Polished Poker Vol. I Study Group

[John A]

River value bet, what do we think, big enough?
Poker Stars, $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 5 Players
This was a full ring table that went shorter handed.

Hero (SB): $25 (100 bb)
BB: $25 (100 bb)
MP: $26.92 (107.7 bb)
CO: $25.87 (103.5 bb)
BTN: $25 (100 bb) 12/8/35 in 190 hands

Preflop: Hero is SB with A

K

2 folds, BTN raises to $0.50, Hero raises to $2, BB folds, BTN calls $1.50

Flop: ($4.25) 3

6

4

(2 players)
Hero bets $2.03, BTN raises to $5, Hero calls $2.97 (because I have the K of spades and I don't think i'm beat to be honest he could easily have a fairly wide range here)

Turn: ($14.25) A

(2 players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

River: ($14.25) 4

(2 players)
quick peek at his wtsd% shows 29% so hes a bit of a station
Hero bets $6.80, BTN calls $6.80

Results: $27.85 pot ($1.25 rake)
Final Board: 3

6

4

A

4

Hero showed A

K

and won $26.60 ($12.80 net)
BTN mucked T

A

and lost (-$13.80 net)

I'd make it more pre. If people want to min raise when I have big hands, that's great, but I'm not going to help them with their goal of having a small 3-bet pot.

On the flop I'd usually lean more towards c/c and lead turn. It really depends on opponents aggression. W/O a read or stats I'd tend to bet. He seems pretty tight though, so when he raises I might lean towards a fold even though it's a pretty weak raise. Someone not so tight and I'm likely calling.

Turn is fine, and river with the whiffed straight draw and flush draw, AND scare card on the turn I'm betting large. 3/4 of the pot+. Maybe even shove if he's stationy like you say. But definitely bet more. Those are spots you want to capitalize on since they don't happen often.

 

[Figaroo2]

JJ versus squeezer from the blinds

I called this villians squeeze from the blinds, he's at it alot. 244 hands and look at his 3 bet from the blinds SB in particular.
The question is;
As he is aggro, do we just call and let him keep bluffing with his broadway combos and risk an overcard coming in or do we raise and try and take it down now?
He has fired half pot on the flop and I have just over a full pot bet left.

 

[or3o1990]

I called this villians squeeze from the blinds, he's at it alot. 244 hands and look at his 3 bet from the blinds SB in particular.
The question is;
As he is aggro, do we just call and let him keep bluffing with his broadway combos and risk an overcard coming in or do we raise and try and take it down now?
He has fired half pot on the flop and I have just over a full pot bet left.

I think that with your stack size its a perfect opportunity to just shove it. Make him pay the max to draw.

What did you do?

 

[Figaroo2]

I think that with your stack size its a perfect opportunity to just shove it. Make him pay the max to draw.

Draw? What to a high card? Would he call a shove with AK?
The problem for me is if we shove what worse will call? Or are we shoving just to protect our equity?
JJ was always going to be difficult post flop here, perhaps the way to go might have been to raise again preflop to make it look like I was just flatting aces or kings.
Not in hindsight the smartest hand to look him up with. I'll post the result hopefully once John has looked at it

 

[or3o1990]

Draw? What to a high card? Would he call a shove with AK?
The problem for me is if we shove what worse will call? Or are we shoving just to protect our equity?
JJ was always going to be difficult post flop here, perhaps the way to go might have been to raise again preflop to make it look like I was just flatting aces or kings.
Not in hindsight the smartest hand to look him up with. I'll post the result hopefully once John has looked at it

If he's squeezing from the sb this wide he could have hit this flop. He might call with AK but if he squeezed with A5, J8, 9 7, 6 7 or two hearts he's might be inclined to call. if heart or a k q comes on the turn it's hard to know where you stand but are you folding if he continues to bet? I'm totally new to HUD's but if I'm correct it's saying that he's folded to 100% of 4 times someone 3 bet him?

 

[John A]

I called this villians squeeze from the blinds, he's at it alot. 244 hands and look at his 3 bet from the blinds SB in particular.
The question is;
As he is aggro, do we just call and let him keep bluffing with his broadway combos and risk an overcard coming in or do we raise and try and take it down now?
He has fired half pot on the flop and I have just over a full pot bet left.

Did he squeeze or just 3-bet? Small sample, he's obviously one of those 3-bet a ton from the blinds to steals (even though yours wasn't a steal). But he looks pretty prototypical.

Really I think the most important thing here is your numbers, which are playing pretty tight. I'd just call and since his overall aggression is high let him bet/shove the turn. If you shove the flop, you're just pushing out his air.

 

[mottotom27]

yea agree with John my standard is to just call there and keep his bluffs in

 

[or3o1990]

Maybe im tainted because of all the sngs. Looks like i need to purchase the workbook..

 

[Figaroo2]

Yeah I shoved on the flop and got lucky in that he called it off with worse. I just think he is so wide here. This was early last month when I was getting a bit too agg in the wrong spots.
I also think calling was ok.

poker stars, $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 9 Players

SB: $43.05 (172.2 bb)
BB: $46.90 (187.6 bb)
UTG+1: $25.35 (101.4 bb)
UTG+2: $34.31 (137.2 bb)
MP1: $22.01 (88 bb)
Hero (MP2): $25 (100 bb)
MP3: $25 (100 bb)
CO: $25 (100 bb)
BTN: $35.97 (143.9 bb)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with J

J

UTG+1 raises to $0.63, UTG+2 calls $0.63, MP1 calls $0.63, Hero calls $0.63, 4 folds, BB raises to $3.70, UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 calls $3.07, MP1 folds, Hero calls $3.07

Flop: ($12.46) 5

8

3

(3 players)
BB bets $6.30, UTG+2 folds, Hero raises to $21.30 and is all-in, BB calls $15

Turn: ($55.06) 3

(2 players, 1 is all-in)
River: ($55.06) 6

(2 players, 1 is all-in)

Results: $55.06 pot ($2 rake)
Final Board: 5

8

3

3

6

BB showed T

T

and lost (-$25 net)
UTG+2 mucked and lost (-$3.70 net)
Hero showed J

J

and won $53.06 ($28.06 net)

 

[or3o1990]

I obviously missed some value on this one. I should certainly bet this flop for value and to charge any club draw right? Against UTG2's exact hand I should have checked the turn then bet small on the river for value or to induce a bluff instead, I think.. In the moment it's hard for me not to sweat those clubs!

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Jd Kc]
UTG: folds
UTGplus1: calls $0.50
UTGplus2: calls $0.50
UTGplus3: folds
Hero: raises $2 to $2
Small Blind: folds
Big Blind: folds
UTGplus1: calls $1.50
UTGplus2: calls $1.50

*** FLOP *** [Qd Tc 9c]
UTGplus1: checks
UTGplus2: checks
Hero: bets $3
UTGplus1: calls $3
UTGplus2: folds

*** TURN *** [Qd Tc 9c] [3h]
UTGplus1: checks
Hero: bets $7
UTGplus1: folds
Uncalled bet ($7) returned to Hero
Hero: shows [Jd Kc]
Hero collected $12.15 from pot

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $12.75 | Rake $0.60
Board [Qd Tc 9c 3h]
Seat 4: UTGplus1 mucked [2c Ks]
Seat 5: UTGplus2 mucked [Ah 9h]

 

[mottotom27]

I obviously missed some value on this one. I should certainly bet this flop for value and to charge any club draw right?

no you should check until the river and then put in a small bet and hope he pays it off...

of course you should bet! gotta bet big on flop and turn, please do not check the turn that's madness! why aren't you potting it on every street? missing so much value there imo

 

[or3o1990]

of course you should bet! gotta bet big on flop and turn, please do not check the turn that's madness! why aren't you potting it on every street? missing so much value there imo

I can see that I was giving almost exact odds for clubs to draw on me on the flop, big sizing mistake on my part. I should have bet more.

But given the hands they were holding if I pot the flop neither of them call. I feel like if I make the two pot sized bets I'm folding out even two pairs a lot of the times. Then all that can call are draws if they're given the right price (which I won't be doing ever again) and sets and the low straight, right? Can you please explain why this is the better line?

 

[mottotom27]

But given the hands they were holding if I pot the flop neither of them call.

that's being results oriented.

I feel like if I make the two pot sized bets I'm folding out even two pairs a lot of the times. Then all that can call are draws if they're given the right price (which I won't be doing ever again) and sets and the low straight, right? Can you please explain why this is the better line?

doubt two pair is ever folding. also it's important to remember that villains limped in preflop so are likely to be fish. vs fish they well call with a LOT of worse hands/draws etc. no matter what size you make it so you wanna extract maximum value before a bad card comes on the river and before the draws brick. it's really important to extract the most from fish in these situations imo, i sometimes have to remind myself to do this also

 

[or3o1990]

doubt two pair is ever folding. also it's important to remember that villains limped in preflop so are likely to be fish. vs fish they well call with a LOT of worse hands/draws etc. no matter what size you make it so you wanna extract maximum value before a bad card comes on the river and before the draws brick. it's really important to extract the most from fish in these situations imo, i sometimes have to remind myself to do this also

I see what you're saying.. thanks.

 

[Figaroo2]

I'm thinking big hand, big pot, regardless of whether they are fishy, there are plenty of draws and possible sets here that will call two largish streets so I'm definitely betting at least 80%-100% pot on the flop and 50-70% on the turn
You played it fine and managed to get 5$ out of some complete garbage hands. There wasn't much value to be won in this hand anyway.

 

[Figaroo2]

Avoiding big mistakes

Here we have a bit of a 3bet monkey do we just gii against his range, 28% 3bet from CO and BUT. 147 hands
Not really comfortable after his 5 bet to gii this deep but we have 4 bet for value, so can't fold now can we? if he has it this time it's just standard right?
With him being so wide here is it worth calling the 3 bet to play when we are likely to be dominating? Either line seems ok to me tbh.
I hate stacking someone and then handing straight on to another.

Poker Stars, $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 9 Players

SB: $19.20 (76.8 bb)
BB: $25.15 (100.6 bb)
UTG+1: $31.15 (124.6 bb)
UTG+2: $20.29 (81.2 bb)
MP1: $25.35 (101.4 bb)
MP2: $25 (100 bb)
Hero (MP3): $50.40 (201.6 bb)
CO: $32.80 (131.2 bb)
BTN: $28.05 (112.2 bb)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with K

A

4 folds, Hero raises to $0.85, CO raises to $2.90, 3 folds, Hero raises to $7.75, CO raises to $18.50, Hero ?

 

[or3o1990]

I'm thinking big hand, big pot, regardless of whether they are fishy, there are plenty of draws and possible sets here that will call two largish streets so I'm definitely betting at least 80%-100% pot on the flop and 50-70% on the turn
You played it fine and managed to get 5$ out of some complete garbage hands. There wasn't much value to be won in this hand anyway.

Indeed, such a wet flop means I've got to put more pressure on. The five bucks is ok but I'm trying to get max value so thanks for the input.

Here we have a bit of a 3bet monkey do we just gii against his range, 28% 3bet from CO and BUT. 147 hands
Not really comfortable after his 5 bet to gii this deep but we have 4 bet for value, so can't fold now can we? if he has it this time it's just standard right?
With him being so wide here is it worth calling the 3 bet to play when we are likely to be dominating? Either line seems ok to me tbh.
I hate stacking someone and then handing straight on to another.

I'm very interested in this spot. After his bet the pot is around $27 and you need to call around $11, so you're getting nearly three to one(correct me if my math is off). I'm not sure what difference his $10 behind makes. I would just ship it at this point to avoid a tough decision on the flop..

I'm pretty sure I added the original flop value to the raise values, when I did it again I got $24.30 as the pot total which is a bit better than 2-1. I'm curious to see John's and mottotom's input on this..

 

[John A]

I obviously missed some value on this one. I should certainly bet this flop for value and to charge any club draw right? Against UTG2's exact hand I should have checked the turn then bet small on the river for value or to induce a bluff instead, I think.. In the moment it's hard for me not to sweat those clubs!

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Jd Kc]
UTG: folds
UTGplus1: calls $0.50
UTGplus2: calls $0.50
UTGplus3: folds
Hero: raises $2 to $2
Small Blind: folds
Big Blind: folds
UTGplus1: calls $1.50
UTGplus2: calls $1.50

*** FLOP *** [Qd Tc 9c]
UTGplus1: checks
UTGplus2: checks
Hero: bets $3
UTGplus1: calls $3
UTGplus2: folds

*** TURN *** [Qd Tc 9c] 3♥
UTGplus1: checks
Hero: bets $7
UTGplus1: folds
Uncalled bet ($7) returned to Hero
Hero: shows [Jd Kc]
Hero collected $12.15 from pot

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $12.75 | Rake $0.60
Board [Qd Tc 9c 3h]
Seat 4: UTGplus1 mucked [2c Ks]
Seat 5: UTGplus2 mucked [Ah 9h]

No, it looks fine. I'd go at least 2.50+ pre-flop, but other than that pretty standard. They just didn't have a hand.

 

[John A]

Here we have a bit of a 3bet monkey do we just gii against his range, 28% 3bet from CO and BUT. 147 hands
Not really comfortable after his 5 bet to gii this deep but we have 4 bet for value, so can't fold now can we? if he has it this time it's just standard right?
With him being so wide here is it worth calling the 3 bet to play when we are likely to be dominating? Either line seems ok to me tbh.
I hate stacking someone and then handing straight on to another.

Poker Stars, $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 9 Players

SB: $19.20 (76.8 bb)
BB: $25.15 (100.6 bb)
UTG+1: $31.15 (124.6 bb)
UTG+2: $20.29 (81.2 bb)
MP1: $25.35 (101.4 bb)
MP2: $25 (100 bb)
Hero (MP3): $50.40 (201.6 bb)
CO: $32.80 (131.2 bb)
BTN: $28.05 (112.2 bb)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with K

A

4 folds, Hero raises to $0.85, CO raises to $2.90, 3 folds, Hero raises to $7.75, CO raises to $18.50, Hero ?

Over 125 bbs deep my thought process tends to change to playing smaller pots pre with hands like this and just calling. So you're right on that borederline, but typically speaking, even against someone who 3-bets a lot, I'd tend to call with these hands. If they are 3-betting that much, then they have tons of holes in their game you can exploit. Let them do all the work and hang themselves.

 

[John A]

New blog on Poker and Health. Something often overlooked of course. I reference one of the chapters from Polished poker, but I outline some of the latest research in a quick to digest format (see what I did there?). lol

http://www.acepokersolutions.com/poker-blog/the-simple-truth-about-diet/

I'm interested in what you guys do to take of yourself during long sessions.

 

[or3o1990]

I'm interested in what you guys do to take of yourself during long sessions.

Nice blog. I know too much sugar isn't a good thing but I've never head that it affects your brain. I've been much more health conscious the past couple of years and I eat pretty good for the most part. I only drink water and coffee except for rare occasions. I might have beer once or twice a month.

As for the long sessions I just keep ice water on hand and usually eat dinner about half way through. I do sometimes drink a half of a 5hour energy during a session. I never drink a whole one or I won't sleep after and I try not to drink them too often.

 

[Figaroo2]

I try not to play long sessions.
I prefer bursts of 45-50 minutes fully focused and take a short 5-10 min mobilising break, just like I do at my computer terminal at work. I drink plenty of water, a wet brain is a healthy brain. I will at that point review my tables (6-8) colour label up the players not already marked and shut down any tables without any weaker players.

 

[or3o1990]

I drink plenty of water, a wet brain is a healthy brain. I will at that point review my tables (6-8) colour label up the players not already marked and shut down any tables without any weaker players.

Definitely got to stay hydrated! But I've heard water on the brain isn't a good thing .

I like that table selection method.

 

[John A]

Nice blog. I know too much sugar isn't a good thing but I've never head that it affects your brain. I've been much more health conscious the past couple of years and I eat pretty good for the most part. I only drink water and coffee except for rare occasions. I might have beer once or twice a month.

As for the long sessions I just keep ice water on hand and usually eat dinner about half way through. I do sometimes drink a half of a 5hour energy during a session. I never drink a whole one or I won't sleep after and I try not to drink them too often.

Well, in about 15 more years they'll say sugar is good for your brain, so just wait until then, and then start eating it again.

In all seriousness, there is a lot more sound science coming out finally. My mom always basically said that sugar is the worst thing ever invented (processed). She was very anti-sugar and wouldn't let me have any, so as soon as I was old enough I of course stuffed myself with it. It's amazing I'm not diabetic.

Any ways, the gluten and sugar mix is no joke. I've done a lot of reading on gluten the past 12 years, and it's effects on everyone's health I think we're just barely understanding. It's hard to steer away from everything that's deemed unhealthy. On top of that, what fun is life then?

 

[John A]

I try not to play long sessions.
I prefer bursts of 45-50 minutes fully focused and take a short 5-10 min mobilising break, just like I do at my computer terminal at work. I drink plenty of water, a wet brain is a healthy brain. I will at that point review my tables (6-8) colour label up the players not already marked and shut down any tables without any weaker players.

This is a good plan. Hard to do, but short bursts are great if you can stay consistent at it.