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

Finally, LOL. Watching ASAP...

Hey Andrew, enjoying the series so far and there is a tonne of good content, but I feel like you're (understandably) a little out of touch with the state of the game at 50NL. Obviously everybody there is a bad player in one sense of the word because if they were good they would be playing higher, but they're not all loose passive fish who call down and play super straight forward. There are a TONNE of regs at 50NL, and while they (we) obviously aren't great they are capable of noticing stuff and making adjustments. I just feel like some of your comments, like "the idea of running a 3 barrel bluff at 50NL is ridiculous" are off the mark. There are clearly times and places for somewhat advanced plays like 3 barrel bluffing. I realise you don't want to overload Kristy with information and induce FPS in her, but its something I think you should consider a little.

BW, you are the most inspiring poker coach I've ever seen. Thank you for your beautiful videos

DUMP- still love you baluga!

Nice video as always.
You should come to Japan instead of Thailand, since you know some Japanese!

Hey Andrew, enjoying the series so far and there is a tonne of good content, but I feel like you're (understandably) a little out of touch with the state of the game at 50NL. Obviously everybody there is a bad player in one sense of the word because if they were good they would be playing higher, but they're not all loose passive fish who call down and play super straight forward. There are a TONNE of regs at 50NL, and while they (we) obviously aren't great they are capable of noticing stuff and making adjustments. I just feel like some of your comments, like "the idea of running a 3 barrel bluff at 50NL is ridiculous" are off the mark. There are clearly times and places for somewhat advanced plays like 3 barrel bluffing. I realise you don't want to overload Kristy with information and induce FPS in her, but its something I think you should consider a little.

This is true. In fact, the greatest leak of most 50nl regulars is that they just fold too much imo. They let their hands go and 'wait for a better spot'.

Maybe at 50nl Everest/Pacific/Betfair etc its different, @ stars/fulltilt/ipoker etc. the 50nl regulars are not that bad at all..

So maybe we can assume instead of they are all loose/passive/bad players, that they are pretty decent. And thus we can for example 3bet a polarised range as a default, until proven otherwise..

Maybe a good strategy is to get them out their comfort zone, 3bet them extremely loose, blufraise flops, donkbet them with medium hands- call a raise and checkcall turn+river etc.
They dont adjust (fold too much, or call too much) or overadjust (4bet every single hand, get out of line in postflop situation where we have the nuts)

you said there about level on diference pokersites i think it is bullshit, you always can select tables, level diference between everest and fulltilt i think is not so big.......every site have good player/bad players

i think also your hud go to helps you witch players you are against....
i do not play every site but when i select the tables % preflop then look likes not so much diference between all the sites.... then?

Can I talk about this 76s hand...at the end you say we can raise..and then you say we can be "comfortable getting it in"....assuming we raise and he comes over the top are you really comfortable getting it in? I'm thinking if he's shoving he's doing it with 9s+....not A high..

Just to note my equity/math knowledge isn't good...and I realise we have a gutshot and a runner runner..but it seems spewy to shove all in with a pair of 7s..

If I'm raising I'm folding to anymore action...but I don't understand why we'd go all in here...could you or someone explain please..

Thanks Joe

Can I talk about this 76s hand...at the end you say we can raise..and then you say we can be "comfortable getting it in"....assuming we raise and he comes over the top are you really comfortable getting it in? I'm thinking if he's shoving he's doing it with 9s+....not A high..

Just to note my equity/math knowledge isn't good...and I realise we have a gutshot and a runner runner..but it seems spewy to shove all in with a pair of 7s..

If I'm raising I'm folding to anymore action...but I don't understand why we'd go all in here...could you or someone explain please..

Thanks Joe

too much money in the pot to fold? we have 9 outs to beat overpairs, thats 37% equity

I guess I need to sort my maths out pretty quickly then.

You guys make a great team and work well together. Awesome series so far.

great vids -

kristy you ask very pertinent questions keep it up
breaking down 3b/4b (5b jam) ranges is where i know i mess up -
/tend to overplay my hands... i like when ya break down theoretical situations down to every possible outcome... i.e. i'm glad you talked about jammin' the river in that KQo hand where you CR'd / 9h turned / etc.. and what boards/villains you would jam the river.. i feel like when i do CR those spots and bet a hspb - it's so hard not to jam into that perfectly set-up ps riv bet lol anyway - nice vid

thanks again

thailand jealousy itt

Time Link to 00:07:40

I don't think raising this flop is very good. If his range for donking is overpairs and AQ/AK type hands then it seems you are better off calling since you can't really fold out anything with more equity and can't really get anything with less to call. Why would you want him to fold out his AQ when he could potentially fire the turn again? Furthermore, if a player is willing to cold call a 3bet oop then I wouldn't expect him to also donk-fold on this flop.

Time Link to 00:14:03

If we bet the turn and get shoved on, do we call the shove vs that particular villain?

EDIT: As played, when we bet the river for $13-15 and villain shoves, can hero call?

I don't think raising this flop is very good. If his range for donking is overpairs and AQ/AK type hands then it seems you are better off calling since you can't really fold out anything with more equity and can't really get anything with less to call. Why would you want him to fold out his AQ when he could potentially fire the turn again? Furthermore, if a player is willing to cold call a 3bet oop then I wouldn't expect him to also donk-fold on this flop.

Getting it in on the flop is +ev if you have any fold equity at all (and even if you don't its very close to breakeven). Once you call it gets much shadier, as your equity drops by half against overpairs and you have no idea what his bluffing frequency is; it's very easy to make a giant mistake; e.g. calling twice and folding the river incorrectly; or calling down when he is never bluffing. Also any two cards have decent equity against our hand and we don't mind pushing him off that since the pot is already huge. To make a call better you'd need a strong read that makes you very confident in which are the correct turn/river actions.

Can I talk about this 76s hand...at the end you say we can raise..and then you say we can be "comfortable getting it in"....assuming we raise and he comes over the top are you really comfortable getting it in? I'm thinking if he's shoving he's doing it with 9s+....not A high..

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.

Kristy i think you plays much better then in episode 1....

Only I think to play A2o--A6o in CO to loose.... your EV go to be neg i guess, look likes you aleady have learned a lot

By the way i love the videos, very nice to watching good to see how much we can learn!

This is a great series, keep it up guys!

I also just wanted to say that I agree with Struiks and TheGeek about the state of 50nl. Barreling can be really profitable against many players.

Hey, I notice she raises AX a LOT from late position, (with the X<10 lots of times)..

Is this a good move? What are we hoping for? To hit an ace and be outkicked? I often play AXs in an unraised pot for a flush. Anyone else play or not play AX with X being a small card? I feel like this is a trouble hand, no?

For that i was asking A5o in CO is good plan to open in unraised pot?

Time Link to 00:52:15

Bottom right: Am I out of line to be check raising that turn sometimes? I'm thinking we can get a weak tight opponent off his 1 pair, and train him to raise the flop, or check down against us more often.

Even if he calls, if the river gives us another mid-card, do you think he might talk himself out of not getting involved often enough? (Scared of the straight, set, two pair, or bigger kicker).

What about if this turn makes it two tone. Are we more inclined to check raise then, since a flush card on the river gives him even more reasons to fold?

One other thing. I think our perceived range sucks in this situation, but I'm a raise monkey, and was wondering if this might be + EV against a nit.

Time Link to 00:20:03

Baluga, How about this bet/call preflop with pocket AA? Kind of dangerous to hold back preflop, isn't it? Maybe you were distracted by the other table, and didn't see it. I was expecting to hear you say, "Whoa Whoa..Why didn't we reraise this."

Do you EVER like just calling (trapping) with AA? Seems to me like villain wanted to play; then why not make him pay? "value bet, value bet, value bet"
Thanks.

he discus that in the video to keep him in the hand, when fold to 3 bet is very high sometimes call can be fine, i think you get more value sometimes

he discus that in the video to keep him in the hand, when fold to 3 bet is very high sometimes call can be fine, i think you get more value sometimes

Hi. Are you talking about the AA hand? Can you give me the timeline he says this. I hear him talk about checking the turned set of AAA (to keep the villain in the hand), but he didn't join that hand until the turned set. The preflop play was dangerous, as postflop anything is possible, especially if letting someone set-mine.

I cannot imagine Baluga just calling on such a small reraise amount preflop with AA in hand. It's because of Baluga, I'm value-betting the hell out of everything. It works. Even a min-raise would most likely be paid-off.

I am convinced he missed the preflop play for AA (as he was talking about two other tables). But I am not 100% positive.

Hi, Kristy i really can't understand why you are wondering that everyone 3-bet and 4-bets you.. you are opening a lot of hands with vpip about 30 - probably thats why some ppl 3bet you.
As for 4-bets - just compare you 3-bet percentage - which is about 20 at each table and others - less than 10 in general, so in spots when some ppl will fold JJ, AK to 3Bet they just 4-bet you because your 3B percentage is big.
And also i cant see any reason not to lower our agression preflop.. and probably call with some hands and raise or c/raise as a bluf decent flops.

And when you open-raise your hand you should think - who is gonna call you with worse and if there is no fish left, but a high chance to get 3-bet i would open only strong range and will flat/4B to 3B a big chank of it (if i really need to mess with other regs).

Time Link to 00:20:34

AA hand

his checkback on the flop: i dont think he has JJ and TT cause he just flats this pre. KK he bets and Ax is very unlikely obv. so this leaves him with a lot of air and I guess he thinks we hit Qxx very well and wont fold a lot too his cbet.

Anyway i actually like this 1/2 pot donk cause it looks very weak, it asks: "Do you have an Ace"? And he is like: "Yes I checked back Ak on the flop (give up)." I think it achieves more than a check, if he wants to rep the Ace he can bet if we check but he also can raise if we "block"/"info"-bet . He was thinking we have TT/JJ and we didnt wanted to get bluffed off the hand and wanted to see where we are at. Who ever leads an Ace here? So he took this out of our range. Very creative line.

As for the idea of c/r the turn. i dont think he has a lot of draws in his range cause he wud bet em on the flop. it is basically only backdoordiamonds and thats rare. when we c/r we fold out air which he is very likely to have so once we check it is a clear c/c imo because if he has an Ace for some reason he bets it himself, if he has QQ he bets it himself and if he is bluffing... . You also balance the times you have JJ,TT here when you c/c.

Baluga, How about this bet/call preflop with pocket AA? Kind of dangerous to hold back preflop, isn't it? Maybe you were distracted by the other table, and didn't see it. I was expecting to hear you say, "Whoa Whoa..Why didn't we reraise this."

Do you EVER like just calling (trapping) with AA? Seems to me like villain wanted to play; then why not make him pay? "value bet, value bet, value bet"
Thanks.

bump Baluga, are you out there?

Baluga, How about this bet/call preflop with pocket AA? Kind of dangerous to hold back preflop, isn't it? Maybe you were distracted by the other table, and didn't see it. I was expecting to hear you say, "Whoa Whoa..Why didn't we reraise this."

Do you EVER like just calling (trapping) with AA? Seems to me like villain wanted to play; then why not make him pay? "value bet, value bet, value bet"
Thanks.

Sorry, in hong kong, super difficult to find time to respond but doing what I can.

If villain is aggressive, good, and polarizing his range, calling is theoretically sometimes better (provided he vbets thinly and bluffs appropriately against us). If villain is aggressive, bad, reraise. If villain is passive, bad, reraise.

off the top of my head.

Andrew

wow
i've been watching trough this series, it's been amazing
i'm finally being succesful on changing nit to lag game

great coach baluga keep doin' it xD!!

Time Link to 00:48:42

I'm guessing that when the turn brings another ace we go for a second barrel here seeing that the chances of him having one have decreased? I'm not sure cause i don't know what range we can put him on after calling on that flop other then an ace? Maybe JJ,QQ, KK? And if that's the case i don't know if they could fold it now because we have a harder time representing the ace. I'm always tempted to go for a second barrel in these situations but i'm not really sure if it's the right thing to do.

Time Link to 00:04:59

Okey.
I love this series but I am really getting confused about something.
Typical opponents were classified as loose-passive type players and I have no clue why is Kristy 3-betting very light and also isolating pretty light depending on fact that loose-passive players dont like to fold a lot?
I would understand that approach for tight-weak tho.
Any explanations ?

Okey.
I love this series but I am really getting confused about something.
Typical opponents were classified as loose-passive type players and I have no clue why is Kristy 3-betting very light and also isolating pretty light depending on fact that loose-passive players dont like to fold a lot?
I would understand that approach for tight-weak tho.
Any explanations ?

Hey man,

Tight-weak isn't really a classification i'd give, at least not at a base level. I'm going to assume that bad-passive players are going to play fit-or-fold on the flop most times, meaning they're folding to c-bets plenty often to make them profitable (remember that you don't need people to fold to your c-bet even 50% of the time to be profitable).

Against a player who never folds K hi or something on the flop I'd just start v-betting all my A hi's and it'd work out just fine.

Andrew

how do i deal with a "bad" aggressive villain who's 3bet %, fold to 3bet %, and 4bet % look like : 25,25,25 ? just turn my vpip/pfr down to like 3/3 ?

also, sometimes i feel like "wheee let's just keep shoving all kinds of crap preflop over and over again !" or i have the choice of folding over and over again whenever i open and get 3bet or whenever i 3bet and get 4bet... and when i finally 4bet/5bet with AK or QQ villain folds or has KK/AA or villain flats somewhere preflop and i get owned postflop.... and often i feel like if i'm trying to play like kristy, the whole table is doing this to me. and then there's calling stations who i feel are just floating me all the time and i'm giving up all the time with underpairs or overcards or i'm getting randomly donked into and i just wanna cry

episode 3 is like my entire NLHE career so far.

i was hoping there would be some magical solution here in episode 4, but obviously i just don't get it.

maybe i don't have the skill at all yet for this ?

i guess somehow i still don't know what hands to 3bet and what hands to cold call with preflop.

i know whole books can be written about this, but i'm totally lost. i come from a LHE background where it's no big deal at all to get 3bet/4bet cuz it's only one more bet and if i'm done raising it's snapcall and see a flop with any 2 cards. totally different in NL and i feel like a drooler cuz i've been reading forums on this, watching vids, reading books, and i still can't do it right. my bb/100 in 3bet pots is like -200bb/100. also, somehow, my redline is very very good and my blue line is very very bad, if that gives anyone any ideas (i'm too aggressive)????

can someone please give me some advice ? maybe links to forum threads i should read (or reread), or specific videos i should watch (or rewatch).

i'd appreciate it

ok sorry for whining so much.

i'm gonna go watch from the ground up. seems like i need to cement the abc's into my head.

Time Link to 00:02:45

Baluga, you say here that "K7s is a great hand to 3-bet with" - why? We're talking about these players being mostly bad passive, and you say we're raising for value, but surely a bad passive player is only ever calling a 3bet with better here. Or are we just looking to c-bet basically every flop here and take small pots down?

If we bet the turn and get shoved on, do we call the shove vs that particular villain?

EDIT: As played, when we bet the river for $13-15 and villain shoves, can hero call?

I don´t think hero is able to call. Hero is getting 32% if villian is pushing (assuming hero bets 10$ at the turn). If Villian´s shoveingrange looks like this Overpairs like JJ+; Sets 22, 44,77, 99, Flushdraws AhTx+ and Flushes like 65s+ A8s+ we have only ~18%


Board: 4h 9h 2h 7s
Dead:

equity win tie pots won pots tied
Hand 0: 17.842% 17.84% 00.00% 7593431 0.00 { KhQd }
Hand 1: 82.158% 82.16% 00.00% 34966809 0.00 { JJ+, 99, 77, 44, 22, AhKh, AhQh, AhJh, AhTh, QhJh, JhTh, Th9h, 9h8h, 8h7h, 7h6h, AcKh, AdKh, AhKc, AhKd, AhKs, AsKh, AhQc, AhQd, AhQs, AhJc, AhJd, AhJs, AsJc, AsJd, AsJh, AcTh, AdTh, AhTc, AhTs, AsTc, AsTh }

Beluga what Do you think?

Couldn't access the time link video so i don't know exactly how to go about posting a time stamp, anyway;

At juat before 34:00 where we start getting 4 bet a bit by this reg to our right you stated that we need to start polarizing our range against this villain and if we are going to play A9s we should be 3bet shoving it or flatting it preflop. When you said "3bet shove" did you mean open 3bet shove? Or are we talking 3bet 5bet-shove? If you would like to elaborate on that just a little I would much appreciate it.

Time Link to 00:50:15

Thank you Thank you Thank you. For sharing your wisdom IM loving this series! Ive watched 4 vids of this series in just 2days! Im learning so Much, you rock baluga!! You also rock Kristy for asking all of the same ?s I would want to be answered! This series is the Nutz

This has to be the best serious of coaching videos i have watched on any site, and ive been a member of most!

I have learnt more from this set of videos then all the others i have watched put together.

This is how you make training videos!

Time Link to 00:19:11

Baluga, you discuss c/f on the river if you bet the turn, but it sounds like you mean if the river bricks off. Had we bet the turn and hit our K, are you jamming?

Time Link to 00:29:34

Uhm, you might want to re-phrase that

Time Link to 00:16:54

Should you be barreling here with a hand that doesn't have much equity on this board because it's still quite a scary board for his range on should you only be doing it when the board texture changes and when we have equity ourselves?

Time Link to 00:29:42

so you are tight or you are not? You know, we guys like tight girls xD

Time Link to 00:06:31

If he's calling w/ 89s, he's folding so many flops to our cbets, no? Isn't one of the reasons for 3betting in position (and even out of positions), to make better hands fold when we have the initiative and we both miss boring ass flops?

Time Link to 00:39:45

woah. who folds T9s vs cutoff?