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| | The basics by LemOn[5thF], November 18
Ok I concur. I am definitely not at my previous levels of skill yet..
Every single time ever I have been 4 tabling before the break no matter at what limit I was a 3-5BB/100 winner, and my only issue was that I return to multi-tabling and dump stacks when I burnout (Read my old blogs with 'Tutbotilt' in them).
Well, now thats really gone and whats more I can't even 6 table breakeven NL50.
My focus has been on advanced topics after my break, but I think in all that excitement I forgot to refresh the absolute basics.
This is me 4 tabling NL50 now:
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http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/9633/aaaaaaagd.png
And this is me 4 tabling NL50 before my break/before I started playing dota 8 months ago:
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http://www.liquidpoker.net/user_pictures/efc3d.KEKE.png
The concepts below are basics that I need to refresh, at the end are important points. I will write this in several blog posts as I go through the basic concepts.
[ BLUE] - Flaws in my current game/logic
[ Green] -My comments
Index
-I will post various basic topics as I see fit/when I have time and energy and in the end combine everything into one blog post with index etc.
Let me know if there are any specific topics that you have trouble with (As I am likely to have trouble too) and I will try to research them/summarise and post them with my comments.
1) What is NL Hold'Em and how do you make money?
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Every time you play a hand differently from the way you would have played it if you could see all your opponents' cards, they gain
-David Sklansky
Long-term success in poker doesn’t primarily depend on your cards or your opponents. Nor does it depend on whether you‘re playing low or high limits, or even the final table of the World Series of Poker tournament in Las Vegas. Regardless of stakes, cards, or opponents the key to success is always the same: making as few mistakes as possible and making as much money from your opponents‘ mistakes as possible.
Typical mistakes of SSNL Players are:
-They play too many hands and, as a result, many hands that are too weak.
-They play too passively.
-They have difficulty folding, and end up paying too much for speculative hands, for instance.
-They bluff too much and at the wrong times. Often they unnecessarily inflate pots with pure bluffs.
-They don't factor in their position at the table.
-They don't practise good bankroll management and anxiety about their money dictates how they play.
How to exploit the mistakes:
-You only select hands that are worth playing.
-You play aggressively.
-You don't have a problem with folding, if the situation becomes unprofitable. You don't get “attached” to your cards.
-You don‘t bluff much but when you do, you do it at the right time. You don't bluff when you're playing for a big pot.
-You adapt your game according to your position at the table.
-You manage your poker bankroll well and can make moves because you know they are profitable, without worrying about the fact that you might sometimes also lose the hand.
The Aggressive Player
You have already learned that your profit is a result of your opponents' mistakes. And when do people make mistakes? When they have to make an important decision under pressure.
You will earn considerably more money with Texas Hold’em when you constantly force your opponents to make decisions, put them under pressure, and so force them to make mistakes. You can achieve this by playing aggressive poker.
At the same time you will save a lot of money if you avoid situations in which someone forces you to make a decision. If someone pushes you into a defensive position, you ought to feel very uncomfortable.
I didn't realise this as a factor, I always push small edges and play one street whenever its +EV. However the thinking of Giggy and Galfond, the two sickos from which you'd expect to seek tough spots seems to be the opposite.
Things like 3betting Q9o in HU deep against aggressive villain will put you under a lot of pressure in many hands and you will make mistakes=> you will lose money based on Sklansky's definition.
I need to not only think about profitability of one street, but also consider the likelihood of forcing myself into a spot where I am very likely to make a mistake/lose money and consider that when calculating EV for my action on one street. This goes especially into PF raising hands or bluffing without 6+ clean outs.
Cold-calling, which means going along with an opponent‘s raise pre-flop, is practically a deadly sin. With very few exceptions, it will lead you into situations, which are hard to control. For most cases you are limited to hoping to hit a strong hand, which doesn’t actually happen as often as some people think.
- I need to have a plan when calling PF, especially OOP. I call against unknowns just with the plan of C/F when I miss, which is OK with pocket pairs but sucks with everything else
2)On the flop - With initiative
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Purpose of a continuation bet is:
-You want to force everyone to fold and win the pot directly.
-You want to protect a made hand against draws and make the next community card too expensive for opponents on a draw to see.
-You have a made hand and want to get money out of weaker hands. You maximize the value of your hand.
When to make a cbet:
1) You have TP+. why: protect your hand and get money into the pot.
2) You have strong draw HU. Why: Semi-bluff with outs - cbet has to work much smaller %. Remember, a semi-bluff is ultimately just a bluff and is only profitable as a tool when you can get players to fold. A draw alone isn't enough to justify a bet/bluff. Unless you have a true monster draw, your chances of winning just aren't high enough.
3) You have air/weak draw/weak made hand.
Your continuation bet is a bluff if you have a weak draw, a weak made hand, or nothing at all. Bluffing against several opponents and bluffing against opponents who won't fold is a waste of money. Never bluff against more than two opponents with a weak hand.
You will encounter the next situation quite often: You raised before the flop, one or two opponents called, and you didn't really hit anything big. Should you make a bluff contibet? The answer depends on the community cards and your opponents' actions.
When you look at the board, ask yourself two questions:
Can you represent a hand?
Could your opponents have hit the board?
If you answer the first question with a yes and the second with a no, you're looking at a suitable flop for a bluff continuation bet. Flops with high cards, are good for contibets, too. You can represent a high pair with your bet.
Types of players to consider when cbetting:
Loose-passive
It's hard for a loose player to lay down his hand, which means you can't bluff against them effectively. A loose-passive player will rarely show aggression, but will call a lot of bets. Your strategy against him does not revolve around forcing him out of pots, but rather patiently waiting for a good hand and then putting your money in. You know he will call with a wide range of hands.
LAG
A loose-aggressive player has trouble laying his hand down, too, but he also plays aggressively. This type of opponent is also more likely to bluff. They see a paired board as an invitation to attack the pot. You should refrain from bluffing this type of opponent. Your strategy is to let him pay you off when you have a strong hand. Give him the small pots when you don't have a hand, and take down the big ones when you do.
Tight-Passive
You want to make your bluff contibets against tight-passive players. They are quick to fold and only show aggression when they have a strong hand. You will often make continuation bets against them. If it doesn't work, you'll know you're beat.
I KEEP CONTINUING BLUFFING/PAYING OFF WAY TOO MUCH AGAINST PEOPLE THAT ARE INCAPABLE OF BLUFFING/VBETTING THIN ON TURN AND RIVER
TAG
You are a tight-aggressive player. You play strong hands and avoid marginal situations. This is why you can bluff against tight-aggressive players. This also means players can bluff against you. This isn't a disadvantage - good players have to be bluff able.Fuck, sometimes I think I am not a good player :/
You can attack a lot of pots when facing so-called TAGs, but not as many as against tight-passive players. If he is multitabling, you can make regular contibets against him. He is probably playing his standard game and folding every time he misses the flop.
Points to think about
Pay attention to how your opponent plays before and after the flop. Some players patiently wait for a good starting hand, but turn loose as soon as they've seen the flop - a good sign that he won't fold to a contibet. There are also lots of players who like to see the flop with any two cards, but immediately get out of the way when they don't hit. You should like this type of opponent, since he plays often and rarely has anything after the flop.
Good players tend to make contibets between 65-75% of the time, and more often in than out of positionI have just realised a weird trend in my game where I always cbet OOP but check down IP a lot People fold more OOP so it should be the opposite . On average, however, a good player won't make a contibet with 25-35% of the hands he raises with. The 65-75% of the time he does it's either a bluff or a playable hand.
You should almost always bet against a single opponent, unless he is loose and won't fold on the flop. You need a good flop before you can make a contibet against two opponents, and then only if you know they can fold.
How to react to a raise
You will obviously have to fold any weak or worthless hand, such as a small or middle pair, or a weak draw. You can continue to play a strong combodraw, such as a nut flush draw + OESD, or nut flush/straight + a pair, aggressively. With more than 12 clean outs you can even go all-in.
You can call with just a flush/OESD/double gutshot draw if you're getting the right (implied) pot odds.
If you complete your draw, you can expect to win another 1/2 of the pot size on the turn by the showdown. As a general rule: you can call as long as you don't have to pay more than 3/4 of the pot size (including actions before you).
You can expect to win even more from passive opponents, whose raise indicates a strong hand. Any poor players still in the hand are also likely to pay you off. In such a situation you could pay as much as the full pot size (including actions before you).
If a made hand, top pair or better, the cards in the flop should be of particular interest. Raise and protect your hand on a draw heavy board. You could just call on a drawless board to keep your opponent in the hand if you think it's likely that he has a weak hand or is bluffing.
You can usually fold weak hands like top pair with a low kicker to a raise. You should only consider staying in the hand if you know your opponent is very aggressive.
3) Notes
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As poker is a game of incomplete information, you have to literally suck up every available bit of information like a sponge. With every piece of information you gain, your advantage over your opponents increases, and that is reflected in a higher profit at the end of the day.
It is important that you don't depend too much on HEM stats, because they only give you the average values of the hands played. This means that two players could have pre-flop values of 30 VPIP and 24 PFR, but still play in completely different ways: one of them could be a very good loose-aggressive player who pays attention to position, while the other one is simply a fish and raises hands whenever he feels like it, without giving it much thought.
Yup, I pay too much attention to small samples as TT pointed out -.-
Don't make the mistake of determining the post-flop competence of a player based on a good or bad pre-flop game, because many players might have a solid pre-flop strategy, but make many devastating mistakes post-flop.
4) Math
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EV
Example:
FR , 100BB Stacks
Pre-flop: Hero is BU with AA
6 folds, CO raises 4BB, Hero raises 12BB, 2 folds, CO is All-In.
What a great spot. You hold aces and have the opportunity to go all-in before the flop. It's a straightforward call. It should be obvious that you will make a profit (the EV is greater than 0).
What if we want to know the exact EV? First we need to determine the possible outcomes. You could win everything that lies in the pot, 100BB from your opponent, 12BB that you have already invested and 1.5BB from the blinds (a total of 113.5BB).
We will call this result x1 = 113.5 BB.
The other possibility, it the loss of 88BB, that you're yet to call, hence x2 = −88BB
Now we need to determine the probability of both outcomes. If you assume your opponent holds QQ, KK, AA or AKs your share of the pot is 80.4% which leaves your opponent with 19.5%.
Hence your EV is:
EV = x1p(x1) + x2p(x2) = (113,5 • 0,804 − 88 • 0,195)BB = (91,25 − 17,16)BB = 74,09BB.
- EV is amount that you win*chance to win - amount that you lose*chance to lose.
This shit is too Brain Intensive lol. I will expand this section with the basic calcs/equations after I watch WoT's series and read all math articles on pokerstartegy
Remember/cliffs:
-DO NOT BLUFF IN BIG POTS
-ONLY RAISE HANDS WORTH RAISING.
-CONSIDER LIKELIHOOD OF MAKING A MISTAKE(=LOSING MONEY)IN FOLLOWING ACTIONS WHEN YOU ACT ON ONE STREET.
-HAVE A CLEAR PLAN WHEN PLAYING MARGINAL HANDS/WEAK DRAWS
-Consider how profitably cany you play a hand based on position, villains AND your current state of mind. If you are tilted and are likely to make mistakes tighten up! Also, always be able to clearly say what is your plan on the next street (including when raising PF!)
-DRAW ALONE DOESN'T JUSTIFY BETTING
-GOOD PLAYERS HAVE TO BE BLUFFABLE
-CBET MORE IP THAN OOP, CONSIDER VILLAIN AND BOARD, DO NOT CBET DRAWY BOARDS
-DO NOT PAY PEOPLE THAT ARE INCAPABLE OF BLUFFING OR VBETTING LIGHT
-DO NO CALL RAISES WITH WEAK HANDS
-DO NOT OVERESTIMATE PF STATS POSTFLOP AND SMALL SAMPLE SIZES
End note
I have applied these things and my red line instantly flatted out instead of going down and money won went just right up.
This thinking used to be the foundation of my game and is all coming back. I have even started talking out loud and explaining what exactly am I going to do on the next street before seeing it, just as I was doing automatically before but have forgotten since. I also suddenly remembered how I used to fight for the small pots and bluff like a madman and appear aggro, but when the big pots came I had the better hand most of the time.
All the study time and hand analysing is for nothing when you don't have the basics down and apply them in everyday grind.
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| | New to the site! by Tensai176, November 18
Hey guys,
I've recently come to a cross-road in my life where I feel like my education teaches me very little about what I would like to do in the future. I am doing semi-well in school, I have a part-time job and still try to find time for my hobby which is Poker.
I've been playing leisurely for quite a time now, home games, $1 stakes online but now I feel like it's time to step up and become serious and I started on my way by making a $300 deposit on Full Tilt about a month ago. I've grinded a lot to bring it up to around $538 but I feel like it's taking way too much time and that excluding the bonuses I receive, I'm only making like $5/hr.
I consider myself a decent poker player and I feel I am one of the three best players at all the tables on the $6 and $11 stakes. Maybe I need an ego-check, maybe I need to read some more but just wondering, is this how you all started out? Did it ever feel... Pointless?
Don't get me wrong, I love the game, I love playing it, and if I'm anything, I am competitive and I have the drive to get better at things I enjoy doing. Poker is one of these things and I believe I have the potential to become a winning player.
I'm not planning on dropping out of school I'm just wondering what little advice you have on starting players like me =) and hopefully I can make money to pay for school and etc. Hopefully we can become friends too in the long-run =)
Regards,
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| | i tried by Exhilarate, November 18
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| | omg hu tilt by aznricebeast, November 18
just played a mega MEGA fish for 1.5 hrs and he ended up totally destroying me in the last hand(lost the biggest pot of my life right there) he hit every runner runner flush possible i ran the exact opposite my sets were good 0/2 times  .
http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/3765/omfgwtf.jpg
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| | My FTP vs Your STARS by BEFO, November 18
Need 1k on stars for my 1k on ftp. Please post if you can help
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| | NL2 update by AfterLife, November 18
I have switched to 6 max because its easier you can play more hands per hour and they players are twice as bad.
So this are my overall results.
My next update is gonna contain a lot more information then this one , I m gonna post some hands and etc...
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/49/nl2graph6918hands.jpg
Ty,
Alex
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| | My PStars $ for Paypal by NotSorry, November 17
Looking to trade my $95 on stars for paypal, so I can preorder GT5 and Cata.
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| | Weee Sawww by OpWestAcct, November 17
Just finished my 4th session at NL 100. Getting a fucking grip of this limit and starting to shit on the regs. For the first time in my life I am playing well within roll and it's given me something great. I am the type of player that HAS to have 40+ buy ins behind. I love to make moves and maximize my fold equity in many spots and put tons of pressure on the opponent. Of course I fail sometimes and people hero call me but that's why I have another 40-50 buy ins so I can try some more =D. At first I felt like I was getting ran over and even though I am double barreling a lot of spots I shouldn't and making some spewy calls I feel much more in control. It also shows too because the first couple of days the regs were 3 betting me every chance they had and now they have backed off so much.
Below is a graph of my journey of building up another online roll. Began at the beginning of September on NL 10 with $100 (Also took about a month off in this time)
http://yfrog.com/f713947828p
Plus about $1600 in rakeback and a couple tourney cashes early on.
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| | Heads up EV not rewarding me :p by aznricebeast, November 17
feel like im playing great. But it can get Frustrating! break time
http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/7995/huhate.jpg
For technical analysis-
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/7995/huhate.jpg
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| | Donations for Christmas! by Fayth, November 17
Well hello there folks! I'm making this blog post so just like last year I will be taking donations to go and shop for a bunch of christmas gifts for children who wouldn't be getting anything otherwise. I will be putting myself probably around 1000$ for that and I'll be taking any donations from $0.01 to $1 000 000.00 (if you're willing to put more I might think about it!).
You can see the post from last year showing what I did there -> http://www.liquidpoker.net/blog/viewblog.php?id=828650
There's also something new this year that I'm going to do, my father and I and probably 3 other poker players willing to accompany me from quebec will go to a place where homeless people shelter and basically try to fix their life. We should go there during lunch time or dinner time I'm not sure yet and we will serve the meals, this place also only runs from people donating so I was hoping to donate 500$ myself and 500$ from various other donators for a total of 1000$. Also for the gifts for children I will be putting 1000$ myself and everything exceeding the first 500$ donated will go for the gifts as well.
I will try to take pictures for the 2 events (shopping should be done during first week of december and the serving meals to homeless people will be during 2nd week)
So yeah that's my plan for this year, if you're willing to donate you can send the money to
ilir3 on Pokerstars
OMGDTDROP on Fulltiltpoker
Be generous!
Cheers! 
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| | Dropping out College by GoTuNk, November 17
x
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| | Hello Liquidpoker! by adeny, November 17
Hi there. I spoke to your brother, TeamLiquid, he said you were a pretty cool guy. I'll try to be brief because I don't really have anything to add to LP, oh well...
Basically what I'm wondering is, how do I poker? I'd narrow it down a lot more if I could but I don't know anything about playing poker for the sake of increasing my bankroll rather than just fun. I just want to be not just another fish, you know?
I've tried to gather as much information as I can on my own but quite frankly I'm lost. I think I've gathered the basics, BRM, play TAG so that I don't do anything stupid and so on.
So I guess I'll just start firing questions: Which site and what offer? I've heard I might as well start unlocking some poker software, so which one?
What do I play? I've heard everything is good and everything is bad, but for a beginner, what do I start playing? I think MTTs are too high variance, right? As for personal pref. I guess I like SnG's more but anything goes really.
I probably have a lot more questions but I feel like I'm intruding so I'll bother you guys later.
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| | Day 69 by player999, November 16
Last few days:
http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/771/day69.png
Didn't play much, swinged much, didn't make any money cause of million + FTOPs HU + 215 HU last sunday where I failed hardcore. Busted FTOPs 2nd hand set x flush, bubbled the other 2 on 70/30s, other than these only donkament I played online last ~2 months was million freeroll which I bubbled too when I was at 5th in chips, huge donk at my table had me covered and coolered me, fuck tournaments.
Today I was playing with the idea of going SNE next year, would have to play something crazy like 9k sngs/month-300/day (that puts me ahead of pace by a lot, but it would have to be my goal so I can rest later in the year when I'm burn out, take the occasional day off). Man, that would be sick. Only did more than 300 once (304) and I'm pretty sure that's a world record. Maybe will see how it goes in february (cant play in jan) and take it from there.
99k VPP so far, 11 more till 3.4k bonus
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/7045/overall69.png
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| | ty maynard by mnj, November 16
for the motivation to move up to nl200 (also for being a good poster)
http://i56.tinypic.com/1zd946f.jpg
http://i53.tinypic.com/2z6i3o7.jpg
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| | must... hit...dizmond by Seobombisgay, November 16
its only the 16th and i managed to grind 900~ 6max sngs. This is probably a personal record for me in terms of volume...shows how lazy I am. I'm on my way to diamond status on AP so just g2 continue the grind. However, I g2 step it up because I'm only 45% there. After 2000 6max sngs, i can safely say that I destroy these games. Here's my 6max graph so far for november.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/user_pictures/f25475edcce222d95fa6d7db29309aed.png
70% 300 chips & 30% 1500 chips ultra turbos
http://www.liquidpoker.net/user_pictures/9084c0abf79673a2fced5b01bfe39962.png
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| | Rush #2 by craimeariver, November 16
played more nl10 rush , made good moniez and took another shot at nl25.
this time i wanted to take a different approach at it. i dont wanted to be the passive scared donk from nl10 anymore and tried a way more active , aggresive style - what can i say?
just have a look:
http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/5650/rush.png
haha this session had it all. from getting setOWNED 3 times in a matter of 2-3 minutes to hitting straight flushes to getting it in versus two fullstacks with aa against kk/qq and holding to be sitting with 137$ at one table....
still not entirely sure what to make out of all of this but atleast i can say that im beating nl25 (...for one day.. )
BTW: to everyone with a pokerstrategy account interested in some nl10/25 videos i highly recommend TwiceT's videos in the series "Move it, move it up to the sky". hes following a nl10 player through the limits from nl10 to the sky...really entertaining!
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| | O Joy by djforever, November 16
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| | NHL Sens Blog by Bejamin1, November 16
I know this is a Poker forum but a good few of us are hockey fans on here. I thought I'd start re-posting my daily hockey blog here in case anyone was interested. If you have any Sens fans feel free to link them to it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flyers Soaring High - Sens in the Middle
Peter Laviolette probably has to pinch himself every time he looks up and down the Philadelphia Flyers bench. He then takes a deep breathe and reminds himself once again that in fact he's not dreaming, the Flyers are just that good. The sheer potency of the offense in Philadelphia is enough to make other teams wet their collective pants. So where does that leave the Ottawa Senators?
The Sens are an upper-middle of the pack team in the Eastern Conference. They will be competitive most nights but against the top four playoff seeds it's always going to be a tense hockey game. It's almost enough to give the average hockey fan heart palpitations as we sit in our chairs cheering them on. These games are particularly tough to watch because I find I'm never filled with a strong swell of confidence in the team. I know they're good enough to find a way to win a good share of these games but I also know who the second best team on the ice is going to be when the puck drops.
The run of hockey in 2006-07 had a very different feeling. The Sens were a team that could score at will and seemingly could bend their opponents to the breaking point on a whim. Villain after villain would be slayed by our hometown heroes on the back of an almost unstoppable top line. That line was so good it gave the whole team and the fans the confidence that the Sens were always going to come out on top after sixty minutes. It's a sense of confidence that I just don't feel anymore when I watch this hockey club.
I've always been a fan of the sentiment that there are only two really wonderful places to be in this league. The top five or the bottom five. The other twenty positions are not as enjoyable. You get neither the hope of a new star player to lift the franchise out of mediocrity nor the confidence that your team has a serious shot to contend for the Stanley Cup.
The Senators desperately need a young star forward to come in and tear things up. When Alfie hangs them up they're going to need yet another. The question of where these two forwards are going to come from is a subject of much debate. Murray has always been good with draft picks at 15th and later picking up guys like Getzlaf, Perry, and Karlsson so I'm hoping that holds true. My second great hope is that the Senators develop enough amazing defensive talent that we're able to swing a trade for a young top three forward in the near future. It will be money in the bank if this team is able to move one of it's young stud blueliners for a special forward in the near future. The last hope is that Bobby Butler can be a serious NHL player. He's currently ripping it up at the AHL level but that is no guarantee of success with the big club. If he can come up later on in the year and make an impact I will be a very happy Sens fan.
Link to the original blog location is here: http://senstol.blogspot.com/
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| | Running -550 under ev by aznricebeast, November 16
http://yfrog.com/jxpwnedqaj
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| | Taking the afternoon off by thumbz555, November 16
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