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

Time Link to 00:13:13

I feel like in these spots where the BB is usually 3betting to get us out of the pot and getting it HU with the weaker player, we should be calling with our stronger hands (like we have in this spot) and be 4bet bluffing with hands that are not good enough to call. Or do you feel like AJo is not good enough to call and do you think that min 4bet is enough to make players fold that they are 3betting here, assuming he 3bets depolarized and/or makes "two way" 3bets?

Time Link to 00:07:37

I know it is about river situations, but is this particular hand not more of a turn situation? As you showed, villain does not 3-bet much vs EP open. Also, villain does not c-bet the flop with his entire range in 3-bet pots. The same applies OTT. So, his range OTT includes a lot of valuehands that either dominate us, or have decent equity. I agree the river is a fold though.

Can you please show the stack sizes in your next video?

Time Link to 00:18:02

I think this is a call as villain can have several missed draws. If I saw it correctly than villain has a 0% fold to 3b, which makes he can show up with all kind of stuff OTR. Also his aggression frequency is pretty high. In these spots I tend to check villain's river aggression frequency. Do you think that adds any value whether to decide to call or not? sample size is pretty small of course.

Please show the stack sizes.

I feel like in these spots where the BB is usually 3betting to get us out of the pot and getting it HU with the weaker player, we should be calling with our stronger hands (like we have in this spot) and be 4bet bluffing with hands that are not good enough to call. Or do you feel like AJo is not good enough to call and do you think that min 4bet is enough to make players fold that they are 3betting here, assuming he 3bets depolarized and/or makes "two way" 3bets?

What I was really wanting to accomplish with the 4 bet was to get heads up with BB and give him good enough pot odds to call OOP with a lot of inferior hands. I had the impression that he was squeezing pretty wide in this spot, so I was hoping to entice him to call with inferior Jx and Ax hands while OOP, which would put me in a very profitable situation.

I would certainly have made the 4 bet bigger if I had a hand like A5 or KT. I do expect that he would fold complete trash to a min 4 bet. I didn't want to call and most likely play the pot 3 ways, even with position, as I felt that a lot of the flops that could potentially be bad for the squeezer's range would be good for the SB's range, making it difficult for me to take the pot down on those types of wet, middle rank card flops.

I know it is about river situations, but is this particular hand not more of a turn situation? As you showed, villain does not 3-bet much vs EP open. Also, villain does not c-bet the flop with his entire range in 3-bet pots. The same applies OTT. So, his range OTT includes a lot of valuehands that either dominate us, or have decent equity. I agree the river is a fold though.

Can you please show the stack sizes in your next video?

Yea I do believe the turn is most likely a fold, but it does illustrate a point that just because you may have made a mistake on the turn, doesn't mean you have to make another on the river. The river card doesn't really change much, but it's not one of those situations where you have to call the river if you're going to call the turn. We make a lot of mistakes in game and get to these types of rivers because we justified a turn call, then feel obligated to call the river because the river card doesn't seem to improve villain's range.

It's still important to take a look at everything that has happened in the hand and make the correct decision in the situation we find ourselves in, even if we're lamenting clicking call on the previous street. We're all going to make plenty of mistakes, but when we do make them, it's important not let them domino into two or three mistakes.

I think this is a call as villain can have several missed draws. If I saw it correctly than villain has a 0% fold to 3b, which makes he can show up with all kind of stuff OTR. Also his aggression frequency is pretty high. In these spots I tend to check villain's river aggression frequency. Do you think that adds any value whether to decide to call or not? sample size is pretty small of course.

0% fold to 3bet definitely widens his preflop range. That, coupled with his rather high turn raise % and overall aggressive tendencies would lean me toward giving him more bluffs in his range on the river. I didn't check his river aggression, but that could be useful assuming we have enough hands on this particular player.

We didn't have a huge sample size on turn raise, but I think that is one of those stats that you don't need to have too many hands to get a feel for how someone plays. Your average 100-200NL player isn't raising the turn a whole lot unless they have a very strong hand/draw, and both are difficult to have. It's much easier to have a bluff. When you find someone that has already raised the turn 4 out of 9 times, it's much more likely that he's someone who likes to make plays on the turn, rather than just running really hot.

Please show the stack sizes.

Sorry about that. I wanted to cover up player names and covered the stack size as well. I won't do that in the next video.

0% fold to 3bet definitely widens his preflop range. That, coupled with his rather high turn raise % and overall aggressive tendencies would lean me toward giving him more bluffs in his range on the river. I didn't check his river aggression, but that could be useful assuming we have enough hands on this particular player.

We didn't have a huge sample size on turn raise, but I think that is one of those stats that you don't need to have too many hands to get a feel for how someone plays. Your average 100-200NL player isn't raising the turn a whole lot unless they have a very strong hand/draw, and both are difficult to have. It's much easier to have a bluff. When you find someone that has already raised the turn 4 out of 9 times, it's much more likely that he's someone who likes to make plays on the turn, rather than just running really hot.

I'm not really sure why you refer to his turn raise %. In the AJ hand you checked back the turn, so not really sure why you think that is a relevant stat in this situation? Or do you mean that you should have checked his turn raise % to decide if a b/c was a better play OTT?

I'm not really sure why you refer to his turn raise %. In the AJ hand you checked back the turn, so not really sure why you think that is a relevant stat in this situation? Or do you mean that you should have checked his turn raise % to decide if a b/c was a better play OTT?

Ugh my mistake. I was thinking of another hand that I didn't have time to get to in the video, also where I had AJ. In this spot, I think most players, especially ones that have fishy stats, aren't going to be able to value bet this river very well at all. I doubt a hand like KQ bets this way, so he's limited to a very small value range, and a lot of air/random weirdness.

Time Link to 00:23:25

Given that villain is obviously bad, can he not have QTor Q5 here? With a range of [55-44,QTs,Q5s-Q4s,QTo,Q5o-Q4o] our equity on the river is 64%. If we narrow villain's range to [55-44,QTs,Q5s-Q4s] our equity is at 44% which still makes this a call.

Again this argument is only true if QT and Q5 are in his range. Am I just not giving this fish enough credit?

Given that villain is obviously bad, can he not have QTor Q5 here? With a range of [55-44,QTs,Q5s-Q4s,QTo,Q5o-Q4o] our equity on the river is 64%. If we narrow villain's range to [55-44,QTs,Q5s-Q4s] our equity is at 44% which still makes this a call.

Again this argument is only true if QT and Q5 are in his range. Am I just not giving this fish enough credit?

Preflop he can have any combo of QT and probably Q5s and Q4s. I would throw out the offsuit combos. I think he can certainly be check/minraising any of those 2 pair combos on the turn, but the issue I have is on the river when the 4 comes. I think even a guy like this at least can understand that the 4 counterfeits Q5 and QT. I would expect him to size down his bets with those hands, and continue strong with boats. He may even check the 2 pair hands when the 4 comes.

8:40 - KTs
I am not sure about your call if you don't have any idea of how he constructs his 3-betting range. Vs 12% depolarized range you're not doing that well:

equity win tie pots won pots tied
Hand 0: 36.720% 34.74% 01.98% 316470448 18024552.00 { KTs }
Hand 1: 63.280% 61.30% 01.98% 558426176 18024552.00 { TT+, ATs+, A5s-A2s, K9s+, QTs+, ATo+, KJo+ }

You are dominated by: KJ, KQ, AK; AT; TT+

I would probably 4b bluff pre without any further information. Don't just strictly look at the stats, look at the other things as well - he bombs 3/4 in 3-bet pot on a dry board. I'd flat flop and fold on the turn. On the river you are playing a guessing game if you don't know what his range might be.

13:30 - AJo
Sample size of 303 hands is meaningless. You were offered great pot odds IP, I'd simply flat to keep the pot small with a medium hand. CiB gives you nothing:
- he will most likely fold worse hands like A7o, which is a disaster
- he may turn some random trash into a bluff and you still can't call all-in, because AJo sucks in preflop all-ins

Postflop I'd also pot control our hand vs this opponent. He can have everything, he is a loose player. Check behind and try to get to the SD, you won't get more than 1 street of value out of pocket pairs anyway. I really dislike your reasoning to call the river, just because he is goofy. He may be goofy, but that doesn't mean he can't have a hand, he showed a really huge strength:
- call OOP to a small 4bet
- x/c OTF, which is likely to hit your range

And you expect him to bluff? Sample size is too small, we have no info about him, so we just play our range.
Top - straight, sets, maybe top two
Mid - lower two pair, TPTK
Bot - the rest

You are at the bottom of your range, so you can just fold.

18:30 - KK

Flop
Bet $6 or $6.50 vs fish.

Turn
Again, sizing should have been bigger imo, regardless of your stack sizes.
Passive fish -> x/mr -> fold and deal the next hand

As played you have to call, because river is the best card for you (you beat all two pair). But still I would just go ahead and fold the turn w/o reads telling me that he might be spewing.

18:30 - KK

Flop
Bet $6 or $6.50 vs fish.

Turn
Again, sizing should have been bigger imo, regardless of your stack sizes.
Passive fish -> x/mr -> fold and deal the next hand

As played you have to call, because river is the best card for you (you beat all two pair). But still I would just go ahead and fold the turn w/o reads telling me that he might be spewing.

Yea bet sizing is just due to playing a bunch of tables and clicking 2/3 pot or whatever because it's faster. I do agree that we can size bigger against this player.

I don't agree that we have to call the river just because the river is a "good card." His bet sizing on the river suggests otherwise to me. I don't think his 2 pair hands that we're now ahead of play this way.

Cut down on the number of the tables you play

I don't agree that we have to call the river just because the river is a "good card." His bet sizing on the river suggests otherwise to me. I don't think his 2 pair hands that we're now ahead of play this way.

But you are inconsistent with your plan. You bet the turn, fish x/mr you and you call. You call because you think you are ahead of his range, but of course you give him all sets, two pair, etc.

On this river you beat almost everything (Q4 x/r on the flop) besides 4 combos of boats/quads, so you can't fold given assumptions you have made on the turn. This often leads to mistakes, which may result in sloping redline.

Regarding his bet sizing, he would have bet his two pair with the same amount, probably the with bluffs too.

Cut down on the number of the tables you play



But you are inconsistent with your plan. You bet the turn, fish x/mr you and you call. You call because you think you are ahead of his range, but of course you give him all sets, two pair, etc.

On this river you beat almost everything (Q4 x/r on the flop) besides 4 combos of boats/quads, so you can't fold given assumptions you have made on the turn. This often leads to mistakes, which may result in sloping redline.

Regarding his bet sizing, he would have bet his two pair with the same amount, probably the with bluffs too.

In retrospect, I think the turn is just a fold. There's nothing wrong with making a turn mistake, then re-analyzing what's gone on and adjusting what you think your opponent's range is to keep from making an even bigger river mistake.

I'm not concerned so much with what cards are on the board here or how many combos of what villain can have. It's more about the particular player type. I don't feel that this type of player ever shows up with a bluff on the river, and I don't think they will value bet queens up when the board pairs 4s mostly due to an irrational fear of me having a 4.

A lot of this I am basing on my experience with these types of players in these types of situations.

Time Link to 00:03:28

Good to see you making videos again.

Is it too nitty to just fold TT preflop here? If we don't hit a set, it seems like we're hoping villain has AK or AQ and decides not to barrel.

Preflop he can have any combo of QT and probably Q5s and Q4s. I would throw out the offsuit combos. I think he can certainly be check/minraising any of those 2 pair combos on the turn, but the issue I have is on the river when the 4 comes. I think even a guy like this at least can understand that the 4 counterfeits Q5 and QT. I would expect him to size down his bets with those hands, and continue strong with boats. He may even check the 2 pair hands when the 4 comes.

I dissagree to the fact that a fish would recognize the counterfitting part, and i believe this is a clear call, he could take this line with any kind of spadedraw that has any connection on the flop A2 A3 A4 A5 AJ AQ maybe even 67 68 sometimes

Good to see you making videos again.

Is it too nitty to just fold TT preflop here? If we don't hit a set, it seems like we're hoping villain has AK or AQ and decides not to barrel.

I see what you're saying, but I think our implied odds are a bit more favorable given villain's tighter preflop range. I think we're more apt to be able to play for stacks if we do hit against all of his overpairs.

It is one of those annoying spots where you call the flop on a non A or K flop, then hope villain shuts down so you can check down and win.

My turn call was pure stubbornness here and I was probably tired or really annoyed at the time. It's good to let others learn from my mistakes though. If you do think you're apt to make stubborn plays postflop, folding pre might be better as it will keep you from making those mistakes.

I dissagree to the fact that a fish would recognize the counterfitting part, and i believe this is a clear call, he could take this line with any kind of spadedraw that has any connection on the flop A2 A3 A4 A5 AJ AQ maybe even 67 68 sometimes

If villain had check/raised a larger amount on the turn I'd get behind this argument, but I just don't think villain is check minraising the turn with any draws.

This is the 1st video I've seen after I become a DC member. Good video though. And Crackmonkey, I saw you discuss with people here, thanks for your video.


The last hand, I was surprised to see the fishy opponent shows 55. I thought even a fish knows this is not a good flop to slow play, I thought most likely the turn Q helped him. Hmm, such a weird play and size by him.

This is the 1st video I've seen after I become a DC member. Good video though. And Crackmonkey, I saw you discuss with people here, thanks for your video.


The last hand, I was surprised to see the fishy opponent shows 55. I thought even a fish knows this is not a good flop to slow play, I thought most likely the turn Q helped him. Hmm, such a weird play and size by him.

Welcome to DC!

Usually the fish is afraid of making you fold if they make it bigger, so they do this little maneuver to try to make sure they make something with their big hands.

Results:

1) TT - I folded, and I'm sure it was the correct play.
2) KT - I called and got owned by JJ. Against some players, calling down 3 streets is definitely correct, but this isn't one of the.
3) AJ - I called and villain showed 66.
4) Results revealed in video.

Great video.

Disagree totally with your logic on the KK hand. sure you were beat and fish do min raise set on turn, but in my experience it depends on the specific fish, and there are plenty out there who play the min raise to rep sets, with straight and flush draws, top pair, everything really.

Agree with above the pairing of the board means you beat a % of his value x raising range - its a call by virtue of your relative hand strength.

I dissagree to the fact that a fish would recognize the counterfitting part, and i believe this is a clear call, he could take this line with any kind of spadedraw that has any connection on the flop A2 A3 A4 A5 AJ AQ maybe even 67 68 sometimes

Come on in, the water's fine!

Bout time you stopped lurking Matzy

Which

Great video.

Disagree totally with your logic on the KK hand. sure you were beat and fish do min raise set on turn, but in my experience it depends on the specific fish, and there are plenty out there who play the min raise to rep sets, with straight and flush draws, top pair, everything really.

Agree with above the pairing of the board means you beat a % of his value x raising range - its a call by virtue of your relative hand strength.

I didn't have any specific reads on this particular player, so I treated him as your average fish. In my experience, which may be somewhat dependent on the sites that I've played on, this line tends to be a really strong hand more often than top pair or a draw.

There are certainly players out there than will take this line as a bluff, with top pair, and hands weaker than what I had, but in the absence of any player-specific knowledge at all that would cause me to lean in that direction, I would go with my personal experience and gut feel, which is exactly the opposite of what I did in the video.

Time Link to 00:17:24

Hi
He could have T9s giving him double gutshot (8 and Q) considering his action on the streets.

Time Link to 00:10:42

I don't think the 2 here is a total brick because it gives him a wheel draw. If I'm in that spot with AK or AQ I'm more inclined to bet the 2 turn with a gutshot to go with 2 overs than I would be on, say, a 4.

I'm still leaning towards folding the turn, though, unless I was sure how he plays air on the river. I'd need a good read to call it off but if we call turn/fold river we're definitely tossing away the best hand some % of the time.