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

Great stuff as always

With the 9Jo hand, in the very beginning of the video.
What cards on the river would you not make this bluf with?

What 10 do you put him on? 10Q,10K, 10J?

With the 3 barreling with JQs, I was wondering. Why not just check it and give up? wait for a better spot?
Would that make a huge difference in winrate?
I def. see what you mean here with hands he could have, but for some reason I wonder what the point is in fighting for a pot that once wasn't really that big

Is there a difference in barreling at 2/4 and at lower stakes?

With the AA vs 108s, would you take this same line against a nit? since the change is bigger they have a set here?

I found it really helpful that you show passive lines and where they are suitable. I think it is easy to lose out value because we are taught that aggression is good (which it obviously is). But playing rope-a-dope against someone elses aggression is a form of aggression, if it makes sense.

its just a bit to bad you can't really aply what Dj Sensei does in his vids, (atleast not at lower stakes)
because, yeah, against players who can actually fold everything makes perfect sense.
If you do this at 25nl/50nl people just call you with bottom pair because you could have AK

+

Dj Sensei is a great handreader, every time I watch the vids I starting to call down light because I think I make a great read, but nah, the guy just has a full house lol

I am just miss-aplying everything Dj Sensei says in this serie for some reason

With the 9Jo hand, in the very beginning of the video.
What cards on the river would you not make this bluf with?

What 10 do you put him on? 10Q,10K, 10J?

With the 3 barreling with JQs, I was wondering. Why not just check it and give up? wait for a better spot?
Would that make a huge difference in winrate?
I def. see what you mean here with hands he could have, but for some reason I wonder what the point is in fighting for a pot that once wasn't really that big

Is there a difference in barreling at 2/4 and at lower stakes?

With the AA vs 108s, would you take this same line against a nit? since the change is bigger they have a set here?

Hi Snappie,

It will be easier and faster to get replies if you added time-stamps or better yet, time-links to the hands you have questions about. Please watch this video on how to use the new Flash Player: http://www.deucescracked.com/videos/866-Using-the-Flash-Video-Player

This should enhance your video watching experience, especially when you have questions and have to make notes.

-Joe

thanks! I will do that

its just a bit to bad you can't really aply what Dj Sensei does in his vids, (atleast not at lower stakes)
because, yeah, against players who can actually fold everything makes perfect sense.
If you do this at 25nl/50nl people just call you with bottom pair because you could have AK

+

Dj Sensei is a great handreader, every time I watch the vids I starting to call down light because I think I make a great read, but nah, the guy just has a full house lol

I am just miss-aplying everything Dj Sensei says in this serie for some reason

If anything I've found these players to be more bluffable (atleast the nitty regs). I haven't played 25NL/50NL in a while but judging by the "New Kid on the Block" series, there's still a ton of nitty regs down there. I see a lot of these guys at 100NL/200NL and they really do let you bluff them off their entire range if you're in a position to "look strong". The guys who are calling you down with bottom pair probably aren't nits, but fishy calling stations who don't need to be bluffed in order to turn a profit. I like to separate low stakes FR players into 4 categories: Fish, Short Stacks, Nits, and Aggro Regs. You can't bluff the first two. A lot of the hands he's showing are against thinking/somewhat aggro regs, which there aren't a lot of at 100NL (probably very few at 25NL but I can't say for sure). Try to apply his advice more towards exploiting the nitty regulars at these levels.

Don't take every play DJ makes to heart, in fact I haven't tried any one thing he's done specifically. Hearing the thought process of someone who typically plays in more aggressive games than FR and applying that aggression to FR ranges has been VERY helpful to my poker game. I think this series will also help me learn better from the 6-max videos.

Thanks DJ!

I think the main problem I have is the fact that I am not that good in hand reading as Dj Sensei is

For example in the hand where he has 10K, if I make that river call they just show me QK, JK or even AK
and I am just not sure if I was just coolerd, of I read his hand wrong

The same goes for the hand where he bets with J9 on the 10Q board, the A comes, he bets again, and the player calls again,
the river is a 2, and Dj Sensei is very much aware of the hands villian could have and he knows exactly what amount to bet to get the player of a weaker pair,
for some reason, when I try to aply that I get called down and loled @, because the guy can't fold his 99s

I understand that he is talking about the more thinking players, and you shouldn't bluff bad players or shortstackers,
but in my expierence, even the more thinking players really can't fold anything. They are just way to much in love with their hand because they finally get a hand after waiting for an hour

So yeah. I really like the thought process of Dj Sensei, and in all spots he points out I say: Wow, thats great thinking, damn.. never thought of that

But it seems like his "to nit or not to nit" and "Freestyle" (fr episodes) are way more usefull to me since I am not that good of a hand reader as he is

And this comments are not ment to say I don't like this serie.
I just have a very hard time adepting it in my own play

Creative lines are really interesting to see, but I think I sometimes become over-creative for some reason

With the 9Jo hand, in the very beginning of the video.
What cards on the river would you not make this bluf with?

I'd probably give up the J9 bluff on a T or club. I don't see any difference between the tens in his range.

What 10 do you put him on? 10Q,10K, 10J?

They're all the same.

With the 3 barreling with JQs, I was wondering. Why not just check it and give up? wait for a better spot?
Would that make a huge difference in winrate?
I def. see what you mean here with hands he could have, but for some reason I wonder what the point is in fighting for a pot that once wasn't really that big

Doesn't matter how big the pot used to be, matters how big it is right now. And I keep barreling because I think its profitable to do so.

Is there a difference in barreling at 2/4 and at lower stakes?

Probably. I'm sure there are plenty of viable targets at all stakes though. They're called 'nits'.

With the AA vs 108s, would you take this same line against a nit? since the change is bigger they have a set here?

I'm almost never folding once I start c/c-ing with aces there.

The biggest winners with more then 50.000 hands in my HEM DB are all players that play like 16/12 with a good aggression. I have not a single player that plays 22/17 game that beats the game with such a high winrate.

How come?

in the first hand of the video isn't there a lot of value to betting the turn? We charge draws, and will often still get called by worse pkt pairs that expect that we are two barreling to rep the A.

maybe this is something that only works for me because I run at 25/18/6 at FR, but I definitely value bet this turn, and then probably c/c a lot of rivers if a blank hits.

The biggest winners with more then 50.000 hands in my HEM DB are all players that play like 16/12 with a good aggression. I have not a single player that plays 22/17 game that beats the game with such a high winrate.

How come?

I 16-table and play 25/18/6 and have one of the top 3 winrates at 2/4FR on FTP this year. Over 250k hands I'm running 3.25ptbb/100. I'm actually more surprised when I see someone playing 15/12 that has a very good winrate as I feel like they must be passing up countless profitable spots. The guys that play that tight and still have a great winrate I feel like really play well postflop.

I 16-table and play 25/18/6 and have one of the top 3 winrates at 2/4FR on FTP this year. Over 250k hands I'm running 3.25ptbb/100. I'm actually more surprised when I see someone playing 15/12 that has a very good winrate as I feel like they must be passing up countless profitable spots. The guys that play that tight and still have a great winrate I feel like really play well postflop.

You want to coach?

Thanks for the responses DJ Sensei. I hope you are not thinking I am bashing on you by expressing my doubts about how profitable it would be at lower stakes

I am just pointing out that I am just not nearly as good as you, and when I try to aply what you say to my own game, I make a lot of mistakes by miss-aplying

About the J9 hand, why are all the 10s the same to you?
What if the river is a J? Isn't it more likely he has 2 pair now?

The biggest winners with more then 50.000 hands in my HEM DB are all players that play like 16/12 with a good aggression. I have not a single player that plays 22/17 game that beats the game with such a high winrate.

How come?

What stakes?

I suspect that poor postflop skills and not making the proper adjustments to your opponents adjustments to you are primarily to blame, but also the kind of player who could sustain such stats and win a lot probably has moved up, while the 16/12 grinders are content to win solidly at their existing stakes.

I 16-table and play 25/18/6 and have one of the top 3 winrates at 2/4FR on FTP this year. Over 250k hands I'm running 3.25ptbb/100. I'm actually more surprised when I see someone playing 15/12 that has a very good winrate as I feel like they must be passing up countless profitable spots. The guys that play that tight and still have a great winrate I feel like really play well postflop.

I'm going to have to go ahead and call this bluff.

There's no way you're playing 25/18 filtered to nine handed play. You have to be starting a lot of tables etc. to get numbers like this if you are actually winning at the winrate you have described.

What stakes?

I suspect that poor postflop skills and not making the proper adjustments to your opponents adjustments to you are primarily to blame, but also the kind of player who could sustain such stats and win a lot probably has moved up, while the 16/12 grinders are content to win solidly at their existing stakes.

FTP NL200 and NL400 over the last 3-4 month. All big names in my DB are quite "tight" players focusing on isolating the limpers and weaker players.

I think you have to be an extremely good poker player to loose up at those limits. 22/17 is really hard to play. There are so many professional short stackers that jump over your open raises as they ever have a equity edge against your raise, the slightly tighter players will 3bet you in all possible sports, etc.

I guess you have to develop this skills when you play NL600+ and you should most definitely play some 6max and HU to improve your hand reading skills before you do that, but until then you can stay pretty tight aggessiveand do your thing.

Thanks for the responses DJ Sensei. I hope you are not thinking I am bashing on you by expressing my doubts about how profitable it would be at lower stakes

I am just pointing out that I am just not nearly as good as you, and when I try to aply what you say to my own game, I make a lot of mistakes by miss-aplying

About the J9 hand, why are all the 10s the same to you?
What if the river is a J? Isn't it more likely he has 2 pair now?

Keyfact for the lower stakes imho is that you will have way less thinking players. You cannot make moves and expect them to understand your move or to understand what hand you are representing. I make a move like all 1000 hands, where the flop comes ugly and i call till the river, where flush and straight arrives and try to steal the pot - get called from bottom pair. Hmpf...

So better stick to the simple and straight forward play on the micros and small stakes imho. You can add some hands, some plays, some new lines with every limit you move up.

Yeh im really confused how DJ is playing at 23/18 or whatever or Jim is playing at 25/18 and winning at the rate they do. I play at 15/12-ish usually because otherwise you get punished by shortstacks big time. I guess on a table with no shortstacks you can open up to like 19/15 maybe, but going any looser than that seems like suicide unless everyone else REALLY sucks. I mean really the 23/18's that I see just get taken to the cleaners by the numerous shortstackers that I see in FTP 2/4 FR game. They open like KQo in like EP and then some shortie shoves and they fold. Over and over again. Or they get tilted and call and get shown AK or QQ or something.

50bb tables imo

its insane that there arent 50BB tables at 25nl and lower *sidenote*

I'm going to have to go ahead and call this bluff.

There's no way you're playing 25/18 filtered to nine handed play. You have to be starting a lot of tables etc. to get numbers like this if you are actually winning at the winrate you have described.

I can post a screen shot if you want me to. filtered for 9-handed my stats are 22.7/15.4/5.2. You're right that 25/18/6 includes HU and shorthanded play as I try to start at least 2 tables every session to get deep games going.

My winrate for 250k hands this year is 3.73ptbb/100 at 2/4FR though. And my average tables per session is right at 15.

can u share who u are on ftp

can u share who u are on ftp

themightyjim (kinda thought my DC name would give that away )

50bb tables imo

This unfortunately means playing "deep" tables only. If there are enough deep tables, which is not the case most of the times, you still have like no table selection options. Second, the fish play normal tables - if the fish or tourist wants to play for $100, he will sit down at the $100 table. If the fish wants to gamble with $200, he sits down at 1/2 or maybe at 5/10.

Probably the only way would be to start only deep tables yourself. Hoping that at first 2-3 fish will sit down.

@ themightyjim: no doubts in your words bit in my DB you have like 12k hands with 0.14 bb/100 and the AF is only around 2.7. From most of the regs I have 50-100k hands, so either you do not play that much these days or you play only a few tables?

This unfortunately means playing "deep" tables only. If there are enough deep tables, which is not the case most of the times, you still have like no table selection options. Second, the fish play normal tables - if the fish or tourist wants to play for $100, he will sit down at the $100 table. If the fish wants to gamble with $200, he sits down at 1/2 or maybe at 5/10.

Probably the only way would be to start only deep tables yourself. Hoping that at first 2-3 fish will sit down.

@ themightyjim: no doubts in your words bit in my DB you have like 12k hands with 0.14 bb/100 and the AF is only around 2.7. From most of the regs I have 50-100k hands, so either you do not play that much these days or you play only a few tables?

lol couldn't be a sample size issue also never made claims about my AF, but it is probably a bit lower than tighter regs. Simply put I can't play as aggro postflop because I will have the goods less so I can't just constantly be betting and raising and repping AA and KK.

seriously I can post a screen shot if you want or you can look me up at tableratings. Sort 2/4nl for this year, because I used to play 6max and TBH I think I have a ton of leaks in 6max so that is why I switched to FR in january. PTR lumps 6max and FR together and my 6max WR is lousy and that is why I switched.

but I feel like I really derailed the thread. The vids are awesome and we should be discussing them and not what my WR or stats are. The only reason I brought it up is because I'm always surprised that there aren't more regs playing like DJ suggest, and that most of the big winners in the 2/4FR games on FTP seem to all play a similar 15/12 pf style.

in the first hand of the video isn't there a lot of value to betting the turn? We charge draws, and will often still get called by worse pkt pairs that expect that we are two barreling to rep the A.

maybe this is something that only works for me because I run at 25/18/6 at FR, but I definitely value bet this turn, and then probably c/c a lot of rivers if a blank hits.

dj any chance you could address this when you get a chance? It is a spot I'm kind of wondering about, though I guess it could just be very villain dependent.

I really think that this series would have been better with a live video format.
I mean what does it help me to know how to play in certain spots with an aggressive image if I just don't have an aggressive image and don't know how to get one or just pick the wrong spots to establish an aggressive image?

still some great stuff in there

DJ

When you did your session review, you mentioned loss rates OOB being low at -7 sb -14 bb. What would you say are target loss rates and what are some things you can do to improve in this area?

in the first hand of the video isn't there a lot of value to betting the turn? We charge draws, and will often still get called by worse pkt pairs that expect that we are two barreling to rep the A.

maybe this is something that only works for me because I run at 25/18/6 at FR, but I definitely value bet this turn, and then probably c/c a lot of rivers if a blank hits.

There may well be value to betting the turn here, but I'm concerned that if we barrel the turn and get called that our river decisions will be quite difficult and we may well make a mistake whether we c/c or c/f, so overall I'd rather check there. If it was a K on the turn I'm probably always barreling for value though:
1) Most regs will call another barrel against me when I barrel a K since its an obvious scarecard, but since my range has more A's than K's in it, its an easier call for him. Q/J also works well imo.
2) there are very few K's in his range so I'm less concerned about valuecutting myself.

I really think that this series would have been better with a live video format.
I mean what does it help me to know how to play in certain spots with an aggressive image if I just don't have an aggressive image and don't know how to get one or just pick the wrong spots to establish an aggressive image?

still some great stuff in there

I'll definitely have at least one episode of live-play, maybe several. In general I'm not a huge fan of live FR videos because you need many tables to ensure that interesting things happen, but more tables is bad for videos generally. I'll probably play 6 tables and record the video and then go back and do audio afterwards, so I can speed up/pause the action as needed.

DJ

When you did your session review, you mentioned loss rates OOB being low at -7 sb -14 bb. What would you say are target loss rates and what are some things you can do to improve in this area?

I definitely think that -7 and -14 are pretty good numbers for the blinds, but I don't have any idea of what the average 'good' winrates are for those positions. I suspect I was running hot though.

My 3/6 winrates in the blinds are significantly worse, so I'll likely explore the reasons why in a later episode.

There may well be value to betting the turn here, but I'm concerned that if we barrel the turn and get called that our river decisions will be quite difficult and we may well make a mistake whether we c/c or c/f, so overall I'd rather check there. If it was a K on the turn I'm probably always barreling for value though:
1) Most regs will call another barrel against me when I barrel a K since its an obvious scarecard, but since my range has more A's than K's in it, its an easier call for him. Q/J also works well imo.
2) there are very few K's in his range so I'm less concerned about valuecutting myself.

this is great analysis. thanks so much for the answer.

Great series so far DJ!

how to set up HM to show FR stats by possition in main report like in your video? (as standard there are 6 seats)

how to set up HM to show FR stats by possition in main report like in your video? (as standard there are 6 seats)

http://www.holdemmanager.net/forum/showthread.php?t=311

http://www.holdemmanager.net/forum/showthread.php?t=311

thx

Time Link to 00:53:32

say turn comes 9c and he checks back and river comes 2c and he bets river can we call? also would it be bad to say bet river in this spot bc it would be basically bluffing?


also if turn does come a 5 of spades and he checks behind turn would we want to bet out there bc he is likely to fold more small pairs and things as he beats nothing now? So then we are winning the pot more bc we fold some part of his range by betting? or do u still think he will bet his bluffs after we check twice?

say turn comes 9c and he checks back and river comes 2c and he bets river can we call? also would it be bad to say bet river in this spot bc it would be basically bluffing?

A river bet would be bad. The only hands that we might get a good result against would be AQ/AK or perhaps a small pair that makes a tight fold. Otherwise he'll simply fold the hands we already beat or call the hands that we don't. As for check-calling, I think we can do so against most bad opponents who aren't great handreaders. Good opponents won't bluff there because they don't expect us to fold much, so if they bet its probably a thin valuebet with a mid pair of some sort.

also if turn does come a 5 of spades and he checks behind turn would we want to bet out there bc he is likely to fold more small pairs and things as he beats nothing now? So then we are winning the pot more bc we fold some part of his range by betting? or do u still think he will bet his bluffs after we check twice?

I do like betting river more if the turn brings something scary, so he has a reason to fold more good hands. I'd probably consider c/r turn as well, since I expect him to be barreling as a bluff (even with small pairs) more often.