A smorgasborg of questions

[Fermion5]

Hey I'm a relatively new poker player. Been playing mostly with play money, but a couple $1 SNGs with some of my freeroll winnings. The following hand is from heads up in a 9 person $1 SNG. Not sure how to convert the hand as that seems a common complaint on these forums so I apologize.


PokerStars Game #10261692777: Tournament #52000353, $1.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level VIII
(200/400) - 2007/06/04 - 02:03:55 (ET)
Table '52000353 1' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 5: chatbaba (9595 in chips)
Seat 8: Fermion5 (3905 in chips)
chatbaba: posts the ante 25
Fermion5: posts the ante 25
chatbaba: posts small blind 200
Fermion5: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Fermion5 [7d 3d]
chatbaba: calls 200
Fermion5: checks
*** FLOP *** [6h 6d 5h]
Fermion5: checks
chatbaba: checks
*** TURN *** [6h 6d 5h] [Ad]
Fermion5: bets 600
chatbaba: calls 600
*** RIVER *** [6h 6d 5h Ad] [Ks]
Fermion5: bets 2880 and is all-in
chatbaba: calls 2880
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Fermion5: shows [7d 3d] (a pair of Sixes)
chatbaba: shows [Qh Js] (a pair of Sixes - Ace+King+Queen kicker)
chatbaba collected 7810 from pot
Fermion5 [observer] said, "wow"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 7810 | Rake 0
Board [6h 6d 5h Ad Ks]
Seat 5: chatbaba (button) (small blind) showed [Qh Js] and won (7810) with a pair of Sixes
Seat 8: Fermion5 (big blind) showed [7d 3d] and lost with a pair of Sixes


The player had been playing pretty aggressive the majority of the SNG. He knew when to reraise to steal pots etc. I don't think my steal was that obvious in this hand. Especially not for a queen high to call me. His check on flop and call on river looked really weak in my mind so that's why i pushed the river. I didn't want to bet the turn then check the river and let him steal the pot when its obvious I'm weak. Looking back on it, it seems pretty obvious i didn't hit the king since I wouldn't push when he called me on turn. I just can't figure out how he didn't know I didn't slowplay a six or pair my ace when my betting could imply either. He may have put me on a busted flush. Is the only way he could have made this read is to know that I would value bet a hand like aces or a set instead of pushing? Or did he figure it was worth the gamble if i was bluffing since I was short stacked.


Here are some other poker questions I have:

stalling (using time bank) so you don't have to pay the higher blinds immediately when blinds go up in an SNG/tourny, especially when you're on a short stack. Is this commonly known strategy? Seemed obvious to me when I started playing that it is a slight advantange. here's a hypothetical example on pokerstars for people that don't know what i'm talking about. theres 5 people left in an SNG. SB is seat 1. I'm BB in seat 2 and shortsacked. Seat 3 UTG is a shortstack as well. Blinds going up in 1 min. UTG folds. I click time button when it's my turn and use up my time bank so the shortstack that is currently UTG has to pay a larger BB when the next hand starts. This means he has less chips with which to push if he folds the upcoming hand (where he is the BB). Therefore a larger stack is more likely to call and eliminate him if when he goes all in. It seems like a clear advantage to use time bank so that you pay the SB just before the blinds go up. I know its pretty unethical, but does anyone use it? Or is it not worth the bother.


PLO: can you flop the nuts on flop and be a underdog? i'm thinking yes if you flop top set(nuts on flop) and someone else has some monster straight draw and flush draw. what about if you flop the nuts on flop having a straight? or having the flush?

rake, rakeback, bonuses.
from what i've read these are bonuses to get more people on poker sites. I've already made accounts on stars, FTP, bodog so i'm assuming it's too late for me? also, rake only applies to cash games right? not SNGs/MTTs since they have the entrance fee on top of the buy-in?

sng software to learn ICM. worth paying for? I've read up a bit on ICM. Some mathematical model that tells you when you should push/fold in an SNG based on people's calling ranges, the blind structure, and the payout structure. Is knowledge of this necessary for the $1 SNGs?

recording poker videos and adding my own commentary. this seems like a very good way to get feedback and fix leaks. Moreso than just posting hands and reading the forum. I asked some guy who posts some of his poker games on youtube about what program he uses and he replied:

"I use ZD soft screen capture software and a 'creative' headset and mic plug straight into my laptop.

if i do any editing i will put the .avi file into windows movie maker and edit in there. it is usually good enough"

I saw that there is a free download of ZD soft screen, but I havn't tested it. Is this good enough? I know fraps is pretty popular as well. Which should I use? Also, will it auto-record the sound from my mic? Or do I have to figure out how to get my voice sent back as outbound sound? I have a headset so an echo shouldn't be a problem. Or is there a more sophisticated way of doing it? <font color="black"> </font>

[tsearcher]

Here I converted your hand for you. Check the STT strategy forum FAQ's for places to convert your hand.
In a nutshell you are overthinking a $1.00 SNG. Just check it down. For more in depth analysis, post the hand at the STT forum.


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t400 (2 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: 2+2 Forums)

Button (t9595)
Hero (t3905)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 7[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 3[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
Button calls t200, Hero checks.

Flop: (t625) 6[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 6[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 5[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
Hero checks, Button checks.

Turn: (t625) A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">Hero bets t600</font>, Button calls t600.

River: (t1825) K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">Hero bets t2880 (All-In)</font>, Button calls t2880.

Final Pot: t7585

[bobbyi]

[ QUOTE ]
PLO: can you flop the nuts on flop and be a underdog? i'm thinking yes if you flop top set(nuts on flop) and someone else has some monster straight draw and flush draw. what about if you flop the nuts on flop having a straight? or having the flush?

[/ QUOTE ]
Yes, you can be an underdog with the nuts.

The poker calculator on twodimes.com is good for playing around with these things yourself to get a feel for it. For example, here is a particularly bad case of top set against a wrap + flush draw:
http://twodimes.net/h/?z=2785727
pokenum -o tc td ts 3d - 7h 8h js qs -- 3s 9h th
Omaha Hi: 820 enumerated boards containing 3s Th 9h
cards win %win lose %lose tie %tie EV
Ts Tc Td 3d 271 33.05 549 66.95 0 0.00 0.330
Qs Js 8h 7h 549 66.95 271 33.05 0 0.00 0.670

So that's T[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]T[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]T[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]3[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] against Q[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]J[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]8[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]7[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] on a flop of 3[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]9[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. The draw is more than a 2:1 favorite!

[Cry Me A River]

1 - Don't bluff bad players unless you have a plan and a read that they can fold. In this case, it's a bad spot for a bluff. You're head's up and given your preflop and flop play it's unlikely you have an A, K or a PP. And the big river over-shove looks really bluffy (ie: busted draw).

2 - stalling - Is this commonly known strategy?
Yes, players stall all the time and it gets really annoying because they often do it in dumb spots.

3 - PLO: can you flop the nuts on flop and be a underdog?
Sure, you can in Hold 'Em too:

http://twodimes.net/h/?z=2785721
pokenum -h qd jd - qc jc - td th -- tc 9c 8h
Holdem Hi: 903 enumerated boards containing Tc 9c 8h
cards win %win lose %lose tie %tie EV
Qd Jd 0 0.00 551 61.02 352 38.98 0.194
Qc Jc 279 30.90 272 30.12 352 38.98 0.503
Td Th 272 30.12 627 69.44 4 0.44 0.303

4 - rake, rakeback, bonuses.
from what i've read these are bonuses to get more people on poker sites. I've already made accounts on stars, FTP, bodog so i'm assuming it's too late for me? also, rake only applies to cash games right? not SNGs/MTTs since they have the entrance fee on top of the buy-in?

Any accounts you've already started won't be eligable for rakeback. Bonuses are different than rakeback and you would still be eligable for any of those. The only exception would be first deposit bonuses if you deposited without taking advantage of those.

Tournament fees generally count towards rakeback and bonuses.

5 - sng software to learn ICM. worth paying for? I've read up a bit on ICM. Some mathematical model that tells you when you should push/fold in an SNG based on people's calling ranges, the blind structure, and the payout structure. Is knowledge of this necessary for the $1 SNGs?

Meh, prolly not a bad idea to start playing well from the begining, but, at those stakes, meh.

6 I saw that there is a free download of ZD soft screen, but I havn't tested it. Is this good enough? I know fraps is pretty popular as well. Which should I use? Also, will it auto-record the sound from my mic? Or do I have to figure out how to get my voice sent back as outbound sound? I have a headset so an echo shouldn't be a problem. Or is there a more sophisticated way of doing it?

There are a few different software packages people are using. It really doesn't matter.

[Eucrid]

You definitely don't need complex models for $1 SNG. Most players don't even have the basics at $1. If you have the foundations of good tournament play at all and don't get sucked into playing bad hands just because your opponents are you'll do well.

[Fermion5]

I've tried several 'free trial' screen recording programs:

ZD soft lets you record the screen, but length is limited to 5 minutes per recording.

Camtasia Studio 4 lets you record the screen, but won't let you produce the video into a useable format like .avi or .wmv without full version so it's kind of worthless.

CamStudio (different from the one above) lets me record and produce the video in .avi format with no time restriction. only problem is that there's always a few second delay between the audio and video, which is super annoying.

I could just keep going through google and wikipedia downloading and trying out different programs, but it just seems like a waste of time. Any suggestions? I'm a beginner and my plan is to record my online poker games, splice them into youtube segments, upload them to youtube and post links to them on 2+2 to get feedback.