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

Thanks...still don't like to play that kind of player though.

Glad to see that goostoffmech sucked out of you also. I played that guy for several hundred hands on FTP and he is all over the board,some times he is major aggro and pushing all in like a maniac other times weak-tight and some times loose-passive. I have not played him for several months, I always figured he would go broke with his style.

i float you

and no... i am not busto... yet

hey,

finally got around to watching this. why only 3 comments!? was DC that small back in the day?

anyway, curious about the 3 barrel w/ Q10d on the K 2d 7d A 10 board. I like the concept of 3 barreling against weaktight players. Not sure, though about this river shove. Basically, we are trying to fold KJ, KQ, JJ and QQ. This seems like a smallish portion of his range (but idk, maybe not). Can you prove mathematically that this riv shove is profitable, even though we're only trying to fold like 4 hands? In addition, it's possible that he will not even fold KJ/KQ, putting u on either a busted draw or pure air repping the ace. Just not certain if this shove is optimal. Thoughts?

I still don't really see the difference between a Loose passive player and a weak tight,
the big difference I see is that you can bluff a weak tight player because they only put money in the pot with the nuts

Well, I see the difference I guess but I don't really know now how to spot a weak tight player compared to a loose passive,
is this purely stats?
But that wouldn't make much sense since you guys said in the beginning that most weak-tights get noticed how they play post flop

So can you say, somebody who is calling you down light is loose passive, and somebody who folds a lot to your c-bets is weak tight?
but how am I going to notice it then when I shouldn't barrel a loose passive player but I should barrel a weak tight?
Do i have to make a barrel mistake so I can spot if my opponent is weak tight or loose passive?
Or do I have to try to go to showdown in the beginning of the session by checking a hand down and see what villian ends up having?

Or is it a lot more easy then that: High went to show down = loose passive
low went to show down = weak tight

wow a lot of questions, sorry :-)

it's not an exact science, and it's all about getting to showdown like we preach. Get to showdown early and often, get the reads, and then adjust.

the loose part of loose passive often refers to preflop, but it can refer to postflop as well.

The wider you see them calling preflop, the more inclined you should be to barrel them postflop as they'll have weaker hands on average. if they call you down, it's ok, just note it and proceed. If they are playing tight postflop and also seem to fold by the river a ton, you can start categorizing them as weak and tight.

We made the categories to not be an exact formula of how to play, but more for the purpose of you having guidelines of adjustments and strategies to beat the players as you gain reads and are able to put them into generalized buckets of different play styles.

Certainly you should always be willing to try things out and see how people react. Start dynamics. Start checkraising a lot, and cbetting a lot and opening lots of buttons and 3betting etc etc and see how people react. We get into that more in pr1nnyraiding 2, but if you have to pick one thing to try to do early in a match, it's get to showdown so you can have solid reads to adjust on further.

WoT

So a loose passive player can be loose passive (calling to wide on the flop and never folds) or weak tight (folding to much) post flop?

So with that we should almost always c-bet against both opponents because with that we find out sooner what kind of opponent we are dealing with + ranges are super wide for calling pre flop that they miss the flop a lot?

Its something you could spot pretty soon I guess? Somebody who is calling to much pre flop but every time just folds post flop is kind of weak tight, but somebody who is calling too much and calling to much post flop is loose passive?

Go to show down a lot, finally a justification for my calling station tendencys! ;-)

we should try to categorize their game plan both pre and post.

he could be weak/tight pre in that he folds a lot but once he does see a flop, he is too loose and plays his hands too passively.

or he could be loose/passive pre (calls a lot, doesnt 3bet much) but is weak tight post and plays fit or fold.

i think in the series (its been a while since we made it lol) we were mostly talking about the categories of players in terms of their postflop game. so when we say loose/passive we mean he peels too light, doesn't checkraise enough for value or bluff etc

i def am a calling station early in a match... both because others tend to be hyper aggro early in a match and also so i know what to expect in later situations. if i constantly check behind bottom pair, call the turn, and then fold the river, i never have any idea a) how thinly he can value bet b) what sort of hands he bluffs the turn with c) what sort of hands he will bluff the turn and river with or d) what hands he is willing to play oop in the first place, e) ... etc etc

the list goes on. the key is to recognize what you're seeing and how it applies to the rest of his ranges. I talk about this concept in a lot of my HU videos.

Time Link to 00:26:30

WiltOnTIlt is dealt AA and lights a cigarette. Classic. (Listen to audio.)

Time Link to 00:45:51

so you are shoving a busted flush draw + you said your not gonna win at showdown

when you talked about an opponent insta potting earlier (i think it was this episode, maybe an earlier one, i took some breaks while watching this) you said it looked like a busted draw.
does jamming not represent the same thing? granted it might look like you have something decent because your risking all your chips, but it also looks like a last act of desperation. maybe this board is diff. because of all the draws and high cards so you could be repping AK or a straight or something, but in general wouldnt this be considered a weak move?
thanks

so you are shoving a busted flush draw + you said your not gonna win at showdown

when you talked about an opponent insta potting earlier (i think it was this episode, maybe an earlier one, i took some breaks while watching this) you said it looked like a busted draw.
does jamming not represent the same thing? granted it might look like you have something decent because your risking all your chips, but it also looks like a last act of desperation. maybe this board is diff. because of all the draws and high cards so you could be repping AK or a straight or something, but in general wouldnt this be considered a weak move?
thanks

the action is likely different. here we can rep an ace or better and definitely get this type of player (the weak/tight) to fold a king.

Krantz, Wilt,

I'm a winning 1/2 NL HU regular (I bumhunt a lot though) and I do well against the calling stations.

But I struggle against (and have spewed into) the following type of nitty opponent:

a) Preflop VPIP from BB 50-75%
b) Doesn't put it down a lot on the flop (say folds 40% of the time)
c) On the flop likes to check and call 2nd pair, top pair, draws, sets and almost never raises which makes it dangerous to two or three barrel them
d) On the flop when I start checking behind more they like to bet the turn say 60% of the time and I think they do this with both made hands and air
e) They like to limp a lot of pots, and when I start raising from the BB too much they tak advantage of me post (calling with a lot of their range, but also never betting or raising their monsters which means I get stacked when I try to three barrel).

How do you beat this type of opponent? They're not your standard weak tight I think.

Krantz, Wilt,

I'm a winning 1/2 NL HU regular (I bumhunt a lot though) and I do well against the calling stations.

But I struggle against (and have spewed into) the following type of nitty opponent:

Doesn't sound like they are nitty... Sounds like they are loose/passive

How do you beat this type of opponent? They're not your standard weak tight I think.

Play tighter preflop and don't try to bluff them postflop.

Krantz,

I don't think they are standard loose passives, some but not all of them also like to make small bets and raises, min 3-bets pre, min limp re-raises and they aren't consistently loose and passive. The unifying theme is when they go all in they have the nuts every time - and I don't mean the nuts by heads-up standards, I mean the stone cold nuts or 2nd nuts minimum.

What I struggle with is they sometimes make these big overbets which I'm pretty sure is the nuts or close to it, I fold and fold and fold and fold, finally in a min raised pot flop comes Q T T with one heart. I have Ah 3h.

He checks, I check. Turn is 7h. He checks, I check (because he only calls when I'm losing). River is 2h. He bets 200 into an 8 pot. I have a bad feeling about it but this is the first time I have a hand, I mean has he been ripping me off all day by making these huge bets in spots where he knows I can't call. This is like the 10th hand in 500 he has done this. So I call and he has QT for the house (by the way is this a bad call?). I mean, this is the nut flush heads up.

Against the same guy later in the match, I raise pre with 55, the flop comes 5 7 9 two tone, he donks, I raise, he min 3-bets, I have a bad feeling he only calls with better, but I 4-bet, he ships, I call and he tables 86.

In the interest of getting better I've played these guys but last two outings resulted in losses of 4 and 3.5 buyins respectively and I'm scratching my head more than ever. Am I really just running that bad or is it that the way they play they'll just cooler me eventually.

Loose passives are the easiest to play. Three barrel top pair and fold when they raise. I have trouble playing them when 1) they run good so it doesn't look like they are loose-passive 2) they are maniacs, win a couple of buy ins and magically turn into loose-passive (and then they run good).

Krantz,

I don't think they are standard loose passives, some but not all of them also like to make small bets and raises, min 3-bets pre, min limp re-raises and they aren't consistently loose and passive. The unifying theme is when they go all in they have the nuts every time - and I don't mean the nuts by heads-up standards, I mean the stone cold nuts or 2nd nuts minimum.

What I struggle with is they sometimes make these big overbets which I'm pretty sure is the nuts or close to it, I fold and fold and fold and fold, finally in a min raised pot flop comes Q T T with one heart. I have Ah 3h.

He checks, I check. Turn is 7h. He checks, I check (because he only calls when I'm losing). River is 2h. He bets 200 into an 8 pot. I have a bad feeling about it but this is the first time I have a hand, I mean has he been ripping me off all day by making these huge bets in spots where he knows I can't call. This is like the 10th hand in 500 he has done this. So I call and he has QT for the house (by the way is this a bad call?). I mean, this is the nut flush heads up.

Against the same guy later in the match, I raise pre with 55, the flop comes 5 7 9 two tone, he donks, I raise, he min 3-bets, I have a bad feeling he only calls with better, but I 4-bet, he ships, I call and he tables 86.

In the interest of getting better I've played these guys but last two outings resulted in losses of 4 and 3.5 buyins respectively and I'm scratching my head more than ever. Am I really just running that bad or is it that the way they play they'll just cooler me eventually.

you can definitely fold those hands against the type of guys you're describing. trust your reads and find the fold button!

Krantz,

Fair enough about the nut flush hand that I can find the fold button.

But with the 9 7 5 hand, if I can't bet, raise and stack off with bottom set on a two tone board, I think it puts me off the rest of my game.

I end up only able to bet flops with top pair or better or air and have to check behind with my 2nd pair hands. Versus my top pair villain still just folds worse, or min-raises his draws and monsters, and never calls with 2nd pair. So if he never calls with 2nd pair - does this mean I should check my made hands and only c-bet my air?

What does this do? I lose value from my made hands, and villain gets to draw against them for free.

If we're reduced to not being able to bet our top pair or bet and raise intending to stack off with bottom set I can't figure out how we can win.

Krantz,

Fair enough about the nut flush hand that I can find the fold button.

But with the 9 7 5 hand, if I can't bet, raise and stack off with bottom set on a two tone board, I think it puts me off the rest of my game.

I end up only able to bet flops with top pair or better or air and have to check behind with my 2nd pair hands. Versus my top pair villain still just folds worse, or min-raises his draws and monsters, and never calls with 2nd pair. So if he never calls with 2nd pair - does this mean I should check my made hands and only c-bet my air?

What does this do? I lose value from my made hands, and villain gets to draw against them for free.

If we're reduced to not being able to bet our top pair or bet and raise intending to stack off with bottom set I can't figure out how we can win.

Just play play play a ton of poker. You'll find that you are just running into variance - I assure you they WILL call with worse.

Just play play play a ton of poker. You'll find that you are just running into variance - I assure you they WILL call with worse.

I think the problem with playing these guys and/or regs is - when they run good, it's hard to know whether that's the case or if we're getting owned, we could be making correct folds but think we're being outplayed, conversely we could be making incorrect calls, lose more, and feel crap about it.

I think the problem with playing these guys and/or regs is - when they run good, it's hard to know whether that's the case or if we're getting owned, we could be making correct folds but think we're being outplayed, conversely we could be making incorrect calls, lose more, and feel crap about it.

I'd also suggest posting your HHs in the strategy forums. Discussing your strategy and these hands with other people who play your stakes and slightly higher is really, really, really helpful.

Time Link to 00:33:40

J9o hand.
On flop you said that his calling range here is: 3x/7x/tx/pp/FDs so you can build the pot for later bluff. Is he a weaktight then? I am begginer in HU, but i'm not a weaktight player. Rather, I would say that I am "not folding" too often but in this spot I fold very easily 3x, 55,66 or even 7x(read depended, but by default vs big bet i fold because i don't want to see three quarters of deck) cuz I am oop and villain makes the pot-size bet. It really looks like protection bet with Tx or better and I think the vast majority of time the weaktight players will think in that way.

p.s.
sorry for my english ; p

J9o hand.
On flop you said that his calling range here is: 3x/7x/tx/pp/FDs so you can build the pot for later bluff. Is he a weaktight then? I am begginer in HU, but i'm not a weaktight player. Rather, I would say that I am "not folding" too often but in this spot I fold very easily 3x, 55,66 or even 7x(read depended, but by default vs big bet i fold because i don't want to see three quarters of deck) cuz I am oop and villain makes the pot-size bet. It really looks like protection bet with Tx or better and I think the vast majority of time the weaktight players will think in that way.

p.s.
sorry for my english ; p

The guys screen name is WhiteyTighty:-)

it's a spot where you probably shouldn't bet the turn without following up on the river vs most people. I think esp on that turn card, it brings more pair+gutter, pair+ flush draw, bare top pair, etc so there should be plenty of his turn calling range that can also fold the river.

Time Link to 00:10:44

HAHAHAAHAAHA!!!! Krantz has to be soooo high during this video.