PB Dissertation Ch2: Some Quick Fixes

[KitCloudkicker]

For this part of my Pooh-Bah Dissertation I'm going to focus on some leaks I've plugged in my game over the last few years. These are relatively quick fixes and should be easy to apply to your games. Please note that some of these are intended for use in live, loose games, and really are not applicable in tight TAG online games. Just making these adjustments alone have helped transform me from a 0.5 BB/hr winner in 4/8 to a 3+BB/hr winner in 8/16-10/20.


1) Dont try to steal the blinds with tough-to-play hands.

Because live games offer so many opportunities for profit, it is really not necessary to attack and attempt to steal blinds with regularity. Although Stox book will tell you to steal with hands like A3o, K7o, etc, I have not found these steals to be particularly profitable in these types of games. Because these hands require you to "play with one card," as it were, and because usaully both blinds at least call you when you raise, you are going to be faced with the uncomfortable situation of having to pair your one card on the flop, as both of your opponents will likely call you to the river with any pair/draw. The profitability of these steals is also diminished by the abysmally high rake in live limit games.

Hands that are ok to steal, however, are those like T9s, T8s, K9s. Because you are using both of your cards, and because your opponents call down so much, if you flop middle pair with these hands you are likely to win.

In short, in general when stealing blinds, make things easy for yourself. Only do it with hands that play well postflop - otherwise pass on these marginal situations and wait for better ones.

2) Understand that pot odds are the key to limit hold em.

When I started playing this game, I read a lot of things like hold is a game of "domination," a game of "high cards," a game of "TPTK." etc. Although all of these concepts have merit, they are ultimately trumped by pot odds. If you are getting 10:1 on your money, it doesnt matter that your KJ might be dominated. You have to get in there and gamble. Similarly, avoid playing by fit or fold rules on the flop. Theres a lot of nonsense out there these days like, "if you flop middle pair, fold asap," or "only chase a two-pair draw if your kicker can beat the board." These rules are designed to keep beginners from losing their wallets, but following them blindy will simply cost you profit. Pay attention to your pot odds, anticipate the pay off, anticpate the risks, and make a decision then. Dont use cookie cutter rules you got from a book.

3) Have a plan for every hand you play.

Whenever I have a play a hand preflop, I try to anticipate possible flops and my plan for when I flop them. For example, if i have a small pocket pair, what is my plan when i flop a set? If i have a suited connector, how will I play bottom pair? If I flop a flush draw, how can I make sure a lot of money goes in the pot multiway? This will keep you focused on the action and help you consistently make the best decision.

4) pay attention to whats going on at the table when you're not in the hand.

A common complaint, especially from online players, is that the pace of a live limit game is too slow. This might be true if all you do is play the cards you are dealt when you are dealt them. However, to realize maximize your profit, you should be paying attention to every hand that is played at the table, whether you are in it or not. Figure out who the aggressive players are and who the passives are. Figure out who is capable of bluffing the turn or river and who isnt. If a bad player sits down, watch and see if players on his left try to isolate him - and then punish these isolations with 3 bets! Another favorite exercise of mine is to pretend that I am actually in the hand. In other words, pretend you are actually playing that 89o UTG. how would you play the flop? Doing so should keep your postflop thinking skills sharp.

5) Dont be a pessimist or look like a loser at the table.

This was something I struggled with for a long time. During my losing streak some years ago, I pretty much sat down at at table expecting to lose. I got irritated at every beat, shouted "why do I run so bad!!" repeatedly, and smirked cynically when I finally won a pot. Having an attitude like this is not conducive to winning poker. First, people arent goign to like playing with you. They'll probably avoid you, "respect your raises" and minimize your take on your good hands. Second, when people are in a hand with you, they are going to take shots. They are going to try to run you down, b/c they think you're unlucky. They'll bluff you more. Inevitably you will get more bad beats, throw away winners, and aggravate your state of tilt/bad play.

Even though a session might be going bad, try not have an attitude at the table. be friendly with your neighbors, laugh and joke. order a beer or two. remember, limit hold em is most profitable in a happy, gambling atmosphere. leave the grouchiness and the intimidation to the WSOP.


Anyways, I hope you guys liked these tips. Good luck at the tables!

Kit C


---End Chapter 2---

[James.]

IMO point 3 is far and away the most important thing to take away from this post.

for live play point 4 is a close second.

[Frond]

Solid points Kit.

I can really relate to a lot of those.

#1 It can be futile to try and steal at 4/8 cause like you said the blinds are calling most of the time where as in a mid-higher limit and or SH mid or higher limit game they aren't as much.

#4 I now pay closer attention to every hand I am not in. Playing live small stakes it can be tough to put players on ranges of hands at times cause you run into so many ATC players. It is a great exercise though to do while not in the hand. Sometimes I am right on other times I am so far off it is ridiculous! Slowly getting better though. You can also pick up valuable info on hands by just asking your neighbors what they had or keeping your ears peeled for info. Or sometime they will jsut flat out tell you what they had without een asking them.

Oh, and a smile goes a long ways when you are playing live.

[RatFink]

Simple, clear rules that anyone can adopt and see a difference.

Bookmarked.

Thanks Kit.

[ProfessorBen]

Only have time to read the #1, but... between what I've read in the OP and Frond's response:
[ QUOTE ]
#1 It can be futile to try and steal at 4/8 cause like you said the blinds are calling most of the time where as in a mid-higher limit and or SH mid or higher limit game they aren't as much.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is completely inaccurate. You should be less likely to steal period in low limit because of the relative size of the rake so you need to tighten up all aspects of your range a notch or two. After that, If the villains are MORE likely to defend preflop(as they are in low limits), you should be MORE inclined to steal with hands that have showdown value such as weak aces and low PPs, and LESS likely to steal with drawing hands. This is not the case if you believe both the SB and BB are likely to defend lightly making the pot multi way, but in all anticipated HU situations that generalization holds.

This is because while most of your money does come from stealing the blinds right then and there with marginal hands such as these, you also raise because showdown value + position = the nuts. This is especially true when villains are likely to play passively postflop allowing you to take a standard bet flop, bet or check turn(depending on texture/opponent) and check river UI line.

I agree that you generally want hands where both cards play, but I think you're confused on why. Stox writes very clearly about this in his why Q7o>K2o chapter. We're not only concerned with trying to make 2 different pairs of decent strength or better, but we're also concerned about domination. While weak aces are certainly subjected to the pain of all other bigger aces, Stox's example of K2o is crushed by all kings and all aces, essentially double the range, without the strength of even an A high.

It's worth noting that in the examples the OP used, the connector cards have much more value than the weak ace so comparing A3o to T9s is apples to orange. A3o is much closer to 65s than T9s in hand strength. In this situation, I would be more likely to raise A3o than 65s, though T9s is simply too strong(equity, implied, and metagame wise) in almost any game's BTN/CO.

To treat folding A3o OTB as if it were a standard play is ridiculous. It's the safer, lower-variance play, esp. if you don't know how to play well postflop. I would recommend it to my friends who I'm starting to teach a TAG style of poker, but I also make them aware that they're passing up on many +EV ventures.

Edit: Also, Stox never says to open anything weaker than K9o anywhere. I disagree, but am also not opening K7o/K8o OTB in anything smaller than 5/10 live.

[Frond]

The rake effect is a given I just failed to mention it. Known and noted. Great points & thanks for mentioning it Ben.

I have talked to a few more experienced players about stealing at low limits and it is agreed that with the rake it is not worth it. But that said, for those of us who have aspirations of moving up in limits, I think at least doing it a little bit here and there doesn't hurt(with proper cards as obv) and it will hopefully prepare us for higher limits. Though at 4/8 and 8/16 live where I play it is standard to chop the blinds when it is folded to the button on most occasions. The other players who have folded always say "chop it, chop it" when it is folded to you on the button or even in the CO at times. I don't feel like I am forced to but more often than not I fold a lot of hands on the BTn when it is folded to me at these live low limits. The blinds almost always chop at this point when it is folded to them as you all know. It keeps the table happy as well which can go a long ways. I just want to keep the stealing option alive at least in my mind in these situations and to at least think about it.

I have the Stox book but I haven't opened it yet as I am still studying, posting, playing,reading and rereading a bit more basic LLHE stuff still(as you can tell).

Amusing side note: Last night at my live 8/16 game this guy looks at his cards on the button when it is folded to him, I see he has QQ and he just limps first in on the Button. Blinds in, he bets his hand all the way only to lose on the river when a King falls off to give the BB's 2 pair. So what should he have done there? Just raised and taken the blinds minus the rake? He should have right? He was thinking "small pot but I have to play this hand" and it ended up costing him nearly $48 instead of just winning the $8(that is IF both Blinds fold to his PF raise).

PS PS: Might be interesting to have a seperate thread discussion on when it may be approriate to raise more hands in EP. I know, on the surface this sounds idiotic cause we are OOP, with the the rest of the table left to act. Reason why I mention this is because of the times when I am at a table with a very solid image and not out of line at all. Whenver I raise 1st or 2nd in almost the whole table folds to me, especially if I am able to show down big hands and big pairs close together. So when this happens I try and take advantage of it. Merely taking advantage of my perceived table image at the time. Pot Stealing OOP? Sounds like a drug habit.

(The preceding OOP raising more may really be lame but any thoughts are welcome and I wonder if anyone ever considers this when they have a really solid table image)

[ProfessorBen]

Frond: You really missed the point of my post.