hackbinder

hi hackbinder,

welcome to our beginner's course! it's a good thing you discovered this. ♦
i am sure veriz will take good care of you. what you say is true. this game isnt as easy as it initially looks. in order to do well, hard work and discipline is needed. i think its great that you've decided to earn your way up the limits as it forces you to improve and study.

smiles,
wendy

Question 1: What is your motivation for playing poker? (Be as vague or specific as you want with this one, but try to think of all the reasons and elaborate on them.)

My motivation is become more mentally strong. Also, I like competition. Gmaes like poker appeal to me because they are cerebral.

Question 2: What are your weaknesses when playing poker? (What are the mistakes you know you are making during your games? Are you playing while you're tired? Are you tilting easily? Want to see the showdown too much? Write down as many as you think are affecting you.)

1- Overvaluing top pair... 2) Playing when I'm tired (I play at night after the baby has gone to sleep)... 3) Tilt control (this is getting much better)... 4) Overthinking when I'm playing (this leads to "he must be bluffing").

Question 3: What does it mean to play tight aggressive? (Describe in your own words what playing tight aggressive is and why does it work.)

You play PFR <13, VPIP <16, Agg Factor of +2.5... So you play few hands aggresively, betting instead of calling...

Good job! Homework #1 Done!

You have a lot of competition in poker, that's also why I do like it and of course began to play it. But what I'd add is math, I really like doing the math in poker which has improved my game a lot and which you gonna need on higher stakes.

Most of the weakness you wrote can easily be fixed by posting hands (analyzing your session). We will start writing feedback to your play. Usually negative feedback will put you into thinking phase and trying to fix all those leaks. It's almost the same as you lose money, you will remember it more than winning part. By this situation it's gonna be that negative feedback you gonna remember and try to avoid them next time.

Playing tired can cause a lot problems. Usually you are moody when tired and get easily angry. Which means you get easily tilty that brings towards you playing less your A-game. You have to find a way to adjust to that. For example against tilt:
Easiest way to fight against tilt is to set up stop-loss technique. Which means if you for example have lost more than 3BIs for a session then you just stop the session for some time. The BI amount is set up from your own results. Some may put it higher, some lower. Also after the stop you can spend some time with evaluation part to become better.

About the over-thinking I'd say it's a common leak for everyone. It's not only for beginners but as well for more advanced players. You are often either tilty or just want to play back against the opponent "have against him something, like he 3bets you a lot". Although you shouldn't take poker this way. Against aggressive opponents we tighten up and don't try to bluff them. Neither we don't try to bluff loose opponents. We have to realize that with standard play we often times earn a lot more money than playing fancy. With letting other people evaluate your hand is often times the case that you will fix such a leak as over-thinking.

Tight style is usually called playing selected hands. Like following the Starting Hand Chart. Aggressive should be also pretty clear that already the word says how you should be playing. But the problem playing aggressively is that you have to watch that you don't play too aggressive. Find good spots, find good targets. About The tight-aggressive strategy you can read in this article: "What is the Big Stack Strategy?"

Hopefully you will enjoy the Course. Some points earned.

Question 1: What do you think you could play differently than suggested in the BSS Starting Hands Chart and why? (Are there any hands you would play differently? Do you have a problem or question about how a specific hand or hands should be played?)

I don't remember what video it was from, but there was a part where someone asked you if playing small pairs against loose players who are 3 betting was profitable. You disagreed because, if I remember correctly, a loose player will not pay you off because if they don't hit postflop they are usually done with the hand. That kind of got me thinking about how I sometimes play small pairs (6max). I see on the starting hands chart it says to limp if unopened in MP and the blinds. I prefer to raise in those situations, especially if the blinds are tight. It gives me more ways to win the pot. If I limp and someone raises to punish the limper, I think my hand is pretty obvious if I call20. Raising, however, with a small pair I have at least some kind of a hand if I c bet the flop. Also, I have a question about how many hands the SHC advises to limp in with. While I understand that this is due to getting good odds, does it not put a large gap between your VPIP and PFR? I thought that having a gap between those numbers was seen as a bad sign?

Question 2: Do you have questions about your preflop play? Post your hand for evaluation. ( Post your hand in the Hand evaluation forums and provide a link to your hand in your private thread in the Locker Room.)

My VPIP is about 14.5 and my PFR is about 11. I checked the grader on PTR and it says I need to loosen up more. In fact, the starting hands chart says I should loosen up more. I just can't seem to bring myself to raise Ace-small on the CO etc even if it is suited. It seems like a losing proposition at NL2. I feel like that would put me in more marginal situations where I would just get floated and have to fold to a turn or river bet with TP, especially since I think my biggest leak is overvaluing TP. Also, playing Ace-small suited is essentially playing with one card, no? Does the fact that its suited really make THAT MUCH of a difference in its value?

NL Beg. School Hand (preflop) A6s in CO, clear raise?

Question 3: What is the equity of AKo against the top 5% range? 5% means 88+, AJs+, KQs, AKo. ( You can either calculate this yourself or use an equity calculator such as the PokerStrategy.com Equilab.)

46%

Good job! Homework #2 Done!

Well, in 6max I wouldn't really advice to limp with PPs, unless you play really low stakes like NL2/5. From NL10+ I'd definitely consider raising or just folding. That's also totally true that against loose 3bettors our smaller PPs should be rather folded than Called since their range is going to be pretty loose and we wont get their stacks often enough.

Also, I have a question about how many hands the SHC advises to limp in with.

We most likely never limp if there is nobody before us limping.

While I understand that this is due to getting good odds, does it not put a large gap between your VPIP and PFR? I thought that having a gap between those numbers was seen as a bad sign?

Yes, having a gap between them isn't a very good sign and you shouldn't limp. In many spots you should rather isolate preflop. But most likely we gonna talk about that during the coaching.

My VPIP is about 14.5 and my PFR is about 11. I checked the grader on PTR and it says I need to loosen up more. In fact, the starting hands chart says I should loosen up more.

Don't base only on that. Seems like solid stats. Your first plan is to get known with preflop/postflop play and then analyze where and why you can loosen up, not that PTR says to do that.

I just can't seem to bring myself to raise Ace-small on the CO etc even if it is suited. It seems like a losing proposition at NL2. I feel like that would put me in more marginal situations where I would just get floated and have to fold to a turn or river bet with TP, especially since I think my biggest leak is overvaluing TP. Also, playing Ace-small suited is essentially playing with one card, no? Does the fact that its suited really make THAT MUCH of a difference in its value?

If you are overplaying TP type of hands then rather don't play those hands. Rather get to know your play and how you can get away. So you could also loosen up your range. If you are feeling secure then start raising them. It's a common mistake that people overplay their TP, especially those Ax suited hands.

About Question #3:

       Equity     Win     Tie
UTG    46.32%  37.92%   8.41% { AKo }
UTG+1  53.68%  45.27%   8.41% { 88+, AJs+, KQs, AKo }

Hopefully you enjoy the School so far. Some more points earned.