An effective way to beat tight players is to put them to the test when they aren’t raising you, and to extract lots of value when you are holding the nuts. Remember that tight players don’t bluff. So take advantage when they are checking by either making free draws, or by taking pots away from them that they aren’t interested in. Stay observant and use your best judgment.

Beating a Strong Player

Beating strong players requires some second level thinking and fine tuning your game. Since it is very easy to beat low stakes cash games without engaging the strong players, it is best to avoid strong players unless you are already very capable of beating the low limit games and you are looking for a challenge. If this is the case check out one of my advanced holdem articles. However, if you can’t avoid confrontation, try your best to have position in any hands being played versus a savvy opponent. Observe all of their plays and try to pick up on their strengths and weaknesses and take advantage accordingly.

Beating SSNL Cash Games - Conclusion

Cash game poker requires a different mindset than SNGs or tournament poker. In cash games you are always 100 big blinds deep (I recommend that you buy in for the maximum unless you think you are worse than the other players at the table, in which case you should find a new table). Since you are always deep stacked, you should be willing to fold hands like JJ preflop with ease. Especially in the micro stakes cash games. These games are so full of bad players who are eager to find creative ways to give their chips away that you do not need to take unnecessary risks like getting all of your chips in the pot preflop with marginal holdings (unless you’ve seen your opponent moving all-in preflop a lot). The mindset you should be taking into these games is patience and confidence. If you know you can find good spots to take money from your weak opponents, you will have no trouble folding hands in marginal spots (even if these spots would be easy all-ins in a tournament). Stay patient and let the money come to you; in low stakes cash games there is no need to force the action.