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Poker Video: No Limit Hold'Em by Grindcore (Micro/Small Stakes)

Finally! Most anticipated video ever xD

Time Link to 00:24:51

Wasn't this turn raise too big here considering he only had 40bb behind? He would fold his 9T to this sized raise and call something around $12 leaving around a 2/3 PSB behind?

Time Link to 00:16:17

You said that this is almost always a bluff. If that's the case why not just reraise him small here, to like 25-26 ?

Wasn't this turn raise too big here considering he only had 40bb behind? He would fold his 9T to this sized raise and call something around $12 leaving around a 2/3 PSB behind?

He won't fold T9, it's pair + OESD and he's a fish. If I put him on a naked bluffcatcher I'd have raised smaller to keep him in and set up another street of value, but on this board there were many pair+draws he could have so I went for max value.

You said that this is almost always a bluff. If that's the case why not just reraise him small here, to like 25-26 ?

Because I'm OOP and my hand has no potential. It's somewhat close. In position I'd click it back 100% of the time, but OOP I have less FE in my experience in these spots. If I could turn several backdoor draws I'd go for it so I can ship the turn when called if I pick up equity. There would be some merit in turning off auto muck and showing him a rebluff with 63o though, and this might have been the best play, but I didn't think of it at the table. He either folds and we show and he becomes very stackable, or he wins the hand and gets deeper which increases our winrate in future hands on that table.

Time Link to 00:14:54

Can you expand a bit on why you like XC here on table 3?

Can you expand a bit on why you like XC here on table 3?

Both are fine. x/c induces bluffs and denies him a cbet raise. Lots of people barrel very polarized against pfr c/c's, especially on overcards, so you can often safely call 3 streets, and only when they check you're in "real trouble".

Time Link to 00:57:25

Isn't it still far better to pass here even if we're a bit of an EV favorite? It seems like you're risking more than you stand to gain. As in, if you lose you're not deep with the fish any more. But if you win, you're just getting money which you're a big favorite to win in the next couple orbits anyway, and again you're not deep with the fish anymore. This call is almost certainly +EV for this hand, but whether we win or lose we're taking a lot of EV from future hands. So "session EV" wise a fold might actually be more +EV than a call.

Time Link to 00:25:47

Bottom right with the 66; I assume you gona c/c the turn if he bets bigger aswell?

Such an epic episode, the hands against the maniac was so funny, I was laughing all the way

Isn't it still far better to pass here even if we're a bit of an EV favorite? It seems like you're risking more than you stand to gain. As in, if you lose you're not deep with the fish any more. But if you win, you're just getting money which you're a big favorite to win in the next couple orbits anyway, and again you're not deep with the fish anymore. This call is almost certainly +EV for this hand, but whether we win or lose we're taking a lot of EV from future hands. So "session EV" wise a fold might actually be more +EV than a call.

It was the end of the session, I was quitting, so I could go for max EV in the hand. Earlier in the session I get in a similar spot with 55 where it's +EV to call but I fold.

Bottom right with the 66; I assume you gona c/c the turn if he bets bigger aswell?

He seemed tight passive, so when he's putting in money I'll probably fold bluffcatchers.

I have just runned the video and I love the intro part ! Didn't really know how to perceive Turn C-Bet stat and as you said, it should be related not only to the Flop C-Bet stat, but also to his VPIP/PFR, excellent idea

Time Link to 00:10:48

Hi Grindcore!
Bottom right
Villain's range is probably not v strong in this spot because he only called half stack's (probably fishy) open so I expect him to 3bet JJ+ for value. That being said TT is probably top of his range, he could also have some suited broadway like KQs. I agree that this board is not especially good to take him off TT, because he might ship over your cbet putting you on a draw.

However let's assume that a board would be 992tt or other kind of dry flop. Would you consider barreling here? There are many regulars who are willing to call one bet or two and fold to further agression even on cards that do not change texture of a board so if you want to bluff here I guess that would be this type of opponents. My coach adviced me to pay attention to this type of players because it's profitable to pressure them by barreling. In this case this type of player on 992 would call one bet with TT and fold on a blank turn to a shove. What kind of note would you need to have on somebody to make this kind of play apart of course that he can float light etc. My coach advised me to make notes on regs who fold turns or rivers on cards that could only help his range. Which kind of evidence would you need to consider barreling on 992 board?

Time Link to 00:46:33

Do you have a calling range v this guy? You 3bet air like Q7o, premiums, AQo for value, and here KJo.

It was actually quite encouraging to see Grindcore get a bit owned by the maniac (and variance) toward the beginning of the match, and then deduce a winning strategy and make more +EV moves vs him later in the match (even though the fish kept sucked out). I've been in these spots before and have been lost, then I seem to spew a bunch and leave the table. Good to see there's a way to turn that around if you stick around and adjust your strategy.

Very nice vid!

I have just runned the video and I love the intro part ! Didn't really know how to perceive Turn C-Bet stat and as you said, it should be related not only to the Flop C-Bet stat, but also to his VPIP/PFR, excellent idea

And even if an opponent is only cbetting 50%, his cbetting range ain't necessarily stronger. He could be checking made hands for example, which is much more common at midstakes, especially at 5/10. It's best to just think about ranges yourself and not blindly look at numbers.

Do you have a calling range v this guy? You 3bet air like Q7o, premiums, AQo for value, and here KJo.

I'll flat hands that aren't strong enough to 3b for value. Small PPs, suited connecters etc.

Hi Grindcore!
Bottom right
Villain's range is probably not v strong in this spot because he only called half stack's (probably fishy) open so I expect him to 3bet JJ+ for value. That being said TT is probably top of his range, he could also have some suited broadway like KQs. I agree that this board is not especially good to take him off TT, because he might ship over your cbet putting you on a draw.

However let's assume that a board would be 992tt or other kind of dry flop. Would you consider barreling here? There are many regulars who are willing to call one bet or two and fold to further agression even on cards that do not change texture of a board so if you want to bluff here I guess that would be this type of opponents. My coach adviced me to pay attention to this type of players because it's profitable to pressure them by barreling. In this case this type of player on 992 would call one bet with TT and fold on a blank turn to a shove. What kind of note would you need to have on somebody to make this kind of play apart of course that he can float light etc. My coach advised me to make notes on regs who fold turns or rivers on cards that could only help his range. Which kind of evidence would you need to consider barreling on 992 board?

992s is kinda the same as 864s vs a tight reg as they usually don't setmine or call with suited connecters. They'll have the same amount of FDs and same amount of overpairs and same amount of missed overs. But since he's unknown, there's a chance he's calling wider pre and thus 864s is horrible and 992 is better. I'd probably fire once or c/c on 992 and c/f this flop 100% of the time.

I'm not considering barreling with AK on a board like 992 as it beats air and he folds when I hit. I'd rather barrel with a 3b bluff that can turn some backdoor draws. Say I have Q8s on 992 with a backdoor FD, I can bet any backdoor FD and any Q+ (maybe check Q). If I feel AK has no showdownvalue then I'll obviously play it as air like Q2s.

In general I don't ever try barreling unknowns off of hands with strong absolute value (like a mid PP on 992r), especially not at these stakes unless the board runs out well for it. If I 3barrel AA on bricks and he folded river, I'll make some note about him being capable of folding bluffcatchers though, and adjust accordingly.

Just finished the video.

What I liked:
- loose isolating the fish
- excellent hero call on the river with T7s, although it was risky

What I didn't like:
- TOO loose isolating the fish OOP with total trash hands
- hero call with KJo @ 188 BB deep, you need 45.7% equity to call him profitably
I know what he was doing, but it might be possible, that with deep stacks his jamming range will be slightly narrower

This call was definitely super close, but you know, this is all about being 0.5-1.5% favourite in equity. Providing that you have a big bankroll, this may be okay.


Definitely the best part out of these 3 videos. Good job Grindcore !

Regards,
Mati

I'll flat hands that aren't strong enough to 3b for value. Small PPs, suited connecters etc.

With the range you give him in Stove, something like 77-55 is better than KJo. Wouldn't it be better to flat KJ types than set mine? And 44 is pretty close to the same value.
Also, since the guy's shoving so wide, wouldn't be more likely he shoves his premiums as well rather than less?

With the range you give him in Stove, something like 77-55 is better than KJo. Wouldn't it be better to flat KJ types than set mine? And 44 is pretty close to the same value.
Also, since the guy's shoving so wide, wouldn't be more likely he shoves his premiums as well rather than less?

Sure, if I know he's gonna shove I'll 3bet small pairs, but I don't. Small pairs play horrible postflop OOP in 3b pots. KJo plays great.

What I didn't like:
- TOO loose isolating the fish OOP with total trash hands

I also don't like isolating fish TOO wide, as TOO implies it's -EV and I only like +EV lol. Timestamp? If I do something -EV for the sake of the video I always mention it, so if I didn't say anything it means I thought it was a profitable play.

Time Link to 00:19:42

"Oh, he got there? Didn't even notice."

I think this kind of mentality can help my game more than anything.

Time Link to 00:33:17

Hey Grindcore, could you explain your thoughts on the 76hh hand where you double barreled the turn and checked to c/ship the river? Thanks!

Time Link to 00:17:36

he also could turn sometimes a 7 or a weak T into a bluff here b/c his overall range in this hand is pretty strong.

Anyways,
tbh I don`t like his overbet there and I also would prefer to check there almost my whole range.

Hey Grindcore, could you explain your thoughts on the 76hh hand where you double barreled the turn and checked to c/ship the river? Thanks!

I barrel because I pick up equity and I likely fold out floats and 2nd turned 3rd pairs. On the river I can't really bluff as a lot of draws missed. That also means a lot of his draws missed that he could bluff with, + he might bet/fold some hands for value like TT 9T spades A9spades. I don't know if he's capable of folding those hands to a CRAI, but there's at least a chance he does + I'll get money out of his draws + a CRAI will be for only a little bit more so it has to work a low % of the time. If he calls my CRAI I also get a read on his bluffcatch tendencies when I get called by 9T or so, which allows me to make adjustments.

"Oh, he got there? Didn't even notice."

I think this kind of mentality can help my game more than anything.

Watch Tommy Angelo's series.

he also could turn sometimes a 7 or a weak T into a bluff here b/c his overall range in this hand is pretty strong.

Anyways,
tbh I don`t like his overbet there and I also would prefer to check there almost my whole range.

Those would be very unlikely hands for him to be flatting preflop, unless he drastically changed since the last time I played him.

"Oh, he got there? Didn't even notice."

I think this kind of mentality can help my game more than anything.

just watched this and had almost the same reaction. This dude is pure Zen...

Time Link to 00:27:37

I would have betted on the turn as well pretty small for thin Value/Protection, but a little bit bigger, so that he will make at least a small mistake with a FD for example -> 40% of the potsize would be here probably my bet b/c i think that then also every draw + also every weaker hand will call most of the time....

Time Link to 00:31:43

tbh this 2ndBarell seems to be not +ev b/c I think that Q improves his flopcallrange (KJ, J9, T9, JT,89, KQ, KT....).
With the history between you and him I would have the feeling and hence i would assume that he will not often fold a weak pair+str8draw vs. a 2ndBarell on the turn.
So there are imo too less hands which will fold here.

I would have betted on the turn as well pretty small for thin Value/Protection, but a little bit bigger, so that he will make at least a small mistake with a FD for example -> 40% of the potsize would be here probably my bet b/c i think that then also every draw + also every weaker hand will call most of the time....

If I'm targeting FDs in his range I should be betting like 75% pot as he's not folding. I was targeting his pure air with my bet, and then $2 is lots better than 40%. His check felt like air giving up, so I went for value vs air.

tbh this 2ndBarell seems to be not +ev b/c I think that Q improves his flopcallrange (KJ, J9, T9, JT,89, KQ, KT....).
With the history between you and him I would have the feeling and hence i would assume that he will not often fold a weak pair+str8draw vs. a 2ndBarell on the turn.
So there are imo too less hands which will fold here.

I know his turn calling range will be wide, which is why I'll shove lots of rivers. The K was just a horrible one to do it on as it gives him 2 pair or a straight often. I'm less afraid of his Ax becuase he's ~100 vpip which means each pair is equally likely while a 40 vpip fish would have Ax atleast 50% of the time on the turn. Betting is also good to not let him pot or something, so I get to realize my equity more often.

I know his turn calling range will be wide, which is why I'll shove lots of rivers. The K was just a horrible one to do it on as it gives him 2 pair or a straight often. I'm less afraid of his Ax becuase he's ~100 vpip which means each pair is equally likely while a 40 vpip fish would have Ax atleast 50% of the time on the turn. Betting is also good to not let him pot or something, so I get to realize my equity more often.

ah ok, when your plan was here to 3Barell on most rivers, then it is of course a good spot to do so b/c as you said,
his turncallrange is pretty weak so that he will not have often a strong hand on most rivers - just did not know that this was your plan^^

All I can say is Thank you for continuing to make videos. GC vids are at the top of the list for quality out of pretty much any coach any where, and this one was the most entertaining of the bunch due to the villains.

I was upset when the 5 counterfeited the river and I was only watching. Maybe I need to revisit the 8 fold path?

Time Link to 00:32:38

Hehe - this you have rly deserved

Time Link to 00:40:44

on the bottom right it seemed that the overbet was part of the reason for your call. If villain had bet a more standard amount like around 30 would that have changed this to a fold because that would go along more with the idea of a tpgk type hand?

on the bottom right it seemed that the overbet was part of the reason for your call. If villain had bet a more standard amount like around 30 would that have changed this to a fold because that would go along more with the idea of a tpgk type hand?

I look like I have a bluffcatcher and all draws missed, so he's probably not expecting me to fold to a normal bet. So when he bets the river I'm generally never bluffcatching and would probably fold QJ, maybe KJ. But when he insta jams it just doesn't add up and I have a fairly easy call with anything that beats a bluff.

Time Link to 00:11:44

On the bottom left when you raised with pocket 55's, after raising preflop, why did you check it down? Not a good flop to cbet? What about on the checked turn? Thank you

On the bottom left when you raised with pocket 55's, after raising preflop, why did you check it down? Not a good flop to cbet? What about on the checked turn? Thank you

Yeah the flop is not the greatest for cbetting. It'd likely be +EV to cbet, but that would be sloppy thinking. Checking is +EV too (open folding is neutral EV so checking is always +EV in any spot). In order to cbet, it has to be more +EV than checking, which isn't the case here I think.

If I cbet I'll likely 2 barrel a lot of overcards so I can get value/protection from draws and maybe bluff out 8x or so at the same time. With some better reads this might be better, but readless I prefer a check.

On the turn I could have bet for protection as he seemed to be done with the hand, but on the turn air has less equity against me than on the flop, and if I check it down I get to see what he calls me with from the SB, and get a read on his bluffing tendencies (or pot control/valuebetting tendencies if he actually has 9x).

Time Link to 00:39:05

Though the fish has a weaker Stacksize, I like here for sure the isosqz b/c he is not the initial openraiser -> If the opener would fold and the 40BB-Fish would just jam it, it would not suck b/c he would have 3betted often his toprange pre himself and so it would be often a "gamblejam" with a range against which your AJo perform very good.

But what would be preflop your line if the 40BB-Fish would have benn the opener and the coldcaller would be a TAG? -> Overcall?

Time Link to 00:43:26

In addition to your good explanations here, he also would not stab on the turn in a decent Frequency an Ace-high on there turn, but would have tried to check it down -> this makes the already clear call, even more easy.

Time Link to 00:44:59

like your idea here - it would be very interesting on the turn when the opener would have checked back and the fish would stab the turn.
B/c of your gained read that the fish has often air in his checkingrange n the flop, and mostly only madehands when he is donking,
would you consider a potential remove vs. a turnstab of the fish?

If not,
would it be maybe better to Semibluffdonk the flop if you would have the read that the fish would often stab the turn, when the Flop goes ch/ch?

Though the fish has a weaker Stacksize, I like here for sure the isosqz b/c he is not the initial openraiser -> If the opener would fold and the 40BB-Fish would just jam it, it would not suck b/c he would have 3betted often his toprange pre himself and so it would be often a "gamblejam" with a range against which your AJo perform very good.

But what would be preflop your line if the 40BB-Fish would have benn the opener and the coldcaller would be a TAG? -> Overcall?

Still easy valuesqueeze. The TAG is never strong or he'd have 3b the fish and AJ is definitely value3bettable against this guy.

like your idea here - it would be very interesting on the turn when the opener would have checked back and the fish would stab the turn.
B/c of your gained read that the fish has often air in his checkingrange n the flop, and mostly only madehands when he is donking,
would you consider a potential remove vs. a turnstab of the fish?

If not,
would it be maybe better to Semibluffdonk the flop if you would have the read that the fish would often stab the turn, when the Flop goes ch/ch?

Please mention table, hand, etc, and try to leave the timestamp at the exact time of the thing you're talking about, or even better, at the exact start of the hand you're talking about. I spend more time searching for the hands people are talking about than I spend making the videos. This goes to everyone, and I'll actually mention it in an upcoming DC short. It really makes my life a lot easier.

(Steppin Razor wrote)
With the range you give him in Stove, something like 77-55 is better than KJo. Wouldn't it be better to flat KJ types than set mine? And 44 is pretty close to the same value.
Also, since the guy's shoving so wide, wouldn't be more likely he shoves his premiums as well rather than less?

Sure, if I know he's gonna shove I'll 3bet small pairs, but I don't. Small pairs play horrible postflop OOP in 3b pots. KJo plays great.

Sorry, what I meant was not to include 77-55 into the 3bet range, but rather to move KJo into the flatting range with them, since they are similar in eq v his range.

[quote]Sure, if I know he's gonna shove I'll 3bet small pairs, but I don't. Small pairs play horrible postflop OOP in 3b pots. KJo plays great.[/quote]
Sorry, what I meant was not to include 77-55 into the 3bet range, but rather to move KJo into the flatting range with them, since they are similar in eq v his range.[/quote]

KJo plays great in 3bet pots, just like AK. They're big card hands. Vs a 90 vpip I'm gonna 3bet them both for value. Flatting KJo pre would be a huge mistake imo.

Please mention table, hand, etc, and try to leave the timestamp at the exact time of the thing you're talking about, or even better, at the exact start of the hand you're talking about. I spend more time searching for the hands people are talking about than I spend making the videos. This goes to everyone, and I'll actually mention it in an upcoming DC short. It really makes my life a lot easier.

Oh ok, I will try to improve here in the future, for sure - this I can promise (would be probably as producer also annoyed when I at first have to search for hands to which I wanna answer 100 hours -)^^

The Hand I was asking about has started at min. 44.40 and was on table 2 (Top right) - you had A2s.

Oh ok, I will try to improve here in the future, for sure - this I can promise (would be probably as producer also annoyed when I at first have to search for hands to which I wanna answer 100 hours -)^^

The Hand I was asking about has started at min. 44.40 and was on table 2 (Top right) - you had A2s.

Ah... Would depend on timing/size/turncard. If I felt he was bluffing I'd definitely shove. Probably call with a better kicker or any pair.

Loving this series, your attitude to running bad in this episode was fantastic, seriously need to get to that point myself instead of getting upset!
Very refreshing video and excellent explanations all the way through. Good job!

grindcore. First of all, thanks for doing the series. I love your vids overall, but there is a lot of dead time where you aren't saying anything. Have you ever considered getting a co-host on these? I think it might help if you had someone with you who does nothing but ask questions. It would be important that they provide absolutely no analysis ever to make sure none of your thoughts are drowned out.
Apologies if this has already been talked about.

grindcore. First of all, thanks for doing the series. I love your vids overall, but there is a lot of dead time where you aren't saying anything. Have you ever considered getting a co-host on these? I think it might help if you had someone with you who does nothing but ask questions. It would be important that they provide absolutely no analysis ever to make sure none of your thoughts are drowned out.
Apologies if this has already been talked about.

I'm pretty sure more people would object to this than there are people really wanting it. And I'm already distracted enough while I'm talking about hands as evident from all the silly preflop folds etc, so having someone pick my brains on top of that would severely deteriorate my play. This would also violate FTPs policy of 1 player per hand and I don't wanna risk having my account locked. But just count the amount of spots I get in per hour, then compare to any other video. Sure there are some dead stretches here and there but as a result of my style I get in way more interesting spots than the average video.

rename to lesson in spew

rename to lesson in spew

My spew happens to pay my rent. Instead of posting an useless comment like that, ask about particular hands with timestamps. I'll gladly discuss them with you.

Potentially stupid question, but what does "HAG" mean in your notes?

Hyper aggressive, it's somewhat commonly used I think. I sometimes also use LASP which is loose/spazzive, which I made up myself. It's for 40/5 type fish that are very aggro post flop.

Great video, my fav of the series so far.
I liked how you dont feel the need to try to comment on everything happening.
You brought up some very usefull stuff and your dynamic with fish was fairly epic.ty

o (open folding is neutral EV so checking is always +EV in any spot)..

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but it doesnt make sense to me. How is checking always +EV? I can imagine spots where its cant be +EV. If ive got 23o on 44443 board for example. Wouldnt the EV of a check just be the value of your hand against their range if it checked down? Like if I only ever play aces, when I check its going to be +EV, if I play 100% of my hands while they play a tighter range, then it should be -EV, since I will lose more than I win if the only action I take is checking.

nevermind, I realized the answer to my question. We arent losing money because we arent investing any, so its cant be -EV so the worst that can happen is win our equity share in the pot. So even in the extreme example there is still the rare occasion in which we chop which still results in positive gain.

I blame a 103 fever and the flu for my fuzzy thinking

Time Link to 00:32:13

The fish is just killing you, why you are playing like that against him? ty

The fish is just killing you, why you are playing like that against him? ty

I state my reasons during the video. I thought it was the most +EV thing to do at the time. Obviously when he keeps 4b jamming it's not +EV to 3b bluff him, but there was no way of knowing he was doing that. If he mostly folds or calls them OOP and fit/folds postflop, which is a very reasonable assumption, then 3b bluffing him is extremely profitable. A showdown with trash in a 3b pot also have huge implied EV for future hands, and variance is also good as I can reload my stack if I lose a pot, and I need to get deep with him. And because of my play against him at this point in the session, I ended up killing him later on in the video (in EV anyway ).

Keep an open mind. If you look at the 85o 3b and think to yourself "this is spew" from the start, because 3betting 85o vs fish is generally spew, then when he shoves over it you get a... What's the word. Something psychological, a bit like a self fulfilling prophecy but not quite. It's on the tip of my tongue! Ugh so tilted now haha. Anyway, lets say there's a 70% chance that a certain play in a weird spot is +EV only you don't know it, you think it's 20% or so. When the play ends up not working out because of variance, you're like "obviously..." while really it wasn't and it will hinder your growth as a player. Keeping an open mind and thinking everything through is extremely important if you want to improve.

Confirmation bias?

Yes!

Time Link to 00:46:55

This is really spewy imo. You seem to be 3betting this guy without really thinking what is going to happen. Calling a shove with KJo 180bbs deep is not something i would be advocating to players trying to learn to beat 100nl! If he is playing so bad as to make calling with that hand close then play tighter and wait for a decent hand to stack with instead of playing such a high variance style.

I'd like to make a wider point about this video being an example to micro stakes players about how to play more fundamentally solid poker in general. Often beginners are under the assumption that to become a better player it is basically down to one simple thing, such as 3bet lighter etc. To me, the example of trying to squeeze the crap out of fish is a really bad way to go about trying to improve as a player. Not to mention the fact that at higher limits, 3betting 19%+ and squeezing every other hand will get destroyed by competent players. Don't get me wrong, I think your analysis when in a hand is a good lesson in playing an aggressive style and maneuvering through marginal spots. However, I think your preflop style is seriously over-aggro.

Referring back to a previous post, Grindcore states that

"If he mostly folds or calls them OOP and fit/folds postflop, which is a very reasonable assumption, then 3b bluffing him is extremely profitable".

I have a few concerns with this. The fish is playing 90%+ of hands. He does not have any presumptions about how to play poker, he's just clicking buttons. Therefore to make any assumption about how he plays postflop is a dodgy assumption imo. Therefore this turns the basic strategy from watching him c/call pre c/fold post to having to play a 40bb pot with air most of the time vs a calling station. Not a very +EV situation to be in.

This is really spewy imo. You seem to be 3betting this guy without really thinking what is going to happen. Calling a shove with KJo 180bbs deep is not something i would be advocating to players trying to learn to beat 100nl! If he is playing so bad as to make calling with that hand close then play tighter and wait for a decent hand to stack with instead of playing such a high variance style.

I'm not gonna make incorrect folds because the viewers might end up spewing if I don't. Just because he's easy to beat doesn't mean beating him the easy way yields the highest EV. I go for max EV. I've actively discouraged microstakes players to watch my series on many occasions, if they watch it anyway and end up spewing it's their own responsibility. There are also plenty of other videos that teach you solid tag out there. It'd be a waste of my qualities if I start ABCing. The main goal of my videos is to open up the minds of the players that already have all the fundamentals down and are looking to expand beyond that.

I'd like to make a wider point about this video being an example to micro stakes players about how to play more fundamentally solid poker in general. Often beginners are under the assumption that to become a better player it is basically down to one simple thing, such as 3bet lighter etc. To me, the example of trying to squeeze the crap out of fish is a really bad way to go about trying to improve as a player. Not to mention the fact that at higher limits, 3betting 19%+ and squeezing every other hand will get destroyed by competent players. Don't get me wrong, I think your analysis when in a hand is a good lesson in playing an aggressive style and maneuvering through marginal spots. However, I think your preflop style is seriously over-aggro.

Referring back to a previous post, Grindcore states that

"If he mostly folds or calls them OOP and fit/folds postflop, which is a very reasonable assumption, then 3b bluffing him is extremely profitable".

I have a few concerns with this. The fish is playing 90%+ of hands. He does not have any presumptions about how to play poker, he's just clicking buttons. Therefore to make any assumption about how he plays postflop is a dodgy assumption imo. Therefore this turns the basic strategy from watching him c/call pre c/fold post to having to play a 40bb pot with air most of the time vs a calling station. Not a very +EV situation to be in.

Based on the info I had available, the assumption seemed very reasonable to me. I do what I think is the most +EV. The term over-aggression implies that it's too aggressive. The goal in the game is to make money, so over aggression would be -EV aggression. I don't do anything I think is -EV. Sometimes I make a splashy call to get in a spot for the video, but every time I do I clearly state this. If you don't hear me say that then the play you saw me make is the play I thought was best at the time.

Also, fish are predictable, though the randomness is higher than it is with regs. The randomness might lower the EV of hero-plays, but that doesn't automatically make them -EV. Because fish have such glaring leaks, you get in spots where a hero play is possible at a higher frequency against them. Sure it might go wrong, but that's no reason to not do it. Always go for max EV. Most of my herocalls/herofolds are vs fish because of the reads I get on them. Watch the thin red line episode 8.

Grindcore, I'd like to personally thank you for posting these. I've always been struggling with the lag game and I feel like you've showed me where a lot of my thought processes were lacking at the tables.

Im going to have to second that if the guy stacks off with 97o that I feel like I'm burning money by folding KJ in that position in the video preflop. That's probably one of the worser portions of fishes goofy range to be running into when we call.

Based on the info I had available, the assumption seemed very reasonable to me. I do what I think is the most +EV. The term over-aggression implies that it's too aggressive. The goal in the game is to make money, so over aggression would be -EV aggression. I don't do anything I think is -EV. Sometimes I make a splashy call to get in a spot for the video, but every time I do I clearly state this. If you don't hear me say that then the play you saw me make is the play I thought was best at the time.

Also, fish are predictable, though the randomness is higher than it is with regs. The randomness might lower the EV of hero-plays, but that doesn't automatically make them -EV. Because fish have such glaring leaks, you get in spots where a hero play is possible at a higher frequency against them. Sure it might go wrong, but that's no reason to not do it. Always go for max EV. Most of my herocalls/herofolds are vs fish because of the reads I get on them. Watch the thin red line episode 8.

I understand your justification for playing this way, but my point is that learning players may not fully understand when the important assumptions made in the play are operative for the play to be +EV. For example, would you be advocating a 25nl/50nl player to be squeezing 23s OOP? Even if all your assumptions apply, it is very close to being a losing play I would be inclined to believe. The number of times I have seen randoms limp shove or flat in spots which I would consider crazy far out way the small edge of taking it down preflop. To me, this style if you are competent will as you say be mostly profitable but if not will turn beginners into bad-aggro players for the other regs at the limit to feast apon!

I understand your justification for playing this way, but my point is that learning players may not fully understand when the important assumptions made in the play are operative for the play to be +EV. For example, would you be advocating a 25nl/50nl player to be squeezing 23s OOP? Even if all your assumptions apply, it is very close to being a losing play I would be inclined to believe. The number of times I have seen randoms limp shove or flat in spots which I would consider crazy far out way the small edge of taking it down preflop. To me, this style if you are competent will as you say be mostly profitable but if not will turn beginners into bad-aggro players for the other regs at the limit to feast apon!

I recommend microstakes players not even watching the videos because the stuff I do will most likely do harm instead of good to their game, and emphasized on the importance of just playing solid in the first NL50 episode of this series too

Time Link to 00:32:50

lmao

Time Link to 00:39:43

Table 1: KK

what would you do if vilain shoved over your cbet ? would you put him on an Ax and fold ? or more on a spazz and call him ?


Table 4: T7

What is your thought process behind the turn c/c ? Is it because of vilain's stats or its a type of play you also make vs TAG ? He bets pretty big on the turn, its not a signe of strenght ?

and for the river call, would you call if vilain didnt autoshove? I mean, did the timing tell is a huge calling factor here ?

Time Link to 00:42:59

Table 1: JJ

You said you checked back for pot control but since the guy is a fish, why not betting for value ? he could call with draws, smaller PP, A5, etc.

Table 1: KK

what would you do if vilain shoved over your cbet ? would you put him on an Ax and fold ? or more on a spazz and call him ?

I can't remember my reads on him anymore. I might be wrong but I don't think he has ever raised post flop? He has just been calling a lot, up to the point where I'd suspect him to even be floating with air. I'd probably fold when he shoves then, as when he's likely calling with air, the shove is more likely to be straight forward.

Table 4: T7

What is your thought process behind the turn c/c ? Is it because of vilain's stats or its a type of play you also make vs TAG ? He bets pretty big on the turn, its not a signe of strenght ?

and for the river call, would you call if vilain didnt autoshove? I mean, did the timing tell is a huge calling factor here ?

He seemed quite loose and he opened from the CO. He has tons of suited stuff in his range. There were lots and lots of draws possible on that board that he probably auto 2nd barrels, so my equity is quite good. The main reason for calling the river was his sizing, but the timing probably also played some part even though I didn't mention it. Regs almost never snap overbet shove for value as overbet shoving is an unusual play, and they'd need some time to think about the merit of it. A snapshove on the river is more likely to be an instinctive attempt at showing strength, meaning he's weak.

Table 1: JJ

You said you checked back for pot control but since the guy is a fish, why not betting for value ? he could call with draws, smaller PP, A5, etc.

But by checking I can induce bluffs. Since the board was big card baby baby, he's more likely to either have me beat, or have air. If it was big medium medium or something I'd be more inclined to cbet as there are likely more worse pairs and less air in his range. Another argument for checking is that I raised really large pre and thus his preflop callingrange is more likely to contain big cards and is thus even more hit/miss on a flop like this.

thx! great video so far! I really like it

Loved the video.A few questions:

1) At 14 min bottom left table A9s:You said that you would c/c a hand like back door fd.Why not c/r with it???

2) At 14 min top right table AKo:Why not 3bet pre??Especially since we have been playing agro.

3) At 27 min bottom left table TTid you bet so small on the turn and river to get value from lower pocket pairs???

4) At 33 min bottom right table 67s:Why did you plan on c/shoving the river???Because he can have missed flush draws???But he is a fish and could very well have hands like 89,A8 and even the backdoor flush got there.

5) At 37min top left table 97s hand:When are we calling the flop when there is already a bet and call???

Thanks in advance.

Loved the video.A few questions:

1) At 14 min bottom left table A9s:You said that you would c/c a hand like back door fd.Why not c/r with it???

2) At 14 min top right table AKo:Why not 3bet pre??Especially since we have been playing agro.

3) At 27 min bottom left table TTid you bet so small on the turn and river to get value from lower pocket pairs???

4) At 33 min bottom right table 67s:Why did you plan on c/shoving the river???Because he can have missed flush draws???But he is a fish and could very well have hands like 89,A8 and even the backdoor flush got there.

5) At 37min top left table 97s hand:When are we calling the flop when there is already a bet and call???

Thanks in advance.

Please use the timestamp feature so I can just click on the time instead of having to search for the starting points of the hands myself. Saves me a lot of time if everyone does that themselves instead of me having to do it for everyone else.

1) because we have ok showdownvalue and excellent playability on later streets. We can rep the main FD when it hits and get folds when we bluff, and we'll get called if we hit the backdoor since the main one missed, + decent highcards. Checkraise is fine too, I think calling is just slightly better and also allows me to get reads faster.

2) The pfr was just new to the table.

3) I'll leave his callingrange up to him. He might even call pure air no draw. It's essentially a check, only slightly better.

4) Look at the potsize and stacksizes. It's a really cheap bluff. And every draw missed and he's probably not valuebetting an 8. I can't remember my reads on him, apparently I already had a note on him, so that might be something along the lines of him being bad at valuebetting or something? That's evident from this hand anyway, making a checkshove great since his bets are very unbalanced.

5) When we have good showdown value or decent outs or when we can bluff. I mean, the question is way too broad. Such a decision depends on tons of stuff. I'd probably peel KQ here as weakest draw and probably A2 as weakest pair though that's actually very close considering how horrible of a spot this is for villain to cbet bluff. I wouldn't mind folding up to A7 or so here.

Please use the timestamp feature so I can just click on the time instead of having to search for the starting points of the hands myself. Saves me a lot of time if everyone does that themselves instead of me having to do it for everyone else.

i understand but i watch the videos offline and my DC subscription is on another account (given by my affiliate) so i cant us the timestamp feature...sorry.

1) because we have ok showdownvalue and excellent playability on later streets. We can rep the main FD when it hits and get folds when we bluff, and we'll get called if we hit the backdoor since the main one missed, + decent highcards. Checkraise is fine too, I think calling is just slightly better and also allows me to get reads faster.

understood.

2) The pfr was just new to the table.

my bad...i didnt notice that.

3) I'll leave his callingrange up to him. He might even call pure air no draw. It's essentially a check, only slightly better.

4) Look at the potsize and stacksizes. It's a really cheap bluff. And every draw missed and he's probably not valuebetting an 8. I can't remember my reads on him, apparently I already had a note on him, so that might be something along the lines of him being bad at valuebetting or something? That's evident from this hand anyway, making a checkshove great since his bets are very unbalanced.

5) When we have good showdown value or decent outs or when we can bluff. I mean, the question is way too broad. Such a decision depends on tons of stuff. I'd probably peel KQ here as weakest draw and probably A2 as weakest pair though that's actually very close considering how horrible of a spot this is for villain to cbet bluff. I wouldn't mind folding up to A7 or so here.

thnx for the answers.

Time Link to 00:13:48

Thanks for great videos, what is the difference/reasoning for calling his shove with 77+ and not 22-66??

Thanks for great videos, what is the difference/reasoning for calling his shove with 77+ and not 22-66??

He could be jamming 22-66 himself.

Time Link to 00:33:01

Hey Grindcore. Can you explain on btm left why you say what the fold is good, but after you said that when he pots you're gonna ch shove on him, you're ip, I'm confused?

Thanks..

Hey Grindcore. Can you explain on btm left why you say what the fold is good, but after you said that when he pots you're gonna ch shove on him, you're ip, I'm confused?

Thanks..

I think I missed some punctuation there. The check shove part was aimed at table 4, everything up to then at table 3.

Time Link to 00:23:25

upper left with the K5o. You seem to be basing a lot of your play against the maniac on the assumption that you have a very strong grasp on his tendencies - that he donks when he hits and checks when he's weak. But this assumption isn't based off a lot of showdowns, just one so far. Isn't it entirely possible that he's very random and changes up his lines frequently following no predictable pattern? If so, then might it be better to play a tad tighter that you were vs. him to compensate for the times that your assumption that he donks when he hits and checks when he misses is wrong?

Time Link to 00:28:35

Upper right with the A2o vs the manic - you say you don't have the reads to know that he's afraid of Kings yet so you don't barrel, but is that really a read that you need to have directly vs. a fish? i.e. Aren't the vast majority of fish afraid of Kings such that the player population read is strong enough to not need to have observed this specific fish being afraid of Kings in order to barrel profitably? Also, if it's close, betting allows you to gain more information on his reaction to scare cards, which is valuable.

Plus it's not like you'd be barreling with complete air, you have 7 outs and can maybe bluff hearts even.

Time Link to 00:48:06

upper right with the 84s, on the flop you said your plan was to barrel on a lot of turn cards. When the turn is a 4 you check back, but that doesn't really give you any showdown value as his flop x/c range is almost always a pair better than 4. But the 4 does give you 5 outs and the potential for repping diamonds on the river and your original plan was to barrel turn cards that gave you equity, so why not barrel here?

Time Link to 00:49:32

I think I like just flatting the 99 there. Getting 4bet 150BB deep isn't the greatest, guess you just shove vs this guy right? Plus playing deep OOP with this hand on a ton of boards will put you in some very marginal post flop spots. Plus calling allows you to play multiway, 200bb deep with the limper and 150bb deep with the aggro guy with a pp that can also win a lot of pots without hitting the set.

thoughts?

upper left with the K5o. You seem to be basing a lot of your play against the maniac on the assumption that you have a very strong grasp on his tendencies - that he donks when he hits and checks when he's weak. But this assumption isn't based off a lot of showdowns, just one so far. Isn't it entirely possible that he's very random and changes up his lines frequently following no predictable pattern? If so, then might it be better to play a tad tighter that you were vs. him to compensate for the times that your assumption that he donks when he hits and checks when he misses is wrong?

Fish tend to be very consistent with this. One showdown is enough to base your entire play on. If he changes it up, take a new note that he's just clicking random buttons and in that case you have to play tighter as you just have to make a good hand and win at showdown to beat him.

Upper right with the A2o vs the manic - you say you don't have the reads to know that he's afraid of Kings yet so you don't barrel, but is that really a read that you need to have directly vs. a fish? i.e. Aren't the vast majority of fish afraid of Kings such that the player population read is strong enough to not need to have observed this specific fish being afraid of Kings in order to barrel profitably? Also, if it's close, betting allows you to gain more information on his reaction to scare cards, which is valuable.

Plus it's not like you'd be barreling with complete air, you have 7 outs and can maybe bluff hearts even.

Super high vpip fish often don't care about what the board is, they'll just blindly call down any pair. Scare cards being scary to them is more true for passive fish.

upper right with the 84s, on the flop you said your plan was to barrel on a lot of turn cards. When the turn is a 4 you check back, but that doesn't really give you any showdown value as his flop x/c range is almost always a pair better than 4. But the 4 does give you 5 outs and the potential for repping diamonds on the river and your original plan was to barrel turn cards that gave you equity, so why not barrel here?

I don't check because I hit. I probably just didn't think it's a good barrelingcard.

I think I like just flatting the 99 there. Getting 4bet 150BB deep isn't the greatest, guess you just shove vs this guy right? Plus playing deep OOP with this hand on a ton of boards will put you in some very marginal post flop spots. Plus calling allows you to play multiway, 200bb deep with the limper and 150bb deep with the aggro guy with a pp that can also win a lot of pots without hitting the set.

thoughts?

I'm ahead of his range and he's very loose, there's clear value in a 3b. I'm also not worried about being 4b since he isolated the limper to only 3bbs. In a 3way single raised pot I also stand to gain much less with a set than in a 3b pot.

I don't check because I hit. I probably just didn't think it's a good barrelingcard.

so are you only barreling on spades there? Also don't you think he folds a lot of his medium pairs on the flop given that you are showing a lot of strength cbetting into 2 players, one of which was a 90vpip maniac, making his range more weighted toward Qx+?

I'm ahead of his range and he's very loose, there's clear value in a 3b. I'm also not worried about being 4b since he isolated the limper to only 3bbs. In a 3way single raised pot I also stand to gain much less with a set than in a 3b pot.

if he does happen to 4bet though how do you respond?

Time Link to 00:53:38

upper right with the A2s - can't you make that x/r a bit smaller given that he's a 41/8 and unlikely to be paying any attention to your sizing and you are only trying to fold out air?

if he does happen to 4bet though how do you respond?

Shove as I don't put him on a premium when he isolates that small and he is super aggro.

so are you only barreling on spades there? Also don't you think he folds a lot of his medium pairs on the flop given that you are showing a lot of strength cbetting into 2 players, one of which was a 90vpip maniac, making his range more weighted toward Qx+?

I don't know I can't remember my reads on the guy and I don't feel like watching the whole video again. Maybe I should have barreled. My cbet does get more credit since I'm cbetting multiway and one of the players is a fish, so just 3barreling might be good regardless of board run-out.

upper right with the A2s - can't you make that x/r a bit smaller given that he's a 41/8 and unlikely to be paying any attention to your sizing and you are only trying to fold out air?

I'm just targeting air, and you're looking at the wrong HUD stats

Super high vpip fish often don't care about what the board is, they'll just blindly call down any pair. Scare cards being scary to them is more true for passive fish.

then why do you barrel the 97 here on AT8rQ after he calls the flop?

Time Link to 00:31:43

Time Link to 00:31:43

above post was for 97 on upper right with this time link

Time Link to 00:36:19

upper left with the JTs - you say that he's folded to cbets and now he donks, and this usually means that they hit. But then you float with just a weak gutter. Why aren't we just folding there?

then why do you barrel the 97 here on AT8rQ after he calls the flop?

Time Link to 00:31:43

Probably because I have more equity and just because he might call down doesn't mean he will. You just have to make your best estimations and go with it.

upper left with the JTs - you say that he's folded to cbets and now he donks, and this usually means that they hit. But then you float with just a weak gutter. Why aren't we just folding there?

If he donks when he hits then he's likely also donking 9x and weaker pairs against which I have good equity. He'll likely also give off more info about his hand strength on the later streets with his lines and sizing and I'll have plenty of opportunities to take away the pot unimproved.

Time Link to 00:38:41

Bottom right with T7s - on the river what's the worst hand you'll be calling with?

And what bet size would you have folded to? Say if he had made it ~20 into the pot of 40 to make it look like he was value betting, do you still call anyway because of pot odds since you only have to be good 1/3 of the time?

Time Link to 00:44:11

Top right with AQo - what's your plan when he calls, you miss the flop, and he checks? Do you check it back because you likely have the best hand or bet to prevent him bluffing his air on future streets?

Since his flop donks meant he had a hand, if he donked out on a low flop are you folding AQ even though when you're behind you still have 6 clean outs?

Bottom right with T7s - on the river what's the worst hand you'll be calling with?

And what bet size would you have folded to? Say if he had made it ~20 into the pot of 40 to make it look like he was value betting, do you still call anyway because of pot odds since you only have to be good 1/3 of the time?

I think I pretty much call any river bet here except like $35 or so as the close to pot bets tend to be value in general. The worst hand I call with is probably 7x as I'd checkraise or check fold worse on the flop.

Top right with AQo - what's your plan when he calls, you miss the flop, and he checks? Do you check it back because you likely have the best hand or bet to prevent him bluffing his air on future streets?

Since his flop donks meant he had a hand, if he donked out on a low flop are you folding AQ even though when you're behind you still have 6 clean outs?

When he checks, AQ is likely the best hand. Having a pair or not doesn't really change much, aside from the equity his air has. If I check it's to let him bluff. If I'm folding later streets it's better to cbet for protection. I think betting like 15% pot on both flop and turn to induce a bluff checkraise on the turn and getting protection on both streets is probably the best line unimproved. Being almost invulnerable with a pair checking becomes better.

When he donks a low board it'd depend on his betsizing and the board. Probably lean towards folding. Something like JTs is probably better to call there than AQ since he could have Ax with a pair more often than J/Tx with a pair + the ace is more of a scarecard when I hit it on the turn.

Thank you again for taking the time to respond to my questions

Time Link to 00:11:05

AhK table 4: would you bet if the turn was a heart instead of a J? When he checks behind he has most of time some weak showdown hand that he didnt want to bet I think. But its questionable if he will fold that now if you bet turn + river because you look not strong with checken this flop. + maybe he checks JJ or TT behind and is only gonna fold on a 4rd heart except for the combo's with a heart.

So check turn on a heart and hoping for a river is best here vs an unknown I think, you still have some showdown value obv, not a lot though.

Are my thoughts good here?

Time Link to 00:18:55

table 2: 89o: you say you cant flat, but you want to play with him essentially. But if you want to play with him flatting is better I think, because there is not a huge 3better behind you + you will have more implied odds when you call him + there is more postflop ability.

So I think your thoughts were that you want to 3bet him as bluf here. But I have been making some charts with 3betting hands, with most equity/blockers. 89o seems to me as a horrible hand, there are a lot of better hands to 3bet him with blockers here or suited connectors. So I always want to pick the better 3bet hands to 3bet and not the weakest ones. Offcourse when I know somebody folds a lot on 3bets I start just 3betting really much and hands doesnt matter that much. But till that moment 3betting with better hands is better? But on the other side is what you always tell in your vids: just take the line that gives you the most information if both lines are good. If you faster know that he folds or calls to much on 3bets you can start faster with making money from him.

is it ok to pound on the fish this much?

is it ok to pound on the fish this much?

Is that an ethical or a poker question? All I try to do is maximize my own EV. And poker is a game. In a game players try to win. That should answer the question either way