Study Group: Polished Poker Vol. II Workbook

John A

John A

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This thread will be relegated to questions about Polished Poker Vol. II Workbook. The followup workbook to Polished Poker Vol. I.

Link to the Workbook: Polished Poker Vol. II Workbook

Plan for the thread:
Initially we'll focus on fielding some general questions about the workbook, as more people get it and we can build a base of people working from the same content. Then I'll move to covering one chapter at a time, and we'll focus on the content of each of those areas until we think we have a good mastery of the concepts and ideas.

I'll also be doing some random coaching with some people on here. We'll go over stats and how they relate to different subjects in the book, run some filters, and analyze some similar examples that come up in your play in the form of hand histories.

Everyone who participates, we'll chart your progress if you'd like, and we want to make sure everyone is supporting each other and we're hitting our set goals.

We're all going to learn a lot, so buckle in. I'm looking forward to it!
 
Figaroo2

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count me in

I'm in:)

Goals for 2015 are moving up stakes and looking for shots at bigger tournaments.
1. Win over $3000 in cash games ($1250 up in 2014). I have posted a target to help me keep my volume up.
2 Beat 10/25 at a decent rate 4-7bb/100 hands and move up a minimum of 1 stake level, I want to be playing minimum of 25/50c by this time next year, preferably .5/1
3. Achieve this by tightening up the leaks and playing no more that 6 tables at a time. I don't have the time to volume grind so I want to make maximum use of the HUD for exploitative play against both weaker players and regs.
4. Have a deeper review into why I'm struggling at 6 max compared to full ring
5. Play lots more satellites to try and qualify for both big online and live events. To try and play at least one UKIPT event. Use sundays to play some bigger buy in online tournaments. I was actually up $2640 in tournaments in 2014 in half the hand volume I put into my cash games. There is a bink in there coming I can feel it.

Using leakbuster it looks like a lot of my issues can be resolved just by folding or 3 betting more from the blinds especially reducing my limping from the semi blind...
I want to reduce my cold calling down to 8-9% and if I do make this mostly from the CO and button.
I want to develop and use a more polarised 3 betting game against the regs I bump heads with so three betting up from 4% to 7-8%
Any comments Welcome
 
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rhombus

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Goals

1) Start from Scratch, my cash game at NLHE is awful
2) Try to increase volume
3) Be confident at whatever level I'm playing
4) Avoid Tilt by not being results orientated when I run like $h!t and realise it isnt personal and if it wasn't for bad luck/Variance the game would be so boring
5) Last year I won about $2.5K in Satellites but didnt run great in them so I'd like to do better although smaller MTTS and Turbos as I havent got the patience to grind out an 8-12 hour tournament
6) As the book says Master the content to be able to beat 100NL

Long Term Goal
Similar to point 3 above but be able to be in a situation/position whenever I'm playing in a hand that I know what to do and why i'm doing it without having a WTF I havent got a clue what I'm doing. :)
 
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fishinthesea

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I found an error: It's under expected value Questions 1 and 2

(0.35 x 160) - (0.65 x 80) = +$4
It's not an answer listed.
 
John A

John A

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Yes, thank you. Embarrassing. Apparently I put (60(.65) and didn't notice it and then solved it. No editor caught it either. I fixed it and already updated it. TY.

I've run over it so many times, and had 2 people edit it. I already saw other small grammar things I changed post launch. Nothing big, but still! :)
 
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mottotom27

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Goals:

1) To be able to crush 25nl this year
2) To overcome tilt and risk averseness; gain confidence and have the right mindset for a poker player
3) To complete the ultimate challenge on pokerstars for 850 VPPs this month

Long term goal:

1) To make a reasonable (side) income playing poker
 
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bigunclefrank

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My goal is to stay out of cash games after I've made some money in micro tourneys...They are as different as night and day. LOL
 
John A

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Good short and long term goals. Write those out in the workbook. Hopefully you guys have somewhere you can print it out, because that would be ideal.

I'm going to pick someone for some free coaching within the next week.

For those who have been participating in the Polished Poker I study group for awhile, you've been making some amazing improvements! I've noticed each and every one of your improvements, so it's great to see so far. My hope is that this workbook clarifies and solidifies all the concepts for you. We're going to work through it all, and talk a ton of strategy in here. We want to get all of you crushing to the best of your abilities. Overall, I really like what I've been seeing though.
 
John A

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How is everybody coming along with the workbook so far? If there are any general questions at any time, then just throw them out here.
 
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mottotom27

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i have a question about the ATs hand on p.49. what if the guy has a low turn c-bet %? could you then consider check/calling flop and then checking the turn to see what he does, and if he checks behind go for a steal on the river? that way you can just fold if he bets since then he'll probably have a hand. or would immediately check/raising be a better option against that type of player?
 
John A

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If your opponent has a low turn c-bet% sure. I wouldn't personally trust that stat though until you have a ton of hands on someone. But that's a possibility of course if you see something.

In the question though, the person is an OK regular. So by OK we mean someone who has a decent turn c-bet and barreling frequency. We also want to get them to fold out some of their hands they may bet on the flop - ie, small pairs, 5x, and bigger Ax, like AJ+ (which this is key because your range can be any of those cards very easily, and they are killing your equity, so a fold by them is a huge EV swing). So typically speaking, leading that turn is extremely profitable in that scenario.

But like I said, if you have a specific stat, or something you see about someone's game that you think you can exploit, then by all means, exploit it.
 
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mottotom27

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i see what you mean now. i think i undervalued the "ok" bit. it made me think of the regs at 5nl, some of whom c-bet 80%+ on flops but less than 30% on turns over a decent 500+ hand sample. i guess those guys are probably a little worse than ok...

i'm still a bit unsure about why check/calling and leading turn is superior to check/raising. you said in the explanation that check/raising looks more suspicious, but i always thought check/raising was typically a sign of strength? i've experimented with both lines at 5nl and found that i get a decent amount of folds from a check/raise, but when i check/call and lead turn they quite frequently peel. maybe things will change as i move up?
 
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rhombus

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How is everybody coming along with the workbook so far? If there are any general questions at any time, then just throw them out here.
OOPS didnt realise we had started :eek: and we seem to be at different stages of the book

Are we going to randomly throw questions from anywhere in the book or go through one bit at a time so we all understand each concept before moving on to the next.

Couple of questions about combinations?? Page 29 and 30

From the point of combinations when you ask how many combinations do you mean total combinations, or combinations from the point of view of ourself or how many villain may have??.

1) - AKo should that be 12 and not 16
16 total combos but 4 are AKs and 12 AKo

2) - There are 3 sets on the flop but 9 combos
If flop is 789 there are 3 combos of 77 3 of 88 and 3 of 99

3) - Similar to above 9 combos of each hand (78, 79, 89) so maybe 27 combos

6) - Should it be 88

To get trips the flop has to contain a pair e.g. 377 So i thought if you had something
A7, 27, 47, 57, 67, 87, 97, T7, J7, Q7, K7
11 hands with 8 combos on each, not sure if you included the hand 37 for 12 hands of 8.

You can't have the hand 37 because that would be a full house
 
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rhombus

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Probability Pages 30 and 31

1) Is Game of Dice when you throw one dice at a time, I thought it was like backgammon when you throw 2 dice at a time so probability would be 1/18

2) Think i'm missing something in second question I only get 66 combos
so probability I got was 1 in 11

TT 6 JJ 6 QQ 6 KK 6 AA 6 AJS 4 AQS 4 AKS 4 AQO 12 AKO 12

66

3) I got same as you :)
4 combos AKO 4/28 or 1 in 7
12 combos AKS 12/28 or 3 in 7
16 combos AK 16/28 or 4 in 7
 
Gorak

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Goals

6) As the book says Master the content to be able to beat 100NL

I haven't bought the book yet but I have a hard time seeing me playing 100NL. Even though I'm a tournament player, improving my cash game would allow me to play when I don't have time for my tourneys.
 
John A

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OOPS didnt realise we had started :eek: and we seem to be at different stages of the book

Are we going to randomly throw questions from anywhere in the book or go through one bit at a time so we all understand each concept before moving on to the next.

Couple of questions about combinations?? Page 29 and 30

From the point of combinations when you ask how many combinations do you mean total combinations, or combinations from the point of view of ourself or how many villain may have??.

1) - AKo should that be 12 and not 16
16 total combos but 4 are AKs and 12 AKo

2) - There are 3 sets on the flop but 9 combos
If flop is 789 there are 3 combos of 77 3 of 88 and 3 of 99

3) - Similar to above 9 combos of each hand (78, 79, 89) so maybe 27 combos

6) - Should it be 88

To get trips the flop has to contain a pair e.g. 377 So i thought if you had something
A7, 27, 47, 57, 67, 87, 97, T7, J7, Q7, K7
11 hands with 8 combos on each, not sure if you included the hand 37 for 12 hands of 8.

You can't have the hand 37 because that would be a full house

Well, I was just saying if you have some specific question on something you can ask for now until we start going through everything chapter by chapter. Those who get it early, I don't want them to be left sitting and waiting around.

1) It's funny because I put this as 12 in something completely different, and people complained it should be 16. I guess I should take out the o, and just put AK and say 16. But you understand the concept. 12 combos + 4 suited combos.

2) Yeah, total combos of possible sets. I guess I should clarify this more. You're correct.

3) I think I'm going to clarify this section. I meant for you since I said for a hand, but if you're looking at total combo's of your opponent you're correct. I didn't want to overly complicate it, but perhaps I'll put both answers back there.

6) Same thing... I'll add some clarification. It's good you're thinking about it like that. That's how you want to break it down if you're counting total combos of an opponents possible hand.
 
John A

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Probability Pages 30 and 31

1) Is Game of Dice when you throw one dice at a time, I thought it was like backgammon when you throw 2 dice at a time so probability would be 1/18

2) Think i'm missing something in second question I only get 66 combos
so probability I got was 1 in 11

TT 6 JJ 6 QQ 6 KK 6 AA 6 AJS 4 AQS 4 AKS 4 AQO 12 AKO 12

66

3) I got same as you :)
4 combos AKO 4/28 or 1 in 7
12 combos AKS 12/28 or 3 in 7
16 combos AK 16/28 or 4 in 7

1) You're throwing both at once, but the answer is is 2.7%.

2) Yes, you're correct... there's 66.
 
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John A

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I haven't bought the book yet but I have a hard time seeing me playing 100NL. Even though I'm a tournament player, improving my cash game would allow me to play when I don't have time for my tourneys.

The workbook is for micro up to 100NL. If you master the content, then you should be able to beat up to those stakes. So if you're playing 5NL, it's fine and applicable.
 
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rhombus

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1) You're throwing both at once, but the answer is is 2.7%.
for probabilities isnt it 1 in 36 rather than a percentage or am i getting mixed up with ratios
 
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About my longterm goals:

Really long term, I think travelling the world playing poker would be a dream come true.
However, the main mid-long term goal for me is to make enough money to move out and be able to pay for the appartment and expenses (decent winrate and good rb at 50NL probably). So I believe setting myself a goal to beat 50NL till the end of this year would be a good start. :)
 
John A

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for probabilities isnt it 1 in 36 rather than a percentage or am i getting mixed up with ratios

What? You can convert probabilities to percentage or ratio... it's 1 in 36 also expressed as 2.7%.
 
John A

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About my longterm goals:

Really long term, I think travelling the world playing poker would be a dream come true.
However, the main mid-long term goal for me is to make enough money to move out and be able to pay for the appartment and expenses (decent winrate and good rb at 50NL probably). So I believe setting myself a goal to beat 50NL till the end of this year would be a good start. :)

Ok, that sounds solid. We'll get you there.
 
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rhombus

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What? You can convert probabilities to percentage or ratio... it's 1 in 36 also expressed as 2.7%.
i meant the question said "You need to roll the exactly 1 and 6 to win the game. What is the probability that you will do so?"
 
Figaroo2

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John
Just starting and in the intro page 4 in my copy you have a repeated double paragraph......


Like anything and everything in life, you're only going to get out what you put in. If you read the workbook but don't do the exercises in it, you're not going to get full value out of it. Regardless of how you choose to use the material, I hope you find some benefit in it, and it helps you (even just a little bit), find more success in your poker game.
Like anything and everything in life, you're only going to get out what you put in. If you read the workbook but don't do the exercises in it, you're not going to get full value out of it. Regardless of how you choose to use the material, I hope you find some benefit in it, and it helps you (even just a little bit), find more success in your poker game.
Much love & respect,
John Anhalt
 
John A

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Thanks. This must have happened when I re-updated it last. Very strange.
 
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