Now through the end of 2018, I’m offering 25% off custom strategy videos when you purchase two hours or more. That’s two hours for just $150!

Get the most out of your poker study time with a poker strategy videos custom-tailored to your needs. If you play online, I can review a database or hand history for you, identify your specific leaks, and suggest study material to help you plug them. Even if you don’t play online, I can review hand histories from live play, answer your questions thoroughly, and help you focus your independent study on the most important topics for your improvement.

You can find more details and a full-length sample video at https://www.thinkingpoker.net/coaching/poker-coaching-programs/custom-video-review/. To purchase your videos, comment here or email andrew at thinkingpoker dot net.

Links

Contribute to Andrew’s BAUDL Fundraising Campaign or learn more about it
Shop with our Amazon affiliate links
Episode 253 with Bryan Devonshire

Timestamps

0:30 – Hello & welcome!
12:43 – Strategy

Strategy

It’s a 2c/5c NLHE zoom poker game, 6 handed, on Bovada. I have $10.50 in my stack and villain has me covered, so we are at 210 blinds effective.

I am first to act with black QQ. I elect to limp and immediately get raised to 20c by UTG +1. It folds back around to me. I call.

We go to the flop with 47 cents in the pot. Qd Jc 9d. I check, and villain checks back.

Turn is an offsuit Jack, I check Villain bet 33c into 47c, and I raise pot, making it $1.46 to go. He calls.

We go to the river with $3.39 in the pot and about $8.80 in effective stacks. River is the 5 of hearts. I elect to overbet about 1.5x pot, $5.18.

Derek’s first appearance on the show was Episode 16. Follow him on Twitter!

Timestamps

0:30 Hello & Strategy
21:55 Killingbird

Strategy

$0.02/$0.05 no-limit, $5 effective stacks. UTG raises to $0.16, Hero calls in MP with 22, BN calls.

($0.55) 3s 8c 2d. UTG bets $0.18, Hero calls, BN calls.

($1.09) Tc. UTG bets $0.80, Hero calls.

($2.69) Ks. UTG bets $1.39, Hero calls.

You can follow Berk on Twitter @BerkBrown, and you can listen to our interview with Andrew Moreno for more details on the coaching/staking arrangement Berk mentions.

Timestamps

0:30 Hello & Welcome
13:53 Strategy
43:44 Berk Brown

Strategy

$.50/$1 NLHE 6-Max

Hero opens to $3 UTG, Villain 1 calls UTG1, Villain 2 calls on Button.

Flop ($10.50) 7h 5h 4s. Hero bets $5, both call.

Turn ($25.50) 8h. Hero checks. Villain 1 bets $1, Villain 2 raises to $15, Hero calls, Villain 1 folds.

River ($56.50) Qs. Hero checks, Villain 2 bets $30.75, Hero?

In the strategy segment, Andrew address tangling with the chipleader and making thin value bets at the final table (or rather, about not doing those things).

Timestamps

0:30 – Hello & Welcome
6:12 – Strategy
25:34 – Josh Nixon

Strategy

Six players remain at a final table. Payouts are:
$4000
$2700
$2000
$1460
$1020
$900

Stacks:
LJ 360K
HJ 273
Hero (CO) 558K
BN 393K
SB 231K
Ian Simpson (BB) 749K

Blinds 4500/9000/1125
Hero opens 22,500 in the CO with Qs 5s.

Flop (56K in pot) Js 4c 5h
BB checks, Hero bets 22,500, BB calls.

Turn (101K in pot) 2c
Both check.

River (101K in pot) 7h
Villain checks. Hero?

Strategy

Hand 1

100 BB effective stacks 

Dealt to Hero: Ks Ts

UTG folds, Hero (MP) raises to 3BB, Villain (CO) calls, BTN folds, SB folds, BB folds.

Flop: Qh 6s 4s (7.5BB)

Hero bets 5BB, Villain calls.

Turn: Td (17.5BB)

Hero checks, Villain bets 13BB, Hero calls.

River: Qs (43.5 BB)

Hero… checks?, Villain bets 27BB, Hero…? 

Hand 2

I have JdJc UTG+1. 

Folds to me and I raise to 15.Folds to main villain in CO who flats, SB folds, BB flats.

Flop ($50) 9c 7d 4s: SB checks, I bet $35, CO thinks not too long before calling, SB calls $35.

Turn ($155) 8h: BB checks, I check, CO seems like he’s about to check then grabs a stack of reds, counts $85 and pushes it forward. BB folds. I call.

River ($325) 3d: I check, CO bets $175.

The only WCOOP event I played was the $500 6-max. Not much to report, but here’s a fun little spot where I bet think most people just never bluff (note that I block 76ss):

PokerStars – 300/600 Ante 75 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

Hero (BB): 140.41 BB
UTG: 85.44 BB (VPIP: 27.00, PFR: 15.00, 3Bet Preflop: 3.57, Hands: 100)
MP: 71.6 BB (VPIP: 33.22, PFR: 23.25, 3Bet Preflop: 7.87, Hands: 286)
CO: 43.07 BB (VPIP: 19.23, PFR: 14.66, 3Bet Preflop: 9.43, Hands: 235)
BTN: 59.06 BB (VPIP: 28.09, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 10.21, Hands: 569)
SB: 74.94 BB (VPIP: 20.46, PFR: 13.99, 3Bet Preflop: 6.71, Hands: 394)

6 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.25 BB) Hero has 9s 7s
fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to 2.11 BB, SB calls 1.61 BB, Hero calls 1.11 BB

Flop : (7.09 BB, 3 players) 6c 6h 6d
SB checks, Hero checks, BTN bets 3.07 BB, SB calls 3.07 BB, Hero raises to 7.97 BB, fold, fold

Hero wins 16.32 BB

I ended up busting on a much larger bluff. Not to say this is necessarily good, but I don’t think the results really speak to it being bad, as this is surely near the top of Villain’s range and not a hand I need him to fold in order for the bluff to be profitable:

PokerStars – 800/1600 Ante 200 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

Hero (BB): 52.33 BB
UTG: 74.37 BB (VPIP: 33.14, PFR: 21.30, 3Bet Preflop: 8.43, Hands: 170)
MP: 77.28 BB (VPIP: 35.69, PFR: 25.22, 3Bet Preflop: 10.00, Hands: 356)
CO: 61.25 BB (VPIP: 35.10, PFR: 19.23, 3Bet Preflop: 5.62, Hands: 209)
BTN: 35.57 BB (VPIP: 27.16, PFR: 18.67, 3Bet Preflop: 6.25, Hands: 82)
SB: 33.4 BB (VPIP: 22.56, PFR: 14.69, 3Bet Preflop: 7.14, Hands: 464)

6 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.25 BB) Hero has 3s 2s
fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to 2.2 BB, SB calls 1.7 BB, Hero calls 1.2 BB

Flop : (7.35 BB, 3 players) Kh 5h 5d
SB checks, Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn : (7.35 BB, 3 players) 4s
SB checks, Hero bets 7.35 BB, BTN calls 7.35 BB, fold

River : (22.05 BB, 2 players) 8d
Hero bets 42.65 BB and is all-in, BTN calls 25.89 BB and is all-in

Hero shows 3s 2s (One Pair, Fives)
(Pre 41%, Flop 2%, Turn 9%)

BTN shows 5c 6h (Three of a Kind, Fives)
(Pre 59%, Flop 98%, Turn 91%)

BTN wins 73.83 BB

PokerStars – 300/600 Ante 75 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

SB: 40.77 BB (VPIP: 34.18, PFR: 20.25, 3Bet Preflop: 7.89, Hands: 79)
BB: 36.24 BB (VPIP: 20.94, PFR: 14.34, 3Bet Preflop: 4.35, Hands: 277)
UTG: 58.62 BB (VPIP: 27.27, PFR: 12.04, 3Bet Preflop: 4.17, Hands: 110)
Hero (MP): 193.9 BB
CO: 126.23 BB (VPIP: 30.28, PFR: 21.22, 3Bet Preflop: 8.85, Hands: 867)
BTN: 53.83 BB (VPIP: 22.76, PFR: 13.82, 3Bet Preflop: 1.69, Hands: 123)

6 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.25 BB) Hero has 7d 7c
fold, Hero raises to 2.28 BB, CO raises to 7 BB, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls 4.72 BB

Flop : (16.25 BB, 2 players) Td 5c 4s
Hero checks, CO bets 5.04 BB, Hero calls 5.04 BB

Turn : (26.33 BB, 2 players) 6c
Hero bets 16.5 BB, CO raises to 114.07 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 97.57 BB

River : (254.47 BB, 2 players) 3d

Hero shows 7d 7c (Straight, Seven High)
(Pre 52%, Flop 69%, Turn 68%)

CO shows Ac Qc (High Card, Ace)
(Pre 48%, Flop 31%, Turn 32%)

Hero wins 254.47 BB

I ended up bubbling in a quite interesting spot. The all in Villain had a substantial bounty, large enough that I think it was worth the risk of bubbling to go after it. It’s important that I give myself the option to fold and sneak into the money if the flop doesn’t give me a shot of KO’ing the all in player – if I had to get all in myself before the flop, the decision would have been much tougher and probably I would have to fold.

What happened was the worst case scenario: I flopped well enough to get all in but ended up busting, collecting neither the bounty nor a min cash (though I was still in the black thanks to my earlier bounties).

PokerStars – 3000/6000 Ante 750 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

CO: 40.34 BB (VPIP: 31.50, PFR: 15.08, 3Bet Preflop: 5.36, Hands: 129)
BTN: 54.55 BB (VPIP: 24.55, PFR: 16.51, 3Bet Preflop: 10.00, Hands: 110)
SB: 78.86 BB (VPIP: 20.29, PFR: 12.32, 3Bet Preflop: 5.26, Hands: 354)
Hero (BB): 21.49 BB
UTG: 8.56 BB (VPIP: 26.67, PFR: 13.33, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 15)
MP: 35.36 BB (VPIP: 27.57, PFR: 20.06, 3Bet Preflop: 8.97, Hands: 347)

6 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.25 BB) Hero has Th 5h
UTG raises to 8.44 BB and is all-in, fold, CO calls 8.44 BB, fold, fold, Hero calls 7.44 BB

Flop : (26.57 BB, 3 players) 5d 6h 3c
Hero bets 12.92 BB and is all-in, CO calls 12.92 BB

Turn : (52.41 BB, 3 players) Ac

River : (52.41 BB, 3 players) Kd

Hero shows Th 5h (One Pair, Fives)

CO shows Ah 8h (One Pair, Aces)

UTG shows Qc As (One Pair, Aces)

CO wins 25.85 BB
UTG wins 26.57 BB

I’m struggling to find an interesting hand from the $215. This is the best I came up with. It may look like a straight-forward spot, but in my experience a lot of less experienced players will just call the flop (which, to be fair, is probably what I would have done too a few years ago):

PokerStars – 800/1600 Ante 200 NL (8 max) – Holdem – 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

SB: 24.59 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 15.56, 3Bet Preflop: 4.17, Hands: 45)
Hero (BB): 76.47 BB
UTG: 42.8 BB (VPIP: 21.13, PFR: 14.25, 3Bet Preflop: 6.29, Hands: 427)
UTG+1: 19.79 BB (VPIP: 19.32, PFR: 15.97, 3Bet Preflop: 5.83, Hands: 266)
MP: 59.01 BB (VPIP: 29.84, PFR: 17.74, 3Bet Preflop: 5.88, Hands: 124)
MP+1: 90.76 BB (VPIP: 20.97, PFR: 15.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 124)
CO: 58.3 BB (VPIP: 31.22, PFR: 20.78, 3Bet Preflop: 10.58, Hands: 238)
BTN: 31 BB (VPIP: 19.48, PFR: 13.25, 3Bet Preflop: 7.22, Hands: 578)

8 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.5 BB) Hero has Js Kc
fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to 2 BB, fold, Hero calls 1 BB

Flop : (5.5 BB, 2 players) 5h Td Jc
Hero checks, BTN bets 2 BB, Hero raises to 6.75 BB, BTN raises to 28.6 BB, Hero raises to 50.45 BB, BTN calls 0.28 BB and is all-in

Turn : (63.25 BB, 2 players) As

River : (63.25 BB, 2 players) Ac

Hero shows Js Kc (Two Pair, Aces and Jacks)
(Pre 25%, Flop 69%, Turn 9%)

BTN shows Ad Kd (Three of a Kind, Aces)
(Pre 75%, Flop 31%, Turn 91%)

BTN wins 63.25 BB

I also max late registered the $530 Courchevel, which is a game I really enjoy, though I’m not sure I’m a favorite in a $530 field. With the late register, though, I got in with about 120 players remaining and 35 getting paid, so that’s how I justified it. For those who don’t know, Courchevel is a five-card PLO8 game where one of the flop cards is revealed before the pre-flop betting.

I didn’t last long at all – had QQ with a Q in the door, got all in pre against someone holding AA with a nut suit of the door card and some wrap potential. There’s no equity calculator for Courchevel so I’m not really sure whether I was favored there, but I doubt it was dramatic one way or the other.

Anyway, the big news is that I won the $44 Bounty Builder, which is a daily Progressive Knock-Out event on PokerStars. In the past, during COOPs, I used to fill screen space with Zoom games, and I still do that sometimes. But early in a session, I’ve started using smaller buy-in tournaments instead. I find it helps not to have to switch back and forth between tournament and cash mentality, and in many cases these tournaments may be better value anyway, the drawback being that sometimes it sucks when your session is extended by a few hours for a tournament you didn’t really want to play anyway. But it’s all good when you win it!

Even better, I recorded the last few hours live for Tournament Poker Edge. I started recording because I was in a bunch of events that were tough to cover in a replayer: some PKOs, the $55 Razz, and eventually the $530 Courchevel. So I thought it would be fun to record live. Then I just kept recording as I made the final table and eventually won the tournament!

I’m not going to post any hands from that just yet because you’ll have a chance to see lots of the important action on TPE soon enough.

Saturday started early. Usually I deal with that by late registering, but the 7AM event was a progressive knock-out, and although Stars allows late registration in those, it’s a financial disaster to do so. So I figured I would play that and then see how I felt for the afternoon event.

It got off to a rough start. A guy put in a crazy amount with 22 against my AK, which wasn’t the end of the world since I covered him, but his pair held up so instead of getting his bounty I got short-stacked. I managed to make a recovery though (it’s easy to get your money in good as a short stack in a bounty event, because everyone else has incentive to call you very light) and after this extremely fun hand I had more chips than anyone else in the tournament (also on Boom if you’d rather watch the replay):

PokerStars – 1250/2500 Ante 325 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

MP+2: 69.55 BB (VPIP: 19.40, PFR: 10.61, 3Bet Preflop: 2.86, Hands: 67)
CO: 88.92 BB (VPIP: 13.75, PFR: 7.50, 3Bet Preflop: 2.56, Hands: 81)
BTN: 17.37 BB (VPIP: 17.69, PFR: 4.65, 3Bet Preflop: 3.23, Hands: 131)
SB: 22.61 BB (VPIP: 26.74, PFR: 16.67, 3Bet Preflop: 16.28, Hands: 87)
Hero (BB): 166.42 BB
UTG: 85.05 BB (VPIP: 19.64, PFR: 12.50, 3Bet Preflop: 4.17, Hands: 57)
UTG+1: 54.64 BB (VPIP: 17.95, PFR: 10.26, 3Bet Preflop: 4.35, Hands: 39)
MP: 51.98 BB (VPIP: 31.34, PFR: 19.08, 3Bet Preflop: 9.23, Hands: 136)
MP+1: 129.68 BB (VPIP: 17.61, PFR: 13.81, 3Bet Preflop: 10.48, Hands: 517)

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.67 BB) Hero has 7c 9d
fold, fold, MP raises to 2.3 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls 1.3 BB

Flop : (6.27 BB, 2 players) Ts 9c Th
Hero checks, MP bets 2.32 BB, Hero raises to 5.59 BB, MP calls 3.27 BB

Turn : (17.46 BB, 2 players) 8h
Hero checks, MP bets 6.36 BB, Hero raises to 15.41 BB, MP calls 9.05 BB

River : (48.28 BB, 2 players) 4s
Hero checks, MP bets 28.55 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 28.55 BB

MP shows Js Kc (One Pair, Tens)
(Pre 65%, Flop 38%, Turn 23%)

Hero shows 7c 9d (Two Pair, Tens and Nines)
(Pre 35%, Flop 62%, Turn 77%)

Hero wins 105.38 BB

I’m not too pleased with the hand I busted on. I do think I should have gone broke given how the board ran out, but it would have been better to call the flop and get all in on this turn.

PokerStars – 6000/12000 Ante 1500 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

CO: 6.98 BB (VPIP: 22.16, PFR: 13.23, 3Bet Preflop: 9.18, Hands: 194)
Hero (BTN): 31.1 BB
SB: 75.19 BB (VPIP: 27.27, PFR: 10.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 11)
BB: 135.17 BB (VPIP: 18.84, PFR: 13.43, 3Bet Preflop: 3.85, Hands: 73)
UTG: 165.89 BB (VPIP: 31.67, PFR: 17.65, 3Bet Preflop: 9.09, Hands: 242)
UTG+1: 44.35 BB (VPIP: 19.67, PFR: 14.66, 3Bet Preflop: 10.24, Hands: 606)
MP: 25.96 BB (VPIP: 16.70, PFR: 11.94, 3Bet Preflop: 5.09, Hands: 504)
MP+1: 35.16 BB (VPIP: 21.00, PFR: 16.26, 3Bet Preflop: 10.31, Hands: 501)
MP+2: 37.86 BB (VPIP: 22.22, PFR: 25.00, 3Bet Preflop: 33.33, Hands: 9)

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.62 BB) Hero has Ac Js
fold, fold, fold, MP+1 raises to 2.4 BB, fold, fold, Hero calls 2.4 BB, fold, BB calls 1.4 BB

Flop : (8.82 BB, 3 players) Tc Jc 9d
BB checks, MP+1 checks, Hero bets 2.65 BB, BB raises to 6.58 BB, fold, Hero raises to 28.58 BB and is all-in, BB calls 21.99 BB

Turn : (65.98 BB, 2 players) 2d

River : (65.98 BB, 2 players) 2c

BB shows 9c Qc (Flush, Queen High)
(Pre 40%, Flop 62%, Turn 43%)

Hero shows Ac Js (Two Pair, Jacks and Twos)
(Pre 60%, Flop 38%, Turn 57%)

BB wins 65.98 BB

I didn’t do anything too interesting in the $215 rebuy, but here’s a hand I screwed up:

PokerStars – 300/600 Ante 75 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

MP: 83.23 BB (VPIP: 33.46, PFR: 20.31, 3Bet Preflop: 6.56, Hands: 267)
CO: 51.64 BB (VPIP: 22.86, PFR: 22.86, 3Bet Preflop: 17.65, Hands: 35)
BTN: 49.94 BB (VPIP: 15.11, PFR: 8.73, 3Bet Preflop: 1.79, Hands: 140)
SB: 79.96 BB (VPIP: 20.26, PFR: 14.66, 3Bet Preflop: 6.86, Hands: 545)
Hero (BB): 96.56 BB
UTG: 37.1 BB (VPIP: 20.21, PFR: 12.43, 3Bet Preflop: 5.75, Hands: 189)

6 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.25 BB) Hero has 7s 8h
fold, fold, fold, fold, SB calls 0.5 BB, Hero raises to 3.7 BB, SB raises to 13 BB, Hero calls 9.3 BB

Flop : (26.75 BB, 2 players) 9d 4d Td
SB bets 12 BB, Hero calls 12 BB

Turn : (50.75 BB, 2 players) 6d
SB checks, Hero checks

River : (50.75 BB, 2 players) 7c
SB bets 15.73 BB, Hero calls 15.73 BB

SB shows Jc Jd (Flush, Jack High)
(Pre 82%, Flop 85%, Turn 100%)

Hero mucks 7s 8h (Straight, Ten High)
(Pre 18%, Flop 15%, Turn 0%)

SB wins 82.22 BB

I think I played the turn right, and maybe the flop? But pre-flop, I probably screwed up twice, and the river should probably be a fold. #TheyAlwaysHaveIt

PokerStars – 100/200 Ante 25 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

CO: 223.49 BB (VPIP: 35.71, PFR: 28.57, 3Bet Preflop: 16.67, Hands: 15)
BTN: 256.49 BB (VPIP: 28.57, PFR: 21.43, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 15)
SB: 250.62 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 6.67, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 15)
Hero (BB): 251.25 BB
UTG: 247.62 BB (VPIP: 14.15, PFR: 12.00, 3Bet Preflop: 4.76, Hands: 205)

5 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.12 BB) Hero has 4c 4h
UTG raises to 2.5 BB, fold, BTN calls 2.5 BB, fold, Hero calls 1.5 BB

Flop : (8.62 BB, 3 players) Kc 4d 5d
Hero checks, UTG bets 4.14 BB, BTN calls 4.14 BB, Hero raises to 25.18 BB, fold, BTN calls 21.04 BB

Turn : (63.13 BB, 2 players) Kd
Hero bets 18.94 BB, BTN raises to 57 BB, Hero calls 38.06 BB

River : (177.13 BB, 2 players) Qs
Hero checks, BTN bets 171.68 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 166.44 BB and is all-in

BTN shows 5s 5h (Full House, Fives full of Kings)
(Pre 81%, Flop 96%, Turn 98%)

Hero shows 4c 4h (Full House, Fours full of Kings)
(Pre 19%, Flop 4%, Turn 2%)

BTN wins 510.01 BB

Honestly, I’m not at all sure this was a good river call. I do think it’s just a bluff-catcher, and although the 4s are somewhat relevant blockers, this is probably a spot where most people underbluff enough and my remaining chips valuable enough for me to fold.

It all worked out in the end though, because I took a few hours off (I hadn’t registered anything else yet) and then put in an afternoon session instead, which culminated in my taking 3rd out of nearly 1000 runners in the Big $109. That will almost certainly become a video on Tournament Poker Edge so I don’t want to give away too much, but here are two fun hands from the last two tables:

PokerStars – 2500/5000 Ante 625 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

SB: 17.34 BB (VPIP: 21.60, PFR: 15.87, 3Bet Preflop: 6.06, Hands: 705)
BB: 69.56 BB (VPIP: 26.88, PFR: 20.24, 3Bet Preflop: 6.90, Hands: 93)
UTG: 49.33 BB (VPIP: 45.45, PFR: 36.36, 3Bet Preflop: 33.33, Hands: 11)
UTG+1: 23.91 BB (VPIP: 15.38, PFR: 15.38, 3Bet Preflop: 33.33, Hands: 13)
Hero (MP): 18.75 BB
MP+1: 33.19 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 16.67, 3Bet Preflop: 15.79, Hands: 56)
MP+2: 8.21 BB (VPIP: 22.35, PFR: 14.32, 3Bet Preflop: 8.12, Hands: 427)
CO: 76.27 BB (VPIP: 15.45, PFR: 9.62, 3Bet Preflop: 5.13, Hands: 110)
BTN: 31 BB (VPIP: 21.48, PFR: 16.00, 3Bet Preflop: 12.28, Hands: 257)

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.62 BB) Hero has Qs Kh
fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.28 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, BB calls 1.28 BB

Flop : (6.18 BB, 2 players) 7s 2h 5s
BB checks, Hero checks

Turn : (6.18 BB, 2 players) 2c
BB checks, Hero checks

River : (6.18 BB, 2 players) 6h
BB bets 4 BB, Hero calls 4 BB

BB shows 4s Ks (One Pair, Twos)
(Pre 29%, Flop 46%, Turn 32%)

Hero shows Qs Kh (One Pair, Twos)
(Pre 71%, Flop 54%, Turn 68%)

Hero wins 14.18 BB

Villain was active in the chat box, which made it even more fun.

This was with 11 players remaining. Villain timed down to 0 before folding. Was quite the sweat:

PokerStars – 6000/12000 Ante 1500 NL – Holdem – 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BB: 14.71 BB (VPIP: 25.00, PFR: 18.75, 3Bet Preflop: 7.69, Hands: 33)
UTG: 36.57 BB (VPIP: 20.49, PFR: 15.05, 3Bet Preflop: 8.39, Hands: 701)
CO: 65.94 BB (VPIP: 18.41, PFR: 15.04, 3Bet Preflop: 9.80, Hands: 357)
BTN: 50.35 BB (VPIP: 22.90, PFR: 16.75, 3Bet Preflop: 5.00, Hands: 434)
Hero (SB): 34.54 BB

5 players post ante of 0.13 BB, Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.12 BB) Hero has 8c Kc
fold, fold, BTN raises to 2.1 BB, Hero raises to 6.48 BB, fold, BTN calls 4.38 BB

Flop : (14.59 BB, 2 players) 7s Ts 5d
Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn : (14.59 BB, 2 players) 6c
Hero checks, BTN bets 7 BB, Hero raises to 27.94 BB and is all-in, fold

Hero wins 28.59 BB

PS Nothing to write home about in the $1050 PKO. Collected one bounty.

Wednesday did not get off to a great start in the $500. Pretty early on, I lost this gem:

PokerStars – 200/400 Ante 50 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

MP+1: 142.61 BB (VPIP: 24.49, PFR: 10.20, 3Bet Preflop: 8.00, Hands: 49)
MP+2: 130.55 BB (VPIP: 27.19, PFR: 15.18, 3Bet Preflop: 7.41, Hands: 114)
CO: 126.32 BB (VPIP: 23.53, PFR: 19.73, 3Bet Preflop: 10.00, Hands: 154)
BTN: 130.29 BB (VPIP: 19.65, PFR: 13.86, 3Bet Preflop: 4.79, Hands: 343)
SB: 97.6 BB (VPIP: 22.38, PFR: 16.79, 3Bet Preflop: 10.00, Hands: 143)
BB: 116.88 BB (VPIP: 17.28, PFR: 12.45, 3Bet Preflop: 6.87, Hands: 273)
UTG: 127.12 BB (VPIP: 17.39, PFR: 16.19, 3Bet Preflop: 8.20, Hands: 184)
UTG+1: 172.18 BB (VPIP: 30.00, PFR: 15.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 20)
Hero (MP): 77.76 BB

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.62 BB) Hero has 9c Tc
fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.28 BB, fold, MP+2 calls 2.28 BB, fold, fold, fold, BB calls 1.28 BB

Flop : (8.46 BB, 3 players) 8c Qs Jh
BB checks, Hero checks, MP+2 bets 4.5 BB, fold, Hero calls 4.5 BB

Turn : (17.46 BB, 2 players) 5c
Hero checks, MP+2 bets 8.73 BB, Hero raises to 22.22 BB, MP+2 calls 13.49 BB

River : (61.9 BB, 2 players) 2c
Hero bets 48.63 BB and is all-in, MP+2 calls 48.63 BB

Hero shows 9c Tc (Flush, Ten High)
(Pre 34%, Flop 92%, Turn 84%)

MP+2 shows Kc Jc (Flush, King High)
(Pre 66%, Flop 8%, Turn 16%)

MP+2 wins 159.17 BB

The Zoom 6-Max was going better, for a while. It’s a fun format, over as quickly as a turbo but the Zoom structure means you get more hands per level than you would in a turbo (though it still isn’t as deep as a normal WCOOP). I actually gave some thought to folding this river, as I really couldn’t figure out what he would 3-bet-call from the SB that I could beat. Finally I decided it could be a strangely played AK, and thankfully it was!

PokerStars – 400/800 Ante 100 NL FAST (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BTN: 58.23 BB (VPIP: 25.76, PFR: 16.92, 3Bet Preflop: 10.00, Hands: 68)
SB: 70.2 BB (VPIP: 25.33, PFR: 18.31, 3Bet Preflop: 3.57, Hands: 75)
Hero (BB): 105.34 BB
UTG: 47.54 BB (VPIP: 19.46, PFR: 17.19, 3Bet Preflop: 10.11, Hands: 2,416)
MP: 64.6 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 12.90, 3Bet Preflop: 11.11, Hands: 133)
CO: 77.86 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 1)

6 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.25 BB) Hero has Jc Jd
fold, fold, CO raises to 2.2 BB, BTN calls 2.2 BB, SB raises to 7 BB, Hero raises to 20.83 BB, fold, fold, SB calls 13.83 BB

Flop : (46.81 BB, 2 players) Td 2s 4c
SB checks, Hero bets 11.11 BB, SB calls 11.11 BB

Turn : (69.03 BB, 2 players) Tc
SB checks, Hero checks

River : (69.03 BB, 2 players) 8h
SB bets 38.13 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 38.13 BB

SB shows Kh Ac (One Pair, Tens)
(Pre 43%, Flop 26%, Turn 14%)

Hero shows Jc Jd (Two Pair, Jacks and Tens)
(Pre 57%, Flop 74%, Turn 86%)

Hero wins 145.29 BB

Karma caught up to me though, as I eventually got in JJ vs AK pre-flop and lost.

PokerStars – 500/1000 PL Hi (6 max) – Omaha Hi – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BTN: 48.94 BB (VPIP: 47.62, PFR: 23.81, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 21)
SB: 122.09 BB (VPIP: 23.81, PFR: 9.52, 3Bet Preflop: 10.00, Hands: 21)
Hero (BB): 45.3 BB
UTG: 178.14 BB (VPIP: 33.33, PFR: 9.52, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 21)
MP: 33.32 BB (VPIP: 33.33, PFR: 14.29, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 21)
CO: 215.82 BB (VPIP: 47.62, PFR: 19.05, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 21)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Js As 4d Qs
fold, fold, CO raises to 3.5 BB, fold, SB calls 3 BB, Hero calls 2.5 BB

Flop : (10.5 BB, 3 players) 4h 9d Tc
SB checks, Hero checks, CO checks

Turn : (10.5 BB, 3 players) 5h
SB checks, Hero bets 10.5 BB, CO calls 10.5 BB, fold

River : (31.5 BB, 2 players) Jd
Hero checks, CO bets 31.5 BB, Hero calls 31.3 BB and is all-in

CO shows Kh 7s Ks 3h (One Pair, Kings)
(Pre 57%, Flop 43%, Turn 68%)

Hero shows Js As 4d Qs (Two Pair, Jacks and Fours)
(Pre 43%, Flop 57%, Turn 33%)

Hero wins 94.1 BB

I made the money, surprising no one more than myself, and ultimately busted with dignity, holding a pair and a wrap against top two pair that turned a boat. I had to run the equity afterwards, but I got it in with about 62%, so can’t feel bad about that:

PokerStars – 8000/16000 PL Hi (6 max) – Omaha Hi – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

MP: 35.37 BB (VPIP: 31.82, PFR: 4.55, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 22)
Hero (CO): 46.58 BB
BTN: 72.41 BB (VPIP: 29.69, PFR: 14.06, 3Bet Preflop: 4.00, Hands: 128)
SB: 40.05 BB (VPIP: 50.00, PFR: 13.33, 3Bet Preflop: 7.69, Hands: 30)
BB: 65.48 BB (VPIP: 30.56, PFR: 17.36, 3Bet Preflop: 1.96, Hands: 147)
UTG: 43.88 BB (VPIP: 42.55, PFR: 21.28, 3Bet Preflop: 5.56, Hands: 47)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 4h 3d 6d 7c
fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.79 BB, BTN calls 2.79 BB, SB calls 2.29 BB, fold

Flop : (9.37 BB, 3 players) 6h 5c Qd
SB checks, Hero bets 6.18 BB, BTN raises to 27.92 BB, fold, Hero raises to 43.79 BB and is all-in, BTN calls 15.86 BB

Turn : (96.94 BB, 2 players) 6c

River : (96.94 BB, 2 players) Ah

Hero shows 4h 3d 6d 7c (Three of a Kind, Sixes)
(Pre 44%, Flop 61%, Turn 0%)

BTN shows Kd As Qs 6s (Full House, Sixes full of Aces)
(Pre 56%, Flop 39%, Turn 100%)

BTN wins 96.94 BB

Although in retrospect maybe this just isn’t a good open from the CO? Like I said, undoubtedly lots of small mistakes.

I got trounced in the $1K in an interesting spot:

PokerStars – 175/350 Ante 45 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BB: 178.74 BB (VPIP: 22.60, PFR: 15.46, 3Bet Preflop: 8.33, Hands: 209)
UTG: 237.43 BB (VPIP: 20.20, PFR: 13.07, 3Bet Preflop: 5.60, Hands: 307)
Hero (UTG+1): 147.77 BB
MP: 121.09 BB (VPIP: 27.81, PFR: 18.67, 3Bet Preflop: 14.07, Hands: 608)
MP+1: 117.71 BB (VPIP: 22.44, PFR: 15.81, 3Bet Preflop: 9.48, Hands: 259)
MP+2: 240.61 BB (VPIP: 9.82, PFR: 5.94, 3Bet Preflop: 1.89, Hands: 226)
CO: 64.04 BB (VPIP: 23.45, PFR: 16.25, 3Bet Preflop: 7.44, Hands: 293)
BTN: 135.27 BB (VPIP: 22.26, PFR: 18.96, 3Bet Preflop: 10.53, Hands: 276)
SB: 141.29 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 13)

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.66 BB) Hero has Ah 8h
fold, Hero raises to 2.28 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, BTN calls 2.28 BB, SB calls 1.78 BB, BB calls 1.28 BB

Flop : (10.28 BB, 4 players) 8d 2c 7h
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets 6.78 BB, fold, SB raises to 21 BB, fold, Hero calls 14.22 BB

Turn : (52.28 BB, 2 players) 7c
SB bets 35 BB, Hero raises to 124.36 BB and is all-in, SB calls 82.88 BB and is all-in

River : (288.03 BB, 2 players) 6h

SB shows 7s As (Three of a Kind, Sevens)
(Pre 36%, Flop 8%, Turn 95%)

Hero shows Ah 8h (Two Pair, Eights and Sevens)
(Pre 64%, Flop 92%, Turn 5%)

SB wins 288.03 BB

Of course it looks bad that Villain hit a two-outer, but I think he played the hand well, and there are other ways for him to win besides binking. I like my flop defend. It’s a nasty spot, but I think given how often I’ll hold overpairs in this same spot, I should continue with this hand (which blocks 88 and 87s) and mostly dump those.

I thought of the turn as a better card than it probably was. Of course it makes sets/two-pair less likely, but I didn’t really consider that 7x would be a likely flop bluffing hand for Villain because he wants to block 77 and 87s. In retrospect, folding or even calling turn might well be better than sticking it in, even with a bounty on the Villain (which really isn’t likely to come into play, come to think of it).

I had a tricky spot in the $500 that I’m still not sure about:

PokerStars – 400/800 Ante 100 NL (8 max) – Holdem – 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

UTG: 143.26 BB (VPIP: 21.55, PFR: 19.25, 3Bet Preflop: 10.53, Hands: 232)
UTG+1: 49.15 BB (VPIP: 22.62, PFR: 13.41, 3Bet Preflop: 6.06, Hands: 84)
MP: 79.88 BB (VPIP: 19.31, PFR: 15.00, 3Bet Preflop: 6.85, Hands: 668)
Hero (MP+1): 58.58 BB
CO: 62.9 BB (VPIP: 25.84, PFR: 21.32, 3Bet Preflop: 12.16, Hands: 332)
BTN: 86.71 BB (VPIP: 15.91, PFR: 10.13, 3Bet Preflop: 2.21, Hands: 398)
SB: 19.67 BB (VPIP: 21.78, PFR: 16.28, 3Bet Preflop: 9.55, Hands: 487)
BB: 68.82 BB (VPIP: 16.36, PFR: 12.79, 3Bet Preflop: 7.27, Hands: 276)

8 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.5 BB) Hero has 6d 5d
fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.28 BB, fold, fold, fold, BB calls 1.28 BB

Flop : (6.06 BB, 2 players) 4c 7d 9c
BB checks, Hero bets 4 BB, BB raises to 13.61 BB, Hero calls 9.61 BB

Turn : (33.28 BB, 2 players) 9s
BB bets 17 BB, Hero calls 17 BB

River : (67.28 BB, 2 players) Kd
BB bets 35.8 BB and is all-in, fold

BB wins 67.28 BB

It feels bad to call off so much with 6-high, but I still struggle to see a better option. The flop bet and call seem pretty clear-cut. Turn is tricky. Of course I could be in bad shape vs a 9, but I could also be very live against a flush draw, and if Villain doesn’t have the flush draw then I may get the opportunity to rep it if it comes in. I don’t think jamming the turn is any good, but I could certainly be convinced that it’s a fold.

I lost the rest with AK to 99 all in pre, nothing too exciting there.

I considered taking today off, but it’s dreary outside, so I’ll likely play the $215 rebuy.

Upon our arrival, I got probably my best opportunity ever to use all that French I studied some fifteen years ago. My experience in Montreal (and even in France) was that almost everyone spoke better English than I did French, but our host wasn’t comfortable in English, so she showed us around the house and she and I discussed some logistics in French. Fortunately she was patient and accommodating! To be honest, I don’t know how much the French even mattered, because Emily told me she was able to get the gist of almost everything despite speaking hardly a lick.

I max late registered the $200 Warm-Up shortly after our arrival and promptly ran my 20bb up to a top 10% stack. Then I ran AK into AA for most of my chips and lost the rest with 77 < 99 in a spot where we may have been close enough to the bubble for me to pass on my pair. Oh well.

The $500 6-max Progressive Knock-Out got off to a good start as well, with me collecting a bounty from a guy who just randomly open jammed 30bb UTG with A9o into my JJ. Then there was this hand, not a huge one but one of the more interesting I played yesterday:

PokerStars – 500/1000 Ante 125 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BTN: 58.95 BB (VPIP: 24.65, PFR: 16.59, 3Bet Preflop: 4.35, Hands: 216)
SB: 156.74 BB (VPIP: 26.87, PFR: 18.22, 3Bet Preflop: 7.62, Hands: 524)
BB: 99.7 BB (VPIP: 30.59, PFR: 17.16, 3Bet Preflop: 12.05, Hands: 170)
UTG: 71.55 BB (VPIP: 39.06, PFR: 21.88, 3Bet Preflop: 10.71, Hands: 65)
MP: 41.68 BB (VPIP: 21.04, PFR: 16.61, 3Bet Preflop: 7.93, Hands: 933)
Hero (CO): 90.44 BB

6 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.25 BB) Hero has 2h As
fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.28 BB, BTN calls 2.28 BB, fold, BB calls 1.28 BB

Flop : (8.09 BB, 3 players) 4d 2c Jh
BB checks, Hero bets 2.43 BB, BTN calls 2.43 BB, BB raises to 9.27 BB, Hero raises to 17.98 BB, fold, fold

Hero wins 29.05 BB

I got a bit careless later, though, ultimately getting in too much with A9o on the Button vs a BB squeeze (in my defense, he had a decent bounty!) and then stubbornly refusing to fold Aces that I’d slowplayed pre-flop to a BB who’d pretty obviously flopped trips.

I want to save this hand from the $1K for the next time one of my students tells me he checked after flopping a strong hand because he wanted to induce a bluff:

PokerStars – 125/250 Ante 30 NL – Holdem – 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

SB: 215.8 BB (VPIP: 53.85, PFR: 15.38, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 26)
BB: 179.85 BB (VPIP: 16.02, PFR: 11.52, 3Bet Preflop: 2.82, Hands: 207)
UTG: 204.52 BB (VPIP: 14.11, PFR: 8.02, 3Bet Preflop: 2.53, Hands: 165)
UTG+1: 193.04 BB (VPIP: 24.62, PFR: 17.50, 3Bet Preflop: 5.99, Hands: 535)
Hero (MP): 175.49 BB
MP+1: 207.92 BB (VPIP: 15.82, PFR: 11.95, 3Bet Preflop: 7.65, Hands: 496)
CO: 241.58 BB (VPIP: 26.92, PFR: 15.38, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 26)
BTN: 132.1 BB (VPIP: 38.46, PFR: 15.38, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 26)

8 players post ante of 0.12 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.46 BB) Hero has 4d 4c
fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.28 BB, fold, CO calls 2.28 BB, BTN calls 2.28 BB, SB calls 1.78 BB, BB calls 1.28 BB

Flop : (12.36 BB, 5 players) 6c 4h 7d
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets 8.16 BB, fold, BTN raises to 20 BB, fold, fold, Hero calls 11.84 BB

Turn : (52.36 BB, 2 players) 6d
Hero checks, BTN bets 25 BB, Hero calls 25 BB

River : (102.36 BB, 2 players) Qd
Hero checks, BTN bets 84.7 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 84.7 BB

BTN shows Ah Jh (One Pair, Sixes)
(Pre 49%, Flop 4%, Turn 0%)

Hero shows 4d 4c (Full House, Fours full of Sixes)
(Pre 51%, Flop 96%, Turn 100%)

Hero wins 271.77 BB

Villain showed Ah Jh.

I chugged along with a top 15% stack for most of the first six hours before losing a big flip with JJ to AKs. I won a few flips after getting short to stay alive, but eventually lost AJ < QQ to finish off my first day in the WCOOP.

A few mistakes aside (which I don’t want to be too dismissive of – making fewer mistakes is a key tournament skill), I was pleasantly surprised with my play. I’d hardly played at all since WSOP, and although I’ve been studying a lot, there’s always the danger of either being rusty or making mistakes trying to implement new concepts that I’ve only studied in theory. I don’t feel like I feel into either of those traps yesterday, and in fact I was quite pleased with some of the adaptations I made after reading Matt Janda’s new No Limit Hold ‘Em for Advanced Players.

Strategy

Hand 1

I’m in MP with 9c9d, a stack of $5.56 and raise to 15c, it folds around to the SB with a stack of $5.96 who 3bet to 35c. It folds back to me and I make an easy call.

** Dealing Flop ** [ 7s, 5s, 6h ] Pot: 0.75c.
Villain bets [ $0.36 USD ]
hero calls [ $0.36 USD ]

** Dealing Turn ** [ 2d ] Pot: $1.47
Villain bets [ $0.70 USD ]
hero calls [ $0.70 USD ]

** Dealing River ** [ Jh ] Pot: $2.87
Villain bets [ $1 USD ]

Hand 2

I had 77 utg and limped.  It limped around all the way to the button who just flatted.

Five players to the flop of k 7 4 rainbow.  I checked checked all the way to button who bet 12. I just called 12.  The cutoff also called.

The turn brings a 6 diamonds.  2 diamonds on the board.

I check.  Check on cutoff and the button bets 35.  I wait 30 seconds and then reraise to 100.

Cutoff hymns and haws and I put him in 75d and he calls after 1 minute or more.  The button calls instantly.

River brings j diamonds.  I check quickly and the c/o quickly moves all in for 210.

The button calls immediately for less – like 60.

Hand 3

1/2 game in Arizona. Hero has $350 effective, and is the big stack at the table. Both usual suspects limp, and hero checks his option from the BB with Ad 6s.

The flop comes all diamonds. T72. I bet $10, and one of the more laggy players three bets me to $25. The other one folds. I call.

Turn is the Jh. I check. Villain leads for $30. I call.

River comes JD, pairing the board but also giving me the nut flush. I lead for $25, Opponent clicks back pretty quickly, making it $50.

Timestamps

0:30 Hello and welcome
52:44 Strategy

Links

Gareth Chantler on Twitter
Gareth’s Stories From Syria
Hassan Hassan on Twitter
Iyad El-Baghdadi on Twitter
Samar Yazbek’s A Woman In the Crossfire
Mustafa Khalifa’s The Shell

Strategy

PokerStars – 500/1000 (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

Hero (UTG): 8.06 BB
MP: 3.26 BB (VPIP: 27.23, PFR: 15.57, 3Bet Preflop: 5.26, Hands: 213)
CO: 9.48 BB (VPIP: 29.03, PFR: 21.49, 3Bet Preflop: 13.73, Hands: 126)
BTN: 14.55 BB (VPIP: 24.02, PFR: 15.23, 3Bet Preflop: 11.22, Hands: 490)
SB: 24.19 BB (VPIP: 41.38, PFR: 31.25, 3Bet Preflop: 18.87, Hands: 146)
BB: 43.16 BB (VPIP: 34.92, PFR: 24.59, 3Bet Preflop: 26.92, Hands: 64)

SB posts SB 0.25 BB, BB posts BB 0.5 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 0.75 BB) Hero has Kh Td
Hero raises to 1 BB, fold, fold, fold, SB raises to 1.5 BB, BB calls 1 BB, Hero calls 0.5 BB

Flop : (4.5 BB, 3 players) Th 3s 6c
SB bets 0.5 BB, BB raises to 1 BB, Hero calls 1 BB, SB calls 0.5 BB

Turn : (7.5 BB, 3 players) Ts
SB checks, BB bets 1 BB, Hero ?

In our strategy segment, we discuss bluffing at the micro-stakes.

Timestamps

0:30 – Hello & Welcome
9:58 – Strategy
37:40 – Interview: Matt Bodnar

Recommended Reading

Mindset: The New Science of Success by Carol S. Dweck
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig
Getting Things Done by David Allen
The Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan Watts
Cosmos by Carl Sagan

Strategy

$0.01/$0.02 NLHE on PokerStars

MP ($2.75) opens to $0.04, Hero calls in CO with 9s 8s, Button ($6.21) raises to $0.14, MP folds, Hero calls.

Flop ($0.35) 6s Qd 3h. Check check.

Turn ($0.35) 6h. Hero bets $0.20, Villain calls.

River ($0.75) 4s. Hero checks, Villain bets $0.50, Hero raises to $1.22.

Fortunately, I managed to win the first few pots of the day, first with an open shove to take the blinds, then with an UTG raise which went uncontested, then calling a shove with AT in the BB to beat A9 from the SB for a full double.

After that, I was back in action. As I mentioned, I ended Day 1 with a major regret from the then-largest pot of the tournament, but I can honestly say that from Day 2 I can think of only very small things I wish I’d done differently. A few hands I’m proud of:

Bluff on the Bubble

We’re on the bubble, with 20 players remaining and 18 to be paid. Blinds are 1500/3000, and I raise to 6000 UTG with Tc 8c. The only player at the table to have me covered 3-bets to 12K (he said later this was a misclick and he meant to make it 17K, which I believe), and I call.

Flop (34K) Ks 9h 7h. I check, he bets 15K, I raise to 45K, he calls.

Turn (124K) 4h. I bet 45K, he calls.

River (214K) Qc. I shove about 120K, he folds AK and asks me to show. I oblige.

Better Bet Sizing Through Tells

Still on the bubble. Blinds 1500/3000. The player in the BB has only about 60K to start the hand. An active recreational player with a big stack raises to 7500 from the HJ. I have him covered and raise to 20K. A very tight player in the SB looks at his cards and instantly jams ~65K. I put him on KK at worst and am ready to fold, but then the original raiser calls, so I decide to see a flop.

Edit: I have 66!

Flop (~215K) 884r. Checks through.

Turn 4. Checks through.

River 6. Bingo. Original raiser checks, and I am trying to think about how much he might call just an Ace. In my head, I settle on a small number, 40K.

As I grab chips, he says “Dammit!” and kinda bangs the table. I know that sounds so blatant that it must be an act, but in the moment it really felt like genuine frustration at the fact that he knew I was about to put him in a tough spot. This suggested to me that he would actually consider calling a larger bet, so I bet 75K. After much agonizing, he called with an Ace. The all in player had AA, so I scooped a big one there.

Bluff Catching at the Final Table

Recent podcast guest Chase Bianchi was at the final table of 10 with me (and recent podcast guest Elena Stover finished 12th).

Blinds are 2500/5000. UTG1 limps, Chase limps in MP3, the SB folds, and I check my option with the mighty 42o.

Flop (22,500) Q54r. Checks to Chase, who bets 12,500. I raise to 30K, UTG1 folds, and Chase calls. Lots of good things can happen when I raise. Although I may well have the best hand (I don’t think Chase needs much at all to stab at this), it benefits a lot from protection. It’s even possible that I can push UTG1 off of a better pocket pair and get called when I’m ahead against Chase, if he has a draw or just a random float.

Turn (82,500) 5. I bet 45K. This is actually a pretty nice card for me. Even though it reduces the combos of sets and two-pair that I could have, I still have all of them in my range, whereas Chase has only an ever-dwindling number of 54, 44, and 55, some of which I block (suits are actually relevant here, as I imagine he might limp 54s but not 54o, but I don’t remember them). I don’t know how much Qx or 4x he’s limping, and the turn makes 5x less likely for him.

He calls. I now think his range consists of 76, Qx, pocket pairs, 54, 55, and 44 (at least some of which may check the flop). My plan is to check-call river if the straight draw misses, as I don’t think he has much incentive to jam a better pair for value.

River (172,500) 2. I check, he jams 98K, I call, and he shows 97s, which quite surprising to me. I don’t recall whether he had a backdoor flush draw on the flop, but he definitely did not have a flush draw on the turn, so I guess he just thought he was going to straight up own me. Whoops!

In addition to giving me a comfortable chip lead at the final table, this call had several good effects. It eliminated one of my toughest opponents, and it sufficiently awed most of the table such that they were not inclined to mess around with me.

The Rest

We got down to five-handed with me, a satellite qualifier, a guy named Steve who knew me from Tournament Poker Edge, a likely pro from Michigan, and a guy named Carlos Chadha – more on him in a moment.

The satellite qualifier was absolutely unwilling to put his chips in without a top 5% hand, pot odds be damned. He eventually even folded his SB, leaving himself with just three ante chips. Amazingly, he kept picking up AQ and winning with it to stay alive. Eventually, he busted in 5th place.

The kid from Michigan seemed good-natured at heart, so maybe he was just a bit tilted, because on this particular evening he was acting like a salty circuity grinder. He was the second shortest stack at the table, which meant he was handcuffed by the presence of the satellite qualifier who just wouldn’t die. He was getting frustrated at the guy’s abject refusal to put money in the pot and started just openly commenting on how bad some of his folds were. I was happy to see him go out in 4th.

As I mentioned, Steve knew me from Tournament Poker Edge. Carlos, as it turned out, knew me from Poker Savvy Plus, a pre-Black Friday training site I worked for for several years. He was old school and, now, a high roller. Literally, a super high roller. This $570 was the smallest live tournament he’d ever deigned to play. But he was in the area, and he’d never won a live tournament, and he really wanted to do so.

Much as I hate to admit it, I doubt I was the best player out of the three of us. Carlos had an aura of confidence and deep thought about him, and I never saw him miss a trick. Actually, that’s not quite true. He once called down with an unimproved K2 vs Steve, only to find that Steve was indeed bluffing… with a better King! But I mean, if the biggest “mistake” you’re making is correctly identifying a bluff and calling down with King-high….

A Hero Check

We passed chips back and forth for over three hours. Really the only interesting pot I was involved in began with me raising the button (sorry, I don’t recall the stakes – couldn’t keep notes well while playing short-handed) with Kd Qd. Carlos called in the SB, and Steve called in the BB.

Flop As Td 6c. Checks around.

Turn Jd. Bingo. Carlos checks, Steve bets 75K, I raise to 175K with about 325K behind, Carlos folds, and Steve calls.

River Tc. Certainly not what I wanted to see. I watched Steve like a hawk as the river card came down, and to his credit, he didn’t give anything away as it fell, nor as he checked. Not a lot of people can so casually react to such a significant card with so much on the line, and it was only for that reason that I even considered betting the river. I just couldn’t figure what he could call with, as I think he would have re-raised pre-flop with AK/AQ, A6 and J6 got counterfeited, and from the way he called the turn I didn’t really think he had a bare Ace. I checked and allowed my pride in finding that check to counteract my disappointment in seeing Steve roll AT for a full house.

The End

I eventually busted Steve when he jammed ATs on the button and I woke up with QQ in the SB. That left me heads up with Carlos with nearly even stacks, something like his 1.1M to my 1M. That was only 20 big blinds, so there wasn’t much room to play.

I was hoping I might at least be the more experienced heads up player, but apparently Carlos was an online heads up pro for a while. He certainly seemed to know what he was going on a 20BB stack, which to be honest that part of my game is not particularly tight. I haven’t put much thought into a button limping range, for instance.

It was over quickly, though. Just a few hands in, he limped the button for 50K, and I, now with an 18BB stack, raised to 175K with A7s. He jammed, I called, and he showed me TT. Although I turned a flush draw, I didn’t get there on the river, and Carlos won his first-ever live poker tournament!

Although A7s is a strong hand with just a single opponent and 18BBs, against a weaker player, I might not force the action pre-flop. Against Carlos, though, I didn’t feel like there was any room to pass on thin edges, so I went for the raise-call. Basically it was just a cooler, which in all likelihood was how the match was going to end one way or the other.

We finished play around 12:30, nearly 12 hours after we started, but there’s no rest for the weary. The $1500 Main Event starts today!

In our strategy segment, we discuss why it matters how the money goes in, and what to do with a straight facing a big shove when the river pairs the board.

We encourage you to buy Painless Poker and Tommy’s other books directly from him, in order to get your free autograph and e-books. If you do buy from Amazon, though, please use our affiliate link.

Tommy previously appeared on Episode 2, Episode 29, and Episode 192.

Timestamps

0:30 Hello & Welcome & Strategy
35:31 Interview: Tommy Angelo

Strategy

Playing $0.25/$0.50 NLHE online. Villain has starting stack of $53.40, I have $43.69

Villain opens on the button to $1.10 (his standard open). I call in the BB with 8s8d

Pot is $2.45. Flop – 7d 6h 9c

I checked, he bet $2.50. I called.

Turn was 10h. I check he checks.

River was 6d. I bet $3.69 into $7.45 and then he shoves for $49.80 and has me covered.

Johanson has previously been our guest on Episode 79 and Episode 110. Before the match, we discussed DeepStack with Michael Bowling on Episode 208.

Follow @DeepStackAI on Twitter for details of their upcoming Twitch matches as well as links to replays of past matches and other news.

Strategy

PokerStars – $150/$300 NL (2 max) – Holdem – 2 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

Hero (SB): 69.67 BB
Hero (BB): 63.67 BB

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 6d 6c
Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Qs Qd
Hero raises to 2 BB, Hero raises to 6 BB, Hero calls 4 BB

Flop : (12 BB, 2 players) 7s Th 5c
Hero bets 7 BB, Hero calls 7 BB

Turn : (26 BB, 2 players) 6s
Hero bets 14.17 BB, Hero raises to 50.67 BB, Hero calls 36.5 BB and is all-in

River : (127.33 BB, 2 players) 9h

Hero shows 6d 6c (Three of a Kind, Sixes)
(Pre 19%, Flop 13%, Turn 95%)

Hero shows Qs Qd (One Pair, Queens)
(Pre 81%, Flop 87%, Turn 5%)

Hero wins 127.33 BB

Details of the 85o shove, as well as further thoughts on it and the match in general, are here.

The first half of my conversation with Matt is available here.

In practice, though, it’s easy to end up doing either too much or too little bluffing, especially on the river. It’s easy to say either, “this is a good card, bombs away” with all of your bluffs, or to say, “eh, I don’t think he’s folding,” and check back all of your bluffs.

That’s all well and good if you’re confident in those reads, but against a tough opponent, it shouldn’t be easy to make such sweeping generalizations. When thinking about which hands to give up with, it’s good to choose candidates that block Villain’s folding range, just as you want to block his calling range when you fire that third barrel. Here, I bet a big draw on the flop and turn, but on the river, I give up, because I expect that much of Villain’s range for calling turn and folding river will consist of pair-plus-draw hands, and my own draws make it hard for him to have those.

PokerStars – $203+$12|250/500 Ante 65 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BTN: 13.38 BB (VPIP: 31.22, PFR: 6.91, 3Bet Preflop: 1.22, Hands: 189)
SB: 134.56 BB (VPIP: 19.00, PFR: 14.51, 3Bet Preflop: 4.65, Hands: 326)
BB: 78.9 BB (VPIP: 21.95, PFR: 15.66, 3Bet Preflop: 2.41, Hands: 205)
Hero (UTG): 86.55 BB
CO: 11.42 BB (VPIP: 17.09, PFR: 9.26, 3Bet Preflop: 2.17, Hands: 118)

5 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.15 BB) Hero has As Ts
Hero raises to 2.28 BB, fold, BTN calls 2.28 BB, SB calls 1.78 BB, BB calls 1.28 BB

Flop : (9.77 BB, 4 players) 3s Qc 9s
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets 4.88 BB, fold, fold, BB calls 4.88 BB

Turn : (19.54 BB, 2 players) Jd
BB checks, Hero bets 11.72 BB, BB calls 11.72 BB

River : (42.98 BB, 2 players) 3c
BB checks, Hero checks

BB shows Kd Qs (Two Pair, Queens and Threes)
(Pre 38%, Flop 56%, Turn 64%)

Hero mucks As Ts (One Pair, Threes)
(Pre 62%, Flop 44%, Turn 36%)

BB wins 42.98 BB

Timestamps

0:30 Hello & Welcome
10:42 NLO8 Strategy

Hand 1

PokerStars – $300+$20|400/800 Ante 100 NL Hi/Lo (6 max) – Omaha Hi/Lo – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

SB: 24.38 BB
BB: 41.66 BB
UTG: 35.74 BB
MP: 48 BB
Hero (CO): 23.1 BB
BTN: 30.23 BB

6 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.25 BB) Hero has 4c Kc As Ts
fold, MP raises to 2.19 BB, Hero calls 2.19 BB, fold, fold, BB calls 1.19 BB

Flop : (7.81 BB, 3 players) 3c 8h 6c
BB bets 3.9 BB, MP calls 3.9 BB, fold

Turn : (15.61 BB, 2 players) Jh
BB checks, MP bets 9 BB, BB calls 9 BB

River : (33.61 BB, 2 players) 4h
BB checks, MP bets 32.79 BB and is all-in, BB calls 26.45 BB and is all-in

MP shows Js Kh Ah 2s (High: Flush, Ace High, Low: 6432A)
(Pre 60%, Flop 36%, Turn 69%)

BB shows 2h 3s Ad 7c (High: One Pair, Threes, Low: 6432A)
(Pre 40%, Flop 64%, Turn 31%)

BB wins 21.63 BB
MP wins 64.88 BB

Hand 2

PokerStars – $300+$20|400/800 Ante 100 NL Hi/Lo (6 max) – Omaha Hi/Lo – 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

UTG: 25 BB
CO: 42.04 BB
BTN: 32.37 BB
SB: 34 BB
Hero (BB): 37.72 BB

5 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.13 BB) Hero has 4s 6c Tc 3s
fold, fold, fold, SB raises to 2.38 BB, Hero calls 1.38 BB

Flop : (5.38 BB, 2 players) Ts 7c 6s
SB bets 3.25 BB, Hero calls 3.25 BB

Turn : (11.88 BB, 2 players) 9s
SB checks, Hero bets 3.56 BB, SB raises to 8.13 BB, Hero calls 4.56 BB

River : (28.13 BB, 2 players) 9h
SB bets 20.12 BB and is all-in, fold

SB wins 28.13 BB

Contrary to the fancy image seen here, The Thinking Poker Diaries Volume 8 is actually available only as an e-book. It’s on sale now in the Kindle Store, and EPUB, Kindle, and PDF versions will be available on Nitcast.com shortly.

You can follow Benjamin on Twitter @Reasons14 and watch his instructional videos at Tournament Poker Edge. He recommends reading Sapiens and The Four Hour Work Week and listening to Sigur Rós, Denali, Portishead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Radiohead.

Timestamps

0:30 – hello and welcome
4:33 – PLO8 strategy
28:12 – benjamin reason

Strategy

Three-handed $10/$25/$50 PLO8.

Villain raises from the SB to $175 announcing that he “almost never does this”. I pause, question him, and he states that he raised blind. I don’t know him well enough to know if this is always the truth.

I raise to 550 with A2QQshhd. Button folds and villain makes it 1650.

I called and the flop was K85 rainbow. He quickly bets the pot of $3350 leaving $7000 effective behind.

Strategy

No Limit Hold’em $0.10/$0.20
Winamax Poker
3 players
Formatted by pokercopilot.com – Mac OS X hand history analysis and tracking

Stacks:
BTN – BTN ($20.72)
SB – Hero ($34.73)
BB – BB ($7.80)

Preflop: ($0.30, 3 players) Hero is SB with Q A
BTN raises to $0.40, Hero raises to $1.60, 1 fold, BTN calls $1.20

Flop: J 8 5 ($3.40, 2 players – BTN: $19.12, Hero: $33.13)
Hero bets $1.80, BTN calls $1.80

Turn: T ($7.00, 2 players – BTN: $17.32, Hero: $31.33)
Hero bets $3.80, BTN calls $3.80

River: 9 ($14.60, 2 players – BTN: $13.52, Hero: $27.53)
Hero bets $4.00, BTN calls $4.00

Total Pot: $22.60
BTN shows A T (One pair : Tens)
Hero shows Q A (Straight Queen high)

Hero wins $21.13

I primarily review his play at the final three tables of a $10 rebuy tournament, all the way down to heads up. If you need help making or triumphing at a final table – and who doesn’t?! – be sure to take advantage of this FREE video. Or better yet, see how you can have me review one of your hand histories!

In the meantime, please enjoy the next PLO8 strategy video from Nate and myself:

Timestamps

0:30 – hello
33:24 – interview

Strategy

$5/$5/$10 PLO $1500 effective stacks

Button opens $40, Hero calls Ah Kd 9c 4h in SB, BB calls, straddle calls.

Flop ($160) Ad Qh 4d. Three checks, button bets $120, Hero calls, two folds.

Turn ($400) 6h. Hero checks, Villain bets $340, Hero calls.

River ($1080) Qc. Hero checks, Villain bets $480, Hero?

Timestamps

:30 – hello & welcome
5:06 – strategy: getting paid with quads
34:47 – interview: neil blumenfield

Strategy

$1/$3 NLHE $800 effective stacks

Villain opens to $15 from utg +2.
Hero is next to act holding 5c5h and calls the 15.
The button calls the 15 (stack 300 ish)
The limper calls the 15 (stack 150 ish)

flop ($59) is Kd 9d 5d
limper checks, Villain bets 45, Hero calls, everyone else folds.

turn ($149) is the 4c

Villain bets $55 into the now 149. Hero raises to $150 total and villain calls

River ($450) 5s. Villain checks. Hero?

I don’t have any history with the Villain, but if he’s a Lucky Chances regular, he may know that I’m a 5/10 regular, that I have the podcast and blog, etc. In the previous (first) orbit, I opened T9s, called a 3-bet, and ended up making a flush against someone else’s Aces. That’s the only pot that Villain has seen me play.

Blinds are 50/100, Villain has about 20K (starting stack), and I have about 25K. Only six players (including both blinds) have claimed their seats so far. I have black Aces first to act and open to 300. In a game like this, I will limp some hands in early position if the table is full, and AA may well fall into that limping range. When we’re six-handed, though, I’m never open limping anything.

Villain calls from the SB, and everyone else folds.

Flop (700 in pot) Jc 8c 6h. Villain checks. Hero?

In the comments section below, please share your preferred action, your reasoning, your general plan for future streets, etc. If you want to bet, be sure to specify the size and the reason for that size.

I’ll do my best to respond to comments and will post again later in the week, probably Wednesday, with my own thoughts and action, as well as the next decision point.

I was responsible for one of the eliminations that burst the bubble. Blinds were 5K/10K/500, and the small blind open jammed something like 85K into my big blind, where I held 99. I called and busted him to the delight of my tablemates, some of whom also seemed a bit surprised by my call. Although I wasn’t thrilled, mostly because of how tight I thought he might be shoving on the bubble, I did have him covered with enough left to last me more than an orbit, so I was confident I could fold into the money even if I lost. As it turned out, he had Q2s, which of course if he’s jamming that wide it’s a very profitable call.

I picked up another big pot jamming my 20BBs into a 4x open from UTG and a UTG+1 call. Given that it was a ten-handed table, I expected the original raise to show extreme strength, but I’d also seen enough nitty folds to believe that I might actually get him off of some pairs or even another AK. A player in MP took two minutes to fold his hand because he hadn’t realized the action was on him, and yet somehow this still hadn’t given UTG enough time to think because he then tanked for at least two minutes before I called the clock on him. He ended up showing JJ to the player on his right before folding, and UTG+1 folded as well, so I increased my stack by about 50% without a showdown.

A phrase I hear a lot is “I don’t want to flip at this stage of the tournament.” Well, I don’t want to flip either, but I also don’t want to give away 2.5 BB (a rough estimate of my edge assuming I were to get all in with AK vs a pocket pair in the preceding hand) plus fold equity when I’ve only got 20 to begin with. It never ceases to amaze me how many people enter tournaments, the furthest thing from a sure thing poker has to offer, and proceed to demand near-certainty before they’ll take a significant risk. A lot of run good went into my winning this tournament, but the biggest skill edge I had consisted in the willingness to take these risks as well as the wherewithal to exploit opponents who wouldn’t.

The next time I got AK, I was in the BB. A player in MP opened, I jammed, and he ended up calling it off with KJo (he had me well covered, not that that makes it a good call), and I held.

This all goes to show the importance of having a solid theoretical understanding of concepts like expected value and game theory rather than just playing by feel. I can promise you there were plenty of situations where it felt “icky” to stick my stack in with AK or to min-raise as a bluff off of a 17 BB stack, but I was able to override my natural risk aversion because I understood the math well enough to know that these simply had to be profitable moves.

This also kept me from getting frustrated when these moves didn’t work out. For example, the players on my immediate left were making no secret of the fact that they were just waiting for strong hands and were not going to bluff. Consequently, I was min-raising any two if I got the opportunity to open from the button, even when I only had 14 or 15 BBs. Once, the BB called this raise and bet out on an Ace-high flop that missed me entirely. I folded, and he showed me AQ, which, far from tilting me, made me feel even better about my open with 83o, even though it had cost me about 15% of my stack.

It seemed like what most of these guys wanted was just for everyone to get out of the way so they wouldn’t get drawn out on when they had a monster. I was happy to oblige them in exchange for far more than my share of the pots where no one had much of a hand.

Predictably, the nits on my left were eventually replaced with (slightly) better players, and I did open fold T4o on the button and Q2s in the CO when I had a barely 10 BB stack. That same orbit, I picked up A4o with six players to act behind me. My push/fold game is a little rusty but I believe this is a fold at equilibrium. In this case, though, I believed everyone would be tight enough with their calling to make it a good shove, and it got through.

The very next hand I picked up A5s, which again would most likely be an equilibrium fold now that my stack was larger, but which I think was a clear shove given the opponents. I ended up getting called and sucking out on 77, to the shock of much of the table. I distinctly overheard someone mutter “What is he doing?” The general consensus seemed to be that I was simply reckless, which again reflects completely the wrong approach to late game tournament play, especially in an event as top heavy as this one was. Believe it or not, there were people openly sweating $600 prize increases with thousands already locked up and $125K up top. Short effective stacks make aggressive stealing a high variance proposition, but they don’t make it less correct.

I was also the player to burst the final table bubble, calling a 10BB shove from the SB with 22 and beating her QJs. There was once again some shock expressed at this call, which one onlooker described as “Spartan”.

The Final Table

One of the many ways I ran well was with regard to the seat draw at the final table. Contrary to what I reported on Twitter, I entered as the chip leader. The next biggest stack was clear across the table from me, and the best of my opponents, a guy named Stuart who had I think the fourth largest stack, was on my immediate right. There was an accomplished tournament player with a resteal stack on my immediate left, so that kept me in line initially, but other than that things were laid out pretty ideally for me.

We were required to step away from the final table to use phones, and even when I wasn’t involved in the pot I wanted to pay close attention, so I wasn’t able to take notes as I had during the rest of the tournament. Apologies in advance: details going forward will be a bit more spotty.

That said, I don’t think I contested a single pot in the first orbit and a half, so when the action finally folded to me in the CO, I couldn’t resist opening K5o. The aforementioned player on my left moved all in, and I had to fold. I don’t know what I had, but it was a good spot for him to shove almost anything, so I redoubled my resolve not to get too far out of line pre-flop, especially in obvious spots.

The next pot I opened was with As 9c UTG, once we were nine-handed. I got three calls and a Js 8h 3s flop and checked, fully intending to give up. However, the action checked to an amateur on the button who’d been openly bragging about his big laydowns and overbetting and then showing his big hands. He bet 200K, about the half the pot, and I went into the tank.

I have a habit of always considering my options when the action is on me, even when the right play seems automatic. In doing so, it occurred to me that a small check-raise might garner an absurd amount of respect from this player, even though it would be a strange line inconsistent with how I’d play many if any strong hands. I had him covered and there were several shorter stacks out there. My biggest fear, really, was that one of the other players in the pot would sniff out what I was up to and shove. However, I thought that was probably giving them too much credit, and besides they’d have to sweat the button actually waking up with a hand and busting them, whereas my check-raise could risk very little. I made it 450K, and everyone folded. The button gave me a bit of sweat but ultimately told me he was folding JT.

I was already pulling well ahead of the next biggest stack when I opened QTo in early position, mostly because the same amateur player was in the big blind. The other big stack called on the button, and the BB called as well. The flop came JTT and I bet 200K into 500K. I like this sizing in a vacuum, but for expoitive reasons I think 300K would have been better. Anyway, the button called and the BB folded.

The turn was an 8, and with an SPR of roughly 2, I found myself in an awkward spot. I doubted that I could get two more bets out of worse. I hadn’t observed much of this player’s behavior, but in this tournament in general I’d seen a lot of big “protection” bets from marginal hands that just wanted to take the pot down, so I figured I’d give him a chance to do something like that. I checked, he bet 450K, and I put him all in for about three times that. He tanked for a long time and reluctantly folded.

That gave me a commanding chip lead, close to half the chips in play at an eight-handed table. What set me back was a bad beat from the aforementioned amateur the next time he was in the BB. I opened with AJo, a medium stack called in middle position, and the BB, now short stacked, called. The flop came A96 with two diamonds, and he open shoved for about the size of the pot. Of course I called, and to my surprise, MP called as well.

That worried me a bit, but ultimately I just couldn’t see him playing AQ or AK this way pre-flop, nor two-pair or better on the flop. So, I jammed the turn, and after a long tank he folded what he told me was A6. The BB had a flush draw that got there on the river, so that set me back.

To make matters worse, Stuart, by far the toughest of the remaining players, doubled through the same guy by getting it in 77 vs AA and spiking a 7.

On the plus side, this created a new dynamic. I still had him covered, but he was the second largest stack, and given that he was also the second best player, he had a lot of incentive not to tangle with me. I started leaning hard on his BB.

Somewhere in there, I picked up AA in the SB when someone open shoved in front of me, but the board ran out a straight and I chopped with his AQ. The crowd erupted, but I knew enough to treat this as completely irrelevant. I don’t even consider it bad luck. The action would have gone down exactly the same if he’d had AA and I’d had AQ. If you insist on thinking in terms of luck, you can say that I was lucky to cooler him pre-flop and he was lucky to escape with half. You’re looking for excuses to feel sorry for yourself if consider this an unlucky outcome.

Speaking of luck, I busted the player who’d entered the final table second in chips when I opened KJ and got a QT9 flop. I can’t fault him for jamming over my flop bet with an A5s that flopped a flush draw, but I don’t think calling my pre-flop raise with it was such a good idea.

That left the player on my left as one of the shortest remaining stacks, which actually made it tougher for me to put pressure on him, as he had less to lose. I still planned to jam on him pretty aggressively given the opportunity, but I twice got hands so bad that I had to give him walks. The third time it folded to me in the SB, I jammed about 10BBs with J8o and he woke up with AKo to double through me.

Heads Up

Meanwhile, Stuart was busy winning a flip against one of the weakest remaining players plus a couple of medium-sized pots against me, putting the two of us virtually even. Thankfully, I busted the other two remaining players and entered heads up with something like 60% of the chips in play.

A few people suggested a chop both at the start of the final table and when we got to five- and four-handed, but neither Stuart nor I was interested at the time. First place paid about twice second, a difference of nearly $60,000, and I might have considered chopping a portion of that if Stuart had suggested it. That said, I did expect to have a sizable edge, as even many otherwise good players lack heads up experience, so I wasn’t all that eager to chop. I figured I’d let Stuart be the one to bring it up, as that would give me an edge in negotiating, but he never did.

The match was over almost before it began. On the third hand, I three-bet him with AQs, he jammed K2o, and my hand held up.

I have a bit more to say about the aftermath of victory, but this post is plenty long enough already, so I’ll save that for tomorrow.

Timestamps

0:30 – hello and welcome
15:08 – strategy

Strategy

Hand 1

30/60 Limit Hold ‘Em.

Hero opens K9o from the CO, BB calls.

Flop 884r. Check, bet, raise, call.

Turn 2r. Bet, call.

River J. Bet, call.

Hand 2

Seat 3: NateMeyvis (2336 in chips)
Seat 7: Villain (1416 in chips)
NateMeyvis: posts small blind 5
Villain: posts big blind 10
HOLE CARDS
Dealt to NateMeyvis [Td 8s]
NateMeyvis: raises 15 to 25
Villain: calls 15
FLOP [Kc Qh 5d]
Villain: checks
NateMeyvis: bets 32
Villain: calls 32
TURN [Kc Qh 5d] [Ac]
Villain: checks
NateMeyvis: bets 175
Villain said, “wtf?”
Villain: calls 175
RIVER [Kc Qh 5d Ac] [4d]
Villain: checks
NateMeyvis: checks

Strategy

Hand 1

2-4 PLO8 on Bovada. 4-handed.

I open to $12 with (AT)J7–I’m using Bill Chen’s notation where suited cards go in parentheses.

Only the BB calls. He’s playing $200ish, and I cover.

Flop KQ8 rainbow. BB checks; I bet half the pot ($13).

Turn pairs the 8 and puts up a flush draw (I have the 7 of the suit). BB checks.

Hand 2

1-2 NLHE 6max on Bovada. I have 220.98 (after posting BB). Folds to button who raises to $6. SB Calls
I raise to $24 (pot) with AA. Button calls

Flop ($54 in pot) Jh Qd 8s
I bet $54 and the button jams and covers me. So $307 in the pot and I have 145 giving me almost exactly 2:1.

Hand 3

PokerStars – $1000+$50|8000/16000 Ante 2000 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

UTG: 61.6 BB (VPIP: 26.46, PFR: 18.59, 3Bet Preflop: 11.72, Hands: 359)
CO: 60.1 BB (VPIP: 40.00, PFR: 27.50, 3Bet Preflop: 15.38, Hands: 40)
BTN: 90.5 BB (VPIP: 19.22, PFR: 15.56, 3Bet Preflop: 6.07, Hands: 591)
SB: 61.46 BB (VPIP: 19.31, PFR: 15.97, 3Bet Preflop: 10.32, Hands: 295)
Hero (BB): 63.17 BB

5 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.13 BB) Hero has 9c Jc
UTG raises to 2.19 BB, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls 1.19 BB

Flop : (5.51 BB, 2 players) Jd 3c Ks
Hero checks, UTG bets 2.41 BB, Hero calls 2.41 BB

Turn : (10.33 BB, 2 players) Ac
Hero checks, UTG checks

River : (10.33 BB, 2 players) 7s
Hero checks, UTG bets 4.65 BB, Hero?

Timestamps

0:30 Hello and Welcome
33:41 Strategy

Strategy

Hand 1

Hand 2

You can follow Julie Annie on Twitter @LuckyJadeJules.

Thanks to PokerWomenNews for suggesting this guest. If you enjoy our interview with Julie Anna, be sure to check out theirs.

Timestamps

:30 – hello
20:55 – strat
45:42 – interview

Strategy

Hero: 89.00 Villain: 86.00, Effective Stacks 170bb

Folds to Villain on BTN

Villain (BTN) raises to 1.50
Hero (sb) 3 bets to 5.50 with Jc10c
BB Folds
BTN calls

Flop: 2c7h8c pot: 11.50

Hero bets 5.75
Villain calls

Turn comes 9s, board is 2c7h8c9s pot: 23
Hero bets 11.50
Villain calls

River comes 9h board is 2c7h8c9s9h pot 46
about 65 behind

Hero bets 19.50
Villain shoves 65

The 2015 Nitcast Las Vegas Meetup will take place on July 6th, which is Day 1b of the WSOP Main Event. Don’t worry, though! The meetup will start at 10AM, so even if you’re playing that day, you can start off on the right foot by stopping in to say hello. We’ll meet at the Gold Coast bowling alley and will be there until at least Noon, possibly later. If you’re in town, please stop in and see us!

Strategy

I opened 2.5x from the CO with As Tc, a good player in the small blind called, and the big blind folded. Flop came 7s 9h Js. Villan donked about half pot, I raised 3.5x, he folded.

Blinds 100/200 button opened to 450 SB called and I called Ks Ts in the BB. Flop Qs 9d 8d SB checked I bet 900 button folded SB called. Turn 5, SB checks, I bet 1800 with 4500 behind, he folded. Plan was to jam most rivers if he called.

I opened 44 UTG, Button made a small 3bet, I called. Flop K94r I bet 4500 into 6700 he called. Turn was an T, I checked, he jammed his last 15K, I called and beat his KQ.

I open to $30 with Kd Jd in EP. Two players in EP call, and the BB calls.

Flop ($120 in pot) Td 3s 2s BB bets $40, everyone calls

Turn ($280 in pot) 9c BB bets $60, I call, one more call

River ($460 in pot) 6h BB checks, I bet $300, both fold

Facing a Donk Bet

I opened 2.5x from the CO with As Tc, a good player in the small blind called, and the big blind folded. Flop came 7s 9h Js. Villan donked about half pot, I raised 3.5x, he folded.

Making a Donk Bet

Blinds 100/200 button opened to 450 SB called and I called Ks Ts in the BB. Flop Qs 9d 8d SB checked I bet 900 button folded SB called. Turn 5, SB checks, I bet 1800 with 4500 behind, he folded. Plan was to jam most rivers if he called.

Donking a Set

I opened 44 UTG, Button made a small 3bet, I called. Flop K94r I bet 4500 into 6700 he called. Turn was an T, I checked, he jammed his last 15K, I called and beat his KQ. In this case I doubt it much mattered what I did, but I think this is an interesting spot to donk bet. The thing is that when he doesn’t have K it’s pretty hard for me to get stacks in if I check. I can’t rep a big draw by check-raising, he’ll check behind a lot of turns if I check-call, etc. I think a donk is quite likely to get called or raised by hands like AQ, AJ, QJ, JT, QQ, JJ, TT. Then even if the turn goes check-check I can still jam the river for pot.

River Bluff

Blinds 500/1000/100. Button opens to 2200, I make it 6000 with KQo, he calls. Flop 952r, I bet 6500 which is about half-pot, he min-raises, I call. Turn is a 4 and checks through. River is an 8, I put him all in for 37K (there’s about 52K in the pot), and he calls with TT and not much hesitation. I was actually surprised he was that strong, and I may well be able to get him off of smaller pairs and/or Ace-high (if he takes this line) often enough for this to be profitable even without him folding TT.

Pre-flop is actually the part I’m most ambivalent about. We’re a bit deep (nearly 60bb) for three-betting KQo. Quite possible it’s better to just call. I like the flop bet, and I like calling flop getting 7:1 (easily the right odds when he has underpairs, especially if he lets me see a free river), and I think KQ is close enough to the bottom of my range to jam as a bluff. Value range is going to be JJ+, sets, and perhaps two-pair if I have them in my preflop range.

I Haz Blocker!

Blinds 800/1600/200. Good player UTG (has been talking to Bryn Kenney about playing EPTs etc) opens to 3200. Weak player on CO calls off of a 35K stack. From some players that would be strength, but from him it’s weakness. I was already thinking this was a good spot to squeeze and then I found dem rockets on the button. I made it 11K, UTG eyed my stack and then called without much deliberation. CO folded.

Flop Kc Qc Th. Not exactly ideal for AA, but I had the Ac. He checked, and I checked back.

Turn 4c. He bet half pot, and I called.

River was an offsuit 7. He bet 32K into 57K.

When I put the details down in black and white like this, it looks like a pretty straight-forward call. The thing is that Villain was shaking as he put the money into the pot and seemed pretty amped up generally, not worried but excited. It was a pretty strong physical tell, and of course in retrospect I wish I’d listened to it. It was just so hard to put him on a flush given that I was looking at the A, the K, and Q, and he’d raise-called from UTG. But, he had the 9c 8c.

Busto

Blinds 1000/2000/300. Same Villain opened to 4000 from the button. SB (same weak player who called in the previous hand) called, and I called 8h 7d from a 40K stack. Flop T64 with two hearts. Checks to Villain, he bets 5800, SB folds, and I jam for a little over pot.

To be honest this might be a little tilty. I mean, it can’t be too bad, but I don’t think how often Villain is bet-folding this texture, he probably checks back a lot of broadway-type hands and any draws that aren’t strong enough to bet-call. Calling could actually be better for me. Board ran out dry and I lost to a set of 4s.

Leo Wolpert, who also cashed this tournament, convinced me to play the Millionaire Maker tomorrow, so that’s where I’ll be at 10AM.

PokerStars – $2000+$100|200/400 Ante 50 NL (8 max) – Holdem – 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BTN: 91.04 BB (VPIP: 42.86, PFR: 28.57, 3Bet Preflop: 12.50, Hands: 14)
SB: 79.65 BB (VPIP: 27.91, PFR: 9.52, 3Bet Preflop: 4.17, Hands: 43)
Hero (BB): 29.43 BB
UTG: 20.47 BB (VPIP: 23.89, PFR: 9.82, 3Bet Preflop: 7.41, Hands: 113)
UTG+1: 20.85 BB (VPIP: 22.22, PFR: 11.11, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 9)
MP: 29.11 BB (VPIP: 21.03, PFR: 15.98, 3Bet Preflop: 5.75, Hands: 196)
MP+1: 102.62 BB (VPIP: 16.67, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 6)
CO: 40.3 BB (VPIP: 27.91, PFR: 18.60, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 43)

8 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.5 BB) Hero has 4c 7c
fold, fold, MP raises to 2 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls 1 BB

Flop : (5.5 BB, 2 players) 3d 5c 6c
Hero checks, MP checks

Turn : (5.5 BB, 2 players) 6d
Hero bets 3.09 BB, MP calls 3.09 BB

River : (11.67 BB, 2 players) 5d
Hero bets 5.84 BB, MP raises to 21 BB, fold

MP wins 23.34 BB

There may be a case for betting bigger than I did on the turn. Villain is generally drawing dead or two two outs, though, so I’m not too concerned about the price I’m laying him. The river is obviously not a great card, but moreso because of how much it strengthens my range than because it’s likely to give Villain the river.

I suspect a lot of people will want t check-call here, but I don’t see any value in that. Villain is too likely to have showdown value that he won’t turn into a bluff. I see my options as bet-fold or check-fold, and given how capped Villain ought to be, I think a thin value bet is best.

Unfortunately he manages to find a raise. It’s awfully hard to see him doing this without a 6, regardless of how improbably it is that he played a 6 this way to the river. I suppose my hand is a reasonable bluff-catcher, but still, I just don’t expect to see a bluff here. Among other things, I expect Villain to put me on a more polarized range than I actually have.

Next up was the $1K Main Event, where I wriggled my way out of at least one dicey spot:

PokerStars – $1000+$50|125/250 Ante 30 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

MP: 85.65 BB (VPIP: 22.09, PFR: 15.34, 3Bet Preflop: 7.69, Hands: 164)
MP+1: 67.92 BB (VPIP: 26.84, PFR: 18.42, 3Bet Preflop: 2.70, Hands: 193)
Hero (MP+2): 78.2 BB
CO: 62.44 BB (VPIP: 18.18, PFR: 10.81, 3Bet Preflop: 2.60, Hands: 189)
BTN: 53.54 BB (VPIP: 38.39, PFR: 22.32, 3Bet Preflop: 9.09, Hands: 112)
SB: 82.09 BB (VPIP: 21.62, PFR: 12.61, 3Bet Preflop: 9.62, Hands: 112)
BB: 33 BB (VPIP: 16.22, PFR: 10.81, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 112)
UTG: 51.23 BB (VPIP: 18.75, PFR: 13.39, 3Bet Preflop: 2.13, Hands: 112)
UTG+1: 26.18 BB (VPIP: 18.92, PFR: 11.71, 3Bet Preflop: 7.69, Hands: 112)

9 players post ante of 0.12 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.58 BB) Hero has Kd Kc
fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.5 BB, fold, BTN raises to 5.28 BB, fold, fold, Hero raises to 13.33 BB, BTN calls 8.05 BB

Flop : (29.24 BB, 2 players) 7h Ac Qd
Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn : (29.24 BB, 2 players) 9d
Hero bets 6.66 BB, fold

Hero wins 29.24 BB

Eventually, though, I lost a pretty big pot in a pretty good spot:

PokerStars – $1000+$50|200/400 Ante 50 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BTN: 45.27 BB (VPIP: 23.12, PFR: 14.52, 3Bet Preflop: 6.49, Hands: 187)
SB: 35.65 BB (VPIP: 26.29, PFR: 17.84, 3Bet Preflop: 2.35, Hands: 216)
Hero (BB): 88.34 BB
UTG: 22.05 BB (VPIP: 18.57, PFR: 10.58, 3Bet Preflop: 2.20, Hands: 212)
UTG+1: 76.72 BB (VPIP: 25.00, PFR: 8.33, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 12)
MP: 56.37 BB (VPIP: 21.64, PFR: 12.69, 3Bet Preflop: 9.23, Hands: 135)
MP+1: 47.31 BB (VPIP: 17.91, PFR: 11.19, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 135)
MP+2: 23.96 BB (VPIP: 19.26, PFR: 13.33, 3Bet Preflop: 3.28, Hands: 135)
CO: 9.53 BB (VPIP: 17.91, PFR: 11.28, 3Bet Preflop: 6.15, Hands: 135)

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.63 BB) Hero has Ah Kc
fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to 2.25 BB, fold, Hero raises to 6.67 BB, BTN raises to 14.25 BB, Hero raises to 88.22 BB and is all-in, BTN calls 30.89 BB and is all-in

Flop : (91.91 BB, 2 players) 8c 2s 3s

Turn : (91.91 BB, 2 players) 4s

River : (91.91 BB, 2 players) Jh

Hero shows Ah Kc (High Card, Ace)
(Pre 74%, Flop 81%, Turn 69%)

BTN shows Js Ac (One Pair, Jacks)
(Pre 26%, Flop 19%, Turn 31%)

BTN wins 91.91 BB

I got my second and final High cash of the SCOOP in the $1K 6-max turbo, though because it was a turbo those were pretty much all uninteresting pre-flop spots.

Thanks to everyone who followed along here, on Twitter, on Twitch, or anywhere else. I’m in Las Vegas now, I’ve actually been here for over 48 hours and am yet to play a single hand of poker. I had dinner with Keone last night, and he, Carlos, and I will be picking Nate up at the airport in a few hours.

At the moment, I’m on way out the door to a Red Chip Poker meet-up. Details on a nitcast meetup will be coming soon. So much to do in Vegas this time of year even without setting foot in a poker room!

The only High buy-in event I played on Saturday was the $2000 Six-Max Progressive Super Knockout Variable Level Times. Say that three times fast. It was basically a turbo with bounties, pretty fun though my bounty was collected in rather gruesome fashion. First off, just because I’ve posted a lot of failed bluffs lately, here’s one that actually worked:

PokerStars – $1000+$1000+$100|40/80 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

Hero (BTN): 71.63 BB
SB: 93.38 BB (VPIP: 39.29, PFR: 14.29, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 28)
BB: 38.31 BB (VPIP: 25.00, PFR: 14.29, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 28)
UTG: 52.94 BB (VPIP: 35.90, PFR: 33.33, 3Bet Preflop: 20.00, Hands: 39)
MP: 79.88 BB (VPIP: 30.77, PFR: 23.08, 3Bet Preflop: 25.00, Hands: 13)
CO: 42.81 BB (VPIP: 28.57, PFR: 21.43, 3Bet Preflop: 6.67, Hands: 28)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 9d Jh
fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.5 BB, SB calls 2 BB, fold

Flop : (6 BB, 2 players) 7c 4h Td
SB bets 3 BB, Hero calls 3 BB

Turn : (12 BB, 2 players) 6c
SB bets 6 BB, Hero raises to 20.5 BB, fold

Hero wins 24 BB

And here’s where the last of my chips ended up:

PokerStars – $1000+$1000+$100|125/250 Ante 30 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

Hero (BB): 15.65 BB
UTG: 30.24 BB (VPIP: 32.31, PFR: 16.92, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 65)
MP: 13.6 BB (VPIP: 38.10, PFR: 33.33, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 21)
CO: 17.02 BB (VPIP: 27.63, PFR: 24.66, 3Bet Preflop: 18.52, Hands: 76)
BTN: 21.04 BB (VPIP: 28.57, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 14.29, Hands: 22)
SB: 48.32 BB (VPIP: 26.15, PFR: 21.54, 3Bet Preflop: 10.00, Hands: 65)

6 players post ante of 0.12 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.22 BB) Hero has Tc 8c
fold, fold, fold, BTN calls 1 BB, fold, Hero checks

Flop : (3.22 BB, 2 players) 6c 9s 7s
Hero bets 2.41 BB, BTN raises to 4.82 BB, Hero raises to 14.53 BB and is all-in, BTN calls 9.7 BB

Turn : (32.28 BB, 2 players) 7h

River : (32.28 BB, 2 players) 9h

Hero shows Tc 8c (Straight, Ten High)
(Pre 34%, Flop 91%, Turn 88%)

BTN shows Th 9c (Full House, Nines full of Sevens)
(Pre 66%, Flop 9%, Turn 13%)

BTN wins 32.28 BB

Strategy

Hand 1

PokerStars – $1000+$50|30/60 Ante 5 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

Hero (BB): 104.08 BB
UTG: 15.88 BB (VPIP: 17.20, PFR: 12.09, 3Bet Preflop: 5.56, Hands: 93)
UTG+1: 75.53 BB (VPIP: 23.19, PFR: 14.49, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 70)
MP: 66.27 BB (VPIP: 21.43, PFR: 11.43, 3Bet Preflop: 6.67, Hands: 70)
MP+1: 24.83 BB (VPIP: 19.48, PFR: 10.67, 3Bet Preflop: 6.06, Hands: 78)
MP+2: 130.37 BB (VPIP: 23.19, PFR: 13.04, 3Bet Preflop: 6.25, Hands: 70)
CO: 83.53 BB (VPIP: 27.54, PFR: 17.39, 3Bet Preflop: 3.45, Hands: 69)
BTN: 129.33 BB (VPIP: 21.74, PFR: 15.94, 3Bet Preflop: 6.45, Hands: 69)
SB: 138.13 BB (VPIP: 38.24, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 68)

9 players post ante of 0.08 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.25 BB) Hero has Kh Th
UTG raises to 2 BB, fold, MP calls 2 BB, fold, fold, CO calls 2 BB, fold, SB calls 1.5 BB, Hero raises to 8 BB, fold, fold, CO calls 6 BB, SB calls 6 BB

Flop : (28.75 BB, 3 players) 2s 6d Ad
SB checks, Hero bets 14.37 BB, fold, SB calls 14.37 BB

Turn : (57.48 BB, 2 players) 4c
SB checks, Hero checks

River : (57.48 BB, 2 players) 9c
SB bets 16 BB, fold

SB wins 57.48 BB

Hand 2

PokerStars – $665+$35|40/80 NL (2 max) – Holdem – 2 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

Hero (SB): 58.33 BB
BB: 66.68 BB (VPIP: 76.81, PFR: 44.93, 3Bet Preflop: 17.65, Hands: 72)

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Ah Ks
Hero raises to 2 BB, BB raises to 5.5 BB, Hero raises to 12.49 BB, BB calls 6.99 BB

Flop : (24.98 BB, 2 players) 9h 4h 3c
BB checks, Hero checks

Turn : (24.98 BB, 2 players) 3h
BB bets 15.25 BB, Hero calls 15.25 BB

River : (55.48 BB, 2 players) 6d
BB bets 38.94 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 30.59 BB and is all-in

BB shows 8d 5d (One Pair, Threes)
(Pre 40%, Flop 23%, Turn 9%)

Hero shows Ah Ks (One Pair, Threes)
(Pre 60%, Flop 77%, Turn 91%)

Hero wins 116.65 BB

Of course you have to accept more of that when you play in tougher tournaments, and yesterday’s 6-max shootout and today’s 4-max both featured tough fields. Furthermore, because they were short-handed, there were a lot more spots where it both my opponent and I began with wide ranges, which introduces more variance and more opportunities for coolers and bluff coolers.

The 4-max met my expectations in the sense that there were a lot of accomplished tournament players, but many of them were (IMO) playing overly aggressive. For whatever reason, even many very good players approach 4-max more aggressively than they do a ring game table in which the first five players have folded, though strategically they ought to be the same (or even a bit tighter in 4-max, during ante levels).

What was frustrating was that players with extremely wide ranges kept making monster hands against me:

PokerStars – $2000+$100|15/30 NL (4 max) – Holdem – 4 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

SB: 170.33 BB (VPIP: 35.71, PFR: 21.43, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 15)
Hero (BB): 157.83 BB
CO: 315.47 BB (VPIP: 41.67, PFR: 33.33, 3Bet Preflop: 33.33, Hands: 13)
BTN: 167.67 BB (VPIP: 66.67, PFR: 33.33, 3Bet Preflop: 50.00, Hands: 3)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Tc 7s
fold, fold, SB raises to 2.4 BB, Hero calls 1.4 BB

Flop : (4.8 BB, 2 players) 5s 8c 5c
SB bets 2.4 BB, Hero calls 2.4 BB

Turn : (9.6 BB, 2 players) Ts
SB checks, Hero bets 9.6 BB, SB raises to 24 BB, Hero calls 14.4 BB

River : (57.6 BB, 2 players) Ac
SB bets 36 BB, Hero calls 36 BB

SB shows 8s 5d (Full House, Fives full of Eights)
(Pre 37%, Flop 99%, Turn 95%)

Hero mucks Tc 7s (Two Pair, Tens and Fives)
(Pre 63%, Flop 1%, Turn 5%)

SB wins 129.6 BB

My entire play in this hand is premised on the assumption that Villain’s range is wider than it should be, which given that he shows up with 85o seems like a reasonable assumption. So I float the flop with backdoors and, in all likelihood, two live cards.

On the turn, he’s either giving up or bluff-catching (or trapping, though only a very small portion of his range is strong enough for that), which is why I’m going for a big value bet. The raise is worrisome, but my pot-sized bet is a bit “out of rhythm” and may induce some spazziness (as I said, the 4-max was full of over-aggressive play), so I think my hand is too good to fold. The river is not as bad as it looks, because I don’t think Villain will value bet a bare 5, especially not for a big bet, and I can’t imagine Villain taking this line with all of his flush draws on the turn. It may, however, look like a very good card for Villain to fire again if he was bluffing the turn. Believe it or not, I feel pretty good about my line on this one.

I feel a little less good about this next one:

PokerStars – $2000+$100|20/40 NL (4 max) – Holdem – 4 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

CO: 115.55 BB (VPIP: 35.71, PFR: 21.43, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 14)
Hero (BTN): 152.6 BB
SB: 316.28 BB (VPIP: 43.18, PFR: 27.27, 3Bet Preflop: 11.76, Hands: 46)
BB: 149.05 BB (VPIP: 62.86, PFR: 22.86, 3Bet Preflop: 5.88, Hands: 36)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Ks 8h
fold, Hero raises to 3 BB, fold, BB calls 2 BB

Flop : (6.5 BB, 2 players) 3c 3h 8c
BB checks, Hero bets 3.25 BB, BB raises to 10.5 BB, Hero calls 7.25 BB

Turn : (27.5 BB, 2 players) 4d
BB bets 20 BB, Hero calls 20 BB

River : (67.5 BB, 2 players) 6h
BB bets 47.5 BB, Hero calls 47.5 BB

BB shows Jd 3d (Three of a Kind, Threes)
(Pre 41%, Flop 91%, Turn 95%)

Hero mucks Ks 8h (Two Pair, Eights and Threes)
(Pre 59%, Flop 9%, Turn 5%)

BB wins 162.5 BB

I half-pot my entire range on this flop, which makes this hand quite close to the top. Really, even from the button, I don’t have much 3x in my range. Clubs miss on the turn and Villain may have picked up a gutshot or just be firing again, so I call again. River is where I think a fold is possible. Villain was a weaker player, and although spazzing isn’t out of the question for him, and this probably is one of the best bluff-catchers in my range as it blocks 88 (which, say, KK would not), it might be best just to make an exploitive fold. It definitely “felt” like he had it, though I’m less inclined to rely on that kind of feeling when I’ve been running bad because of “monsters under the bed” syndrome.

This last one is the best example of running into a tough spot because of the field. It was against Andrew “LuckyChewy” Lichtenberger:

PokerStars – $2000+$100|25/50 NL (4 max) – Holdem – 4 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BB: 154.36 BB (VPIP: 40.38, PFR: 30.77, 3Bet Preflop: 19.05, Hands: 55)
Hero (CO): 61.64 BB
BTN: 188.34 BB (VPIP: 45.78, PFR: 31.33, 3Bet Preflop: 15.63, Hands: 87)
SB: 182.44 BB (VPIP: 45.95, PFR: 21.62, 3Bet Preflop: 5.71, Hands: 77)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 8s 9s
Hero raises to 2 BB, fold, fold, BB calls 1 BB

Flop : (4.5 BB, 2 players) Qc 4h 7s
BB checks, Hero bets 2.24 BB, BB calls 2.24 BB

Turn : (8.98 BB, 2 players) 5s
BB checks, Hero bets 6.72 BB, BB calls 6.72 BB

River : (22.42 BB, 2 players) 2s
BB checks, Hero bets 16.8 BB, BB raises to 66.64 BB, fold

BB wins 56.02 BB

Against most people I’d consider this a, not exactly easy, but definitely correct fold. I can only beat a bluff, and while two spades makes for a pretty good bluff-catchers, a lot of people are just never bluffing here. Does Lichtenberger fall into that category? I probably shouldn’t assume so. The more I think about it, the more I think my range can include at least sets and 86, so even though this is one of the worst flushes I can have, I might just have to suck it up and call. I want to emphasize, though, that this is only a gross spot because of who the Villain is. I really think it’s a clear fold otherwise, crazy as that may seem.

I busted with AJs vs 99 in the blinds, so I guess I got what I asked for in that regard.

The Variable Level Times was a neat format. Stacks started extremely deep – 25,000 BBs, to be precise – but blinds went up every 3 minutes at first. Over time, the blind increases got less frequent. There was a LOT of craziness in those early levels. People were really not adjusting well to the deep stacks and playing all kinds of junky hands out of position. Unfortunately I didn’t get much opportunity to take advantage, but the mistakes were plain to see.

I made a pretty big fold with a flush in this one as well:

PokerStars – $665+$35|600/1200 Ante 150 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

CO: 28.35 BB (VPIP: 23.53, PFR: 23.53, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 17)
BTN: 74.15 BB (VPIP: 31.62, PFR: 16.24, 3Bet Preflop: 6.52, Hands: 120)
SB: 109.83 BB (VPIP: 35.88, PFR: 23.08, 3Bet Preflop: 15.09, Hands: 132)
BB: 38.83 BB (VPIP: 28.57, PFR: 28.57, 3Bet Preflop: 33.33, Hands: 14)
UTG: 22.73 BB (VPIP: 25.00, PFR: 20.39, 3Bet Preflop: 2.22, Hands: 106)
Hero (MP): 82.32 BB

6 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.25 BB) Hero has Qc Js
fold, Hero raises to 2 BB, CO raises to 4.5 BB, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls 2.5 BB

Flop : (11.25 BB, 2 players) Kc Tc 2c
Hero checks, CO checks

Turn : (11.25 BB, 2 players) 7c
Hero checks, CO bets 5.5 BB, Hero calls 5.5 BB

River : (22.25 BB, 2 players) 5h
Hero checks, CO bets 18.23 BB and is all-in, fold

CO wins 22.25 BB

For better or worse, if Villain had bet the flop, we could have gotten all in. His range for 3-betting and then checking the flop has a LOT of Ax in it, though, and not a whole lot else. Among other things, this is a very plausible line for AcK, AcQ, and AcA. If he were going to bluff, I think he’d most likely just bet the flop. This isn’t exactly a fluke turn card. It’s irrelevant that I have the Queen when he shoves. He’s either got the nuts or a bluff, and I’m proud of myself for laying this one down.

I busted this one on a coin flip as well, AK < 77.

I’m not going to skip a Sunday, so I’ll be starting at 8AM Pacific in the Warm-Up. There’s a good chance I’ll take Monday off, though, unless I”m not able to because of a Day Two!

The field in the $2K 6-Max was no joke, either. My Round One opponents consisted of three top-notch tournament players (Amak16, P0cket00, and SmokRokFlok) and a sixth player I didn’t recognize. Honestly, I was a bit intimidated. Not that I didn’t think I could hold my own, but I certainly wasn’t expecting much of an edge.

That last player turned out to be pretty weak, which was a relief, and it wasn’t as tough as I thought to spot fundamental leaks in the other players’ games. Two of them quickly ran PFRs into the 30s, and people were just generally playing too many hands pre-flop. Of course they were tough post-flop, but if everyone is tough post-flop, then the player with the best pre-flop ranges has the edge. I aimed for that player to be me.

I think I accomplished that, but I still had to be tough post-flop, and that’s where my chips got off to:

PokerStars – $2000+$100|30/60 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

Hero (SB): 64.28 BB
BB: 157.52 BB (VPIP: 45.83, PFR: 29.17, 3Bet Preflop: 13.64, Hands: 49)
UTG: 28.67 BB (VPIP: 31.37, PFR: 22.00, 3Bet Preflop: 7.41, Hands: 52)
CO: 160.78 BB (VPIP: 26.53, PFR: 16.33, 3Bet Preflop: 12.50, Hands: 49)
BTN: 88.75 BB (VPIP: 16.95, PFR: 8.47, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 59)

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 4s 4h
fold, fold, BTN raises to 2.15 BB, Hero calls 1.65 BB, BB calls 1.15 BB

Flop : (6.45 BB, 3 players) 7s 5d 2c
Hero checks, BB checks, BTN checks

Turn : (6.45 BB, 3 players) 5h
Hero checks, BB bets 3.22 BB, BTN calls 3.22 BB, Hero calls 3.22 BB

River : (16.1 BB, 3 players) Ah
Hero checks, BB checks, BTN bets 8.7 BB, Hero raises to 25.45 BB, fold, BTN calls 16.75 BB

Hero shows 4s 4h (Two Pair, Fives and Fours)
(Pre 54%, Flop 76%, Turn 80%)

BTN shows Kc As (Two Pair, Aces and Fives)
(Pre 46%, Flop 24%, Turn 20%)

BTN wins 67 BB

I don’t think his call with this hand speaks to the value of the bluff one way or the other. Ax is the vast majority of his range here, and he needs to call with some of it, and he might as well include AK in his calling range in case I’m ever going for thin value with a worse Ace. So I either ran into the top of his range, or he’s never folding any Ace, which would make the bluff bad – can’t tell from the results.

I do think this is a good bluffing candidate. My range for overcalling the flop is not wide, I suppose I could have 86s though I don’t think I’d call with that pre, so this is both the bottom of my range and blocks 54s which may be relevant.

I won Round One of the $700 in dramatic fashion:

PokerStars – $665+$35|40/80 NL (2 max) – Holdem – 2 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

Hero (SB): 58.33 BB
BB: 66.68 BB (VPIP: 76.81, PFR: 44.93, 3Bet Preflop: 17.65, Hands: 72)

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Ah Ks
Hero raises to 2 BB, BB raises to 5.5 BB, Hero raises to 12.49 BB, BB calls 6.99 BB

Flop : (24.98 BB, 2 players) 9h 4h 3c
BB checks, Hero checks

Turn : (24.98 BB, 2 players) 3h
BB bets 15.25 BB, Hero calls 15.25 BB

River : (55.48 BB, 2 players) 6d
BB bets 38.94 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 30.59 BB and is all-in

BB shows 8d 5d (One Pair, Threes)
(Pre 40%, Flop 23%, Turn 9%)

Hero shows Ah Ks (One Pair, Threes)
(Pre 60%, Flop 77%, Turn 91%)

Hero wins 116.65 BB

Unfortunately in Round 2 I went down to a bad beat and a cooler:

PokerStars – $665+$35|40/80 NL (2 max) – Holdem – 2 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

Hero (SB): 71.3 BB
BB: 53.7 BB (VPIP: 78.26, PFR: 53.62, 3Bet Preflop: 14.71, Hands: 70)

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 7h 9c
Hero raises to 2 BB, BB calls 1 BB

Flop : (4 BB, 2 players) Kh 7s 4d
BB checks, Hero bets 2 BB, BB raises to 6.8 BB, Hero calls 4.8 BB

Turn : (17.6 BB, 2 players) 7c
BB bets 10.55 BB, Hero calls 10.55 BB

River : (38.7 BB, 2 players) Js
BB bets 34.35 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 34.35 BB

BB shows 4s 4h (Full House, Fours full of Sevens)
(Pre 51%, Flop 98%, Turn 84%)

Hero shows 7h 9c (Three of a Kind, Sevens)
(Pre 49%, Flop 2%, Turn 16%)

BB wins 107.4 BB

PokerStars – $665+$35|40/80 NL (2 max) – Holdem – 2 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

Hero (SB): 98.35 BB
BB: 26.65 BB (VPIP: 76.92, PFR: 53.85, 3Bet Preflop: 15.63, Hands: 66)

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Qc Qh
Hero raises to 2 BB, BB calls 1 BB

Flop : (4 BB, 2 players) 2c 7s Js
BB checks, Hero bets 2 BB, BB calls 2 BB

Turn : (8 BB, 2 players) Kh
BB checks, Hero bets 6 BB, BB raises to 22.65 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 16.65 BB

River : (53.3 BB, 2 players) 9h

BB shows Tc Qs (Straight, King High)
(Pre 11%, Flop 9%, Turn 18%)

Hero shows Qc Qh (One Pair, Queens)
(Pre 89%, Flop 91%, Turn 82%)

BB wins 53.3 BB

I got to take a few minutes off before the rebuy events started. I got off to a good start in the $700, then ran into this spot:

PokerStars – $665+$35|200/400 Ante 50 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

MP: 37.5 BB (VPIP: 16.67, PFR: 9.76, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 42)
MP+1: 12.62 BB (VPIP: 21.31, PFR: 21.67, 3Bet Preflop: 3.85, Hands: 61)
MP+2: 13.15 BB (VPIP: 12.77, PFR: 9.09, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 47)
CO: 18.98 BB (VPIP: 16.67, PFR: 14.29, 3Bet Preflop: 5.26, Hands: 42)
Hero (BTN): 64.76 BB
SB: 48.04 BB (VPIP: 19.05, PFR: 14.29, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 42)
BB: 43.54 BB (VPIP: 26.19, PFR: 19.05, 3Bet Preflop: 10.00, Hands: 42)
UTG: 23.57 BB (VPIP: 18.52, PFR: 12.77, 3Bet Preflop: 3.45, Hands: 189)
UTG+1: 14.23 BB (VPIP: 21.43, PFR: 14.29, 3Bet Preflop: 5.00, Hands: 42)

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.63 BB) Hero has Ad Qc
fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 2 BB, SB raises to 5.95 BB, fold, Hero raises to 13.89 BB, SB raises to 47.92 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 34.03 BB

Flop : (97.96 BB, 2 players) 6h 9d Tc

Turn : (97.96 BB, 2 players) Kh

River : (97.96 BB, 2 players) 9s

SB shows Ac Kd (Two Pair, Kings and Nines)
(Pre 75%, Flop 84%, Turn 91%)

Hero shows Ad Qc (One Pair, Nines)
(Pre 25%, Flop 16%, Turn 9%)

SB wins 97.96 BB

Getting it in pre is on the thin side, but I don’t see how else to play it. I guess flatting the 3-bet is an option, but even for 50 bigs AQ is a pretty big hand button vs SB.

I got the last of my money in good, but I’m still not sure I played it optimally:

PokerStars – $665+$35|250/500 Ante 60 NL – Holdem – 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

SB: 31.23 BB (VPIP: 19.75, PFR: 19.23, 3Bet Preflop: 3.23, Hands: 81)
BB: 19.08 BB (VPIP: 11.67, PFR: 8.77, 3Bet Preflop: 3.85, Hands: 60)
UTG: 14.72 BB (VPIP: 14.55, PFR: 12.73, 3Bet Preflop: 4.17, Hands: 55)
Hero (UTG+1): 16.51 BB
MP: 99.18 BB (VPIP: 21.82, PFR: 18.52, 3Bet Preflop: 8.70, Hands: 55)
MP+1: 24.02 BB (VPIP: 25.45, PFR: 16.36, 3Bet Preflop: 7.69, Hands: 55)
CO: 4.48 BB (VPIP: 17.82, PFR: 12.50, 3Bet Preflop: 4.35, Hands: 202)
BTN: 11.89 BB (VPIP: 21.82, PFR: 16.98, 3Bet Preflop: 4.35, Hands: 55)

8 players post ante of 0.12 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.46 BB) Hero has Ah Ks
fold, Hero raises to 2 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, BB calls 1 BB

Flop : (5.46 BB, 2 players) 5h 2h 9c
BB checks, Hero bets 1.8 BB, BB raises to 15.5 BB, Hero calls 12.59 BB and is all-in

Turn : (34.24 BB, 2 players) 7h

River : (34.24 BB, 2 players) 6c

BB shows Th 6h (Flush, Ten High)
(Pre 37%, Flop 49%, Turn 84%)

Hero shows Ah Ks (High Card, Ace)
(Pre 63%, Flop 51%, Turn 16%)

BB wins 34.24 BB

Arguably just shoving pre is better. I do have a raise-fold range from this stack size, though, and I definitely do get three-bet when I open in spots like this. I could also see checking or jamming flop, too. I mean, it’s not like I WANT action from Th 6h.

I’ll be playing again tomorrow starting at 11AM Pacific with the $2000 Super Tuesday replacement. I usually tweet interesting hands while I’m playing, so if you aren’t already, you might want to follow @thinkingpoker.

I had a bit of friction coming into Canada yesterday, nothing too serious, but the most difficult I’ve encountered on any or my trips here. The first customs agent asked me the usual questions but seemed satisfied with my answers and sent me on my way. Thinking I was in the clear, I retrieved my bag and went to leave the airport, handing my declaration form to another customs agent on the way out. The first agent must have marked something on there, because the second did a double take and then sent me to the immigration office.

The agent there was polite and a bit less aggressive than the customs people usually are, which was nice. He asked about how often I came to Canada, how long I planned to stay, and where I planned to stay. He also asked whether poker was my only source of income, and when I mentioned coaching and writing, he asked whether my writing was entirely online. I’m not really sure why that was important, but he told me to leave my bag and have a seat, then he disappeared for at least fifteen minutes.

Finally he returned and told me I’d be allowed in (he never actually inspected my bag). He said they’d had problems with online poker players staying in Canada for months at a time, returning to the US only briefly, and then coming back to Canada again. Apparently my track record of relatively brief visits over the last few years reassured them, and I was allowed into the country. Still, this was a bit of a scare, and also significant for being the first time a customs/immigration officer I’ve dealt with has demonstrated an awareness of the phenomenon of US poker players coming to Canada to play online.

Now that I’m here, it’s great to be playing the SCOOP on the west coast. Event 1 started at 5AM, which was early even for me, but from here on out none of the tournaments starts before 8AM or after 2PM. 8AM might sound early to some of you, but it’s roughly when I tend to wake up anyway, and I’m glad not to have events starting at 5PM and running until 5AM (I skipped several events last year for this reason).

I late registered all three Event 1s and came somewhat close to cashing in the $1K, ultimately busting on a coin flip:

PokerStars – $1000+$50|250/500 Ante 50 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

MP: 34.46 BB (VPIP: 26.92, PFR: 15.38, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 26)
MP+1: 26.33 BB (VPIP: 15.38, PFR: 11.54, 3Bet Preflop: 21.43, Hands: 26)
MP+2: 25.08 BB (VPIP: 24.44, PFR: 15.56, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 45)
CO: 41.15 BB (VPIP: 12.33, PFR: 5.48, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 73)
Hero (BTN): 30.1 BB
SB: 13.1 BB (VPIP: 23.08, PFR: 11.54, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 26)
BB: 14.84 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 8.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 26)
UTG: 40.98 BB (VPIP: 15.38, PFR: 15.38, 3Bet Preflop: 14.29, Hands: 26)
UTG+1: 75.37 BB (VPIP: 26.92, PFR: 15.38, 3Bet Preflop: 8.33, Hands: 26)

9 players post ante of 0.1 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.4 BB) Hero has Jh Ac
fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, CO raises to 2 BB, Hero raises to 5 BB, fold, fold, CO raises to 41.05 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 25 BB and is all-in

Flop : (62.4 BB, 2 players) 3s 4c 9h

Turn : (62.4 BB, 2 players) 6h

River : (62.4 BB, 2 players) 4s

CO shows 6d 6s (Full House, Sixes full of Fours)
(Pre 55%, Flop 76%, Turn 100%)

Hero shows Jh Ac (One Pair, Fours)
(Pre 45%, Flop 24%, Turn 0%)

CO wins 62.4 BB

Relatively standard I think, though I can see a case for flatting pre-flop as well.

The 6-max progressive knock-out was a lot of fun, and I wish I’d lasted longer in that one. I got off to a pretty good start, three-betting quite a bit against a very active player on my right and generally getting the better of the many pots we played together. Then I lost a chunk running JJ into his QQ. I would have been ready to lose it all, but he just flatted my three-bet out of position, and we didn’t end up getting stacks in post.

I once again miraculously managed not to go broke here:

PokerStars – $1000+$1000+$100|75/150 Ante 20 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

UTG: 60.97 BB (VPIP: 5.88, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 17)
MP: 282.54 BB (VPIP: 33.33, PFR: 28.57, 3Bet Preflop: 16.67, Hands: 22)
CO: 61.31 BB (VPIP: 47.37, PFR: 32.43, 3Bet Preflop: 8.33, Hands: 38)
BTN: 147.22 BB (VPIP: 35.96, PFR: 19.70, 3Bet Preflop: 2.17, Hands: 203)
SB: 77.58 BB (VPIP: 24.50, PFR: 13.91, 3Bet Preflop: 5.13, Hands: 155)
Hero (BB): 61.95 BB

6 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.3 BB) Hero has Qd Ks
fold, fold, CO raises to 2.16 BB, BTN calls 2.16 BB, fold, Hero calls 1.16 BB

Flop : (7.78 BB, 3 players) 6s Qh As
Hero checks, CO bets 3.5 BB, fold, Hero calls 3.5 BB

Turn : (14.78 BB, 2 players) Qs
Hero checks, CO bets 12.5 BB, Hero calls 12.5 BB

River : (39.78 BB, 2 players) 7s
Hero checks, CO bets 14 BB, Hero calls 14 BB

CO shows Ac Ah (Full House, Aces full of Queens)
(Pre 86%, Flop 95%, Turn 98%)

Hero mucks Qd Ks (Flush, Ace High)
(Pre 14%, Flop 5%, Turn 2%)

CO wins 67.78 BB

Villain could have easily shoved the river, and given that there was a $500 bounty for eliminating me, I think he clearly should have.

Ultimately, I was busted by a player who went after my bounty a bit more aggressively:

PokerStars – $1000+$1000+$100|75/150 Ante 20 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

SB: 167.27 BB (VPIP: 40.00, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 10)
BB: 373.33 BB (VPIP: 41.30, PFR: 34.78, 3Bet Preflop: 40.00, Hands: 47)
UTG: 107.29 BB (VPIP: 52.38, PFR: 40.32, 3Bet Preflop: 10.53, Hands: 63)
MP: 61.73 BB (VPIP: 35.53, PFR: 18.86, 3Bet Preflop: 2.75, Hands: 228)
CO: 68.97 BB (VPIP: 23.30, PFR: 12.50, 3Bet Preflop: 4.30, Hands: 180)
Hero (BTN): 24.38 BB

6 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.3 BB) Hero has 2c 2h
fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 24.25 BB and is all-in, fold, BB calls 23.25 BB

Flop : (49.79 BB, 2 players) Tc Ah Ks

Turn : (49.79 BB, 2 players) 8h

River : (49.79 BB, 2 players) Th

BB shows 8d 2d (Two Pair, Tens and Eights)
(Pre 37%, Flop 15%, Turn 98%)

Hero shows 2c 2h (Two Pair, Tens and Twos)
(Pre 63%, Flop 85%, Turn 2%)

BB wins 49.79 BB

The most interesting pot I played was against Chris Moorman in the $2000 Sunday Million replacement:

PokerStars – $2000+$100|50/100 Ante 10 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

Hero (UTG): 135.17 BB
UTG+1: 105.97 BB (VPIP: 38.46, PFR: 23.08, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 13)
MP: 69.55 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 8.89, 3Bet Preflop: 2.22, Hands: 91)
MP+1: 23.7 BB (VPIP: 21.11, PFR: 10.00, 3Bet Preflop: 4.76, Hands: 91)
MP+2: 108.03 BB (VPIP: 31.87, PFR: 19.78, 3Bet Preflop: 7.69, Hands: 91)
CO: 105.24 BB (VPIP: 22.47, PFR: 17.98, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 89)
BTN: 104.23 BB (VPIP: 20.69, PFR: 8.62, 3Bet Preflop: 2.94, Hands: 60)
SB: 103.1 BB (VPIP: 6.67, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 15)
BB: 95.76 BB (VPIP: 16.44, PFR: 13.70, 3Bet Preflop: 5.26, Hands: 74)

9 players post ante of 0.1 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.4 BB) Hero has As Ac
Hero raises to 3 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, CO calls 3 BB, fold, fold, fold

Flop : (8.4 BB, 2 players) 3d 4c 7c
Hero checks, CO bets 4.2 BB, Hero calls 4.2 BB

Turn : (16.8 BB, 2 players) 7s
Hero checks, CO bets 8.4 BB, Hero calls 8.4 BB

River : (33.6 BB, 2 players) Jc
Hero checks, CO bets 22.39 BB, Hero calls 22.39 BB

CO shows 5d 5h (Two Pair, Sevens and Fives)
(Pre 20%, Flop 23%, Turn 14%)

Hero shows As Ac (Two Pair, Aces and Sevens)
(Pre 80%, Flop 77%, Turn 86%)

Hero wins 78.38 BB

It was all downhill from there, though. I was really card dead, barely opening at all and getting three-bet almost every time I did (except when I had Kings, of course!) Eventually I open jammed 13BBs with JJ and lost a flip to AK in the big blind.

Tomorrow is the heads up, which should be a lot of fun!

Strategy

Villain #1 opens to $4 from the hijack. His stack is ~$100. Villain #2 calls. His stack is ~$450. The button folds, the SB folds and raises to $12 with Ts Th. Both players call, so it’s $37 in the pot going to flop (no rake).

The flop is 6c-7c-8s. Hero bets $24. HJ shoves for $70 more. CO raises another $100 on top. Hero folds.

Applications is a Two Plus Two book par excellence. It’s dense, it’s thorough, it’s mathematically rigorous, and the only thing keeping it from a perfect score is that the writing and editing are sloppy at best and downright confusing at worst. There are dozens of typos, some as significant as a missing “not” which of course completely changes the meaning of the sentence. The subject matter is complicated, and the prose doesn’t do as much as it could to elucidate it. If anything, it serves to make the material seem even more overwhelming, and I can imagine many bookstore browsers getting intimidated.

If you can get past all that, though, you’ll find the most thorough and practical guide there is to playing unexploitable no-limit hold ’em. There are no toy games here; Janda gets right down to business applying game theory concepts to real no-limit hold ’em situations.

His techniques for estimating optimal pre-flop ranges are ingenious, and it only gets better from there. He emphasizes repeatedly that the goal isn’t to construct perfectly balanced ranges – that’s generally beyond human capabilities and in any event the details matter very little at the margins – but rather to build intuition and to recognize spots where you should be bluffing, value betting, calling, or folding more than you currently are.

Perhaps the most eye-opening conclusion for me was that there are many situations where the optimal strategy likely involves multiple bet sizes. Although Janda doesn’t go into a lot of depth on this, it’s certainly inspired me to investigate these situations for myself.

That’s not to say that Janda never goes into any depth. One of the highlights of the book are the hand examples at the end, where builds ranges for both players across multiple decision points in a single hand. His wise decision to shift the focus away from how to play a particular hand and towards building range-based strategies is the best illustration I’ve scene of both how one ought to think about poker and also how, specifically, to do that in a given situation.

This is not a book for the lazy or the close-minded. A quick skimming or surface-level reading won’t do much for you, and unfortunately the prose sometimes gets in the way of understanding already hard-to-grasp concepts. The effort is worth it, though.

Many of you are familiar with my videos on Tournament Poker Edge. Video training sites like TPE offer a tremendous amount of knowledge for a very low price, and I’ve been a member of many over the course of my career.

The real barrier to learning everything you need to know from subscription-based sites isn’t cost, it’s time. There are so many great videos out there that it’s hard to know which ones will best meet your needs, and it’s a real bummer to spend your valuable time watching one that doesn’t address your needs or is just plain bad.

These personalized videos offer the best of both worlds. Like subscription-based sites, they’re a lot cheaper than one-on-one coaching, but they’re a far more efficient use of your time because they are tailored specifically to your needs.

To learn more or to commission a personalized video, please visit https://www.thinkingpoker.net/coaching/poker-coaching-programs/custom-video-review/.

Here’s a full-length sample of what I can offer. It’s an actual video that I created for one of my students. Whether or not you have any interest in commissioning a video for yourself, I hope you’ll find it valuable!

Timestamps

0:30 Interview: Edoardo Riario Sforza
33:43 Strategy: Two tough final table decisions

Ed’s previous appearances on Episode 25 and Episode 71 are among the best strategy discussions the show has seen and are well worth checking out!

Timestamps

:30 hello
3:39 strat
24:53 EM

Strategy

PokerStars – $0.50 Ante $0.10 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 4 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: 202 BB (VPIP: 67.16, PFR: 49.25, 3Bet Preflop: 32.26, Hands: 72)
BB: 214.74 BB (VPIP: 42.27, PFR: 25.71, 3Bet Preflop: 6.80, Hands: 1,191)
CO: 197.16 BB (VPIP: 32.68, PFR: 14.35, 3Bet Preflop: 5.68, Hands: 1,172)
Hero (BTN): 323.84 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB, 4 players post ante of 0.2 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.3 BB) Hero has A 7

fold, Hero raises to 3 BB, SB calls 2.5 BB, fold

Flop: (7.8 BB, 2 players) 7 3 5
SB checks, Hero bets 4.82 BB, SB calls 4.82 BB

Turn: (17.44 BB, 2 players) 7
SB checks, Hero checks

River: (17.44 BB, 2 players) 3
SB bets 48 BB, Hero raises to 108 BB, SB raises to 193.98 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 85.98 BB

Best Strategy

Nate and I talk strategy on just about every episode, but of course the show is at its very best strategy-wise when the game’s top players share their wisdom.

Ben Sulsky – It was a great privilege to talk about game theory (and philosophy) with a player who is blazing new frontiers in poker strategy.

Mike McDonald – Our conversation with Mike was great in a lot of ways, but among other things he was generous enough to share some deep thoughts on tournament strategy, including the underappreciated “hero check”.

Fascinating Stories

My favorite guests are not only great players (sometimes they aren’t players at all) but also fascinating people who open up about their struggles, their successes, and unique poker careers.

John the Lawyer – A long career in big live games, including a lot of private games, is bound to produce some great stories, and John tells them well. If you overlooked this episode because you didn’t recognize the name, go back and listen. There’s some solid strategy discussion in here as well.

Dara O’Kearney – Going pro later in life gave Dara a unique perspective on the poker world, and his Irish blood gives him the ability to share his thoughts with both humor and deep insight into many facets of the game, including staking.

Terrence Chan – Terrence not only shares stories from his poker and mixed martial arts careers but also gives some insight into the state of regulated online poker in Nevada. This interview is particularly interesting in light of what happened with Ultimate Poker just a few months later.

Ari Engel – Ari reveals that the life of the circuit grinder isn’t always a glamorous one. Even one of the most successful player on the WSOP circuit has to live a nitcast-approved lifestyle to keep his dream alive.

Alex Fitzgerald – Alex is brutally honest about the highs and lows of his career, including his struggle with drugs and his new life in Costa Rica.

Just Plain Fun

Nate and I rarely have as much fun as when we get to catch up with some of the great friends we’ve made through the podcast, and when we’re having the most fun, that’s usually when the show is the most fun to listen to.

Live From Las Vegas featuring Carlos Welch – One of the perks of our relationship with PokerNews was the opportunity to record together in person (a rare treat in itself) from the halls of the World Series of Poker. Carlos Welch joins us for this entertaining episode that includes a lot of strategy discussion from non-hold ’em games.

Episode 100 – This is one for the fans. In this double-length episode, two of our most popular guests, Carlos Welch and Gareth Chantler, turn the tables and interview Nate and me about our lives and poker careers.

“The heads-up battle between Martin Jacobson and Felix Stephensen was perhaps the finest culmination to a World Series of Poker Main Event in recent history. In past years, the final showdown frequently occurred between a professional and an amateur player. In such cases, the professional can generally anticipate a large theoretical advantage and thus has a lot of incentive to keep pots small and pass on high-variance plays in order to maximize his chances of realizing that advantage. Such matches tend to look more like a game of cat-and-mouse, and while playing such a style is a skill unto itself, it doesn’t always prove strategically instructive for heads-up play between more evenly matched opponents. Jacobson and Stephensen, however, are both extremely talented professionals, and as a result their heads-up play exhibited many more thin calls, bluffs, and value bets than were seen in past years.

With thanks to Martin Harris of Hard Boiled Poker for compiling a list of the cards held by each player in each hand of the final table, here’s my analysis of some of the trickier decisions faced by Jacobson and Stephensen in the final hands of the 2014 WSOP Main Event”

This was from the $215 10-minute levels NLHE 6-max WCOOP event. Villain is Philipp “philbort” Gruissem. As many of you know I’m pretty stubborn about folding my BB to small pre-flop raises and also folding to smallish barrels once I get any piece of the board. When I see the flop with such a wide range, even a gutshot is in the top 2/3 of range, and then I turn a pair…. I still think it’s possible Villain has air, but I don’t know how likely it is that he’ll fire the river with that, so I chose instead to make what I’m sure was a very confusing shove for him. He tanked all the way down literally to the last second before calling with a hand that I doubt he was going to bet on the river. Although maybe he was, to be honest it is still very likely to be good, and a player as good as Philbort should be able to recognize and act on that.

PokerStars – $200+$15|500/1000 Ante 125 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

UTG: 59.04 BB
MP: 35.77 BB
CO: 27.02 BB
BTN: 29.05 BB
SB: 46.6 BB
Hero (BB): 83.28 BB

6 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.25 BB) Hero has Ts 9c
fold, MP raises to 2.25 BB, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls 1.25 BB

Flop : (5.75 BB, 2 players) Ks 5c Jc
Hero checks, MP bets 3 BB, Hero calls 3 BB

Turn : (11.75 BB, 2 players) 9d
Hero checks, MP bets 6 BB, Hero calls 6 BB

River : (23.75 BB, 2 players) 9h
Hero bets 71.91 BB and is all-in, MP calls 24.4 BB and is all-in

Hero shows Ts 9c (Three of a Kind, Nines) (Pre 34%, Flop 18%, Turn 11%)
MP shows Kh Qh (Two Pair, Kings and Nines) (Pre 66%, Flop 82%, Turn 89%)
Hero wins 72.54 BB

PokerStars – $200+$15|50/100 Ante 10 NL (4 max) – Holdem – 4 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BB: 121.31 BB (VPIP: 44.32, PFR: 25.00, 3Bet Preflop: 14.29, Hands: 88)
Hero (CO): 78.18 BB
BTN: 146.22 BB (VPIP: 41.33, PFR: 28.19, 3Bet Preflop: 17.86, Hands: 156)
SB: 22.06 BB (VPIP: 46.36, PFR: 29.80, 3Bet Preflop: 1.75, Hands: 156)

4 players post ante of 0.1 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.9 BB) Hero has Qc Jd
Hero raises to 2 BB, fold, fold, BB calls 1 BB

Flop : (4.9 BB, 2 players) 5s 5h 2s
BB checks, Hero bets 2.45 BB, BB calls 2.45 BB

Turn : (9.8 BB, 2 players) 8d
BB checks, Hero checks

River : (9.8 BB, 2 players) Qs
BB checks, Hero bets 5.88 BB, BB raises to 19.88 BB, Hero calls 14 BB

BB shows Td As (One Pair, Fives) (Pre 58%, Flop 78%, Turn 86%)
Hero shows Qc Jd (Two Pair, Queens and Fives) (Pre 42%, Flop 22%, Turn 14%)
Hero wins 49.56 BB

To be honest I’m not sure whether the results corroborate my call or not. I’d expect him to bet anything without showdown value on the river, so for him to be bluffing, he has to be taking something that had some showdown value vs my turn check-back range and turning it into a bluff. On the other hand, I also think he’s unlikely to check a flush or trips (and certainly to check-raise trips). So I basically just decided that he’d be sufficiently weighted towards the bluffs. As it turns out, though, he had a pretty ideal bluffing hand, so it really doesn’t prove that he’ll be bluffing a lot in this spot.

Pre Flop: (t7500) Hero is SB with 8 T 2 A
UTG raises to t10000, 2 folds, Hero calls t7500, BB calls t5000

Flop: (t30000) K Q 2 (3 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, UTG bets t20000, Hero raises to t90000, BB folds, UTG raises to t148555 all in, Hero calls t44768 all in

Turn: (t299536) 9 (2 players – 2 are all in)

River: (t299536) 4 (2 players – 2 are all in)

PokerStars – $300+$20|5/5 Ante 300 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BB: 2476.4 BB
UTG: 8686.2 BB
UTG+1: 10924 BB
MP: 4431.4 BB
MP+1: 5299.6 BB
MP+2: 11989.8 BB
CO: 3856.2 BB
Hero (BTN): 8377.2 BB
SB: 6175 BB

9 players post ante of 60 BB, SB posts SB 1 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 542 BB) Hero has Ad Td
fold, fold, fold, MP+1 raises to 2 BB, MP+2 raises to 548 BB, fold, Hero calls 548 BB, fold, fold, fold

Flop : (1640 BB, 2 players) Qc 2d 4d
MP+2 checks, Hero checks

Turn : (1640 BB, 2 players) 5d
MP+2 checks, Hero bets 1128 BB, MP+2 raises to 2413.6 BB, Hero calls 1285.6 BB

River : (6467.2 BB, 2 players) 5s
MP+2 bets 8968.2 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 5355.6 BB and is all-in

MP+2 shows Jd Ks (One Pair, Fives) (Pre 38%, Flop 17%, Turn 0%)
Hero shows Ad Td (Flush, Ace High) (Pre 62%, Flop 83%, Turn 100%)
Hero wins 17178.4 BB

And here’s the really gross hand that I mentioned on Twitter, the one that caused me to bubble the $215 Heads Up NLHE:

PokerStars – $200+$15|25/50 NL (2 max) – Holdem – 2 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

SB: 129.14 BB (VPIP: 82.61, PFR: 52.17, 3Bet Preflop: 12.50, Hands: 30)
Hero (BB): 70.86 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Ah Kh
SB raises to 2 BB, Hero raises to 6 BB, SB calls 4 BB

Flop : (12 BB, 2 players) 2h 5d 4h
Hero checks, SB checks

Turn : (12 BB, 2 players) Ad
Hero bets 7.2 BB, SB raises to 17.26 BB, Hero calls 10.06 BB

River : (46.52 BB, 2 players) 3d
Hero bets 47.6 BB and is all-in, SB calls 47.6 BB

Hero shows Ah Kh (Straight, Five High) (Pre 77%, Flop 83%, Turn 93%)
SB shows 6c Ks (Straight, Six High) (Pre 23%, Flop 17%, Turn 7%)
SB wins 141.72 BB

As I was on his immediate left and he was trying to play every pot, we clashed a lot throughout the tournament. Early on he folded to my 3- and 4-bets or my c-bets, but eventually he shifted that dynamic by check-raising me twice on pretty dry flops. Both times I suspected that he had nothing but folded anyway as I was near the bottom of my range. If I’d gotten into a pissing contest with him, he may well have won. Instead I tried to keep 3-betting and barreling good ranges, and eventually it paid off.

This may seem like a very straight-forward hand, but I think when people know that they’re up against a very aggressive player who tries to win every pot, they’re tempted to get fancy when they turn the nuts and try to induce bluffs or something. I know I have that temptation, anyway. But that’s rarely the best way to play the nuts, and a line that polarizes your range can easily lead to stubborn call downs from these players.

One final points concerns the sizing. In The Mathematics of Poker, Chen and Ankenman prove that, “When the game is static and one player is clairvoyant, the optimal bet size is to make the pot grow by the same amount on each street, such that on the last street the entire stack has been bet” (p. 241). Although that doesn’t perfectly describe this situation, I think it’s a close enough extrapolation to make this half-pot, half-pot, half-pot sizing ideal:

PokerStars – $300+$20|50/100 Ante 10 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 3 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BB: 57.62 BB (VPIP: 39.64, PFR: 19.82, 3Bet Preflop: 6.12, Hands: 112)
BTN: 189.12 BB (VPIP: 44.03, PFR: 35.07, 3Bet Preflop: 16.98, Hands: 138)
Hero (SB): 53.26 BB

3 players post ante of 0.1 BB, Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.8 BB) Hero has Ac Jh
BTN raises to 2 BB, Hero raises to 6 BB, fold, BTN calls 4 BB

Flop : (13.3 BB, 2 players) 3c 7c Jc
Hero bets 6.65 BB, BTN calls 6.65 BB

Turn : (26.6 BB, 2 players) 6c
Hero bets 13.62 BB, BTN calls 13.62 BB

River : (53.84 BB, 2 players) 9d
Hero bets 26.89 BB and is all-in, BTN calls 26.89 BB

Hero shows Ac Jh (Flush, Ace High) (Pre 63%, Flop 87%, Turn 98%)
BTN shows 4c 5h (Flush, Jack High) (Pre 37%, Flop 13%, Turn 2%)
Hero wins 107.62 BB

I went on to defeat this player heads up and win my first table, only to flame out early on the second table for a min-cash.

So far I’ve played every WCOOP event, though that streak will end when I skip the NL Draw tournament tomorrow morning. I’ve cashed three of the six events I’ve played and two of the three that I registered on time. Those are streaks I’d like to keep alive!

Here is the hand history discussed in the strategy segment:

1-2 NL table, 6-handed, effective stacks $300.

UTG calls, Hero calls UTG1 with Kc 6c, CO folds, BN raises to $12, everyone calls.

Flop ($55 in pot) KhJx5h. Everyone checks.

Turn ($55 in pot) KhJx5hTx. Checks to Hero, Hero bets $35, both blinds call.

River ($160 in pot) KhJx4hTxJh. SB checks, BB bets $25, Hero shoves $250.

Anyway, first up is Where Do the Weak Hands Go?, a Two Plus Two article that should help you think through situations where your opponent begins with a wide range:

This article will suggest a new way of conceptualizing ranges, one that will be especially useful when dealing with situations where one or more players sees the flop with a very wide range. No matter how coordinated the board, a wide range is going to contain a lot of weak hands. Rather than focusing on the strong hands that this player could hold, ask yourself “What will he do with all of those weak hands?”

This is an important question because in these situations your strategy is likely to revolve around what you think your opponent will do with these weak holdings. When your own hand is weak, you want to find a line that will cause your opponent to fold all of his weak hands. When you have a marginal hand with some showdown value, you want to induce bluffs and be careful that you don’t fold too often, lest you get exploited by a bluffy opponent.

I also had the honor of being the first guest on John Beauprez‘s new podcast Bracelet Hunter. Among other things, we talk about why tournament players should seek understand cash game play and important game theory concepts.

Finally, I was on the Strategy with Kristy podcast talking about slow playing.

Q: I started out as one of those players you often refer to who says “I don’t really need to balance my ranges in the games I play – my opponents usually suck, and when they don’t I won’t be playing with them long enough for them to notice anything actionable”. After having that position repeatedly pounded on by two people who are smarter than I am about poker, I’ve come around, at least partly, to your way of thinking.

I’m dragging my feet in some spots, though. It seems to me that there are two extremes – against non-thinking/non-observant opponents there’s not much need for balance [I *think* you agree that’s true?], and conversely if I’m McDonald playing against Haxton I just have to suck it up and balance. But in the vast middle-ground I inhabit, especially as I prepare for the WSOP, it seems like I can get away with being unbalanced in some situations as long as I’m aware of what my observant, exploitative opponents have seen from me and can make a decent guess at how they’re likely to respond to unbalanced actions. Obviously the key point there is being “aware of what they’ve seen from me”, so once I’ve played a hand in an unbalanced way but then (successfully or otherwise) counter-exploited my observant opponent, I need to incorporate that into my view of what they’ve seen from me.

Let’s take preflop sizing as an example (I’m not sure this is the best support for my idea, but seems the simplest to talk about). If I come to a WSOP bracelet event table and see Andrew or a tough young Andrew-like hand-reading bastard 2 or 3 seats to my left, I will first silently cringe and wail and curse my misfortune, and then sit down and start to scheme about how to counter-exploit him based on the things I think he will do if I take certain lines. If I open-limp I expect that he will (A) think I’m weak, (B) try to isolate me with a 5x-ish raise with a wide range of hands, (C) expect that I’m likely set-mining with a small pair if I limp-call and stacks are deep enough, and (D) have to worry about me having AA/KK if I limp-reraise on one of the first few times I’ve tried to limp. So let’s say I’m open-limping with small pairs and suited connectors, exactly as Bandrew would expect, but facing an ISO raise from Bandrew I would perhaps limp-reraise my small pairs (repping AA) followed by aggressively C-betting most flops, and limp-call with my small suited connectors and checkraising ragged flops (repping a small set), preferably when I’ve hit at least a small piece so that I’ve hopefully got some equity if called. I’m playing in an unbalanced way – highly exploitable to be sure, but then trying to take advantage of the way my lack of balance will be perceived.

Likewise I’ve heard (just today in fact in the *most* excellent and well worth $19 ThinkingPoker premium podcasts) Nate say that there are lots of players who open 2.5x with their OK hands and 3.5x with their really good hands, so if I see B’nate a couple of seats to my left I’m going to (after the silent wailing) consider doing exactly the opposite (which honestly would be my tendency anyway if I thought I could get away with it) until I think he’s seen enough to catch on, at which point I’ll either move back toward balance, or switch back to what he was originally expecting, or do whatever I think he’s going to mis-perceive.

I can anticipate some reasonable counter-arguments, and I’ve already hinted that preflop sizing might not be the most defensible example. I’m not going to run into exactly Andrew or Nate very often, so I run the risk of making wrong guesses about what Bandrew or B’nate will do to exploit me (but ISO’ing a weak open limper light and correlating a weak player’s raise size to their hand strength are pretty common). I’m also talking about trying to outplay people who are better than I am, likely in bloated pots and possibly out of position, which is generally not a very bright idea, but between the “Kill Phil” value of forcing stronger opponents to play bigger pots than they might want to, and possibly cutting down the SPR drastically so that my tough opponent doesn’t have as many streets to gather info and outplay me, and the value I often get from very good players thinking I’m weaker than I really am … I don’t know, it feels worth considering at least. And of course I don’t have to play completely unbalanced – I can play a sometimes balanced range with occasional diversions into imbalance when I think it’s likely to pay dividends, either from a tough opponent underestimating me or from getting to see a cheap flop with a pair of fours, which *does* have some value no matter how weak the player looks who does it.

Of course another objection could be that my opponents might be so world-class that they just know exactly what I’m doing, and there definitely have been times when an extremely good player has put a soul-read on me that I wouldn’t have thought possible, but generally even then I can attribute it to some lack of attention on my part. If an unknown player did something like what I’m describing, playing in an unbalanced way but either with very different weightings or very different lines than what you would expect, and kept good track of how much information he or she had given out already and how it might be perceived, do you think that you could adjust quickly enough not to get counter-exploited?

A (Nate): One word of caution is that (as you anticipate, probably) I think you misjudge how well experts (maybe not *me*, but experts) will figure out what you’re up to when you try to counter-exploit them. This is something that came up in the episode with Clayton Fletcher–I think he severely underestimated how likely it was that his expert opponents would figure out that he was 3-betting light. Put another way, I think he took it to be too easy to counter-exploit an opponent who he figured would be trying to make exploitive folds against an (perceived-as-)over-tight and scared opponent.

That said, as I imagine Andrew would be quick to point out, figuring out what your opponents are likely to do and then doing the best thing against that set of behaviors is a great way (indeed, the only real way) to think about poker, so hooray for that.

As for “meta-balancing” — there can be times to do something like what you describe, but the central question is really: when and to what extent should we be happy to be unbalanced? I trust that Andrew and I have over and over again answered that question with an emphatic “sometimes and to varying degrees.”

A (Andrew): The key question regarding exploitability vs balance is who will do a better job of guessing at how the other will play. So it’s not just about what have people actually observed you do, it’s what might they expect you to do based on any information that’s available: how you look, what they’ve overheard you say, sometimes even seemingly unrelated plays you’ve made (a lot of pre-flop limping will probably cause your opponents to assume things about your river raising range). So you can get exploited on the first hand you play, simply by people who make good guesses about your strategy – they don’t have to actually observe a pattern to exploit it.

That said, many of your opponents won’t be capable of that. When you believe you can make better guesses you should aim to do so. I consider myself very good at this, but I still find it valuable to understand balance, because it helps me to recognize when people are unbalanced and also helps me to balance in situations where I am NOT sure of the correct exploitive play. That comes up sometimes even against very weak opponents. So it’s not just a matter of “balance against good players but not bad ones”.

All of that said, as I mentioned during the Fletcher strategy segment, there may be times where you are actually better positioned to make guesses about your tough opponents than they are about you. You know exactly who Ike Haxton is and probably even have some idea of what he’ll be doing to exploit some of the weaker players at the table, but he won’t know who you are and will probably underestimate your poker knowledge as a result. You can’t take this to extremes, because part of what makes Ike good is that he won’t let an information imbalance like that persist for long, and he probably won’t do anything too dramatically exploitable on the basis of a weak read (ie “the guy doesn’t LOOK too bright…”), but I do think it’s a potential edge.

Timestamps

• 0:00 About the Thinking Poker Podcast
• 4:38 Teaching kids to play poker
• 18:02 Strategy: Turn a straight, fold the river?
• 36:23 Interview: Dr. Michael Bowling and Michael Johanson of the University of Alberta Computer Poker Research Group

Find Us at PokerNews!

The Thinking Poker Podcast won’t be available at this location much longer. Soon, the only place to hear us will be on the PokerNews podcast feed. We’ll still post announcements here when there’s a new episode available, and we’ll keep the current feed active for a few weeks to give everyone a chance to migrate, but please save yourself the trouble and subscribe now via iTunes or your favorite feed reader.

If you’re not already a member of Tournament Poker Edge, please use my affiliate link to sign up now!

Looking for more WSOP prep? Look no further than the Thinking Poker Premium podcasts, where you can hear Nate (a far more experienced live player) and I discuss tournament strategy generally and the WSOP specifically.

See you in Vegas! (details on that coming soon)

Prior to this hand, I’d really been hammering on the player in the CO. Mostly it was out of the BB, where I basically never folded to his button min-raises, sometimes 3-betting, sometimes calling and getting stubborn post-flop, but definitely not making it easy for him just to raise and take pots from late position.

It’s not that I think the BB’s cold 4-bet is weak exactly, just that there’s a little more room for it to be light than you might otherwise expect. My pre-flop and flop calls seem pretty unambiguous to me.

The turn is where it gets interesting. On the one hand, it’s a dicey spot for him to barrel. On the other hand, I’m getting 4:1, and he’s repping a really narrow range. I don’t see him betting AA here, with or without a heart. Even against that narrow range, I’m drawing pretty live. So basically on the turn I’m worried but don’t think I can fold.

In retrospect, I think that’s a reason to fold the river. Of course he’s still repping a really narrow range, and my hand is a decent bluff-catcher in that I block a couple things like AhQh, QhJh, and KQ that could play this way. However, I probably have enough trips, flushes, and boats in my range that I don’t really need to call with pure bluff-catchers like this.

My thinking is that even though my turn call is actually pretty strong Villain may just desperation shove the river with all his air once he gets that far. Probably that would be more plausible in a random $100 rebuy or something, but not so much in a $2K SCOOP event. Not to mention that I didn’t really think he had that much air in his turn range, though admittedly that was a weak read.

PokerStars – $2000+$100|250/500 Ante 60 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

CO: 67.91 BB
BTN: 59.46 BB
Hero (SB): 113.82 BB
BB: 91.59 BB
UTG: 24.84 BB
MP: 14.75 BB

6 players post ante of 0.12 BB, Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.22 BB) Hero has Qc Qh
fold, fold, CO raises to 2 BB, fold, Hero raises to 6 BB, BB raises to 14.4 BB, fold, Hero calls 8.4 BB

Flop : (31.52 BB, 2 players) Kc 4h 8h
Hero checks, BB bets 11.11 BB, Hero calls 11.11 BB

Turn : (53.74 BB, 2 players) Kh
Hero checks, BB bets 17.78 BB, Hero calls 17.78 BB

River : (89.29 BB, 2 players) 5d
Hero checks, BB bets 48.19 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 48.19 BB

BB shows Ac Ks (Three of a Kind, Kings) (Pre 43%, Flop 87%, Turn 77%)
Hero shows Qc Qh (Two Pair, Kings and Queens) (Pre 57%, Flop 13%, Turn 23%)
BB wins 185.67 BB

Important Points About Multiway Pots

I want to start by making two observations about multi-way pots:

1. It is not necessarily exploitable to fold a large portion of your range in a multiway pot. This is because the “burden” of making the bettor indifferent to bluffing does not lie solely with you. In this example, between the two of you, BB and you would need to continue to this bet approximately 66% of the time to make UTG indifferent to betting a pure bluff. Here, because Hero’s range is much stronger than BB’s, more of the burden lies with Hero, and I don’t mean to say that this is an easy fold. However, the analysis isn’t as simple as “Hero is near the top of his range, so folding would be exploitable.”

2. Other players, even reasonably good ones, tend to be more straightforward in multi-way pots. Judging from the comments, I may have made the Villains seem like better players than they probably were. They weren’t superstarts, they just weren’t obviously bad. I suppose that saying now that I think UTG will be more honest than he should be is in fact in direct conflict with my description of “no obviously exploitable tendencies”, but I do think you see a lot of people who play pretty well in heads up pots who will still make mistakes in multiway pots.

Is the BB Strong?

A big complication is that most players, again including seemingly good ones, will have an overly weak range in BB’s seat. Raphael explains why:

at each opportunity to show strength (squeezing preflop or raising flop), BB has chosen the passive action in just calling. It’s important to remember that BB was closing the action both preflop and on the flop. On the flop, BB was getting almost 3.4:1 on a call to see the next card which could potentially improve his equity. For example, on this particular board, BB can have a ton of Ax suited which have at least a gut shot or a pair + gut shot or some sort of back door flush draw that would in fact want to see another card.

Moreover, not all players are comfortable slowplaying in multiway pots when draws are present. So I actually took the BB to be quite weak, and if UTG reads it the same way, then my points above lose a lot of their validity. UTG can indeed bluff more than you’d think, especially if he’s counting on some perceived strength from betting into two people, and a disproportionate amount of the “defending burden” falls on me as a result.

Is UTG Semi-Bluffing?

No one seems to think that UTG is on a pure bluff here, which is good. He’s taken a number of strong actions, raising UTG and then betting into multiple players on the flop and turn. Most commenters are correctly thinking that UTG’s range for putting money into the pot on the turn will consist of some combination of made hands, which with the possible exception of TT have Hero crushed, and semi-bluffs.

The critical point that I didn’t see anyone mention is that UTG may prefer to check his semi-bluffs, looking either to check-raise shove or get a free card. Many players will be reluctant to bet draws here, especially the strongest ones, because it puts them in an awkward spot if raised. There are good reasons why you would like to be the one making the last bet when you have a big draw.

Results

The better UTG seems to be, the more inclined Hero should be to continue here, probably by min-raising as Nate and Mobius Dumpling argue. I may have overrepresented his skill in my original post, because I decided he was going to be strong here more than he “should” be and folded.

Had the stacks been much deeper, I would be more inclined to call because I wouldn’t expect UTG to go for a check-raise with his draws nearly so often.

BB shoved, UTG called, and the river was a heart. BB showed Ah 6h to take the pot with a rivered flush, and UTG showed QQ so that we could all feel sorry for him. The only thing I felt was proud.

UTG opens for $35. I call Js Jd in the CO, the Button and BB call.

Flop ($145 in pot) 5c 4s 2h. BB checks, UTG bets $105, I call, Button folds, BB calls.

Turn ($460 in pot) 9h. BB checks, UTG bets $275 with $670 behind. I have about $1500 behind, and BB covers.

What’s your play and why? Post your thoughts and comments here, and I’ll post results as well as my own thoughts this weekend (maybe as early as Friday, maybe not until Sunday, going to be a busy week).

This series is only available to members, so if you haven’t already, you should sign up for Tournament Poker Edge now to get access to all of my videos plus hundreds more.

Clayton first came to our attention when he mentioned our show on Dennis Has a Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @claytoncomic and learn more about his upcoming shows from his website. Be sure to hit him up on Twitter if you want to check out the Clayton Fletcher Show at the New York Comedy Club.

In the opening, we mentioned a few of our past episodes, specifically our interviews with John the Lawyer and Ben Wilinofsky. The Premium Podcasts are available at www.nitcast.com.

Timestamps

0:30 – Hello & Welcome; Andrew gets shunned
14:36 – Interview: Clayton Fletcher
59:01 – Strategy: Clayton Fletcher vs the World

The key to minimizing these headaches is to anticipate and prepare for the situations you’re likely to encounter. You want to avoid giving the aggressive player the opportunity to put you in tough spots. When you do get involved in pots with him, you want to have ranges that will be difficult to exploit and hands that will not lead to a lot of uncertainty about where you stand.

The article draws on a couple of examples from a live MTT I final tabled recently and should be useful to anyone who, well, has to deal with aggression in tournaments.

Preflop 5 handed:
Hero ($77.75 from a $50 buy in) (KK) Raise $1.75 
Villain ($58.25 from a $25 buy in) Call
Dealer Fold
SB call (after saying,” ok I call one time”)
BB fold
POT: $5.75

SB is likely to call with almost anything once he has money in the pot, but will fold to pressure post flop if he misses. Villain’s call makes me think he has the following range: 5,5-10,10 ( JJ-AA (maybe even 10’s) I think he 3-Bets,which he has done without showdown 2-3 times during the evening, ). AKo-A9o, any suited Ax, suited connectors (maybe down to 5,6 or so—not so sure about this part of the range)

FLOP:
A 10 6 rainbow
SB check
Hero Bet $3.50
Villain call
SB fold
POT: $12.25

I bet here partly as CB, partly to fold out the SB, and also figure if Villain doesn’t have an A he might fold. I think he loses the suited connector part of his range (I doubt he would chase a gut-shot here). we also lose 6,6 and 10,10 because he would re-raise with them hoping I have an A. All of his A’s are still in play as top pair, or some Ax’s giving him 2 pair (A 10 most likely if this is the case). He might float mid pairs, but I doubt it.

TURN: A

Hero $6.25
Villain call
POT: $24.75

I bet here partly as a blocking bet, because if I check and he bets larger, I won’t know here I am. If he 3 bets I can fold easily. When he calls I am almost sure he has an A either as 3 A’s or a fullhouse and is slow playing it.

RIVER: A

Now I reconsider. Chances are he does not have an A, since there is only one left. If he doesn’t have a A, I have the nuts. If he was chasing, he’ll fold to any bet, if he has any part of the board I need to get value.

Hero: Bet $8.75
Villain: instantly all in. At first he doesn’t even know how much he has, then methodically counts out $38 when I ask how much

My heart sinks. As I think, I remember Nate saying on the podcast several times that, in these low limit games, when a guy overbets the pot on the river that, despite the odds against it, he has the nuts (not blaming you, just going over my thought process). I try to reconstruct the hand and can’t really establish anything but an A (A, broadway; A6, A10). I look at him and he seems so strong. Even as I tank and go over the hand he seems way to comfortable. I fold.

A: I have a lot to say about this hand, but mostly I want to talk about the flop and your decision to bet. You say you are betting “partly as a continuation bet”, but I don’t think that really has any meaning. Generally a bet makes sense if it can either cause opponents to fold better or call with worse. There is some value in getting them to fold worse hands that have equity in the pot (ie betting for protection), but that’s less common. It’s best to think in these terms rather than betting simply because you raised pre-flop. I once tried to catalog all of the possible sources of value in a bet.

You talk a lot about making people fold, but you don’t talk about what they will fold. The problem with using your hand as a bluff (which is what you’re doing if you’re hoping for a fold) is that it’s ahead of any hand that is going to fold and has terrible equity against many hands that will call. In a loose enough game, it’s possible to bet KK for thin value expecting that smaller pairs and gutshots will call, but if you are just hoping for folds, I don’t see any point in betting. What you’re really hoping for is not that they fold but that they don’t have an Ace, which a fold would indicate. A bet, of course, won’t actually change their cards, so a bet can’t really give you what you’re looking for.

I think it makes more sense to check the flop and see what your opponents do. If there’s a bet and a call in front of you, you can be pretty sure someone has an Ace and fold, meaning that you got most of the information a bet would have given you without paying for it. If everyone checks or there’s a bet and a fold, you’ll have to consider the situation and put people on ranges. That may sound like an uncomfortable situation to be in, and I’ll address that in a moment.

On the turn, you say that if you check and he bets, “I won’t know where I am”. You also say that when he calls your bet, you are sure you are beat and therefore drawing nearly dead. This illustrates the problem with betting for information. Your primary goal in a poker hand is not find out where you are, it’s to get money into the pot when you’re ahead or take money out of the pot when you’re behind. Relatedly, you’d like to avoid putting money into the pot from behind or folding when ahead. Knowing with certainty where you stand can help with these goals, but it isn’t an end itself. If you deliberately put money in bad to find out where you stand, you’ve got it backwards.

If you bet and he calls, you’re definitely beat. If you check and he bets, you might be beat or he might be bluffing. In the second case, at least something good happens sometimes. Plus, you get a choice. If you think Villain won’t bet worse often enough to make a call profitable, then you can fold. If you think he will, then you can call profitably. In the latter case, you do know (or at least suspect, which is usually the best you can do in a game of imperfect information) where you stand versus his range. You won’t generally be able to figure out your opponent’s exact hand, so the best you can do is make good decisions against his range.

The river is an interesting card. You say “chances are he does not have an A”, but that’s not quite right. The river card cuts his chances of having an A roughly in half, but if you thought Aces were a huge part of his turn range, he could still be quite likely to have one. One of my favorite Nate Meyvis quotes is that “It’s hard to make quads, but sometimes the board does most of the work for you”. In other words, quads is of course a very rare hand in general, but it’s not so unlikely once trips are on the board.

Now you have to assess whether he’ll call with enough non-quads hands to justify a value bet. If so, then you can value bet, and I think your sizing here is good. If not, then just check and fold.

Once he shoves and seems confident, folding seems reasonable to me. You’ve shown consistent strength on every street, you have plenty of Ax in your range (depending on what you’d open UTG, you probably have at least the 4 combos of AK and 4 combos of AQ), and he is shoving anyway. It’s a crazy spot to bluff or try to shove worse than KK for value, so unless you have a very good reason to think he’d do one of those things, folding seems right to me.

I didn’t post the results above, but our correspondent did actually reveal that his opponent held QT. He inadvertently turned his hand into a bluff, but that doesn’t make Hero’s fold wrong. Technically if Hero’s range here is {AK,AQ,JJ,QQ,KK}, then folding without an Ace is exploitable. However, I don’t know that Hero would play all of those hands this way – as I argue above, I don’t think he should – and even though it turned out to be wrong I’d feel OK making the exploitable assumption here that Villain would rarely shove without an A.

The fact that you do get called this far by QT brings me back to my original point about betting KK. If you think hands like this will be in Villain’s calling range, it’s fine to bet for thin value and protection on the flop. You should think about why you’re betting in order to determine whether you should bet at all, though, and in this case I don’t think your reasoning made a lot of sense. Your hand was too good to bluff, and you could have gotten comparable information by checking.

Thanks for writing!

If you’re a member of Tournament Poker Edge, then you’ll also want to check out my new theory series on bluffing. Like my hand reading and value betting series, it’s a combination of slide show and hand examples.

If you aren’t yet a member of Tournament Poker Edge, you can sign up here!

In addition to valuable strategy content, we aim to find unique guests and discuss interesting topics that you won’t hear anywhere else. If you’re new to the show, here are a few of my personal favorite episodes. If you’re a veteran listener, please suggest some of your favorites in the comments!

Best Strategy

Ed Miller – What begins as a discussion of Playing the Player turns into a wide-ranging Q&A session on beating live no-limit hold ’em cash games. Ed’s penchant for explaining high-level concepts in easy-to-understand terms really shines through in this interview.

Olivier Busquet – Even you aren’t a heads up player, you can learn a lot from listening to how one of the best heads-up sit-n-go players in the world stays sharp and works to refine his game. Olivier is remarkably open about his thought process and strategy in the first half of a this two-part interview.

Isaac Haxton – Like Olivier, Ike is remarkably open about how he plays and thinks about poker at the highest stakes. In fact, the two even talk about each other in their respective interviews, making these two episodes fascinating companion pieces.

Fascinating Guests

Shaniac’s Back – Shane Schleger returns to the show to talk about getting out of debt, getting married, getting turned around at the Canadian border, and final tabling the WCOOP Main Event. He does it all with characteristic wit, charm, and humility.

Keone Young – You might know Keone Young as Mister Wu from Deadwood, or as the voice of Storm Shadow from the 1980s GI Joe cartoons, or as Chen Stormstout from World of Warcraft, or from one of the hundreds of roles he’s had in his decades-long acting career. But did you know that he’s also a poker player? Keone shares his fascinating journey from the streets of Honolulu to the movie studios, and poker tables, of California.

Carlos Welch – We first met Carlos in Las Vegas, just days after he’d made the decision to quit his job as a high school math teacher to play poker full-time. The key to his success isn’t crushing at the highest stakes, it’s keeping his expenses to an absolute minimum so that he doesn’t need a lot of money to sustain his lifestyle. His stories of sleeping in his truck in casino parking lots and showering in laundromats are sure to inspire and entertain.

Unique Topics

Ray J – Poker media is full of stories about the people playing at the WSOP, but about the people slinging the cards? Ray J tells about his life as a traveling poker dealer and shares his thoughts about proper procedure and how dealers ought to be trained.

Tubby Boots – There’s not much poker in this episode. Instead, Andrew sits down with his grandmother to talk about her brother, a 400-pound cross-dressing stand-up comedian who loved food, gambling, and life.

Ben Wilinofsky – NeverScaredB brings some high-level strategy to the show when he and Andrew talk about a heads-up match they played as part of the World Championship of Online Poker, but Ben also opens up about his struggle with depression and his Movember campaign to raise money for mental health issues among Canadian men.

Thinking Poker Bookclub

From time to time, we feature poker books on the show. We spend several weeks reading and discussing a book and then bring the author on the show to answer your and our questions.

Jared Tendler on The Mental Game of Poker 2

Tommy Angelo on Elements of Poker

Ed Miller on Playing the Player

The central problem with this strategy is that it requires your out-of-position opponent to cooperate by allowing you to check your weak hand all the way to showdown when it’s good. Aggressive players aren’t going to make life so easy for you.

Consequently, you must make a decision when you flop a weak but possibly best hand. Can you check hoping to catch bluffs and/or improve, or should you bet, functionally turning it into a bluff since weaker hands than yours aren’t likely to call? Since you can’t count on a good opponent simply checking down all the way with you, there’s no sense in checking the flop unless you’re prepared to call a bet on many turns. This is true even if you think your opponent won’t fold hands better than yours, because there is value in folding out hands that would successfully bluff you on the turn given the opportunity.

Though Jay Farber sometimes employed this strategy, he fared much better when his range for playing aggressively was less polarized. Eventual champion Ryan Riess made several expensive call-downs with weak hands, presumably on the assumption that Farber would be more polarized than he was. My article examines eight hands from their match where this dynamic proved to be a relevant factor.

As always, I’d love to know what you think of the article! What was your impression of the play at the final table, overall?

PokerStars – $200+$15|250/500 Ante 60 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

SB: 26.62 BB (VPIP: 40.00, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 5)
BB: 64.03 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 5)
Hero (UTG): 54.18 BB
MP: 93.82 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 5)
CO: 108.71 BB (VPIP: 40.00, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 5)
BTN: 26.62 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 5)

6 players post ante of 0.12 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.22 BB) Hero has Ks As
Hero raises to 2 BB, fold, CO raises to 5.8 BB, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls 3.8 BB

Flop : (13.82 BB, 2 players) Qc 8s 3s
Hero checks, CO bets 5 BB, Hero calls 5 BB

Turn : (23.82 BB, 2 players) 8d
Hero checks, CO bets 7 BB, Hero ?

I think there are a lot of close decisions here. Four-betting pre-flop is certainly viable, as is check-raising the flop. His sizing and the general situation (I’m new to the table and opening UTG, his 3-bet is on the large side considering stacks and position) made me think he was strong, though.

Given that hunch, I think there’s a case for folding the turn. I’m getting almost the exact right price to draw to spades, but I don’t think I can count on implied odds, and with a pair on the board reverse implied odds are a real possibility. I’m sure there’s some value in hitting an A or a K, but again I can’t really hope to get money in good on those cards and indeed I think I’d have to fold to a bet even if I hit them. The little bit of equity I get from the times I make top pair and show it down might be enough to mitigate the reverse implied odds, but that still just leaves the call as a break-even proposition.

Of course, that’s all premised on the hunch that he’s strong, but I think on the turn he’d bet either more or not at all with a bluff. A pair like JJ or TT is probably my best case scenario for him there.

Thoughts?

Hero has a pretty good hand, as long as no one shows much interest in the pot. It is definitely not good enough to 3-bet and probably not even to call a raise. Hero’s options are either betting for kind of thin value and folding to a raise or bluff-catching.

It’s difficult for Hero to represent a bluff here, because this board smacks his range for calling a relatively large 3-bet out of position pretty. There are a lot of combos of trips and full houses in Hero’s range, and when he doesn’t have those he probably has some showdown value against the range he might hope to bluff Villain off of – I’m thinking here of KQ or JJ. Even if Hero turns decent pairs like 99 and 88 into bluffs, his range for firing turn and river is pretty strong, and Villain really shouldn’t do a lot of bluff-catching. Assuming Villain checks back some full houses on the flop, he can probably even folk AK to multiple bets.

This makes it hard for Hero to extract much value by betting. If you’re going to bet the turn, I agree with those who advocate small bets of 1/3 to 1/2 the pot on turn and river, with the intention of folding to a raise.

I’m a little more optimistic about bluff-catching than some commenters. Hero’s tentative read is that Villain has a wide 3-betting range, so he should be seeing the flop with a lot more air than Hero. Given the strength of Hero’s pre-flop call, I definitely don’t think Villain is betting anywhere near 100% of his whiffs on the flop. Among other things, it’s a good spot for a delayed c-bet precisely because he will also be checking some full houses and some pretty good trips and pairs.

Basically I see two big advantages and one small one to a turn check:

1. Induce bluffs, which will often include multiple big barrels.

2. Induce lighter river calls if Villain checks again. Villain is going to be conscious of defining his hand as probably-not-the-nuts after two checks, and he’ll probably be willing to call a big river bet after doing so. I can see Hero getting nearly as much value with a river bomb as with two small bets, so I don’t think he loses terribly much, if anything, from Villain’s bluff-catchers relative to a bet-bet line.

3. The smaller advantage is that it strengthens Hero’s check-check range. It’s hard to check strong hands multiple times, so when I think it’s close I like to err on the side of doing so just to strengthen that range and make myself more unpredictable. One potential upside of this is that Hero may occasionally get Villain to value bet worse on two streets.

Results

PokerStars – $2 NL FAST (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BTN: 103 BB (VPIP: 21.02, PFR: 18.47, 3Bet Preflop: 11.43, Hands: 161)
SB: 100 BB (VPIP: 20.21, PFR: 15.96, 3Bet Preflop: 6.41, Hands: 191)
BB: 93.5 BB
UTG: 27.39 BB (VPIP: 48.00, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 17.65, Hands: 25)
MP: 107.66 BB (VPIP: 26.15, PFR: 24.62, 3Bet Preflop: 3.70, Hands: 69)
Hero (CO): 271.68 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Tc Td
fold, fold, Hero raises to 2 BB, BTN raises to 7 BB, fold, fold, Hero calls 5 BB

Flop : (15.5 BB, 2 players) Ah Ad Qh
Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn : (15.5 BB, 2 players) Th
Hero checks, BTN bets 11 BB, Hero calls 11 BB

River : (37.5 BB, 2 players) 8h
Hero checks, BTN bets 26 BB, Hero calls 26 BB

BTN shows Ac Qs (Full House, Aces full of Queens) (Pre 43%, Flop 100%, Turn 98%)
Hero mucks Tc Td (Full House, Tens full of Aces) (Pre 57%, Flop 0%, Turn 2%)
BTN wins 88.1 BB

PokerStars – $2 NL FAST (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BTN: 103 BB (VPIP: 21.02, PFR: 18.47, 3Bet Preflop: 11.43, Hands: 161)
SB: 100 BB (VPIP: 20.21, PFR: 15.96, 3Bet Preflop: 6.41, Hands: 191)
BB: 93.5 BB
UTG: 27.39 BB (VPIP: 48.00, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 17.65, Hands: 25)
MP: 107.66 BB (VPIP: 26.15, PFR: 24.62, 3Bet Preflop: 3.70, Hands: 69)
Hero (CO): 271.68 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Tc Td
fold, fold, Hero raises to 2 BB, BTN raises to 7 BB, fold, fold, Hero calls 5 BB

Flop : (15.5 BB, 2 players) Ah Ad Qh
Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn : (15.5 BB, 2 players) Th

What do you make of Villain’s range at this point? How do you want to proceed? Try to say a bit about your plan for both a blank river and a low heart river – you can ignore the cases of massively disruptive cards such as any broadway. I’ll be back with my own thoughts and results on Friday.

A few hands came up at my Zoom tables yesterday that demonstrate what I’m talking about. As you’ll see, there’s certainly an element of luck involved in getting into these situations. But everyone will get into them from time to time, and what really matters is getting the most out of these rare opportunities:

PokerStars – $2 NL FAST (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BTN: 54.5 BB (VPIP: 25.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 9)
SB: 47.74 BB (VPIP: 24.19, PFR: 24.19, 3Bet Preflop: 16.67, Hands: 63)
BB: 118.91 BB (VPIP: 50.00, PFR: 25.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 4)
UTG: 102.5 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 50.00, Hands: 10)
Hero (MP): 213.93 BB
CO: 214.2 BB (VPIP: 15.97, PFR: 9.24, 3Bet Preflop: 5.45, Hands: 123)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Tc Ts
fold, Hero raises to 3 BB, CO raises to 9 BB, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls 6 BB

Flop : (19.5 BB, 2 players) 9s Th Td
Hero checks, CO bets 10 BB, Hero raises to 30 BB, CO calls 20 BB

Turn : (79.5 BB, 2 players) 8h
Hero bets 40 BB, CO calls 40 BB

River : (159.5 BB, 2 players) Ks
Hero bets 134.93 BB and is all-in, CO calls 134.93 BB

Hero shows Tc Ts (Four of a Kind, Tens) (Pre 19%, Flop 100%, Turn 100%)
CO shows Kc Kh (Full House, Kings full of Tens) (Pre 81%, Flop 0%, Turn 0%)
Hero wins 427.96 BB

Villain’s nitty stats, along with our positions at the table, convinced me that he’d have a big pair quite often here. It’s possible that he would have folded to a river shove had he not hit a King, but even so I think that check-raising the flop is essential to start building the pot and take the betting impetus. Many players, especially the nittier ones, are going to pot control at some point, so if you want to get even three bets into the pot, let alone four, you’re going to have to check-raise. No need to make it small – check-raising is going to look strong no matter what, so you might as well get some money in the pot while you’re at it.

In this next one I didn’t think Villain was quite as strong, given that he didn’t 4-bet pre and this is a tough board to flop a second-best hand, so that made me want to slowplay. But I also wanted to play a big pot. Solution? Overbet shove the river. This was an especially good card for it, but I would have shipped nearly any river. Don’t go seeing monsters under the bed – you have the best hand a hell of a lot here, and you want to get as much money in as you can.

PokerStars – $2 NL FAST (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BTN: 139.12 BB (VPIP: 26.67, PFR: 13.33, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 15)
SB: 84.45 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 2)
Hero (BB): 542.8 BB
UTG: 118.6 BB (VPIP: 18.18, PFR: 18.18, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 12)
MP: 50.42 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 4)
CO: 136.1 BB (VPIP: 19.89, PFR: 18.18, 3Bet Preflop: 10.29, Hands: 182)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Ad Ah
fold, fold, CO raises to 2.5 BB, fold, SB calls 2 BB, Hero raises to 12.5 BB, CO raises to 25 BB, fold, Hero calls 12.5 BB

Flop : (52.5 BB, 2 players) Tc Ts Qs
Hero checks, CO checks

Turn : (52.5 BB, 2 players) Td
Hero checks, CO checks

River : (52.5 BB, 2 players) Qd
Hero bets 517.8 BB and is all-in, CO calls 111.1 BB and is all-in

Hero shows Ad Ah (Full House, Tens full of Aces) (Pre 82%, Flop 88%, Turn 95%)
CO shows Jd Jh (Full House, Tens full of Queens) (Pre 18%, Flop 12%, Turn 5%)
Hero wins 273.3 BB

Ignore the river in this last one. He’s short enough that I don’t need/want to three-bet him pre-flop. I’m actually raising the flop to get the money in against an Ace before the river, but this works too:

PokerStars – $2 NL FAST (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

Hero (BTN): 772.36 BB
SB: 138.37 BB (VPIP: 15.49, PFR: 14.08, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 73)
BB: 182.33 BB (VPIP: 29.41, PFR: 23.53, 3Bet Preflop: 25.00, Hands: 17)
UTG: 100 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 1)
MP: 37.5 BB
CO: 102.5 BB (VPIP: 11.90, PFR: 11.90, 3Bet Preflop: 10.53, Hands: 42)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Qc Qs
fold, MP raises to 3 BB, fold, Hero calls 3 BB, fold, fold

Flop : (7.5 BB, 2 players) Ac Qd Tc
MP bets 4 BB, Hero raises to 10 BB, MP calls 6 BB

Turn : (27.5 BB, 2 players) Ah
MP bets 24.5 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 24.5 BB

River : (76.5 BB, 2 players) As

MP shows Kd Qh (Full House, Aces full of Queens) (Pre 31%, Flop 13%, Turn 2%)
Hero shows Qc Qs (Full House, Aces full of Queens) (Pre 69%, Flop 87%, Turn 98%)
Hero wins 37.55 BB
MP wins 37.55 BB

PokerStars – $2 NL FAST (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BTN: 299.68 BB
Hero (SB): 210.95 BB
BB: 48.52 BB
UTG: 212.99 BB
MP: 100 BB
CO: 116.12 BB

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Td Qd
fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to 2 BB, Hero raises to 7 BB, fold, BTN calls 5 BB

Flop : (15 BB, 2 players) 7c 9s Kh
Hero bets 9 BB, BTN calls 9 BB

Turn : (33 BB, 2 players) Ad
Hero checks, BTN bets 22 BB, Hero raises to 62 BB, BTN calls 40 BB

River : (157 BB, 2 players) 3d
Hero checks, BTN bets 76 BB, Hero calls 76 BB

BTN shows Ac Ks (Two Pair, Aces and Kings) (Pre 60%, Flop 80%, Turn 91%)
Hero mucks Td Qd (High Card, Ace) (Pre 40%, Flop 20%, Turn 9%)
BTN wins 307.6 BB

The read I provided was that each opponents were likely either a nitty regular or a loose recreational player. Although we don’t know which, neither is likely to slowplay an overpair pre-flop in a large, multi-way pot. The button functionally never has KK+ and rarely QQ. There’s a slightly higher chance that CO is going for some spazzy slowplay, but the chances of that are at least as good as the chances that he’s made bad pre-flop and flop calls with TT or even weaker hands that have now flopped either a pair or a draw. As soon as I see the pre-flop action, I tell myself that I am not going to worry about better overpairs being out there. Against one player, I’m prepared to play a flopped overpair like the nuts.

Button’s jam into Hero’s very strong line and CO’s seemingly strong call should give us pause. If we rule out overpairs, that leaves just sets and big draws as plausible jamming candidates. Small pairs are not especially likely three-betting hands for him, though.

If we knew that CO were folding, we’d be risking roughly 60 BB to win 180 BB and would need 25% equity. If we give button a couple of combinations of big draws (AcTc, AcJc, and AcQc, assuming he would jam AcKc preflop, which isn’t a guarantee) and all of his 77 but no 33 or 55, Hero has 29%. Throw in 9c 8c and Hero’s equity jumps to 33%, so you can see that the decision is extremely sensitive to the relative likelihood of sets vs big draws in Button’s range.

If we call and CO overcalls, we only need 20% equity, but our equity may drop a bit due to the added risk of his showing up with a set, QQ, or big pair. Realize, though, that this won’t happen 100% of the time, and also that a CO loose enough to show up with 77 is also seeing the flop with 88, 99, and TT, and may not have the discipline to fold them. Giving him some but not all of each of these types of hands, it’s not a great outcome for us:

Button: 57.168% { 77, AcQc, AcJc, AcTc, 9c8c }
Hero: 16.040% 15.70% { JdJh }
CO: 26.791% 26.45% { QQ, TT, 77, AcQc, AcJc, AcTc, 9c8c }

Still, if CO folds half the time and Hero has 33% equity when he needs 25%, and half the time CO calls and Hero has 16% equity when he needs 20%, Hero still comes out ahead by 4% of ~60 BBs, or roughly 2.5 BBs.

Of course I didn’t crunch those numbers in real time. My thought process went like this: “There are only a few hands that could beat me, so focus on those. Better pairs probably jam preflop, CO either folds small pairs pre-flop and/or is so loose that he still has TT in his range, BN probably doesn’t three-bet small pairs all that often, and I only need to win 20 – 25%. Call.” And it worked, sort of:

PokerStars – $1 NL FAST (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BTN: 103.43 BB
Hero (SB): 112.01 BB
BB: 100 BB
UTG: 100 BB
MP: 90.3 BB
CO: 131.74 BB

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Jd Js
fold, fold, CO raises to 2 BB, BTN raises to 6.5 BB, Hero raises to 18 BB, fold, CO calls 16 BB, BTN calls 11.5 BB

Flop : (55 BB, 3 players) 5c 7c 3d
Hero bets 26 BB, CO calls 26 BB, BTN raises to 85.43 BB and is all-in, Hero raises to 94.01 BB and is all-in, CO calls 68.01 BB

Turn : (328.45 BB, 3 players) Qc

River : (328.45 BB, 3 players) 8s

Hero shows Jd Js (One Pair, Jacks) (Pre 53%, Flop 47%, Turn 0%)
CO shows Ts Th (One Pair, Tens) (Pre 18%, Flop 5%, Turn 0%)
BTN shows Jc Ac (Flush, Ace High) (Pre 29%, Flop 48%, Turn 100%)
BTN wins 308.49 BB
Hero wins 17.16 BB

An important takeaway here is that it’s not sufficient simply to say “I’m either way behind or flipping, so I fold.” You don’t need a lot of equity to get it in here, so the relative frequency of those two outcomes matters a lot. You have to do some light hand reading to figure out which is more likely and by roughly how much.

PokerStars – $1 NL FAST (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BTN: 103.43 BB
Hero (SB): 112.01 BB
BB: 100 BB
UTG: 100 BB
MP: 90.3 BB
CO: 131.74 BB

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Jd Js
fold, fold, CO raises to 2 BB, BTN raises to 6.5 BB, Hero raises to 18 BB, fold, CO calls 16 BB, BTN calls 11.5 BB

Flop : (55 BB, 3 players) 5c 7c 3d
Hero bets 26 BB, CO calls 26 BB, BTN raises to 85.43 BB and is all-in, Hero ?

Post your thoughts and comments here, and I’ll be back with my own on Friday. Happy WCOOPing!

The first thing I do when trying to exploit opponents is make sure I understand *why* the mistakes they are making are mistakes. This usually points us to a reasonable starting point.

Him bombing flop with weak holdings is a mistake because A) he doesn’t get value from our marginal hands, and B) he makes our range much stronger, putting him in terrible shape when we continue.

Obviously we’re trying to set up good flop situations, so I make it a priority to keep him in the hand as often is possible. I slowplay AJo preflop if I can keep him in. I think it should be our number one priority to get as many favorable flop spots against this villain as possible, even if it means limp/calling when he’s in the blinds, or other semi-weak plays.

I don’t mean to pick on Preston, because he’s doing the right thing by advocating so-called “weak plays”, but I think that terminology itself is really not helpful. Being “weak” doesn’t have any meaning for me. Sometimes people will tell me they don’t like a certain play because it “seems weak”, and I never know what that means. You should be concerned about exploitation: if you make a “weak” fold, presumably meaning a hand towards the top of your range, is your opponent actually capable of exploiting it? If not, then go ahead and do it.

That’s a bit of an aside, but my point is that Preston is right: this Villain calls for some play that some might consider weak. I think that raising preflop at all when this guy is still in the pot is a mistake. He’s making his big mistakes postflop, and they are so big that whatever preflop mistakes raising might cause him (or others) to make pale in comparison. What a shame it would be to miss the opportunity to induce a 600 BB mistake post-flop in order to induce a 3BB mistake preflop.

Mwalsh makes the very good point that it’s important to know “how much confidence we can put into the reads we have so far, and thus how much we should be deviating from our normal strategy in a very soft field.” Indeed, the degree of confidence you have in a read should determine the extent to which you should deviate from game theoretically optimal play (“normal strategy in a very soft field” being already itself a significant deviation from whatever GTO play would look like).

In this case, I meant to stipulate it in the hypothetical. In reality, I didn’t have a lot of hard evidence that Villain would overbet more than just the flop; it was simply the impression that I got. He had a wild and impatient air about him, and it wasn’t just the overbetting. Given how hard he was fighting for 8 BB pots, it was hard for me to imagine having the discipline to give up on 50 BB pots with a pretty hand just because his first overbet had been called.

All of that said, I think raising at all pre-flop with this guy still to act would be a mistake. There are two things we don’t want: for him to fold preflop, and for him to make a huge reraise that we can’t call. The hands he’s most likely to lose his mind postflop with are also the ones he’s most likely to bomb pre. If you make it 150 with 88 and he raises to 2000, well, you might actually be able to justify calling that and setmining, but it’s much less profitable to do so than if you limped and called a raise to 800. Again, we’re less concerned about protecting what is currently the best hand in a small pot and more concerned about setting up a situation where we can get our entire stack in very good.

Because of how deep we currently are, virtually any hand can have decent implied odds. Any two cards will flop two-pair about 2% of the time, so if you expect an EV of more than 50 times whatever it costs you to see the flop when you flop two-pair, then you could justifiably limp and call a small raise with anything. If someone other than this guy raises, you’ll probably fold a lot of your limps, but it’s a loose and passive game so that shouldn’t be a huge problem. Also it’s only four-handed at the moment. So I think the best pre-flop strategy is to open limp most if not all hands (including big pairs and AK) if the maniac hasn’t acted yet, and then to just call his raises.

Post-flop, the plan should be to let him drive the betting and call him down, shoving once you’re confident that he won’t fold, with anything that can beat top pair, good kicker. I’m reluctant to raise when he seems likely to overbet again on the next street, because a raise might cause him to question his hand in a way that calling wouldn’t. But on certain boards with a lot of potential action killers, you might be better off raising.

I like that some of you thought deeply enough into the implications of his play to realize that you may also be able to steal pots easily from him if he doesn’t overbet. This is further justification for seeing flops against him with almost anything.

Results

I didn’t adapt as well as I could have against him, and I got a bit lucky (and then extremely unlucky). Villain was on the button, and the blinds were both dead stacks. I opened to 150 with A5s, got one caller, and then the maniac threw out a 1K chip. He was dismayed when the dealer told him this was a call, which demonstrates why I shouldn’t have been raising in the first place. I couldn’t call the reraise, but it’s possible that had I limped he would have raised an amount that I could have justified calling. Anyway, I got lucky that he accidentally called when he meant to raise.

The flop came A53, we checked to him on the button, he bet 3K, I called, and the other player folded. The turn was a 7, I checked, he shrugged and said “I’m all in”, and I called. He tabled AQ and rivered a Q.

I re-entered but drew a seat at a different table, where there was some discussion about the poor turnout for the tournament. “Only 44 people so far,” lamented a player.

“And that’s counting re-entries,” added the dealer.

“Yeah but it’s only been half an hour, and we start with 30K.”

“I think there has been a re-entry already.”

“Wow. How bad do you have to be to lose 30K in half an hour?”

Also don’t forget that John will be the guest on this week’s podcast, so you’ll get to hear more about the book and the man behind it soon.

John “KasinoKrime” Beauprez, winner of the 2013 $5000 pot-limit omaha $1500 no-limt hold ’em 6-max WSOP event, will be our guest on Episode 43 of the podcast. In addition to talking to him about his poker career and the excitement of winning his first bracelet, we’ll also talk PLO strategy.

John is the author of PLO QuickPro, a hefty soup-to-nuts strategy book. We considered featuring PLO QuickPro on a month-long bookclub, but ultimately decided against it on the assumption that the $300 price tag would be a barrier to participation for a large percentage of listeners. Instead, John has made one chapter of the book free for readers of this blog to download, and we encourage you to read it before you listen to our interview.

It’s worth noting that although featuring a book or author on the show doesn’t necessarily constitute a recommendation thereof, speaking for myself, I’m nearly finished my first read-through of the book and have found it quite good so far. I’ll be publishing a review in the next week or so.

If you have suggestions for questions either about John or about PLO strategy, please leave them as comments here and we’ll consider them for the show.

Timestamps

0:27 Hello and welcome; Where in the World is Gareth Chantler This Week?
11:38 Ethics: On being offered a chip dump
26:37 Strategy: A question and two hands
1:22:30 A salty outtake

Strategy

Hand 1

http://www.tournamentpokeredge.com/handhistory/DisplayHH.php?HandNo=26173

Hand 2

http://www.boomplayer.com/poker-hands/Boom/3999295_2118B5A6FD

Timestamps

0:30 Hello and welcome: Andrew’s first week in Las Vegas
8:30 Strategy: Aces in a four-bet pot, Queens on an AAA flop, strategy for single-rebuy tournaments
59:48 Interview: Ray J the WSOP Dealer

Strategy

Hand 1

Near the end of the first hour of the $3000 NLHE Shootout WSOP event, blinds are 25/50, and Hero starts the hand with 7600. Button has 11K and covers everyone at the table.

Hero has AA in the CO and open to 125, Button 3-bets to 350, and SB who’s been quiet so far cold calls the 3-bet. He’s got about 9K.

Hero makes it 1100, Button folds quickly, SB asks how much Hero has left and then calls.

Flop 47Tr, Villain checks. There’s 2550 in the pot, 6600 in Hero’s stack. Hero bet 1050, SB shoves.

Hand 2

$1/$2 NLHE. Hero is UTG with QQ and opens to $15. One caller in middle position.

The flop is A – A – A. Hero bets $30, Villain shoves for $180 total.

Even better, I took a big bite out of his 7500 starting stack almost immediately. Blinds were 25/50, and I called a min-raise with T8o on the BB. He bet 175 at a 965 flop, and I check-raised him to 425. He called, but no problem, I binked the gut shot on the turn. He called 800, and then paid off an overbet of 3500 on a K river.

I played my next big pot at the 75/150 level. The UTG player raised to 400 and got two calls when I found Ah Kh in the small blind. I raised to 1600, intending to call a shove from any of the players already in the pot, all of whom had 8K or so. To my surprise, the big blind cold called, and the others all folded.

He was an amateur and seemed uncomfortable with the situation. I put him pretty squarely on Jacks, with a chance of AK, QQ, or a slightly smaller pair, but thought he would certainly reraise Aces or Kings considering how many players were still to act behind him.

The flop came 557 with a heart. It’s not often that I try to bluff someone off of an overpair, but this seemed like a pretty ideal spot. There’d been surprisingly little reraising at our table, and considering the stack sizes involved, I got the sense that he’d correctly read me for strength. He’s probably playing just a few WSOP events and not eager to be eliminated in level three. Plus even if he were to call with JJ, my hand would have a lot of outs. I decided to check and see what his bet sizing told me.

He bet 1200, barely a quarter of the pot. I moved all-in for about 8K more. He tanked for a very long time before calling. I turned the flush draw but didn’t get there on the river, so it was back to the starting stack for me.

Shortly thereafter, the player to my right opened to 400, and I called with 77. The button and SB called as well, then the player in the BB, who was a relatively new addition to the table and seemed to know what he was doing, moved all-in for 6K. The original raiser folded, and I went into the tank. This seemed like a good spot for him to try to increase his stack by about a third, and while he would surely play all better pairs this way, I thought he might shove a few worse ones and quite a few unpaired hands as well.

I called. So, to my great displeasure, did the player in the small blind, who turned out to have 10s. The big blind had AKo, but once again a miracle 7 led to me raking a big pot.

On break, I stepped into the blazing afternoon sun for some fresh air. A day laborer started talking to me, and I was about to compliment him on his flawless English when I realized that it was Leo Wolpert!

The table got progressively tougher with the addition of some new players, most notably Christian Harder who landed two seats to my left. He put me to quite a decision at the 150/300/25 level, when I opened to 700 with A8o in the CO and he called from the SB. We both checked an AQQ flop and a 5 turn, then he checked again on a K river. I bet 750, and he quickly raised to 3000.

This is a tough spot because I’m quite unlikely to have a Q, and I know that Charder knows that, and he knows that I know that he knows and etc. It’s also a very plausible way for him to play a Q. The question is how many Qs he really has in his pre-flop calling range versus how many hands he’d feel the need to bluff with. I wasn’t sure what to make of his preflop range, but it seemed not at all out of the question that he could turn a pocket pair into a bluff here. I called and was good.

I picked off another bluff from a really aggressive guy who’d previously gotten the better of me in a few pots. I called his button raise with J9 on my big blind and check-called a Td 9d 4s flop. The turn was the Tc, and I bet out for slightly over half the pot. He called. I checked a 5d river, and he bet about half the pot. Against some people this would be more of a decision because their turn calling ranges wouldn’t be all that wide, but this guy hated to give up on pots. I called, and he announced 8-high, so probably he had 87 but maybe 86..

I’d been reluctant to make dinner plans for fear of jinxing myself, but with half an hour to go I finally texted a friend who’d just arrived in Vegas. I was out of the tournament within 10 minutes. First it was AQ in the small blind versus the over-aggressive guy with QQ in the CO, then AK into JJ on the very next hand.

I was approximately three minutes late getting to the tournament area, and consequently I missed the first hand. That’s not like me. I like to be punctual, and I don’t like to miss hands.

But I also want to be comfortable. I want to be unhurried. I got a little lost on my way to the Rio – leave it to me to screw up right, left, right, and then left on to Rio Drive. I didn’t panic. I didn’t run yellow lights. I didn’t sprint from my car to the Brasilia Room. In fact I stopped to go the bathroom. Postponing that would only mean missing more hands later, because no way I was going to last two hours.

After folding the first hand I actually looked at, I started sizing up the table. An Asian guy about my age was two seats to my left, then an amateurish-looking middle-aged guy, then a kid who was trying too hard to look like a good player, then another amateurish-looking and slightly younger guy.

In this particular hand, the kid bet and called a small raise from the amateur on his left when a third spade came on the turn. The board paired on the river, the kid potted it, and the amateur shrugged and called quickly. The kid showed a full house, and the amateur turned over a small flush like what-can-you-do? He was welcome at my table.

He and I played a small pot the very next hand. We’d both checked the turn, but the dealer wasn’t revealing the river card because she was puzzling over a receipt that Kevin “ImaLuckSac” MacPhee had just handed her. The other amateur hurried her along. She dealt the river, we both checked, and my opponent won a small pot. “You’re at the wrong table,” the dealer said to my opponent as she tossed him a few chips.

“You checked me in,” he told her, and presumably she had. I wasn’t there to see it, but the dealers are supposed to check each player’s receipt and photo ID as he claims his seat. She’d let this one sit at the wrong table and lose nearly half of his stack. The floor was called. He ruled to send the amateur to his assigned seat and put Kevin MacPhee in his, an unequal exchange if ever there were one.

I protested. “Are the stacks equalized in the second round? Or will the winner of our table bring more chips into round two than the winner of that other table?”

The floorman started to tell me that the stacks weren’t going to be equal anyway because some tables had more players than others, but Kevin cut in. “I just claimed my seat, no one’s been eliminated, yet I have less than the table average. That’s not fair to me. It’s not a big deal, but it’s obviously not fair to me.”

The floor ended up retrieving the player who’d been in the wrong seat – he hadn’t yet played a hand at the other table – and swapping him back, sending MacPhee over to the table where the amateur was supposed to be. That strikes me as the right decision. Obviously it’s not a perfect outcome, but that’s a problem that’s created when the dealer lets the guy sit and play at the wrong table. Provided dealers are generally diligent about checking these things, which in my experience they are, it’s not exploitable.

One guy at the other table was decidedly not happy about it, though. He kept arguing with the floorman. He insisted that Jack Effel be called. Then he argued with Jack. They seemed to settle it, but he was clearly still steaming, and in a few minutes he hopped out of his seat and chased Jack down to argue some more. I can only imagine how badly he hurt his chances in the tournament by letting himself get so worked up over this.

Meanwhile a new player had joined our table, a Russian who claimed the seat on my immediate left. He described himself as “a software guy”, not a poker pro, but he seemed to know what he was doing and in at least one past year he’d played in the 50K Player’s Championship event, so he was not just any amateur.

As we neared the end of the first hour, blinds were still 25/50. I had 7600 out of a 9000 starting stack when I found pocket Aces in the cutoff. I raised to 125, which was the amount I’d been raising all level. The Russian on the button, who began the hand with about 11K, made it 350.

The Asian guy in the small blind, who had about 9K, cold called the 3-bet, which was uncharacteristic and noteworthy given that he’d been playing a pretty snug game. This is a clear 4-bet, though I may have erred a bit on the small side. I made it 1100, the button quickly folded, and the small blind asked to see my stack. Then he called.

With 2550 in the pot and 6500 in my stack, we saw a T74 flop. He checked, I bet 1050, he shoved, I called, and I lost to a set of 4s.

I’m not going to go too much into the strategy of the hand right now because Nate and I discuss it on Episode 35 of the podcast, which should be out on Wednesday. Suffice to say that I thought he was probably setmining preflop – his double call and counting down my stack sure made it seem that way – which makes the flop a more tricky spot than it may seem.

So the largest WSOP event I’d played so far this summer was over and done with before the end of the first level. It was over thanks to a stupid spot that I probably didn’t play badly but that maybe – just maybe – there’s some sick soulreader out there who would have let it go correctly (as opposed to some nits who might have folded for the wrong reasons).

Walking to my car, I came to the sickening realization that this could be the rest of my summer. I’m not guaranteed any deep runs nor even any cashes. Plenty of players at least as good as I whiff the series every year. I knew that intellectually, but now I felt it in a visceral way that I hadn’t before. I guess there’s always a part of you that believes you aren’t going to be that guy, that couldn’t happen to you. But of course it could.

Given that I’d put in just an hour at the tables, part of me wanted to go play something else. There was a $1500 Fixed Limit Hold ‘Em starting at 5. I’m not good at FLHE, but I might still be +EV in a $1500 field. Or I could go play cash somewhere.

I was doing it for the wrong reasons, though. I would have been chasing losses. Instead I ran some errands, went to the grocery store. I suggested dinner to Ed Miller, a writer whose work I admire and who’s been a guest on the podcast but whom I’d never met in person. He accepted.

It was great, exactly what I needed when I was feeling frustrated. He recommended a Thai place that, though not strictly vegan, had a lot of vegan options on the menu. I selected one in his honor.

We talked about tournaments, where to find the best mid-stakes cash games during the series (no consensus), writing and publishing, Las Vegas, non-poker careers, and debate. Yep, turns out he too was on his high school debate team, which helps to explain why I feel like his thinking parallels my own so well. Serious debaters learn to think and to structure their arguments in a very specific way that manifests itself in their speaking and writing in many other contexts, and I’ve always been good at spotting a fellow debater.

I’m usually an excellent judge of how much time has passed, but that night I was way off. When I finally checked the time, I was thinking we’d been at the restaurant for two hours, and in fact it had been three. I walked out of the restaurant a lot less tilted than I was walking in. Thanks, Ed.

On the way, I had to put gas in the car – there was less than 1/8th of a tank when I picked it up, and it’s an Economy car, so I wasn’t going to get far on that – and stop at the bank to pick up cash. It was a Friday, so of course the lines were long. Most people looked like they were cashing paychecks, but something told me that the two young guys a few spots ahead of me were fellow poker players. That something was the poker chip shaved into the head of the heavier guy, and the letters WSOP shaved into the other side of his head. As I waited my turn, I watched him flirt not unsuccessfully with the teller.

Cash in hand and gas in tank, all that remained was to buy in to the tournament. Being generally unfamiliar with the preliminary WSOP events, I was surprised to find the buzz in the Rio convention center pretty comparable to what it’s like during the main event. The halls were filled with poker players, most of them identifiably so if not quite as blatantly as the guy from the bank. A security guard recounted a bad beat story to a bored-looking cocktail waitress who was way out of his league. Two dealers swapped bat beat stories of their own; I overheard something about “so now I’ve got a fourth sidepot” as they passed by me. A young man stood alone in the hallway catching a ball in a cup.

I was an hour early for the $1500 6-max, and the line for registration looked to be about 15 minutes long. A security guard reminded me that I’d need a WSOP Player’s Card, which of course I’d once again forgotten to bring with me, so I had to go to another section of the convention center to get a new one, easily my sixth in eight years, printed.

Finally I bought into the event, and as I was walking away from the cage, Diego AKA RonFezBuddy from Tournament Poker Edge called my name. We chatted for a minute and he introduced me to Casey “BigDogPckt5s” Jarzabeck, and they asked me to join them for lunch. I needed coffee, though, and I already had my lunch. So I sat in the Starbucks, drinking a small iced Americano, eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich from a plastic baggy, reading Saul Bellow’s Herzog, and waiting for my World Series of Poker to begin. Now there’s a sentence that’s never been uttered before.

There were just two of us at the table when “Shuffle up and deal” was announced, and I had position. Blinds were 25/25, and with both of them sitting out, my opponent opened with a raise to 50. I made it 150 with 7c 5c, and he called. The flop came KQ9, he checked, and figuring that he’d fold on the turn anything that he’d fold on the flop, I checked behind. The turn brought a 7, he checked again, and now that I had some showdown value, I was happy to check as well. The river brought a 5, but I wasn’t too thrilled when he bet 325 into the pot of 350. I called, and sure enough he had KQ.

I didn’t show my cards, but I nonetheless worked up a pretty aggressive image with this player on my right. After that hand, I won every postflop contest we had, though none of them was particularly interesting.

Then, with blinds of 25/50, I opened to 125 with K7s in the HJ, which was also UTG since we were playing five-handed. This in itself is probably a mistake at a table full of decent players, which mine was. Anyway they all folded except for this player in the big blind, who called a little spitefully.

The flop came 765r, he checked, I bet 175, he raised to 475, and I called. This wasn’t the first time he’d check-raised my continuation bet, and I’m pretty sure the last time he’d had nothing. That might make him less likely to do it as a bluff again, but at least I know that move is in his arsenal, and I didn’t get the impression he was calling pre-flop to play fit-or-fold.

The turn brought a 3, he checked, and I bet 725 thinking I could be called by worse made hands and also charge 8s and overcards. Probably a little too ambitious for a tournament with an unforgiving structure. He fingered calling chips – a tell to which I ought to have been more alert – and then moved all-in, laying me roughly 2-1 on a call. He had a commandingly large stack, probably three times the size of mine, so it was actually my survival and not his that was at risk.

I began the staredown. He was quiet and a little fidgety. I’d seen him act very animated in big pots before, and though we didn’t actually see showdowns, I got the impression in those cases that he was looking for calls. This would be a crazy call, since I could easily be drawing dead and an overcard + open-ended-straight-draw was probably the best I could hope to see. Still, my gut was howling at me that he was weak. Admittedly I’m not one of those feel players, but I’ve rarely experienced a “gut reaction” at the poker table as strongly as this.

I ran through the possibilities. Did it make sense to check a 4? Sure, that was reasonable, though not a guarantee. Probably more 8s than 4s in his pre-flop calling range. Pretty likely to check-raise an 8 on the flop, unless he had a pair, which actually a lot of his 8s would. Same is true of his 4s though. Think he’d bet 98 on the turn. Better non-straight hands than mine seemed unlikely though not impossible.

He called the clock. That’s arguably a sign of strength as well, but something about the way he did it felt weak to me. As the floorman counted down my time, my opponent saw someone he knew passing by and struck up a conversation. It felt forced to me, like he was trying to act relaxed.”You have ten seconds remaining.” Is this really how I wanted to kick off my WSOP? What the fuck does that have to do with anything? “Four, three, two…” I pushed my stack into the pot and looked at him inquiringly. He flipped 84s, and I mucked without waiting for a river card.

I’m well aware that in writing this looks like a terrible call even before you see the results. And try as I might, it’s impossible for me to recount the details of the hand without probably skewing them a bit in favor of my mistaken read. All I can in my own defense is that rarely deviate so far from what seems like the correct play based on a read, but the feeling I got during this hand was something I’ve rarely experienced at the poker table, and I’ve been right more often than not when I’ve acted on it in the past. Had he shown me a bare 8, I would have felt like a genius, but as it is, I feel like a schlub.

Welcome to the World Series of Poker.

Edit: Hey look, a mistake in a WYP post! Been a while since that happened… At least this was a minor one. My preflop raise was to 150, and I’ve adjusted pot size to reflect that. Sorry for any confusion.

It’s early in the $2500 Borgata Spring Poker Open Main Event, but I think I’ve already established a pretty intimidating image. I won a large pot by 3-betting AA and getting 3 large value bets paid off post-flop, and I’ve played a lot of hands aggressively. So I think the general sense is that I’m going to apply a lot of pressure but I’m going to have it often enough that you can’t just blindly call me down. I’ve also checked and given up a few times after opening preflop, so it’s not like I’m barreling every single time or anything.

Villain seems like a decent amateur but is definitely not a professional. He’s a little too loose pre-flop – not the end of the world when you have position and 600 BBs – and doesn’t seem to give much thought to balance.

Blinds are 25/50, and a few seats are yet to be claimed, so we’re 6-handed when I open Kh Kd UTG+1 to 150. Villain calls on the button, and everyone else folds. He has roughly the 30K starting stack, and I have 36K.

Flop Qc 8s 6s. I bet 250 into 425, he raises to 525, and I call.

Turn 5c. I check, he bets 850 into 1425, and I call.

River Ac. What’s your play and why?

Post your thoughts here, and I’ll be back with my own this weekend – hopefully Friday but no guarantees!

Strategy

We revisit last week’s hand to consider Justin’s play and just how, if at all, he could actually take advantage of Sylvain’s bet sizing.

Book Club

This week we discuss Parts II – V of Elements of Poker, p. 85 – 175. Learning to Look Left is the article Andrew mentions about the challenge he gave himself.

Timestamps