Hobbs talks in full to you guys....

[Hobbs.]

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Let's say you give someone the LAG or TAG label. Can you give us an illustration or example of what you mean by this? What different skills does it take to play each style? Also, what did it take to jump from 2/4 to 3/6 to 5/10+? And what is keeping you from playing higher limits now? Do you review your hand histories for mistakes very often? What do you prefer, live or online? How about tournaments, are they worth your time? Thanks for your time.

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lots of Qs here.

A tag in general is what this forum thinks of as a good player and a LAG is a TAG expect he plays more hands and raises some hands TAGs limp with. A LAG also is spewy postflop bet/raise/reraising with draws and in general bluffing more.

the biggest thing moving from 2/4 to higher limits in getting used to the increase in aggresion. The TAGs no longer just play an ABC game so you need to get used to the possibilty that an action taken by them is not what the obvious answer would suggest. Also, the donks tend to more aggresive. Both of these facts make hand reading a much more important skill.

In generally don't play about the 10/20 to 20/40 range online because I don't play for a living and the monetary swings at those levels really stress me out and make me hate poker.

I much prefer playing live because live players suck really really bad. The only downside to playing live is that is probably not as profitable because the action is slower and you only can play one table.

lolDonkaments.

[Hobbs.]

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How do you deal with the feeling that a thinking opponent is putting a move on you? Example - you make a steal raise OTB and a tricky thinking BB calls, and then checkraises a ragged flop. Do you have to have something to continue, or do you often play back at him? How do you decide?

~MagicMan

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It all depends on my image, board texture, how often I feel villain has been getting out of line in the past, etc.

Sometimes I'll call the flop and raise the turn with nothing, sometimes if my hand has SD value (A/K high) and the flop is draw heavy I'll either just call down or raise the turn for a free SD sometimes. Sometimes I'll 3-bet the flop, sometimes I'll just fold the flop.

The question is just so hard to answer exactly, but probably the best advice I can give is to use this opportunity to experiment with bluffing yourself as at the very least you'll get a good LAGfish image out of it.

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Related question - you are in the SB, and you 3-bet a steal raise from a tricky thinking player with something like KQo or A8o. You bet a ragged flop and he calls. How do you decide what to do on the turn, given that he should know you were going to bet most flops, and that your preflop 3-betting range is very large? A lot of times I feel like I am getting run over when I bet the turn and he raises.

~MagicMan


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depending on how much control I think I have over my opponent will determine the turn action for me. If I feel the guy will bluff raise the turn lot then I will often c/c the turn and usually plan on c/f'ing the river. bet/folding the turn is still fine though as long as villain has shown that he will peel flops lightly in this situation, or even sometimes peel flops with a better hand (read ace high hands) and fold to another bet on the turn. Sometimes, although rare, I'll check the tunr and raise if villain bets, but you should start to balance your play by doing this with your good hands some of the time as well. Solid balanced play will make you less predictable and usually keep your opponents from taking a lot fo shots at you.

[Hobbs.]

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Thanks Hobbs,

Can you tell us about how many hands you played online at each limit (2/4 3/6 5/10) before moving up to the next level?

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I'd guess 24/ to 5/10 I probably played 20-30k at each.

[Hobbs.]

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I'm a PhD student studying atmospheric chemistry


[/ QUOTE ]Cool. So am I, in cs though. Did you ever consider quitting and playing pro-poker? Did you decide against this because a phd has more value, and leads to a more rewarding life? [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Do you ever play poker while procrastinating? [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

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I have considered quiting as I'm not completely sure I want to make a career out of what I'm studying, but I then usually decide I'd be giving up way too much not sticking it out and getting my degree. If I was going to quit I'd probably play poker for a year or so ans relax and then go get a banking type job and make some money. I play and think about poker too often when procrastinating (case in point, right now).

[James.]

finish school. i didn't want to either, but sometimes you must do things you don't want to do. props on doing this thread for sstakes, btw. did you once have the screename Hobbsman or something?

[Hobbs.]

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finish school. i didn't want to either, but sometimes you must do things you don't want to do. props on doing this thread for sstakes, btw. did you once have the screename Hobbsman or something?

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my 2p2 name used to be Hobbsmann and over a year ago my party name was Hobbsmann (I think I played SnGs, 2/4, and 3/6 ATT)

[Hobbs.]

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Are you ever going to post only in picture form again? That was awesome.

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+

[Erik W]

You use a HUD and have stats so you know something about the player.

Which are the most important reads you will get and use?

[BenA]

Hobbs, Thanks so much for doing this. I hope its still going?

This question is actually related to the one Erik W just asked:

I have recently found myself getting more and more irritated at what I think is a 'misuse' of HUD stats as a replacement for real reads. Obviously it can be an invaluable tool when combined with observation, but I think there are 4 things people often fail to address:

1. Sample size. Am I completely off when I say that only inordinately large numbers are very useful over say, 50 hands? If you see 65/38/3.6, its far less likely that this accidentally registered a true TAG who just happened to get dealt some monster hands than something like 12/4/.6, which I'm sure I would register to some players over a small sample. Just lots of speculative limping hands that hit nothing.

2. Failure to consider the meanings of stats for number of players involved. I have seen weak tight players (based both on observations and stats) literally turn into maniacal spewers when it gets heads-up, in blind battles, or they have position on maybe 2 opponents who they probably know are terrible.

3. Failure to notice if a player is position aware. I've seen posts where people often fold their TPWK because a players AF is low, but that player happens to be on the button and its a drawy board. Or on the flip side, players will raise the turn or call down with a very marginal hand on a scary board when Villain is UTG with an AF of 4. While these plays are often very correct, I think that there should be far more variables taken into account than just their stats, since a position aware aggro still might have far greater PF standards when in EP.

4. The unconditional judgement that a player is a loose passive 'fish' based on something like 42/5/.8. Yes, they are a loose passive fish, no doubt, but then Hero unfortunately begins to assume that you can just value bet whatever you want (like A high) at all times regardless of the circumstances. People are people. They may play differently, or use calling as their greatest weapon against you, and if you can't adjust because your stuck to the stats, this is a big leak.

All of this is sort of the theory that I've been trying to formulate. I would appreciate it if you would fix any flaws, and add your wisdom about this subject. Perhaps I am being too pessimistic, but that's why I'm asking. Thanks in advance.

Ben

P.S. Just thought of a point 5:

Failure to readjust if recent observation of a player goes heavily against their stats. They could be on tilt, someone else could be playing on their account, they could have just studied SSH, etc...