Pampoen

Question 1: What do you think you could play differently than suggested in the BSS Starting Hands Chart and why?

I have been using the SHC for 3 weeks or so and I think it is pretty solid. There would be situations on a specific given tables where I would change it marginally if for example everybody is tight I might raise with A/Qs in Mp3 to get everyone to fold. Only if I know I have fold equity on the players behind me, or with suited connectors on the button or cut-off. Otherwise 95% of the time I would stick to the chart since I need to build up my experience first

Question 2: Do you have questions about your pre-flop play? Post your hand for evaluation.

Yes I have many, but all of them would never fit in this thread unless you want 10 pages for this thread. The hand evaluations help me a lot for this.

Nl2 Qq Bb
NL2 Low flush

Question 3: What is the equity of AKo against the top 5% range? 5% means 88+, AJs+, KQs, AKo.

A/Ko = 45.78%

against

88+, AJs+, KQs, AKo. = 54.22%

Question 1: You are holding KQ. What is your preflop equity against an opponent who has 33? How does the equity change on this flop: J53?
Preflop equity I am 50.78%/49.22% slightly ahead.

The flop changes it dramatically to 26.46%/73.54% behind sine there is now a set.

Question 2: What would you do in the following hand?

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 AJ
5 folds, Hero raises to $0.08, BU calls $0.08, SB folds, BB calls $0.06.

Flop: ($0.25) 263 (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...?

The pot is $0.91 and hero have to invest $0.22 to win a pot of $1.13 if he gets a club on the river and hits the nut flush hero would beat the straight that villain is presenting.

With 4.1-1 pot odds and 2-1 hand odds Hero would have a +EV in the long run making the call profitable . Also if Hero does hit the nut flush he may even be able to extract more money out of the villain on the river as he thinks he has a strong hand and has a big stack

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

Yes a lot of questions, but I think that this is the most interesting one so far.
Set 6 Against gutshot/top pair?

Welcome to the Course and Best of Luck. Good job! Homework #1 Done!

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.

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.

Also don't worry about math. We gonna teach in this course a lot of math and afterwards in new paths as well.

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.

Good job! Homework #2 Done!

You going to adjust the chart anyways at some point. Rather learn the basics for preflop/postflop play. With playing less hands you just avoid really marginal situations which going to make you loose money and face difficult spots. That's also why chart has rather tighter range. In future the more experienced you get the more hands you will play, don't rush.

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.

Good job! Homework #3 Done!

About Question #1:
Preflop Equity:

Equity Win Tie
UTG 50.78% 50.40% 0.38% { KsQs }
UTG+1 49.22% 48.84% 0.38% { 3d3c }

Postflop Equity:

Board: J♠5♦3♠
Equity Win Tie
UTG 26.46% 26.46% 0.00% { KsQs }
UTG+1 73.54% 73.54% 0.00% { 3d3c }

About Question #2:
There are several occasions on turn:
a) If we take just odds for the FD and we take into account that all our odds are clean. 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 so that means 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, keep going!

Question 1: Post a hand for evaluation in which you have the initiative postflop

Nl2 Sh Kk
NL 2 SH Q/Ao

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

99 line

Question 3: You are on the flop with KQ. The board cards are J, 9, 8, and your opponent holds 77. What is your equity in this spot?

Equity Win Tie
41.41% 41.41% 0.00% KsQd
58.59% 58.59% 0.00% 7h7c

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

JAo

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

QQ - When I should start to bet?

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 6Diamond , 7Diamond
4 folds, Hero raises to $0.40, SB calls $0.40, BB calls $0.40

Flop: ($1.20) 3Diamond , 3Heart , TDiamond (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks

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

What action would you take, and why?

First I would have made a 1/2 pot c/bet on the flop to ask questions.

I would make the call as the pot odds are in my favour and if I hit the flush I would probably have the best hand as BB could have a wide range of hands Jx+ Tx+.

As for SB who made the raise his range is a bit tighter as a TAG.

I would call the raise, but if no diamond falls on the river I would fold to a raise. If the river is a diamond it would depend on the size of the raise if there is one if I would call or fold

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 JHeart , JSpade
4 folds, Hero raises to $0.40, BU 3-bets to $1.30, 2 folds, Hero calls $1.30

Flop: ($2.75) 6Heart , 9Spade , TClub (2 players)
Hero...

What action would you take, and why?

I would make a decent size c/bet to see if villain hit flop or is holding bigger PP. A reraise from villain on the flop would let me fold, if he calls i would have to re-evaulate on the turn. Keeping in mind i still have a backdoor straight.

I dont se villain 3bet with 7/8 suited or not or even on the BU

Good job! Homework #4 Done!

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

About Question #3:

Board: J♠9♣8♥
       Equity     Win     Tie
UTG    41.41%  41.41%   0.00% { KsQd }
UTG+1  58.59%  58.59%   0.00% { 7h7c }

Hopefully this wasn't too easy homework for you.

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.

Good luck on tables and with the Course.

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

NL2 K/As Multiway

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

NL2 SH 78s

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 QHeart , JHeart
5 folds, MP3 raises $1.00, CO calls $1.00, Hero calls $1.00, 1 fold, BB calls $1.00

Flop: ($4.10) 3Heart , JClub , ADiamond (4 players)
BB checks, MP3 checks, CO checks, Hero checks

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

What action would you take, and why?
The sudden raise from calling station is a worry, but the hand is to good to fold and in position. This would be a straight forward pot control-WA/WB play. Check/call even if he pushes

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 the tables and with the Course.

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

To go broke or not?

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 5heart , 4heart
2 folds, CO raises to $0.40, BU calls $0.40, SB calls $0.40, Hero calls $0.40

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

What action would you take, and why?

CO range is wide could be holding Qx. I have 17 outs so I would go broke. If CO beats me with a higher flush good for him then.

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 Aclub , Kspade
2 folds, Hero raises to $0.40, BU calls $0.40, SB calls $0.40, BB calls $0.40

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

What action would you take, and why?

I would call and play the hand WA/WB unless I improve my hand to a full house as a set has me beaten at the time

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.

Best of Luck on the Tables.