YOLO calls and more...
High stakes player bencb has delivered a true masterpiece with his first English video and you shouldn't hesitate a second to dive into it!
The first English video by for all members with at least is not a classic e-learning video. It's neither short, nor does it feature a professional PowerPoint presentation. All in all, it doesn't appear as if a professional has worked on it at all, or picked out the 'key takeaways'.
But most of you are probably going to want to watch the whole video because bencb is simply a master of his craft who makes following his thought process a fascinating experience.
Specification beats generalisation
In poker, different concepts and ideas are in a constant battle with each other. "We can defend a lot against a min-raise from the button because of the favourable odds we get" is directly contradicting "We have to play tight when out of position". But what does this mean specifically? The two quoted approaches are obviously nonsense. We can't simply base our entire calling range on equity, while we also shouldn't narrow down our defend range to just QQ+ and AQs+.
In his video, Ben reflects upon these borderlines and specifies them. "I'm calling with T6s+ against a min-raise from UTG and with T8s+ against a 2.5x raise, explaining why I'm still folding T7 here." Additionally, he also illustrates the aspects that determine his borderline hands. For example, when defending J7o in the big blind, he explains what stats should be taken into account in order to decide whether you should call or not and what your post-flop game plan should look like in detail.
When in doubt, he's also not afraid to switch to a full precision level, calculating in less than two minutes whether a push with 98o on the button with 7.5 BBs left was a good or a bad play.
Entertaining explanations of ideas & concepts
Thanks to Ben, "YOLO call" is a term that has made it into my repertoire as well. "When a recreational player has won a couple of chips, you could definitely get some YOLO calls from hands like 56s in this spot". What a perfect description!
Other remarks on concepts like "protection" versus "isolating against a better range" are presented in an entertaining fashion as well, naturally, all the while not lacking any substance.
Admitting mistakes & unconventional solutions
Someone who's particularly good at something is usually also better able to admit possible mistakes. This characteristic can also be observed in Ben. "Oh, I've pushed Q3o right there. That's obviously pretty bad." He's simply presenting himself as a collected and authentic player.
On top of that, you can tell that he's really putting a lot of thought into everything he does. For instance, in one spot he decides to limp with Q8s on the button, refusing to play strictly according to templates and rules of thumb.
Top 3 fish indicators
When listening to Ben, you can obviously tell that he's competent. In life, however, it's just as much as important to be able to realise when someone is not.
Therefore, let's have a look at my favourite three indicators to assess whether you're up against a fish or a professional.
Simply imagine you are in a situation where you are not an expert in a given field while your counterpart is pretending to be exactly that. Now it's up to you to find out whether he's a "bullshitter" or not.
Fish indicator 1: Utilising simple truths
The less someone has a clue, the clearer things are. Any expert knows that details are often decisive and general statements can't really be made. If your counterpart picks up your naive theories with a remark like "Well, unfortunately, it's not that easy because you have to differentiate a bit between...", that's a good sign! In contrast, a general answer like "Yup, exactly! The rich get richer while the poor get poorer..." is quite a clear fish indicator.
Fish indicator 2: Childish excitement on Hollywood level
When dealing with a specific topic for a long time, the initial excitement for it vanishes for many experts. Hype is replaced by realism. I've once spoken to a trader and he told me:
"Arne, did you know that the Forex is the biggest financial system in the world? It has deep and complex structures and features millions of traders that all want to win while simply not getting the patterns they themselves cause every day. Actually understanding the true price is really a revelation and that's when you're all set for making money!"
No professional would ever talk like that. Ever. You surely won't be getting any of my money!
Fish indicator 3: None or wrong quantitative assertions
A "bullshitter" likes to use numbers as a rhetorical means to pretend to be competent and successful. Picking up an index and discussing it in detail can often result in clarity. Once again, I'm quoting a trader: "My system features three trades a day with a profit probability of 70 percent! Additionally, I'm also losing less in case of a loss, while gaining more in case of a profit."
Of course! Why don't you quit your day-job and invest €1,000 then? Simply invest 1/20 of your bankroll thrice a day and let things just run their course. After 172 days you should've banked €120 millions already!
Exercise: Is this person a math genius or simply an impostor?
