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

Really looking forward to this!

Video posted 18 min ago and its 63 min long....already has a 5 star rating....must be a great first few minutes!!!



Looking forward to it also. Make sure you stretch before attempting anything the Sensei does.

solid paintskills

omg omg omg
I think I just felt something where I shouldn't have when I saw this...
I can't wait to watch this!

Time Link to 00:13:57

I have tried this move before(repping big pair after raising AK utg on this type of board) and a couple times have run into problems when the turn raise gets called and then villain uses a blocking bet on the river.

In this example lets say he calls the $60 on the turn making the pot $250 and the villain has ~$350 behind. We don't improve on the river, lets say it's a 3, and now villain bets $100-$150 on the river. You are still confident that villain has a middle pair (77-TT), do you continue with the plan and shove? I know that this is probably player dependant but is it still worth it versus a weak-tight reg.

Also lets say he calls the turn raise and checks the river to us. I assume we are firing a third barrell most of the time. Do we bet $150-$200 making it look like a value bet, bet pot, or overbet shove? Does shoving make it look bluffy?

Enjoyed this and looking forward to the future episodes.

I have a question regarding your EP range, at around 16/14 in the first three seats do you think that;
A) You will have to tone this down as the better regs catch on to this and begin to realise that even though your usually "strong perceived range" is much weaker. Plus they have position and that is king
B) Playing this loose from EP will be significantly -EV for a lot of players who are not as sharp post flop.

Also, why do I always sound like a nit in forums?

Time Link to 00:53:44

Hand: 3bet pot. You have T9o on QQ3 flop and you floated.

If the turn card paired you up, being that villain is superaggro, would you just check back turn and call any river bet letting him bluff his air one more time, value bet the two pair, or continue with the plan?

Time Link to 00:53:44

One more question that I was curious about during the results/stats portion:

How many tables were you playing during these sessions?

How would you adjust your bankroll requirements based on how many tables you were playing. I usually play 8 tables, so do you recommend a bigger bankroll the more tables you play or is 20 buyins still ok at 200nl for this amount of tables?

Nooooo!! I thought we all agreed in the name of premium smoke never to tell the 14/12 nits that LAG is the smartest way to make $$ at MSNL FR.

Excellent, really looking forward to this whole series.

How many tables are you playing at a time? Also, are you putting much effort into table selection, or just taking whatever you get? I think it's been a while since you played the FR games at these stakes, so how do you think they have changed since you were a regular there?

Also, there is a HEM report for positional stats for Full Ring, so you can see your stats for all 9 individual positions, not just "early" and "middle" grouped together. I use this all the time. Here's the link, if you can't figure out how to set it up let me know:

http://www.holdemmanager.net/forum/showthread.php?t=311

If you can add WWSF to your stat reports, that'd be awesome too!

Really enjoyed this and am looking forward to the rest of the series

One other thought I had. Playing this style, you will definitely start getting 3-bet light in position once the regs get hands on you, so I'd really like to see some hands and discussion on how you react to that. I play a tighter style overall but quite loose from late position and I get 3-bet a ton; this is mainly at 100NL so I'm sure it's even more of a dynamic in the higher games. Do you agree with Baluga's opinion that you should never call a 3-bet out of position with 100bb stacks and should always either 4-bet or fold (vs. regs I mean; obviously if fish min-3bet you can call with almost atc)?

One other thought I had. Playing this style, you will definitely start getting 3-bet light in position once the regs get hands on you, so I'd really like to see some hands and discussion on how you react to that. I play a tighter style overall but quite loose from late position and I get 3-bet a ton; this is mainly at 100NL so I'm sure it's even more of a dynamic in the higher games. Do you agree with Baluga's opinion that you should never call a 3-bet out of position with 100bb stacks and should always either 4-bet or fold (vs. regs I mean; obviously if fish min-3bet you can call with almost atc)?

What do you consider a ton?

How did you manage to dodge the shortstacks? When I played 2/4 full ring I ran into a crap ton of shorties and ultimately ended up running like 14/11 (even though I still turned out a huge profit). If I tried to play any looser I got 3 bet to death and shoved on by shorties. On the bright side, people didnt really give my hands enough respect, so when I tightened up a lot of people continued to pay me off or shove when they shouldnt have.

Im looking forward to seeing how you play at 5/10, because I think its a lot tougher to win there then at 2/4 where many different playing styles will yield a huge profit due to the high % of donks.

Great video as always!

Excellent format! I really enjoyed first episode and looking forward next ones

-Millman

Time Link to 00:41:22

"Naaawwwwwhhhhhaaaaagggggggghhhhhhh!!"

Good idea for a series looking forward to this one Sensei!

I have tried this move before(repping big pair after raising AK utg on this type of board) and a couple times have run into problems when the turn raise gets called and then villain uses a blocking bet on the river.

In this example lets say he calls the $60 on the turn making the pot $250 and the villain has ~$350 behind. We don't improve on the river, lets say it's a 3, and now villain bets $100-$150 on the river. You are still confident that villain has a middle pair (77-TT), do you continue with the plan and shove? I know that this is probably player dependant but is it still worth it versus a weak-tight reg.

Also lets say he calls the turn raise and checks the river to us. I assume we are firing a third barrell most of the time. Do we bet $150-$200 making it look like a value bet, bet pot, or overbet shove? Does shoving make it look bluffy?

If I'm up against a villain who I don't give much credit for tricky/creative lines, and I'm in a clear position to continue representing a big hand, then I'll very often bluffraise a blocking bet. That is, of course, if the pot and stack sizes are such that I expect to have FE. If he bets half his remaining stack, I'm probably not gonna ship the rest in. If he bets like $100 and leaves $250 behind, I might pull the trigger. If he bets even less than that, I'm very likely to do it.

And yes if he calls the turn raise and checks river, I'm totally firing again. Probably big.

Enjoyed this and looking forward to the future episodes.

I have a question regarding your EP range, at around 16/14 in the first three seats do you think that;
A) You will have to tone this down as the better regs catch on to this and begin to realise that even though your usually "strong perceived range" is much weaker. Plus they have position and that is king
B) Playing this loose from EP will be significantly -EV for a lot of players who are not as sharp post flop.

Also, why do I always sound like a nit in forums?

Yes against better regs I'll definitely need to be aware of the ways that they're adjusting to me, but that kind of discussion will probably come a few episodes down the line. (Spoiler alert?)

And I realize that being too loose can lead to trouble for people who aren't ready to wield it, but isn't teaching them the ways of the LAG the whole point of this series? The most important thing is being aware of what people are likely to think your hand range is, and either over-representing or under-representing your hand accordingly. Knowing when someone is weak enough to bluff with your light hands because your range is strong, and knowing when to play it cool with a pretty strong hand because they clearly think theirs is better than aces.

Hand: 3bet pot. You have T9o on QQ3 flop and you floated.

If the turn card paired you up, being that villain is superaggro, would you just check back turn and call any river bet letting him bluff his air one more time, value bet the two pair, or continue with the plan?

Probably check back and call a lot of rivers. Moreso if I had a hand like KJ and wasn't concerned about my opponents equity, less so if I had a hand like 54 and though that I had good reason to protect it from his overcards by betting turn.

One more question that I was curious about during the results/stats portion:

How many tables were you playing during these sessions?

I was mostly 9-tabling, occasionally 6 or 12.

How would you adjust your bankroll requirements based on how many tables you were playing. I usually play 8 tables, so do you recommend a bigger bankroll the more tables you play or is 20 buyins still ok at 200nl for this amount of tables?

Well as I said, 20 buyins is a very aggressive bankroll plan, so I'd only use that few if the consequences of busting the roll really aren't that bad for you. Or at least I'd be very consistent about moving down in stakes when I drop below 20 (that is probably the tough part!).

In general though, I wouldn't really change my roll requirements based on the number of tables you play, because the increased short-term variance is evened out by the fact that more tables = more hands/hr = the 'long run' comes faster.

A bigger concern is making sure that you are able to play your A game on all tables, so that every new table you add will still increase your hourly rate.

Excellent, really looking forward to this whole series.

How many tables are you playing at a time? Also, are you putting much effort into table selection, or just taking whatever you get? I think it's been a while since you played the FR games at these stakes, so how do you think they have changed since you were a regular there?

Also, there is a HEM report for positional stats for Full Ring, so you can see your stats for all 9 individual positions, not just "early" and "middle" grouped together. I use this all the time. Here's the link, if you can't figure out how to set it up let me know:

http://www.holdemmanager.net/forum/showthread.php?t=311

If you can add WWSF to your stat reports, that'd be awesome too!

Sweet, I'll check that out for future episodes.

I table selected a bit, in the sense that I'd get on every table I could up to 9, then if there were still additional tables that became available I'd cut out the worst table I was on and switch to the new one. Most of the time when my HUD told me that the table VPIP/PFR averages were 14/10, that meant it was all regs and I could easily drop that one, while any table with an average VPIP over 20 probably had at least one soft spot.

It certainly has been a while since I played these games regularly, so its pretty much as though I'm playing them for the first time. I'm trying to avoid any preconceptions that I had going in and work on simply figuring out the best strategies as fast as I can.

How did you manage to dodge the shortstacks? When I played 2/4 full ring I ran into a crap ton of shorties and ultimately ended up running like 14/11 (even though I still turned out a huge profit). If I tried to play any looser I got 3 bet to death and shoved on by shorties. On the bright side, people didnt really give my hands enough respect, so when I tightened up a lot of people continued to pay me off or shove when they shouldnt have.

Im looking forward to seeing how you play at 5/10, because I think its a lot tougher to win there then at 2/4 where many different playing styles will yield a huge profit due to the high % of donks.

Great video as always!

I actually haven't had too much trouble with shorties, but I tried to play as many 50bb tables as I could, and otherwise game selected away from the regular shortstackers when I could. Not all shorties are the jerk kind, either, there are plenty of shortstacking fish who I'm happy to play against. Its just a matter of recognizing which is which.

One other thought I had. Playing this style, you will definitely start getting 3-bet light in position once the regs get hands on you, so I'd really like to see some hands and discussion on how you react to that. I play a tighter style overall but quite loose from late position and I get 3-bet a ton; this is mainly at 100NL so I'm sure it's even more of a dynamic in the higher games. Do you agree with Baluga's opinion that you should never call a 3-bet out of position with 100bb stacks and should always either 4-bet or fold (vs. regs I mean; obviously if fish min-3bet you can call with almost atc)?

Surprisingly I wasn't getting abused by 3bets too much at 2/4, but it definitely happened when I moved up to 3/6, so I'll probably spend a good bit of time in later episodes covering that.

I don't entirely agree with Baluga about not flatting 3bets oop, but I don't really disagree very much either. Against very good players I'm pretty unlikely to flat oop, but against not-so-good ones (or ones who I expect to be able to outplay postflop after doing so) I'll flat a fair bit.

on qq hand 40min in when ur oop against a lag whats ur line on various rivers if he checks back the turn?at this point can we only check call a blank or check fold a diamond, ace or 4 line straight card on r...or just vomit call almost any river?would u ever lead a river?

This video is must see for all FR players IMO.

And I realize that being too loose can lead to trouble for people who aren't ready to wield it, but isn't teaching them the ways of the LAG the whole point of this series?

Yeah don't get me wrong, I totally agree that LAG is the way to beat FR (once you get a grip on all the basics) but I play much more positional but with similar overall stats to your first session - so I'm not just being the voice of the FR nit .

I just think it's worth pointing out to the micro guys that tight is right in EP because it's going to be much more about your skill advantage when OOP.
When I take questions or do HH sessions with micro guys 75%+ of their difficult spots are OOP with marginal holdings that they don't even need to play from EP.
Of course they could learn to play OOP but that's really difficult and 100 times more difficult than opening up in position using selective aggression. - so I'm just re-iterating the difference between you guys who are working up through the micros and a DC exec producer playing quite a few levels lower than normal. Not that there wont be loads of stuff that micro guys can learn from this series.

With all that said I'm really looking forward to seeing future episodes to see how this dynamic develops.

Did DC change servers for videos? This is chugging along at about 15% of the usual download speeds I'm used to. It's Sunday morninng, 7 am EDT and late morning in London: perhaps it's just a bit congested.

BTW, thaks for the series.

Time Link to 00:00:18

already amazing

Great vid. In future episodes when you show your graph, can you also display the non-showdown vs showdown winnings? I think it will be interesting to compare your non-showdown win rate as you move up in stakes. Do you think more of your profit will come from non-showdown hands at 2/4 or at 5/10? Thanks

I liked this vid lots and started at FR think its where my heart is. Would be great to have some live thrown in hh reviews are great but we dont see how many tables your playing when you stop and say ok heres a spot we can do stuff. Just saying mix some in plz.

at around 40:00, QQ: what would you do if the 7 on the turn was a diamond? still check/call a shove asusming he will be bluffing this card a ton, although its getting thinner?

great series though!
especially for me as a FR nit wanting to play more laggy.

i really would like a live video at some point of the series, just to see the whole gameflow and the spots were you open loose.

hi,

any chance you can talk some about 4bet pots ->

4bet shoving vs 4bet small and how best to adjust your range to these? ie is it best to 4bet small with a reall wide range or bet shove with a really tight range like AK, QQ+...

thanks.

I liked this vid lots and started at FR think its where my heart is. Would be great to have some live thrown in hh reviews are great but we dont see how many tables your playing when you stop and say ok heres a spot we can do stuff. Just saying mix some in plz.

This.

I have high hopes for this series and I think occasionally showing live sessions will allow the viewers to see the frequency and situations these hands are played in. I think the HH reviews are good too, but seeing where those hands fit in a session has tons or benefits as well.

Looking forward to the rest of the season.

on qq hand 40min in when ur oop against a lag whats ur line on various rivers if he checks back the turn?at this point can we only check call a blank or check fold a diamond, ace or 4 line straight card on r...or just vomit call almost any river?would u ever lead a river?

I'd often ship a blank because we'd be in a position to represent a bluff and hope for a hero call. Also, I don't expect him to bluff the river if he checks back the turn. If it was a bad card, well, I'd probably c/f a lot but might occasionally c/c. I mean, he showed up with A2 here so certainly he'd turn that into a bluff if the river was bad.

Also, dude, check out this video: http://www.deucescracked.com/forums/13-Videos/20463-Tool-Time-Using-the-Flash and learn how to make comments directly on the timeline, it'll make asking questions about a specific part of a video much easier for all of us!

Great vid. In future episodes when you show your graph, can you also display the non-showdown vs showdown winnings? I think it will be interesting to compare your non-showdown win rate as you move up in stakes. Do you think more of your profit will come from non-showdown hands at 2/4 or at 5/10? Thanks

Ehh I'm not a big fan of reading too much into showdown vs. nonshowdown winnings. If you change your game to try and improve one, it'll likely decrease the other, so I'd prefer to focus on winning the most overall. They also vary a lot based on your particular style, so one player could be crushing showdowns and losing nonshowdowns, and another could be breaking even at showdown and gradually winning nonshowdowns, and both could be doing equally well!

at around 40:00, QQ: what would you do if the 7 on the turn was a diamond? still check/call a shove asusming he will be bluffing this card a ton, although its getting thinner?

Yea I'd probably check/get it in but it wouldn't be a fistpump.

This has been the best FR video I have seen so far.
I would enjoy seeing "stats" of the other players in the next video. It would make it easier to understand how you get your reads. Maybe it is a good idea to select a "special topic" like "3bet pots oop" and to talk about 3-5 hands that happened in your sessions (where you win, loose, trick other, get tricked, etc.) Talking about 3-4 of this selected topics in one series.

Anyways: THUMBS UP!

This has been the best FR video I have seen so far.
I would enjoy seeing "stats" of the other players in the next video. It would make it easier to understand how you get your reads.

I originally planned to have stats show up in the HEM replayer but that wasn't working right and I like the regular replayer too. I try to mention relevant stats when I can, but really, many of the plays I make aren't based on a particular stat but a general assessment of their player type (or a specific read!)

Very solid video man, I like your analysis and tendency to encourage and allow opponents to make big mistakes. You seem to know a lot when your overpairs are good and you can just let them hang themselves, where in full ring, I am prob too often worried about them having sets and either letting myself get bet out or betting them out instead trapping properly.

Very solid video man, I like your analysis and tendency to encourage and allow opponents to make big mistakes. You seem to know a lot when your overpairs are good and you can just let them hang themselves, where in full ring, I am prob too often worried about them having sets and either letting myself get bet out or betting them out instead trapping properly.

ty dude, I sure do love to tarp!

Time Link to 00:23:13

Typically when I flop a big hand like this, I plan my bets to get all the money in by the river. You were on track to do this on the first street by getting about $80 on the flop, $120 on the turn, and $200 on the river. But he ended up folding. I understand it's best to try to maximize against his range and if he folded to a small re-raise on the flop, he probably wasn't going to put much more in on the turn unless he improved, but if there is just as little as a 5% or 10% chance he improves enough on the turn to continue and you can get those 2 bets in, it's a much better +EV move than if he shuts down.

So, I'm curious what board textures you would have just called? How big of a mistake do you think just calling is for this hand? I often wrestle with this issue because it's tough to bet big and possibly push someone off a hand when you have a big hand, but those few times you can get all the money in and win, it usually makes up for all those times they fold.

Chances are if he improves in a spot like this, it'll either be to a hand thats better than mine (straight or higher set) or to a hand that still isn't that good (like hitting a Q with AQ) or to a hand that doesn't need to improve to play a big pot (hitting an A with AK). None of those give me a reason to call the flop.

I don't think that flatting his 3bet is a bad idea, I mean we've got position and a huge hand on a dry board. But against players who are good enough to realize that once I call his 3bet I've got a serious hand, he's just not gonna fire another bluff at me (probably!). Nor do I expect him to fold a strong hand once he 3bets the flop, so I choose to take the only line that could possibly be a bluff on my end.

Time Link to 00:27:31

I play a 2/5 game and typically the player with as strong a hand as J10 suited would either check raise the flop on you, and possibly shove the turn or shove to your bet on the turn. Would you go ahead and fold your draw if these shoves occurred?

Time Link to 00:34:19

If you had his hand of 99. Should he have raised you preflop? How should he have played to get rid of that hand OOP? If he had called and bet the flop, I take it you raise and he folds....Is this better play with his 99? How does he not go broke or bluff you off your 1010? I think raise pre, yes?

I play a 2/5 game and typically the player with as strong a hand as J10 suited would either check raise the flop on you, and possibly shove the turn or shove to your bet on the turn. Would you go ahead and fold your draw if these shoves occurred?

Well I wouldn't fold if the price was right. I'd say that facing any aggression on the flop/turn would basically just come down to a math problem.

If you had his hand of 99. Should he have raised you preflop? How should he have played to get rid of that hand OOP? If he had called and bet the flop, I take it you raise and he folds....Is this better play with his 99? How does he not go broke or bluff you off your 1010? I think raise pre, yes?

I'd almost never 3bet a hand like 99 preflop, since it plays so poorly postflop OOP against my 3bet calling range. Postflop, I'd have just taken a much more passive line. Probably plan to c/c flop and turn and valuebet if he ever checked. Trying to bluff me off a hand like TT would be the last thing on my mind if I held 99 here, I'd be more focused on extracting as much value as possible from bluffs and losing as little as possible to better hands.

Time Link to 00:48:28

so if he floats you here, you just give up? or do you see cards you are willing to barrel (ie: Ace of spades)

so if he floats you here, you just give up? or do you see cards you are willing to barrel (ie: Ace of spades)

Yes I'd generally give up, expecting his range to be Kx+. I'd occasionally barrel a good card like A, but it doesn't make a ton of sense for me to have an A anyhow unless I was already ahead with AK (and he's obv never folding a 6) so I'd probably only barrel if I expected him to float me with pairs under K or air, which very few players will. (And if they do they're probably planning to raise turn as a bluff )

Can we apply most of these same plays(from this whole series) to lower stakes successfully, say 50nl and 100nl?

Can we apply most of these same plays(from this whole series) to lower stakes successfully, say 50nl and 100nl?

Sure! Just be sure that if you're going to use a fancy play, your opponent is the type who'll fall for it. I expect there are plenty of nitty regulars against whom this type of increased aggression will work perfectly.

my mt robusto assignment was to watch this series again

1) 8:55 with the AK do you ever take a bet/3b line rather than float the villian's min ch/r? why or why not?

2)23:45 when we flop NFD with A9s on QJ3 and we CB 16 into 26 - is this standard sizing? i am in the habit of betting closer to pot on draw heavy boards like this. is there a reason to bet small?

thanks

Time Link to 00:23:13

do u thing really, then last bet is great that, if he reraised us, there are two ways, he is really good so if we push there he will call that and if he have any hands as AA or AK he will absolutly if he is weaker, he will fold that, I think all in is more beliveable then this so maybye we could sometimes make more money.
But I dont know, just mine opionion.