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

Wilt on tilt, will you change your coache at one point?

Everybody loves your videos, but this guy is not progressing after premium coaching for over a year, this makes the videos pretty boring since there's nothing going forward.. its all stagnant.

about 22 min in, the kq hand where the fish min three bets. I agree w/ WoT's analysis here. I've been noticing a trend in these stakes games where some fish are tending to min rr medium pairs (77, 88, etc) and normal rr big pairs. Not sure if everyone else sees that, but I've seen that a ton lately in spots where I've gotten to showdown. Yes, we still see only premiums from some fish when they rr, but I think its fish dependent.

Wilt on tilt, will you change your coache at one point?

Everybody loves your videos, but this guy is not progressing after premium coaching for over a year, this makes the videos pretty boring since there's nothing going forward.. its all stagnant.

Totally disagree. I believe Alex's pace of progress are extremely common amongst the overwhelming majority of poker players. Hearing the right play in a three bet pot in a specific situation once from a good player may be enough to change your behavior for the next time you're in that or a similar situation, but in my experience most players need to hear these things again and again before it sinks through. This is partly why you see the same players post in the micro and small stakes forums year in and year out.

Most players' progress is very slow and therefore I think this series is very true to life.

Totally disagree. I believe Alex's pace of progress are extremely common amongst the overwhelming majority of poker players. Hearing the right play in a three bet pot in a specific situation once from a good player may be enough to change your behavior for the next time you're in that or a similar situation, but in my experience most players need to hear these things again and again before it sinks through. This is partly why you see the same players post in the micro and small stakes forums year in and year out.

Most players' progress is very slow and therefore I think this series is very true to life.

I completely agree. After all we do not need to be Hollywood here.

Totally disagree. I believe Alex's pace of progress are extremely common amongst the overwhelming majority of poker players. Hearing the right play in a three bet pot in a specific situation once from a good player may be enough to change your behavior for the next time you're in that or a similar situation, but in my experience most players need to hear these things again and again before it sinks through. This is partly why you see the same players post in the micro and small stakes forums year in and year out.

Most players' progress is very slow and therefore I think this series is very true to life.

I disagree with you. From now, if it wasen't for the deal he had for this series, he would have paid thousands of dollars for coaching from a really competent coach. According to PTR, he is almost breakeven at NL100 and a really really slight winner at NL200.

I don't think his coach is the problem do you?

Totally disagree. I believe Alex's pace of progress are extremely common amongst the overwhelming majority of poker players. Hearing the right play in a three bet pot in a specific situation once from a good player may be enough to change your behavior for the next time you're in that or a similar situation, but in my experience most players need to hear these things again and again before it sinks through. This is partly why you see the same players post in the micro and small stakes forums year in and year out.

Most players' progress is very slow and therefore I think this series is very true to life.

This is exactly why there's about 500 videos preceding this one with the same info, that these players who take many years to learn can watch over and over.

Would be fun not to waste the best coaches potential, and get some more advanced stuff from them.

If i remember right, the first season, the plan was that second season would be midstakes or highstakes.. this is still almost micro nl

This is exactly why there's about 500 videos preceding this one with the same info, that these players who take many years to learn can watch over and over.

Would be fun not to waste the best coaches potential, and get some more advanced stuff from them.

If i remember right, the first season, the plan was that second season would be midstakes or highstakes.. this is still almost micro nl

Perhaps this is more what you're looking for

Perhaps this is more what you're looking for

Good point but I agree with Sankar in as far as there are lots of other coaches who could be making videos teaching WhiteHeatSyd how to win at 100NL, whilst WoT, one of the best coaches on the site could be fulfilling his video-making potential.

btw, just want to add: nothing against Alex personally. You seems like a nice guy & everything.

Fudge you guys, I love this series and picking a struggling player is a great choice.

Cut him some slack for gods sake, the guy went pro just a couple of months ago, its obviously not easy to find your rhytm. And that he doesn't play high stakes? so what, he lives his dream and gives it his best.

This series is why I got DC subscription and I watch it more for the story and Alex's and WoT's progress as a coach than a bunch of spots... There are are many better vids for that and maybe even coaching sites (Go watch Phil Galfond on his site if you want proper high stakes action and deep analysis)


P.S. Why did we have to wait so long, do you guys explain it in the ep?
This and Thin Red line is why I refresh DC 10 times per day

With the QQ am I way off base thinking that the turn and river are both check folds?

According to Alex' stats he doesn't 3 bet super wide, so I doubt too many people are goofing around on A high boards with many floats against him. I think the vast majority of the hands that villain will show up with are Ax, flush draws and pocket pairs. If we bet the turn we never fold out better, and we only get called by Ax, 99 and flush draws. There's probably twice as many Ax combos in villains range than flush draws and even then the flush draws are going to get there 20% of the time if we check call.

I know it might sound weak tight, and it may be I don't know, but I don't see how betting can be good and I think the hand will be really difficult to play profitably if we check call. If we have a read on the villain that he defends 3 bets really light in position and floats a lot etc then it changes things but without reads I think it's going to be extremely difficult to take a check call line and as I said I don't see too much value in betting.

Is WhiteHeatSyd god's gift to poker?

No!

Are you?

Am I?

Is WhiteHeatSyd dedicating himself to be the best poker pro he can be?

100% YES!!!

Did he get lucky to be chosen for this ongoing project?

Definitely YES!

Are you jealous?

It seems a bit like it to be honest.

Are you jealous?

It seems a bit like it to be honest.

Oh please. This is not 2p2.

People made some valid points which should be open for discussion. That's all.

I think everybody here wishes Alex great success in his poker career.

I think anyone who moans about this video series doesnt understand that probably the majority of DC members are not crushing games like this, and that this video series is probably exactly what most of us are looking for.

I don't think it's jealousy, but more a level of expectation that is not necessarily realistic, added with the perceived "excitement" of watching someone move up the stakes.

But this series is a Real Life series, and for a lot of serious players (I would say the majority, but I don't have anything to back this up beyond being a realist), Alex's progress is going to be very typical, and finding different ways of dealing with these difficulties is much more useful than sitting on the sidelines watching some lucky DC member reach mid-stakes after running like Jesus. In fact, what with all the "I run so bad" posts, this series might turn out to be more useful than DC expected (I'm sure WoT didn't think he'd still be doing coaching 100NL, but there is still a lot of value if they look into the reasons why).

One thing we can be sure of, Alex is putting in a lot of effort. Using PTR as a way of measuring success is both incredibly results-oriented, and misses the big picture. You must realise Alex plays on sites other than Full Tilt, and that he had enough success that he gave up a paying 9-5 to pursue life as a pro player.

Most players' progress is very slow and therefore I think this series is very true to life.

+1. I like this series exactly for this reason. Alex is a lot like us regular people, who have jobs and love cards. So, it's nice to see the reality of trying jump over to the professional life. I'm sure it's a lot of work, and a lot of second guessing yourself. Alex had a job as a banker, and I'm sure there was a lot of potential there, just as the rest of us have I'm sure. But he's taking the plunge and it's good to see that while it's not all glitz and glamor it can be accomplished through hard work and dedication.

Keep on keepin' on Alex.

I disagree with you. From now, if it wasen't for the deal he had for this series, he would have paid thousands of dollars for coaching from a really competent coach. According to PTR, he is almost breakeven at NL100 and a really really slight winner at NL200.

I don't think his coach is the problem do you?

I want to hear someone who is confused from time to time. I tend to learn better when the student doesn't know everything. I wouldn't give much merit to ssankaraa'a words. Its not constructive and who is he anyways?

I completely disagree with those saying WoT is not fulfilling his coaching potential here. There's quite a bit of good analysis in this vid that should be useful to NL players at all stakes. It'd be great of everyone could just shoot straight up the ladder to 500/1kNL, but that's definitely not the reality for most people. Alex is also a great student that asks the right questions. Poker can be very swingy, even for the best players. It also says a lot about his character that he continues to persevere with the entire DC community watching over his shoulder--not an easy thing to do, imo.

That said, yes Sugar Nut, I'm insanely jealous.

Really dissapointing all of these comments dissing Alex that's not cool guys.A fairy tale story is boring, a story where someone overcomes adversity and still makes it is what makes a good story.Someone said "this is not 2+2"
from the tone of these comments I was almost expecting a post from Mason on this page somewhere. Encourage the guy if he really wants it he will make it.

+1 for keeping the lineup.
i really like the fact that alex doesnt seem to be the most talented person in the world when it comes to poker and just jumping up the stakes in a heartbeat. its more like what u can achieve when u put in a lot of work into your game and what it takes for the more "normal" guy to be a succesful player and make a living from playing.
plus there are quite a few videos with two great pokerminds sharing their thoughts,so this is something different and u really keep track of the progress.
gl alex
and btw...ofc im jealous ;-)

With the QQ am I way off base thinking that the turn and river are both check folds?

According to Alex' stats he doesn't 3 bet super wide, so I doubt too many people are goofing around on A high boards with many floats against him. I think the vast majority of the hands that villain will show up with are Ax, flush draws and pocket pairs. If we bet the turn we never fold out better, and we only get called by Ax, 99 and flush draws.

This is my own thoughts, everyone weigh in, I am not suggesting I am right, just my thoughts. It is really weak to just check fold the turn I think. I would float you all day if you are going to lay down that easily. Your just simply ahead of his range. I thought the river was a clear fold until i started thinking about it. Wouldn't almost everyone shove any ace on the turn? I think his opponent prob should shove a 9 on river, but i don't see much of that at 100nl, i would see a small bet a lot here. I think at this level a shove would in fact be a bluff a ton. At a higher level, someone might shove even a flush, it potentially could be a good play. People at this level just say there isn't anything that can call me. So I would expect an ace to shove turn, and almost everything else would be turning a made hand into a bluff. I would argue your hand looks like what it is. I think its very clear you don't have an ace, and they would just think you can't call. Most people are going to check down tt jj, Kx. Even thought those hands are almost never good here. I think a random 22-88 would bluff the river. I think I would call a river shove alot, so few value hands. Wiltontilt, is that just bad thinking? Or should I just be playing more fit or fold in random 100nl games?

Oh please. This is not 2p2.

People made some valid points which should be open for discussion. That's all.

I think everybody here wishes Alex great success in his poker career.

x2 Just WOW at the post you quoted..

But this series is a Real Life series, and for a lot of serious players ... Alex's progress is going to be very typical, and finding different ways of dealing with these difficulties is much more useful than sitting on the sidelines watching some lucky DC member reach mid-stakes after running like Jesus.
...
One thing we can be sure of, Alex is putting in a lot of effort.

+1

SSankarAA - You know how to generate discussion!

I'm with the Alex camp. This is a great series BECAUSE of the challenges that he's facing. Grinding out a living is a challenge at whatever stakes. I'm sure Alex has more skill / knowledge than many of us, but so far, it looks as though he hasn't learned to apply those skills to a point hwere he is consistently growing his b/r.

I'm sure most of us have let days worth of progress disappear in one or two tilty sessions - The Pro. mentality is what needs to be developed so that this stops happening. It doesn't matter whether he's playing $100NL or higher - there is no hope if tilt is still part of his game.

One of the salient points that has come out of this Pro series is how hard it is to make progress. Alex needs to find that sweet spot between when to push and when to back off (bet/fold or chk/fold). When/if he gets there it may be one of those Eureka! moments that he can share with us so (having followed him this far) we may all benefit from the journey and be able to apply the learnings to our own game.

I agree with an earlier post that following someone who finds each level a breeze is probably not going to help us much (just jump onto higher stakes vids if you want to know how to play those stakes).

Wilt (btw- well done on your first pay-cheque at the Aussie Millions!), I've only watched the first 20 mins so far but I like the idea of heads up play to help Alex focus on hand reading an OOP play... BUT he'll need to be careful when he comes back to 6 Max so that he realises that there is MUCH LESS bluffing / thin value invlolved when transitioning from 1 to 5 players!

Finally, Alex - are you entered in any of the Aussie Millions tourneys?

Hi guys, I have been a good friend of Alex's for some time now. I live not far away and I talk and I sweat him regularly, almost daily.

I thought I would just put out there that he also plays 2 other sites of which he is doing really well, not just full tilt poker.

Yes Alex has moments like us all where he plays like shit, and yes he also runs really bad too. Seriously, I had to speak with a performance coach about staying positive after seeing him make +++++++EV decisions all day and finish 1.5k down the toilet, it fk me up. NO JOKE.

Alex is not doing it easy by any means and sometimes he sucks but saying that he is definitely holding his own for sure, I should also mention he is paying the bills as this is his full time thing.

I think the guy can also be a major pain in the ass to. cant we all??

But he is very lovable for an Englishman. lol.

All in All he places himself in spots to get coaching at the best rates, that's right he entered a competition and gave himself the best chance to win it and did. He reads tones of material and networks profusely. My hat off to him, he is showing a tone of heart and dedication with only a touch of positive return atm.

Isn't that all we can ask from a fellow wanna bee.

Lets all support each other.

I don't think it's jealousy, but more a level of expectation that is not necessarily realistic, added with the perceived "excitement" of watching someone move up the stakes.

But this series is a Real Life series, and for a lot of serious players (I would say the majority, but I don't have anything to back this up beyond being a realist), Alex's progress is going to be very typical, and finding different ways of dealing with these difficulties is much more useful than sitting on the sidelines watching some lucky DC member reach mid-stakes after running like Jesus. In fact, what with all the "I run so bad" posts, this series might turn out to be more useful than DC expected (I'm sure WoT didn't think he'd still be doing coaching 100NL, but there is still a lot of value if they look into the reasons why).

One thing we can be sure of, Alex is putting in a lot of effort. Using PTR as a way of measuring success is both incredibly results-oriented, and misses the big picture. You must realise Alex plays on sites other than Full Tilt, and that he had enough success that he gave up a paying 9-5 to pursue life as a pro player.

In his blog he talks about getting jobs because of his lack of sucess after over a year.

I'm new here, and I don't know whiteheat at all. This guy puts thousands of hands in a video for us to watch. He gets a lot out of it, but so do we. And we are the reason the series exists, not him. He gets his plays where he spaces or tilts or just gets back from taking a leak and isn't perfectly focused shown in videos. I'm sure that everyone posting in this thread has at least 10 horrendously terrible hands they played. If you're one of the ones who thinks whiteheat's play doesn't warrant videos, post some of your worst played hands for us all to see. If anyone does, I'll post mine. If I can narrow down 10.

And finally, everybody loves a success story, but success stories are not all that common. Perhaps the fact that coaching doesn't guarantee money to roll in is a lesson some would rather not learn. I doubt there is 1% of poker players winning at this game long term. That includes DC - although probably more than 1% of DC members are good.

And I don't know about you, but I would rather a video with plenty of spots to improve or bring up points than an hour of a coach saying nice hand.



Also, I'm jealous of anyone getting quality coaching.

In his blog he talks about getting jobs because of his lack of sucess after over a year.

WTF are you talking about? He only left his job at the end of October. What kind of gorilla math are you using to come up with lack of success for over a year? He has only been playing poker full-time for not even 3 months yet.

3 months that's correct and because he wants to make it work so much the guy dribbles bullshit like I need to get a job to pay the bills when really he doesnt need to at all, he just freaks out from time to time because lets face he is playing for his living also his in the spotlight a little too which doesn't help imo.

He is doing fine and he may suffer on the occasional week, lol, but the guy will pull through and teach us all that faith, hard work and running good will work for us all lonnnnnnnnnnng term.

cheers big ears

i like HU training for 3b pot and oop practice, for translation to 6 max, ill play a bit in anticipation of the new vid. kool. tnx dudes

Nobody here is 'dissing' Alex. What I meant by saying 'this is not 2p2' was that we shouldn't have this sort of fanboy v hater culture here, i.e someone says something critical and immediately someone else thinks he has to denounce that opionion by calling him jealous or something.

This is something I have noticed in discussions of other videos as well.

i like HU training for 3b pot and oop practice, for translation to 6 max, ill play a bit in anticipation of the new vid. kool. tnx dudes

Sign me up as well. HU has always seemed interesting but somewhat intimidating. As i imagine is the case for many ssnl players. But getting out of the comfort zone is definitely the best way to learn so im looking forward to it!

The rest of the drama is just irrelevant to the topic. Putting in the effort is what its all about. Nothing else matters.

This series is great torture and pleasure for us other struggling players who put in a lot of study and work to become better players but are not seeing the results. On the other hand I hate this series and everyone involved in it, on the other hand I love it, lol.

I have a very structured study and play schedule, especially since April/May, I constantly study Baluga's book, Tri's NL Workbook, GC stuff, and lately Improva's audio files, mostly these, then I like bobbofitos and aejones. My PTR graph goes sideways since May. 13k hands in January, I was up $500 up until yesterday at 200nl, then down $500 in one day in 100nl. 10 consecutive months I've had uneventful grinding upward movement, then 1 day down $500-$1,200. Every month a day when everything gets cracked. Not a single day where things are reversed. Not a single month when that one day doesn't come. Because it has so far for 10 months, as sure as turnin' of the earth...

Lately I don't know if I'm coming or going. I fixed my tilt issues in May and have tilted only twice since then when getting frustrated to break-even stretches, but no money lost due to tilt, luckily.

To sum it up, say I call in BB vs LP laggy weak/wide range opener who cbets a ton, with 67s because my strategy is to c/r a lot of flops with some piece of equity. Well, if I have spades, flop is full of hearts and nasty overcards. Ok, let's call with low PP, strategy is to hope for 1 high card 2 low cards flops, call flop, turn check check, hope for cheap SD, if villain doesn't accommodate, c/r river ---this is what slowhabit teaches. Well, I have 44, flop comes AQ7r or T9T without fail.

What I'm try to say I guess is Alex can play poker till he's 65 and there is no statistical guarantee things will get better. I assume that is why Chaostracize packed it in, and he could read hands like no other.

I understand why SSankarAA is frustrated, I am too, and I'm baffled too, Alex comes from a financial background, so do I, I used to trade bonds and fx for 2 major hedge funds, did some risk stuff too, did ok, AND I CAN'T SEEM TO CRACK THIS FRIGGIN' STUPID GAME!!!!!

:-)

Plowing on...

Alex im not saying this as an insult. But have u ever considered grinding FR? I started and its more of an hourly grind w/ alot less variance and u can get alot more perks as far as rakeback or FPPs. Given you are a pro now I think u could put in alot of time and make alot in rakeabck and would help alot w/ your tilt problems given less variance.Also what i do so im not just botting it up is every other day put in a 4 tabling 6 max session for maybe a half hour. I noticed a few changes in my game from this. Since 6 max isnt the only game i play now i dont feel as if i have to win so i end up making better choices. I dont go for the hero bluff shove or thin call down. I just play for a half hour and if i end up or down its all the same as long as i was thinking about hte game well.

U mean you are a poker pro not only an online 6 max pro.

To sum it up, say I call in BB vs LP laggy weak/wide range opener who cbets a ton, with 67s because my strategy is to c/r a lot of flops with some piece of equity.

Sounds like a bad strategy to me.

But have u ever considered grinding FR?

Sounds like bad advice to me. He should improve now that he still can, not lay back and die.

So many posts, so little actual discussion about poker.

I give props to Alex for subjecting himself to the scrutiny of people who, unlike him, can hide behind their anonymity and don't have to back up what they are saying with their own results.

Personally, I love the series and think both Alex and Aaron are doing a great job with it.

I guess they are both at the Aussie Millions right now. Maybe some live and interactive coaching ala 2M2MM bootcamp will help Alex make the breakthrough. Lockdown coaching, IMO!

LOCK DOWN!

*Once one person says it dont we all have to say it?*

Hey Guys/Gals,

I have been thinking about this thread a lot, and what has been said. I think that everyone is entitled to an opinon and have views. Maybe the OP could of said it in a different way....I am not sure. I really appreciate the support that I recieved in this thread. Wether I am a winning player on FTP on PTR is kind of not relevent. As I was able to build a bankroll over a number of different sites to be rolled to play full time. I think this is an achievement in itself. But this is a very small part of what the series is trying to achieve. The series isn't really about how well (or badly) I do, it is not about me. It is all about giving the best poker content to the low stakes guys/gals. I have never hidden from anything, as it has always been about giving a true reflection of what it is 'grind' poker out and deal with variance, tilt, downswings and upswings. It is all about asking the right questions, delivering the best content, and helping everyone improve.

I <3 DC!!!!

the reality is 98% of all pokerplayers arent uber big up high stake ballers, that makes this series even better, bigger lesson to learn to see someone win, lose and trying to recuparate from that instead of seeing someone constantly crushing all the limits.

I tried to think of something sensible to say but basically it boils down to I love this series too. I felt a couple of the comments made in this thread were effectively kicking someone when they were already down and probably unhelpful. The previous series were recommended to me and were the first vids I watched and I like to see how the journey is progressing.

I've been playing poker for 3 years now and don't crush 10nl but I pay my money here, same as the uber-ballers and seeing someone essentially fighting the same fight, albeit with bigger weapons is great.

Alex, you're very clear speaking, nice to listen to and watch and Wilt is fab and as you can never please all of the people, all of the time, keep going and hang in there.

the student in question always tries to play me HU. let's just say that my winrate is way better than his...

the student in question always tries to play me HU. let's just say that my winrate is way better than his...

What does that tell us?

WTF are you talking about? He only left his job at the end of October. What kind of gorilla math are you using to come up with lack of success for over a year? He has only been playing poker full-time for not even 3 months yet.

lol gorilla math

Looking at it in a broad sense, the cool, differentiating thing about this series is not that it's a zero to hero story about a part time home game player gone Railheaven, it's that "real life" part of the title. It's an accurate representation of what it is like to try and make it in the poker world. Granted, Alex has had some advantages over most of the rest of us by getting coached by Aaron, but that is not a guarantee that he's going to be part of the next generation of HSNL players.

Anyway, it's not scripted, and if it deals with struggles, then that's definitely material that will benefit 99.9% of us at some point in our poker lives.

Edit: Btw, I didn't find Sugar Nut's reply BBV-ish. Perhaps that's because I am definitely jealous.

Hello Alex,

There will always be flamers. Personally i think you have quite some guts to
A: go pro
B: let your caoching vids be published.

I really hope you will do better soon @ the tables... I do love this series for several reasons. The two main reasons i think are nice voices to listen too, PLUS i am WOT addict^^


GL Alex!

But he is very lovable for an Englishman. lol.

As a fellow Aussie I LOL'ed. You're too polite though!