yinyun

Question 1: What is your motivation for playing poker?

Playing poker profitable is one of my dream-come-true's. I'm mean I'm not there yet, but I'm happy already that I can move in this direction - until I found online-poker and pokerstrategy.com it was just one another thing what, I belived, I never can to achieve.

Playing cards or table games with friends was something I enjoyed most in my teenage-years. I think it was because when playing a game emotions are real. And I enjoy when I can see or feel myself real emotions - small-talk-partys are an opposite of that.

What I like in poker is that your virtues will be rewarded in long run and also is the opposite true.

And last but not least, I'm kinda need some extra income and I would be happy If I could earn it with playing. (Ok, thats not as honorable as finding cure for cancer, but will do for me.)

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Question 2: What are your weaknesses when playing poker

I think than after loosing my first starting capital a I can handel tilt pretty well.

But dissipline is still quite awful, instead of calculating I'm quessing.
I can put my worthless hand down before showdown, but sadly with stupid line: Turn:RC River:FWhen I start a session, I play too aggressively. RR almost always and without nothing and without foldequity.It happens that I open too many tables - point is to choose the best of them - and I stay playing at all of them, that often more then I can handle.

Question 3: What does it mean to play tight aggressive?

Playing tight aggressive means, that you choose your starting hands and your position to play. And when in game then you rather raise of fold, so you can have your fold equity. And it works because of FE you generate.

Anyone is welcome to correct my language mistakes aswell!

Hi yinyun,

You are not late to join and you are most welcome in our beginners course!

Hope you manage to catch those leaks. How is it going now? Hope not on nl2?

Ingrid

Hi Ingrid!

I'm really glad to see your post in my tread :f_biggrin:!
I haven't played since my last post, I plan to do 2 more home works today, so if some questions arise I can ask them on Mondays couching session.

I believe that whats veriz suggests is true - analyse session immediately after the session (because you probably won't do it later).
Though till now has it been by my so that when I'm learning than I almost do not play - it's seems more interesting to understand different concepts then to play.
And when I mostly play then I just try to control my behavior at tables and avoid this situations where I have to ask my self after a hand: "Why in heaven's name did I play like that!??"
So I probably won't play today either. Or maybe just one hour.

When I watched fist lessons video,then veriz sad something what sounded like that course isn't open anymore, I guess it was true then in June. But it's still confusing so maybe it would be a good idea to say loud and clear in comments-part of this video that course is still open.

Thanks again for visiting!
And cheers!

y

Good job! Homework #1 Done!

Well, the easiest wait to fight against tilt is to set up stop-loss technique. As it seems that it's definitely a small problem for you. Stop-Loss 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 wanting. Some may put it higher, some lower. And after the stop you can easily just spend some time with evaluating your play.

Most of the other weakness you wrote can easily be fixed with you 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 loose 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.

Well, that's true. We have to change the 1st video. ♦ Gonna add the comment.

Welcome to the Course and Best of Luck. Some more points earned.

Question 1: What do you think you could play differently than how it is 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 are to be played?)

I could variate betting size according to my position at table - so I would R 3BB if I UO in late position or in blinds, because then my blinde stealing attempts have to work less frequently and still be profitable.
I could also R with much more hands from late position when in blindes are nitty players - FE makes it profitable.
If pot is UO then I will never call, but always bet - for deception.

I have question about SH ORC, it allows to OR from BU with A2o how should I play such hand if one of the blinds calls?

Question 2: Post a hand for evaluation where you have a question regarding your pre-flop play. ( Post your hand in the Handevaluation forums, and provide a link to your hand in your private thread in the Locker Room.)

A8s from MP SH

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)

46.28% - Monte Carlo

[NL4 SH] 2 pair on draw-heavy board

NL4 SH Squeez

NL4 SH QJs on BU

SH NL4 KJs from BU

Question 1: You are holding K♠Q♠. What is your preflop equity against an opponent who has 3♦3♣? How does the equity change on this flop: J 5♦3♠? (Tip: you can use the Equilab to help you with this task.)

EQ(KdQd, [3♦3♣]) = 50.86%

on this flop: J♠5♦3♠ = 26.44%

Question 2: What would you do in the following hand? (Remember that it is important to explain your reasons, simply posting "Fold" or "Call" isn't enough!)
No Limit hold'em $2 (9-handed)
Players and stacks:
UTG: $2.00
UTG+1: $2.08
MP1: $1.92
MP2: $1.00
MP3: $3.06
CO: (Hero) $2.08
BU: $2.00
SB: $2.00
BB: $1.24
Preflop: Hero is CO with A♣J♣
5 folds, Hero raises to $0.08, BU calls $0.08, SB folds, BB calls $0.06.
Flop: ($0.25) 2♣6♦3♦ (3 players)
BB checks, Hero checks, BU checks.
Turn: ($0.25) 5♣ (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.22, BU raises to $0.44, BB folds, Hero...?

We have 19% EQ against set of three's, we have to call 0.22 what is also 19% of the pot. He will probably pay to as even if next appears, so we have implied odds and can call.

Question 3: Do you have questions about your postflop play? Post your hand for evaluation.

[NL4 SH] AI with Trips?

Good job! Homework #2 Done!

About raising less on later position, I'd say that's totally fine. Which most likely even most of the higher limits players use. You can practically widen up your range to that and might be still able to Call even a light 3bet.

Totally agree with you about the stealing ranges. They can be very easily be balanced with even wider range. Depending on the opponent you can as well put a wider stealing range. Against some shorties you can even steal with smaller raise. But don't overdo the stealing situations. Sometimes you might just put yourself into too many difficult spots if opening with marginal hands.

I have question about SH ORC, it allows to OR from BU with A2o how should I play such hand if one of the blinds calls?

Well, obviously depends on the board. But it should be pretty easy to play. Very dry boards we CBet and most likely we CBet even drawy boards. Unless we really expect the opponent fight back against us often enough. Against some I might even just Check behind. For example if the opponent is not folding at all, although at the same time is passive if didn't hit.

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

Good job! Homework #3 Done!

About Question #3:
There are few situations on turn:
a) If we take just odds for the FD and we take into account that all our odds are clean. There which means:
Total Pot = $0,91 ; We have to Call = $0,22 -> According to that it means we are getting ~4,16:1 odds. For flushdraw we would need 4:1. Which tells us that we are getting perfect odds.
b) If we consider the opponent having sets here:
Which means we have to discount outs, for example 6:c and also 3:c. Which means we have 7 clean outs. Which means that we need 6:1 odds. That tells us that we need ~$0,41 on river to make it profitable. If we expect the opponent being loose enough and being able to pay us no-matter what then we can do the Call here properly.
c) We might even have overcards as outs or even 4 as a out:
Although this kind of situation ain't that likely. I'd rather discount that one and either pick a) or b). Most likely towards Call.

You are doing great progress! Some more points earned.

Hi veriz!

You work so effectively that it's kinda hard to find hand what you haven't evaluated yet ;)!

Question 1: Post a hand for evaluation where you have the initiative post-flop. (Post your hand in the Hand evaluation board, and provide a link to your hand in your private thread.)

NL 2 FR 88 from MP

Question 2: Evaluate one of the hands submitted by other members.

NL5 SH 97s 3-bet vs reggy

Question 3: You are on the flop with K :spade:Q :diamond:. The board cards are J :spade:, 9 :club:, 8♥, and your opponent holds 7 :club:7 :heart:. What is your equity in this spot?

EQ(K :spade:Q :diamond:[7 :club:7 :heart:])=41.40%

Good job! Homework #4 Done!

Well, I am trying to stick be better than we have the rule. Which is evaluate the hands in 24h. ♦ Seems that people so far like the faster way. Also I am usually trying to keep some hands for evaluating.

This weeks homework was a bit easier. But the idea of that is to help you go through last weeks stuff if you didn't go through everything. Or either way maybe even read some more articles, watch some videos and of course attend in the coaching. What will also help for your game is the evaluation part of other members hands and of course posting your own hands.

If you have interests you could try calculating the equity with a formula which you can use even on tables(either playing online or live poker):
(Amount of outs x 4) – (Amount of outs – 8) = Your Equity

Hopefully this wasn't too easy homework for you. Some more points earned.

Question 1: Post a hand for evaluation where you have based your decisions on the stats of your opponents.

NL4 SH AQ against maniac

Question 2: Evaluate one of the hands submitted by other members.

NL2 QK on button

Question 3: Consider the following situation:

$10 NL Hold'em (7 handed)

Stacks & Stats:
UTG ($10)
MP ($8)
MP2 ($9)
CO ($10)
Hero($10)
SB ($10) (17/13/2.6/24/1212) [VPIP/PFR/AF/WTS/Hands]
BB ($10) (27/9/2.0/29/333) [VPIP/PFR/AF/WTS/Hands]

Preflop: Hero is BU with 6 , 7
4 folds, Hero raises to $0.40, SB calls $0.40, BB calls $0.40

Flop: ($1.20) 3 , 3 , T (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($1.20) J (3 players)
SB bets $1.00, BB calls $1.00, Hero...

1. I took typical ranges from aritcle How to Conduct a Session Review http://www.pokerstrategy.com/strategy/others/1811/1/
2. I assume that opponents would a)3B preflop with AK; QQ+ b)Donk flop with TP
3. On Turn are possible better hands four-of-a-kinde, Set=full-hause and better flush from SB range ca 6.9%, from BB range ca 7% they also have outs for full house.
4. They could call our raise with hands like TP SB 27.3% of all hands BB 17.6% flush draw or OESD SB >40% BB >40%

So I would bet for value and protection 1/2 or 2/3 pot size, because if I bet more my hand will be too obvious and they will not call with worst hands.

Question 4: Consider the following situation:

$10 NL Hold'em (8 handed)

Stacks & Stats
UTG ($8)
MP ($10)
MP2 ($9)
MP3 ($6)
Hero ($10)
BU ($10) (25/21/3.8/26/1250) [VPIP/PFR/AF/WTS/Hands]
SB ($10)
BB ($10)

Preflop: Hero is CO with J , J
4 folds, Hero raises to $0.40, BU 3-bets to $1.30, 2 folds, Hero calls $1.30

Flop: ($2.75) 6 , 9 , T (2 players)
Hero...

Even if his 3Bet range is 5% i would be slightly ahead. So I would bet pot size, to protect my hand. If re-raised, i would probably fold to 5% but would go broke against wider range.

No, the homework's are not too easy it still takes a lot of time to do them. It's hard to decide should I try to put opponents on hand, like I did on question #3 or just relay on EQ like I have done with question #4?
Slowly I will learn how those two are connected.

Cheers!

y

Question 1: Post a hand for evaluation where you have either a) freeplay, b) slowplay, or c) multi-way pot situation.

NL2 HU free play is 5high straight good enough to call AI

Question 2: Evaluate one of the hands submitted by other members.

NL2 BSS AQo with loose passive villan

Question 3: Consider the following situation:
$25 NL Hold'em (10 handed)

Stacks & Stats
UTG ($25)
UTG+1 ($25) rock
UTG+2 ($25)
MP1 ($25)
MP2 ($25) LAG
MP3 ($25) maniac
CO ($25)
Hero BU ($25)
SB ($25)
BB ($25) calling station

Preflop: Hero is BU with Q , J
5 folds, MP3 raises $1.00, CO calls $1.00, Hero calls $1.00, 1 fold, BB calls $1.00

Flop: ($4.10) 3 , J , A (4 players)
BB checks, MP3 checks, CO checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($4.10) Q (4 players)
BB bets $2.05, 2 folds, Hero...?

What action would you take, and why?

That's easy one! If calling station raises there is 99% chance that he got nuts, so you have 4 outs for full house EQ(Q , J :heart:[KT]=9% + 1%(that u are mistaken and he doesn't have KT) ;)=10% EV=-$0.62

Required equity, with implied pot odds

BB has left in his stack $25-$3.05=$21.95 he will ship it even if pair appears. So your Required equity, with implied pot odds are $2.05/($6.15+$21.95)*100=$2.05/$28.10*100=7%
Our EQ was 10% but we must discount 1%(probability, that's he will fold Royal Straight if pair appears), but with 9% u can still call, if we are able to fold on River unimproved.

Good Job! Homework #5 Done!

About Task #3
It's a very close decision: does protection or pot control weigh heavier here? Do you want to protect against hands like 3x or A:dx and K:dx? Or do you want to control the pot size and try to induce a bluff on the river in case there is no T, no J and no additional ♦?

Raise/fold is out of question - with the given pot size and the good made hand you have, it can't even be considered.

In case you decide to go broke, you can't really be blamed either. It's not a sign of weakness that the rather tight small blind decides to bet into two people here, though. I would say a call is to be slightly favored, while the many outs against you are annoying. The big blind who calls rather loosely speaks in favor of a raise/broke again. Both options are finally considered equal, which shows - all things considered - how close and full of variance these spots really are.

About Task #4
You've called pre-flop and then hit a good board. You basically have two choices now: either you assume that your opponent will go broke loosely or puts you on a bluff often and you thus check/raise - or you play check/call in the spirit of way ahead / way behind. The problem with the latter is that there are a lot of cards you don't want to see in the later course of the hand. All in all, it depends on your balancing as both lines make sense under certain circumstances.

A check/fold would be really pointless, of course. It's hard to say whether you should donk-bet here; donk/fold can be discarded as that would turn your hand into a pure bluff and your opponent would interpret this as weakness and start raising you out of flops with hands like AK/AQ/air. So, if you want to donk-bet, it has to be a donk/3-bet.

No, the homework's are not too easy it still takes a lot of time to do them. It's hard to decide should I try to put opponents on hand, like I did on question #3 or just relay on EQ like I have done with question #4?

Well, obviously putting the opponent on just one hand is a mistake. You always have to think about ranges. But of course on #3 we rather talk about the ranges and then we can also take even equity and see how we doing against specific range and if we go all-in how we gonna do against it. Both can be used. Although in 3rd question was rather about range.

Good luck on tables and with the School. Some more points earned.

Good Job! Homework #6 Done!

About Question #3:
Two lines can quickly be discarded here: fold and raise/fold; your hand is simply too strong for those alternatives.

It's hard to assess whether you should put in a raise here. When a rather passive player decides to bet into three players while being out of position, it does look strong. It's more likely an indication of a made hand than that of a draw.

A raise naturally protects, but you run the risk of isolating yourself against very strong range. Which weaker hands could your opponent possibly continue playing here?

The deciding factor finally comes in the size of the pot. This tiny pot simply isn't worth putting yourself into a tough spot where you could potentially end up risking your entire stack. A raise would be overplayed here and pot control takes the precedent over protection.

Best of Luck on tables and with the Course. Some more points earned.

Question 1: Post a hand for evaluation where you have played on a 6-max table (short-handed).

NL10 SH Is top 2 pair good enough for AI?

Question 2: Evaluate one of the hands submitted by other members

Nl10 Fr 99 07.10

Question 3: Consider the following situation:

$10 NL Hold'em (6 handed)

Stacks & Stats:
UTG ($10)
MP ($10)
CO ($10)
BU($10)
SB ($10)
BB (Hero) ($10)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 5 , 4
2 folds, CO raises to $0.40, BU calls $0.40, SB calls $0.40, Hero calls $0.40

Flop: ($1.60) 3 , 2 , Q (4 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.20, CO Raises All-in, BU calls All-in, SB folds, Hero...

Pot=$1.60+$1.20+(2*($10-$0.40))=$22
Call=$10-$1.60=$8.40
Win=$30.40
EV=0=$8.40/$30.40(- rake $0.30)=EQ(needed to call)=28%
Outs=15 -> Odds to river 1:1 -> EQ=50%

EQ > EQ(needed to call) ->I call

Question 4: Consider the following situation:

$10 NL Hold'em (6 handed)

Stacks & Stats:
UTG ($10)
MP ($10)
CO (Hero) ($10)
BU($10)
SB ($10)
BB ($10)

Preflop: Hero is CO with A , K
2 folds, Hero raises to $0.40, BU calls $0.40, SB calls $0.40, BB calls $0.40

Flop: ($1.60) A , 4 , 4 (4 players)
SB checks, BB bets $1.20, Hero...

There aren't any draws on board so I play way-behind-way-ahead = Call

Question 1: Post a hand for evaluation.

NL10 SH A8s from CO

Question 2: Evaluate one of the hands submitted by other members.

Nl 2 - Ak Tptk

Question 3: Consider the following situation:

$100 NL Hold'em (9 handed)

Stacks & Stats:
UTG ($100)
UTG+1 ($100)
MP1 ($100)
MP2 ($100)
Hero ($100)
CO ($100)
BU ($100)
SB ($100)
BB ($100) (18/15/3.7/23/732)[VPIP/PFR/AF/WTS/Hands]

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with 8 , 9
4 folds, Hero raises to $4.00, 3 folds, BB calls $4.00

Flop: ($8.50) 3 , 6 , 8 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $5.50 BB calls $5.50

Turn: ($19.50) J (2 players)
BB checks, Hero...

I would bet pot size for value and protection and fold to re-raise.

What action would you take, and why?

BONUS Question 4 (optional question): Consider the following situation:

$200 NL Hold'em (6 handed)

Stacks & Stats:
MP2 (Hero) ($327.95)
MP3 ($207.45)
CO ($415.55) (TAG)
BU ($373.60) (TAG)
SB ($200.00)
BB ($218.00)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 7 , 8
Hero raises to $7, 1 folds, CO raises to $23, BU calls $23, SB folds, BB folds, Hero calls $16

Flop: ($72) 7 , 8 , 8 (3 players)
Hero checks, CO checks, BU bets $52, Hero calls, CO calls

Turn: ($228) K (3 players)
Hero checks, CO checks, BU checks

River: ($228) Q (3 players)
Hero bets $110, CO raises to $340.55 (All-in), BU folds, Hero?

Tag will not 3bet with K8, Q8 and probably not with 88
So hands what beat us are KK, QQ - only strange that he didn't protect them on flop
With KQ he could play WA/WB on turn, so this is possible

Anyways we are kinda committed here 7+16+52+110=185; 328-185=143; we need 20% EQ against he's range we probably have more.

So we ship.

Good Job! Homework #7 Done!

About Question #3:
In this case, you decided to bet out yourself and two players behind you go all-in. You would have to invest $8.40 in order to participate in a $22 pot, which corresponds to an equity of 27.63%.

Board: Q:h 3:s 2:h
Dead:

Equity Win DrawLoss Hand
Player 1: 38.538% 38.538% 0.000% 61.462% 5h4h
Player 2: 14.540% 14.540% 0.000% 85.460% QQ+
Player 3: 46.921% 46.921% 0.000% 53.079% 22-33

You get the required odds even when you're exclusively up against very strong hands!

About Question #4:
Top pair / top kicker has been and will always be a hand that's tough to play, especially in a multi-way pot. In this case, you've hit a nice flop, but you're up against 3 opponents on a dry board which doesn't allow for any dangerous draws.

A fold on this board is, of course, too weak. You can't really hit much better and there might be worse Ax hands willing to pay you off.

If you think that your opponent(s) is/are often willing to go broke on the flop with worse hands, raising might not be the worst of choices. But one thing is clear: if you raise, you have to go all-in on the flop! Raise/fold with your top pair is absolutely out of question.

Even though this might leave a bitter aftertaste in a 4-way pot, you should play this like a way ahead / way behind spot here - by playing it passive, you will extract the maximum from weaker hands and bluffs while avoiding big losses against stronger hands.

Good luck on tables and with the School. Some more points earned.

Good Job! Homework #8 Done!

About Question #3:
In this case, the right answer is quite obvious. Both AF and WTS speak in favor of a check behind for bluff induce. But your hand is too strong here, so you want to get it all-in on the turn. There are a lot of hands you still have to protect against, too. Playing for bluff induce or pot control would simply be too weak and dangerous.

About Question #4:
About preflop play I'd say that it's still doable while we even are a bit deeper. I expect the hero to play solid postflop play. So Calling is definitely fine here with having 2 opponents in the hand and getting great implied odds. But for more beginners it's deifnitely a very close spot while they ain't gonna be able to laydown weak hands.

As we have the information that CO is a TAG player. Therefore, we expect him to have a strong 3bet range. Unless we have some other information like he has a wide 3bet range. But while we don’t have that, we basically consider his range to be something QQ+, AK or sometimes even tighter.

So now you have to ask yourself what kind of hands would play like this on river? KK may slowplay like this. QQ definitely is as well in his range. AK/AA he wouldn’t play this way since he know himself as well that he isn’t going to get Called by worse hands. So basically it’s up to the nuts most often. You only beat bluff there and I don’t expect the opponent to bluff in this case unless we know the table dynamics better.

Best of luck in exam! Some more points earned.