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

ty ty ty, been waiting for this

sosososo good! definitely worth the wait

So sick. Really good stuff guys.

definitely worth the wait

100%

<3 baluga vids, easily the best vids out. Keep making 'em please

baluga rox!

Time Link to 00:46:42

You argue whether to raise or flat with our draw and come to the conclusion that this hand doesn't have enough value to just call. But a cbet by UTG on this board shows a lot of strength. Aren't we concerned with getting blown off our equity if he decided to b/3b. I think that since we have a backdoor flush draw there is enough value in calling and we can still take it away later if he shows weakness.

Baluga,
2 things:

1.) It's about the KJ/A8 hand where you say that you'd call w/ KJ, b/c you can flop v. big vs. his monsters. I don't think that this is a huge factor when deciding to call or raise for the simple reason that you get your hand only 8% of the time (since he'll 2nd barrel most of the time you won't see the river). Actually it's much less likely since he flops a monster only let's say 3%, which means that this scenario happens only about 0,25% of the time (this is really rarely or am i missing sth.?)
However on the other side he can often 2nd barrel/ c/r our turn float or suck out on us (although i think this should even out with us sucking out on him, should it?).....
So if you compare the percentages of us getting his stack (less than 1%) with the percentage we have to give up, b/c he puts us on a float (which is def. much much much more in a relative sense) it becomes a better play to raise him. (assuming we have no history which is imo one of the most important points when deciding between a flop raise and a float)
Another point you're imo missing is that when you raise the flop and he flats his range is much more polarized to strong hands, which means that you're percentage of getting good implied odds (assuming he's not 3bet bluffing us) goes way up..


2.) The 9Ts hand which you prefer to raise on the flop:
V. raises from EP and we flat IP and the board comes down super wet and V. cbets strong. Don't we have to assume that villain's hand is super strong since he knows that this board hits our range v. hard and that we will very often play back on him on these boards?
Shouldn't we just give up since we know that?

Further, let's assume that he will also cbet his overcards, isn't flatting a better option since he most likely won't fire again on a drawy board like that and we easily can take the pot from him on the turn? (I think when we float we can play much better vs. his range since it's a spot where he has to reveal it - by raising the flop his range is still his opening range...-). Again, I think there're much more important factors than the implied odds think you talked about).



These're my thoughts. Like to hear your opinion on that!

You argue whether to raise or flat with our draw and come to the conclusion that this hand doesn't have enough value to just call. But a cbet by UTG on this board shows a lot of strength. Aren't we concerned with getting blown off our equity if he decided to b/3b. I think that since we have a backdoor flush draw there is enough value in calling and we can still take it away later if he shows weakness.

I mean, this is the argument. Without a 4-straight on the board, our straight draw has a lot more value, and thus we're concerned about getting blown off our equity a lot more, and thus we float. With the 4-straight, we might not have enough equity (or we might! it depends, as you said, on the strength of the c-bet). If somebody c-bets all the time, then we should probably raise there, but if they c/f often on that type of board, then yes, calling is better.

Andrew

I mean, this is the argument. Without a 4-straight on the board, our straight draw has a lot more value, and thus we're concerned about getting blown off our equity a lot more, and thus we float. With the 4-straight, we might not have enough equity (or we might! it depends, as you said, on the strength of the c-bet). If somebody c-bets all the time, then we should probably raise there, but if they c/f often on that type of board, then yes, calling is better.

Andrew

of course we have to play back s.t. (and if we would here floating maybe better), but isn't this the wrong board. Isn't this the wrong board assuming what chosenone and I said?
btw: Like to hear your opinion on my post, too

About the K9 hand where we raise the flop and you say you prefer a flat, how much importance do you give to him being able to barrel us off on a lot of turns and the advantage of taking control over the hand and potentially getting him to fold a better hand on later streets, because I usually take the same line as hero here and you said it was a big mistake, I didnt really understand why flat is so much better. I mean you say we give us the chance to hit the nuts but that happend less than 10% of the time and the rest we just get barreled off or unable to credibly rep anything strong on later streets.

Also about the T8s hand where we float flop and bet turn, intuitivly I would also agree to bet smaller since we are trying to make him fold air/weak hands basicaly, but then I kinda thought that a small bet doesnt allow us to get the stacks in by the river, so against an observant opponent wouldnt it be a giveaway that we arent looking to stack off?
I mean it might be fps but I wonder how to balance this, do we bet big with our entire range or do we bet small there with our monsters too? or we just dont balance it ?

Good vid like always sirs, keep it up.

of course we have to play back s.t. (and if we would here floating maybe better), but isn't this the wrong board. Isn't this the wrong board assuming what chosenone and I said?
btw: Like to hear your opinion on my post, too

just read through your post cobby. i think you might have some things backwards.

We're rarely going to get his stack when we hit, yet he double barrel bluffs us all the time? Seems like, if we hit, we get money from all kinds of stuff (bluffs and monsters). More importantly, though, i dont think he's going to 2barrel us nearly as often as you seem to think.

i dealt with your T9s question in the post right before this.

Andrew

About the K9 hand where we raise the flop and you say you prefer a flat, how much importance do you give to him being able to barrel us off on a lot of turns and the advantage of taking control over the hand and potentially getting him to fold a better hand on later streets, because I usually take the same line as hero here and you said it was a big mistake, I didnt really understand why flat is so much better. I mean you say we give us the chance to hit the nuts but that happend less than 10% of the time and the rest we just get barreled off or unable to credibly rep anything strong on later streets.

Also about the T8s hand where we float flop and bet turn, intuitivly I would also agree to bet smaller since we are trying to make him fold air/weak hands basicaly, but then I kinda thought that a small bet doesnt allow us to get the stacks in by the river, so against an observant opponent wouldnt it be a giveaway that we arent looking to stack off?
I mean it might be fps but I wonder how to balance this, do we bet big with our entire range or do we bet small there with our monsters too? or we just dont balance it ?

Good vid like always sirs, keep it up.

is it not T9? You keep saying T8 in the vid, but its T9 on my screen

is it not T9? You keep saying T8 in the vid, but its T9 on my screen

They're talking about a "What If" scenario of having T8 instead of T9 on the Turn.

Yeah Im sorry i meant T8 ^^

Excellent video , 6 stars , sooo much content in this video , it was one of the best ive watched , maybe its cas i havent watched all that much mid stake videos but i really took alot from this , from double barreling , figureing out FE in DB spots , what flops to c/r , the check fold theory , blocking bets to differance between passive and agro dead money , thanks guys

Baluga. You are always talkin about that good regs dont call 3bets oop. What do good regs w/ KQ,TT and stuff, if they get 3bet all the time and are oop. Are they folding?
Btw: Im not sayin u are wrong, by all means. ^^ Im just wondering.

We're rarely going to get his stack when we hit, yet he double barrel bluffs us all the time? Seems like, if we hit, we get money from all kinds of stuff (bluffs and monsters). More importantly, though, i dont think he's going to 2barrel us nearly as often as you seem to think.

When he talked about 2ndbarrel I don't think he meant when the turn came J, but maybe turns like aces(planning 3barrel), spades. And if villain has hands like AK/AJ/KJ/J9, FDs or gutshots which made FD on turn - he's mos def going to barrel a blank turn a lot. Although, maybe some of this hands will 3b bluffs ontheflop off our equity, sometimes these hands will call and we can get them to fold later. Not saying raising flop is worse, i think you can do both, depending on villain/gameflow. If we have no history against villain? I think raising flop and maybe barrel will be best bc this will get tons of respect with no history. Still not sure, cause you will probably get respect of 2nd and 3rd barrels if you float on flop (but only when villain checks, maybe there was a plan for bluffing later, or were we folding all 2barrels on blank turns?)

What I'm saying is, if all we know about villain is that he is a 3/6 reg at ipoker, I think he will 2ndbarrel a lot more than you think

You are always talkin about that good regs dont call 3bets oop...

Heard this in another video as well, and you instantly assumed villain was a fish based on that. I must respectfully disagree, and I think a lot of winning mid stakes players would disagree about that assumption as well. Not saying that 4b or folding isn't better than calling OOP (with say hands like AJ/TT/KQ) but there will be a lot of good winning players with solid hand reading skills calling 3bets OOP at mid stakes these days.


Anyways, very good discussion and analysis in the video, keep up the good work!

Damn. Again that's my current target level to think on. 5 stars

KQ hand in the SB... Isnt it good to call sometimes, specially against good regs that 4bets alot...I mean, if u also call with small pocket pairs, its good to balance ur range... I see ppl making vids 3betting 22-77 all the time... Cant we have a calling range?? My opinion is to call A9-AJo+22-66 and KQ,KJ hands... Is that bad?