Ugh, if episode 4 didn't make me spew enough, there are MORE bluffs?!

Great episode, can you make ep 6 about how to actually hit semi-bluffs? :D

1)As I watch more and more No Limit videos. I am starting to understand that its a art form.
the only constant is...you can move all your chips in ..any damn time you like.
the player in front of you bets $6, legally you can move in for $500.
I think this concept(amount of pressure available) is a basic for playing no limit, am I correct?
I mean I think the player who is willing to move in more, has a bigger advantage?

2) reads reads reads.....it seems to me that some of the decisions made not only in this video but most/all NL video's are based on reads. its not a card game....its a READ GAME. He who makes the best reads ..gets all the chips.
the two cards we hold are only important the few times our reads are wrong, and the opponent unexpectedly calls.
I, personally have discovered playing limit that I play the cards ok, but my reading ability is horrendous.
perhaps I can use NL to improve my reads, which in turn will improve my limit game, thoughts??

1)As I watch more and more No Limit videos. I am starting to understand that its a art form.
the only constant is...you can move all your chips in ..any damn time you like.
the player in front of you bets $6, legally you can move in for $500.
I think this concept(amount of pressure available) is a basic for playing no limit, am I correct?
I mean I think the player who is willing to move in more, has a bigger advantage?

2) reads reads reads.....it seems to me that some of the decisions made not only in this video but most/all NL video's are based on reads. its not a card game....its a READ GAME. He who makes the best reads ..gets all the chips.
the two cards we hold are only important the few times our reads are wrong, and the opponent unexpectedly calls.
I, personally have discovered playing limit that I play the cards ok, but my reading ability is horrendous.
perhaps I can use NL to improve my reads, which in turn will improve my limit game, thoughts??

With regards to #1, I think that you should be cautious about such thinking, as it tends to get pretty expensive when you're moving your stack in too often :). I guess the best way I can concisely explain it is that you have to be willing to put your stack in during any hand, but you should only put the whole thing in there when you're very confident that doing so is a positive EV proposition. Fearless with deadly precision, like Rambo.

With regards to #2, yes, the single most important skill for an aspiring no-limit player is handreading. Second to that is anticipating how your opponent will respond to your actions. After that comes math and equities and things like that, but those are a little simpler to understand most of the time.

And yes, every poker game you learn will make you better at other poker games, because they each emphasize different skills and ways of thinking about the game. Playing NL will teach you that the future value of your hand is usually more important than the current value (but not always!). Playing limit will teach you that you always need to have the right price. Razz or seven-card stud will hone your handreading and memory centers, etc.

i watched this last night on my ipod and loved it. im learning baby nl online and this is helpful. i think the 86s bluff vanessa makes is great and the thinking is spot on. i cant wait to go back and watch all the rest. so far ive found this to be the most useful video in teaching me small online nl.

Yo no comprendo.

I'm on the first hand and it is eerily familiar to my spewy tendencies. The villain smoove calls the flop, he has top pair about 95% of the time and he is never, ever, ever folding to our check-raise on the turn so we end up putting in $85 to win $125 with 30% equity. To say this guy is floating us on the flop and that he's now bluffing the ace on the turn is just crazy imo. When we shove over his $25 turn bet he now has to call $60 to win $150. What can he fold for that price? Without a specific read that this guy floats to steal and will fold a weak ace there or that he is so weak-tight that he will fold his top pair of jacks when the ace comes on the turn (and if that's the case, why is he betting the turn?) then this line is burning money.

The thing about your hand there is that 5 of your 14 outs are very well concealed so 11% of the time you are going to make the best hand and easily get his remaining $60 and the other 20% you can get a $25 value bet paid off.

With $63 in the pot you are almost getting the correct direct odds to call $25 and with your implied odds its certainly +EV, whereas pushing with no fold equity you lose $45. I don't need help making bad bluffs against stations, I have that part of my game very well developed.

If there is something I'm missing or you feel like I'm being results-oriented or too narrow in my hand range, please say so, but include a reasonable hand range or PT stats on the player to justify that play.

One Love,

Shawn