[Closed] [coaching-feedback] NL SSS Gold with xarry2 - wednesdays at 7pm CET

Adv SSS Coaching - 09/10

someone asked about my vpip/pfr on NL 200 - 1000. HM says:

NL 200: 9.8/8.8
NL400: 10.2/9.4
NL 600: 11/10.2
NL 1000: 11.3/10.5

higher limits allow to be looser mainly due to the higher overall aggression level. maybe I'm also a bit looser there since I don't multitable with like 10+ tables there. multitabling always decreases your vpip/pfr.

Known players: (for a description of vp$ip, pfr, ats, folded bb, af, wts, wsd or hands click here)        
[tg]Position_Stack:hands/vp$ip/pfr/af/wts/ats/foldbb/w$sd;Hero$61,52:///////;MP2$217,40:///////;[/tg]
2,00/4,00 No-Limit Hold'em (10 handed)
Hand recorder used for this poker hand: Texas Grabem 1.9 by www.pokerstrategy.com.

Preflop: Hero is BB with K♠, 9♥
4 folds, MP2 calls $4,00, 4 folds, Hero checks.

Flop: ($10,00) 8♥, 6♣, 8♣ (2 players)
Hero bets $8,00, MP2 calls $8,00.

Turn: ($26,00) Q♠ (2 players)
Hero bets $17,00, MP2 calls $17,00.

River: ($60,00) 4♦ (2 players)
Hero bets $32,52 (All-In), MP2 folds.

Final Pot: $92,52

VPIP / PFR / ATS / foldBBtoSteal / Hands
3b / Squeeze / Limp / Limp/call

AF / FlopCbet / foldtoFlopCbet / foldtoFlopBet / WTS

MP2:
27 / 8 / 14 / 60 / 1.8k
1 / 0 / 21 / 20

2 / 53 / 56 / 66 / 31

I try to steal the pot on the flop. our opponent limps like 21% which is quite loose already. of course he won't fold his PPs or OESD/FD and 8x or 6x hands. but usually his overcard holdings which are a big part of his range. fold to flop bet of 66% is rather high which also supports my steal.
In addition I have the opportunity of 2nd/3barreling, e.g. with overcards like the Q. Many opponents fold their weak PPs or weak/medium draws here as well as UI overcards. On the river I'm still unimproved and I can either c/f or try to push as a 3rd barrel. lets take a look at pot odds first.

I risk 32.52$ in order to win about 57$ (with rake). therefore I need at least 36.3% FE for a profitable push. We have to think about his range first. MP2 is not very aggressive thats why I think he only calls OESD/flushdraws. His range on the river will consist out of 8x/6x/Flushdraws/OESDs/PPs. I don't think there are many Queens in his range thats why the only made hands he usually holds are 8x/6x and 55/66/77/88, 99 and better he usually raises preflop. maybe he calls with 75 which is now a straight but he has to fold 97/T9 and all the flushdraws. Reaching the 36% FE won't be very hard. Nevertheless I think his WTS is a bit too high. Against lower WTS opponents who also have a quite loose limping range I really like this move. Usually you should plan a 3rd barrel already on the turn. If you 2nd barrel against semi loose opponents you should very often place the 3rd barrel, especially if the board provides enouhg draws which are in the range of our opponent. In this case I would push any non club river. In addition we could reduce our turn betsize in order to have more money left on the river - betting only 1/2 pot doesn't create that much FE against any made hand. with like 60% to 2/3 potsize 3rd barrels also many weak made hands have to think about folding.

turnbet 15$ => results in a 53$ river pot and a 34.52$ stack which is 65% potsize and creates more FE. Key point with these moves is that you at least start to plan them before your turnaction.

Xarry's favourite cocktails (week 6)

I was wondering which cocktail to present this week. Even though we already had some ice (strong/weak) based cocktails before I think I can't miss out The Caipirinha.

What I like most about the Caipi is that its so easy to make variations.
Basis is always:

- cane sugar (white, but brown is also possible)
- fresh lime juice (if you like bought lime juice in addition, e.g. Rose's)
- lots of ice, cubes or crushed
- liquor

Now there are many different ways to make Caipis. I always prefer to add like 2cl lime juice and 1/2 to 1 lime (depending on the size of the glass) as well as about 2 teaspoons of cane sugar into a glass. Muddle the limes in order to get their juice as well as some flavours from the cest. You should always prepare your limes. Roll the limes with pressure from the heel of your hand inb order to soften up the inner cell walls which makes it easier to extract jucie afterwards. After that you should cut of the ends and cute the lime into quarters or eights which you add into the glass.
After muddling them together with the sugar and the lime juice I like to stirr this mix with a spoon in order to dissolve as much sugar as possible. As soon as you add ice this will become much harder due to the decrease of temperature. Now I fill the glass with crushed ice or smaller ice cubes (the smaller the ice is the more it melts, so you can adjust the strenght of your drinks with icecube size, I personally prefer crushed ice or small ice cubes since I really like a medium strong drink) and pour about 6cl Cachaca over it.
Cachaca is the traditional sugar cane based spirit of Brasil. However its taste greatly differs from Rum of the Carribean since they use the green sugar cane for Cachaca instead of the sugar cane molasses for Rum. Thats why you should never use Cachaca for Rum based cocktails and the other way round. unfortunately the most Cachacas we get are industrially made. Brands like Pitu are basically just very cheap and poor Cachacas which no local brasilian would ever prefer. As always export products can't compete with the original products. Nevertheless you can buy decent Cachacas here, too. I recommend to use Nega Fulo or Sagatiba pura or velha. They aren't as good as originals but for "European" means and needs very very decent. (If any high roller reads this I recommend Sagatiba Preciosa Premium Cachaca for about 300€ per bottle which is however almost to good to spoil it with ice, lime juice or sugar...)
As you add the Cachaca the ice melts and you should now stirr the cocktail with a long spoon for some revolutions in order to dissolve even more ice and disperse the limes over the whole glass. Usually the drink already tastes delicous but since the ice melted you need to top the glass with ice again so that it looks full
Always mix the drink as you like. Especially the Caipi has no strict rules and boundaries so feel free to try out what you want.

Now some suggestions:

I really like this kind of mixing a Caipi. Especially if you work with fruits like strawberry or raspberry. Just add the fruits together with the limes and muddle them together. This also works without shaking btw.
As you've seen in the vid you can also exchange the spirits or maybe add some other fruit juices or sirups like coconut or vanilla. Try whatever you like to.

Adv SSS Coaching - 09/17

Hi, yesterday I had some interesting hands against a pretty weak player. I post the hands in the order they happened and explain how they affect each other and which consequences this has for my play.

BB is a pretty weak passive opponent, 13 VPIP, 2 PFR. When I started the session he had a fold BBto steal of about 93% over 700 hands. Therefore I steal extremely loose against him, basically with any2 since the preflop raise itself is profitbale. In addition I had the information that he mostly defends his blinds by calling. Thats why I even if i get called by him have postflop winning chances. My hand can either hit a good flop or I'll try my cbet which will also often work even if i'm unimproved. Overall stealing against weak/passive opponents is just very profitable.
Thus 74s is an easy raise against him. I reduced my normal stealraising size in the SB (which is usually 3.5BB) to 3BB in order to make my steal more profitable. It will still create enough foldequity since these guys usually don't care about pot odds and just call if they have like TT/AQ and fold all other weaker hands, also against a pretty small stealraise.

Known players: (for a description of vp$ip, pfr, ats, folded bb, af, wts, wsd or hands click here)       
[tg]Position_Stack:hands/vp$ip/pfr/af/wts/ats/foldbb/w$sd;Hero$26,85:///////;BB$118,05:///////;[/tg]
1/2 No-Limit Hold'em (9 handed)
Hand recorder used for this poker hand: Texas Grabem 1.9 by www.pokerstrategy.com.

Preflop: Hero is SB with 4♣, 7♣
7 folds, Hero raises to $6,00, BB folds.

Final Pot: $8,00

BB instantly folded so I planned to reduce my stealraise size again when I get the next steal opportunity. This happened soon:

Known players: (for a description of vp$ip, pfr, ats, folded bb, af, wts, wsd or hands click here)        
[tg]Position_Stack:hands/vp$ip/pfr/af/wts/ats/foldbb/w$sd;BB$111,55:///////;Hero$35:///////;[/tg]
1/2 No-Limit Hold'em (10 handed)
Hand recorder used for this poker hand: Texas Grabem 1.9 by www.pokerstrategy.com.

Preflop: Hero is SB with K♦, 3♦
8 folds, Hero raises to $5,00, BB folds.

Final Pot: $7,00

He folded again. Very nice. Soon again:

Known players: (for a description of vp$ip, pfr, ats, folded bb, af, wts, wsd or hands click here)       
[tg]Position_Stack:hands/vp$ip/pfr/af/wts/ats/foldbb/w$sd;BB$96,55:///////;Hero$38,00:///////;[/tg]
1,00/2,00 No-Limit Hold'em (9 handed)
Hand recorder used for this poker hand: Texas Grabem 1.9 by www.pokerstrategy.com.

Preflop: Hero is SB with 4♣, 3♦
7 folds, Hero raises to $4,00, BB calls $2,00.

Flop: ($8,00) 3♥, A♦, 4♦ (2 players)
Hero bets $5,00, BB folds.

Final Pot: $13,00

Since he just folds so often minstealraises, even if they give the BB 3:1 just work as well usually. Thats why I tried it and expected an insta fold as in the rounds before. However he now took some time and called. Imo he either has a hand now or he maybe starts to adapt. When you steal that frequently many players will adapt to your aggressiveness, sometimes even the weak ones. However we first have to find out if they do. So, now I didn't know if. The flop is very decent for us. so thats an example where we can even stack someone with a trash hand. on the other hand its not much important what we hold here. we cbet no matter what we have and will make our opponent fold very often - as he did now. this speaks however for a rather weak hand. most of his usual defending hands either contain an Ace or are some medium to high PPs which he usually wouldn't fold to one cbet on the flop. If he jsut folds here he maybe had a much weaker hand and just called because of pot odds/adaptation. However this didn't came to my mind at that point. Thats why I stealed again:

Known players: (for a description of vp$ip, pfr, ats, folded bb, af, wts, wsd or hands click here)        
[tg]Position_Stack:hands/vp$ip/pfr/af/wts/ats/foldbb/w$sd;BB$100:///////;Hero$39,60:///////;[/tg]
1/2 No-Limit Hold'em (10 handed)
Hand recorder used for this poker hand: Texas Grabem 1.9 by www.pokerstrategy.com.

Preflop: Hero is SB with K♥, 9♦
8 folds, Hero raises to $4,00, BB calls $2,00.

Flop: ($8,00) 4♥, T♠, 2♦ (2 players)
Hero bets $5, BB calls $5,00.

Turn: ($18,00) 3♣ (2 players)
Hero checks, BB checks.

River: ($18,00) 4♣ (2 players)
Hero checks, BB checks.

Final Pot: $18,00

He calls again. Imo I made a small mistake here. I should have recognized that he starts to adapt now (which isn't very surprising if I steal every hand against him ♦). The minstealraise is now to small. He probably adapted and won't instafold all the time. Thus I shouldn't give hime that good odds. 3BB would be fine now and still very profitable.
Of course I cbet again. like 60% potsize is enough. he calls. I now assume that he either has hit a T or has a medium to high PP. draws aren't very likely. Turn is a rag which doesn't create enough FE for his flopcallingrange to justify a 2nd barrel. the river as well. Just give up here. he won't fold much (maybe overcards but I don't assume that he calls them on the flop)
He checks behind and I get to see T7s. Now it mad click, he adapted. T7s is never in the normal defending range of 90%+ foldBBtosteal player. He now wants to "play back at me" since I'm stealing that loose against him. This calls for:

- either stealing much tighter
- increasing the stealraisesize again in oder to achieve more FE

I choose the latter. I just don't think he will play that loose against me if I raise 3 or 3.5BB (which is as I said before still profitable). If he did so I would of course have to readapt again and get much tighter.

Known players: (for a description of vp$ip, pfr, ats, folded bb, af, wts, wsd or hands click here)       
[tg]Position_Stack:hands/vp$ip/pfr/af/wts/ats/foldbb/w$sd;BB$102,10:///////;Hero$44,10:///////;[/tg]
1/2 No-Limit Hold'em (9 handed)
Hand recorder used for this poker hand: Texas Grabem 1.9 by www.pokerstrategy.com.

Preflop: Hero is SB with 2♠, 6♣
7 folds, Hero raises to $7,00, BB calls $5,00.

Flop: ($14,00) 8♠, 3♣, 7♠ (2 players)
Hero checks, BB checks.

Turn: ($14,00) 3♦ (2 players)
Hero checks, BB checks.

River: ($14,00) T♦ (2 players)
Hero bets $9, BB folds.

Final Pot: $23,00

I couldn't leave the next stealing spot out ♦ even though its sometimes better to do so. he has just seen what I steal with and cbet with. If he thinks just a little bit I lost all my credit now...
I don't like the flop for cbet much. He won't give mie much credit for a cbet. thats why I dont bet the flop and the turn. since he checksbehind twice I don't think he has something. The T on the river is also a card I can represent, at least a bit. so I try to bluff the river. it worked out fortunately.

I hope I could show you how image, history, adaptation and readaptation work together and how you should apply this to your game. of course we don't often get so many hands against the same opponent on a FR table with SSS. but it happens sometimes. and its basically the same with your table image since all the players on the table can see what you do. thats why you should always consider your own table image if you play against the other opponents on a table even if the weren't involved in a "image-changing" hand.

Xarry's favourite cocktails (week 7)

Its still freezingly cold here...no heating here, but no internet there. I just have to go here

The White Russian:

You need:

- 3cl Vodka
- 3cl Kahlua
- 4cl milk
(- 1cl cream)
- 1 DVD: The Big Lebowski

The latter is probably most important ♦

Just add some ice cubes and the ingredients into a glass. straw, ready. I prefer to just use milk. Usinng some cream makes the whole thing, well, more creamy (and fat...) As always you can exchange the proportions of each ingredient. Wether you like more coffee, vodka or milk.
I also have seen some bars serving the White Russian shaked. Its not the classiv version as the Dude prefers but its a nice variation. Just add all that into a shaker and shake a bit. Then strain it again (without the crushed ice cubes) into a glass containing some new ice cubes. But be aware. Shaking makes the milk foamy but increases the volume. You have to try how much fits in your drinking glass. The more you shake the more foam is created. You can also decide wether you want to stir your drink or not. If not you have a nice gradient of black to white in your drink. However as well for the flavour. as you prefer.
I also tried the vanilla flavoured vodka from Absolut. Its a decent vodka for this drink since kahlua also contains vanilla. However there are much better vodkas available. the most of the vodkas you get are just designed for mixing, where you usually can use almost any to achieve a moderate quality of your drink. But using the best you get or can afford is always recommended.

and don't forget to tes the milk before you buy, ähh.... use it

Hi xarry,

I love "the dude", too.
Unfortunately I just missed your PPC, I didn't even know you do them.
Is there a thread where one can apply for such a coaching and what is required (which limits, software, platform etc.) for application?

VERY interesting hand series in your last post, btw.

As I'm writing this anyway, here is a recommendation for you: Whiskey Highball
- 4 icecubes
- 2-3 cl Whisky (no need for the 18yo here )
- Fill up 0.3l glass with Ginger ale

Quoting wikipedia "A highball, as opposed to a cocktail which is drunk in the evening before dinner, is drunk in the afternoon when the sun is high (ball referring to the sun) and should be light and refreshing" and translated German wikipedia "Served always in a high-volume glass, e.g. a highball glass, and with spare decoration."
So you can use a slice of lemon if you want, but I myself am more of the minimalistic type. ♦

Hi Gonzo,

I will make a review for the PPC, so you won't miss the most interesting hands. However I just did this coaching for Termi8r and his SSS Project. Usually I don't do PPCs. But I assume that there will be more PPCs with Termi8r.
Thx very much for the Whiskey Highball. Sounds great. I also appreciate your explanation of Highballs. Fits perfectly into the cocktail series. I didn't do Whiskey Cocktails/Drinks before.

xarry

The great thing about this coaching review is that you can print it out twice.

Once for next to your PC to read up on before playing SSS and once for the Kitchen for after playing SSS

♦

Adv SSS Coaching - 09/24

Hi, took some time to make this review... had no internet
I also just have defective HHs from last weekend due to the partypoker update. So I think I have to talk about something instead of reviewing hands from the session.

How many hands do you set as "minimum" to reraise on stats?

Rule of thumb1: the closer your decision gets the more hands you need
Rule of thumb 2: the more infrequent the action underlying the considered stat is the more hands you need

ad 1: Why should we play marginal hands where we aren't sure if the stats determining our action and EV are true at all?
ad 2: e.g. restealing against an ATS of 25 over 500 Hands can still be wrong (or risky) if we actually just have 10 out of 40 steal situations for our opponent within these 500 Hands.
This means stats like the VPIP or PFR become accurate pretty fast. ATS and fold BB to steal less faster. But 3bet% or c/r Turn% take many, many total hands to be halfway accurate. Thus you should always take into account which sample size stands behind the stat you want to use. (usually your tracker program can show you this, i.e. ATS 25% (10 out of 40 cases).

from 0 to 30 Hands:
you should almost never base your decision on the stats you get. it could mean anything. together with a read you've picked up during these few hands you can judge your opponent though. if you've seen him limp/calling K4o or making a reraise with A3 you could say that he's either way too loose or in the 2nd case way to aggressive. but nevertheless if you have 32/25 stats from your aggressive opponent you can't assume his average PFR is 25. You can just assume that he's pretty agressive and put him on rather loose raising/reraising ranges if you play against him.
Another possibility is to assume that your unknown opponent plays in average like the typical opponent on the limit you play. That's again very unprecise but better than having no reads at all. That's why I always try to find out some typical ranges/stat values for my current limit.

from 30 to 100 Hands:
you can now slowly use basic values like VPIP or PFR but again be aware of marginal situations where only precise stats guarantee profit. Again additional reads or typical values can help you.
In addition I often try to peg my "half-known" opponents as typical opponent types I learned to know in the past through experience. Try too take a look at the stats and remember which actions/plays are more likely for this type than others. Especially when the values are extreme (either very passive like 9/5 or 38/4 or 46/33 even less hands say more since its less probable that they are due to coincidence.

from 100 to 500 Hands:
VPIP and PFR are now usually halfway accurate and you have like +/-5% variance. however I start making plays with like 5% edge. again my decisions are strengthened by reads and notes.

from 500 to 1000 Hands:
VPIP and PFR now usually only have like +/-1-2% variance and I make closer reraises or calls against reraises. Usually ATS/foldBBtosteal also get halfway accurate now. But as I said before its always important to consider the actual samplesize you have for your stat. c/r Flop or aggression factor are even unsecure but can be used as a help in many semi-close situations.

1000+ Hands:
most basic values are now pretty realistic, nevertheless we have some variance. Plays where like only 1% or less edge determines the outcome shouldn't be made though. thats just risking to much.
For doing that I really like to have like 5k+ hands. That's why I recommend to every shortstackstrategy player to use a datamining software or regularly download mined hands for the limits you play. Especially for SSS stats are of vital importance and we basically can never have enough, unless our computer or software dislikes them...

Xarry's favourite cocktails (week 8)

This week I'll present a great Liquor and mixing ingredient: Licor 43

Its Spains most popular Liquor and consists out of 43 "secret" ingredients. The producers also say that the recipe is hundreds of years old. Well, I don't believe that but its anyway not very important. It just tastes great! Pretty sweet, much like vanilla, apricot and other citrus fruits, also a bit nuttily.
Most famous is the Licor 43 with milk where you just add like 4-6cl into a highball glas together with some icecubes. As well as the White Russian you can also shake this drink so it gets foamy. But this liquor is basically mixable with anything. You can try fuit juices like pineapple or orange as well as adding it to popular cocktails like the Caipirinha. Its even good for coffee or of course on the rocks. On their website you can find many other recipes. just give it a try, its worth it!

Adv SSS Coaching - 10/03

Hand 1:

Known players: (for a description of vp$ip, pfr, ats, folded bb, af, wts, wsd or hands click here)        
[tg]Position_Stack:hands/vp$ip/pfr/af/wts/ats/foldbb/w$sd;Hero$208,50:///////;SB$588,25:///////;[/tg]
5/10 No-Limit Hold'em (10 handed)
Hand recorder used for this poker hand: Texas Grabem 1.9 by www.pokerstrategy.com.

Preflop: Hero is BB with 8♥, 4♥
8 folds, SB calls $5,00, Hero raises to $35,00, SB calls $25,00.

Flop: ($70,00) 6♦, 9♦, 5♣ (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $42, SB raises to $84,00, Hero folds.

Final Pot: $196,00

I didn't have many hands for the SB at that point. However I evaluated him as loose/passive so far. His preflop action is very weak. If you face a SB opencomplete then you should very often consider to raise. I definetely don't raise any2 against any completer. To do this you really need to have reads that your opponent either folds frequently to your preflop raise or that its easy to outplay him postflop. But you have to be careful if your opponents make opencompletes with either pretty strong hands or with the potential to trap you. If this is the case you should get more careful when raising their completes.
In this spot I have a rather trashy hand nevertheless with some potential concerning draws. Since I assume a overall pretty wide completing range I think we have enough foldequity to make the preflop raise itself profitable.
(we risk 25$ in order to win 20$ thus we need at least 55.6% foldequity which isn't pretty much). If the SB calls we still have a hand with at least some potential (you should really prefer hands like 84s to 73o since offsuited trash has even less potential) and together with our position and the cbet we will often make a good profit.
We flop a gutshot, the SB checks to us. Whats our line?
I would say, the less often a checkraise is likely we should cbet. Giving up our remaining outs against a c/r isn't nice. Since SB seemed rather passive I made the cbet. As played its of course an easy fold.
What if SB just c/c the flop?
If we hit the gutshot we b/c. Even with an 8 on the turn we could think of going broke on such a drawy board against a presumeably bad player. Otherwise we should check behind - which is our big advantage in position. We use the flop cbet but even if its unsuccessful we get 2 streets for our bet and a potsize which is big enough to usually ensure a full payout if we hit.

Hand 2:

Known players: (for a description of vp$ip, pfr, ats, folded bb, af, wts, wsd or hands click here)        
[tg]Position_Stack:hands/vp$ip/pfr/af/wts/ats/foldbb/w$sd;Hero$39:///////;SB$170:///////;[/tg]
1/2 No-Limit Hold'em (10 handed)
Hand recorder used for this poker hand: Texas Grabem 1.9 by www.pokerstrategy.com.

Preflop: Hero is BB with J♠, Q♣
8 folds, SB raises to $6,00, Hero calls $4,00.

Flop: ($12,00) K♣, Q♥, 7♣ (2 players)
SB bets $8, Hero raises to $33,00 (All-In), SB calls $25,00.

Turn: ($78,00) 3♣
River: ($78,00) 6♥

Final Pot: $78,00

SB: VPIP 18 / PFR 9 / ATS 32 (SB ATS 50%) / Flop cbet 85%

The basic strategy doesn't include calls. Nevertheless we often get good spots to make calls on higher limits. We get 2:1 wich means we at least need to make a profitable play in about 33%. We will hit the flop with either a Q or a J in about this percentage. Of course we don't always win if we hit. But if we start getting a bit looser with either floating or bluff/semibluffraising his cbets we can easily compensate for that.
Should we push this flop?
Only a look at his range can help. SB ATS is 50%. He cbets about 85% of his range so the range we face is about 42.5%. We have like 65% equity against this range:

42.1%:
44+,A2s+,K2s+,Q4s+,J6s+,T7s+,97s+,87s,A3o+,K6o+,Q8o+,J8o+,T8o+

Which hands will he call (usually)?

I assume every good draw (Flushdraw, OESD), every Q and K and overpairs/sets:

23.5%:
QQ+,77,AQs+,AcJc,AcTc,Ac9c,Ac8c,Ac7c,Ac6c,Ac5c,Ac4c,Ac3c,Ac2c,K2s+,Q4s+,JTs,Jc9c,Jc8c,Jc7c,Jc6c,Tc9c,Tc8c,Tc7c,9c8c,9c7c,8c7c,AQo+,A7o,K6o+,Q8o+,JTo

He calls 23.5/42.1% of his range which equals 44.2% foldequity. Our equity against the callingrange decreases to 39.5%. Thus our EV (with rake) is the following:

EV = 0.442*20$ + 0.558*[(45$-3$)*0.395 - 33$*0.605] = +6.96$

We make a good profit with this move and in addition our opponent won't steal as often against us if we defend more often that way so we get more runs in future. However if you are precise you need to consider that if he tightens up we also have to do so in order to keep our EV positive. But I hope you already know that adapting and readapting stuff And please don't forget that we faced an aggressive opponent who stealed in the SB with 50%. If they just steal 35% or less things get closer. Therefore you shouldn't defend that way against every opponent - only against those who steal aggressive.

Xarry's favourite cocktails (week 9)

This time I'll present a famous shot: The B-52

You need:

- 2cl Kahlua
- 2cl Bailey's Irish Cream
- 1cl Rum Overproov with 73% alc. (Old Pascas)

The trick about this drink to pour the spirits into the glass without mixing them. Thus you have 3 different layers. First Kahlua, then Bailey's and on top the Rum. I use a small teaspoon and pour the spirits over the spoon in order to take away their speed. Since they have a different density the don't mix afterwards. If you've managed that you have to ignite the drink. Its best to use unchilled rum since its burning much better when its warm. Of course you need decent glasses which stand some heat and maybe look good to. Now pick a short straw, take a deep breath and there you go, but not to slow... otherwise it can become pretty hot (which it is anyway due to the alc%) you don't need many of them to have a funny evening ♦

Do they sometimes serve this in margarita glasses aswell?

hmm, usually you get this B-52 served in shot glasses which stand fire. did they also enlight the drink?
I think the drink you saw/got served was something different. It would just be way tooooooooooo strong to drink one full cocktail glass. However many bartenders like to create "layered" cocktails. maybe it was something like that.

Xarry2, i am always glad when i read your coaching rewievs, very nice job you are doing and we can learn a lot from them.
I am not using stats so much as you do, as when multitabling this would slow down my decisons and i would probably sometimes decide wrong, looking too much at stasand thinking about them in the time of play, that is why i am taking more notes, memorizing things and situations and looking at PT stats after sesion play, but i am not using ACEhud or similar programme at the time of play
Do you think is neccessary using stats at NL100 and NL200 as much as you do when making proper decision playing SSS?! I honestly dont think is so much important, if you have other solutions for making proper decisions.

basically i think if you can manage to keep that many things in mind you don't need stats. many pros don't use them since they have very strong reads and memorize things perfect. however they often have a smaller "opponent-pool" as you have on NL 100/200. nevertheless if you think that having too many stats blinking on your tables if you multitable disturbes you I think its a good point for not using them. especially if you make many notes that compensates much. i think you will also know many of your regular opponents. thus you adapt to them even without stats.
I like that.
I'm used to stats and don't have such a good memory. so I have to use them well, some things you really can just make perfect when using stats. if you advance higher limits like NL 1000 i think stats are very important to make correct marginal decisions which you have to take if you want to achieve a high winrate. but if you multitable this isn't that important. and on the other hand, on NL 1k you have much less opponents and you will know the regs even better. so, i think if you have good reads/memory you can still achieve a good winrate without stats.
So, continue this way if you feel good with doing it. Sooner or later you can include stats slowly into your game but so far its definetely not a must, especially if you manage to gather all the other information you need to adapt by other means.

Xarry2, thanks for your comment. I ll try to keep it that way up to NL400 (if i ll manage to come there ;)), afterwards i will focus more on stats in the play to keep marginal decisions more effective and also i will definitely reduce number of tables to max 6..and of course, i ll keep in date with your coaching reviews, helping me a lot, thanks ♦

Adv SSS Coaching - 10/08

5/10 No-Limit Hold'em (8 handed)
Hand recorder used for this poker hand: Texas Grabem 1.9 by www.pokerstrategy.com.

Preflop: Hero is BU with A♥, Q♥
UTG+2 calls $10,00, 3 folds, CO calls $10,00, Hero raises to $55,00, 2 folds, UTG+2 calls $45,00, CO folds.

Flop: ($135,00) 6♣, 8♥, 9♠ (2 players)
UTG+2 checks, Hero checks.

Turn: ($135,00) A♠ (2 players)
UTG+2 checks, Hero checks.

River: ($135,00) T♠ (2 players)
UTG+2 checks, Hero bets $54, UTG+2 calls $54,00.

Final Pot: $243,00

UTG+2: VPIP: 26, PFR: 17, Early position Limp: 2%

Flop: AF: 2.2, checkraise: 6%, fold to cbet 52%
Turn: AF 1.7, checkraise: 2%, fold to cbet 57%

I doubled up before. When you are bigstacked hands get more difficult and you have to think deeper about your postflop play.
Here I isolate UTG+2. He limps pretty tight in early position. I assume he will mostly limp lower PPs. Thats why the flop isn't the best for a cbet. 52% fold to cbet is also a bit looser. Nevertheless I would afterwards prefer to cbet due to the following reasons:

- he is not very aggressive on the flop
- checkraise% is average and not high => if I get checkraised I can easily fold
- I can clearly put him on a lower PP range => 22-55 have a pretty hard time calling on the turn again => 2nd barrels
- I have 6 outs + bdfd and can represent every overcard

However not cbetting isn't a big fault. You should cbet here often if you have some flop FE and a lower c/r value. I checked behind an hit my ace. Afterwards I think delayed cbetting is the best play. The A is a scarecard and my opponent is on a level to understand that I will usually cbet with 100% of my range. Thats why I think he will call with many weaker hands here. My check behind will really look like pot control for a good player. So just cbet and you get more value.
It really helps If you can evaluate the range of your opponent. limpcall% and firstinraise% (or pfr) will help you much doing this.

5/10 No-Limit Hold'em (10 handed)
Hand recorder used for this poker hand: Texas Grabem 1.9 by www.pokerstrategy.com.

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with J♠, A♣
UTG folds, UTG+1 calls $10,00, UTG+2 folds, Hero raises to $45,00, 6 folds, UTG+1 calls $35,00.

Flop: ($105,00) 2♠, 2♦, K♥ (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $50, UTG+1 calls $50,00.

Turn: ($205,00) 9♣ (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero checks.

River: ($205,00) 5♦ (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero checks.

Final Pot: $205,00

UTG+1: VPIP: 47, PFR: 7, AF 1.5, fold to cbet 55%, EP limp 43%

Against such a player I really like to loosen up in order to play HU. As long as you don't face very loose or aggressive players behind you this won't lead into problems often.
Flop is nice for a cbet even against such a loose player. He will miss it with the biggest part of his range and even if he has a PP I have 6 outs left.
I also don't have to cbet much on such a dry flop which makes my cbet very cheap. Against a c/r from such a passive player I can also fold imo. I get 3.6:1 for an all-in but I think such a player does not c/raise all his low PPs or bluffs. So I play mostly against 2x or Kx and the I can't count the 6 outs. If you face a more aggressive checkraiser calling the c/r could be ok.
Pushing the turn would however be a fault. His usual flopcalling rnage consists mostly out of made hands where I'm behind and where I can't create enough foldequity. Just check behind an hop to improve on the river or get a free SD.

Xarry's favourite cocktails (week 10)

I just found this drink and it sounds very interesting, I didn't try it however but will do so soon: The Dragon Life

You need:

- 1cl fresh lemon juice
- 2cl Pisang Ambon (which is a Banana Liquor)
- 2cl Melon Sirup
- 12cl Passion Fruit Juice
- 4cl Pineapple Juice
- 4cl Cachaca

Sounds pretty fruity ♦
Just add all the ingredients into a cocktail shaker and shake with much much ice. Strain it into a either tropic glass or a tumbler. I don't know If you need further ice cubes after shaking. Just shake strongly and enough ice should've been diluted. When I tried it I will maybe add some tips.
As decoration you can add a melon slice on the edge of the glass and a sweet cocktail cherry into the glass.

hey Xarry, is it possible that some bars only use 2 ingredients for a b-52?

I was so surprised that there were 3 for some reason and i've drunk loads of them. (maybe thats WHY i didn't know there were 3 ingredients hehe)

I think b-52's have been a source of free lighters for me. Its happened several times that I've looked in my pocket after a good night and discover I've accidentally pinched a couple! Don't really need em though so they end up going to my friends who smoke

Xarry, i understand about delayed c-bet in the first hand, smart move, but anway with such move you give opponent a chance for a free card on the river what reduces your chance of win, as river brought possible flush to the guy? i think with his stats, he will call your c-bet on the turn anway...

@ DaPhunk:

I think most B52 get served with these 3 ingredients but often they only add very little rum on the top. Only as much as need to make the shot burn. That's maybe why you didn't recognize the third layer. But I can imagine that some bars serve a "light" or cheaper version of the drink.

@ drachdudek:

yep, i don't like my line afterwards. checking behind the flop is okay since there aren't many draws in his range. and usually he does not pick up a FD with his mostly PP-limping range. I somehow wanted to balance but that was actually not neccessary. btw, balancing is always a line which does not give you the optimal EV but is important to ensure constant winnings with your other holdings.
=> check behind flop is nice but cbet turn

Hi Xarry2, I got a question for you in my mind while playing.

Last coaching , you told the players that you tend to Reraise preflop to 2.5x his original raise instead of 3x. This to let the bad players call with worser hands or 4-bet you.

My question is regarding this:
Is it wise that if you have a 19bb stack, and Villain openraise 4bb, that you reraise to 10bb or shove it all-in immediately?

Also if you have a 21bb stack, should you go all-in immediately while reraising or do it 2.5x accordingly? (4bb openraise)

Do you do this 2.5x reraise only to bad players or do you balance it and apply this as well to solid TAG players and stuff?

Can you tell me a bit more about this new preflop strategy, I would like to discuss some things or 2 with you about this as it is very interesting about Risk/Reward ratio of this.

- Gerv

Adv SSS Coaching - 10/15

Yesterday I finally got own internet. So please excuse that I'm a bit late again.

This review I want to deal with one interesting hand. First I'll talk about the situation itself and then I'll introduce an important question which was asked during the coaching:

Known players: (for a description of vp$ip, pfr, ats, folded bb, af, wts, wsd or hands click here)   
[tg]Position_Stack:hands/vp$ip/pfr/af/wts/ats/foldbb/w$sd;SB$181,12:///////;MP1$192,60:///////;Hero$28,15:///////;UTG+2$62,15:///////;MP3$46:///////;[/tg]
1/2 No-Limit Hold'em (8 handed)
Hand recorder used for this poker hand: Texas Grabem 1.9 by www.pokerstrategy.com.

Preflop: Hero is BB with T♠, K♣
UTG+2 calls $2,00, MP1 calls $2,00, MP2 folds, MP3 calls $2,00, 2 folds, SB calls $1,00, Hero checks.

Flop: ($10,00) 9♦, T♥, 6♥ (5 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, UTG+2 checks, MP1 bets $5, 2 folds, Hero raises to $26,15 (All-In), UTG+2 folds, MP1 calls $21,15.

Turn: ($62,30) 9♣
River: ($62,30) Q♠

Final Pot: $62,30

Top pair good kicker is a decent but not very strong hand in a multiway freeplay. the ranges of our opponents are quite big since they were all free to limp for a cheap prize. if we bet out into 4 opponents we show strenght with maybe a range from toppair good kicker+. if we now get a raise its not easy to play. in addition to that if we get called on the flop how should we play the turn? this board will often get pretty scary on the turn and our hand thus much weaker.
of course it is often correct to make a 2nd barrel on such a board - especially against loose ranges - but this definetely needs some experience. Thus I decided to use a different line than betting directly. The checkraise has many advantages compared to the direct bet. First it will usually lead our opponents to play more hands than they would if we made a direct bet. especially MP1 and MP3 will often use their position to either steal or semibluff the board. this means they will invest money with much weaker hands than they would if we made a bet.
the second advantage is that we make our decision easier. we simply go all-in (or commit us) on the flop. thus we don't have a difficult flop or turnplay.
You can also say that c/raising makes it harder for our opponents to put us on a range. we could c/raise monsters or maybe an OESD with overcard - who knows? This is always nice. We want to give our opponents the chance to make faults - and the more we deceive or at least diversify our range the more false estimations the can make.
So, when should you c/raise and when should you bet?

The more passive or tight your opponents are the easier we can play our medium/weak made hand with a direct bet. if a tight/passive player raises us or calls the flop we can often give up our hand. in addition c/raising against passive players makes no sense since if they don't bet their weak hands and just bet the good ones we always run into them. moreover check/raising against passive players will just give too many freecards which is never nice in a multiway pot.
The more aggressive our opponents are the more decent becomes our c/raise. if they are quite loose in addition its nice, too since they won't belive our c/raise is a good hand. We will see funny calls then
Against very loose opponents however it is usually best to just bet through. The will call with any gutshot aso...

To sum up you should always try to find the best line which is the one with the highest EV.

After I played the hand someone asked why I pushed directly. In this case I think every normal raise costs to much of our remaining stack. I usually prefer to always push directly if a normal raise is 50% or more of my remaining stack. Thus I would push directly if my remaining stack is smaller than 30$ (a normal raise is ~15$).
Why is there a difference between a direct push and a normal raise?
If you push all-in your opponent faces a final decision. He gets the pot odds for a call and has to decide wether to call or fold. However, if you do not push directly and have money left in your stack there is still the chance that you will maybe fold to a push from your opponent (of course we don't play 3b/fold or reraise/fold, at least not often) But thats not very important. Our opponent will definetely see some foldequity. As a result he will continue with more weak holdings than to a direct push. he may either just call the normal raise (which many bad players do) or he will push over our raise in order to "catch a bluff" maybe. The portion of additional hands our opponent plays against us is varying greatly from player to player. But there is a difference. More weak hands in our opponents range => more profit for us.
To sum up: normal raises not looking like they already commit us anyway (thats why max up to 50% of our remaining stack) give our opponents additional possibilities to make faults. and thats our profit.

Coming back to this hand: maybe if we have a 33$ stack left and c/r to 15$ some opponents will maybe push a draw or a medium pair. since they see some FE. wherease they would maybe fold a gutshot+pair to an all-in.

Xarry's favourite cocktails (week 11)

This week cocktail will be the Cucumber Collins

You need:

- 5-6cl Gin (Hendricks Gin is the original for this drink, it is flavoured with rose petals and cucumber)
- about 1cl fresh lemon juice
- 2cl simple 50:50 sugar sirup
- 1/2 lime
- one slice cucumber
- Soda Water

You need to mix the drink in a Boston Shaker mixing glass. Quarter the 1/2 lime and add it into the glass. As well you can add 1 or 2 pieces of cucumber. This depends on how much cucumber taste you want to have. Muddle the limes and cucumber in order to release their flavours and juices. Now you add the simple sirup and the fresh lemon juice. Again the exact portions depend on your own taste. If you don't have simple sirup (which is 50%, water 50% sugar) you could also use powdered sugar or bought lime juice. However the portions will change. I would use 1-1.5 teaspoons of powder sugar or 1.5 cl bought sugar sirup. Now add the gin and fill the mixing glass with ice cubes. Shake while silently counting to ten.
When you finished shaking you should try the drink with a straw in order to balance. If everything is fine you can prepare a Collins Glass which is usually more narrow than tumblers and has about 240-350ml volume. Put ice cubes into the glass and strain the drink into the glass. After that you can float the glass with soda water. As decoration you use the rest of the cucumber slice and maybe a lemon twist.
On youtube you can find all the basic information about boston shaking, lemon twist, simple sirup or balancing. I also found this video about how to make a Cucumber Collins:

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=_IXwroO0L_w

the glass he's using is btw a very nice Collins Glass.

Adv SSS Coaching - 10/22

Known players: (for a description of vp$ip, pfr, ats, folded bb, af, wts, wsd or hands click here)       
[tg]Position_Stack:hands/vp$ip/pfr/af/wts/ats/foldbb/w$sd;BU$135,38:///////;Hero$50,95:///////;[/tg]
1/2 No-Limit Hold'em (9 handed)
Hand recorder used for this poker hand: Texas Grabem 1.9 by www.pokerstrategy.com.

Preflop: Hero is UTG+2 with T♠, T♦
UTG+1 folds, Hero raises to $7,00, 4 folds, BU calls $7,00, 2 folds.

Flop: ($17,00) J♥, 2♦, 7♦ (2 players)
Hero bets $12, BU raises to $128,38 (All-In), Hero folds.

Final Pot: $157,38

BU:
35 Hands! VPIP 66, PFR 31

Not many hands, however a clear tendency to loose/aggressive.
cbet is a must against such a loose player. And most of the time I think we hold the best hand. Jx beats us, a set 2s or 7s. two pairs aren't very likely (J7, J2 and 72 aren't very often in a calling range). Despite that there's a flushdraw out and maybe some gutshots. Since my remaing stack is a bit bigger and the board is semi drawy I like to cbet stronger - about 70% potsize. I usually like to cbet between 50-67% PS. in some cases like this one (loose opponent, big stack left, some draws possible) I cbet ~70%.
After the raise we should - as always - consider the pot odds and then estimate a reraising range in order to call or fold correctly.

Pot Odds are:

17$+12$+ 43.95$ / 31.95$ = 2.28:1 which equals 30.5% breakeven equity.

Pot Odds aren't very good. With 3:1 it would be much easier to call. But if our opponent just raises toppair+, maybe some good middle pairs (middlepair +overcards or backdoors) and good draws our equity lies very near to the BE-Equity. Let's nevertheless try a basic analysis:

Our equity against:

Top Pair: 12%
2pair: 12%
set: 14%
against flushdraws: overall ~60%
(lone FD: 67%, FD+GutShot: 63%, FD+Overcards 47%)
weak draws (gutshots, middle pairs, middle pockets) and bluffs ~80%

How often are these handgroups in his range??? We have to estimate.

Top Pair ~60%
2pair ~ 5%
set ~ 5%
Flushdraws ~ 15%
weak draws/made hands/bluffs: 15%

=> Our Equity is (0.60*12%)+(0.05*12%)+(0.05*14%)+(0.15*60%)+(0.15*80%) = 29.5%

Of course this method is very rough. But I don't have enough hands to say more. We could definetely add some more draws into his range.

Top Pair ~55%
2pair ~ 5%
set ~ 5%
Flushdraws ~ 20%
weak draws/made hands/bluffs: 15%

=> Our Equity is (0.55*12%)+(0.05*12%)+(0.05*14%)+(0.20*60%)+(0.15*80%) = 31.9%

Imo it still stays very close. I personally don't like to call such close hands if I don't know my opponent well enough to make halfway correct range estimations. We could only call this hand if he bluffs in more than the estimated 15% imo. Also a board providing more good draws or medium made hands would speak for calling the push. Maybe J87ss or J67ss.

To sum up, our big stack, the only semi-drawy board and the lack of information speak for folding to the raise.

Xarry's favourite cocktails (week 12)

Strangely I didn't include a Tequila Cocktail so far. So its time for the Classic One, however in a special recipe: The Tequila Sunrise

You need:

- 6cl Tequila Silver
- 1-2cl Grenadine Sirup
- 1cl fresh Lemon Juice
- 1cl fresh Lime Juice
- 12cl Orange Juice

Since this drink is very common and available in almost any bar it somehow gets less respect than it deserves. Maybe this is due to the fact that most bars just use very poor ingredients or a simple recipe. Of course, on a private party I'm glad having Tequila, Orange Juice and Some Ice Cubes. But there's much more potential in this drink - if you use good ingredients.
To start with, which Tequila? Most of you will only know Sierra Tequila. Its as with Vodka. Gorbatschow is known to everyone in central Europe but every Russian would just laugh if we called that good Vodka. Thus, you can use Sierra but should be aware that its one of the most poor Tequilas. I don't want to go into detail but key for the quality of a spirit is always the raw materials and their processing. The latter is of vital importance for the quality. Maybe you know that spirits are destilled from fermented raw materials like wheat for Vodka and sugar cane for Rum. Tequila is made of agaves which provide the sugar for the fermentation. Here microorganisms produce the alcohol out of sugar so that the drink can be destilled to reach like 40% alc. Now comes the clue. It is allowed to use up to 49% non-agave sugar (usually this is sugar cane). Thus the destillery can save loads of money. However, as you can imagine, sugar cane just gives sugar but no flavour. The results are so calles "Mixtos"-Tequilas which also have liek 40% alc. but never a flavour like 100% agave Tequilas. Just try the 100% once and compare it to a mixtos (which Sierra is btw). You will never drink mixtos again....
Okay, so far concerning the Tequila. Just search for good ones in internet shops. I can recommend Sauza Hornitos. Besides the juices are important, too. I recommend to use fresh lime and lemon juice. If nothing is available a 2cl of Roses Lime Juice is ok, too. Using good orange juice is also key to a good Tequila Sunrise. Never use concentrates. Try to use juices with a high % of fruit juice. If you want, you can also use fresh orange Juice, but thats definetely just something for special occasions.
Now, that we've finished the ingredients (I hope you see how important good ingredients are, for every drink or nutrition at all...) we can start with mixing which proves to be quite simple.
Add all the ingredients except the Grenadine Sirup into a cocktail shaker. Add some ice cubes and shake while counting to 10. Fill the drinking glass to 1/3 with crushed ice and strain the mix into it. The glass should be a high volume glass so that all the drink fits into it. Now you just have to carefully float the drink with the Grenadine Sirup. Either you pour carefully or you let it float over a spoon so that it slowly drops to the bottom of the glass. Sometimes the "Sunrise" is already very nice. If you want to make it bigger then carefully stir until enough of the sirup is dispersed. The more Sirup you use the sweeter it gets and the more "sunrise" you can achieve. But don't overdo it. Too much grenadine ruins the drink. Besides the optical gradient (red to yellow) there's also a flavour gradient (sweet to sour). Choose the point with your favourite flavour with your straw (Usually you don't stir the drink in order to keep the "Sunrise" alive). As decoration you can use a lime- and a orangeslice.

as you can see you can also use a tropical glass. Imo the "Sunrise" is quite nice on this photograph.

Coaching schedule is messed up could yout ell us here officialy when your coaching is as I do not see you on Monday 19;30 CET as of NOW..