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

Good discussion as always!

OT: I'm not jealous at all guys, not at all... I enjoy freezing my swedish ass off 6 months a year...

Good stuff, quality was a lot better so no probs there.

Another great vid.

Question:

Toward the end of the vid when we have AJ in sb vs co raiser with shorter stack (around 45bbs?) it seems a weird spot to 3bt and get called and have the flop come down 8-high... I find that in these spots our opp can play prefectly post-flop; ie- wait for a safe flop & get it in especially since he has so much of his stack committed. With AA and the like its great, but with hands even as strong as AK it seems to be a very awkward spot where, essentially, we're risking our opp's whole stack size while he's only risking the RR size (he can F ugly flops). In spots like those I feel if we flop good we can get his $$ anyways by flatting so its best to just do that.

What do you think?

Baluga video = auto 5 stars!
'nuff said imo!


LE (after seeing it all): Great discussion + funny as hell, I wish I could give this 6 stars lol

Another great vid.

Question:

Toward the end of the vid when we have AJ in sb vs co raiser with shorter stack (around 45bbs?) it seems a weird spot to 3bt and get called and have the flop come down 8-high... I find that in these spots our opp can play prefectly post-flop; ie- wait for a safe flop & get it in especially since he has so much of his stack committed. With AA and the like its great, but with hands even as strong as AK it seems to be a very awkward spot where, essentially, we're risking our opp's whole stack size while he's only risking the RR size (he can F ugly flops). In spots like those I feel if we flop good we can get his $$ anyways by flatting so its best to just do that.

What do you think?

well, if he's going to fold flops often then reraising is obviously great. im more ocncerned about him playing closer to push-fold preflop, which obviously isnt awesome for us.

But yes, in the video I'm pretty sure I recommend flatting in a spot like that, allows him to get the money in badly a lot more often postflop.

Andrew

good video!
But Fullring is mehhh.. :-(

Baluga, 5 stars as always.
Full Ring really sux though.

Yes, nobody should watch this because it's full ring. Nobody at all. Just ignore it.

Seriously, people. If Baluga made a video about ping-pong it would probably help your poker game more than a 6max video by almost anyone else.

From those of us that play both 6max and full-ring, thanks for continuing to show both of them in the series.

If Baluga made a video about ping-pong it would probably help your poker game more than a 6max video by almost anyone else.

Awesome.....

excellent vid as always, keep up the good work!

To u guys complaining of FR, one of the points of the video is precisely that full ring is not that différent than 6max in a lot of situations. FR context almost never applies in the discussions in that vid.

About domination, whitelime brought up a good point in one of his lime-aid series : if you got like say KJ vs opponent's KQ, the odds of a K flopping are pretty much the same as flopping a set, and even then you won't automatically stack off, so there is defenitely more to consider than the supposed strength of our cards in those 3bet spots.

BW, I'd actually like to hear you talk more about blinds vs btn situations. I heard you say quite a few times now that you "don't mind calling from the BB vs a btn raise" like you said here with the A5s hand. I guess here the point is that the btn is a nit so he probably folds or raise but never calls which makes the play ok, but I'm not sure I got this right. Let's say we face a reg, I wonder if flatting from the blinds is ever a good play regardless of our holding... What should I consider in the BB vs a regular btn opener with 89s? 66? QTo? A7s? I myself pretty much always end up 3betting/cbetting them and I guess that's a leak, I'd really like to have your thoughts on this.

woot! baluga + kai = pokergasm

Seriously, people. If Baluga made a video about ping-pong it would probably help your poker game more than a 6max video by almost anyone else.

<3

hey baluga, what if I have AJ and a 12/42 raises in front of me, what do I do?!

18 minutes in and we've called CO raise OTB with AJo. Flop is 68Q rainbow and you say villain is unlikely to double barrel light here as it would be really bad on this board.

Why is it bad to double barrell on?

18 minutes in and we've called CO raise OTB with AJo. Flop is 68Q rainbow and you say villain is unlikely to double barrel light here as it would be really bad on this board.

Why is it bad to double barrell on?

a few reasons.
1) the board is dry, and thus slowplaying is possible from the caller (sets and 2 pair).
2) the board has a high card, and thus A) the c-bettor is unlikely to either suckout vs a Q or to hit a scare card on the turn. If the board was 9 hi instead, it's different.
3) a Q makes up a large portion of the callers range, and nobody ever folds a good top pair.

Andrew

zangdar,

that discussion is actually really really long, which is partially the reason I've kept it out of videos in general. It also relies upon a ton of other theory concepts in order to be used successfully, theory concepts which are difficult and that I'd like to be sure people know before I go into depth.

basically, I will keep talking about playing from the blinds, but I'm making a conscious effort to not teach things that I think will lose you more money than will make you at this stage.

Andrew

If Baluga made a video about ping-pong

Baluga ping-pong vid = meh
Baluga BEER-PONG vid = nutz

Great video!
Cool to hear another Kai too , not too many of us around.

I have been on and off with 1/2 FR lately, so hopefully I will digest these thoughts and go on a huge 20BI upswing

Baluga ping-pong vid = meh
Baluga BEER-PONG vid = nutz

lol, I actually considered editing my post to change it to say 'beer pong' right after I submitted it.

Always GREAT to see another video from Baluga. I know that are many 6max'ers who hate to see the FR vids but as a player who has been grinding out at FR for several years, I LOVE IT!!! I've been trying to play some 6 max and have honestly been playing poorly, but with Baluga's insight, have been able to open up my game SO much more and now feel much more comfortable playing vs the other grinders instead of having to simply share the fish. Please keep your vids coming, whether FR or 6 max because we can all learn something from your great insight. Loving this series!

In the T9s hand where we over limp on the button behind 2 short stacks, what do you think about making a really small raise, even a min-raise? I find doing this against bad players with suited cards and small pairs is quite profitable since we sweeten the pot but keep it small enough that the hand is easy to play post-flop in position. It is exploitable, but I don't think it matters against weak-passive players too much.

Great vid again. the only criticism I can think of is that the 5 minutes you spend on every video talking about the downsides of stats could probably be better spent since I think we all understand your thoughts on this topic very well.

tyty

Seriously, people. If Baluga made a video about ping-pong it would probably help your poker game more than a 6max video by almost anyone else.

From those of us that play both 6max and full-ring, thanks for continuing to show both of them in the series.

so true.
great video as always andrew!

a few reasons.
1) the board is dry, and thus slowplaying is possible from the caller (sets and 2 pair).
2) the board has a high card, and thus A) the c-bettor is unlikely to either suckout vs a Q or to hit a scare card on the turn. If the board was 9 hi instead, it's different.
3) a Q makes up a large portion of the callers range, and nobody ever folds a good top pair.

Andrew

Wether or not a board texture is bad to double barrel depends on the preflop caller's tendencies and the board texture. This board texture is bad to c-bet against most players if we are not willing to fire a second barrel. The preflop caller has a strong-weak range on the turn.

When the preflop caller is bluff raising the turn a fair amount (and we are checking on many turn cards for equity protection) we should fire fewer double barrels.

When the preflop caller is a set mining little devil and is calling with a strong-weak range with an overweight of strong hands it is a bad board texture to double barrel.

In most other cases it is a check-fold or double barrel texture.

Calling or 3-betting a hand
When a hand has little value against the PFR range in a single raised pot a hand becomes 3-bet or fold. Against a nit it's a fold. Against a TAG range in early position I lean towards 3-betting. Against a wider range it's a call.

When we are IP and 3-bet AJ, KJ it is normally as a bluff against a tight range.

Against players who call to many 3-bet OOP and fish we can 3-bet the hands for value and/or isolation.

Against a wider range KJ, AJ has too much value in single raised pots to be turned into a bluff - unless the LAG or LP players defends too light OOP against 3-bets.

Obv. the value of the hands in single raised pots drops with squeezers in the blinds. But don't turn KJ, AJ into a bluff against a player with a wide range unless you know that he is calling 3-bets light.

excellent vid as always, keep up the good work!

To u guys complaining of FR, one of the points of the video is precisely that full ring is not that différent than 6max in a lot of situations. FR context almost never applies in the discussions in that vid.

About domination, whitelime brought up a good point in one of his lime-aid series : if you got like say KJ vs opponent's KQ, the odds of a K flopping are pretty much the same as flopping a set, and even then you won't automatically stack off, so there is defenitely more to consider than the supposed strength of our cards in those 3bet spots.

BW, I'd actually like to hear you talk more about blinds vs btn situations. I heard you say quite a few times now that you "don't mind calling from the BB vs a btn raise" like you said here with the A5s hand. I guess here the point is that the btn is a nit so he probably folds or raise but never calls which makes the play ok, but I'm not sure I got this right. Let's say we face a reg, I wonder if flatting from the blinds is ever a good play regardless of our holding... What should I consider in the BB vs a regular btn opener with 89s? 66? QTo? A7s? I myself pretty much always end up 3betting/cbetting them and I guess that's a leak, I'd really like to have your thoughts on this.

Against a wide range we can't play fit or fold. If we are happy to put the preflop raiser under a lot of pressure or bluff catch very light we can call with more hands in the blinds.

Just close your eyes and imagine that you are the preflop raise and that the preflop caller has a 30% range. Finding the right mix of strategies depends on how the preflop raiser uses his position. Most of the time they have no idea what to do.

Calling with a lot of hands from the blinds is more effective at lower stakes than at higher stakes. Because the players at lower stakes are easier to read and use their position poorly. Obv. it requires that you know what you are doing and understand how to exploit the preflop raiser.

I agree with Andrew that it is a little too complex for a single post. But it is something that every poker player who is serious about his game should master and practice.

~24 minutes when we've got the option in the BB with Kx, how does the fact that we're 200bb deep change the situation, if at all?

While it appears the limper is probably limping the weaker part of his range here, and that may indicate some poor play, he also will have position on us should he continue and it seems he's not entirely terrible from what information is available.

Thanks for showing some FR, please don't listen to the 6-max only people.

Wether or not a board texture is bad to double barrel depends on the preflop caller's tendencies and the board texture. This board texture is bad to c-bet against most players if we are not willing to fire a second barrel. The preflop caller has a strong-weak range on the turn.

When the preflop caller is bluff raising the turn a fair amount (and we are checking on many turn cards for equity protection) we should fire fewer double barrels.

When the preflop caller is a set mining little devil and is calling with a strong-weak range with an overweight of strong hands it is a bad board texture to double barrel.

In most other cases it is a check-fold or double barrel texture.

wat in the heck is a strong-weak range

i also disagree with c/f this flop, this is a great flop to c-bet and we even have some equity as well.
this is a fine flop to c-bet and give up on unhelpful turns.

and obv the player type is important, but that wasn't the question I was asked
Andrew

wat in the heck is a strong-weak range

Ooh, I know this one now.

It means that his range consists of strong made hands and weak made hands, but no air. Like if a guy is set-mining with pocket pairs, and he calls your cbet on the flop - his range consists of sets and second-pair hands like 66 on 952 or 88 on K32. But he doesn't have any complete junk in his range because he wouldn't have called the flop with, say, an underpair to the board like 44 on QT7.

Ooh, I know this one now.

It means that his range consists of strong made hands and weak made hands, but no air. Like if a guy is set-mining with pocket pairs, and he calls your cbet on the flop - his range consists of sets and second-pair hands like 66 on 952 or 88 on K32. But he doesn't have any complete junk in his range because he wouldn't have called the flop with, say, an underpair.

And so on a board like the one being discussed, I think it was Q86r, someone with a strong-weak range is going to have their range weighted more towards the strong hands than the weak; there just aren't many weak made hands that he can have on that board.

(This whole tangent is assuming a lot about the player type though)

I suck a lot less now at poker.

Awesome vid.

Ooh, I know this one now.

It means that his range consists of strong made hands and weak made hands, but no air. Like if a guy is set-mining with pocket pairs, and he calls your cbet on the flop - his range consists of sets and second-pair hands like 66 on 952 or 88 on K32. But he doesn't have any complete junk in his range because he wouldn't have called the flop with, say, an underpair to the board like 44 on QT7.

If that is the definition, why does improva say that the pre-flop caller has a strong-weak range on the turn when it's somewhat likely that he floats the flop with air/a high hands?

Refer to 21:10 where Baluga gets into game theory a bit with how to effectively compete against a weak and tight crowd. Reminds me of Charles Bukowski and his chonicles of being at the track. To misquote Bukowski,

the crowd must always lose. Given that the crowd is always wrong, figure out what the popular play is and don't do it.

Great content.

May be my mp4 download, but I got a real rough, tinny audio from Kai's feed. Is that just me? Baluga is crystal clear.

Quick question re. short stack shove threshold (see "Professional NLHE", Flynn, et al, p142-163) and not bloating the preflop pot. At 31:20, the 9Ts on the button w/ two short stacked (30BB) folks limped immediately ahead of you. With a $10 pot they already best be thinking about getting all in and coming up with a plan.

Do I really want to raise here with five people still in the pot?

Thanks for showing some FR, please don't listen to the 6-max only people.

+1

FR is the most underrepresented form of contemporary Hold 'em on our training site. Full ring is played in every card room in every casino on earth. It also is played all over the Internet.

I applaud your effort to provide full-ring content.

Quick question re. short stack shove threshold (see "Professional NLHE", Flynn, et al, p142-163) and not bloating the preflop pot. At 31:20, the 9Ts on the button w/ two short stacked (30BB) folks limped immediately ahead of you. With a $10 pot they already best be thinking about getting all in and coming up with a plan.

Do I really want to raise here with five people still in the pot?

this is why i recommend raising smaller than normal. isolate and collect dead money.
i also say that i dont hate his limp either.

and its my pleasure to put forth FR content. i find it to be interesting.

Andrew

Just posting this here because it's the latest video (haven't watched yet), but in E2 there were some audio problems. If Baluga and the other person would both just individualy record their microphone on their own systems, rather than the video recorder recording skype, the DC editors can put the audio files together under the video and it will sound crystal clear, even if skype was acting up during the actual recording.

good discussion as always.

minor question on the AJ hand (on Q 8 6), where you compared raising v floating. U said that with KJ, we'd be more inclined to raise since we are good less often. My first thought was, 'why does this matter?', if our plan w/ AJ is just to bet turn anyway when checked to. Would make sense to me if we were planning to showdown the AJ, but we are betting to fold AK, 55... Therefore the added showdown value of AJ doesn't seem to factor into the decision here. Thoughts?


**Also, left a long comment after episode 1- would love to hear a response!!

Good stuff!

great FR content please do more

I got a question:

If you play LAG in a FR game, what would your range be to raise from EP, MP and LP?

I don't mean to isolate, but when you are the first to enter the pot

I got a question:

If you play LAG in a FR game, what would your range be to raise from EP, MP and LP?

I don't mean to isolate, but when you are the first to enter the pot

but even when im the first to enter a pot, im still isolating...

Andrew

good discussion as always.

minor question on the AJ hand (on Q 8 6), where you compared raising v floating. U said that with KJ, we'd be more inclined to raise since we are good less often. My first thought was, 'why does this matter?', if our plan w/ AJ is just to bet turn anyway when checked to. Would make sense to me if we were planning to showdown the AJ, but we are betting to fold AK, 55... Therefore the added showdown value of AJ doesn't seem to factor into the decision here. Thoughts?


**Also, left a long comment after episode 1- would love to hear a response!!

Good stuff!

it does in the event that we decide not to bet the turn, which might happen for a variety of reasons, or if he bets the turn again but we pick up equity and call another street.

that's a really bad answer but im exhausted, ill try to look at this later.

Andrew

ps: tired andrew thinks you might be right regarding these exact two hands, but the principle is still right

Time Link to 00:33:37

Great video so far!

Could you explaine this quote a bit more: "the smaller he bets the more you should call, the bigger he bets the more you should raise".

To what situations does this apply?