Winning in tough holdem games by stoxtrader

[stoxtrader]

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STOX:

Sorry if this has come up already, but I'm finding quite a few contradictions in your starting hands recommendations. Things like K5s listed as a minimum in the cutoff, but in the discussion of stealing, the minimum is K7s, even though steal ranges are presumably wider.

Also for a future printing: the tables of hands would be much easier to read if the headings were included on each page, rather than only at the beginning of a table.

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the differing "recomendations" are not contradictions, but rather suggestions acquired using different methodologies, or compromises between methodolgies, sample size and variance. The point is so users can understand the differing processes and possible imperfections should they decide to do it on their own.

the table headings were intentionally cut because of page count - the book is a bit fat as is so I doubt it will be changed in the next printing but you never know - I agree with you that it would be easier to follow with headers every page but Mason knows best on this score and we decided it added too much to an already overpaged book.

[kiddo]

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Ok, this is going to sound harsh, but if you don't understand playing a hand to reduce your long term losses from the BB, then maybe you shouldn't be playing "Tough Holdem" games...

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100% agree.

If u play in tough holdem games - lets say $30/60 5max - u will play guys that have used years to understand this game. They have ALL done what Stoxtrader is doing here, looking in PT database to find out which hands will beat the 0.5BB we pay to play from Big Blind. And they have done it a long time ago, probably when they played like $1/2 or $3/6. So if think this is a new way of talking about blinddefending, u still have a lot of study to do. U can of course still be ok at holdem but u are not close to the guys in the tough holdem games.

Not many starting hands will win more then 0.5BB (the money u are forced to put in sitting in Big Blind) so most hands will be losers from BB when u look in Pokertrackers database, but in a stealsituation about 50% of your hands will, when u look at them in PT database, lose less then 0.5BB if u call with them preflop, thats why u gotta call with a ton of weak hands when u are in BB.

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Also, dont try to use Stoxtraders book 2 much if u play against non-thinking players. Its not what he is focused on teaching us to play against.