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

WMV still in production and will be posted once it's done. Sorry for the inconvenience.
-Rusty

Really looking forward for this. Balugawhale on micros gonna be awesome

sweet voice

Time Link to 00:09:40

We 3bet the A6o oop and now we are cbetting a Q9x flushdraw board.

Don't you think there is more merit in just c/folding than in cbetting?
Basically his whole range for calling a 3bet in position has hit this board.

SC stuff has a pair with the 9 or a flushdraw or at least a gutshot and isn't folding, most broadways have hit a pair or at a gutshot and AK is probably not folding with 2 overcards.
So the only hands we might fold him off are AT/AJ (without a flushdraw) and small pocket pairs.

So he isn't folding to a cbet that often (prolly not often enough to make it profitable) and if we get called we are oop with a crappy hand.

We might still have the best hand when called but we never get our A high to showdown and be good, cause he will stab with something like his KJ if he doesn't hit either on the turn or the river a good percentage of the time.
And our outs aren't that great, cause he might have better Ax in his range plus the A of spades sucks (the only way a 6 might help us is if he has AK, we turn or river the 6 and he checks it down).

And barreling such a board on 50NL in a 3bet pot isn't going to be profitable.

Time Link to 00:14:34

very good concept coming there!

Many players are just in the mood to "fold and wait for a better spot" against a fish, especially on small and micro stakes.
They don't want to push the smaller edges and risk to get the fish stacked by someone else.
Very good picture to have in your mind with the timer.

Time Link to 00:28:19

Hot voice.

Big fan of your work baluga. Great thought process and a good way of formulating your info!

a lot of guys luvvin' your voice Baluga!!

nice work guys, I love baluga videos, long live baluga!

Time Link to 00:26:00

I would 3bet bigger with the ATo, cause we are oop and our plan is to 3bet, get called a lot and then fold him out with a cbet/get value if we hit and this plan earns us more money if we make it 5,50$ pre, cause we can collect more dead money postflop now and it's easier to get money in if we valuebet.

Time Link to 00:26:36

same here.
you shouldn't just always hit pot, kristy.
especially not when he is minraising.
he is getting a very good price on calling in position and with us just 3betting to 6BB the stack to pot ratio isn't that small as it is normally in 3bet pots so his positional advantage is bigger.

Time Link to 00:29:30

now you are talking about c/folding in a 3bet pot, nice

but I think this is a much better spot to cbet then on the Q9x flushdraw board before where you just didn't talk a word about it.

Time Link to 00:33:47

I think I'd rather bomb the flop and not bet 3/4 and then bomb the turn, cause of 3 reasons.
1. people are more likely to call flop cbets than 2 barrels
2. a little bit bigger flop bet leads to a much bigger river bet
3. he is a fish and doesn't think about betsizing, so we can make it as big as possible

Think of that:
Pot is 5$.
- We bet 3,5$, he calls, potsize on the turn: 11$, now we bet 11$, potsize on the river: 33$, now we can bet like 30$ and have a pot of 93$ if he calls.
- We bet 5$ on the flop, potsize on the turn: 15$, we bet 14$, potsize on the river: 43, now we can bet 40$ and have a pot of 123$.
So we lose roughly 30BB of value if he calls us down with whatever he has, just because we bet 3BB less on the flop

Great video as always.

In the 99 hand when we were donked on Qxx, you said you would check the turn if we didnt spike our set. How would you play the river if he bets into us? I assume you know how you are going to play since you said you can play "perfect"

The last hand with K9dd on 553 which wasnt discussed, how much do you think is a good betsize on the river with the flush? Starting with 100BB I would usually overbet jam here, but since we are deep I have no clue.

Anyone locate the WMV file for this? The work computer hates anything but WMV's

Anyone locate the WMV file for this? The work computer hates anything but WMV's

Read the 1st post in the thread!

Great video as always.

In the 99 hand when we were donked on Qxx, you said you would check the turn if we didnt spike our set. How would you play the river if he bets into us? I assume you know how you are going to play since you said you can play "perfect"

The last hand with K9dd on 553 which wasnt discussed, how much do you think is a good betsize on the river with the flush? Starting with 100BB I would usually overbet jam here, but since we are deep I have no clue.

Please leave a time-stamp or better yet, Watch this short video, and leave a time link!

That will be much easier for the coaches to find the hand and answer your questions, thanks.

Time Link to 00:42:41

We get donked into on Q86r with 99, and you said you raise for value, but also because you can play perfectly on the rest of the streets.
Are you basically valuebetting on the turn if you don't get overcarded? Wouldn't you put him on a Queen if he calls your raise? How about the river?
I often have trouble when people donk and call my raise. I find it hard to put people on ranges, because everyone's donking range seems very unique.

Time Link to 01:03:09

The last hand with K9dd on 553 which wasnt discussed, how much do you think is a good betsize on the river with the flush?
Starting with 100BB I would usually overbet jam here, but since we are deep I have no clue.

Please leave a time-stamp or better yet, Watch this short video, and leave a time link!

That will be much easier for the coaches to find the hand and answer your questions, thanks.

Thank you. I am obviously new here, so please forgive me about my ignorance.
Now you have to teach me how to delete my first post and this one, since it looks like I've messed this thread a bit...

great video, I can always learn something new from listening to BalugaWhale talk.

Kristy has defintely been taught by BW in that she raises like K5s from the CO and iso raise button limp in blinds with Axo etc. Those type of plays I've only seen from coaching videos but haven't heard any coach recommend to microstake players. Do you guys think its profitable to make these kind of plays as a beginner?

Time Link to 00:35:49

In this ATo hand we had just reraised somniac in the previous hand btn vs co and he folded. Does this make you more or less likely to 3bet ATo now?

Great vid so far. You can really tell Kristy is getting coached by Baluga just by looking at her preflop stats

i think for beginner plays tag oop and lag ip
but baluga have the best videos, nice to see and learn a lot

3min 38 sec---- When do we know we have good fold equity?
can't hear the third reason, the one that talks about the pot and baluga answers: That's a big one.

Any one, what is it?

Wait! What's "relative hand value vs actual hand value?"

Wait! What's "relative hand value vs actual hand value?"

That would have been my second question.

Wait! What's "relative hand value vs actual hand value?"

this is a slight misspeak-- kristy meant relative hand value vs absolute hand value

I.E. the highest full house is good, and very close to the nuts (absolute value), but if the guy only reshoves the river with quads, its not very good (relative hand value)

Andrew

3min 38 sec---- When do we know we have good fold equity?
can't hear the third reason, the one that talks about the pot and baluga answers: That's a big one.

Any one, what is it?

i think its "number of people in the pot" but i haven't checked it out yet.

Andrew

Love the video.

great video, I can always learn something new from listening to BalugaWhale talk.

Kristy has defintely been taught by BW in that she raises like K5s from the CO and iso raise button limp in blinds with Axo etc. Those type of plays I've only seen from coaching videos but haven't heard any coach recommend to microstake players. Do you guys think its profitable to make these kind of plays as a beginner?

I think they're profitable provided that you follow the simple postflop rules of playing against passive players.

Andrew

This was possibly the best microstakes video i've ever seen. The concepts boiled down very simply, and having Kristy explain her thought processes as recently taught to her by baluga was extremely helpful.

I think i've been overthinking micro stakes so this video will help my game a ton. Can't wait to watch the rest.

Steve,

Excellent vids! Could you review the "Process" you refer to here. Better yet, Kristie, what is the "process" you now use at these points...

Thanks for the insight.

site is doing some weird stuff, won't let me comment from timeline so
at 21:19 as referenced above:

Steve,

Excellent vids! Could you review the "Process" you refer to here. Better yet, Kristie, what is the "process" you now use at these points...

Thanks for the insight.

Cool. Excited for this series.

very excited about these series. Hope it can go as a coaching Tree, pls go to SSNL-MSNL as well

sometimes i wish there was a third season of Coaching Tree. Cmon! tuba, Andrew!

anyways thx for vid

nice vid

Great video, really interesting and informative. A couple of times "the process" to go through is mentioned by both Kirsty and BalugaWhale without it every being fully explained, would it be possible to get a quick explanation?

great vid!!! are there any vids with the same style for the micros that you would recommend watching?

great vid!!! are there any vids with the same style for the micros that you would recommend watching?

The Coaching Tree

great video, good to have Balugawhale doing another series. I really liked the very end of the video where Kristy explains actually doing/applying what we have learned and how hard it really is.

Great video, really interesting and informative. A couple of times "the process" to go through is mentioned by both Kirsty and BalugaWhale without it every being fully explained, would it be possible to get a quick explanation?

^^^ This!

^^^ This!

sorry for the delays, on route to thailand right now

process when facing a bet or raise
1) passive or aggressive?
2) value betting or bluffing?
3) value hands worse vs value hands better, count up total bluff hands

process when deciding whether or not to bet or raise:
1) am I value betting or bluffing?
2) if value betting, which worse hands call or raise?
3) if bluffing, do I have PE + FE?


kinda sums it up

Andrew

My most favorite Baluga video to date. Andrew's explanations seem to be simplified more in this video than previous videos. This is like MS Grinder revisited. Looking forward to future episodes.

HEY Everyone! Kristy here. I'm so nervous/excited for everyone to watch this series! I haven't had a chance to rewatch it or go over everyone's comments yet, but I'm definitely going to do that later tonight. I just wanted to let everyone know I posted a blog about this just now!
http://www.deucescracked.com/blogs/snaptress/18541-And-It-Begins-

Time Link to 00:32:59

I was going to watch the whole thing and ask some questions..and I probably will ask a few more but I stopped here because I was laughing so hard at Baluga's perception of playing poker for the first time haha! Ooo I've got an Acee and Jackk..that's pretty damn goooddd....ill raise it up...oh he raisess...result! I'm all in! oh he has two Kings...I'm still winning right?

Anyway the question haha...going back to the JJ hand earlier when Kristy bets the flop and turn for the value which is obviously perfect...but when the K comes off on the river are you 100% comfortable betting for value? I'm like...shit...I'll check and hope he checks...if he bets I might call a small bet...and I forget the board as I type but I'm thinking what is he actually going to call with here apart from a King..and there might have been two 10s on the board? I forget..but you get my point..

Great vid so far btw! Always great to see Baluga micro vids...and Kristy seems to have nailed the fundamentals after the coaching..

I'll continue watching

HEY Everyone! Kristy here. I'm so nervous/excited for everyone to watch this series! I haven't had a chance to rewatch it or go over everyone's comments yet, but I'm definitely going to do that later tonight. I just wanted to let everyone know I posted a blog about this just now!
http://www.deucescracked.com/blogs/snaptress/18541-And-It-Begins-

Welcome to DC Snaptress! It's always a lot easier for the Coach so good luck refining "the process" at the tables.

awesome vid baluga

Just finished second watching, very very good.

It`s going to be interesting to see how the "PROCESS" works in upper limits.
Also transation from micro to small stakes is something I really look forward to see.

Cant wait, lol...

this is top notch, b & k. a pic of dallas the dog would be great, though.

This video was hugely beneficial. I hope Baluga continues to ask Kristy the reasons why she did something, and also continues to ask her to define integral concepts e.g. what value betting means and how it relates to her c-betting..


thanks a ton; I'm super stoked for the next video.

Time Link to 00:54:59

In the 77 hand, when the villain 3bet vs a minraise and we cold called, then he checked on AK4, isn't it worth a bet a lot of the time? IMO it seems like he would be playing air a lot more than he would be playing monsters this way. Plus our cold call pre IP looks suspicious to him.

It just seems like I've seen tons of check-folds from villains in this spot, especially given that he only potted the minraise for $3.75 total (correct?) rather than raising higher for value.

such an awesome video. look forward to more.

With the 77 on the bottom right, why is it bad to flat Pre flop? I would call there and maybe this is a leak. Going by the 10-20 rule, we are getting 1-10 or better to set mine. When would we call Pre with pockets and when do we fold? I assume is has to do with the amount of people in the hand?

Thnx for this great video. I learned a lot from it. It looks like balugawhale is a great coach!
I'm looking forward for the next vid.

Good Luck!

This video is awesome! - Good Stuff here!

Fantastic Vid! Looking forward to the rest of the series!

Really loved this vid- Kristy, you're a great student, and BW does an awesome job of prompting you to think/talk through "the process" and you verbalize everything very well. I'm kind of glad you made new videos AFTER having lessons, as Kristy is likely a much more active participant in explaining her logic behind each play.

One nit-picky critique I have for future vids if they are not already recorded would be having Baluga in charge of the video-this is nothing against Kristy at all, (you obv know how to work the replayer) but simply because BW leads the "conversation," the video would run more smoothly if he was the one pausing/rewinding as needed rather than telling Kristy "stop the tape/rewind to this/that." There was at least one instance toward the end of the vid where you discussed 2 hands that had just occurred on different tables without replaying them during/before your discussion. Since I'm a visual learner, I needed to manually rewind the vid, then FF to the audio for each street to really process the great info in your conversation.

So if possible, if 2 hands that deserve a comment happen simultaneously, after reviewing the first, be sure to return to the second hand and replay it before/while discussing it.

Thanks for all your hard work! This is building up to be an epic series!

I've probably watched this video like 6 or 7 times now. It keeps me totally focused on the fundamentals so i can finally beat these damn micros and move up.

Great video. Really like the progression with the thought process of a new player. The most important concept used is actually not a poker one. It is the concept that you need to think through every decision. It is by far the most difficult thing for new players to grasp and experienced players to maintain during tough sessions.

Again, Great Video!!!!

Good video.

I love the "keeping their heads up" line, I've never heard it given a name before

Time Link to 00:53:47

Great video.

Here at this point w/ the 77 hand, Baluga is explaining something about "when we are more comfortable knowing the min-raiser is coming along its less bad, but if we don't..." and then he stops and discusses the flop action. I am curious to the rest of the explanation preflop.

Andrew,

When analyzing the hand at the 46:00 mark, where Kristy essentially shoves with second pair + nfd, you mention that we want to get to showdown when it's unlikely that our hand is going to get outdrawn on. We are in position here so we can check back and see a free card and do that. How about spots where we are OOP? I know we wouldn't be calling a 3b OOP with this hand etc, but how about spots where you have a hand that has showdown value, you are OOP and it is unlikely you will get outdrawn? I struggle with turn spots like this when I'm OOP with similar hands.

Time Link to 00:33:31

hey Baluga! the process you are talking about, can u write it down, so I can work through it/learn it? of cause the way u see the process...

hey Baluga! the process you are talking about, can u write it down, so I can work through it/learn it? of cause the way u see the process...

THIS ! I'd love to know if there's any video where baluga talks about this thought process. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease Baluga!

hey Baluga! the process you are talking about, can u write it down, so I can work through it/learn it? of cause the way u see the process...

read the comments thread.

Andrew

Hello, when donked into, how would you play a draw or overcards? you mentioned raising donk bets for value, but can you also raise as a bluff due to fold equity (donk bet= weak)?

Great Video, I've been autopiloting unknowingly for the last 6 months, and this video really gave that "eye opener" moment and to go back to basics and think through hands. My win rate has multiplied in such a short term just by going through the "process," going through the variables: why to bet, who I'm playing, how many players in pot, etc.

What is getting me hooked is that you don't have to memorize how to play certain hands but rather a "process." Great stuff, also it has reduced my tilting. I can now lose and actually feel good, since I know I made the right decision due to the "process." I also like that there are many plays that can be made, as long as there is an explanation through the process it most of the time is a "good" play since your forcing yourself to think of each hand individually. Great stuff and I look for more.

Hey Kristy, great video, I was just wondering what kind of Bankroll strategy are you working with? What's your strategy when taking shots at higher limits? Thanks.

Time Link to 00:25:19

The guy is a 14/10 nitbox. I don't see him showing up here with KJs or KQs very often. Anyone agree? Even if he did have these hands, there is a good chance he'd blindly raise the flop with them and then I also don't believe he can bluff the river. We're UTG, bet two streets into him, and he's crazy enough to bluff us on the river? Versus looser players the play works brilliantly, but this guy is tight and not at all the bluffy player type we're looking for here. He's also not 100% likely to call PREFLOP with KJs or even AJs vs our UTG. In the heat of the moment, I think we overlook that the player is so tight.

Other draws are somewhat scarcer and would have to be suited connectors, which in this case we know are one combo each and he will have many more pairs than sc's in this spot.

I like c/c this turn because we allow him to bet all his possible draws, but we also allow him to bet lower pocket pairs as well (22-44 is very likely floating the flop) which gives us like 18 combos of hands that will fold to a turn bet. I would c/f river vs this tight player as well.

Would be interesting to hear some thoughts here.

this series rocks
PLEASE MAKE AN IPOD COMPATIBLE VERSION!!!!

Good Video with some nice plays and backed up some great logic.

Anyway the question haha...going back to the JJ hand earlier when Kristy bets the flop and turn for the value which is obviously perfect...but when the K comes off on the river are you 100% comfortable betting for value? I'm like...shit...I'll check and hope he checks...if he bets I might call a small bet...and I forget the board as I type but I'm thinking what is he actually going to call with here apart from a King..and there might have been two 10s on the board? I forget..but you get my point..


I would agree with this. The river is a clear check. Does anyone else see it differently?

Time Link to 00:23:05

JC: What is the reasoning behind the naming of this line?

haha I love Balugas comments

Time Link to 00:43:46

We value raise with 99 on Q68 to get value from 26/24 type player. I cant imagine him calling with anything but a queen really.
Isnt calling flop stab and shutting down to further action better here?

We value raise with 99 on Q68 to get value from 26/24 type player. I cant imagine him calling with anything but a queen really.
Isnt calling flop stab and shutting down to further action better here?

i think is because they had a note on the player donk betting with btm/mid pairs.

i think is because they had a note on the player donk betting with btm/mid pairs.

aaaa. ok

Great stuff, looking forward to seeing rest of series.

Time Link to 00:23:35

Baluga,

You say that we can bet to hope that he can fold his equity share with something like AJ.
Because yout think that we can let him fold this is this also a spot to bluf with say KQs?
Or is that a other story?

Time Link to 00:42:11

table 3.
why did you fold 54s BvB?

Time Link to 00:43:40

What do you do if you're in his shoes? If you donk (would you? and why?). Do you shove for value vs what... QJ? TT/JJ? Seems like a really awkward place to be from his perspective because if he doesn't shove he's going to give cards to an aggressive-good player that might be raising to get cards or get to showdown, however if you shove you only get called by better.

Although, the shove does fold out cards that have equity against us (draws, pairs, AK/Ax).

I was just thinking, what would I do there and I realized that I would probably c/r the likely cbet that was coming and avoid this whole situation. Interesting. If she checks behind and we somehow make it to the river, well I'm getting pretty owned.

The strategy for playing bad passive players is betting for value until you get raised. The strategy for playing bad aggressive players is also stated as betting for value. I didn't catch what the differences were between the two. Is it as simple as not folding to raises from bad aggressive players. Can anybody clue me in on what Baluga has to say here. If it is covered in a future video, just point me there.

Thanks.

What a fantastic video. Really great explanations. I found myself taking lots of notes. Great job !!

Time Link to 01:04:08

Wow awesome chemistry here. And obv A+ material...I was very impressed with your play kristy. Cant wait to watch the next one tonight! Thanks to both of you

Yeah this is amazing, can't wait to watch the rest

Awesome video. Easy pick in my top three I've watched so far.

You talked about taking alot of Ax hands and 3betting them to death at the start of the session, because people will usually either fold pre or fold to a cbet on the flop. Do you have any experince with this strategy at lower stakes, or is this something you should only apply at 50nl and higher?

Awesome job by BW and Kristy... it's one of my favorite vids ever... Fundamentals really solid etc... awesome job... loved it...

Time Link to 00:50:44

BW--

you mention bet folding vs somniac when we have QQ on a KK6 rb flop. Somniac is a 39/29 player. Your comment was : "what if he raises.... If that guy raises, he is most likely raising for value"

But, this is not the passive player that Kristy is speaking of in Baluga Theorem, this is somniac.

Were you meaning if any player raises on a KKx board it is most likely a King at micro's ?

great video, found it after checking out CK#2

which

BW--

you mention bet folding vs somniac when we have QQ on a KK6 rb flop. Somniac is a 39/29 player. Your comment was : "what if he raises.... If that guy raises, he is most likely raising for value"

But, this is not the passive player that Kristy is speaking of in Baluga Theorem, this is somniac.

Were you meaning if any player raises on a KKx board it is most likely a King at micro's ?

great video, found it after checking out CK#2

which

you're right-- passive players raising are usually tripped up there, but bad aggro players mean we can't fold.

Andrew

I am new to the site. I joined based on a podcast I heard of Balugas that mentioned this series. Excellent video and I look forward to watching the rest of the series. Great stuff

Is this still relevant going into 2012?

Is this still relevant going into 2012?

player types remain the same. so, learning how to beat bad-aggro and bad-passive remains the same.

good aggressive players are trying to learn to play rock paper scissors. If you can learn what they're throwing (i.e. rock), and if you know what the response is (i.e. paper), than you can beat them.

so, yes, imo.

Andrew

player types remain the same. so, learning how to beat bad-aggro and bad-passive remains the same.

good aggressive players are trying to learn to play rock paper scissors. If you can learn what they're throwing (i.e. rock), and if you know what the response is (i.e. paper), than you can beat them.

so, yes, imo.

Andrew

Went from 20nl to 100nl to bust

Playing 10nl on better site and building bankroll back up - currently up 7BI in 3k hands running 3BI below EV, I can attest this content is still VERY relevant to the smallest stakes - 50nl on any site

i'm finally going to give poker another, serious try and will watch this series as many times as it takes to finally beat the micro hell
can't wait to watch/hear all of the baluga goodness

I find the 3b strategy to be quite interesting in these videos. Is it still fine to be 3bing with this regularity and with these hands? I've seen people talk about how we use a fairly ranged merge of 3b'ing rather than a completely polarised one. Is it good to be 3b'ing hands like Ace rag etc rather than like SC type hands and such?