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Poker Video: No Limit Hold'Em by sthief09 (Micro/Small Stakes)

Looking forward to this. I always learn a great deal from your vids Sthief09.

I'm playing in this vid. Sthief09 and Tecmo thanks a lot for analysis. Watching this video is great way to improve for me.

Time Link to 00:00:04

I was thinking about barreling turn too. That's why I made bigger c-bet. My thinking in that kind of spots is: I bet bigger on flop so I win more money when he folds to second barrel.

In this hand pot on turn would be 100$ so I need to bet around 55$ to put villain in decision for all his chips because its very likley that I have monster here and will shove river.

I agree with pre flop size, this deep I should go at least for pot size raise. This smaller 3-bets in squeeze spots is something that I'm trying right now, squeeze puts a lot of pressure on villains so it don't have to be very big but disadvantage is that sometimes you get few callers.

Time Link to 00:23:59

I misplayed this hand you explained it very well but I have one question. What if turn is something like 3? Now he can have a lot of unpaired straight draws so I think it would be good idea to check to let him bluff. And if you would check what are you doing after his bet ?

Time Link to 00:06:53

About KQs:

I think the main determining factor on calling or 3betting this hand would be whether or not that 3rd guy calling is a fish (45/36 stats or something). You are deep so if you have a read that he will call a raise it's best to try and get him into a 3 bet pot since most players at this limit, fish included, have more trouble post flop which is where you will get your edge. So, 100bb I'm just calling since he's in the SB to keep him in the pot. 200bb I'm definitely 3betting.


Either way calling is good, but I just think that squeezing to something like 20 (or more since you are deep) is definitely better here. Also, I think that on these deep stack tables suited hands like a-xs, KQs, and suited connectors go up in value since flush and straight hands go up in value and top pair goes down in value the higher you get. So I think that's even more the reason to squeeze KQs.

Time Link to 01:00:05

I called J9o because he raised only 3bb on ante table and we were deep. I know that it's kind of loose but I don't think it's horrible.

On river I know it's great spot for him to overbet as a bluff and really bad to overbet for value. I decided to fold because in the past I made few calls in spots like that and my opponents always showed nuts


And I messed up link in second post, it's KQs around 5 minute.

Time Link to 01:17:46

AQs - I don't like folding AQs too but I had few reasons to fold:
1. I raise UTG so I don't expect BTN to squeeze very light
2. I didn't know anything about BTN so it can be really difficult to play against him
3. Tight player call my raise and he is HJ so he may call with some strong hands for deception in this spot from time to time.

Usually I will call in spots like that but here I just decided to make tight fold.

88 - I thought that raising will look very strong against his UTG open and c-bet in 3way pot but calling and betting 2 streets or raising turn will look strong as well so you are right that I should try to get the money in faster.

Running hot that session on video felt sooo good

Thank you again for reviewing my vid !

Just FYI, ante tables are also deep tables. So max buyin is 200bbs.

I was thinking about barreling turn too. That's why I made bigger c-bet. My thinking in that kind of spots is: I bet bigger on flop so I win more money when he folds to second barrel.

In this hand pot on turn would be 100$ so I need to bet around 55$ to put villain in decision for all his chips because its very likley that I have monster here and will shove river.

I agree with pre flop size, this deep I should go at least for pot size raise. This smaller 3-bets in squeeze spots is something that I'm trying right now, squeeze puts a lot of pressure on villains so it don't have to be very big but disadvantage is that sometimes you get few callers.

KQs hand, right? Often I tend to go smaller on the flop if I want to barrel the turn. By betting smaller on the flop I let my opponent call with weaker hands/draws that will fold the turn.

It's not a necessity. You could definitely make the argument that you want to bet bigger so we make more when villain folds the turn. Basically, it's volume vs. efficiency.

About KQs:

I think the main determining factor on calling or 3betting this hand would be whether or not that 3rd guy calling is a fish (45/36 stats or something). You are deep so if you have a read that he will call a raise it's best to try and get him into a 3 bet pot since most players at this limit, fish included, have more trouble post flop which is where you will get your edge. So, 100bb I'm just calling since he's in the SB to keep him in the pot. 200bb I'm definitely 3betting.


Either way calling is good, but I just think that squeezing to something like 20 (or more since you are deep) is definitely better here. Also, I think that on these deep stack tables suited hands like a-xs, KQs, and suited connectors go up in value since flush and straight hands go up in value and top pair goes down in value the higher you get. So I think that's even more the reason to squeeze KQs.

I agree on your points. The SB only had 11 hands so 45/36 tells me he's likely to be a regular. 4-bet frequency is also very important here.

I called J9o because he raised only 3bb on ante table and we were deep. I know that it's kind of loose but I don't think it's horrible.

On river I know it's great spot for him to overbet as a bluff and really bad to overbet for value. I decided to fold because in the past I made few calls in spots like that and my opponents always showed nuts


And I messed up link in second post, it's KQs around 5 minute.

I still think it's bad against a TAG. Likewise, if a TAG minraise OTB in a non-ante game, I'd still be 3-bet/folding. He can too easily outplay us with position+deep stack/pot, initiative, and often a better hand. Against a fish or in position, you can play it profitably.

This is basically why I was saying I think it's okay to open small OTB in the ante games. It's still difficult for player in the blinds to really open up and take advantage of you, despite the excellent price you're laying. If villain had opened to 3x in the CO, I'd argue that J9o is very playable on the button.

Time Link to 00:03:48

I think a check shove here would be the best play. He's going to bet most air a lot i think. If we shove we almost never get called by worse. If he happens to bet call with a pocket pair we have outs.

I think a check shove here would be the best play. He's going to bet most air a lot i think. If we shove we almost never get called by worse. If he happens to bet call with a pocket pair we have outs.

I keep going back and forth on this. I think both plays are solid and have their own advantages. Checking doesn't have a lot of downside since the hands that floated a 4-bet sometimes have only 3 outs. The problem is that we'd almost certainly bet our air on a 772r after 4-betting preflop. I think a check looks fairly obvious that we're going for a c/r. He might not take the bait unless he's mindlessly aggro.

A bet might be even be more likely to induce an aggressive action than a check. For him to flat a 4-bet, he probably thinks we're bluffing a lot. So when the flop comes 772r and we bet, he might decide that we're bluffing enough to semibluff shove something like KQdd or AQ if he happened to call the 4-bet preflop.

Overall, I think this is a spot where we should just be c-betting pretty much our entire range given the flop texture.

I agree on your points. The SB only had 11 hands so 45/36 tells me he's likely to be a regular. 4-bet frequency is also very important here.

But since we are out of position wouldn't our opponents be most likely to call?

I think 4-bet frequency isn't really as much of an issue at these stakes since they will have position on us and are more likely to call or at least that's what I've been seeing a lot of the past month or two since I've been back.

I could definitely be wrong here but I'd like your take on it. TBH I don't even have 4b frequency as a stat or ever check it since anyone who 4 bets me a lot stands out like a sore thumb...I might need to start doing that.

Don't get me wrong...I've definitely been seeing some of the higher limit players videos such as Ansky's talk about shoving their mid pair's (66, 77 etc.) to squeezes from aggro players but I haven't seen this much with players at 1/2 and below. On the other hand, I've seen an absurd amount of calling. This is on stars btw so it might vary a little from site to site.