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Poker Video: Limit Hold'Em by PygmyHero (Micro/Small Stakes)

I don't know if I articulated this the way I wanted to, so let me clarify/elaborate here:

~8:30 What I'm suggesting is basically an SAT-type math trick.
You have to call $0.25 to stay in the pot. So count up how many increments of $0.25 are already in the pot (in this case the answer is 5). *POW* Pot odds are 5:1.

I find this technique is usually easier and faster for me than thinking, 'I'm getting $1.25 to $0.25, which reduces to 5:1.'

~20 the math I do in Excel about how much equity we have in various pot sizes
I probably should have thrown a few more labels in there, so please let me know if any of this was unclear. The line with percentages was the hot/cold equity we had in the pot and the final line was roughly our EV (in increments of $0.25).

~30:57 Mike: "I think the superior play is to raise."
+1 on Rob's week 1 prop bet.

I don't know if I articulated this the way I wanted to, so let me clarify/elaborate here:

~8:30 What I'm suggesting is basically an SAT-type math trick.
You have to call $0.25 to stay in the pot. So count up how many increments of $0.25 are already in the pot (in this case the answer is 5). *POW* Pot odds are 5:1.

I find this technique is usually easier and faster for me than thinking, 'I'm getting $1.25 to $0.25, which reduces to 5:1.'

Total agree on this techniq. In LHE it's just so easy to coun't the bets if you got trouble with the "real" math, and the real math get "easier" for some when they move up because it's not longer decimal pots.

Anyway will watch this later

and the real math get "easier" for some when they move up because it's not longer decimal pots.

... until you get to 8/16, where you have to solve all these difficult division problems.

"hmmm, i'm getting 104:16, that means I have to be good here about one time in... one time in... one time... screw it, I has ace high, I call"

~1:10:59 Mike: "I would raise this (K6o SB in BvB)."
So the tally is up to 2 on Rob's prop.

~1:16:30
The thread Jess and I are talking about.

Note that I say I would NOT raise this particular player PF. Negative one on the Rob prop?

~1:32:30 Well, how about it?

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 Limit Hold'em - 6 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Pre Flop: (1.5 SB) Hero is MP with K K
1 fold, Hero raises, CO calls, 1 fold, SB calls, 1 fold

Flop: (7 SB) 7 J K (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets, CO calls, SB folds

Turn: (4.5 BB) 6 (2 players)
Hero bets, CO calls

River: (6.5 BB) K (2 players)
Hero...

Additional question: if Jess gets the sexy in here, does she need a new coach?

... until you get to 8/16, where you have to solve all these difficult division problems.

"hmmm, i'm getting 104:16, that means I have to be good here about one time in... one time in... one time... screw it, I has ace high, I call"

I see that's why you decide to move to 50/100

Really enjoying this series your both doing a great job.

Some comments about the 63 suited hand in the SB getting 5 to 1. I think even though the rake is huge at these stakes I think we can call this because of the massive implied odds we have if we make a big hand.

Not sure if I will be able to explain what I mean but I will try my best.

When we complete the small blind, we are putting in one quarter (I think US folks call this one fourth) of a big bet. So if we make a big hand, say two pair or better and take down a decent sized pot lets say 10 big bets, we have ended up getting fourty times our original investment. This means we can complete with 63 suited from the SB an awful lot (unless we think the BB is likely to raise) and throw our hand away most of the time knowning that we dont have to win a decent pot very often for us to make a small profit with this hand.

Contrast this with say being in the big blind with 63 suited, and lets say a late position player open raises, and the SB cold calls we are now still getting 5 to 1, but our implied odds are only half what they were in the previous case. So lets say we decided to call and again make a big hand and win 10 big bets, but this time we had to put in half a big bet pre flop, and so we are now getting twenty times our original investment which is half of what we were getting in the previous example.

I hope I have made it clear what I am trying to say, if not please ask.

11:30~ you talk about completing with small suited gappers. Oink talks about completing any two suited getting 5 to 1. Now, obviously he is going to play that hand a lot more optimally than you (AR) or I could at our stage of poker development, but it is worth noting that we have really good implied odds here.

We are rarely going to put in our completion, flop a 3, and feel like we HAVE to get to showdown against a bet and a raise. it just doesnt work that way.
What we do get to do is put in 25 cents and pitch when we wiff, or, when we flop apair+draw, a FD, 2pair, trips, etc etc, we get to win significantly more than 5x what we originally put in to see the hand.

I feel like that is perhaps the most important part of why we complete these hands, rather than fold them. and why playing 63s is far superior to 63o even though the hotcold equity only changes by 1 or 2%.

oh em gee pyg/ade I have been having the exact same preflop problems (ie playing too tight, not getting it in with more than my fair share) it's nice to see things being spelled out mathmetically. I'm going over some of my hands right now and identifying spots where I can open up. So yeah. THANKS!

oh, and if ade can pull off the river sexy, then yes she def needs a new coach, as her skills have far surpassed yours.

"Only a master of evil, Darth!"

but I like my Pyg coach he's very gentle!

oh em gee pyg/ade I have been having the exact same preflop problems (ie playing too tight, not getting it in with more than my fair share) it's nice to see things being spelled out mathmetically. I'm going over some of my hands right now and identifying spots where I can open up. So yeah. THANKS!

Glad I'm not the only one with exotic leaks

High-five on the most comprehensive SB instruction I have seen, especially at these low levels verse limpers. Bravo.

Yeah, we need to turbo-muck that QTs in the BB verse a raise and reraise. We are out of position and dominated by a gigantic part of both villains' range. Since there are only 2 other opponents, giving us reduced odds (verses 3+), our biggest concern is RIO from domination, imo. I probably only play KQs/JJ and up in that spot because of the initial UTG raise.

99 at 47:00. Board is 553J8
Let's say the guy to your right here happened to be a TAG, having opened raised and you 3-bet. On this board, he's going to get to SD with A-high a ton. Hearts missed and there is only 1 broadway card present. Once you open your 3-betting range from the CO, this will become even more true as they try and combat your wider range.
just thoughts.

Not sure I got the Price is Right reference, other than it looked like the two avatars had made their bids in the showcase showdown?

For the QQ8 - J - 7 board, I have a question for Adri. What is the weakest hand you would value bet this river with?

For the 7 2 hand, I think you have the worst possible holding to raise the flop with, because you are neither bluffing nor are you really valueraising (opponent's call with worse not withstanding). You probably don't come across this a lot in your games, but as you move up, you'll find more aggro players that love to bet-bet-bet with air-air-air and you need to learn how to induce them to keep bluffing. This is a perfect hand to do so, because it's not strong to raise for value and get calls from worse, and yet your happy if your opponent keeps betting with worse, especially because he'll often only have 4 outs as he did this time because of your flush draw. Given how small the pot is to start with (one big bet), isn't it fantastic if an opponent will keep betting with 4 outs when you have a 14 out redraw even if he does get lucky and hit his hand? Rather than trying to "protect" that one big bet, isn't it better to let your opponent bet mutliple big bets with absolutely nothing and collect the vast majority of the time he doesn't hit anything? And also lose less those times he does happen to have K2 or A4?

screenshot

27 at 1:25:00. Board is AK235
Villain open limps in SB, we check. He donks flop, we raise...

Pygmy, I love the discussion here on playing against a donker. In my experience, there are 2 types of donkers: those that can b/f the flop and those that can't. The guys that can't b/f the flop also almost always fire the turn barrel with air if we just-call the flop. It shows they are less sophisticed (not reading boards as well, don't understand ranges, etc).

Against these unsophisticed guys, I think waiting until the turn on tons of boards is +EV. For instance, raising this flop as a pure bluff isn't as good because he will not immediately fold. However, if we wait until the turn with a huge range, including Ax, FD, QJ, stuff like suited wheel gutters that we peeled with this plan, he is going to have a really hard time. He's going to b/f a lot of stuff on the turn, we get the 2nd barrel bluff a lot, or max value for Ax. I would just call again w/ Kx and a lot of PP and play the 'call or bet when checked to' game. This seems to win the most/lose the least against these guys. With baby PPs, I've been considering a FSDR on the Turn here as well to protect against all 2-overs hands (like his shown Q9o) from seeing the river.

Against donkers that will b/f or not always fire the turn with air, we should be bombing the flop with all of the above. The bluffs/semi-bluffs are cheaper and we move our value range to this street as well for balance.

These thoughts have worked very well for me against donkers. Also, if the table sees you do something 'funky' like wait till the turn with a FD and fire the river against this donker, they may make very poor assumptions of your play. Basically, you can tilt the table sometimes.

just thoughts.

BG

A4, board is 6824.
We spike our 4 and bet again in position.

This is a great bet for all the reasons discussed. I also wanted to mention that you have, like, zero chance of being c/r on this turn and board. Only 57 got there and villains are muuuch less likely to slowplay till the turn with a pair on this board OOP. In fact, he's usually losing money by doing so, so our knowledge of lines and equity should cut out strong hand immediately. This allows us to v-bet much more thinly because our risk of being raised is dramatically reduced. Just wanted to point out this concept.

If we are c/r, we have awesome equity and can easily call. Because of the above thinking, I would call down UI barring maybe a 7/9 non- river (6 cards). I think this polarizes his range and if we have any read that this isn't always the nuts, we do not want to fold the river on a brick since we can profitably get there with our equity street by street. (Thoughts on this?)

If he just calls the Turn, I wonder if we have a value bet on the river. I don't know if we win 50%+ of the time he calls. If the board pairs or hearts miss, A-high wants to SD more often. If like the 7 comes, nothing that we beat calls, I think, for example.

~1:32:30 Well, how about it?

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 Limit Hold'em - 6 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Pre Flop: (1.5 SB) Hero is MP with K K
1 fold, Hero raises, CO calls, 1 fold, SB calls, 1 fold

Flop: (7 SB) 7 J K (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets, CO calls, SB folds

Turn: (4.5 BB) 6 (2 players)
Hero bets, CO calls

River: (6.5 BB) K (2 players)
Hero...

Question is, what is CO just calling this turn with? Also, does this player v-bet the river well/thinly?
It looks like he is Jx/mid PP or straight-draw heavy here, so I say go for the c/r! lol.

No, she doesn't need a new coach.

For the QQ8 - J - 7 board, I have a question for Adri. What is the weakest hand you would value bet this river with?

J2/99

good video pygmyhero, I see some good spots that are gaps for me as well.. thanks!

xrosswind, liquid_quik, I 100% hear you on the 63s hand. I know this is a hand I have played before in these sorts of spots. I don't play it every time, but it's certainly not a turbo-muck for me either. I think I kind of intimated as much in the video.

I do feel that the line has to be drawn somewhere though, and I have no serious objections to Jess folding this. We're talking about pretty thin value with 63s here and I think there are other spots where our time is better spent right now.

For the QQ8 - J - 7 board, I have a question for Adri. What is the weakest hand you would value bet this river with?

I'll tell you what Rob would say: "Is it weird that I want to value bet pocket tens and check pocket nines?

Hey BG, good thoughts as usual. I'm not really sure if I have anything to add...

I will say I think the A4 is a check on the river UI as I see very little that we beat calling.

I'll tell you what Rob would say: "Is it weird that I want to value bet pocket tens and check pocket nines?

Heh, I think Adri basically nailed it. I'd probably go as low as to vbet A8.

The 72 hand and the raise on the flop, PH asks why would you raise the flop and I was thinking 'yeah for a free card ldo' but it wasn't even mentioned in the discussion... Don't we use this play anymore? Or is this only a full ring multiway pot thing?

speirs, when you're raising for a free card make sure you know if you're getting a free card or giving a free card.

*sigh* i feel dumber by the minute, i dont have a clue. Like giving a free card when villain has something like JT on a AK2 board?

Hi speirs, don't feel dumb! We're all here to learn. Besides, I only know this concept now because I've made this mistake many many times.

When you have the worst hand you are taking a free card. When you have the best hand you are GIVING a free card. Based on our read of the donker here I think that when the turn checks Jess is giving out a free card.

Does that clear it up?

Yes ok thanks, I'll try to recognize these spot when I'm playing.

Time Link to 01:03:17

Is it wrong to think that AJo is worth a 3bet preflop here, and gas the entire hand the way it runs out?