Need some guidance....

Not new to online poker, or poker at all. As a matter of fact, I've played poker for all my life. Holdem just happens to be one of the newest I've played (for 7+ years now).

My questions are more in line with online poker though.

I have been playing quite a bit, and am going to take it to the next level.
I've changed my style and play, and feel that playing overall TAG is working out well. Of course, it comes down to reducing mistakes made, etc.

Well, I've played with Poker Tracker in the past, and I'm back at it the last few weeks playing a few thousand hands online. I've downloaded the new poker tracker, and think the HUD is pretty cool. However, the problem I have is I don't have my head around all the numbers yet. You guys call yourselves a number/number/number player which means nothing, and the VP$IP, PFR, etc make some sense, but still seem like arbitrary numbers. I could use some guidance as to how to use these for my benefit,

Although still down some overall (had a bad November!) I started with $1200 in my account, and now have that over $3200. I want to make a living off of this eventually, but I'm not putting the cart in front of the horse. Where do I need to be bankroll wise to sustain the 5K+ a month I am looking to generate?

Lots of questions. Not new to the forums, per say.... but looking to increase my knowledge, primarily being a live player.

The HUD stats are extremely useful for categorizing your opponents. The more you use them, the more comfortable you become in your reads.

When I say a villain is 13/11, that means their VPIP is 13% and their PFR is 11%.

So what can we deduce about this villain?

1) He fits a standard "tight/aggressive" mold.
2) He only limps 2% of hands, so that's probably only pocket pairs and the occasional suited connector.
3) He is likely positionally aware (his attempt to steal% will tell us this better)
4) He is likely the kind of player who will make c-bets after missing the flop (but c-bet % tells us this better).

A 8/6 is a total NIT/rock/bot. Can't make much from these types aside from blind stealing & c-betting when they check the flop to you.

A 30/2 is a station. Sees too many flops, doesn't raise preflop enough, so when he does raise preflop, GTF outta the way. Some stations will see tons of flops and give up 80% of them. Some will float really light on the flop. Like with 88 on a JT4 board. This is where postflop stats help. Fold to flop bet% and bet flop% both give you some indication how easily they give up on the flop.

A 45/12 is a LAGG spewtard. My favorite type of player to play against. These types are far more likely to make big postflop bluffs than most other types, and will liberally call 3-bets preflop with hands like AJ. So open your calling range vs these types postflop, and be more inclined towards slowplaying them.

You'll find all shades of gray. Sometimes you find someone who's like 28/6. Somewhere in between a station and a LAGG, but definitely loose, & definitely a good candidate for value betting with hands like TPTK.

One thing you'll find going from live to online is that your reads are less rich. You're at the mercy of stats instead of detailed and specific player tendencies, so you're forced to generalize -- to pigeonhole players with certain stats into a certain category. Which has its use, but it's stereotyping, and you're still a little in the dark relative to live where you have all the time in the world to pay attention to specific playing styles.

Thanks for the explanation. I'm curious to see what my numbers are right now after 5000 hands the last few weeks. I'll have to look at that tomorrow morning.

Looking over someone's posts like Renton, I see someone who is earning a pretty good bit, but also playing a shitload of hands. I'm fine with that. I just need to adjust expectations, and set realistic goals.

I play 2/5 or 5/10 primarily live. I prefer to buy in for less the table average in order to play aggressive on smaller made hands like 10/9, or limit losses with a mid pocket pair (88,77) or just to exploit someone. I of course adapt after a double up, etc.

This doesn't mean that I won't buy in for 500 in 2/5 or 1000 in 5/10, but it varies as to the makeup of the table.

As I said, I've been playing quite a bit live traveling the SE (I'm in Atlanta) to Biloxi, NO, Tunica, etc, but with nothing close, online is the main way to make $$$.

I enjoy tourney, and play a few tourneys on PokerStars regularly, final tabled one, and always working on more. However, it seems that cash is the best way to go.

Yeah cash is the way to go IMO. i just moved up to 200NL cash, and was welcomed by a heater which is nice. I made $2500 over the last 6 days of 9-tabling 200NL for about an hour a day.

Multi-tabling is key to increasing yer hourly rate. That's how the "pro" grinders like Renton and the rest of those sick balla high stakes crowd rack up tens of thousands (even 100k+) hands per month (aside from putting in the hours). I do 20k/month playing 9tables about an hour a day. Some people play up to 24 tables, but there's not many who understand how you can do that. I certainly wouldn't with my looser preflop style.

Start with 4 maybe, and just keep adding them as you're comfortable. That's why you really need a HUD, cause you really don't much time to monitor postflop tendencies unless you're in a hand with em'. I still take notes on the regs.

I'll run 4-6, but after that, it gets squirrely.

I can see where HUD's could make a big difference.

Edit: I see my numbers would be 29.65/11.34... kind of LAGgy. I'll have to see how that turns out in today's session.

You're limping tons. Which probably works for you live, but it's often considered spewey online, and probably explains why you can only play 4-6 tables at once.

You probably give up on a lot of flops you miss, right? It's a fairly transparent strategy for anyone else running a HUD or paying attention, which becomes more important as you go up the limits.

I run like 18/14, and that's considered fairly loose. Many big multi-tablers play like 13/11. When you're that tight/aggressive, folding 87% of hands, it's easier to hand the table load.

I'd have to take a look at your positional stats, but you probably open limp far too much in MP with hands like Axs, SCs, KTo? Probably call too many preflop raises with QJo, AT,.. and such hands? That's suicide vs the TAG regs you find online.

I'd suggest posting your stats for review . There's a lot of guys around here who can give better advice than I on how to optimize your preflop game. Take a screenshot of your main stats, your detailed stats, your positional stats & anything else that might be relevant.

I agree. I've been heavy on limping with Axs and small PP's in efforts to flop a set, etc. Cheap flop, exploit then, etc.

I've stayed away from SC's unless I'm in late position. Doesn't mean I won't open raise there, but I won't play them in a multiway raised pot, or HU OOP.

I thought that I had tightened up, but apparantly, I haven't done so enough yet.

I'm assuming here you're playing fullring like me. 9-10 person tables. Obviously you have to play more hands the shorter the game gets.

6-max is still something I'm trying to learn.

Pocket pairs have the best implied odds of all the drawing hands like Axs SCs, so be more inclined towards playing those, and more inclined towards dumping Axs / SCs -- especially in mediocre positions.