Cultivating Skill: From the Kitchen Room Game to Somewhere a Bit More Profitable

Decided to start writing about my poker sessions…this place seems as good a place as any.

Anyway, only played for about an hour, still can get some reflection out of it though.

Played a 4 buck Rush tourney…(Yeesh are those soft)
Didn’t turn out so well, Raised with AQs on button, UTG called me with 96off, flop was A99. I assumed he didn’t have a 9, I shoved at him after he checked…I’m not entirely sure how I feel about my shove. Not my best tourney, finished in bottom 11%

Then finished 3rd in a 6Turbo, partly because my computer froze (for some reason) when I was 3rd of 3, and I had to hop on another computer, and I was so short stacked I had to shove right away. First technical difficulty with online poker….not a good feeling.

Double tabled the above tourney with another Turbo6 6$. Crushed it. Got 1st, made good reads, good shoves, and played tight.

Anyway, ITM of 33% today (just 3 tourneys)
With an ROI for the day of 34%
Quick hour of poker. Now off to the gym.

At microstakes, play straightforward, your opponent is most likely loose/passive, and is most likely not going to fold, or bluff at you..so..Play Straightforward. You will be showing down A LOT, so make sure you are playing strong hands, and are getting good equity on every street. Bet for value, bet for value, then when you are done with that, bet for more value. Got a good hand? Over-bet the river, you’ll make more in the long run.

I’ve been on a spaz downswing, and have been playing like absolute crap.
Hearing this definitely calmed me down, and I’m back to playing well.
Amen.

From the ground up #1 & #2, took notes.
Great basics..reminding me what I should be doing. Good review session.

To catch up, for a long while I played break-even, little up, little down poker, I was fed up with it. I self-excluded myself for playing for some time, while I studied, studied, and studied. I’ve been watching 1 poker video from DC a day, been reading my butt off, and am ready to get back at it.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to remember what I learned, and forget the mistakes I used to make (being wayyyy too loose..I was a bad LAG player). I used to try to bluff wayyy too much, and would call down lightly. I was a pathological floater…and got caught wayyy too much. I’ve learned to tighten up a bit. I’ll be playing 20NL NLHE…and I hope I post an impressive graph of my winnings in a few days.

Also, DC effin’ rules. IT really is a fantastic resource. I’ve been treating it like I pursuing an online degree. Watching videos, taking notes, thinking about the content. If this stuff doesn’t make me a better poker player…I will simply have to quit the game… =)

Cheers!

Hmm..This episode seems to be about EV Calculations

I really like the way this series is culminating.

Basic EV Set-Up
EV=[Results of winning][Results of losing]
EV=[Pot Equity*What we win]-[Villain’s Equity*What we lose]

TUPAC METHOD (So awesome)

1) Tally Up hand combinations
2) Pair these combos to determine how they effect our equity
3) Analyze the unpaired combos we have
4) Combine the analysis to complete

Tally up villains hand (Hands that crush us, hands that are coin flip, hands we beat)
Pair them up to known equities. If you match up a crushing hand and coin flip hand, it averages to ~25% or ~30% (You are trying to come up with an overall estimation)
After you pair them up, try to analyze the unpaired hands. Then you re-do the villain combo, and cancel out (averaging them) to a certain equity. After you do all that, estimate what your equity is.

Note to self: Re-watch the TUPAC section here.

Poker Origami
How to incorporate Fold Equity into EV Calculations

Video opens with the situation of you having position on a 15/10 tight player with AKs. Opponent raises to 40, and you wonder if you should 3bet or just call. First, Let’s try to determine what the opponent’s opening hand is. Then, generalize the PFR% in front of villain. Then ask: What’s the villain’s 3bet range?

It looks like in the comments to this video, that poker software will tell you all of this information. (PFR%, %of3bet, and % fold to 3bet) Sweet!

Continue Watching video 5 later

What I liked MOST about this book:
If you really think about it, you aren’t playing poker against other players, you are playing against yourself. It is up to YOU to have the self-control and knowledge to consistently make good decisions when playing. By keeping a calm, strong mind, you can help get to a place where making these good decisions comes as second nature, and reap the benefits.

Overall, it was a very light, easy read. I read it in about 2 days. It was not dense with poker strategy, but filled with general information for the poker player to stay calm, deal with losses, stay steady, and the like. If you are reading this expecting to learn a great deal of poker theory, you’ll be disappointed. I picked this book up as a Buddhist, figuring it was going to be an interesting view to poker. It was, I enjoyed lots of the quotes and ways of looking at things. What really stuck out to me, was that poker can be viewed as a game against yourself. Cultivate the self-control and knowledge to make good decisions as second nature. I think that’s a nice sentiment.

My Personal Notes on WoT’s Poker Math Video #3

Future note to self: Read NLHE:TAP

Review on Pot Odds

-Reverse Implied odds:
The amount of money you will lose from future bets even if you hit your hand (it will fall 2nd best) RIO might force you to fold even if you have good pot odds & good implied odds.
By evaluating what your opponent might have, it provides you with more to think about, in terms of lowering your incentive to call.

-Multiway Pots
Odds can change within the current betting round. Figure out what your opponents acting after you may do. Think about what combos of cards they could have, and what they will do with those cards.

-More Notes on Implied Odds
Pay attention to what your implied odds will be when playing against a particular player. Ask yourself “What do I expect to gain against this player?”

-Equity Tools
twodimes.net looks like a great, easy to use website for a mac user like myself =0

-Mental Shortcuts
If it is a close call, maybe rely on other factors to tip the scale for your action. The math should give you a good explanation.
In other words, it’s ok to fudge…I like this… =)

Good stuff

Notes for WoT’s 2nd video. I don’t plan on watching the whole thing tonight, so I’ll be editing this post in the days to come.

-Pot Odds
The ratio of the amount of money in the pot to the amount of money you must put in to continue playing the hand.
Example: Pot has 40. Opponent bets 10. 50(what you can win):10(what you must put in) 50:10 Reduced
Your pot odds 5:1

If you are in a hand with card odds (based on outs of you hitting the winning hand) that are less than the pot odds, then it is not a profitable call, and will end up costing you money in the long run.

The example used in the video: You have 8 outs to an open ended on the turn, the only way you can beat your opponents top pair. That means there are 8 outs for you. Count the number of unknown cards (52-2inhole-4onboard=46cards not giving you straight) 46:8=~5:1dog
If pot odds are less than 5:1 (4:1,3:1,2:1 etc), then you must fold – calling would give you a negative EV.

-Implied Odds
The relationship between the amount of money you have to call now, and what we think we could win from the current pot, AND what we predict from future betting rounds. (Look at stats, type of player, and betting style/history)
Ask, “is the player I am against going to put more money in the pot next round? will I have much better pot odds in the future betting round?”
It’s important to be aware of what type of player you are playing against. Against a preflop loose-aggressive player, you will have lower implied odds, than a player who is tighter postflop player. Also, the board texture (I like this wording), will influence implied odds. A scary board will scare players aware, lowering our implied odds. If we feel that our implied odds are low, and equity is good, consider raising to induce a fold.

-Fold Equity
The percent chance that a raise will induce the opponent to fold. Often used to determine how much a semi-bluff will get the opponent to fold. FE is based on the hand range that we believe our opponent will fold in this situation. Use fold equity to make opponents fold their stronger hand, or when our implied odds are low.

-Hand Combos
The ways a particular two card hand could be made based on what we see. You can use this to determine the likelihood of a particular hand that an opponent has in his range. For example, if his range is AK and sets, then you can use the number of AK and possible sets to determine what is your opponents likely hand.

-GBucks
The calculation of EV based not on your actual holding in the situation, but your range of hands in a particular situation. (My range to 3-bet, 4-bet, this board, etc)

Great stuff in this episode!

My personal notes from watching WiltonTilt’s video on Poker Mathematics Episode 1.

-Poker Math is NOT a replacement for ‘reads, tells, and our gut-feeling, or soul-reading’, it’s an additional tool to conquer the game…great stuff

I’ve always thought ratios were a tad annoying.
-Wins:Loss (2:1 Favorite = Wins / (W + L) 2/(2+1)=66%. For every 2 times you win, you will lose once. 2:1 favorite.

-4:1 Dog = 1 / (1+4) 1/5=20% You will only win 20% of the time. 4:1 dog

-Variance & Hands
-High Variance: A hand with a high number of possible outcomes (a gutshot)

-Odds to memorize:
http://www.thepokerbank.com/tools/odds-charts/ratio/
http://www.plusevpoker.com/images/oddschart.jpg

I’ll make it a point to myself to go back and memorize these.

-Rules of 2 and 4
Rule of 4 – On the flop you can multiply outs by 4 and get ~% of drawing to best hand by end
Rule of 2 – On the turn, you can multiply outs by 2 and get ~% of drawing to best hand

-Hand Ranges
The range of hands you(or opponent) could have based on tells/betting patters/actions/etc
Try to figure out what an opponent’s hand range is to do for a certain situation, and how we react with our hand range based off that situation.

-Pot Equity (Equity) and Expected Value
I had a little trouble with following along in the video. I ended up googling and finding the website http://www.blindbetpoker.com/strategy/pot-equity.html
No offense whatsoever, but as a playing unfamiliar with Pot Equity, I had trouble following at this point in the video.
Anyway, pot equity. You need to know your outs and percentage to win. For example, if you have a 55% to win (that’s called pot equity..err I think) a 10 dollar pot, that’s 5.50. If your pot equity is larger than your current action (say, call a 2 buck raise), then you should do so.

Using pot equity, we can determine the EV of a play.
Say you have a 70% chance to win 500 bucks, by calling 100 bucks. Paying 100 bucks with a pot equity of 350 (70% * 500) is clearly the move to make here.
So when to get the EV, we take the percent and amount we win, subtracted by the percent and amount we lose.
When we lose, we have a 30% to lose 100.
EV= (.7*500) – (.3*100)
EV= 350-30
EV= +320
A positive EV play

It took me about 45 minutes to really get down the pot equity and EV….But I think I got it. Cool. Thank you WoT for this great video.

Now the issue is, what about the times when I don’t have a pencil and paper and calculator? I suppose the more I play and the more I practice, the better at this I’ll get.

It is important to know where you’ve been if you want to know where you’re going.
I’ve started playing poker when I was 15, and as a jokester, I never took playing seriously. I learned poker the WRONG WAY. I often would go about raising hard and pushing all-in with a low pair. I would chase draws til the cows come home. My mantra was “any two cards could win”, and when I did get a lucky hit, I was more than happy to explain to my friends how good of a poker player I am. After getting the reputation among friends that I was a total poker noob, I decided to step up, just so I could stick it to them.
I read Super System, read online strategy, and eventually came to the point where I was cleaning up my friends in high school and in college. In fact, I remember a huge tournament at my friends college apartment…maybe 50 people, huge cash prize, and I went all in with A7s pre-flop with a table of 10 from early position. What was I thinking?! I then said to myself…If other people consistently win from playing poker, why the hell can’t I?

For the past few years, I’ve been playing (and winning) against my hometown friends, been to the casino and have done alright, fluctuating between breaking-even, down a bit, up a bit..nothing to brag about; and of course been dabbling in online poker, again, nothing to write home about.

I’ve decided to put the pedal to the metal, and start pushing to the top. As a teacher, I’d like to use poker as a way to supplement my income. I’ll probably begin by trying to get a rakeback at FT, or if I have to, sign up elsewhere to actually get a rakeback. (I’ve had a stars and FT account for years, and I’ve since read that a rakeback is a MUST if you want to start taking poker seriously…hell why the hell wouldn’t you get a rakeback.
I’ll put a few hundred in, and play at the 10NLHE.
I’d like to tell myself I will spend 1 hour a day learning about poker, perfecting my game, and reflecting.