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

I'm very interested in Andrew's thoughts on the big 4bet with 99.
Do you think there is any merit in calling oop with the pocket nines?

i think he is trying to avoid a bluffshove from his opponent with hands like QJ, JT, KJ and so on, where he is actually flipping and thats a situation he wants to avoid.

where did the producers find that awesome whistling jingle for the intro? i gotta have it

offtopic:where do i get this deucescrakced layout?

I'm also curious to hear about Andrew's thought process here, seems like a really unbalanced play since we can never be bluffing here since we're committing ourselves by making it so big. Definitely agree with Emil's analysis on this one.

Hey guys, I did the math to the 99 hand (hope I didnt make a mistake) and under certain circumstances, Andrews play is more +ev than 4betting small.
Its just a scenario and I dont want to say that it is true in this case, but I just want to give an example:
Lets say he opens to 14$ and the BU makes it 44$. At this point, there is 64$ of dead money in the pot. assuming that we are 100bb deep, we are risking 386$. we have to think about 2 scenarios:
a) we 4bet big and call a shove
b) we 4bet small and call a shove
Lets assume that our opponent will stack off with TT+, AK (3.5% of hands and we have an equity of 32%) in case a) and with AJ+, 99+ (6.3%, equity 41%) in case b).
Lets say x is his 3betting range. that means:
a) 3.5%/x * [68%*(-386$)+32%*420$] + (1-(3.5%/x))*64$ = 64$ - (6.75$/x)
b) 6.3%/x * [59%(-386$)+41%*420$] + (1-(6.3%/x))*64$ = 64$ - (7.5$/x)
(its late in germany, so i hope I didnt make a mistake )
As you can see by solving the 2 equations, case a) becomes profitable if our opponent 3bets 10.5% or more and case b) becomes +ev if he 3bets 11.7% of the time or more. As the equation is linear, we can assume that case a) is the better play given these specific circumstances and assumptions (we dont talk about balance). Hope it is helpful.
One thing I want to mention: I would prefer to make the play with a small pocket pair (22-77) because its not unlikely with aggressive history that our opponent goes over the top with 22-88 some of the time if we 4bet smaller with 99. in that situation, case b) becomes far more profitable. but we are really happy if he folds this part of his range when we have 55, so a big 4bet with 55 isnt that bad of a play.

In the example above you forget that you need to balance the range with that huge 4bet size with cards you loose ev if you bet so huge than if you would 4bet them a normal size. People pick up on this in no time and you are heavily exploitable imo. In a vacuum this might be more ev in some cases, in the long run I think it isnt.

Time Link to 00:17:13

On calling the 3bet with 66, how important are reads on villain's tendencies in 3bet pots before making this call? I think our hand looks like a medium pocket pair, so when we get a board like Q32r, we'd need to know that villain fires once then gives up on this sort of flop, right? If we didn't know anything about his barrelling tendencies on dry boards when we play our hand this way then it seems like we could easily be making a big mistake.

In the example above you forget that you need to balance the range with that huge 4bet size with cards you loose ev if you bet so huge than if you would 4bet them a normal size. People pick up on this in no time and you are heavily exploitable imo. In a vacuum this might be more ev in some cases, in the long run I think it isnt.

Thats why I wrote: "given these specific circumstances and assumptions (we dont talk about balance)" I dont say that I love the play but its not as bad as you might think, as long as you dont do it regularly.

Hi Baluga,
i really like your thoughts on polarizing 3-Betting Range IP and depolarizing 3-Betting OOP vs. decent players. However, i'm quite unsure about Betsizing concerning Preflop 3-Bets. Normally i just 3x it IP and 4x it OOP, but unfortunately there is no GT-background in my mind. Which approach do you take when it comes to Betsizing(3-Bets Preflop) (shorter stacks / 100 BB deep / deepstacked play) ?

white lime i like your general disscussion on all your videos you have a great poker mind. i have one quick question pertaining to this and all your videos when your playing this 3 bet 4 bet agro style what lines should you take differntly when all the players start to play back at you and you are missing flops and ending up with 2nd best hands. should you slow down and tightin up, or keep going thru with your original game plan? thanks for your advice djay206

Time Link to 00:06:13

in this hand, let's assume we're villain. wouldn't this be a good opportunity to c/shove the river as a bluff?

Time Link to 00:31:20

Original my instinct was to check back here but after reviewing the hand and given his timing I really think this is a bet.

He looks like he is goingto c/f here a ton, and if he has a hand like 77 we want him to fold that.

Time Link to 00:48:27

In the AK hand on the left, what is your action against this villain if our bet on the turn gets raised?

Time Link to 00:21:49

I'd like to hear your thoughts on the K7 hand on the right. You didn't discuss this hand in the video.

What kind of hands are we trying to get value from by raising the flop? Do you think the sb is donk/calling a lot of pocket pairs and draws here?

On calling the 3bet with 66, how important are reads on villain's tendencies in 3bet pots before making this call? I think our hand looks like a medium pocket pair, so when we get a board like Q32r, we'd need to know that villain fires once then gives up on this sort of flop, right? If we didn't know anything about his barrelling tendencies on dry boards when we play our hand this way then it seems like we could easily be making a big mistake.

I think I'm calling in this spot with no reads. It's OK to fold it against a really good aggressive player but then you fold to 3bet % is going to be too high and exploitable that he can just 3-bet you and turn an automatic profit. I'm calling vs. pretty much anyone.

white lime i like your general disscussion on all your videos you have a great poker mind. i have one quick question pertaining to this and all your videos when your playing this 3 bet 4 bet agro style what lines should you take differntly when all the players start to play back at you and you are missing flops and ending up with 2nd best hands. should you slow down and tightin up, or keep going thru with your original game plan? thanks for your advice djay206

It depends on the specific situations. If we are 200 bb deep and they start 4-betting me, I will usually 5-bet them because their 4-bet value range is really small. If they start raising my c-bets on boards I can't fight back on because there are too many draws they can shove on me, I will tone down the aggression a bit.

in this hand, let's assume we're villain. wouldn't this be a good opportunity to c/shove the river as a bluff?

I think it's an OK spot, but not great. The problem is, we can only really represent 89 or A8(probably would be folding flop though). If you're up against a smart player, he may snap you off w/ a Q or A because you have very few combos of value c/r hands.

In the AK hand on the left, what is your action against this villain if our bet on the turn gets raised?

Against tight, nitty players you can just fold. Against most opponents, I'd probably call and c/f the river because they might be trying to get a free showdown or trying some sort of semi bluff w/ combo hearts.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on the K7 hand on the right. You didn't discuss this hand in the video.

What kind of hands are we trying to get value from by raising the flop? Do you think the sb is donk/calling a lot of pocket pairs and draws here?

I missed this hand. I actually prefer calling the flop with K7. K7 just isn't strong enough to be raising for value in this spot so I'd play it more like a bluff catcher. I'd be raising KJ/KQ+.

hey guys,

thanks again emil for the great commentary.

99 hand- pocket pairs are a weird animal in these spots. Basically, because I expect my opponent to fold extremely often, they are definitely profitable to 4bet regardless of the 4-bet size (assuming 100bb stacks). However, they're slightly more profitable if I can get hands like AJ or KQ to fold. The idea would be that, by showing that I'm committed, I'll get fewer 5-bet bluffs by hands that have significant equity against me (50% or so). Der Brain did a nice job with the math of this.

I'm not terribly concerned with balancing in these spots, because no matter what I do, my result is going to be the same-- i'm going to get it in against a range of hands that was never going to fold in the first place, and he's going to fold often enough to make it +EV. Now, if he responds by shoving AJ and KQ every time I 4-bet to 185 (or if he calls with those hands every time I 4-bet shove), my adjustments are pretty easy--start 4-betting premium hands to that amount as well and enjoy the ridiculous action. In general, though, people don't/haven't adjusted that significantly.

Andrew

Original my instinct was to check back here but after reviewing the hand and given his timing I really think this is a bet.

He looks like he is goingto c/f here a ton, and if he has a hand like 77 we want him to fold that.

could be a bet, would be very thin.

at the time i had a read that i could get the guy to fold smaller boats, but after rewatching i have no idea how i had that read lol

But don't you want Villain to shove a wider range against which 9s have better equity?

It just seems to me that by 4 betting so big you let Villain play perfectly, though that's a bit of a cliche. He's only going to shove a range that crushes you, and you're committed to calling it off, whereas if you have an aggressive 4 betting image you might get him to jam smaller pocket pairs and stuff if you 4 bet smaller.

But don't you want Villain to shove a wider range against which 9s have better equity?

It just seems to me that by 4 betting so big you let Villain play perfectly, though that's a bit of a cliche. He's only going to shove a range that crushes you, and you're committed to calling it off, whereas if you have an aggressive 4 betting image you might get him to jam smaller pocket pairs and stuff if you 4 bet smaller.

unless i expect him to never 3-bet smaller PPs in the first place, which is what i expect.

also, remember that we want him to fold AJ.

Time Link to 00:02:29

table 1 A7
You said that when we flop an A we either be outkicked or he is not continuing w/ worse. Very true.
Is it any merit in this reasoning tho: Our hand is a bluff. We do not 3bet A7o to flop an A and stack off, we are 3betting because we have a blocker and we think he is folding enough to make it profitable but when the A hits the board we pretty much have to play it like a pair of KK...

table 1 A7
You said that when we flop an A we either be outkicked or he is not continuing w/ worse. Very true.
Is it any merit in this reasoning tho: Our hand is a bluff. We do not 3bet A7o to flop an A and stack off, we are 3betting because we have a blocker and we think he is folding enough to make it profitable but when the A hits the board we pretty much have to play it like a pair of KK...

Yes but the best bluff card for you on most flops is going to be the A...So why not 3-bet bluff hands that hit well on non-A flops and you can bluff A high ones.

Yes but the best bluff card for you on most flops is going to be the A...So why not 3-bet bluff hands that hit well on non-A flops and you can bluff A high ones.

nowadays everyone calls any pair on Ahigh boards in 3bet pots-at least for one barrel--by bluffing Ahigh flops do you mean bet one time and give up or bet 2streets on dry Ahigh boards?

also interesting that you suggest calling low pps vs.3bets (only ip i guess?) whats your gameplan vs. unknown with that kind of hands?

What's the reasoning behind the AK river bet on the 3flush 888 board? Fold out small pocket pairs and flushes?

nowadays everyone calls any pair on Ahigh boards in 3bet pots-at least for one barrel--by bluffing Ahigh flops do you mean bet one time and give up or bet 2streets on dry Ahigh boards?

also interesting that you suggest calling low pps vs.3bets (only ip i guess?) whats your gameplan vs. unknown with that kind of hands?

The thing is even if they call pocket pairs, you are betting 1/2 pot with your c-bet and getting a great price. They will still fold all their broadways and suited connectors. Also pocket pairs are combinatorically less likely than unpaired hands so they aren't that big a % of most players' ranges.

Time Link to 00:45:53

In the K4dd 3b hand- he cbets with a gs and backdoor draw. Do we fold to a c/r?