Poker

[Mr_Bramboy]

Questionable call? 2.88% chance of winning both boards

[Goodspeed]

Pre-flop is a clear fold imo. Flop and turn calls were fine I think. The problem with weak aces (Ax where x < 10) is that even if the ace hits on the flop, you're not going to get much value from non-ace hands and hands with aces will probably get a lot of value from you because they likely have a better kicker.

[don_artie]

Preflop is a huge mistake, flop is also a fold

The preflop mistake is at the level of doing this a few times will make it impossible to win

[Mr_Bramboy]

I agree. Feedback is useful, thank you.

[Goodspeed]

@don_artie Is this fold too tight? Or should I have folded the flop even?

[don_artie]

@don_artie Is this fold too tight? Or should I have folded the flop even?

blind vs blind it's probably too tight yea, but given how the player pool plays I guess it's alright. hard to say

[Mr_Bramboy]

How do I play big pairs correctly?

Any time I have a big pair, I raise to ~3BB or reraise to ~7BB and either everyone else folds, or the opponent has a better bigger pair and beats me.

[Mr_Bramboy]

[Goodspeed]

How do I play big pairs correctly?

Any time I have a big pair, I raise to ~3BB or reraise to ~7BB and either everyone else folds, or the opponent has a better bigger pair and beats me.

A big pair meaning JJ+? Below is how I play it, which surely is wrong in many ways but might give you some insight. Of course the real answer is just "it depends" and I might play very differently in some fringe cases or against certain opponents

If they have any bigger than JJ they will usually 4-bet. If they don't, you have range advantage and should have them beat at least pre-flop. In my xp, you actually have them pretty dominated unless they are at the very top of their 3-bet calling range (say AQ) and you're at the bottom of your range (JJ), in which case you're still ahead but not by much.

If the flop doesn't have an overcard to your pair
You still have them dominated the vast majority of the time. Only sets, two pair or flopped straights/flushes beat you but all are rare. Size the bet based on how wet the flop is and keep in mind they could be calling with overcards to the flop like AT, AJ, KQ etc especially if your bet is small. I would also bet more with JJ than with KK for example, because with JJ I'm more scared of overcards on later streets.

If they raise they either have you beat or are on a strong draw, I'm not really sure what to do there but I mostly just call and see what they do on the turn. I'll check the turn given the opportunity, with the exception of the following situation: I'm in position, there was a flush draw on the flop and the turn doesn't complete it, and they checked it to me. In that case I'll bet like full pot to give them poor odds on their flush draw. If they raise again I'll fold.

If they raised the flop and bet the turn big, I might fold. If they bet any less than 1/2 pot I'll probably call (this might be too loose) but check/fold the river.

Keep in mind it's more likely they have you beat if the flop is connected, like T9 or 98, because the potential for 2 pair is much greater. People will often call 3-bets with hands like 98s.

If the flop has one overcard to your pair
In most cases I'll c-bet the flop and turn but check/fold the river if they call both. In some fringe cases I might not c-bet the turn, like when it's a 3-bet pot, I'm sitting there with QQ, the flop had a king and the turn is an ace.

If the flop has two or more overcards to your pair
I'll still c-bet the flop but if they call it's very likely they hit at least one of those cards, especially in 3-bet pots. I'd check/fold the turn unless they bet very small. If they raise the flop I'll fold immediately.

More generally, I'd slow down on paired boards or boards with potential completed straight/flush draws ofc.

@don_artie I'd love to know if any of this is unreasonable

[don_artie]

don't think it's possible to talk about the game in that way, it just depends on ranges and board textures. Based on everything that was said so far I honestly feel bram doesn't really wanna learn the game, he just wants to mess around with it

[Mr_Bramboy]

People always tend to think I’m trolling for some reason. It’s a bad personality trait.

[Goodspeed]

Well, aren't you? It does feel like you're not really trying to learn the game and just throwing money around

[Goodspeed]

don't think it's possible to talk about the game in that way, it just depends on ranges and board textures.

That's true but I think for beginners like us it's important to have some kind of (overly) simplified flowchart-like decision making process in the most common situations, because otherwise we forget what to think about and start intuitively overvaluing other random factors. At some point this flowchart turns into intuition and you can spend time thinking about what makes this situation unique and how that changes things, but yeah, I think the most useful lessons I learned were simple, easy to remember questions to ask myself in certain spots, and how the answer affects my action.

For example in the Grinder's manual book when deciding whether to call a river bet, they say to answer some simple questions that could help you make a better decision:
1. Could they be value betting a worse hand than ours?
2. Could they have reached the river with air?

And that if 1 is a yes, you can almost always call, whereas if they are both no you can almost always fold. It's really just one way to force you to think about their range and if they are likely value betting or bluffing, but just the fact that it forces you to think about those things makes it worthwhile for beginners. After all, beginners are otherwise liable to make a decision based on other random factors like "they bet instantly so I should fold" or "I have top pair so I should call".

Basically, with beginners, you want to keep their intuition as far away from their decision-making process as possible I noticed how big of a deal this is when I started multi-tabling, which forced me to play mostly by intuition, and went from a clear winner to a clear loser.

[don_artie]

People always tend to think I’m trolling for some reason. It’s a bad personality trait.

well you are, because its like we tell you what not to do and then thats what you do and you dont seem interested in actually learning the game you just wanna try stuff out. which is fine, it's a game and you can mess around with it, but you're not being serious about it

[Mr_Bramboy]

People always tend to think I’m trolling for some reason. It’s a bad personality trait.

well you are, because its like we tell you what not to do and then thats what you do and you dont seem interested in actually learning the game you just wanna try stuff out. which is fine, it's a game and you can mess around with it, but you're not being serious about it

It's not intentional, I am just learning. My VPIP and PFR percentages are looking good, I am reading another book which is specifically about the micros in order to improve.

[don_artie]

People always tend to think I’m trolling for some reason. It’s a bad personality trait.

well you are, because its like we tell you what not to do and then thats what you do and you dont seem interested in actually learning the game you just wanna try stuff out. which is fine, it's a game and you can mess around with it, but you're not being serious about it

It's not intentional, I am just learning. My VPIP and PFR percentages are looking good, I am reading another book which is specifically about the micros in order to improve.

here use this and in your case only raise the red, can even cut off 22-77 and a2s-a9s from every range

[Mr_Bramboy]

Show hidden quotes

People always tend to think I’m trolling for some reason. It’s a bad personality trait.

well you are, because its like we tell you what not to do and then thats what you do and you dont seem interested in actually learning the game you just wanna try stuff out. which is fine, it's a game and you can mess around with it, but you're not being serious about it

It's not intentional, I am just learning. My VPIP and PFR percentages are looking good, I am reading another book which is specifically about the micros in order to improve.

here use this and in your case only raise the red, can even cut off 22-77 and a2s-a9s from every range

Thanks! Very helpful.

[don_artie]

https://clips.twitch.tv/AbnegateSarcast ... JW9ec43zYq

[Mr_Bramboy]

first

Bad call?

second

I feel like this should have been a flop on the turn due to the flush draw. I kept calling because I was already invested but I know that this is faulty human reasoning.

third

Bad call? Was not expecting the four of a kind with three on the board.

[don_artie]

first

Bad call?

second

I feel like this should have been a flop on the turn due to the flush draw. I kept calling because I was already invested but I know that this is faulty human reasoning.

third

Bad call? Was not expecting the four of a kind with three on the board.

tens hand its okay ish, preflop i'd go smaller size and flop i would bet. i'm fine with the river call.
jacks hand fine all the way
99 hand complete disaster, especially preflop you raise from 2bb to 3bb? was it a misclick? that is very bad. I would bet flop small. turn i'd check back then river i'd either call a lead or bet small. as played I would bet smaller river and fold to raise.

[Mr_Bramboy]

Thanks for the feedback, yeah the 3BB raise was a lapse of judgement. Why was the jacks hand played fine? Isn’t there an enormous flush draw potential for my opponent when I have no spades? Here he didn’t have spades of course but I couldn’t know that.

[don_artie]

@Goodspeed did you stop playing?

[Goodspeed]

I'm still playing, but not as much. Slowly working my way back up to a healthy 5NL bankroll. My 2NL win rate since I returned to it is only about 5 bb/100 so it will take a while.

Gonna play a heads up duel against @blackwidow over multiple weeks which should be fun and also educational.

I've been using GTO wizard to go through past hands to find preflop mistakes and it turns out I'm still making a lot.

[don_artie]

I'm still playing, but not as much. Slowly working my way back up to a healthy 5NL bankroll. My 2NL win rate since I returned to it is only about 5 bb/100 so it will take a while.

Gonna play a heads up duel against @blackwidow over multiple weeks which should be fun and also educational.

I've been using GTO wizard to go through past hands to find preflop mistakes and it turns out I'm still making a lot.

ah cool, heads up grudge match haha. I used to be a heads up high stakes player back in the day, it's a ton of fun to play heads up and teaches you alooooot about the game (you are constantly put into rough spots). i'm currently playing some 25nl, if you want me to stream that some day lmk. would only do it if you have time to tune in and ask/learn

[Goodspeed]

I would def be into that. What time would work best for you?

Yeah from what I've read heads up seems really interesting. I look forward to playing it