The Micro Stakes Guide - 2NL Zoom Play & Explain! My Advice on the Best Approach to 2NL

More Micro Stakes Guide content, this time at the lowest stake, 2nl! I know that many of you will be playing higher stakes than this, but I can't make a Micro Stakes Guide without 2nl, and there are plenty of you playing this stake from what I can tell! Regardless, I hope at least some of you find this useful.
We talk about what I think is the best overall approach to this stake, and run in to some very interesting spots that definitely get me confused! I have to confess I haven't played this stake in a while and with a bit more experience I may have taken different approaches to some of these situations, but the general idea is what is important for this one.
Thanks again for all the support!
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Thanks for watching!

[@Bronsonguthry]

The one thing i learned during my time at 2NL is that the pool bluffs like 1% of the time and that jams pre are almost always AA or KK and jams post flop are the nuts like 99% of the time

[@jamesle9921]

Took me an hour and 3$ to figure that out

[@marksimpson2321]

Glad I found Eastyyy doing 1/2c Zoom. Expecting it to be helpful.

[@eastyyy22]

Hope it was mate!

[@MrMartinmozz]

Interesting stuff, you have a great explanatory style! 2 main things I took away: 1) Don't flat call as much/if at all 2) Get to NL5 as quick as possible for less rake! Thanks :)

[@eastyyy22]

Definitely a good few things to take away! Thanks for watching.

[@UkraineYamaha]

How much money do I have to have to go to NL5?

[@bowlchamps37]

@@UkraineYamaha Depends on how big a winner you are. 20 stacks is usually fine unless you win less than 2bb/100, in which case you should quit poker anyway. So $100 is fine, if you can drop back or cash in another time.

[@UkraineYamaha]

@@bowlchamps37 thanks a lot. For the winratio: How can I find out how many BB/100 hands I win. I think my winrate is pretty solid. NL is really easy. But yeah 100$ should be fine for NL5

[@danielseaburg9763]

@@bowlchamps37 20 buy ins is insanely hyper-aggressive bankroll strategy. You need around 100 buy ins, that's standard for any bankroll efficiency.

[@thelonglqd]

The AK guys flat on BB hand is so sick (lol).

[@eastyyy22]

Lol yeah should have known really!

[@losyart]

And he gets ideal runout vs ideal opponent who is aware he shouldnt have it so he paid it

[@theo5537]

Love the video, you really explain your reasoning behind every move you’re making well 👍🏽

[@eastyyy22]

Thanks mate, glad you liked it!

[@lucascavalcantidossantos]

Very instructive, you should do more of these at NL2! It has the caveat of being funny on the top of educational!

[@eastyyy22]

Thank you, I'll definitely think about doing another!

[@randomrivers]

Just finished watching all your youtube videos. All have been great in helping my game. Just want to say a massive thank you for all the advice and hope to see you at the higher stakes soon

[@eastyyy22]

Thanks a lot for this Michael, really appreciate your support! Great to hear that your game is coming along well.

[@sebsmith5286]

thanks man this video has really helped me out, doubled my money at these stakes in a week cos of this

[@eastyyy22]

Awesome to hear mate! Thanks for watching and keep up the good work.

[@sebsmith5286]

@@eastyyy22 cheers :))

[@かぼ-d8j]

I don't understand English, but I enjoyed this video thanks to your subtitles and translations.Thank you.

[@eastyyy22]

thanks mate!

[@FefeLeVrai]

A lot of people are saying to just play straightforward at the micros, but I've found out that playing tricky can actually be extremely effective. The idea is that you check nut hands not to induce bluffs, but to induce them to overplay their hand. The Q8 hand at 20:43 is a great example of why this works. Overplaying hands is an even more exploitable tendency from the pool than calling down with garbage. Here's one of my favorite hands at the micros : Hero opens 55 from UTG. Whale in the button flat calls. 400bb deep. Flop A95 rainbow. Hero cbets 3/4 pot. Button calls. Turn is a low brick. Hero checks. Button overbets 2x pot. Hero calls. River is another brick. Hero checks with the intention to check-jam...but button takes the lead and goes all-in for like 4x pot. Hero calls. Button has A7o for top pair no kicker. Classic cooler situation ;) The idea here is that if he has an ace, I don't want to win a medium pot, I want the entire stack. Even if I go pot pot pot, that doesn't put him all-in. So the answer to getting all the chips in...cbet then check turn to make him think his ace is the nuts. Of course, this also balances out the cbet into check turn range with hands that aren't give ups. One of the few cases where GTO and exploitative poker agree. Slowplaying does not induce bluffs but it does induce them to whale off their entire stack with their bad top pair. I've had tons of examples of this by the way, not just this hand. Try it out :)

[@eastyyy22]

I think I do prefer a value bet heavy strategy over checking to induce in general regardless of the amount of times your example will happen. The truth is I think that guy was probably giving you your money most of the time anyway haha. In general, I expect people to overcall and check behind a lot when scared, so value betting a lot makes the most sense to me.

[@Upbeatpkr]

Great work. I'll send this to my friends who are just getting started.

[@eastyyy22]

Thanks a lot!

[@jakejenkz]

Hey Easty, another good video! I do think there are some merits to 3x opening at the micros to get a little more money in vs weaker players but I know it’s up for debate. Keep the great content coming!

[@eastyyy22]

Cheers mate, I can definitely see the merits of that! Makes a lot of sense. Thanks as always mate.

[@keithjackson5531]

I saw a video by Ben Sauce playing micros some time ago, he was top player at the time, he was asked why he was opening 3.5x and he replied he wants to play bigger pots v worse player or weaker players.

[@marksimpson2321]

Surely you often open 3bb when you are 60bb + deep because otherwise it's harder to get stacks in. 2.5bb and min raises become better when shorter stacked as it is easier to get a 50bb allin by the river with a smaller stack

[@Norfolknoel]

Yeah! I'm famous, made it in you vid, 1:02 you're meant to call me down with your Ace high lol nice vid, very accurate opinion about the pool.

[@eastyyy22]

Haha happy to let you have that one mate! Good luck with everything and thanks for watching!

[@thebrownieschannel4836]

This is awesome content. I’m a 2nl player and I find it quite nitty ie: running queens into aces...or just never having any bluffs at all, it’s a tough pool. It should be so easy to fold because, like your K10 hand, when does he ever have AK there....let me let you in me ol mukka, ALWAYS at 2nl, it’s 99.8% of the time never a bluff on the ol riv in this pool. Shame I missed playing you. Watch all your vids, love the play and explain. Keep up the great work.

[@eastyyy22]

Thanks a lot for this! I was expecting the AK but I just refused to fold. I did think it was possible he just has a K and wasn't very good, but not at all surprised to see it.

[@FefeLeVrai]

Even if he has AK in his range, it's still a fold. Your equity against a range of AA/KK/AK is 40%. With these pot odds you need 45% equity to call. And that's with no rake, with the rake it's even worse. With these pot odds against a range of AA/KK/QQ/AK, you should call with only AA and KK. Even AKs is a fold at only 41.5% equity.

[@peaceharmony777]

@@FefeLeVrai Can we really put them on a range of AA/KK/AK on a NL2?

[@ThisisSnakey]

Old but gold.. learned what Im doing wrong and hopefully fix my leaks in 2nl. Ive had a stab at 5nl and after 3k hands Im breaking even, but then nose dived. Stickin to 2nl. Sadge.

[@melodii]

What is the LFT tag?

[@looper6394]

hi, great content. could you do a video on your stats at the micros? vpip/pfr/3bet/etc and winrates from every positions, non-sd-winnings and overall luck-bell-curve would also be nice.

[@eastyyy22]

Hi, thanks a lot! There is no chance I'll be doing this unfortunately, although I know people would like it. I already give away loads of information by streaming etc and I really don't feel like letting everyone know exactly what my tendencies are!

[@TedDyP0wer]

When they continue on all streets, they have it. If they jam preflop, they have it. If they 3bet on the flop or turn, they have it. But trust your intuition in most occasions.

[@eastyyy22]

I don't have enough experience at 2nl to agree or disagree in general but I try to avoid sweeping statements no matter how tempting it is!

[@casperholtfarver5613]

Hi Nick, Once again a great video. But I still have one question though. In the beginning you explain that you would almost never call, so RFI, 3B, 4B or fold due to the rake? But when I look at the rake structure online it is 3,5% which is less than the other micro stakes? So why is it that we rather want to win before the flop more in these specific stakes? Than in other stakes like 10NL and so? Thanks mate. I enjoy you content a lot!!

[@Gustavo20780]

On the AK hand on minute 27:00 I do believe it's a fold. In NL2 very rarely villain value bets without the nuts (since the field is so passive) and we even split to some Kx he might defend. Though spot but definitily a fold IMO.

[@eastyyy22]

Yeah fair enough, can see it being a fold but not beating myself up about calling here!

[@chesscoachgerry4140]

Nice vid! btw: 2NL: 3,5% rake - capped at 0,30$ (when 2 players in pot) 5NL: 4,15% rake - capped at 0,5$ it only gets somewhat resonable when you move higher - for example 25NL has still the 0,50$ rake cap (players) so yeah, rake is insane the micros!!

[@eastyyy22]

Thanks mate! Yeah it's absolutely ridiculous! Have to adapt our strategy.

[@MahdiTehrani]

Oscar you sure about that? On PS website it says 5% for all NLs. www.pokerstars.fr/en/poker/room/rake/

[@chesscoachgerry4140]

@@MahdiTehrani well, might be different in different countries? when i click on your link i get to the german website, and there it shows the numbers i originally posted

[@looper6394]

@@chesscoachgerry4140 whats a reaonable winrate at nl5z?

[@chesscoachgerry4140]

@@looper6394 well, hard to say. I had 4.32 over a sample of 102k hand, almost 10 in the last 50k of the sample (i think partly due to varience and partly due to better playing in the second half of the sample) - i think 10BB/100 is possible despite the high rake ... I think a 5BB/100 is reasonable, the rake is pretty insane tbh (i paid more than 70 Buy-ins rake in that 100k sample :/)

[@ГеоргиКръстев-у7ю]

Nice read man; "it has to be a AK..."

[@ACardona2k]

I have a few points are going a bit against your rake based strategy, I might be wrong but I dont mind a detailed explanation from your side. 1) If the 2nlz pool is extremely bad and player are making a lot of post flop mistakes, not bluffing enough, not vb enough, getting way too sticky - shouldnt you play more pots and find yourself as many value bets as possible? This will increase your bb/100 but not the rake. In other words, rake is x%or capped of Y(bb/100) - I'd rather increase Y by putting myself in more spots as I dont influence rake anyway. - Am I missing something here? 2) Biggest misconception in this pool is that people never bluff. They do bluff, and they do semi-bluff too much all their draws.

[@eastyyy22]

The problem with this is that it's quite speculative and involves us paying a lot of rake to find good value betting situations. When we are playing a lot of hands, these situations can be hard to find and the price we pay to find them is too high. I'd rather play my good hands aggressively, have better and more frequent opportunities to value bet while paying less rake in general. The opponents will still pay us in these situations. I don't think I said that people never bluff, they certainly do, just that they are generally very straight forward.

[@ACardona2k]

@@eastyyy22 Many thanks much appreciated!! Now I see your point. On the bluff aspected I was not jabbin you or saying you said that, I was just saying that they do bluff, and because they bluff, badly too, the rake aspect does not become a major factor anymore. Will update as soon as I leave that pool for good! :) Great channel BTW!! Love the vids and content

[@frusciantesplectrum7980]

In my opinion, You give away your strength hands by snap checking, if you leave a natural gap between the checks you’ll find people will call more on your river bets as the snaps create suspicion and thus people will act more cautiously… I made the same mistake and when I altered my check speed, I increased my river calls by 25% (I recorded my results)

[@eastyyy22]

This was a long time ago, think I've improved on this a bit these days.

[@shampoo-supernova]

I came here from Ultimate snap. Looks good.

[@eastyyy22]

Thanks for coming! Not heard of Ultimate snap, what is it?

[@masteryoda9259]

4bet jam on nl2 zoom = 90% aces. xd

[@JohnDoe-gf5he]

Nice video. Appreciate it.

[@edconnick7172]

Nice work Easty. these vids help me at 25nl 😎

[@eastyyy22]

Bean doesn't need help surely? Just a pure crusher with that rally, let's go Bean.

[@Zaratras00]

Nick, another amazing video! This will help me a lot since I am still playing on NL2. I am playing a little above break-even on NL2, I don't mind deposit a little more money to go to NL5 because of the rake, would you advise me to do that? I have a few little questions What does LTF mean? What does the numbers slightly right above your name means? Could you make a video in the future about using correct bet sizing? Sometimes I am struggling applying the correct bet sizes 33 > 53 or 75% Thanks in advance!

[@eastyyy22]

Hi Denny! I would advise playing 5NL, but obviously only if your financial situation allows it. 2NL is just a very weird stake, and I think 5NL is where you generally start to see things become a bit more normal and learning how to play well will start to be rewarding. LTF means started with a less than full stack. The numbers above my name is my RNG to dictate some of my decisions. I can definitely think about doing a video around bet sizing! Would need to take some time to find the right examples but it's a good idea. Thanks for watching!

[@marksimpson2321]

@@eastyyy22 glad I found the ltf explanation here. Why do so many players play with short stacks on zoom ?

[@luizfelipevh3863]

@@marksimpson2321 cuz I don't know how to set up this auto add thing and lose down to 0 haha

[@MrCLM1992]

Great video mate !

[@eastyyy22]

Thank you!

[@arnogoossens9892]

2 questions: how can he see what hole cards his opponents were holding in the other window? And: what’s the small blue number on the table besides his hole cards?

[@christopherolofstinnerbom6759]

in the 25 first hands you played you had the same amount of good hands i have in around 1000 hands

[@eastyyy22]

Haha I'm sure that's not true but you'll get there! Thanks for watching.

[@turismo3205]

00:34 You can still find elcheradikal playing on nl2 tables XDDDD

[@zsolttildy5742]

great vid! Trying to get out of 2NL asap and this defo helps :)

[@eastyyy22]

Glad you liked it! Thanks.

[@IlFreddo7292]

“Owed slowroll” 😂😂😂 also, what does LTF mean? I’ve figured it’s guys who are not full stack, either when they sit or do not rebuy, but what does it stand for?

[@viesturslavrenovs4100]

Great vid as always, got wondering at 3:55 you think you dont have 25% equity to call there? I just noticed playing lately micros that people in 3b pots or squeezes tend to bluff cbet a lot and give up after that

[@FefeLeVrai]

Opponent didn't cbet, he donk bet, Nick is the preflop 3better. Problem with calling here is that your overcards look pretty dead. Donkbet looks a lot like AQ or KQ, can even be a set. He definitely has something here, so you really don't want to turn an ace or a king which can only hurt you. Effectively you only have a gutshot, and you don't have the odds to chase that.

[@eastyyy22]

Thanks! As Fefe says, we just don't get the odds here. I don't think our overcards are necessarily dead obviously but they could certainly be sometimes. We are going to need to hit one of our 3 cards here and we don't have the correct odds, although it would be a lot closer with a bdfd. It's also not a cbet as I am the aggressor, it's a donk bet. I just think there are easily more profitable spots than this.

[@sosTsos]

the rake at 2NL isnt high, it starts to kick in at 15BB pots (3,5% rake = 1cents), before every pot is rake free... I donno why people are saying playing small pots is to expensive?!! Its free..Ai though are very expensive

[@franky9658]

Hey Nick I’m wondering why we should get outta 2nl. On ps they say that rake at 2nl is 3,5% which is the lowest in the micro stakes.

[@eastyyy22]

I think the main reason is that it isn't really a place where you can work on your game too much. 5NL I would say is where you start to see some competent play and you can begin to learn the game properly. There's absolutely no reason to stay at 2NL if you can afford 5NL.

[@franky9658]

@@eastyyy22 ok thanks man. What stakes should u be beating online in order to succeed at 1/2 or 2/5 nl live?

[@seandoyle5229]

Another banger!!

[@eastyyy22]

Thanks matey!

[@tobibatt4731]

How many hands can you play during one session? I always feel exhausted after 2k hands two table zoom.

[@eastyyy22]

I play two tables as whenever I play I'm streaming, and any more than that leaves me timing out and missing spots, and I stream for about 2-3 hours. So around 1-1.5k in a session.

[@joemorton230]

Hi Nick haven't seen many of your videos so not sure when you label them LTF? Does that mean like buy in less then max amount to see if they are a reg or what ? Thanks

[@eastyyy22]

yep that's what it means!

[@MahdiTehrani]

Nice video Nick! when you open KJs from UTG on 22:16 and getting called by MP, flop does not favor your range but you still CB large? why is that? The same at 30:41. Could you clarify please?

[@gesus.christ99]

Players in 2NL usually don't pay attention about range vs range Cbet more than 50% of the time is profitable

[@warc82]

Nice!

[@eastyyy22]

Thanks!

[@NikNik-jr1vm]

Great Video !

[@eastyyy22]

Thanks Nikki!

[@allofyx]

Nice video! Which HUD is this? Could make a video about the use of HUD?

[@allofyx]

and opponents labelling please!

[@sorinacios07]

Nice video and very instructive! I have one question: How do you label those guys before playing any hand against them? Any tips on labeling?

[@Just1User]

He is labeling them by stacksize. Fewer than 100 bb indicates a fish.

[@kmdsummon]

What “LTF” labelmeans you are applying to players with smaller stacks?

[@krisztiankomjati4095]

Also, why do you Cbet 1/2 the pot, you just give extremely good odds for them and you let them improve. If you only value bet, then why not 2/3, and with their call you get your money...

[@JeezVince]

Whats that little number above your avatar on the top right ?

[@krisztiankomjati4095]

You folded so many margin hands cause of the high rake. J7s from SB, would you do that on nl5 as well with lower rake?

[@harrycane4330]

Awesome!! what do you think about the QQ can we ever fold it against a 4bet shove in this stakes (without any information).

[@eastyyy22]

Honestly I'm just not folding but I can't see it being a big mistake to do so!

[@JacobEvansDrums]

What do you use for randomizer? I use PT4 but it only refreshes every hand...

[@eastyyy22]

I use StarsCaption.

[@ds54ds5sd5sd5]

27:00 2nl gto what the funk

[@vovkatrim]

ahahahah

[@pablomatheiscumbres3728]

Did you actually made money? I feel like you are losing more than you are winning but I may be wrong

[@OleguitoSwagbucks]

This is what happens when a smart thinking player finds himself at 2NL

[@riaanbornman5146]

Great!! Do you give classes

[@eastyyy22]

I do coach a select few! Feel free to shoot me an email: [e-mail]

[@riaanbornman5146]

@@eastyyy22 great just emailed you

[@crimefiter]

What does the number that reduces throughout the hand next to your cards mean? Haven't seen that before not sure what it is

[@krisztiankomjati4095]

Why open with 2.5 BB instead of 3 BB?

[@jamesbuchanan2001]

What does LTF stand for?

[@adambutterworth7608]

What’s a recommended amount of buy ins before moving up to the next level?

[@eastyyy22]

around 25 mate!

[@ancap78]

Hey! Can you tell why are you tagging people with LTF? Is it bad not to have at least 100bb every hand?

[@eastyyy22]

More often than not, players that have less than a full stack don't understand why that's so important, and in turn they will be lacking in the other areas of the game.

[@ancap78]

@@eastyyy22 I also don't know why it's important to always have a full-stack. Can you explain it a bit here or share some other resources? Thanks a lot for the reply :)

[@eastyyy22]

@@ancap78 because it's the most you can buy in for and allows you to cover everyone and use your edge to benefit. This is slightly less true past 150-200bbs as some players like to take the money off the table as they only study the game for 100bbs (which is reasonable). But many players will leave their big stacks on the table as they feel they will have an edge over the pool and fish regularly get bigger stacks. Taking money off the table also reduces variance. But for 100bbs, this logic does not apply.

[@zisis2080]

what LTP note means?

[@chasmo4255]

What's that number to the right of the cards on the felt?

[@chasmo4255]

Great video, btw

[@philipplembens4509]

pokerstars 6max rake 2nl 3.5% / 15bb cap. 5nl 4.15% / 20bb cap. 10NL 4.5% / 15bb cap ... yes dont play 2nl. play 5NL or 10NL because more rake is actually better.

[@eastyyy22]

This is really horrendous!

[@vladmariusbogdan8285]

What means LFT?

[@drover7476]

what is the little blue number just above to the right of your seat?

[@eastyyy22]

It's my RNG

[@darrenjames8761]

What's your label system? Sorry if explained already

[@eastyyy22]

I don't generally explain it because I feel it's unfair to the pool. It's just a bunch of tags for various fish types, and a couple of reg tags. One for station and one for people that I need to slowroll :D.

[@Raxu94]

Are you using a HUD here? If so, which one is that? :)

[@eastyyy22]

I imagine Carly is using one of PT4/HEM3, but she may answer for herself!

[@bossi_plays]

What are the numbers that change per hand, on the right corner beside his cards i.e. when refers to them like "we'd three-bet here but not on a 31"

[@eastyyy22]

It's an RNG to mix decisions!

[@bossi_plays]

@@eastyyy22 oh ok. is that part of the hud you are using?

[@eastyyy22]

@@bossi_plays it's StarsCaption

[@lukamesarov4946]

Hi. How do I change the raise button from raise to 2bb to 2.5bb? I tried and I can't find where I can customize that.

[@eastyyy22]

Settings > Gameplay > Bet Slider

[@lukamesarov4946]

@@eastyyy22 There are only adjusting bet size with bb or sb options, some mouse options and bet slider shortcut buttons but changing the raise button isn't. Thank you for answering tho.

[@MrBrendenScott]

Is that an RNG above your user?

[@eastyyy22]

Yeah, it's StarsCaption!

[@MrBrendenScott]

Money! Thanks brother. Keep crushing it

[@anveshks8284]

Hi Nick, what does LTF mean on green label?

[@eastyyy22]

Less than full stack mate

[@anveshks8284]

@@eastyyy22 I'm sorry to bother you again.. how can I add RNG to my table? Is it via Poker Tracker?

[@karlo1193]

are you doing coaching

[@eastyyy22]

no sir!

[@TheTiltedOne]

Great lesson in how to lose 280BB in under an hour. I will admit the AK was rough though. I would have called too.

[@lucasmastelarocunha1670]

1

[@eastyyy22]

You're the man!

[@zeitgeist909]

Dude, people are trying to learn. Thats why I came to the channel. Slow it down. Remeber, a large % of your views are people that can't keep up with 1 table at the rate you go, fucks sake at 2 tables. Slow it down and I may have been able to learn something. But I'm gonna have to go elsewhere.

[@madamkirk]

Sorry bro. You're not very good at this level. The reality is you can get way out of line for outrageous win rate. You're still plus EV but you're minimum Reg here.

[@flawlessmsc]

Well, nothing to learn here. It's literally just playing ABC poker. I know it's the most standard play in microstakes. But people expect to learn something more

[@eastyyy22]

Ah sorry, would you like a refund?