Introducing Gnama

HI Gnama and welcome to the community!

That word you were looking for was 'withdrew' by the way.

Lot's of newer players press the tilt button so you're not the first and feinitely won't be the last! You are though a step ahead by recognizing it, so that's a great step in the right direction.

Enjoy the Beginners Course, I did it myself and the coaches are super!

If you need any help or advice just ask ok?

Best regards and have fun,

Mal.

Homework #1

Question 1: What is your motivation for playing poker?

First of all, I really like strategy games. As an old gamer, I think that spending time on poker is benefic for me, as long as I don't get addicted. Calculating odds, taking notes on opponents, need to be disciplined and other aspects of the game are unique.
I also like to play live poker with my friends and I'm really good: I always get in the cash when we stake money, and some of my friends are good NL10 players. I'd like to get to this limit online but I don't feel comfortable.. Even if I got good winnings in the past, I never felt like I was controlling the table at NL4.

Question 2: What are your weaknesses when playing poker?

Sometimes I stick too much to the strategy on the lowers limits where my opponents are pure fishes. I can easily tilt after losing a bad hand: however, I'm controlling my tilts more than before. Sometimes I set goals before playing. For example, if I have a bankroll of 58$, I really want to get to 60$ before the end of the session. This is a major leak that I'd like to correct, even if I don't play for money but I play for fun. Finally, it's difficult for me to fold a good set on the turn or the river. I think I'm not the only beginner that has this problem.

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

Playing TAG is really effective on micro limits. Don't play a lot of starting hands, but play them aggressively. I've learned by the time that you got to adjust to the players on the tables. You don't play AA the same way on a table with 3 maniacs or on a table with 5 rocks. I've also learned that slowplaying hands when there is some draws on the table is THE WORST THING ON THE PLANET. IT MAKES YOU TILT! .
I don't really know if my preflop hand selection is good. These days, I like to raise one-gappers and I'm comfortable to play these cards. Anyways, I think we'll talk about that later...

Thank you, professor!

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.

Another option against tilt is to set yourself shorter sessions which might avoid you from tilting. If you playing longer sessions then it's more likely that during that session you can get upset. So work on your game and try to find out what makes you tilt and try to fight against it.

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.

Rather try to avoid looking at the bankroll too often, it may also cause you tilt whilst you see you losing money or can't achieve the goal you are looking at. Just focus on the session and play your A-game.

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 being with us here and will enjoy the course. In any case you have questions about anything then feel free to ask it, I will try to respond as soon I read it.

Oh and you can call me just veriz or coach, that's good enough.

Homework #2

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 really have any question relating to the BSS starting hands chart... You can surely play differently some hands relating to the passiveness or the agressiveness of your opponents, espicially in end of position when you have tight players on your left.

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.)

Not really. I could be more selective on my starting hands and sometimes I stick too much on my opponents stats, 3bfold and cbet fold for example. I tend to reraise with weaker hands when I'm on blinds and the BU/SB raises but I think it's quite normal to do it sometimes.

NL4 AKo

ATM I'm playing on a small room where you can only convert your hands with Internet Explorer 8, which I can't install on my computer because I use Win Vista. I converted my hands manually and PT4 don't support my room, so I don't have any stats. I'll post more hands when I'll play on partypoker or PS.

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

Quite an easy one...

www.pokerstrategy.com
Equity Win Tie
MP2 46.32% 37.92% 8.41% { AKo }
MP3 53.68% 45.27% 8.41% { 88+, AJs+, KQs, AKo }

Good job! Homework #2 Done!

What kind of room is it where you playing at? Just my recommendation would be to play tracked to get some decent amount of points to open a lot good articles/videos etc stuff. Also there are very good coachings for free for specific rank.

Opening more hands or otherwise stealing is really good tactic to earn also some extra money though don't overdo it. Go step by step and loosen up accordingly how confident you feel in your game.

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 Course so far.

I'm playing on "Espace Jeux", which is a room created for Quebec residents only. There is around 1000 players at any time of the day.
I had a free 25$ there, now I have around 75$ there and I'd like to get 100$ to buy HM2. I always said I wouldn't spend a penny on poker, and I definetly need a tracker since Elephant and PT4Beta are gone.

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♠?

Preflop:
www.pokerstrategy.com
Equity Win Tie
MP2 50.78% 50.40% 0.38% { KsQs }
MP3 49.22% 48.84% 0.38% { 3d3c }

Flop:
Equity Win Tie
MP2 26.46% 26.46% 0.00% KsQs
MP3 73.54% 73.54% 0.00% 3d3c

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...?

After the re-raise, you have 4.13/1 odds (.91/.22) but only 9 cards gives us the flush. Even if the odds aren't in our favor at the moment, if we catch a club on the river, we might be able to put villain all in (he has $1.48 left on his stack. By reraising, he's showing a strong hand and saying he could be all-in on the river). The implied odds makes me think I might call here.

Question 3:
Do you have questions about your postflop play? Post your hand for evaluation.
NL4 92o
NL4 AKo
NL4 Pair+FD

I was about to tilt, but managed to quit after 2BI down. Had KK preflop and lost to AJo with a all-in preflop, and then lost with flush to K when my opp had the nuts.
Tommorow might be a better day!

Sorry for delayed answer, I have been moving to new country so it did take me to set up everything at my place, now I am back and starting to evaluate the homeworks.

What HM2 you want to buy? If you are playing lower stakes then rather just buy the low-stakes one than the higher stakes included. You can always upgrade it when you move up.

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!

Finally I've retired my money from the small site I was playing, I bought PT4 and I'll start playing seriously on Partypoker. Next homework is coming tonight!

Edit: I bought PT4 because I tried the beta and liked it. I wanted to try HM2 but couldn't get hands, don't know why it wasn't working.

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

NL2 88
NL2 QJ on button

Question 2: Evaluate one of the hands submitted by other members. (Choose a hand from the Hand evaluation board and post your own evaluation in the thread. Post a link to the hand you have evaluated in your private thread. You can evaluate as many hands as you want, but try to choose hands not yet evaluated by other users.)

NL2 AA
KK shipping

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?

The answer is 41,41%, captain!!!

See you later. Is there a blog to follow you somewhere? You moved to another country especially for poker?

BTW, the video "who is your opponent NL5" in the 4th lesson doesn't work.

I want to make the 5th homework so I won't wait for the correction of the fourth one!

I had a great week, played 3k hands with around 30bb/100. At how many bb/100 you can consider you've cleared the limit?

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

NL2 QJs vs rock

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

NL5 pocket Aces
NL4 ATo

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...

What action would you take, and why?

On that turn, I'd just call the dollar. Putting more value on that pot is tempting but you still don't have a made hand. Your position on that board is great as you're the last player to act. There will be for sure one of those two player that's going to bet on the river and the pot could grow easily.

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...

What action would you take, and why?

On that board, you'll have the best hand a lot of times. You're beat by a pocket pair (6,9,10,Q,K,A). Villain could also have a straight draw. I think I'd check/call but there is a lot of cards that I don't want to see on the turn (a 7-8-J-Q might give a straight while 6-9-10-J-Q-K-A could give a set...).
I don't know if donk/call could be profitable here. I really hate to donk/fold my hands and I wouldn't donk/3bet with JJ on a board like that. If Villain re-raises my donk to 4-5$+, I don't really have the choice to fold.

Have a nice week!

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.

Is there a blog to follow you somewhere? You moved to another country especially for poker?

Unfortunately not, just the Private coaching thread, have you been there?

I had a great week, played 3k hands with around 30bb/100. At how many bb/100 you can consider you've cleared the limit?

Well, you use bankroll management for it when to move up and not. 30bb/100 isn't really realistic winrate cause it will drop a lot in the future. If you have already around 5 it's very good. How have you been doing now? But congrats on such a success!

I guess I'm doing okay. I'm an american football player at junior college so I don't have a lot of time to read and watch videos. We're in playoffs now so I'll have a lot more time to improve my game in a few weeks. I'd like to play NL2 zoom/rush to get more volume but I'm registered on PP... Maybe I'll consider a change.

I'd like to know if there is some great books you've read for poker. I like to lay on my bed and read a good ol' book. Christmas is coming soon so I have to figure out what I want! Is there a book in particular that helped your game, or a book that really helps beginner player? I'd like a quite advanced book, not a book on basics like odds outs c-bet value etc...

Next homework is coming soon!

Originally posted by Gnama
I guess I'm doing okay. I'm an american football player at junior college so I don't have a lot of time to read and watch videos. We're in playoffs now so I'll have a lot more time to improve my game in a few weeks. I'd like to play NL2 zoom/rush to get more volume but I'm registered on PP... Maybe I'll consider a change.

I'd like to know if there is some great books you've read for poker. I like to lay on my bed and read a good ol' book. Christmas is coming soon so I have to figure out what I want! Is there a book in particular that helped your game, or a book that really helps beginner player? I'd like a quite advanced book, not a book on basics like odds outs c-bet value etc...

Next homework is coming soon!

Wow, I'd really like to play one day american football. If to say so then never really tried, hopefully one day gonna visit America and try it out. Must be fantastic and I guess you enjoying it a lot. Do you get a lot of injuries of doing such a sport?

About the books I'd say that I can't recommend anything specific, nowadays most of the books ain't updated and may be old. I haven't read many books myself either, mainly reading articles/discussion on the forums & watching videos. What I'd recommend reading is try out "Mental Game of Poker", very important book for mindset and may clear out many things.