Small Stakes No-Limit Hold'em

Here are two links to the video.  The first is the unencoded video (370MB, avi) and the 2nd is the encoded video (60MB, wmv).  I decided to put both up just incase something went wrong with either one, as I'll be out of town for about 8 days.  And if someone is using a mac and can't view wmv files (I'm not sure if that's really the case, but incase that's true), they can at least download the avi and watch.

Unencoded:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=UFBLUSKP

Encoded:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=P192NFLR

Run time is about 1:15 or so, and I thought the video quality turned out pretty good for the first try.

Hope you all enjoy it, and I'm looking forward to all of the discussion that is generated from this.

Post edited 6:59 pm – July 2, 2009 by orestto

Also, I think I said in the video that there's only one reason to raise big. I think I forgot to mention a second reason.

1. The blinds will defend by calling and then play fit-or-fold. Here you're going to raise big with a wide range of hands, because you're going to take the pot post-flop so often, it really doesn't matter what you hand is.

2. The blinds are calling stations, meaning they don't fold pre-flop, but they don't flop post-flop either. Here you're going to want to raise bigger but with a tighter range. You don't raise with your junk because you're going to have to rely mostly on showdown equity to win, as your steal equity is diminished by the fact that they don't fold. With a tighter range, you raise big because you're planning on taking the calling stations to value town with your decent hands.

If these conditions are not met, I don't see any reason to raise big preflop. If these conditions are met by one of the blinds, but the other one is a 3bettor or trickier post-flop, raising small is still the way to go.

And remember, raising small on the BTN is practically not exploitable, as long as you adjust to your opponents. If they fold, you win the blinds. If they call, you play a pot in position. If they start 3betting light, you start 4betting light. No matter what they do, you have the upper hand. Why? Because you're on the button! And the button is the shiznit.

So, seeing it from the blinds. Don't try to exploit the button with his steals…unless he's unwilling to adjust. If he folds to 3bets a high percentage of the time, then the tables are turned and you can pretty much 3bet him to mañana. If he folds to donk bets or check-raised Cbets, you can also play a wider range. But if he's a decent player and has position on you, most of the time you're better of folding and waiting 1 or 2 hands to get the button. 

jz1014 said:

The K9o hand: I don't like checking behind on the turn. Even if they are tricky, most of their range is draws that you want value from, and even though you have TP your showdown value still sucks versus their made hands (which mostly crush you imo). I would bet to charge draws and to hopefully get a free showdown. If they raise I dont care because I am not putting more money in the pot either way after the turn bet. When you check behind, you really are not in a position to call a big river bet. I think there are so many benefits to betting the turn that it offsets those rare times when someone will bluff you off your hand on the turn (honestly, even most aggressive players are not c/r'ing the turn or river as a bluff that often… they ussually save that for the flop).

Technical concerns: Next time try to adjust the volume levels before recording… the levels between you guys are noticebally off. Also, don't bang the keyboard! In all seriousness though, this was an excellent effort and really well done, thanks guys!

Yeah, I told Taller that the reads we had on many of the villains were incomplete, which kind of sucked. However, he said, and I completely agree, that it's kind of nice that we don't have complete reads, because we can argue a lot of hypotheticals. I mean, that's why it took like 10 minutes per hand to do the analysis.

In the A9 hand, we weren't there to know how long you were owning the BB and so how much of a chance there was he was taking a stand. So we had to say, if he's really a weak nit, then a fold is correct. If he's likely to be taking a stand here, then we should lean towards calling. Both are correct plays, obviously depending on the context…which we weren't 100% sure about.

Same goes for the 84o hand, we didn't really know he would CR those kind of two-of-a-suit, connected boards. The river bet sizing will also depend on the player. If he's super tight at calling river bets, then a small bet is probably best. If he likes to CR weak river bets as bluffs, a small river bet is also good because he will raise you and you can call him down. If he's suspicious, a big river bet is better because it increases the chance you will get called.

About the K9 hand. I'm still not sure if a turn bet is best. I'm not entirely sure that if someone raises I am beat. I'm not really concerned about a bluff raise, I'm concerned about a semi-bluff raise. The board is full of draws, and my opponents are not that passive. In actuality, they both had hands I would sometimes check-raise the turn. The SB had top pair and a flush draw. The BB had second pair and an open-ended straight draw. I agree that by checking the turn, I'm most likely not in a position to call a big river bet. However, if I bet the turn, I'm probably getting calls from both loose opponents and will still not be in a position to call a bet on the river…so I'd just be bloating the pot and praying for a blank and two checks. The good thing about betting the turn is that most opponents do not semi-bluff check-raise in a multiway pot. But…can't be sure. I didn't say they were smart, I just know they weren't that passive.

On another note, what do you guys think of a thin river value bet here? Yeah, sometimes I'm going to get looked up by an Ace here, but I think if the blinds had two pair or better they would bet out for value, not check it again on the river. Plus, they can't semi-bluff check-raise anymore, only bluff-raise, which is certainly not a play you will see often from players of this caliber in a multiway pot. So on the river I think a thin value bet could work. It doesn't really make much sense for me to have an Ace, and my opponents are loose enough to call here with some hands I beat (like Q9). Thoughts?

Post edited 5:39 am – July 3, 2009 by jz1014

Well, I think if you bet the turn you are going to get a free showdown reasonably often. Even if their draw comes in, your line versus two opponents looks very strong, and I think a lot of players will try to c/r the river if they hit. Its true that if either donks the river after you bet that you are still not in a position to call that bet, but I don't think you have to worry about that happening all that often.

As for being concerned about a semi bluff c/r on the turn, I really dont think its an issue. Most players at NL50 who c/r draws do so on the flop, not on the turn. I think its a rare enough occurance at these stakes that it shouldnt be a concern, even if you are heads up (unless you have enoug history with the player to think otherwise). The fact that you weren't heads up though makes a bluff or semi-bluff c/r even less likely. People aren't often pulling such shenanigans in a protected multiway pot. Once we get to higher stakes maybe this becomes more common, but I just haven't seen a lot of it at NL50 and below.

Oh, and I do think I would probably check back the river as well… that being said, if you think you can get away with betting real small here, then I do think there is definitely thin value to be had if they are not likely to bluff c/r you. Perhaps something around 1/3 to 1/2 pot. That will get raised from time to time though, so its close.

Can someone explain Donk bet to me?  The impression I get is that it is a bet of about the pot on the flop in EP when the player wasn't the original agressor.

A lot of times I see people calling some thing a donk bet and I think to my self that if I had top pair good kicker or a set I'd be doing the same thing and be calling it a value bet.