question Anyone trimmed their poker game right back and done better?

Been mucking around with low-stakes tables lately and I keep wondering if I’m making it harder than it needs to be.

I read bits and pieces, watch a few vids, try to remember ranges, position stuff, bet sizing, when to fire again on the turn... then halfway through a session my brain turns to soup and I end up doing some random hero call like a drongo.

So now I’m thinking maybe the better move is just keeping it dead simple for a while — play tighter, value bet more, stop getting cute, fold more rubbish and quit convincing myself every second bloke is bluffing.

Curious what you lot reckon. Did anyone here improve once they stopped trying to do everything at once? Or is that just a good way to become way too predictable?

If you had to give one or two rules for someone trying to stop punting chips for no reason, what would they be? Keen to hear what actually helped, not just textbook stuff.

Zoe BlazingPokie wrote >

play tighter, value bet more, stop getting cute, fold more rubbish and quit convincing myself every second bloke is bluffing.

Yep, that's the bit. Boring advice but it works. At the small tables heaps of damage comes from trying to win every pot instead of just taking the obvious spots, and those hero calls feel smart right up until they don't. If it feels like you're talking yourself into it, it's usually a fold.

I don't think simplifying makes you too predictable for a while. What helped me was forcing myself to name the reason for every bet before I put chips in: value, bluff, protection, or just giving up. If I couldn't name it, I usually checked. Same on the river - I stopped calling just because someone 'could be bluffing' and only did it when I had a real read tied to how they'd been playing.

Only thing I'd push back on is the 'fold more rubbish' idea can turn into overfolding if you lean on it too hard. A lot of players clean up the wild punts, then accidentally become way too passive and start surrendering blinds and turns they should fight for. Keeping it simple is good, but you still want a few natural bluffs and some defend spots in there or decent opponents will start walking over you.