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

nevermind, I realized the answer to my question. We arent losing money because we arent investing any, so its cant be -EV so the worst that can happen is win our equity share in the pot. So even in the extreme example there is still the rare occasion in which we chop which still results in positive gain.

I blame a 103 fever and the flu for my fuzzy thinking

Time Link to 00:32:13

The fish is just killing you, why you are playing like that against him? ty

The fish is just killing you, why you are playing like that against him? ty

I state my reasons during the video. I thought it was the most +EV thing to do at the time. Obviously when he keeps 4b jamming it's not +EV to 3b bluff him, but there was no way of knowing he was doing that. If he mostly folds or calls them OOP and fit/folds postflop, which is a very reasonable assumption, then 3b bluffing him is extremely profitable. A showdown with trash in a 3b pot also have huge implied EV for future hands, and variance is also good as I can reload my stack if I lose a pot, and I need to get deep with him. And because of my play against him at this point in the session, I ended up killing him later on in the video (in EV anyway ).

Keep an open mind. If you look at the 85o 3b and think to yourself "this is spew" from the start, because 3betting 85o vs fish is generally spew, then when he shoves over it you get a... What's the word. Something psychological, a bit like a self fulfilling prophecy but not quite. It's on the tip of my tongue! Ugh so tilted now haha. Anyway, lets say there's a 70% chance that a certain play in a weird spot is +EV only you don't know it, you think it's 20% or so. When the play ends up not working out because of variance, you're like "obviously..." while really it wasn't and it will hinder your growth as a player. Keeping an open mind and thinking everything through is extremely important if you want to improve.

Confirmation bias?

Yes!

Time Link to 00:46:55

This is really spewy imo. You seem to be 3betting this guy without really thinking what is going to happen. Calling a shove with KJo 180bbs deep is not something i would be advocating to players trying to learn to beat 100nl! If he is playing so bad as to make calling with that hand close then play tighter and wait for a decent hand to stack with instead of playing such a high variance style.

I'd like to make a wider point about this video being an example to micro stakes players about how to play more fundamentally solid poker in general. Often beginners are under the assumption that to become a better player it is basically down to one simple thing, such as 3bet lighter etc. To me, the example of trying to squeeze the crap out of fish is a really bad way to go about trying to improve as a player. Not to mention the fact that at higher limits, 3betting 19%+ and squeezing every other hand will get destroyed by competent players. Don't get me wrong, I think your analysis when in a hand is a good lesson in playing an aggressive style and maneuvering through marginal spots. However, I think your preflop style is seriously over-aggro.

Referring back to a previous post, Grindcore states that

"If he mostly folds or calls them OOP and fit/folds postflop, which is a very reasonable assumption, then 3b bluffing him is extremely profitable".

I have a few concerns with this. The fish is playing 90%+ of hands. He does not have any presumptions about how to play poker, he's just clicking buttons. Therefore to make any assumption about how he plays postflop is a dodgy assumption imo. Therefore this turns the basic strategy from watching him c/call pre c/fold post to having to play a 40bb pot with air most of the time vs a calling station. Not a very +EV situation to be in.

This is really spewy imo. You seem to be 3betting this guy without really thinking what is going to happen. Calling a shove with KJo 180bbs deep is not something i would be advocating to players trying to learn to beat 100nl! If he is playing so bad as to make calling with that hand close then play tighter and wait for a decent hand to stack with instead of playing such a high variance style.

I'm not gonna make incorrect folds because the viewers might end up spewing if I don't. Just because he's easy to beat doesn't mean beating him the easy way yields the highest EV. I go for max EV. I've actively discouraged microstakes players to watch my series on many occasions, if they watch it anyway and end up spewing it's their own responsibility. There are also plenty of other videos that teach you solid tag out there. It'd be a waste of my qualities if I start ABCing. The main goal of my videos is to open up the minds of the players that already have all the fundamentals down and are looking to expand beyond that.

I'd like to make a wider point about this video being an example to micro stakes players about how to play more fundamentally solid poker in general. Often beginners are under the assumption that to become a better player it is basically down to one simple thing, such as 3bet lighter etc. To me, the example of trying to squeeze the crap out of fish is a really bad way to go about trying to improve as a player. Not to mention the fact that at higher limits, 3betting 19%+ and squeezing every other hand will get destroyed by competent players. Don't get me wrong, I think your analysis when in a hand is a good lesson in playing an aggressive style and maneuvering through marginal spots. However, I think your preflop style is seriously over-aggro.

Referring back to a previous post, Grindcore states that

"If he mostly folds or calls them OOP and fit/folds postflop, which is a very reasonable assumption, then 3b bluffing him is extremely profitable".

I have a few concerns with this. The fish is playing 90%+ of hands. He does not have any presumptions about how to play poker, he's just clicking buttons. Therefore to make any assumption about how he plays postflop is a dodgy assumption imo. Therefore this turns the basic strategy from watching him c/call pre c/fold post to having to play a 40bb pot with air most of the time vs a calling station. Not a very +EV situation to be in.

Based on the info I had available, the assumption seemed very reasonable to me. I do what I think is the most +EV. The term over-aggression implies that it's too aggressive. The goal in the game is to make money, so over aggression would be -EV aggression. I don't do anything I think is -EV. Sometimes I make a splashy call to get in a spot for the video, but every time I do I clearly state this. If you don't hear me say that then the play you saw me make is the play I thought was best at the time.

Also, fish are predictable, though the randomness is higher than it is with regs. The randomness might lower the EV of hero-plays, but that doesn't automatically make them -EV. Because fish have such glaring leaks, you get in spots where a hero play is possible at a higher frequency against them. Sure it might go wrong, but that's no reason to not do it. Always go for max EV. Most of my herocalls/herofolds are vs fish because of the reads I get on them. Watch the thin red line episode 8.

Grindcore, I'd like to personally thank you for posting these. I've always been struggling with the lag game and I feel like you've showed me where a lot of my thought processes were lacking at the tables.

Im going to have to second that if the guy stacks off with 97o that I feel like I'm burning money by folding KJ in that position in the video preflop. That's probably one of the worser portions of fishes goofy range to be running into when we call.

Based on the info I had available, the assumption seemed very reasonable to me. I do what I think is the most +EV. The term over-aggression implies that it's too aggressive. The goal in the game is to make money, so over aggression would be -EV aggression. I don't do anything I think is -EV. Sometimes I make a splashy call to get in a spot for the video, but every time I do I clearly state this. If you don't hear me say that then the play you saw me make is the play I thought was best at the time.

Also, fish are predictable, though the randomness is higher than it is with regs. The randomness might lower the EV of hero-plays, but that doesn't automatically make them -EV. Because fish have such glaring leaks, you get in spots where a hero play is possible at a higher frequency against them. Sure it might go wrong, but that's no reason to not do it. Always go for max EV. Most of my herocalls/herofolds are vs fish because of the reads I get on them. Watch the thin red line episode 8.

I understand your justification for playing this way, but my point is that learning players may not fully understand when the important assumptions made in the play are operative for the play to be +EV. For example, would you be advocating a 25nl/50nl player to be squeezing 23s OOP? Even if all your assumptions apply, it is very close to being a losing play I would be inclined to believe. The number of times I have seen randoms limp shove or flat in spots which I would consider crazy far out way the small edge of taking it down preflop. To me, this style if you are competent will as you say be mostly profitable but if not will turn beginners into bad-aggro players for the other regs at the limit to feast apon!

I understand your justification for playing this way, but my point is that learning players may not fully understand when the important assumptions made in the play are operative for the play to be +EV. For example, would you be advocating a 25nl/50nl player to be squeezing 23s OOP? Even if all your assumptions apply, it is very close to being a losing play I would be inclined to believe. The number of times I have seen randoms limp shove or flat in spots which I would consider crazy far out way the small edge of taking it down preflop. To me, this style if you are competent will as you say be mostly profitable but if not will turn beginners into bad-aggro players for the other regs at the limit to feast apon!

I recommend microstakes players not even watching the videos because the stuff I do will most likely do harm instead of good to their game, and emphasized on the importance of just playing solid in the first NL50 episode of this series too

Time Link to 00:32:50

lmao

Time Link to 00:39:43

Table 1: KK

what would you do if vilain shoved over your cbet ? would you put him on an Ax and fold ? or more on a spazz and call him ?


Table 4: T7

What is your thought process behind the turn c/c ? Is it because of vilain's stats or its a type of play you also make vs TAG ? He bets pretty big on the turn, its not a signe of strenght ?

and for the river call, would you call if vilain didnt autoshove? I mean, did the timing tell is a huge calling factor here ?

Time Link to 00:42:59

Table 1: JJ

You said you checked back for pot control but since the guy is a fish, why not betting for value ? he could call with draws, smaller PP, A5, etc.