The cash game student's blog [Free microstakes tips inside!]

This second post contains summaries of some my advice for beating NL10-NL25 full ring Zoom (I can't know if they're any good at higher stakes). I might post a more detailed explanation for some of these points throughout the blog and you will find hands related to these tips - their commentary is colored in red for bad plays that I made and in blue for good plays.

[autoprofit exploit] You should steal with 100% of your trash range by raising to 2.5 big blinds when you are on the button and behind you are two players that fit into one of the following categories: TAG, nit, tight passive, fit-or-fold fish (high VPIP, low PFR and 3bet, 60%+ fold to flop Cbet) It will show a good profit in the long run if you don't overplay your hand post-flop and fold to the occasional 3bets that you will encounter. Against all other opponents, keep a stealing range of 25% - 40% depending on how much they defend their blinds - the more they defend, the tighter your range should be.

The same principles apply if you are in the small blind and minraise, even against a wider range of players - it's autoprofit against almost every opponent, if he folds at least 51% of the time. You should always have the "BB vs SB raise - fold" and "fold to late position steal" stats in your HUD.

This also artificially inflates your VPIP and PFR stats, which will make you look more like a LAG, and will result in you getting paid off more often when you have a made hand.

[folding KK pre-flop] If you are facing a 4bet+ from a player in the first 3 positions or a 4bet+ against an early position open-raise and a 3bet and you have KK, a very large percentage of the time you will be facing AA and you should simply fold pre-flop to minimize losses, unless you are facing a maniac.

[Folding AK pre-flop] If you are facing a 3bet after raising in the first 3 positions from a regular or a relatively unknown player who doesn't appear to be maniacal, just fold. You are likely to be facing QQ+,AK in some of the best-case scenarios. Some people just call QQ and AK to UTG raises. Against that generous 3bet range, if you call, you have around 40% equity and you will be playing out of position and without being the lead aggressor, and it will surely be a losing play in the long run. --- Spot brought to my attention by gadget51.

[Cbetting the flop and betting in general] While trying to decrease my Cbet percentage, I often asked myself "Why shouldn't I bet here?". This was a mistake. The first question should be "Why should I bet here?" if you find no good reason, then you shouldn't Cbet.

The best reasons to bet with a good made hand are value and protection. The only reasons to bet with a weak hand are having a high fold equity and to inflate the pot with a strong draw, if you also have some fold equity.

Good reasons not to bet a strong hand are, for example, to let a very aggressive opponent bet it for you (rarely happens at these stakes,but keep your eyes open for them) or because your hand crushes the flop (such as having AK on an AAK flop) and the opponent has almost nothing to call you with and you can only extract value by letting him improve his hand or bluff you.

[Multi-way flopped sets] When multi-way with a set, especially out of position, it's usually best to just take the lead and bet enough so that you can shove by the river. Don't expect people to value bet your hand for you and don't be afraid about scaring them away, they either have a hand they want to call you down with (or shove) or they don't. They'll be more scared by a check-raise anyway, and check-calling out of position will be very unefficient value-wise because they are likely to bet smaller than you would bet, or they could simply check and you just lost a street of value.

However, if you flop a set with AA on a dry flop, for example, you might just want to check the flop, since you aren't extracting value from almost anything.

[3betting value hands pre-flop] If you're going to 3bet your hand for value pre-flop, do it at least pot-sized, especially if you play tight and your hand is pretty much face-up vs an UTG open. Don't get "tricky" and don't give your opponent super-odds for set mining. If that's how you play big pairs, you are bleeding money.

My current plan is to grind NL25 full ring for a few months until I save some money as a back-up plan and buy a few things for myself (as mentioned in the mid-term objectives list). It takes a little long because I also have to withdraw money for living expenses.

After that, I might move to NL25 6-max or NL50 full ring and go up the stakes with a more aggressive bankroll management because I'll have a backup bankroll in case I disastrously fail my shots, which shouldn't happen.

From N50 full ring there isn't much room for moving up the stakes, so I'll switch to 6max once I beat it.

The reasons I'm still playing full ring are that it has less variance than 6-max and I'm also a lot more experienced at this game type.

Will be following !

You should especially keep your eyes on the second post for some good tips, ImpasX.

Will do

Since I'm my biggest critic starting today, here's my first major mistake:

PokerStars - $0.25 NL FAST - Holdem - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 55.44 BB (VPIP: 23.50, PFR: 10.50, 3Bet Preflop: 1.27, Hands: 202)
SB: 100 BB (VPIP: 14.11, PFR: 12.03, 3Bet Preflop: 8.05, Hands: 243)
BB: 72 BB (VPIP: 24.07, PFR: 7.41, 3Bet Preflop: 9.09, Hands: 54)
UTG: 105.68 BB (VPIP: 14.56, PFR: 11.18, 3Bet Preflop: 3.66, Hands: 686)
UTG+1: 102.32 BB (VPIP: 16.89, PFR: 12.00, 3Bet Preflop: 3.80, Hands: 453)
Hero (MP): 102.4 BB
MP+1: 101.4 BB (VPIP: 13.18, PFR: 10.63, 3Bet Preflop: 3.08, Hands: 1,225)
MP+2: 141.52 BB (VPIP: 21.88, PFR: 12.50, 3Bet Preflop: 7.69, Hands: 32)
CO: 150.4 BB (VPIP: 12.01, PFR: 9.29, 3Bet Preflop: 1.03, Hands: 1,035)

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has T♣ T♠

UTG raises to 3 BB, fold, Hero calls 3 BB, fold, MP+2 calls 3 BB, fold, fold, fold, BB calls 2 BB

Flop: (12.4 BB, 4 players) T♦ 9♣ A♥
BB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets 9.44 BB, fold, BB calls 9.44 BB, fold

Turn: (31.28 BB, 2 players) A♦
BB checks, Hero bets 23.88 BB, fold

There was no reason in the world for me to bet the turn with the near nuts, and certainly not that big, because he only had 60BB left and I could get almost any ace all-in on the river anyway, but through this bet I'm folding all the pocket pairs and draws that he might have and could bluff the river with if I check back, so this bet just kills my value extraction from weaker hands.

Well he can have Ax for sure, checking the turn is seems results oriented, he can have so many gutshots, OESD's, that can call our turn bet.It's fish, so we need to build the pot, to shove the river, if we get called. 1/2 pot is enough i think.

I know I have room for improvement in my game, but when I see how some people play, it gives me hope
Behold villain's ultimate river bluff!

PokerStars - $0.25 NL FAST - Holdem - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BTN): 103.2 BB
SB: 145.36 BB (VPIP: 11.11, PFR: 3.70, 3Bet Preflop: 7.14, Hands: 27)
BB: 126.68 BB (VPIP: 40.00, PFR: 40.00, 3Bet Preflop: 25.00, Hands: 5)
UTG: 101.6 BB (VPIP: 12.60, PFR: 10.84, 3Bet Preflop: 8.16, Hands: 2,530)
UTG+1: 96.6 BB (VPIP: 12.24, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 49)
MP: 106.6 BB (VPIP: 18.05, PFR: 14.29, 3Bet Preflop: 10.00, Hands: 401)
MP+1: 100 BB (VPIP: 13.73, PFR: 10.88, 3Bet Preflop: 3.39, Hands: 1,424)
MP+2: 179.44 BB (VPIP: 13.18, PFR: 5.39, 3Bet Preflop: 5.90, Hands: 1,089)
CO: 100 BB (VPIP: 12.56, PFR: 10.62, 3Bet Preflop: 4.32, Hands: 1,097)

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has K♦ K♣

fold, UTG+1 raises to 3 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 10.4 BB, fold, fold, UTG+1 calls 7.4 BB

Flop: (22.2 BB, 2 players) T♣ 3♣ 8♦
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets 16.4 BB, UTG+1 calls 16.4 BB

Turn: (55 BB, 2 players) 4♦
UTG+1 bets 8 BB, Hero raises to 41.2 BB, UTG+1 calls 33.2 BB

River: (137.4 BB, 2 players) 7♠
UTG+1 bets 5 BB, Hero raises to 35.2 BB and is all-in, fold

However, I can't help but see my own failure to extract value in this hand. He had 23.6 blinds left in his stack that I failed to win. The correct play would have been to bet the flop pot-sized and shove the turn.

You are correct about extracting value from draws, ImpasX, butI still think there is a bit more value in checking back and allowing missed draws to try and represent an ace or see a free card in case villain was going to fold a weak draw like a gutshot here, and also give one-pair type hands like KT/QT/Q9/88/JJ/etc. the same "opportunity" to bluff. Also, this villain was especially aggressive post-flop on his small sample size.

well yeah, that changes if he's agressive, if fish is passive, he will check down, all missed draws :).

My first bad beat since I started the blog:

PokerStars - $0.25 NL FAST - Holdem - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 117.4 BB (VPIP: 13.94, PFR: 10.99, 3Bet Preflop: 1.88, Hands: 1,983)
SB: 100 BB (VPIP: 13.84, PFR: 9.57, 3Bet Preflop: 1.37, Hands: 786)
BB: 135.88 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: _, Hands: 3)
Hero (UTG): 103.16 BB
UTG+1: 100 BB (VPIP: 12.20, PFR: 10.04, 3Bet Preflop: 5.29, Hands: 464)
MP: 104.56 BB (VPIP: 14.00, PFR: 7.00, 3Bet Preflop: 2.56, Hands: 462)
MP+1: 53.64 BB (VPIP: 22.00, PFR: 8.00, 3Bet Preflop: 4.00, Hands: 50)
MP+2: 108.68 BB (VPIP: 10.39, PFR: 7.14, 3Bet Preflop: 1.69, Hands: 158)
CO: 242.2 BB (VPIP: 14.55, PFR: 5.45, 3Bet Preflop: 8.70, Hands: 55)

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has 4♠ 4♣

Hero raises to 2.48 BB, fold, fold, fold, MP+2 calls 2.48 BB, CO calls 2.48 BB, fold, SB calls 2.08 BB, BB raises to 12 BB, Hero calls 9.52 BB, fold, CO calls 9.52 BB, fold

Flop: (40.96 BB, 3 players) 6♠ 3♣ 5♥
BB checks, Hero checks, CO bets 23 BB, fold, Hero raises to 91.16 BB and is all-in, CO calls 68.16 BB

Turn: (223.28 BB, 2 players) K♥

River: (223.28 BB, 2 players) 4♦

However, I think I played this hand well. The chances of getting 4bet pre-flop were extremely small with a nit and a tag with 1.5% 3bet pre-flop each and a fish flatting pre-flop and the fish had fold to 3bet 0% (0/4) and went to showdown of 86% (6/7), so he was basically dead money post-flop if I was going to flop a set and clash with someone. Also, the flop pot would be huge so it would be very easy to get the squeezer to go broke with an overpair or good top pair.

Post-flop it just plays by itself. Just calling to complete my draw out of position on the turn would be a terrible play, so I just use whatever fold equity I have (I don't expect it to be too high,but it still adds some EV) and a strong draw with a pair to shove. The pair is important because it adds 2 potential outs to my hand, especially when I'm up againts an overpair or 2 pairs. I didn't expect it to be good unimproved and I was shocked to see the villain's trash hand calling.

Just some plain funny incompetence ♦

PokerStars - $0.25 NL FAST - Holdem - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BTN): 106.72 BB
SB: 98.76 BB (VPIP: 13.10, PFR: 10.15, 3Bet Preflop: 4.61, Hands: 1,947)
BB: 100 BB
UTG: 309.28 BB (VPIP: 15.49, PFR: 12.68, 3Bet Preflop: 6.90, Hands: 71)
UTG+1: 91.84 BB (VPIP: 25.00, PFR: 16.67, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 12)
MP: 93 BB (VPIP: 20.51, PFR: 8.55, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 238)
MP+1: 50 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 13.33, 3Bet Preflop: 14.29, Hands: 15)
MP+2: 59.04 BB
CO: 431.48 BB (VPIP: 100.00, PFR: 100.00, 3Bet Preflop: _, Hands: 2)

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has K♥ A♠

fold, fold, fold, fold, MP+2 raises to 3.4 BB, fold, Hero calls 3.4 BB, fold, BB raises to 13.2 BB, MP+2 calls 9.8 BB, Hero raises to 106.72 BB and is all-in, fold, MP+2 calls 45.84 BB and is all-in

Flop: (131.68 BB, 2 players) A♦ 8♠ 8♦

Turn: (131.68 BB, 2 players) 2♦

River: (131.68 BB, 2 players) 6♦

but we're happy that that type of players even exist ♠_biggrin:

Originally posted by NightShadePMC
My first bad beat since I started the blog:

PokerStars - $0.25 NL FAST - Holdem - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 117.4 BB (VPIP: 13.94, PFR: 10.99, 3Bet Preflop: 1.88, Hands: 1,983)
SB: 100 BB (VPIP: 13.84, PFR: 9.57, 3Bet Preflop: 1.37, Hands: 786)
BB: 135.88 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: _, Hands: 3)
Hero (UTG): 103.16 BB
UTG+1: 100 BB (VPIP: 12.20, PFR: 10.04, 3Bet Preflop: 5.29, Hands: 464)
MP: 104.56 BB (VPIP: 14.00, PFR: 7.00, 3Bet Preflop: 2.56, Hands: 462)
MP+1: 53.64 BB (VPIP: 22.00, PFR: 8.00, 3Bet Preflop: 4.00, Hands: 50)
MP+2: 108.68 BB (VPIP: 10.39, PFR: 7.14, 3Bet Preflop: 1.69, Hands: 158)
CO: 242.2 BB (VPIP: 14.55, PFR: 5.45, 3Bet Preflop: 8.70, Hands: 55)

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has 4♠ 4♣

Hero raises to 2.48 BB, fold, fold, fold, MP+2 calls 2.48 BB, CO calls 2.48 BB, fold, SB calls 2.08 BB, BB raises to 12 BB, Hero calls 9.52 BB, fold, CO calls 9.52 BB, fold

Flop: (40.96 BB, 3 players) 6♠ 3♣ 5♥
BB checks, Hero checks, CO bets 23 BB, fold, Hero raises to 91.16 BB and is all-in, CO calls 68.16 BB

Turn: (223.28 BB, 2 players) K♥

River: (223.28 BB, 2 players) 4♦

Spoiler

Hero shows 4♠ 4♣ (Three of a Kind, Fours) (Pre 52%, Flop 77%, Turn 89%)
CO shows A♠ 7♠ (Straight, Seven High) (Pre 48%, Flop 23%, Turn 11%)
CO wins 215.28 BB

However, I think I played this hand well. The chances of getting 4bet pre-flop were extremely small with a nit and a tag with 1.5% 3bet pre-flop each and a fish flatting pre-flop and the fish had fold to 3bet 0% (0/4) and went to showdown of 86% (6/7), so he was basically dead money post-flop if I was going to flop a set and clash with someone. Also, the flop pot would be huge so it would be very easy to get the squeezer to go broke with an overpair or good top pair.

Post-flop it just plays by itself. Just calling to complete my draw out of position on the turn would be a terrible play, so I just use whatever fold equity I have (I don't expect it to be too high,but it still adds some EV) and a strong draw with a pair to shove. The pair is important because it adds 2 potential outs to my hand, especially when I'm up againts an overpair or 2 pairs. I didn't expect it to be good
unimproved and I was shocked to see the villain's trash hand calling.

Not looking at results, not sure if i like that play, he could have 77+, sets, its player dependant, but are we sure we have fold equity here ? he's like Tight-fish, by hits stats, they tend to be sticky with their overpairs.

You almost always have some amount of fold equity. Look at the KK hand for a shocking example. We can never assume our fold equity is absolute 0%. Plus the pot was 40 big blinds going to the flop, so our odds are too good to fold this hand.

Remember that we started out looking for a set. On this flop, this is not necessarily a great spot for us to win money in the long run, but it's a good spot to at least cut some losses. To clarify: we have called 12BB pre-flop, so whenever we don't hit our set, we lose 12BB/hand. Because of the great pot odds on the flop here,we might reduce those losses per hand by a few big blinds. It's better to choose the option that loses less, if you have no option that wins(just like blind defense, nobody wins money from the big blind, but it's better to defend it and lose less with some hands than just fold and lose 100bb/100 hands)

Also, if we just called the flop and we'd have hit a set or a straight on the turn, the board would contain 4 cards to a straight, so our chances of getting paid dramatically drop.

However, I expected more callers behind me and not just the fish to make this call +EV. Calling or folding pre-flop is a thin decision and it's safer to just fold most of the time.

This is a good model for standard play on these kinds of flops, because:
:spade:we don't want to get checked back and miss a street of value;
his Cbet(if he fires) will likely be smaller than our lead out bet,so we get less value;
:spade:a check-raise might produce a fold on the flop or later,especially if a 5, 6, T or J hits, which would put 4 cards to the straight on the board
:spade:It's likely to be the best way to extract value out of TT-AA, AT, sometimes 66 and protect our hand at the same time.

PokerStars - $0.25 NL FAST - Holdem - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 120.84 BB (VPIP: 9.93, PFR: 6.74, 3Bet Preflop: 2.50, Hands: 1,169)
Hero (SB): 100 BB
BB: 100 BB (VPIP: 41.67, PFR: 33.33, 3Bet Preflop: 25.00, Hands: 12)
UTG: 116.8 BB (VPIP: 19.52, PFR: 14.17, 3Bet Preflop: 4.11, Hands: 1,023)
UTG+1: 124.6 BB (VPIP: 5.56, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 18)
MP: 100 BB (VPIP: 13.68, PFR: 10.83, 3Bet Preflop: 3.30, Hands: 1,459)
MP+1: 222.64 BB (VPIP: 15.29, PFR: 9.51, 3Bet Preflop: 3.24, Hands: 896)
MP+2: 100.92 BB (VPIP: 12.48, PFR: 7.86, 3Bet Preflop: 3.75, Hands: 589)
CO: 117.28 BB (VPIP: 15.32, PFR: 10.92, 3Bet Preflop: 3.42, Hands: 2,416)

Hero posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has 7♦ 7♣

UTG raises to 3 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls 2.6 BB, fold

Flop: (7 BB, 2 players) 7♥ 9♣ 8♠
Hero bets 5.32 BB, UTG calls 5.32 BB

Turn: (17.64 BB, 2 players) 8♥
Hero bets 14 BB, UTG calls 14 BB

River: (45.64 BB, 2 players) 2♣
Hero bets 34 BB, UTG calls 34 BB

yeah thanks for the good idea! WP sir. I'm struggling with flopped sets on drawy boards.

That insane turn bluff!

I was just trying to blockbet my way to the river card, but I guess my fierce bet sizing scared him away ♠_confused: (actually, he had the check/fold option active).

PokerStars - $0.25 NL FAST - Holdem - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 258.24 BB (VPIP: 66.67, PFR: 33.33, 3Bet Preflop: 50.00, Hands: 3)
SB: 97.2 BB (VPIP: 13.03, PFR: 8.14, 3Bet Preflop: 8.63, Hands: 311)
BB: 105.24 BB (VPIP: 14.29, PFR: 6.93, 3Bet Preflop: 3.92, Hands: 234)
UTG: 105.08 BB (VPIP: 15.23, PFR: 10.81, 3Bet Preflop: 4.17, Hands: 936)
UTG+1: 69.76 BB (VPIP: 47.06, PFR: 17.65, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 17)
MP: 91.8 BB (VPIP: 16.67, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 6)
MP+1: 72.04 BB (VPIP: 23.39, PFR: 9.63, 3Bet Preflop: 1.15, Hands: 220)
Hero (MP+2): 100 BB
CO: 48.96 BB (VPIP: 25.71, PFR: 20.59, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 35)

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has A♠ T♠

fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 3 BB, fold, BTN calls 3 BB, fold, fold

Flop: (7.4 BB, 2 players) 7♦ K♠ 9♣
Hero bets 3.52 BB, BTN raises to 7.04 BB, Hero calls 3.52 BB

Turn: (21.48 BB, 2 players) 8♠
Hero bets 3.04 BB, fold

Gotta hate it when this happens... ♠_frown:

PokerStars - $0.25 NL FAST - Holdem - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 194.44 BB (VPIP: 17.11, PFR: 11.80, 3Bet Preflop: 3.42, Hands: 344)
Hero (SB): 115.8 BB
BB: 119.52 BB (VPIP: 13.84, PFR: 10.71, 3Bet Preflop: 3.30, Hands: 232)
UTG: 100 BB (VPIP: 14.41, PFR: 12.39, 3Bet Preflop: 6.00, Hands: 349)
UTG+1: 141.4 BB (VPIP: 14.69, PFR: 9.81, 3Bet Preflop: 3.28, Hands: 1,635)
MP: 97.6 BB (VPIP: 33.33, PFR: 16.67, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 12)
MP+1: 509 BB (VPIP: 42.86, PFR: 14.29, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 14)
MP+2: 100 BB (VPIP: 13.59, PFR: 10.67, 3Bet Preflop: 3.23, Hands: 1,493)
CO: 100 BB (VPIP: 11.98, PFR: 9.90, 3Bet Preflop: 3.92, Hands: 534)

Hero posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has K♠ A♣

UTG raises to 2.48 BB, fold, fold, MP+1 calls 2.48 BB, MP+2 calls 2.48 BB, fold, fold, Hero raises to 13.4 BB, fold, fold, MP+1 calls 10.92 BB, fold

Flop: (32.76 BB, 2 players) 3♦ A♥ 8♣
Hero bets 25.6 BB, MP+1 raises to 51.2 BB, Hero raises to 102.4 BB and is all-in, MP+1 calls 51.2 BB

Turn: (237.56 BB, 2 players) Q♣

River: (237.56 BB, 2 players) 7♦