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

wtf are you doing 3-betting this big, 15 to 62, 12 to 60 seriously? with those kind of sizing I assume ur only 4-bet size is a 100bb shove!

Feels Good to wake up and watch a brand new BW vid !!

wtf are you doing 3-betting this big, 15 to 62, 12 to 60 seriously? with those kind of sizing I assume ur only 4-bet size is a 100bb shove!

What you talkin about Willis? $60 is 10 bb's

more midstakes on stars, please

wtf are you doing 3-betting this big, 15 to 62, 12 to 60 seriously? with those kind of sizing I assume ur only 4-bet size is a 100bb shove!

Yes you have a point. I have a feeling Andrew probably should have been 3-betting a little smaller, but its not a big mistake.

In particular, I feel like 3-betting minraise opens to large amounts is bad however, just because of the price your getting on the steal. If someone opens to $12, its ok to make it as small as $36.

Andrew had the 3bet fever ! FYI the dude called pobolero at the table is a pretty successful player.

Man,i just love your style.It's a huge pleasure watching your videos!

Time Link to 00:45:10

Now thats gangsta

Time Link to 00:17:28

link to thread?

Time Link to 00:22:41

if you think he most likely has a hand that was drawing dead on the flop, why did you bet the river for value? what hands can he call with that wouldnt bet themselves?

link to thread?

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/56/medium-stakes-pl-nl/1knl-call-not-spot-vs-tough-reg-940791/

Time Link to 00:23:54

why is bluff raising in that spot better than floating?

Time Link to 00:18:07

I think you are way underestimating the value of simply picking up the dead money here by 5 bet shoving. Sure, you may have his range crushed but it's pretty ambitious to think you are winning enough money postflop, out of position, without the initiative, with AK, to make flatting better than shoving. There's over $200 dead in the pot that you can win X% of the time right now by 5bet shoving, and if his range is real wide, then X is a pretty high number.

You really think you're profiting more than that by playing postflop OOP with AK?

Time Link to 00:36:01

is it important to consider that perhaps zyrak and katalio had some prior history/dynamic that warranted a 4b/5b shove with AJ, but perhaps he wouldnt do that against you?

more midstakes on stars, please

this +100000

if you think he most likely has a hand that was drawing dead on the flop, why did you bet the river for value? what hands can he call with that wouldnt bet themselves?

i thought about this after, and I think a check *might* be better. worth a thought.

Andrew

I think you are way underestimating the value of simply picking up the dead money here by 5 bet shoving. Sure, you may have his range crushed but it's pretty ambitious to think you are winning enough money postflop, out of position, without the initiative, with AK, to make flatting better than shoving. There's over $200 dead in the pot that you can win X% of the time right now by 5bet shoving, and if his range is real wide, then X is a pretty high number.

You really think you're profiting more than that by playing postflop OOP with AK?

its only dead money if he won't bluff at it/v-bet worse at it, and i am 99% confident im profiting more than that by playing postflop OOP with AK.

Andrew

is it important to consider that perhaps zyrak and katalio had some prior history/dynamic that warranted a 4b/5b shove with AJ, but perhaps he wouldnt do that against you?

absolutely worth considering, but given that i'm starting totally and absolutely readless, gotta go with what i see at the start

why is bluff raising in that spot better than floating?

why would floating be better than bluff raising?

Andrew

Don`t you think that Stars seem softer then Full Tilt? I`m playing lower stakes, but after what I saw I can tell the huge difference.

Do you ever take the skill level of your opponents into account when flatting 3/4-bets oop? It seems to me that your hand range is going to be extremely narrow/face-up when you do this, and that's going to cause a lot of headaches against a good player.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/56/medium-stakes-pl-nl/1knl-call-not-spot-vs-tough-reg-940791/

much appreciated

I love the tales at the beginning, one of my favourite parts Can you do 'stories with uncle balugawhale' series? lol

Do you ever take the skill level of your opponents into account when flatting 3/4-bets oop? It seems to me that your hand range is going to be extremely narrow/face-up when you do this, and that's going to cause a lot of headaches against a good player.

well, i actually think that most players auto-assume i will be shipping things like AA/KK/AK preflop, so they tend to get quite confused by my play and often make mistakes about my ranges.

however, yes, a player who recognizes that my range is strong there and gives up a lot, needs a different sort of adjustment

Andrew

Don`t you think that Stars seem softer then Full Tilt? I`m playing lower stakes, but after what I saw I can tell the huge difference.

one session isn't really enough to say, though i will say that the regulars seemed to be in my face a little bit less

why would floating be better than bluff raising?

Andrew

idk you cant really represent anything by bluff raising. your equity isnt great either way, but if you float you can see what he does on the turn before you put more money in the pot, so if his hand isnt dead you save yourself some money.

the A came off and like you said thats not a great card to fire, but what cards were you planning on firing the turn on?

Time Link to 00:23:30

Here, don't a lot of people think 'I'll call down on non-club turns', which would make this more of a bet? I'd imagine villain folds more of his range on this turn that you're giving him credit for.

Time Link to 00:27:11

Would you ever lead here? (PS - Sorry for all the questions, great vid )

idk you cant really represent anything by bluff raising. your equity isnt great either way, but if you float you can see what he does on the turn before you put more money in the pot, so if his hand isnt dead you save yourself some money.

the A came off and like you said thats not a great card to fire, but what cards were you planning on firing the turn on?

i probably wasn't

waiting to see what he does on the turn has a few drawbacks though:
1) he can improve
2) he can continue to stay aggressive with hands he would fold to a raise, both better and worse

Here, don't a lot of people think 'I'll call down on non-club turns', which would make this more of a bet? I'd imagine villain folds more of his range on this turn that you're giving him credit for.

now that i know how weak his range could be for flatting my flop raise, it probably was a bet, but I didn't know that at the time

Andrew

Time Link to 00:11:25

T3 AQo
The hands you mention, that you can get to fold with your cbet, is hands which you are already ahead.
To me it kinda seems (not totally) like the consequense of your cbet is that you get all worse hands to fold and all better hands to continue - most oftenly by calling your cbet.
Let me know if you disagree with the above.

Considering the fact that very many people decide to check back middle pair pocket pairs and so, if you check to them, how do you like to c/c or maybe even CRAI with these stacks on this flop?
Hell a lot of people would even check back weak Kx hands. Also, seeing that this guys is half stacked, minraises and so on, he will probably not be able to handread well enough to see that when you check this dry board it is not with the intention of giving up to a flopbet.

So my Q's boils down to:
1) Do you agree with my thoughts?
2) Do you like c/c og CRAI instead of cbetting?
3) When you cbet and get called - whats your plan on a blank turn?

Would you ever lead here? (PS - Sorry for all the questions, great vid )

im torn about it. hes not calling very much w things he's not betting with, and hes unlikely to raise a lot of strong 1-pair things. so nah i think i still like cr better

T3 AQo
The hands you mention, that you can get to fold with your cbet, is hands which you are already ahead.
To me it kinda seems (not totally) like the consequense of your cbet is that you get all worse hands to fold and all better hands to continue - most oftenly by calling your cbet.
Let me know if you disagree with the above.

Considering the fact that very many people decide to check back middle pair pocket pairs and so, if you check to them, how do you like og c/c og maybe even CRAI with these stacks on this flop?
Hell a lot of people would even check back weak Kx hands. Also, seeing that this guys is half stacked, minraises and so on, he will probably not be able to handread well enough to see that when you check this dry board it is not with the intention of giving up to a flopbet.

So my Q's boils down to:
1) Do you agree with my thoughts?
2) Do you like c/c og CRAI instead of cbetting?
3) When you cbet and get called - whats your plan on a blank turn?

he has a lot of small pair hands i think will fold, so i disagree i can't get better hands to fold.

a lot of his hands also have 2 live cards, which is significant enough equity for me to want to bluff him off it. c/c isn't great because passive guys don't bluff v often. i could c/f and try to get to show down, that's an option.

if im c-betting the flop because i expect him to fold small pairs, and he calls, then i give up, because he shouldnt have small pairs anymore and should have a much stronger range (i.e. fit or fold, he fit)

Andrew

i probably wasn't

2) he can continue to stay aggressive with hands he would fold to a raise, both better and worse

if you expect him to stay aggressive with worse hands (or maybe some non-made hands that have us high carded) on the turn, then does flatting the flop and raising the turn have any merit?

Time Link to 00:24:12

Dont you think you have to bluff the turn just for the fact that it is a club? If not, would you EVER bluff this turn when called?

What kind of flushdraws (XcXc) would you raise his flopcbet with on this flop, if any?

if you expect him to stay aggressive with worse hands (or maybe some non-made hands that have us high carded) on the turn, then does flatting the flop and raising the turn have any merit?

it does

Dont you think you have to bluff the turn just for the fact that it is a club? If not, would you EVER bluff this turn when called?

What kind of flushdraws (XcXc) would you raise his flopcbet with on this flop, if any?

after seeing that hand, ya, i would bluff a lot of turns now when im called. at the time, though, i imagined he'd fold just about everything that was weak and would be disinclined to fold just about anything after he called the flop.

EDIT: Also, now that i see he's flatting OOP with stuff like this and not reraising, I'd probably be inclined to raise any FD and barrel it on the turn.

Andrew
Andrew

Time Link to 00:54:57

t2-what value hands do you think he puts you on when you lead river?

Time Link to 00:56:55

cant he have AK and 89? so cant he have a lot more value combos than it seems like? JJ-1 combo, 66-3 combos, TT-1 combo, QQ-3 combos, AJ-6 combos, QT-4 combos, QJ-6 combos, AK/89-28 combos, so 52 combos of value hands. also sometimes AA and KK going for thin value (since it seems like a bad bluff spot, he can expect to get looked up a bit lighter and therefore value bet more thinly). do you think he will 3barrel with ~15 combos of total air when you seem to be in bluff catching mode?

Time Link to 00:58:07

what other hands do you have in your river calling range?

ATo bluffcatch on J6JTQ

Andrew : Having played this hand vs Biggie - where you might take a read that villian either v-bets thinly well or thinly badly but either way seeks thin value.
What are the merits to c/r the river?
Given that you can actually have a good number of combos of boats
666 - 3 combos
JT - 6 combos
QJ - 6 combos

And even if it is not a specific good spot - is this the type of read which might incline you to turn bluff-catchers into bluffs in future?
What are some other micro-reads would you need to supplement very thin -value bettor to incline you to look for spots of turning made hands into bluffs?

Also
Good to hear you with an upbeat mood and an upswing.
Please post a garph

Good luck and have a happy holidays.

Digger.

Also
Good to hear you with an upbeat mood and an upswing.
Please post a garph

Good luck and have a happy holidays.

Digger.

+1

Time Link to 00:42:13

t2 - what better hands in your cbetting range would QJ or QT be folding out if it fired the river?

Time Link to 00:45:02

I think it's somewhat common for people to be making a reraise vs a cbettor when they have a marginal pair on a board exactly like this when they're in position. I think the line of thought is that: 1) he's getting value from your draws, 2) stopping you from barreling cards future streets with so many cards he'd have to fold against, 3) he can manage a cheap showdown by being able to check the turn back.

Personally I don't agree with this line of thinking b/c I think it's based on making his hand easier to play rather than what's most profitable. Everything you call his RR with after betting into 2ppl has him crushed or is doing very well. I don't see it working against any1 more than once though. You can easily adjust against him now.

What do you think about these "blocking" reraises in position? Since in this case he did get to showdown presumably much cheaper than he would have. I see people doing this really often in low stakes b/c ppl misunderstand whether they're vbetting/bluffing etc.

after seeing that hand, ya, i would bluff a lot of turns now when im called. at the time, though, i imagined he'd fold just about everything that was weak and would be disinclined to fold just about anything after he called the flop.

EDIT: Also, now that i see he's flatting OOP with stuff like this and not reraising, I'd probably be inclined to raise any FD and barrel it on the turn.

Andrew
Andrew

Which turncards would you bluff when called? To me it seems, that if you dont even bluff the Ac that completes FDs, you dont ever bluff the turn.

JT on 557
I mean, I think the flopraise is fine (altho your image was very LAGGY), but there's just not a lot of good turns we can barrel?

Andrew, you should check out this article imo:
http://www.deucescracked.com/articles/382-3-betting-is-Overrated

Can you not laugh in the videos very annoying

Time Link to 00:57:45

The A10 call is one I would consider to be pretty damn terrrible.

Even if ur assumptions of him not Vbetting anything but a boat on this river, which btw is totally off. There is very few hands hes actually going to/need to bluff. Every single gutshot and open ender got there. While he might not valuebet all of them, it brings the range of hands he can bluff with on this river down a ton.

So Assuming hes not some crazy maniac barreling this turn w no hand no draw. The only realistic hand he can barrel on this river is XcXc that has no pair or straights. They also musta been strong enough to open into an aggresive 3better in SB, so that kills some 82cc combos right there.

Given the fact that he might put u on a Jack or even a slowplayed boat, I think would lead him away from bluffing the few combos of bluffs he has by the river.

Cliff notes: Its very possible you NEVER EVER call and win on the river. The money would probably be better spent getting urself a PA. (which btw is also a huge waste of money)

its only dead money if he won't bluff at it/v-bet worse at it, and i am 99% confident im profiting more than that by playing postflop OOP with AK.

Andrew

Yes, and you also get outflopped a decent % of the time, and lose the pot postflop. Sure sometimes, you end up calling down some bluffs, and sometimes you stack a worse Ax that was folding pre on A-high boards, but sometimes you only win one c-bet from him, or worse still, lose the pot. If you think he has tons of air pre then shoving wins you roughly $200 a huge percentage of the time.

There's a reason that 5bet shoving the AK is the default play here used by 99% of regs, so to say that you're 99% sure you're profiting more by flatting pre seems absurd.

Yes, and you also get outflopped a decent % of the time, and lose the pot postflop. Sure sometimes, you end up calling down some bluffs, and sometimes you stack a worse Ax that was folding pre on A-high boards, but sometimes you only win one c-bet from him, or worse still, lose the pot. If you think he has tons of air pre then shoving wins you roughly $200 a huge percentage of the time.

There's a reason that 5bet shoving the AK is the default play here used by 99% of regs, so to say that you're 99% sure you're profiting more by flatting pre seems absurd.

I think we're going to have to agree to disagree

Andrew

The A10 call is one I would consider to be pretty damn terrrible.

Even if ur assumptions of him not Vbetting anything but a boat on this river, which btw is totally off. There is very few hands hes actually going to/need to bluff. Every single gutshot and open ender got there. While he might not valuebet all of them, it brings the range of hands he can bluff with on this river down a ton.

So Assuming hes not some crazy maniac barreling this turn w no hand no draw. The only realistic hand he can barrel on this river is XcXc that has no pair or straights. They also musta been strong enough to open into an aggresive 3better in SB, so that kills some 82cc combos right there.

Given the fact that he might put u on a Jack or even a slowplayed boat, I think would lead him away from bluffing the few combos of bluffs he has by the river.

Cliff notes: Its very possible you NEVER EVER call and win on the river. The money would probably be better spent getting urself a PA. (which btw is also a huge waste of money)

clearly my assumption about him not v-betting the riv was wrong (tho it won't be for most players i believe). but clearly he has a lot of bluff hands in his turn range, and if I believe he's not v-betting them on the river when they hit but bluffing them when they miss, then its fine imo.

Andrew

ATo bluffcatch on J6JTQ

Andrew : Having played this hand vs Biggie - where you might take a read that villian either v-bets thinly well or thinly badly but either way seeks thin value.
What are the merits to c/r the river?
Given that you can actually have a good number of combos of boats
666 - 3 combos
JT - 6 combos
QJ - 6 combos

And even if it is not a specific good spot - is this the type of read which might incline you to turn bluff-catchers into bluffs in future?
What are some other micro-reads would you need to supplement very thin -value bettor to incline you to look for spots of turning made hands into bluffs?

No love for this question?

No love for this question?

the thinner he v-bets, and if he can fold, then yes, this would be a pretty good spot to c/r as a bluff. I'm honestly quite surprised that he v-bets KQ there.

Andrew

Yes, and you also get outflopped a decent % of the time, and lose the pot postflop. Sure sometimes, you end up calling down some bluffs, and sometimes you stack a worse Ax that was folding pre on A-high boards, but sometimes you only win one c-bet from him, or worse still, lose the pot. If you think he has tons of air pre then shoving wins you roughly $200 a huge percentage of the time.

There's a reason that 5bet shoving the AK is the default play here used by 99% of regs, so to say that you're 99% sure you're profiting more by flatting pre seems absurd.

I completely agree with this, saying u're 99% sure to make more profit by just flatting AK pf seems ridiculous to me. 2/3rd of the times you flop overcards and are definitely loosing money on average here so you have to win a lot when you do flop a pair to compensate.
There IS alot of value in making him fold 97s, Q8s or whatever crap he might have when u "only" hold AK and can pick a pretty big pot without showdown.

cant he have AK and 89? so cant he have a lot more value combos than it seems like? JJ-1 combo, 66-3 combos, TT-1 combo, QQ-3 combos, AJ-6 combos, QT-4 combos, QJ-6 combos, AK/89-28 combos, so 52 combos of value hands. also sometimes AA and KK going for thin value (since it seems like a bad bluff spot, he can expect to get looked up a bit lighter and therefore value bet more thinly). do you think he will 3barrel with ~15 combos of total air when you seem to be in bluff catching mode?

doesnt he have a lot more combos in his value range than boats, like the ones listed above?

doesnt he have a lot more combos in his value range than boats, like the ones listed above?

so basically, now that i see him going for thin value with KQ, the way I play is totally different, but at the time, I didn't think he'd go with KQ, QT, AA, etc. and that he would 3barrel with 15 combos of air.

but clearly, against this villain, i was wrong

I completely agree with this, saying u're 99% sure to make more profit by just flatting AK pf seems ridiculous to me. 2/3rd of the times you flop overcards and are definitely loosing money on average here so you have to win a lot when you do flop a pair to compensate.
There IS alot of value in making him fold 97s, Q8s or whatever crap he might have when u "only" hold AK and can pick a pretty big pot without showdown.

again, it depends, but i believe this argument was made and discussed in previous videos/threads.

in short, many people 4-bet hands with blockers, against which, dry boards are still fine for us.

Andrew

when you flat AK oop to a 4bet, generally what's your plan on a low dry board, like say something like T62rb? i.e. what do you do if he cbets and what do you do if he checks back?

thanks for answering my previous questions and thanks for this one in advance, Andrew.

Hello there.

First of all. Great episode as usual. I do have one question though. You never seem to "backplay" your very strong hands to induce light squeezes -how come? I do wonder why people never seem to squeeze against your calls, when your flatting range preflop almost always is small pp's, sc's and big cards like KJs and stuff like that. Can you explain why your flatting range, imho, doesn't seem to be very balanced?

Hello there.

First of all. Great episode as usual. I do have one question though. You never seem to "backplay" your very strong hands to induce light squeezes -how come? I do wonder why people never seem to squeeze against your calls, when your flatting range preflop almost always is small pp's, sc's and big cards like KJs and stuff like that. Can you explain why your flatting range, imho, doesn't seem to be very balanced?

i'm not sure i agree with you.. often when a regular opens and i have squeezy guys in the blinds i will often be flatting things like AK/AQ/big pairs.

when you flat AK oop to a 4bet, generally what's your plan on a low dry board, like say something like T62rb? i.e. what do you do if he cbets and what do you do if he checks back?

thanks for answering my previous questions and thanks for this one in advance, Andrew.

this one depends a lot a lot, but if my preflop assumptions were right, im definitely not c/f ever, and am probably going c/c c/c on a lot of turn cards, probably all.

if he checks back, ill probably continue the check game, but vs some ill turn my hand into a bluff OR valuebet my A hi.

Andrew

I think it's somewhat common for people to be making a reraise vs a cbettor when they have a marginal pair on a board exactly like this when they're in position. I think the line of thought is that: 1) he's getting value from your draws, 2) stopping you from barreling cards future streets with so many cards he'd have to fold against, 3) he can manage a cheap showdown by being able to check the turn back.

Personally I don't agree with this line of thinking b/c I think it's based on making his hand easier to play rather than what's most profitable. Everything you call his RR with after betting into 2ppl has him crushed or is doing very well. I don't see it working against any1 more than once though. You can easily adjust against him now.

What do you think about these "blocking" reraises in position? Since in this case he did get to showdown presumably much cheaper than he would have. I see people doing this really often in low stakes b/c ppl misunderstand whether they're vbetting/bluffing etc.

Hey Andrew, you prob missed this 1 so I'm just hoping you catch it this time. Thanks for replying to so many posts so frequently.

Hey Andrew, you prob missed this 1 so I'm just hoping you catch it this time. Thanks for replying to so many posts so frequently.

there are specific times where I like it as a 2-way bet, but I dislike it intensely in this spot (can't value-bet, can't bluff).

Andrew

mbn 3betting 90%

Time Link to 00:42:26

Argument for betting the river with A2,

1) he was snap-calling your bets as if to say 'F U STOP RUNNING OVER ME I'M CALLING YOU DOWN WEAK'
2) if he has squadoosh at least you're keeping them guessing when he folds and you muck

anyway bro, you're educating and inspiring me with these videos.

Time Link to 00:44:25

i totally thought pocket q's too before the hand turned up after his riv check. thought process being he would have definitely bet on that ace if he had a set hoping you caught that ace. checking that ace was a big mistake and i think you might have been able to bet for value, at least on the riv, since the river ace makes it almost impossible for him to have aces there in case he was setting a trap with that turn check, which isnt as likely because it doesnt hold as much value as betting would.

Time Link to 00:08:15

Baluga you 3B 62dolars vs a 13.50 open. Can you please elaborate a bit on the sizing, I learned leverage from you in your famous book easy game. But imo over 5 times for a 3B is a bit too much. Please let me know Thanks.

Time Link to 00:49:09

Just wanted to say this is the first real vid I have watched of yours and Im impressed, not only are you a genious at teaching and playing poker, but you are really funny. Deadly combo....So happy I found this site..Ill stop sucking now and just watch and Learn

Whats up with your 3bet and 4bet sizing? Isnt that way too big. You explain the concept of leverage in your on book, dont you?

Whats up with your 3bet and 4bet sizing? Isnt that way too big. You explain the concept of leverage in your on book, dont you?

there are a few game dynamic reasons to make larger 3bets. i believe the 4bet size isnt too big (about 24bb as a standard given 100bb stacks i believe? maybe a little smaller in position?). however, 3bet sizing depends a lot on what your opponents general strategies are. if we're planning on having them fold to a ton of 3bets and only play premiums, going larger can help drive them towards that. just a thought.

Andrew

Do you really think the bigger 3bet sizing increases your FE so much? I mean, your opponents obv see that you are 3betting a lot, so it prolly only increases your FE for about 5-10%, but with a smaller leverage point you would be risking a third less agressive dead money in some of the hands

In one of the hands... I dont remember it exactly... but I think you minraise the button, he makes it about 50 and you make it 144. You could also make it 120 which would IMO increase your FE, because villain is less likely to 5bet shove light w less dead money in the pot.

This is getting good. Your the man B.W but bronto has a point.

If I notice your 3 betting enough for me to 4bet bluff profitably, I see the larger 3b size and lick my lips!

Love your videos. Read your book first, this series makes a lot more sense afterwards.

Time Link to 00:22:52

what would be the plan if you completely miss?, you need to fold on alot of boards so dosent shipping it protect your preflop equity and is more plus EV