what's your thoughts on 4bet shoving 100bb. Should it be in ones game or stick to "normal" 2.2x 4bet?
Thanks!
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Originally posted by martins1337
what's your thoughts on 4bet shoving 100bb. Should it be in ones game or stick to "normal" 2.2x 4bet?
Thanks!
Guess you never 4 bet bluff? Even then it is better to make a standard 4bet because you give your opponent the option to spazz shove vs you.
In any case, 4bet shoves are bad because in one's game it makes sense to make the minimum bet that puts your opponent into a leverage point, meaning that he either has to shove or fold. Going for this minimum amount, like 2.2x to 2.5 x in case of a 4bet lets you lose the minimum when bluffing while still putting your opponent in a shove/fold situation good for your value hands.
Makes sense ♦?
1. Did you watch lot of coaching videos before? Now? Your best video producers?
2. Some poker AHA moments?
3. What's reasoning behind not flatting SB?
4. BB flatting range vs 40-50% BTN opener?
5. Why did you accepted to have full time job when you could live from poker only?
Originally posted by DeMarcohsp
That is a great coaching program.
I think playing zoom would satisfy many of my problems regarding poker, especially being able to put in good amounts of volume in very busy days where I can squeeze in several 15-20 min sessions.
But given all the negativity I've received against zoom I would take it on only under some good coach that is already a good winning zoom player.
I currently play regular nl 25 with some shots at nl 50, and if you see some potential in me as a future project of yours I would love to give it my best shot for several months.
Very good thread btw, I think I am going to post some questions soon in here as I have to play zoom for a few days due to some technical problems ♦.
Best of luck with your challenge.
Hey,
Remember Zoom is available on other networks. iPoker now has fast poker which actually has decent traffic. The more "regular" players are on stars, so maybe iPoker fast poker is where the money is?
Microgaming has fantastic software too and I imagine their Blaze Poker will get good, quick. Ladbrokes/Unibet etc bring in lots of recreational players so games will be great!
I'm not really looking to coach micro/small stakes players or take any more students on in that kind of deal, but feel free to post as much in this thread and I will look to give as much knowledge as possible.
Originally posted by KillerFishes
Will you coach me for free?♦
Unfortunately not. I can definitely try and help you out if you post anything in the thread though.
Originally posted by peche025
What's the tightest your ever opening the btn?
I generally open a really wide range, something like
a2+
k5+
k2s+
q5+
q2s+
j5+
j2s+
105+
105s+
95+
92s+
84+
82s+
etc.
If somebody is more aggressive then I will usually change those ranges to a8+, j8+ etc and 4bet bluff a lot more.
If somebody is an absolute maniac then I will of course adjust accordingly and probably just open good suited connectors and broadway cards and defend 3bets wider (unless I know he folds to a lot of 4bets and then I'd just 4bet a tonne and keep opening wide 
Originally posted by keoghh
Hey pleno, very good read so far ♦Im currently playing NL10 SH
Wondering whether its worth the transition to zoom or not, ive tried moving to zoom before but started off back at NL2 SH Zoom, and i found that playing very loose preflop/extremely tight postflop worked, profiting alot from steals/resteals.
Any other general tips for zoom, obv its all situation but any tips for playing hands like TT/JJ/QQ/AK vs nits, set mine with the all pairs apart from AA/KK?
Hey Keoghh,
Thanks for nice words
This thread really isn't about "Zoom" although many seem to think it is. Most of the people who are doing reallllly well in poker are people who are game selecting well on soft Euro sites and putting a tonne of effort into their game. One of the reasons why I am doing this Zoom challenge is because all the regs have very low win rates and I wanted to see if I could beat them. If they have low win rates it means its a hard place to play, so I'd stick in your normal 6max games if things are going well.
Regarding the hands, everything is completely situational, posting hands with stats are going to be far more productive for you and you will get a lot more out of them than just standard strategy. For example if I say do X with Y hand there could be so many spots where you just hear me in the back of your mind and you think "o ya pleno said" and it could really affect your win rate, so in general I don't like writing to people about how to play a specific hand without any other circumstances.
Hope this comes across the way it was intended
Originally posted by Farmarchist
Do you advise an 80/20 distribution for playing/learning? When you know I play NL25 with about 5bb/100 on 40K hands.And do you consider reading judgings as learning?
Hey Farmarchist,
I think 80/20 is a good distribution. If you take time to mark hands when you play then your 20% will be a lot more valuable as you wont spend 20 minutes thinking hm what should I look for.
I like going into holdem manager and just filtering really random things, positions, betting patterns etc and trying to find some red. This basically means trying to find some spots where I'm leaking a lot of money.
The hand evaluation sections are absolutely imperative for learning. I have posted over 15,000 posts on different forums mostly revolving around strategy. Reading what other people think and trying to take their thought processes on board is absolutely key. I think that people should try to use the hand evaluation forums as more of a way to discuss with each other rather than a service. Remember, just because our hand judges have marked the hand as "evaluated" doesn't mean you can't add your 2c or add more questions. I guarantee they woudl be thrilled if they were asked 10 questions in every thread
Btw, nice win rate, keep it up
Originally posted by bennisboy
Originally posted by pleno1
2) Nice thin brag about living in NYC, wp I'll give you that one
Ha yeah, it's been the best year of my life. Unfortunately due to a visa mess up by those in charge, I'm now losing my job and my accommodation in late August, have to leave the country by late september (which means leaving behind my girlfriend and friends), and will be moving back to england in to my parents house after not having lived at home since before uni. Trying to make the most of it right now in NYC, but I will be the most depressed person ever when the time comes to leave!
I figure getting back in to poker when I go home will help me take my mind of some things so that I don't become serially depressed! Might help to break up the monotony of a job search as well! I might even become good at it...
Anyway I've gone massively off topic. Time for some questions!
How many hands do you recommend playing against a villain before using hud stats to aid your game? I'm guessing the sample size can be smaller at lower limits due to lower adaptability of villains?
I always come up against fish who limp anything pre-f
I struggle playing against these guys, but they should be the easiest money. I try to isolate against them with strong pre-f hands, but I just seem to spew chips because I feel like I'm not hitting the cards. How do you recommend playing against them?
Oh wow, so sorry to hear that dude ♠_evil: remember hardly anybody gets a chance to go and live the dream, so make sure you have a great time, and you never know something may happen and you can stay, anyway whatever happens will be meant to be, so don't stress too much, things will sort themselves out.
Regarding sample sizes and HUD's, you can actually configure your HUD so that it shows you certain stats after certain amount of times.
So elts say PFR, if somebody is playing 100% of hands then after 20 hands this would be enough to be a good indicator.
However if you have a fold to turn cbet in 4bet pot then this may only be relevant after say 7000 hands, you can filter for each stat you have and if you only have 5-10 stats on your HUD it's definitely going to be worth the time. If you have any problems working any of these out, just let me know in here and will be happy to help.
In general vs these fishy guys who limp a lot pre flop. They are going to connect with the board less than 50% of the time, so I like to squeeze pre flop with a HUGE range and then cbet 100%. This will almost guarantee you to show a profit against them and your actual hand doesn't matter so much as they are just going to miss so many flops.
Example, fish limps with 64o. We isolate with 107.
There are SO few flops that they can continue on, and even the ones where they do flop a pair, we can even hit higher pairs etc.
As long as you don't have a crazy monkey behind who is 3betting all of your isolation raises then you should be isolating SUPER wide vs these fishcakes 
Originally posted by Solidius
Well, my question is how do you deal with downswings and what do you generally suggest the players to do ? I heard a lot of different opinions about this. What's yours ?Thanks.
Hey solidius,
Hows it going mate?
I'm quite weird with downswings.
When I'm grinding I'm very very quiet, my girlfriend will sit there and not know if I have won or lost 5 buy ins and I just have a very rhythemd stance just grinding away.
Every now and again something retarded will happen and I'll shout something like ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, but its never over losing a buy in its usually over me missing a value bet. I never really get angry with running bad, I generally find it funny, I'bve experience 1 outers many times now and understand exactly how it all works, just gotta keep grinding through it. Nothing tilts me more than when I make a call on the river where I know I'm beat, or I somehow check back an easy value bet.
One thing I like to do when moving to a new site is starting really low. I almost never play NL200 for the first few days as 1) I want to ease myself in with my HUD as all software is different and HUD's can look different on different sites and 2) Moral, I don't want to get off to a huge losing start and start thinking FML this site is so rigged. I'm happy just grinding a few thousand hands and then slowly getting myself into higher games.
I tilt ALOT in live poker, if anybody tries to angle shoot I immediately call them out. If anybody is taking too long I get very frustrated.
I've worked alot on this though and in Vegas I just played mammoth long sessions and grinded my heart out.
I'm going to Barcelona to play the EPT next month which I'm really really looking forward to.
A few months ago I played a WPT and had AA v fishes 66 on A66. Was pretty disgusting.
#tellingbadbeatstories
Originally posted by FlorinCatana
Hello!Maybe an out of the topic question a little bit, but here it goes as I really like your thread:
I am playing fixed limit for the moment, doing quite well at 1/2.
Should i, in your opinion , try a switch to NL, or just improve my game in FL and move up stakes!Thanks anyway!
Hi FlorinCatana,
This is your name or does it mean something in a language far more tropical than my own?
I don't play FL, never have and probably never will. From what I can see the game is slowly dying. To me NL just seems so much more fun and there is so much you can learn, NL is always transitioning and people are always improving.
It's funny because every 6 months I look back and think WTF I WAS SOOOOOOOOO BAD 6 months ago, but the way that poker goes you change the lines yu take because of the adaption of the game.
So for example. 4 years ago I may be playing HUNL and call with KQ to a button raise and c/r a KJ2ss board and barrel down.
2 years later I think WTF I'm really damaging my c/calling range here, so in an identical hand vs a similar opponent I c/call three streets.
2 years later I may have seen a video and realised that c/r the flop is good because I can induce vs his weak Jx and get his gutshots to 3bet bluff.
In reality I am the same as the player 4 years ago ♦:D:D
In a shorter reply to your question, yes move to NL and get crushing ♠_cool:
Originally posted by Maloco87
I find that when I 4bet preflop the villian always 5bet shoves and has AAthis is at NL2 though so maybe that is expected but I usually have JJ or QQ I can't imagine 4bet bluffing as I don't think he will fold very often
is this just micro stakes?
Hey,
At micro stakes people play either EXTREMELY PASSIVE, calling a lot of pre flop raises, chasing gut shots etc. Or ABSOLUTELY BARMY, just potting about, drunk and rofling about as they don't mind losing $2.
Vs the tight players who would never dream of 3bet bluffing you shouldn't start trying to out-level them and 4bet. They are very simple and don't go past level 1 99% of the time, so you don't need to think like a nl200 player.
I said it before a few times in the thread but in general
We should play a strong range at most times, including hands like KQ, QJ 910s and hand that flop well and play well. When we make good hands we should bet, and bet big, once we get raised by our opponents (who will generally be very passive) we should fold.
If you follow the above as your overall game plan and the slightly adjust by tweeking your ranges then you should have a solid enough game to crush the micros.
Originally posted by martins1337
what's your thoughts on 4bet shoving 100bb. Should it be in ones game or stick to "normal" 2.2x 4bet?
Thanks!
I don't like it, I really think balance is super important. I think that we should always just do a normal 4bet sizing. If our plan is to just 4bet shove pairs/Ax and premiums or fold/call and never 4bet bluff medium hands like KJ/QJ then we are going to get massively exploited.
If somebody did this vs me I would just start 3betting them 100% until they adjusted. When people do it vs me I almost always expect to see 22-77.
At mid stakes around 1 year ago the fashion became to call these 4bet shoves super light and the people making them were not balancing at all and just always had 22-77. Meaning if they had 3bet with a hand like j10s it became a SNAP call as we are almost always flipping and obviously getting a great price when we consider the amount we have put in the pot already.
So yeh in general I don't like it, from a GTO perspective, having a game plan where we 4bet to induce/as a bluff is going to be a lot easier for us to play and a lot harder for the opponent to play.
Yes we may have to fold 33 to a 3bet when he has k9s, but it really isn't the end of the world.
Originally posted by flekozub
1. Did you watch lot of coaching videos before? Now? Your best video producers?2. Some poker AHA moments?
3. What's reasoning behind not flatting SB?
4. BB flatting range vs 40-50% BTN opener?
5. Why did you accepted to have full time job when you could live from poker only?
1) I actually haven't watched a lot of training videos recently. I think 40 minutes is usually too long and prefer to have really in depth sweat sessions with friends. The 15 minute videos that PokerStrategy are trying to promote are super interesting IMO and probably perfect for me.
2) Hm, I think the first AHA moment I had was when I heard Trickett turned 99 into a bluf on 82368 and I was like WTF but he has a good hand ♦ This was around 2 years ago I think and from then I've always thought about jamming rivers as bluffs
3) I like to keep initiative and this game plan seems to be working for me at the moment, perhaps I will change back to flatting certain hands in the futre, but at the moment I am experimenting with 3b or fold and think it is working OK for now.
4) Broadways, some suited aces, pocket pairs, some 2 gappers like 97s. definitely not a6-a9. If he makes it 3x then my range will become tighter.
5) I've come a long way in poker in the last 18 months I've been at PoekrStrat. I finaled WCOOP/SCOOP events and learned a lot, transitioning from HU to 6max has really helped.
I previously worked as head of social gaming/marketing for a financial company in Newcastle and I really enjoyed my job. I moved to work for PokerStrategy because I really like the companies vision and I am passionate about both working in the industry and help developing the companies product. Although I work in a more B2B orientated role, I actually really like working in a B2C style and speaking/helping you guys out gives me a lot of satisfaction. I have a wonderful girlfriend and 2 beautiful dogs and I am very content with the situation I have in my life, there are a lot of people 18-23 who really struggle with life at the moment as the economy is so poor. I enjoy working for PokerStrategy and although it perhaps has a slight negative impact on my poker by not being able to get as much volume in/playing when I am tired etc, the balance and routine it gives me most certainly shouldn't be overlooked.
We never know how the future will plan out, but I think I have the fundamentals that if my job wasn't here then for the next 20 years+ I could make a good living out of poker, both playing and teaching.
Hey man,
I'd like to get your opinion on these ranges SB vs BU
Shot at 2012-07-12
Shot at 2012-07-12
With a 5bet shoving range of TT+/ AQ+.
This should be optimal. what kinds of adjustments would you recommend?
Wait, you've final tabled WCOOP/SCOOP events? Sorry if this is out of the scope of this thread, but how does that work if you're a cash game player? Do you play both cash games and tournaments? If so, how hard is it to do that, and do you recommend that to other low-midstakes players? Do you only play big-ass tournaments? If so, how do you manage to be +EV in them with so little experience?
I donated in MTT tournaments most Sundays usually bricking big schedules ♦ But have managed to have my fair share of good "binks" as well. I basically play all the high stakes tournaments on a weekend when fields are soft and there is good value.
I have studied tournaments enough, have unexploitable shoving ranges and think from an overall general poker stand point my game is good enough to be +ev in almost any tournament that I could afford to enter. I played the 2k 6max this year but bust out really early unfortunately.
I managed to win a WPT side event this year and hopefully can emulate the success in Barcelona next month at the EPT. It's a €5.300 buy in so will be the biggest tournament that I've ever played.
The structure in these tournaments are so good that means that cash game players really have a big edge early on as we are very happy/competent at playing deepstacks.
Cash is king though.
I have a lot of friends who play 50/100nl and make thousands constantly every month. I then know probably 5 of the best MTT players in England if not the world, almost all of them are broke. One friend won a tournament for $90k this month and was still in over $100k's worth of make up, Tournaments to me are not healthy, but I am happy playing them on a Sunday when I have had a good week and see it as shot taking.
Ah, okay, good to know
One more question I thought of: What kind of BRM do you advocate for 6-max at the micro-stakes? Do you reckon taking shots at the limit above is a good idea there, and if so, what kind of numbers should I be looking at when taking one?
Shot taking is very important in any players progression.
I think if you have 20 bis for a limit then taking a 5 bi shot is fine, just move down and grind it back, rakeback will help you at the end of the month too. Run good and you improve your bankroll tremendously whilst paying less rake bb/100. Rake is obviously huge at the micros so moving up as quick as possible is a great idea.
There isn't a huge difference usually between 2 stakes if you game select well and play vs fish it shouldn't matter so much.
Just don't go in trying to be the next Phil Ivey and similarily don't go in trying to just be a super nit. Think of BB's not $'s and just make correct/sensible decisions and adjustments.
Think of poker as a video game, its just all theory and strategy, don't let the $ confuse or scare you, just think about ranges and game theory and you will do great!