PhoenixPhreak

Originally posted by PhoenixPhreak
And here is my Homework 7:
Question 1: Hand posted in the forum for Short-handed:
NL2 SH A7o

Question 2: Hand commented on in the forum for Short-handed.
[Nl10-Sh] TT river bluff

Question 3: Consider the following situation:
$10 NL Hold'em (6 handed)
Stacks & Stats:
UTG($10)
MP ($10)
CO ($10)
BU($10)
SB ($10)
BB (Hero) ($10)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 5h, 4h
2 folds, CO raises to $0.40, BU calls $0.40, SB calls $0.40, Hero calls $0.40

Flop:($1.60) 3s, 2h, Qh (4 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.20, CO Raises All-in, BU calls All-in, SB folds, Hero...

What action would you take, and why?
I would fold. Versus two opponents, one of which showed aggression preflop and the other who was first to cold-call, we are against two strong hands. Though I like our open ended straight + flush draw, we are too often against much stronger hands. We can find places where we are much further ahead.
If it were just against the All-in bet, with the BU folding, I would be much more open to calling, but the higher pot odds are outweighed by our flush draw being so low.

Have you tried to play around with this hand in Equilab and look at what type of equity our hand may have versus the pot odds we get?

Question 4: Consider the following situation:
$10 NL Hold'em (6 handed)
Stacks & Stats:
UTG ($10)
MP ($10)
CO (Hero) ($10)
BU($10)
SB ($10)
BB ($10)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Ac, Ks
2 folds, Hero raises to $0.40, BU calls $0.40, SB calls $0.40, BB calls $0.40

Flop: ($1.60) As, 4c, 4d (4 players)
SB checks, BB bets $1.20, Hero...

What action would you take, and why?
The BB betting out shows strength like he hit one of the 4s. But I don't think we can play scared without any more information. There is no flush draw and a straight draw is also very unlikely. I think raising only isolates us against hands with a 4 and perhaps AQ... So calling and looking to raise on the turn is the line I would take.

How would you treat the turn? If he bets again and we don't improve how do you play?

Originally posted by BogdanPS

I do want to put a tiny bit more time into Full Ring as I move up the limits. I plan to play some NL16 now and I'd like to feel comfortable at NL25 before trying to focus on NL10 SH. What do you think of that plan?

And last, I have another question. Should I be focusing my BR management on just the account I have money in, or should I consider all my online BR from sites put together? Either way I plan on staying strict when I need to move down in limits. And with sites where I have only like $10 or $50 (or even up to $100), I plan on staying at NL2 anyways, only moving up to NL5 when there is a decent buffer...
But when I'm playing on PokerStars where the bulk of my money is, should I consider my overall online BR?

If you can easily move your BR between sites then I would consider it all as one.

Is there a particular reason why you would play nl2 or nl5 when you normally play nl10/25? Or is that mostly for fun?

At the moment I can't 'easily' move the money from Party Poker or William Hill. But those all together make up only like $40. So I will continue to treat those like starting amounts... I have my PokerStars and FTP accounts linked, so I will treat that like one bankroll.

Because it would be difficult to get money to William Hill (that site specifically matters as it is the only site I have money on to get Strategy Points from to keep up my current silver status) I will treat that like a starting roll and try to get it to a safe place for the correct limit.
Otherwise, as you said, if the money is easily transferable there is no reason to play extra low.

Originally posted by PhoenixPhreak

Originally posted by BogdanPS

I do want to put a tiny bit more time into Full Ring as I move up the limits. I plan to play some NL16 now and I'd like to feel comfortable at NL25 before trying to focus on NL10 SH. What do you think of that plan?

And last, I have another question. Should I be focusing my BR management on just the account I have money in, or should I consider all my online BR from sites put together? Either way I plan on staying strict when I need to move down in limits. And with sites where I have only like $10 or $50 (or even up to $100), I plan on staying at NL2 anyways, only moving up to NL5 when there is a decent buffer...
But when I'm playing on PokerStars where the bulk of my money is, should I consider my overall online BR?

If you can easily move your BR between sites then I would consider it all as one.

Is there a particular reason why you would play nl2 or nl5 when you normally play nl10/25? Or is that mostly for fun?

At the moment I can't 'easily' move the money from Party Poker or William Hill. But those all together make up only like $40. So I will continue to treat those like starting amounts... I have my PokerStars and FTP accounts linked, so I will treat that like one bankroll.

Because it would be difficult to get money to William Hill (that site specifically matters as it is the only site I have money on to get Strategy Points from to keep up my current silver status) I will treat that like a starting roll and try to get it to a safe place for the correct limit.
Otherwise, as you said, if the money is easily transferable there is no reason to play extra low.

Sounds good.

Since the second sites don't make up a large part of your bankroll they can easily be treated separately.

@BogdanPS - Regarding Homework 8 (sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, and thanks for your other reply! ♦ )

I did mess around with the equity calculator.
We must put in $8.40 to win $22. So we need at least 3-1 to be break even. When I put the villains on possible ranges I tried to consider what would be their holdings. If I put the main villain on a hand like AQ or QQ+ (For a set or over pair) and the caller on either a flush draw like JT+ then we are getting less than 20% equity. I just now (as in, not in my previous answer) added 33 to the caller's range. That bumps up our equity to 31.6%, which does justify a call.
Without reads on the opponents I don't feel that this is the best spot to call as we are either way behind or a little ahead (of the required pot odds)...
But I am still very novice at putting other players on ranges and would love some advice on how to better calculate equity.

I actually already answered the turn play question in my original answer:
"So calling and looking to raise on the turn is the line I would take."
I still don't know if this is a good line, so I am definitely interested in advice or critique.

Thanks so much for your feedback! ♦

Originally posted by PhoenixPhreak
@BogdanPS - Regarding Homework 8 (sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, and thanks for your other reply! ♦ )

I did mess around with the equity calculator.
We must put in $8.40 to win $22. So we need at least 3-1 to be break even. When I put the villains on possible ranges I tried to consider what would be their holdings. If I put the main villain on a hand like AQ or QQ+ (For a set or over pair) and the caller on either a flush draw like JT+ then we are getting less than 20% equity. I just now (as in, not in my previous answer) added 33 to the caller's range. That bumps up our equity to 31.6%, which does justify a call.
Without reads on the opponents I don't feel that this is the best spot to call as we are either way behind or a little ahead (of the required pot odds)...
But I am still very novice at putting other players on ranges and would love some advice on how to better calculate equity.

I actually already answered the turn play question in my original answer:
"So calling and looking to raise on the turn is the line I would take."
I still don't know if this is a good line, so I am definitely interested in advice or critique.

Thanks so much for your feedback! ♦

Of the important things to keep in mind with our draw is that we only have 5 high and we are dominated by better draws, in which case we are drawing to about 6 outs (when he has better FD).

Without reads it would be really marginal.

How about with a draw like A4h, A5h?

Originally posted by BogdanPS
Of the important things to keep in mind with our draw is that we only have 5 high and we are dominated by better draws, in which case we are drawing to about 6 outs (when he has better FD).

Without reads it would be really marginal.

How about with a draw like A4h, A5h?

With all the variations of hands I put them on (even QQ and 33 only, to weaker FD), we have at worst 32%, and that is with them only having the strongest holdings. With other hands mixed in, we are definitely ahead of our 33% needed equity, sometimes by quite a lot.

Question 1: Post a hand for evaluation.
NL10 AJo River Play

Question 2: Evaluate one of the hands submitted by other members.
NL4 TJ Multiway

Question 3: Consider the following situation:

$100 NL Hold'em (9 handed)

Stacks & Stats:
UTG ($100)
UTG+1 ($100)
MP1 ($100)
MP2 ($100)
Hero ($100)
CO ($100)
BU ($100)
SB ($100)
BB ($100) (18/15/3.7/23/732)[VPIP/PFR/AF/WTS/Hands]

Preflop: Hero is BU with 8 , 9
4 folds, Hero raises to $4.00, 3 folds, BB calls $4.00

Flop: ($8.50) 3 , 6 , 8 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $5.50 BB calls $5.50

Turn: ($19.50) J (2 players)
BB checks, Hero...

What action would you take, and why?

(Well, Hero is actually MP3, right?)

I would bet. We have a made flush, the very hand we were hoping to get with 89s. The Villain could be calling with some straight draw (unlikely?), or a set (possible), or a higher flush. With those stats, I can't easily see them calling preflop with week over pair, but after the flop action, they are most likely to have a set or a higher flush. A bet here would be for protection from a possible set or possible, but unlikely two pair. If the villain shows aggression we give up to a likely higher flush.

On the river, if a brick comes and we are checked to, we can make a small bet to get value from possible sets/two-pair.

BONUS Question 4 (optional question): Consider the following situation:

$200 NL Hold'em (6 handed)

Stacks & Stats:
MP2 (Hero) ($327.95)
MP3 ($207.45)
CO ($415.55) (TAG)
BU ($373.60) (TAG)
SB ($200.00)
BB ($218.00)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 7 , 8
Hero raises to $7, 1 folds, CO raises to $23, BU calls $23, SB folds, BB folds, Hero calls $16

Flop: ($72) 7 , 8 , 8 (3 players)
Hero checks, CO checks, BU bets $52, Hero calls, CO calls

Turn: ($228) K (3 players)
Hero checks, CO checks, BU checks

River: ($228) Q (3 players)
Hero bets $110, CO raises to $340.55 (All-in), BU folds, Hero?

What factors and concepts that you have learned so far would you use in evaluating this situation? What would your action be?

Well, the CO 3B pre-flop, and is described as being TAG. I don't understand all the passive play on the flop and turn with the nuts... But evaluating the river:

I would consider that his starting range is likely quite tight. Inputting into the equity calculator just holdings of QQ+ we are at exactly 50/50 equity. Adding KQs+ and AQ+, we are in even better shape. If there is a real chance they have AA or are bluffing, we must call since there is so much money in the pot already. Though I think it would be strange for any of these to have been simply passively called on the flop and checked on the turn.
The only hands that beat us all don't make sense with how the hand played out, and if we consider that our own hand is quite hidden, our river bet could easily be taken as a weak value bet or bluff and the CO could be further pushing us off a hand or value-betting a weaker hand.

We must call.

Hi Phoenix,

Q1 & 2: well done. Keep the hands coming

Q3: Yes we are MP3 (or Hijack)

In a spot like this, at 100nl we also need to check villains 3-bet %s and since we have 700 hands we would have a fair idea of how aggro he is.

Considering he is somewhat aggressive overall we can also expect him to raise some NFD and overpairs on that flop so he is less likely to have that many made FDs that beat us.

So his more likely range could be 99-TT, A8s, 89s, 78s and possibly some QT/KQ/KT fds.

A double barrel here would be fine if we keep the bet at around 60% pot or so.

Q4: Flop and turn is fine considering how often people 3-bet at those limits (and thus have a ton of hands that would barrel the turn, especially on the Kx).

The way CO played his hand it looks a lot like QQ or slowplayed KK so the river is a bet/fold without some dynamic/history. At these limits people are more aggro and history is key in spots like this.

Thank you for your response! ♦

Do you have any specific homework or assignments I should work on now?

Already on my own, I am reviewing all the lessons again and will be watching through all of HasenBraten's Crushing NL50 videos. I'm also reviewing the quizzes for preflop and postflop play...

Originally posted by PhoenixPhreak
Thank you for your response! ♦

Do you have any specific homework or assignments I should work on now?

Already on my own, I am reviewing all the lessons again and will be watching through all of HasenBraten's Crushing NL50 videos. I'm also reviewing the quizzes for preflop and postflop play...

Hi Phoenix,

I recommend that you review your sessions played for at least 10-15 minutes (using HM or PT).

While you review mark 4-5 interesting hands and post them on the forum. When you post them make sure to also give your thought process on them.

I have a few HM videos that show you how to do a session review and also a video just came out that talks about posting hands in the evaluation forum and how to make the most out of that.

So, I've been busy with some real life stuff and been focusing less on Poker for a bit. But March is my month! I will be putting in a lot more study time again and working on plugging a lot of leaks I have.

I have finished all the homework, so what do I need to do to take the final test?

Thanks!

Originally posted by PhoenixPhreak
So, I've been busy with some real life stuff and been focusing less on Poker for a bit. But March is my month! I will be putting in a lot more study time again and working on plugging a lot of leaks I have.

I have finished all the homework, so what do I need to do to take the final test?

Thanks!

From this page: http://www.pokerstrategy.com/strategy/bss/1992/1/ , if you scroll down the page, you will see a link to the exam.