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Poker Video: No Limit Hold'Em by FoxwoodsFiend (Mid Stakes)

I'm going to let FWF answer all the questions for this episode. I don't play HU much so the viewers probably doesn't need my advice anyways.

Time Link to 00:42:48

Table 2
What's your play if you had a straight here without a redraw?

Time Link to 00:36:59

Not a HU player but doesn't folding the A7o to this dude's 3bet seem really bad?

Time Link to 00:43:16

If we're going to fold to a x/r on bottom left then what do you think about checking back the flop against this opponent? Seems like a good spot to induce bluffs, especially w/ an open ended, and if a club turns it's not the end of the world.

Time Link to 00:06:59

It's just the mindset of the players is in a strange place right now. I dont think people are quitting you because they are DC members and know who you are, its just that once they find out you aren't a complete idiot they automatically assume that you are a very good professional player (i.e. more than a marginal winner). 6 max tables break constantly too (which is the same dynamic).

Everyone I've talked to or heard discuss the state of the game for US players has basically said "the games are really bad right now because everyone is a reg" or something like "only the winning players have gone thru the trouble to deposit and take that risk". In my opinion this is a really biased view on what's really going on and there's definitely some hard evidence against it (datamining). Without getting into a crazy long post, basically, both sides have reasons for not depositing and playing. But one key thing to realize is that the recreational players don't care at all about who they sit with, they just want to play.... and both recreation and losing players frequently have a smaller bankroll so they don't have to worry about the security of their $100. In contrast, winning players actually do have to fear the security of their larger bankroll which represents hours and hours of hard, stressful work for them. It's a different mentality entirely. The break-even players are also hyper worried about the state of the game, much more than the losers/recreational, and are more likely to not play.

So to me I think the better players have a lot more reasons to not play than the fish. I've been playing lower limits on Merge lately and it seems that there are tons of bad players there (and the same is true for tourneys, which I've played up to like $60 for now)... this is supported through a lot of datamining, so unless somethings really different at $2/4+ which I seriously doubt, I think the games are a lot better than people think.

EDIT: On this note, I wonder if it would be +EV long run to make a really spewy completely stupid play (not necessarily stack off) against a HU opponent early in the match? In order to get him to keep playing you now and in the future?