The Well: SEABEAST

[SEABEAST]

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Tell me all you know about 3-betting. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Can you give some pointers for SSNL about what you think is important in 3-bet pots?

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Hmm, I don't know where to start. 3-betting is good because it puts pressure on your opponent and is tough to combat. If they just call they will miss most flops and not have a strong enough hand to continue, so to successfully combat you threebetting them fairly often they have to either start fourbetting you lighter (very few people are comfortable doing this) or they will have to start bluffshoving or floating you postflop (most people are too scared to do this too).

A lot of mediocre TAGs are more than willing to open tons of crappy hands because they know they are supposed to for metagame, but they are not good enough to readjust in any real way when you start threebetting them (some just fold, others call and then wimp out on the flop). This allows you to have your way with them fairly often while also building up your image on the table as a bit crazy.

That's my basic description of threebetting! Here is one of the best ever posts about the subject: AJ Fenix on threebetting

[SEABEAST]

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could you just describe sort of how you think about the game, your playstyle, what's most important to think about for an nl player, etc?

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Sort of already answered this but I am always looking for things to exploit. A loose raiser opened and then someone else coldcalled, time to reraise... A bad player limped and I have 2 vaguely related cards and position on them - cool, time to isolate.

Postflop obviously I think a lot about what it looks like I have. It doesn't matter if your flop cbet got called and you still have nothing on the turn if you know it will look incredibly strong if you bet again (maybe a face card turned).

When I have a very strong hand I am always thinking about my opponents likely hands and looking for spots where there are a number of likely hands he can have that won't fold no matter how much I bet. Stuff like that.

[SEABEAST]

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Have you even gone busto or near busto?

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Nope. I am still grinding off my initial $50! I have always been a bankroll nit. I am always telling people that if you don't lose your roll you can't actually lose at poker in the longterm as you are constantly improving if you care and are not completely stupid.

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If No, what do you feel you have done to prevent this from ever happening.


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I am a huge bankroll nit [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] Also I must have run good at first since I only had 50 BBs!

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What level gave you the most trouble when moving up? How many times did you drop back down and move up again before you were able to beat the game?

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I have always slowly phased into new limits rather than putting my ego on the line and taking serious shots. I think 5/10 is often tougher than 10/20 though and despite being a lifetime winner at 5/10 I have had some pretty terrible experiences there. Also I lost my first 5 sessions in a row at live $10/20 limit holdem at my local casino despite it being the easiest game in the entire world, and didn't go back for a few months [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Oki-Oki]

Congrats Jay on this, I have know you for what feels like a longish time, so I have a few Q's

Biggest hurdel you have faced in poker? Outside of poker?
Long term plans within poker?
Overall thoughts on what I do well, Do badly within poker? Do you think I will be successful as a pro?

Also did you really ever forgive me for moving in on you in that 25/50 game?

GL and congrats on everything

[Poker_is_Hard]

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I have always slowly phased into new limits rather than putting my ego on the line and taking serious shots.

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Can you elaborate on this? How did you go about "Phasing" new limits into your game?

[SEABEAST]

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* How do you make sure you are focussed?

* How do you train mental strength/stability?

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I don't play when I don't feel like it. I often take breaks and I prefer to play multiple 45m-1hr sessions in a day rather than one long one. Even though I am pretty disciplined in that I play virtually every single day, often I will spend most of a day doing other stuff and not think about poker at all, and then maybe play at night. As far as mental strength/stability though I wish I had more of that as I often decide it's time to quit even when I'm deep vs fish [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[BombayBadboy]

Do you study your opponents play in PT after sessions? What do you have in your HUD?

[Oki-Oki]

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I have always slowly phased into new limits rather than putting my ego on the line and taking serious shots.

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Can you elaborate on this? How did you go about "Phasing" new limits into your game?

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If you 4 table play two of your normal limit along with 2 of a level higher. Then as you gain confidence play 1 and 3 then eventualy only the higher level

[AP81]

<3 Seabeast, much respect.

What player types (regulars) tend to give you the most trouble? The least?

Also, what's your current setup for poker? Pics? Also pics of your crib would be cool.

[SEABEAST]

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Top 5 tips for 100nl?


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1) Practice figuring out who the biggest morons are and how to play against them (use HUD, learn how people of different stat combinations tend to play)
2) Play tons of hands (this will help getting used to variance)
3) Develop your multitable skills, play few enough tables that you can think about hands clearly but still try and log a decent amount of hands so you can see a lot of situations and get used to swings
4) Don't tilt/don't move up to chase losses
5) Try and analyse your progress as honestly and objectively as you can

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Top books to read for this level?

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Honestly, once you get to a level of basic competence the 2+2 forums and Cardrunners are much better than books. The best advice I can give you is to figure out who the good regular posters are here and focus on their posts, mostly filtering out the rest.