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Matt Matros is a professional poker player and writer whose works include both fiction and poker books. With Carlos and Andrew, he discusses concepts from his new book, The Poker Brain, in the context of a hand he and Andrew
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Carlos Welch is back to talk about his decision to get coaching from Ryan “Protential” LaPlante and the new, looser style of play with which he’s been experimenting as a result.
Timestamps
0:30 – hello
34:19 – strat
Strategy
Hand … Read full post
Thanks to everyone who’s contributed so far to my Bay Area Urban Debate League campaign. Here’s the first of your free videos. It’s a one-hour look at river bet sizing in PioSolver. Not only will you learn the basics of under- and over-betting, but you’ll also get a glimpse … Read full post
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Jordan Young has been a professional poker player for well over a decade, but only somewhat recently has he hit a stride that seems attainable. We talk about bankroll management, painkiller addiction, the Solve for Why Academy, and how to get under … Read full post
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Christian Soto and Andrew meet in-person in Baltimore, hours after playing together in the World Poker Tour main event at Maryland Live!, to commiserate and talk about some key hands. This interview was tremendous fun to record and hopefully will be tremendous … Read full post
Thanks to everyone who participated in the first part of our Hand of the Week.
Assessing Range Advantage
The only information I gave about the SB was that he’s “capable and experienced” and probably has “a similar opinion of me”. This really isn’t enough to make aggressively exploitive assumptions … Read full post
There’s no Andrew this week, but Gareth Chantler catches Nate up on his “new job” (it’s one all poker players hope for and also one that many struggle with when they’re lucky enough to get it) and his recent travels. Then the two talk strategy, including a hand where Gareth … Read full post
I’m really impressed by the comments on What’s Your Play? Bad Runout for an Overpair. I was actually reluctant to post it so soon after begging for more comments, because it seems like the biggest reason people have for not commenting is a concern that they don’t have … Read full post
It’s level one of a small-field, $555 MTT at the local card room. The field will be extremely soft, re-entries are allowed for the first two hours, and including re-entries there will likely be fewer than 75 total entries.
Hero’s table is currently four handed with six stacks getting blinded … Read full post
Sorry for the recent lack of posts; it’s been a busy week. I don’t have a lot to say about this one, it’s just a fun hand that I played today:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $6.00 BB (6 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
BB ($618)
UTG ($884.80)
Hero (MP) … Read full post
…so overbet-overbet it is:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $2 BB (5 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com
UTG ($518.95)
MP ($500)
Button ($538.90)
SB ($211.55)
Hero ($1162.75)
Preflop: Hero is BB with 7s, 7d.
2 folds, Button raises to $6, SB calls $5, Hero calls $4.
Flop: ($18.80) … Read full post
Villain was unknown to me and had pretty crazy stats for a 6-max game, like 57/32 or something. He floated a lot of flops and would fire the turn when in position, so I was originally looking to check-raise. The overbet threw me off, as I’d never seen him do … Read full post
Thanks to everyone who sounded off on the special HUD edition of “What’s Your Play?”. As always your comments were thought-provoking, and I was actually led to conclude that the answer isn’t as open-and-shut as I thought.
I’ll start by giving you the results, and then I’ll let you … Read full post
As played, Villain pretty much never has a straight, and he probably realizes that I know that. This means that I can just abuse him on the river with overbets, and the best he can do is try to guess at the correct calling frequency. Not only can I overbet … Read full post
Villain’s flop call out of position with a gutshot may look bad, but it actually illustrates an important point about deep-stacked NLHE: you must play in such a way that your opponent can never exclude nutted hands from your range. Otherwise, you are exploitable by bluffs such as the one … Read full post
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (6 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Hero (CO) ($2068)
Button ($1200)
SB ($1140)
BB ($2034)
UTG ($1082)
MP ($872)
Preflop: Hero is CO with Q
, Q
2 folds, Hero bets $30, Button calls $30, 1 fold, BB calls … Read full post
I tried to play some small stakes games while taking Amtrak from Boston to New York yesterday. There were too many tunnels for the aircard to be reliable, but I played this hand before giving up on it.
I was going to check-shove the turn. When Villain didn’t bet turn, … Read full post
This is one of my favorite spots for an overbet, either with a very strong hand like this or with a draw, because Villain’s hand is so clearly defined as marginal showdown value. To be honest, given what he shows up with, I don’t understand why he raised the turn:… Read full post
I know this isn’t the first “river semi-bluff” I’ve posted, but it never ceases to amaze me how few players do this. It’s sooooooooo unlikely anyone is checked a flush on the river, betting is a virtual freeroll.
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 30/60 Blinds (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter … Read full post
The more I think about it, the more I feel like this is one of the worst calls I’ve made in a long time:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (5 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
SB ($4423.50)
BB ($2026)
UTG ($2477)
MP ($2168.50)
Hero (Button) ($2000)
Preflop… Read full post
The last two months have been pretty brutal. Certainly part of that was due to whiffing the WSOP and a few failed shots at 40/80, but even my regular games have not been going well. Unlike in past downswings, I don’t feel that I’ve experienced extraordinarily brutal luck. There were … Read full post
I did a “Turning Point” segment today with Cardplayer’s Kristy Arnett about a key hand from Day 2A of the WSOP.
Just to provide a little more detail about the hand: blinds were 300/600/75. I opened to 1500 with KJo, Luca Pagano called, Grant Levy made it 4500 on the … Read full post
Full Tilt
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $50.00 BB (6 handed) – Full-Tilt
I was not playing very well on Saturday, and it showed through in my results. I think I’m pretty good at letting bad beats and unlucky cards roll off my back, but I have a lot more trouble getting over a session where I played badly. Obviously a few mistakes … Read full post
Yesterday, PeteEastgate was sitting at something like 8 25/50 tables on Stars. After confirming that this was the actual 2009 WSOP Champion and not some clever shark impersonating a tourney donk, I hopped on a few of the tables to try my luck. It was indeed trying:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, … Read full post
Dani Stern, my fellow Poker Savvy Plus pro perhaps better known as Ansky, is one of the players whose game I respect the most. I love watching his videos, and I hate playing at his tables. Thus, I am more than a little upset that he’s been “slumming it” in … Read full post
I made a decent run in the $500 6-max on Wednesday, and though I didn’t do as well in the $5K, there were interesting hands from both, so I’m going to do two different posts.
I lost about half my stack early on in the $500, but managed to recover. … Read full post
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Hero (SB) ($2955.50)
Button ($4698)
Preflop: Hero is SB with Q
, K
Button bets $30, Hero calls $20
Flop: ($60) 6
, 7, 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $44, Button … Read full post
I was playing a decent but not great player heads up, and the match had been close, with first him then me having the upper hand, until I tried to bluff him off of trips:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (2 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
SB ($2045.50)… Read full post
This was an interesting one:
Full Tilt Poker, $5/$10 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 4 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter
Hero (BB): $1,050
UTG: $2,182
BTN: $1,186
SB: $1,018.90
Pre-Flop: T
A
dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG folds, BTN raises to $20, SB folds, Hero raises to $75, … Read full post
In light of my recent article on Creative Bet Sizing, here are two river check-raise overbets I made against the same player. The situations are similar: I have an unlikely monster hand and my opponent has a well-defined strong-but-not-too-strong hand. By “well-defined”, I mean that he probably realizes that … Read full post
My latest poker strategy article, Creative Bet Sizing, is now appearing in the December edition of 2+2 Internet Magazine. The article examines underbetting and overbetting as examples of how to add unconventional plays into your arsenal. Here’s an excerpt from the section on overbetting the pot:
… Read full postBig bets are