Ask BlackRain79 Anything About Cash Games

[zekubiki]

hey, nathan! glad to welcome you here! i will follow this thread

how much more do you think online poker will be relevant? and is it worth seriously considering it as the main source of income in 2020?

 

[Nathan Williams]

hey, nathan! glad to welcome you here! i will follow this thread

how much more do you think online poker will be relevant? and is it worth seriously considering it as the main source of income in 2020?

Hey Zeku,

Thanks, glad to help!

I think a lot of people still play poker, maybe more than ever actually. If you look at the last couple wsop main events, it's like the #2 and #3 all time. That's not bad!

But the game is always changing and you just gotta keep up with the trends. Where the bad players are playing these days and so on. The game is always going to be profitable for those who stay on top.

I actually get this question a lot so I wrote a big post on if I think poker is still profitable, which you can find here:

https://www.blackrain79.com/2017/10/is-poker-still-profitable.html

 

[Debi]

You almost make me want to play cash,,,,,almost lol,,, A big thanks for helping my fellow CC'ers! :rock: Blackrain Rules!

Was just looking through this thread and had the same thought lol. I think if I had time I would finally give it a shot.

Nathan - have you played much live poker and what would be some suggestions you would have for a live tournament player who wants to dabble in $1/2 live games on the side? I tend to play cash too much like a tournament and need some tips on adjusting.

 

[Elnur]

You almost make me want to play cash,,,,,almost lol,,, A big thanks for helping my fellow CC'ers! :rock: Blackrain Rules!

Hey BUSB0Y,

Thanks for the support! I try not to comment on individual poker sites too much because you almost never have a big enough sample to say anything definitive.

It can even depend on what time of the day you play. I live in Asia most of the year so I often deal with different regs when I am over here, as opposed to when I am back home in Canada due to the timezones.

Overall though, NL2 games have tightened up a fair bit over the years on most sites. With that said, most of the regulars are still relative beginners who make a lot of fundamental mistakes.

My advice would be to start studying and learning about player types and how to exploit each one. This is something that I discuss a lot on my blog, in my books and videos.

Because then you can have a general gameplan for large groups of players. For example, you will find a lot of overly weak and tight players at NL2 these days, often called "nits."

They don't like to put a lot of money in the pot without a big hand. So these players are excellent opportunities for bluffing. You want to use scare cards against them on the turn and river in particular, to make them fold a better hand than yours.

This article of mine about double barreling scare cards might help you more:

https://www.blackrain79.com/2017/02/when-to-double-barrel-the-turn.html

I hope this helps.

Ok very good

 

[Nathan Williams]

Was just looking through this thread and had the same thought lol. I think if I had time I would finally give it a shot.

Nathan - have you played much live poker and what would be some suggestions you would have for a live tournament player who wants to dabble in $1/2 live games on the side? I tend to play cash too much like a tournament and need some tips on adjusting.

Hey Debi,

I don't have a lot of live experience, I am more of an online player. But I have played live $1/$2 in many places around the world.

The games are usually pretty soft. I think the key is to switch over to a cash game mentality. The blinds never go up. So you don't need to force anything. The best strategy is to just remain patient and wait for them to make their mistakes.

 

[Aballinamion]

HUD configuration for 2020

Hi there professor Williams, good evening, how you doing? I would like to know if I am using my HUD for cash properly at the micros in 2020.

Here we go:

Line 1: Name of player/Number of hand/Aggresion Factor

Line 2: VPIP/PFR/3bet preflop/Fold 3bet preflop

Line 3: C-bet Flop/Fold C-bet flop/C-bet Turn/Fold C-bet Turn/ Call Open (Pop-up)*

Line 4: Raise First: EP/MP/CO/BTN/SB

Line 5: Fold BB vs BTN/Fold BB x SB/Fold SB x BTN

*In the Line 3, I made a Pop-up for the Call Open by position (How much MP calls vs UTG, how much CO calls vs MP etc)

I didn't put 4bet preflop and fold 4bet preflop and C-bet River and fold to C-bet River because we never play 10 K, 20 K hands at the river to have a proper statistics (or we never play enough to know the 4bet % of Villains).
I know you have your own PokerTracker HUD for download, but I would like to know what do you think about this HUD stats. Are there too many information or there is something else to add? Any advice, comment or ideia will be very much appreciated! Have a nice day!

Regards;

Carlos 'Aballinamion' Barbosa

 

[Epithaeus]

Question about overpairs on dry boards in 3-bet pots in micros, specifically 2nl. These keep costing me and I realized I seem to never know where I am. I think about the possible ranges and I just feel lost. It might just be a mental block but it feels different than when my hand is made with community cards.

Any advice for this scenario?

 

[Nathan Williams]

Hi there professor Williams, good evening, how you doing? I would like to know if I am using my HUD for cash properly at the micros in 2020.

Here we go:

Line 1: Name of player/Number of hand/Aggresion Factor

Line 2: VPIP/PFR/3bet preflop/Fold 3bet preflop

Line 3: C-bet Flop/Fold C-bet flop/C-bet Turn/Fold C-bet Turn/ Call Open (Pop-up)*

Line 4: Raise First: EP/MP/CO/BTN/SB

Line 5: Fold BB vs BTN/Fold BB x SB/Fold SB x BTN

*In the Line 3, I made a Pop-up for the Call Open by position (How much MP calls vs UTG, how much CO calls vs MP etc)

I didn't put 4bet preflop and fold 4bet preflop and C-bet River and fold to C-bet River because we never play 10 K, 20 K hands at the river to have a proper statistics (or we never play enough to know the 4bet % of Villains).
I know you have your own PokerTracker HUD for download, but I would like to know what do you think about this HUD stats. Are there too many information or there is something else to add? Any advice, comment or ideia will be very much appreciated! Have a nice day!

Regards;

Carlos 'Aballinamion' Barbosa

Hey Carlos,

I am going to keep this thread to just general poker questions. If you are looking for a detailed HUD analysis or hand history review, please post those in the relevant sub-forums here on CardsChat.

Also, for what it's worth, I have already posted my entire custom HUD on my website:

https://www.blackrain79.com/2013/09/how-to-optimize-your-hud-for-todays.html

 

[Nathan Williams]

Question about overpairs on dry boards in 3-bet pots in micros, specifically 2nl. These keep costing me and I realized I seem to never know where I am. I think about the possible ranges and I just feel lost. It might just be a mental block but it feels different than when my hand is made with community cards.

Any advice for this scenario?

Hey Epithaeus,

This situation is all about player type and understanding the relative strength of your hand.

For example, if you are up against a Nit (tight player) in a 3-bet pot with a hand like 99 on a dry board like 742 (rainbow), you need to know that getting all the money in here will usually end very badly for you.

This is because a tight player's range here will often be TT+. However, against other player types, it might be fine to play a big pot in a situation like this. Stack size and previous history can also play a crucial role.

Hope this helps.

 

[lnm2308]

buy in !

Hi Nathan, thank you very much for being willing to help those who love this exciting game and we are willing to absorb how much material is within our reach to improve our game. On the other hand I apologize for my bad English since I do not master the language and use the translator to publish! Having said this, I ask you the following question, from your experience and speaking in buy ins (100 bb) at cash tables, how much do you recommend having on our bench in order to be comfortable on one level and thus try to beat it? thanks

 

[Aballinamion]

Set over Set? Bad beat or bad play?

Hi there Nathan Williams, how you doing? I just watched this video and I would love to share with you and the CardsChat community:

Well, your analysis is perfect, and I see why 97% of players would never fold to a situation like this.
Just for the record I don't believe it will be plus EV to open raise 22-66 from MP 100% of times. I will be opening two or three combos of low pocket pairs at maximum out of position ina Full-Ring game, because I know how tight these guys are (or loose).
But, it is really okay when we open a small pocket pair and get called by a Tight Passive player in the BB. We should know here how much this player is 3-betting preflop, it seems that it 3-bets only the top of its range, something like QQ+ AQs+
That being said, many players have a very flawed line of thinking the game, and this is the line: "I raised preflop and the villain called out of position. So villain would never have AA, KK, QQ, AK, AQ, etc because it would be 3-betting these hands".
Yes, it is true, at the micros players 3-bet almost 100% of these combos, and most of times burn them into preflop bluffs, raising these juicy part of the range against nits who fold a lot to 3-bet preflop.
Against MP, if I am in Villain's shoes, I would be inclined more to 3-bet than calling here, because TT will not play okay versus MP's range, even when it hits a set. So, I guess I would be 3-betting 4 combos of pocket T's or even 5 combos and calling down just one, when I see the player has a very wide range from MP and loves to bluff postflop (by 3-betting we take initiative upon the hand and can take the pot down much more times than if we call)
Now, in Hero's shoes, with pocket 5's it is very nice C-bet flop, polarizing its range a lot for value, and expecting to be CALLED by KQ, KJ, JT, AT, KT, and a lot of pairs (A5 not so much).
Because we are in position, and we already made a very intense bet size in the flop and we get raised a little more than 4x, it is very, very scary.
If we are facing an aggro donkey it is lovely because we know this guy will have so many bluffs, and Ax trying to bluff that, even so, the call could induce more bluffs.
So, if we are calling down versus a bluffer, with a very strong value hand, why not call with a tight passive player, who doesn't have too many bluffs in its range?
I would call this flop crying, I say, to fold many turns and rivers stupid aggression, like a giant polarized C-bet.
When I decide to re-raise, 3-bet I don't know, the 4x raise of the BB, we are repping the nuts, which is AA, because we opened preflop from MP, and it is more likely that MP has a lot of A's than the BB.
I posted here many times, but many players simply do not understand the basic difference between the nuts and a value hand: they play a value hand as it is the nuts or if it is a bluff most of times
Even if the player in the big blind have the second nuts (TT) or the nuts itself (AA) it will have only 6 combos of each, which are 12 combos. This also could be a flawed reading of the player, because the mathematics is very simple: There are only 12 combos of pocket pairs that are beating the 5's set, so it will have dozens of bluffing combos, when the player actually have no bluffs at all!
I disagree with the action of the player in the BB, a lot! The player in the BB doesn't have the nuts to be going shoving a flop like this! So, we observe that even deep stacked players do crazy things. And for the times the MP had bluffs, draws it will be leaving them all dearly! By calling a raise with a second nuts here, we are almost sure MP is going to fire again and again we could be calling very easy.
But maybe the player in the BB knew that the MP player would never fold a bottom set, two pair, I don't know.
The only hand that could be paying this all in flop is AA. All the rest should fold, given how passive preflop and postflop our opponent is. BB is only looking down to its hand and "omg, now I am rich I have the best hand possible for this board", when, in fact, it doesn't have.
I repeat, I would only call flop very sadly and then fold many turns and rivers if the pot geometry goes insane. But is is hard for players to leave hands! Thank you very much Nathan Williams!

Regards;

Carlos 'Aballinamion' Barbosa

 

[Danjwarburton]

Hello Nathan, it has been a few years since you coached me out of 2nl and 5nl. Must have been around 8 years by now!

I'm going for a big push as a challenge...
The thread is here=> https://www.cardschat.com/forum/pok...perienced-player-earning-4-million-in-448087/

I have realistically 30 hours a week I can put towards this goal; A few questions:

1.) What habits/rituals will I need to get there?
2.) Any suggestions on overall strategy?
3.) What tools do you think I should use to overcome the tough times and keep me going?

Any other advice you can give? I need a full strategy with contingency built into it and a full study-play schedule! I have a suggested one on the thread but no idea how to improve that further.

Thanks

 

[RVTR7777]

Ask BlackRain79 Anything About Cash Games?

Hi, is it possible for people to go from zero to $ 10,000 in poker? What do I do to be a profitable player?

 

[Danjwarburton]

Hi, is it possible for people to go from zero to $ 10,000 in poker? What do I do to be a profitable player?

Try his book, it got me winning a few years ago... https://www.blackrain79.com/p/book.html

 

[Nathan Williams]

Hi Nathan, thank you very much for being willing to help those who love this exciting game and we are willing to absorb how much material is within our reach to improve our game. On the other hand I apologize for my bad English since I do not master the language and use the translator to publish! Having said this, I ask you the following question, from your experience and speaking in buy ins (100 bb) at cash tables, how much do you recommend having on our bench in order to be comfortable on one level and thus try to beat it? thanks

Hey Inm2308,

No problem, I am glad I can help!

In terms of buyins I typically suggest a minimum of 30 these days. So if you play NL10 for example 5c/10c blinds, then I would suggest having $300 in your bankroll.

More is always better though. I personally use a lot more than this. I usually have at least 50 buyins in my bankroll for any limit that I play.

The reason why I suggest having so much in your bankroll is so that when the routine downswings and variance hits, it doesn't hurt you so much psychologically.

And therefore, you can just focus on playing good poker. I hope this helps.

 

[Nathan Williams]

Hi there Nathan Williams, how you doing? I just watched this video and I would love to share with you and the CardsChat community:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qcCTF9WUog

Well, your analysis is perfect, and I see why 97% of players would never fold to a situation like this.
Just for the record I don't believe it will be plus EV to open raise 22-66 from MP 100% of times. I will be opening two or three combos of low pocket pairs at maximum out of position ina Full-Ring game, because I know how tight these guys are (or loose).
But, it is really okay when we open a small pocket pair and get called by a Tight Passive player in the BB. We should know here how much this player is 3-betting preflop, it seems that it 3-bets only the top of its range, something like QQ+ AQs+
That being said, many players have a very flawed line of thinking the game, and this is the line: "I raised preflop and the villain called out of position. So villain would never have AA, KK, QQ, AK, AQ, etc because it would be 3-betting these hands".
Yes, it is true, at the micros players 3-bet almost 100% of these combos, and most of times burn them into preflop bluffs, raising these juicy part of the range against nits who fold a lot to 3-bet preflop.
Against MP, if I am in Villain's shoes, I would be inclined more to 3-bet than calling here, because TT will not play okay versus MP's range, even when it hits a set. So, I guess I would be 3-betting 4 combos of pocket T's or even 5 combos and calling down just one, when I see the player has a very wide range from MP and loves to bluff postflop (by 3-betting we take initiative upon the hand and can take the pot down much more times than if we call)
Now, in Hero's shoes, with pocket 5's it is very nice C-bet flop, polarizing its range a lot for value, and expecting to be CALLED by KQ, KJ, JT, AT, KT, and a lot of pairs (A5 not so much).
Because we are in position, and we already made a very intense bet size in the flop and we get raised a little more than 4x, it is very, very scary.
If we are facing an aggro donkey it is lovely because we know this guy will have so many bluffs, and Ax trying to bluff that, even so, the call could induce more bluffs.
So, if we are calling down versus a bluffer, with a very strong value hand, why not call with a tight passive player, who doesn't have too many bluffs in its range?
I would call this flop crying, I say, to fold many turns and rivers stupid aggression, like a giant polarized C-bet.
When I decide to re-raise, 3-bet I don't know, the 4x raise of the BB, we are repping the nuts, which is AA, because we opened preflop from MP, and it is more likely that MP has a lot of A's than the BB.
I posted here many times, but many players simply do not understand the basic difference between the nuts and a value hand: they play a value hand as it is the nuts or if it is a bluff most of times
Even if the player in the big blind have the second nuts (TT) or the nuts itself (AA) it will have only 6 combos of each, which are 12 combos. This also could be a flawed reading of the player, because the mathematics is very simple: There are only 12 combos of pocket pairs that are beating the 5's set, so it will have dozens of bluffing combos, when the player actually have no bluffs at all!
I disagree with the action of the player in the BB, a lot! The player in the BB doesn't have the nuts to be going shoving a flop like this! So, we observe that even deep stacked players do crazy things. And for the times the MP had bluffs, draws it will be leaving them all dearly! By calling a raise with a second nuts here, we are almost sure MP is going to fire again and again we could be calling very easy.
But maybe the player in the BB knew that the MP player would never fold a bottom set, two pair, I don't know.
The only hand that could be paying this all in flop is AA. All the rest should fold, given how passive preflop and postflop our opponent is. BB is only looking down to its hand and "omg, now I am rich I have the best hand possible for this board", when, in fact, it doesn't have.
I repeat, I would only call flop very sadly and then fold many turns and rivers if the pot geometry goes insane. But is is hard for players to leave hands! Thank you very much Nathan Williams!

Regards;

Carlos 'Aballinamion' Barbosa

Hi Carlos,

Thank you for sharing this hand from my YouTube channel. There has been a good discussion of this in the comments on YouTube. I appreciate your analysis here as well!

 

[Nathan Williams]

Hello Nathan, it has been a few years since you coached me out of 2nl and 5nl. Must have been around 8 years by now!

I'm going for a big push as a challenge...
The thread is here=> https://www.cardschat.com/forum/pok...perienced-player-earning-4-million-in-448087/

I have realistically 30 hours a week I can put towards this goal; A few questions:

1.) What habits/rituals will I need to get there?
2.) Any suggestions on overall strategy?
3.) What tools do you think I should use to overcome the tough times and keep me going?

Any other advice you can give? I need a full strategy with contingency built into it and a full study-play schedule! I have a suggested one on the thread but no idea how to improve that further.

Thanks

Hey Dan,

Good to hear from you! Yes it has been awhile

I can't really comment on the dollar figure ($4 million USD is a decent chunk of change haha), but I will say that I think anything is possible with the right approach and determination these days.

I think your goal of on table and off table goals looks excellent. I have been preaching the importance of building a brand and following as a poker player for years now (yet still nobody listens to me lol!).

But real pros know the importance of this and have been doing it for years. I am everywhere all over social media, YouTube, my website, here on CardsChat etc. for a reason.

I know the importance of it. That's why it takes me one week just to answer your question It's a full time job!

So I think this sort of vaguely answers your 3 questions. For me, morning routine and healthy living is huge.

I wrote 3 books for example. This takes an intense amount of focus, being dialed in every single day.

Same thing when I have been grinding like a maniac playing 200k hands a month. Poker is all I do. Or writing is all I do. You catch my drift I am sure. You are all-in. No distractions.

All the best with your goals Dan. Keep me updated on how it goes.

 

[Nathan Williams]

Hi, is it possible for people to go from zero to $ 10,000 in poker? What do I do to be a profitable player?

Hi RVTR7777

Sure it is possible. Most people won't achieve it, but that doesn't mean it isn't possible. The truth is that becoming a winning poker player is hard.

It takes an incredible amount of discipline, patience and a steadfast belief and trust in the process and the long run.

Most people do not achieve their goals in poker, whether that is $10,000 or $10 million dollars, not because of a lack of skill, but because they expect big results right away.

The truth is that it takes years in most cases to develop the kind of skill and mental fortitude necessary to win big, climb up the limits properly and make the big money in this game.

Anyways, the good news is that for a total beginner just looking to make say $500 a month at the lowest limits online or live, it isn't that hard if you follow a basic strategy, understand a bit about game selection and develop a minimum level of tilt control.

I discuss how to do all that and more in my free poker guide.

 

[Nathan Williams]

Try his book, it got me winning a few years ago... https://www.blackrain79.com/p/book.html

Thanks for the kind words Dan, glad my book helped you!

 

[Rodolfo888]

I wanted to know if you have a good position to win the chips.

 

[RVTR7777]

Hi RVTR7777

Sure it is possible. Most people won't achieve it, but that doesn't mean it isn't possible. The truth is that becoming a winning poker player is hard.

It takes an incredible amount of discipline, patience and a steadfast belief and trust in the process and the long run.

Most people do not achieve their goals in poker, whether that is $10,000 or $10 million dollars, not because of a lack of skill, but because they expect big results right away.

The truth is that it takes years in most cases to develop the kind of skill and mental fortitude necessary to win big, climb up the limits properly and make the big money in this game.

Anyways, the good news is that for a total beginner just looking to make say $500 a month at the lowest limits online or live, it isn't that hard if you follow a basic strategy, understand a bit about game selection and develop a minimum level of tilt control.

I discuss how to do all that and more in my free poker guide.

Thank you very much for the tips, I will follow the advice and try to be more disciplined.
Luck at the tables!

 

[Aballinamion]

Can we risk our necks on HUD stats?

Hi there professor Williams, how you doing? I have a doubt here and I count with your kindness to help us. I know you don't love talking about HUD, but the question it is not exactly about the stats, but how much can we rely on them, or, if you use it.
I would like to know how much can we trust in stats such as WTSD, W$SD and WWSF at micro and mid limits for 6-Max Cash Tables. I confess that I don't even use it. However, I see many friends here risking their necks with these kind of information. Is it safe?
Which volume of hands played could be really reliable for us to use these stats, for bluffing for example, in a deep stacked pot in the turn? Are we getting all-in a lot times having only the statistics on our side? Going all in in a very complicated spot having just WTSD and W$SD as secure information.

"WTSD (Went to Showdown) tells you how often villain goes to showdown. If this is very low it tells you that he often folds before showdown and goes to showdown with good hands.

W$SD (Won $ at Showdown) tells you how often villain wins at showdown. If it is for example low it means he often sees showdown with not so good hands.

WWSF (Won When Saw Flop) Tells you how often villain won the hand after seeing flop."

acess: 2/9/2020 12h18m ET https://www.pokerstrategy.com/forum/thread.php?threadid=345753

Regards;

Carlos 'Aballinamion' Barbosa

 

[Nathan Williams]

I wanted to know if you have a good position to win the chips.

Hey Rodolfo,

Sorry but I don't understand your question.

 

[Nathan Williams]

Hi there professor Williams, how you doing? I have a doubt here and I count with your kindness to help us. I know you don't love talking about HUD, but the question it is not exactly about the stats, but how much can we rely on them, or, if you use it.
I would like to know how much can we trust in stats such as WTSD, W$SD and WWSF at micro and mid limits for 6-Max Cash Tables. I confess that I don't even use it. However, I see many friends here risking their necks with these kind of information. Is it safe?
Which volume of hands played could be really reliable for us to use these stats, for bluffing for example, in a deep stacked pot in the turn? Are we getting all-in a lot times having only the statistics on our side? Going all in in a very complicated spot having just WTSD and W$SD as secure information.

"WTSD (Went to Showdown) tells you how often villain goes to showdown. If this is very low it tells you that he often folds before showdown and goes to showdown with good hands.

W$SD (Won $ at Showdown) tells you how often villain wins at showdown. If it is for example low it means he often sees showdown with not so good hands.

WWSF (Won When Saw Flop) Tells you how often villain won the hand after seeing flop."

acess: 2/9/2020 12h18m ET https://www.pokerstrategy.com/forum/thread.php?threadid=345753

Regards;

Carlos 'Aballinamion' Barbosa

Hi Carlos,

I am going to keep this thread to just one question per person. Otherwise, it will be just too much for me to keep up with.

If you need more in depth information on my poker strategy, I have written a free 50 page strategy guide which you can find right here:

https://www.blackrain79.com/p/free-guide.html

I have also written 3 full length poker strategy books which are all available on my website. I have also published hundreds of highly in depth poker strategy articles on my website as well as videos on YouTube.

 

[ventrolloquist]

Hi Nathan. Which type of 3 betting do you find most common at different microstakes with the good regs? Polarized or merged? And how much more common is one than the other?

I'm asking because I play at a site with no huds allowed so I am left guessing 3bet percentages based on which hands the opponnent shows, so figuring out which type of 3bet style is most common would be helpful.