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

Ooh this is a fun one. I hope yall enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed making it!

the video is only 3 min long...

the video is only 3 min long...

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Rob

Pretty solid video w/ hands and commentary. Going to have to rewatch and some more comments later.
Vanessa you mentioned very quickly that you may bet your AT on KTx J turn. Can you post some comments on why you may do that considering the guy was half stacked and one of the hands you put him on was QJ? I generally dont think I have any fold equity there vs droolers and the only reason for to bet would be to showdown (which wont happen if he has and hits a draw) and the only hands you get value from would seem to be the very bottom of his range. Maybe I'm missing something but I'd love to get a comment on that.

Really looking forward to the turn bet finale video. Is any part of this series going to include deepstack play? If you could throw in a situation or two that included deepstack turn plays (if you have any interesting spots in your HHs) it'd be greatly appreciated. Deepstack SSNL play is something I'd love to see you two tackle in general for future series also.

When watching it the second time in the AT hand (which maco also talks about) you can see in the chat that you've won the previous hand, a $400 pot with 'a pair of Twos'. Doesn't that hand affect the hand the ATdd hand?

Other than this very solid vid and I'm looking forward to applying these things

this shit is fucking awesome, so much better than just watching live play where theres not always great situations to discuss, the explanations are excellent as well, keep up the good work !!!!

WOW, this video is really good. Probably the one I've learnt most from including all videos on all training sites I've seen so far. Keep it up!

This video was so so sexy. Great job on the Unconventional Wisdom vids guys.

My only worry is that this site may get too popular and I'll have to deal with other players pulling this crap on me.

My only worry is that this site may get too popular and I'll have to deal with other players pulling this crap on me.

Yeah, I'm all for you guys growing your business, but I'd love it if only a select few of us have these golden nuggets of knowledge.

This series is amazing. It's already paid for at least several months of DC membership.

This series is amazing. It's already paid for at least several months of DC membership.

QFT

You are doing great job!

This video was so so sexy. Great job on the Unconventional Wisdom vids guys.

My only worry is that this site may get too popular and I'll have to deal with other players pulling this crap on me.

Well, spend a little time working out counter-schemes to it in case that happens. Best to be one step ahead.

hey guys.

more thoughts on what youd do if bad cards come off. you do a little bit of it but we all know too well that plans can be foiled thanks to mr. random number generator.

The first hand (T7s) you talked about how easy a fold would be if villian pushed turn. But we would be getting 1:2. Unless he is a nit, he could definitily be doing that with a hand such as 22,Ad3d,9d8d,ATo (just to ilustrate, since I think he is going to have draws more than sets/TPGK hands). That way, we would get about 33% equity that we need to call.

What do u think?

Well, spend a little time working out counter-schemes to it in case that happens. Best to be one step ahead.

Guess you've already got an idea for something for season 3, eh?

Rob

The first hand (T7s) you talked about how easy a fold would be if villian pushed turn. But we would be getting 1:2. Unless he is a nit, he could definitily be doing that with a hand such as 22,Ad3d,9d8d,ATo (just to ilustrate, since I think he is going to have draws more than sets/TPGK hands). That way, we would get about 33% equity that we need to call.

What do u think?

yeah, i think that's a good point, and I agree with you. I thought the same thing when watching the video. We talked a bit about it after making the series... sometimes when we're recording the audio we say things we either don't mean completely or haven't thought out in full, and I'm inclined to think this is one of those times. I actually think it's a call, and a call you should be happy to make when he shoves, because sometimes he has 34 or a slowplayed set and then we at least have a redraw, but a good chunk of the time he has a combo draw that our T is beating anyway (and the LAGgier we are playing, the more of a call this is, of course). Very solid point.

Got a hand where I pulled a line right out of this video (along with some of the general concepts of the 1st video). Would love to see how well you guys think it translates.

http://www.deucescracked.com/forums/17-Mid-Stakes-NLHE/topics/1351-AK-in-fun-3bet-pot-

Regarding the JJ hand.

What would you do if preflop raiser lead $22. (I guess it would be either call or fold). If u call, what's your plan?

This series is awesome. Keep it up.

Great series, actually this was the main reason for me insta signing up for the site.

And Vanessa, it's so refreshing to have a female voice on a Poker Video , keep it up!

Time for new episode today .. Weeeeeeee

At ~16:20 Vanessa is showing an ATdd hand. In the chatbox it shows that her previous hand she won a $421 pot with a pair of 2's. Could I see this hand please? haha

Regarding the JJ hand.

What would you do if preflop raiser lead $22. (I guess it would be either call or fold). If u call, what's your plan?

It would presumably be a call, hoping that the shortstack moved in. If the PFR then shoves, we can fold, if he just calls, well, we might fold for the same reasons as we did in the actual hand. If he folds, obviously we call.

Supposing that the shorty folds and the reraiser fires another barrel on the turn, we can probably fold unless he's overaggro. If he checks, we probably will bet and fold to a checkraise (although checking back and deciding to either call or fold facing a river bet is also an option)

I think this episode was much more applicable to small stakes than it was mid stakes and up. Particularly for the stop and go concept, I think you're turning marginal hands into pure bluffs more often than not with it.

I think this episode was much more applicable to small stakes than it was mid stakes and up. Particularly for the stop and go concept, I think you're turning marginal hands into pure bluffs more often than not with it.

Actually, when I first started using the move it was at higher stakes games, and I was doing it with sets and other huge hands to try and induce them to make a big move at me, or at least play a bigger pot than they wanted to (since I think most good players would read it as a weak made hand "finding out where its at"). It didn't actually work as well as planned though, most people even at higher stakes just folded most of the time, so I started using it as a bluff sometimes, with success.

I think you're generally right with regards to smaller stakes guys though, since they don't as often have the refined hand-reading skills or the wherewithal to make big, well-targeted moves (thus negating the effectiveness of our play).

On the last hand, Vanessa says she calls the river bet because she "likes to call bets." Is the lesson here that she shouldn't have called, or that the call was correct but she can't or doesn't want to explain why? More explanation would be (and would have been) appreciated, on this hand and in general.

Wow, I really need to bump this thread and hopefully somebody will answer

REGARDING THE JJ HAND

I was shocked when Vanessa actually folded given the way the hand played out. It maybe a leak, but I would shove this all day, because isnt a huge part of the small blind's range a draw?? The board is super draw heavy and the guy has just minraised before the flop. Normally this screams KK or AA, but on that patricular board, wouldnt he want to protect his hand by going allin? Even with a set, I dont think he would just call.

Is my thinking completely offtrack here?

Wow, I really need to bump this thread and hopefully somebody will answer

REGARDING THE JJ HAND

I was shocked when Vanessa actually folded given the way the hand played out. It maybe a leak, but I would shove this all day, because isnt a huge part of the small blind's range a draw?? The board is super draw heavy and the guy has just minraised before the flop. Normally this screams KK or AA, but on that patricular board, wouldnt he want to protect his hand by going allin? Even with a set, I dont think he would just call.

Is my thinking completely offtrack here?

I think what you're overlooking here is that the SB min-reraised preflop. Such a play is generally not made with "drawing hands", its made with big pairs and big aces (unless the reraiser is particularly loose-aggressive and not very good, but I think this guy was for the most part tight). So the only drawing hands that he could really have are things like AKss, AQss, which are no worse than a coinflip against us. Otherwise, he's crushing us. And a big part of the leading bet Vanessa made with the JJ was precisely to find out where the reraiser stood without committing too many chips.

Regarding why the SB just calling the flop raise rather than 3-betting it doesn't necessarily mean weakness, the pot is getting so big by that point that he doesn't really have to protect his hand quite as much against draws, plus since we coldcalled preflop its less likely that we have a drawing hand ourselves anyhow.

First let me say that overall I think these videos are solid, and I like how its not just watching you guys play live, so the hands are more focused on certain topics and there is less downtime.

About 42 minutes into this video, DJ Sensei has KcQc UTG+1 and calls an UTG raise, which is standard.
Then his analysis seems to get contradictory. On the flop of Js7sTc, the PFR leads into 3 other players and he says that the PFR likely has a very strong hand, which makes sense. The thing is that he then says 'chances are if I get there I can get paid off pretty well'. (I'm not advocating a fold here) but my reaction to that comment is that if we hit an Ace, and he has KK,QQ,KJ kinda hands, hes not going to want to play a big pot. In addition to this if a 9 hits, there will be a 4 straight on the board, so we may not get paid if that hits either. In fact, on the turn (8c) DJ Sensei comments that there are a fair # of hands that we can have that could have a 9 in them. So it seems like on the flop he was saying that if a 9 comes we can get paid, but then on the turn when an 8 comes he will slow down. IMO there are close to as many hands that we could have that had an 8 in them as there are hands with a 9 in them, so if a 9 were to turn, its unlikely that we would have gotten paid here.
So in summary, I'm not disagreeing with the idea that calling the flop is fine, but I don't really agree with some of the reasoning and analysis, mainly regarding our implied odds.

If DJ Sensei, or fslexduck could comment on this hand further it would be appreciated.

With the ATs hand multiway where the BB donks, my default is to normally call there but I see your point about raising. I have two questions in regards to this. The first is, why raise so small if we are fairly confident alot of villain's range is a draw? I understand we dont want to make a huge raise because we are basically raise/folding, but making it only $13 more gives the original bettor some really good odds. The second question was would you be raise/folding in that same spot if you had tptk or tpgk? I didnt see any stats on this guy but I always give a tag credit when they donk multiway in that spot, so I end up just calling with my weaker overpairs as well as my top pair hands.

First let me say that overall I think these videos are solid, and I like how its not just watching you guys play live, so the hands are more focused on certain topics and there is less downtime.

About 42 minutes into this video, DJ Sensei has KcQc UTG+1 and calls an UTG raise, which is standard.
Then his analysis seems to get contradictory. On the flop of Js7sTc, the PFR leads into 3 other players and he says that the PFR likely has a very strong hand, which makes sense. The thing is that he then says 'chances are if I get there I can get paid off pretty well'. (I'm not advocating a fold here) but my reaction to that comment is that if we hit an Ace, and he has KK,QQ,KJ kinda hands, hes not going to want to play a big pot. In addition to this if a 9 hits, there will be a 4 straight on the board, so we may not get paid if that hits either. In fact, on the turn (8c) DJ Sensei comments that there are a fair # of hands that we can have that could have a 9 in them. So it seems like on the flop he was saying that if a 9 comes we can get paid, but then on the turn when an 8 comes he will slow down. IMO there are close to as many hands that we could have that had an 8 in them as there are hands with a 9 in them, so if a 9 were to turn, its unlikely that we would have gotten paid here.
So in summary, I'm not disagreeing with the idea that calling the flop is fine, but I don't really agree with some of the reasoning and analysis, mainly regarding our implied odds.

If DJ Sensei, or fslexduck could comment on this hand further it would be appreciated.

You make some solid points. Our implied odds here probably aren't quite as strong as if we had something like JT on a 982 board in the same situation. However, since we have position and two streets to go, we still stand to pick up some extra chips if we get there (and we really don't need to make up all that much, since the price is pretty decent in that spot anyhow). But lets say an A or 9 comes on the turn. Our opponent certainly can't fold his hands like KK/QQ to one bet, since that'd be so weak-tight. Especially on a board with other draws out there that I could well have. And if he's got a set or two pair or something (which do make up a pretty decent chunk of his range, of course) he may have to pay off twice. As it turns out we end up using the 8 as a scare card (which is something that we could have discussed during the flop action, since that possibility adds some equity to our situation, perhaps taking the place of the equity we lose from our '9' outs being a little tainted).

I think the most important thing to take from the hand is that us having position gives us so many options and the best chance to maximize what we get out of our draw, and when you've got a lot of possibilities for later streets and kinda medium equity, you're probably better off keeping it cool rather than raising and maybe getting stacks in.

On the first stop and go hand...77 on a K55 flop as the SB in a blind battle...what is the difference between making a stop and go and making a small 3-bet on the flop? DJ explained in the video that if he 3-bets on the flop, the BB will raise his better hands and fold worse ones...but isn't the same going to hold true on most turns as well? Or would the plan be to not stop and go unless such a good card comes on the turn?

WOW, this video is really good. Probably the one I've learnt most from including all videos on all training sites I've seen so far. Keep it up!

QFT

On the first stop and go hand...77 on a K55 flop as the SB in a blind battle...what is the difference between making a stop and go and making a small 3-bet on the flop? DJ explained in the video that if he 3-bets on the flop, the BB will raise his better hands and fold worse ones...but isn't the same going to hold true on most turns as well? Or would the plan be to not stop and go unless such a good card comes on the turn?

Some more advanced opponents will read a 3-bet on that flop as a bluff and 4bet over the top (why would you ever 3-bet a flop like that with a real hand, anyhow?). But the stop-n-go can definitely look like a king or trips trying to build the pot without scaring out his opponent.

So, against good hand-readers, the stopngo is the move of choice here. Against fish or weak-tight players you could certainly 3-bet bluff, but chances are you're better off just folding to their raise anyhow since their bluff ranges are smaller.

this series is really great, I am very impressed with the quality and presentation of these concepts

In that JJ hand vs the SS ers shove and the SB overcall, Vanessa mentionend something like Phil Galfond's ... concepts, right? Does someone have a link to that?

Much appreciated...

In that JJ hand vs the SS ers shove and the SB overcall, Vanessa mentionend something like Phil Galfond's ... concepts, right? Does someone have a link to that?

Much appreciated...

http://www.bluffmagazine.com/onlinefeature/gbucks.asp

Ok gonna bump this up, that hand where vanessa had JJ and lead out in a 3way pot when she was sb, i understand the logic behind it why button should have a strong hand so often.But i saw in chat that he won like 5 or 6 pots in a row, so im kinda wondering, if button is a huge callingstation that peels alot, wouldnt a fold be bad?Its not that im result orientated because he had ATs, but i see alot of donks make calls like that on boards like that.Besides he could have alot more in his range to make a call with a worse hand then ours.

Regarding why the SB just calling the flop raise rather than 3-betting it doesn't necessarily mean weakness, the pot is getting so big by that point that he doesn't really have to protect his hand quite as much against draws, plus since we coldcalled preflop its less likely that we have a drawing hand ourselves anyhow.

Regarding the JJ hand I think you are missing an important point. If the SB does have a big hand like an overpair he does not only have to be concerend about giving cheap cards to draws. More important is that a lot of turn cards might totally kill the action for him (if we choose to call the flop), like a flush card or four to a straight or an Ace. If he bets into this kind of board on the turn especially given that there is a side pot its obvious for us that he wont be bluffing at all and we can get away from our medium strength hands.
So in my opinion it doesnt make a whole lot of sense for the SB to call the flop with a big hand. Furthermore there is dead money in from the third player which I think we are ahead most of the time, so we are getting good odds for a shove also.
Thus you have yet to convince me that folding is the right play here.

Excellent episode. Really informative.

Some more advanced opponents will read a 3-bet on that flop as a bluff and 4bet over the top (why would you ever 3-bet a flop like that with a real hand, anyhow?). But the stop-n-go can definitely look like a king or trips trying to build the pot without scaring out his opponent.

So, would you actually suggest that we 3-bet in this spot with trip 5s, or pocket AA for value, vs. good hand readers?
To me it feels a little weird to value 3-bet on such a dry flop, but you are saying that 1) they'll bluff us a lot 2) they'd fold a lot to the stop'n go 3) (in the video you say) that if we call and check on the turn they could check behind a lot...so it makes sense?

Besides the other thing that bothers me about using the stop-n-go as a pure bluff is that we certainly lose some $ when the turn helps the Villain and he calls, why he'd have folded to a flop 3-bet, and I am not sure if that is compensated by the Villain being less likely to be bluffing into the stop-n-go, as into the 3-bet. (And are they really? I used to read stop'n go as complete bull***** on most boards. I dont fall into the good hand reader category though...)

I really regret not getting around to this series until just now, but better late than never. This should be required viewing for any micro to small stakes grinder.

So, would you actually suggest that we 3-bet in this spot with trip 5s, or pocket AA for value, vs. good hand readers?
To me it feels a little weird to value 3-bet on such a dry flop, but you are saying that 1) they'll bluff us a lot 2) they'd fold a lot to the stop'n go 3) (in the video you say) that if we call and check on the turn they could check behind a lot...so it makes sense?

Besides the other thing that bothers me about using the stop-n-go as a pure bluff is that we certainly lose some $ when the turn helps the Villain and he calls, why he'd have folded to a flop 3-bet, and I am not sure if that is compensated by the Villain being less likely to be bluffing into the stop-n-go, as into the 3-bet. (And are they really? I used to read stop'n go as complete bull***** on most boards. I dont fall into the good hand reader category though...)

I love to 3bet for value on boards like that because
1) People have a hard time believing a 3bet is a real hand because it seems like a good spot to slowplay a big hand and its hard to have a big hand!
2) If your opponent makes a mistake it will be huge ($-wise).
3) If you just flat their raise, they'll rarely put much more of their stack in unless you've coolered them and in that case they'd play for stacks no matter what you do.

As far as stop-n-gos work, I don't use them too often anymore but I expect that they work best against more weak-passive players who'll bluff these boards a lot but then just give up on them once you show a little resistance.

Time Link to 00:00:17

Question of handreading:
You say he'll have a lot of draws here. So, you mean flush draws and 34 but what else? I mean, he could have a lot of top pair-like hands like KTs,QT,JT,T9,T8 in his range. I feel like this combinations add up to more combinations than flush draws would do.

I mean, betting is fine, either way, but I felt that you meant flushdraws would be more.

Also, you c/c a river bet. Can't he just v-bet you with QT,JT,T9? I would've played the hand another way because of calculating the combinations another way.

Would be nice if you could get a bit in detail with that again or correct me if I heart something wrongly.

Your link doesn't point to the right spot in the video, can you tell me where it happens on the timeline or post a better link?

Oh, sorry. It's about 8.30

Well for one thing I imagine he may even fold some of those weaker tens to our second barrel, and the stronger ones he's just gonna call and try to showdown. I was confident in the video that he would not valuebet KT or worse, and so most of his river betting range would be bluffs. So I guess the point is that all the parts of his range play the way I want them to.

Time Link to 00:46:56

Hi!

Older series, but anyways imo epic - I love your series - great job

myquestion here is , what you think about overbetting, here shoving the river and balance this play with sometimes gaybetting turn with a 9 and the also overshoving the river?

Advantage could be that he will less often make curiousity-calls with sets/2Pairs...

What you think on this?

What is 'Phil Galfond's T-box or something and where can i found something about it? Thank you

What is 'Phil Galfond's T-box or something and where can i found something about it? Thank you

You're probably talking about G-Bucks:

Article here: http://www.bluffmagazine.com/magazine/'G-Bucks'-Conceptualizing-Money-Matters.-Phil-Galfond-985.htm

After reading that, you'll see some great discussion of this concept by WiltonTilt in the final episode of Mathematics of NL Hold'em: http://www.deucescracked.com/videos/148-Episode-Eight

Rob

Time Link to 00:47:54

I think I would end up calling this river bet with one pair in the villain's shoes. I may be a complete station, but it seems so unlikely that you would only bet $20 on the turn with a nine with such a draw heavy board. I do think this play will work a lot more with worse hand readers/weaker players.

Wow what an eye opener thank god for deuces cracked I AM SUCH A FISH !