March 2011 monthly Digest

Thread Contribution of the Month

This Month's Winner is:

ComplexPlaya (http://www.cardschat.com/members/complexplaya/)
of Vienna/Cluj/Bucharest
member since Apr 2008

ComplexPlaya is an active member of our cash game community and we appreciate his contributions!

See thread here:

*Special 1k post* : Getting most value in poker (long)


Honorable Mentions Go To:

fx20736, for Advice Required! How to play with table full of donkeys?

Bonflizubi and Various Artists, for Rebuy and/or late registration tourneys

Bwammo and Various Artists, for Free coaching inside!...What did I do, and why did I do it?

rileyl, for Using Game Flow and Dynamic: Adjusting Lines Cuz it's what the Cool Kids Do

c9h13no3, for This is not a Book: 2-7 Triple Draw

WiZZiM, for Coincidental 3000th post - WiZZiM reviews a donkey's STT video

A review of the winner and nominations can be found here:

Fantabulasticular February Thread Contribution of the Month Thread (http://www.cardschat.com/f6/fantabulasticular-february-thread-contribution-month-thread-194066/)

Upcoming Events:

Calendar (http://www.cardschat.com/calendar.php)

Cardschat SCOOP ME Rewards at Pokerstars (http://www.cardschat.com/f31/cardschat-scoop-me-rewards-pokerstars-192790/):

• We will have 2 $500 freerolls at Pokerstars in April and May. There are 2 ways you can qualify to participate:

1. If you signed up for Pokerstars using our affiliate link either before or during the promotion and you earn 100 vpp's in the previous month you will be eligible. Use this link: PokerStars
2. If you are a member of the Cardschat Freeroll Club and earn 100 vpp's in the previous month you will be eligible.

In addition to the freerolls we are adding some bonus prizes for you! After the completion of the 2 freerolls we will hold a random draw for 2 $1050 SCOOP Main Event tickets.

Exclusive Cardschat $1k Freeroll at Full Tilt (http://www.cardschat.com/f31/exclusive-cardschat-1k-freeroll-full-tilt-193243/)

$1k Freeroll Sunday, March 27 at 4:00pm ET

There are 2 ways to qualify:

1. Have an existing account which you signed up for using the Cardschat link for Full Tilt.
2. Earn 200 ftp's by Mar 26th.

Or:

1. If you do not have an existing Full Tilt account open one using this link: Exclusive Cardschat $1k Freeroll at LockPoker on Mar 26th (http://www.cardschat.com/f31/exclusive-cardschat-1k-freeroll-lockpoker-mar-193495/)
   
   Cardschat $1k Freeroll March 26 at 4pm ET
   
   All you need to do to qualify for this great freeroll is open an account using this link:
   
   LockPoker
   
   Make a deposit using the code CCLOCK and then earn 100 players points between Mar 1-25th.
   
   Exclusive Cardschat $1k Freeroll at 888 Poker (http://www.cardschat.com/f31/exclusive-cardschat-1k-freeroll-888-poker-193362/)
   
   $1k Freeroll Saturday, April 2 8pm GMT
   
   All you need to do to qualify is have an account there that you sign up for using this Cardschat link and make a deposit:
   
   888 Poker
   
   If you have an existing account there and signed up through Cardschat and have made a deposit you are already qualified. If you have not yet deposited then that is all you will need to do.
   
   
   
   Winter League:
   
   The Cardschat Winter League is underway:
   
   Cardschat Winter League 2011 - The Schedule, Teams and Standings (http://www.cardschat.com/f39/cardschat-winter-league-2011-schedule-teams-190132/)
   
   As of today "Team MVP" is in first place - but it is a close race at the top!
   
   The league games are now scheduled as Home Games at Pokerstars. Sign-ups for the Spring Session has started. See this thread to sign up:
   
   Cardschat Spring League 2011 Sign-ups (http://www.cardschat.com/f39/cardschat-spring-league-2011-sign-ups-193657/)
   
   Last Month's Big Winners:
   
   Record of Big Wins (http://www.cardschat.com/f46/record-big-wins-127354/)
   
   2ofdakind: Year Startin off With a Bang (http://www.cardschat.com/f46/year-startin-off-bang-191980/)
   dakota-xx:Finished 4th in 75k gtd at Pokerstars for almost $6k (http://www.cardschat.com/f46/finished-4th-75k-gtd-pokerstars-almost-192036/)
   spunka: Bodogs (http://www.cardschat.com/f46/bodogs-10k-tonight-193013/) 10K tonight ...
   LukeSilver: YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES (http://www.cardschat.com/f46/yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-193464/)
   
   Fun Thread:
   
   ITT we post pictures of what we think other members look like (http://www.cardschat.com/f4/itt-we-post-pictures-what-we-192082/)

Strategy Article:


Introduction

So Dakota-xx saw this article I wrote recently, and then asked me to do something for the monthly Cardschat newsletter. She liked the 500 word format, but she wanted something the entire forum would benefit from. So here, in 500 words or less, is a quick tip that will increase your win rate no matter what game you’re playing. Be it tournaments, ring games, or even hearts, planning your hands will allow you to maximize your win rate. 500 word count (not including the hand histories) starts…… now!

Why plan preflop?

Most players have a standard preflop strategy that they do not adjust. If an opponent raises in middle position, and they have K♣ J♥ on the button, they just insta-call. They don’t give any thought to what their opponent’s tendencies are. However, exploitation starts preflop, and that’s how you set yourself up to exploit your opponent’s weaknesses & avoid mistakes.

What does a preflop plan look like?

Step 1: Identify what type of opponent you’re likely playing against.
Step 2: Think of a basic strategy to allow you to exploit this player.
Step 3: Do your cards allow you to exploit this opponent?
Step 4: Profit.

So let’s consider an example, playing against a maniac. Here’s a hand history:

--------------------------------------------------------
3 other players
Button (Hero) ($125)
SB (Nit) ($100)
BB (CRAZY MANIAC!) ($88)

Preflop ($1.50): Hero is BTN with K♣ J♣
3 folds, Hero ???
--------------------------------------------------------

Now normally we’d just say “decent hand on the button, insta-steal”. Instead, lets make a plan!

Step 1: We’re going to be in the pot with a maniac, because maniacs don’t like folding.
Step 2: Make a *made* hand we like after the flop (lets say, top pair or better), and then get the maniac to put in a bunch of money. Get all in preflop with TT+/AJ+.
Step 3: Yes. K♣ J♣ will hit top pair a good percentage of the time. Sometimes it will flop flush and straight draws too, so we won’t have to fold many flops. If we had a hand like A♣6♠ we would fold, since it does not hit many flops and is not a big favorite when we get all in preflop.
Step 4:

--------------------------------------------------------
Preflop ($1.50): Hero is BTN with K♣ J♣
3 folds, Hero raises to $2.50, SB folds, Maniac raises to $10, Hero calls $7.50

Flop ($20.50): J♥ T♠ 4♣
Maniac bets $16, Hero calls.

Turn ($52.50): J♥ T♠ 4♣ Q♥
Maniac goes all in for $62, Hero calls.

Maniac shows A♣ 4♠
Hero shows K♣ J♣
--------------------------------------------------------

I raised smaller preflop, because I did not want to create a big pot when I hadn’t hit anything yet. You could even limp in this spot, since the maniac will be raising almost every hand. And we stuck to our preflop plan, we flopped top pair and got the maniac to put all the money in.

Other preflop planning errors

1) Calling early position raises from tight players (or even weak-passive fish) with off suit, gapped broad way hands like QTo. These players are usually raising a tight range that dominates you.
2) Calling blind steals from the button with hands like 9Ts or 44.These implied odds hands make nothing quite often, and this plays right into the stealer’s strategy.
3) Calling in position for implied odds with a hand like 44, and then bluffing when you miss the flop. If you called preflop because his range was strong, why are you bluffing into his strong range postflop?
4) Re-raising blind steals with monster hands like AA in a tournament. Just call with your monsters, and allow them to continuation bet with their huge blind stealing range.

Conclusion

Despite the fact that the flop can drastically change your hand values, you should set yourself up to make +EV plays by planning your hands out preflop. By setting a clear strategy preflop, you will reduce the number of errors you make in the whole hand.

Can discuss this article here:

This is Not a Book: Plan Your Hands Preflop

Further Reading:

Exploiting your Opponents Part 1: The Why
Exploiting Your Opponents Part 2 : Nits
Exploiting Your Opponents Part 3 : LoosePassive

This is my main pet peeve. These posts that use HUD or HEM stats are absolutely worthless to those of us who don't rely on additional software to play the game. Man...I even had to stop reading it? Effin rediculous....C'mon, do you think Maverick or The Cinncinnati Kid would have opened a diary or record book in the middle of a game back in the day? I mean. I'm sure they would have taken advice from their contemporaries but I think they would have thought it amateurish or unmanly to use something like tracking software(the modern day equivalent of a diary). I would wager that the table rankings would do a backflip and a tailspin if all the sites outlawed tracking software for a month.

FITEMAN

Those are movies, and regardless of that, it is advancing technology, just like everywhere else. I'm sure the majority of pro Draw players today(lol) would be able to beat their counterparts from the 1930's

I'm guessing probably not, because the majority of losing players aren't losing because they aren't using HUDs, they are losing because they suck at poker. Same with the winning players, many of the biggest winners aren't winning solely because they use a HUD but because they are good at poker. The reason the majority of winning players use HUDs isn't because that is what you need to have to win, but because why the hell wouldn't you take advantage of something that is available to you that will help you remember your previously played hands. Players that specifically don't use HUDs for whatever reason and are losing, will NO automagically start winning just because the winning players can't use their HUDs anymore.

I wouldnt have as much of a problem if all they did was help you remember your own previously played hands. Maybe I'm wrong here, but don't they allow you to see how your opponents played their hands also? If in fact they do allow you to see how others play in certain situations, I would have to say that it tilts the playing field unfairly. especially when the opponent is unaware his playing style is being monitored. Now if the sites were to put an asterisk next to the peoples screenname that were using them that might make it a little more fair. Or if they only allowed tracker users to play vs. other tracker users, that would work for me. Next thing you'll probably tell me is that its okay for athletes to use steroids. It's basically the same thing. It takes the purity from the game.

This thread has nothing to do with the Hud debate - take that elsewhere.

My bad....Sorry Deb and CCers.

FITEMAN

So will you be doing more tourneys on usa friendly sites...

We would love to but so far no luck. We have 2 weekly tournaments at Carbon.

can i join?

For the freeroll you need to be in the Freeroll Club, look that up to find out how, and for the other it is a $10 buy-in and you're welcome to join in on that.

hy
the cardschat is free?
please give me a reply

hy
how i give a ticket for freerol?

CardsChat is free, information on our events can be found here:
http://www.cardschat.com/faq.php (http://www.cardschat.com/faq.php)

Yes it is free to chat about cards here at CardsChat

wtf? I've been paying for years

Hi Dakota, I like your advice on pre flop planning, i think most people normally go in to an automatic mode when playing pre flop, and they dont think enough about exploiting their opponents. I like the fact that you have put pre flop errors into your article, as so many of us do make mistakes like these and end up costing us money as we have not played the hand correctly at the beginning.

Gotta give C9 credit for that good article!!