w34z3l's Poker Academy

Guys!

Topic of this weeks coaching is Q+A time with w34z3l

It's basically an ask me anything (AMA). Please post any questions you'd like to ask in the thread, or bring them with you to the live coaching.

Questions will be answered first, then with any remaining time we will move on to msneks hands (Get posting msnek).

Thanks guys, see you Thursday

Preflop I get the odds to call.
I guess river is a good spot to bluff and by overbetting I have the most fold equity. Although I think he would fold QQ and KK (and maybe some AK) too to a regular sized bet too on river, so bet river like 2/3rd pot is more optimal here?

PokerStars - $0.50 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 107.16 BB (VPIP: 29.27, PFR: 21.95, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 43)
SB: 166.06 BB (VPIP: 27.72, PFR: 22.01, 3Bet Preflop: 12.06, Hands: 378)
BB: 159.06 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 7.69, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 65)
UTG: 101.68 BB (VPIP: 22.49, PFR: 17.18, 3Bet Preflop: 6.90, Hands: 1,241)
Hero (MP): 344.28 BB
CO: 127.78 BB (VPIP: 24.26, PFR: 12.38, 3Bet Preflop: 3.16, Hands: 210)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 6♣ 5♣

fold, Hero raises to 3 BB, CO raises to 10 BB, fold, SB calls 9.5 BB, fold, Hero calls 7 BB

Flop: (31 BB, 3 players) T♦ 4♠ 3♦
SB checks, Hero checks, CO bets 19.12 BB, fold, Hero calls 19.12 BB

Turn: (69.24 BB, 2 players) A♦
Hero checks, CO checks

River: (69.24 BB, 2 players) 3♠
Hero bets 315.16 BB and is all-in, CO calls 98.66 BB and is all-in

Originally posted by fawltyfelix
HI,

I am Jon and I am an american living in Costa Rica. I have been playing for about a year and a half. I currently play 10NL. I have been a member of pokerstrategy.com for a while now, but I have not done much on the site.

I came across this thread and I am famaliar with w34z3l from another site. Curious how the academy works and if its still possible to join and if there are any additional requirements other than what is posted in the initial thread post.

Thanks

Hey fawltyfelix,

Thanks for dropping by. A lot of the info is in the first thread. Basically we have 2 live coaching sessions a month and the topics can be anything the users want.

This time we'll have an ask me anything session, so if you got any questions you'd like to ask a professional cash game player then feel free to drop by. It's for gold members though I believe, so not sure if you can attend.

@msnek - btw if it's easier you can add me on skype and ship me the txt files and I can look at them in HM2 or PT4 in the session

Hi w34z3l,

I have a question which refers to Spots like the one in KoeNe4u's Hand. What do you think about donkbetting multiway in such Spots with a balanced range? I am thinking about donkbetting Sets and twopairs together with bluffs like three to a flush + three to a straight (in general in multiway pots, not just in this example). But what about oesds and flush draws?... I think they can be checked or bet and the ev- difference won't be too big, right? Personally I would not check-raise anything in this specific spot, but rather bet or check-call adequate hands because of the SPR. What do you think about this strategy?

My question (relates a bit to Reiseleiter's one): how do we decide if we want to have a range for specific action on specific board, and should this range to be wide or narrow? I mean, we see a flop, and do we need to donk? Do we need to raise anything? Do we cbet 20% or 70%? I understand it has a lot to do with population reads and such, but there certainly ought to be some general theoretical base underneath. Which factors should we take into account when deciding about splitting ranges? Which factors are more important than others?

For instance, say we called a 3bet MPvsBU, and board comes Q♣:T♥:9♣: We likely have pretty significant equity advantage, both in terms of nutted hands and amount of completely missed hands. But what does it mean? Should we donk here a lot? Should we try to checkraise instead? Assume we know nothing about our opponent. And for BU: whould he cbet his strong hands for protection, or should he check more and try to realise equity with weaker parts of his range, and defend those by cheking some strong hands as well?

Or another example: we called a pfr BB vs EP, flop comes K♥:4♦:3♠: Again, BB usually has more 33-44, suited connectors and Kx hands than EP, but what does he do with it? Especialy considering the board is quite static.

I'm genuinely confused, help me w34z3l

Hi w34z3l , I got a question about Your series - 6max walkthrough - would You still recommend using those ranges or would You change something ? What's Your opinion on the defending range for example vs 3bets in the micro ? I'm trying to build those ranges based on my opening range and then choose my defend range ( both call and 4bet ) to make sure my Ft3b stat won't go as high as lets say 80% but that kinda difficult on the CO, especially when we are vs BU thus OOP. CO range is pretty high so we should be defending with more hands to avoid high Ft3b stat but is that something we should worry about on the micros ? At least until we get decent sample size on certain villains ?

Hi,

I also have few questions:

1st
How to adjust our defending range against 40bb player (not necessarly playing SSS, often just weaker player) opening 3x (for example BTN vs CO). We should normally coldcall quite a lot here but now we don´t have implied odds with our speculative hands (low PP, SCs) - so it´s basically OK to defend tighter?

2nd
I´m not sure how to play flop on lower boards OOP with hands like AK, AQ, AJ with no BDFD or GS - I usually play check/call but maybe it´s better to mix it with cbet?
Two similar hands

3rd question
Which are common mistakes you see at your students in their overall approach?

Also I´d like to suggest some topic for coaching in future - on one of your previous coachings you show us how to quickly build simplified strategy playing OOP as PFR (around 50 % cbet, check/fold around 50% of checking range). It was very helpful for me. Would be nice if you can show how to continue on turn and river.

Ok I also do have a question. And it is again related to the topic of overfolding at micros. And u will see this in hands I will send u via Skype. I have been using your preflop ranges from your 6max walkthrough series. But I have to say I am more inclined to underdefend even according to these ranges over all at micros. For example when I am holding even a hand like AQo on BTN I just fold most of the time to 3bet from blinds. I feel I am more likely to 4bet bluff than to defend by calling in this (and other spots). I really think/feel people overall at micros are not 3beting wide enough. But I am not sure about this. Of course - if I have at least lets say 400 hands on someone, who looks like solid postionally aware reg, who has something like 8% 3bet and does have 10%+ 3bet vs hero and his 3bet from blinds is higher than fro other positions (for example around 12%) I jave no problem with defending by calling. Bit against unknowns I jus underdefend by calling in general. My question is if this is ok and what do u think about this. Thanks

Hi w34z3l,

got some more hands for you

1) definitely a mistake to fold this hand on river with missed fd and lot of weakness of my side by checking twice.
Although I think my play preflop is fine, I hate to play 4bet pots AJo OOP

PokerStars - $0.50 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 100 BB (VPIP: 24.00, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 15.63, Hands: 76)
SB: 92.72 BB (VPIP: 10.00, PFR: 5.00, 3Bet Preflop: 3.23, Hands: 61)
BB: 100.42 BB
UTG: 233.2 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 2)
Hero (MP): 109 BB
CO: 128.04 BB (VPIP: 25.22, PFR: 20.02, 3Bet Preflop: 9.66, Hands: 832)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has A♠ J♦

fold, Hero raises to 3 BB, CO raises to 10 BB, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 23 BB, CO calls 13 BB

Flop: (47.5 BB, 2 players) 2♣ A♦ 7♣
Hero checks, CO checks

Turn: (47.5 BB, 2 players) 4♠
Hero checks, CO bets 22 BB, Hero calls 22 BB

River: (91.5 BB, 2 players) 6♦
Hero checks, CO bets 83.04 BB and is all-in, fold

2) Villain is quite aggro, so I let him do the betting for me I mix it up with this holding on such boards. Sometimes x/c, sometimes bet myself and when lower stacked I like x/r turn on this board. I wonder if there is any theory about most optimal line on which boards, but I guess I played it fine given the board

PokerStars - $0.50 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 299.42 BB (VPIP: 27.01, PFR: 18.56, 3Bet Preflop: 10.63, Hands: 492)
Hero (SB): 203.84 BB
BB: 72.6 BB (VPIP: 32.52, PFR: 14.63, 3Bet Preflop: 7.02, Hands: 128)
UTG: 120.54 BB (VPIP: 24.64, PFR: 17.57, 3Bet Preflop: 5.38, Hands: 938)
MP: 183.84 BB (VPIP: 22.69, PFR: 17.21, 3Bet Preflop: 6.23, Hands: 1,568)
CO: 108 BB (VPIP: 30.77, PFR: 24.23, 3Bet Preflop: 10.92, Hands: 264)

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has K♦ K♠

fold, MP raises to 3 BB, fold, fold, Hero raises to 10 BB, fold, MP calls 7 BB

Flop: (21 BB, 2 players) Q♠ T♣ 3♦
Hero checks, MP bets 9.98 BB, Hero calls 9.98 BB

Turn: (40.96 BB, 2 players) 7♠
Hero checks, MP bets 26 BB, Hero calls 26 BB

River: (92.96 BB, 2 players) 2♠
Hero checks, MP bets 137.86 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 137.86 BB

3) Brag hand I think I played this good. We have position and backdoors to bet turn. We hit our fd draw and the A is good card to bet again. On river its again a clear bet. Although he had pot left, I decided to half pot, because I dont see him folding more hands when I would shove, so I go for the lowest bluff price on this board

PokerStars - $0.50 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BTN): 212.9 BB
SB: 66.76 BB (VPIP: 30.77, PFR: 15.38, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 26)
BB: 73.68 BB (VPIP: 33.33, PFR: 33.33, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 3)
UTG: 124.06 BB (VPIP: 18.42, PFR: 15.79, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 41)
MP: 182.48 BB (VPIP: 25.52, PFR: 20.29, 3Bet Preflop: 9.79, Hands: 846)
CO: 117.2 BB (VPIP: 100.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 2)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has T♥ 9♥

fold, MP raises to 2.22 BB, CO calls 2.22 BB, Hero calls 2.22 BB, SB calls 1.72 BB, BB calls 1.22 BB

Flop: (11.1 BB, 5 players) 7♣ 4♠ 5♥
SB checks, BB checks, MP checks, CO checks, Hero bets 6 BB, SB calls 6 BB, fold, fold, fold

Turn: (23.1 BB, 2 players) A♥
SB checks, Hero bets 13 BB, SB calls 13 BB

River: (49.1 BB, 2 players) Q♠
SB checks, Hero bets 23.78 BB, fold

4) Shitty flop, so no bet. Turn we hit our 4 and I decided to lowbet it to protect and maybe get value of some weak draws or AQ+ he cant fold. His raise makes it very awkward for me, but guess my play is fine?

PokerStars - $0.50 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 100 BB (VPIP: 24.83, PFR: 18.88, 3Bet Preflop: 7.50, Hands: 290)
SB: 105.4 BB
BB: 30.88 BB (VPIP: 13.33, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 15)
UTG: 95.72 BB (VPIP: 9.30, PFR: 4.65, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 43)
Hero (MP): 169.34 BB
CO: 183.52 BB (VPIP: 34.00, PFR: 26.00, 3Bet Preflop: 6.25, Hands: 52)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has A♣ 4♣

UTG raises to 3 BB, Hero raises to 9 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, UTG calls 6 BB

Flop: (19.5 BB, 2 players) 9♦ J♥ 5♠
UTG checks, Hero checks

Turn: (19.5 BB, 2 players) 4♥
UTG checks, Hero bets 6.66 BB, UTG raises to 24.16 BB, fold

Oh and one more thing comes to my mind (in terms of topic). I struggle in situations where someone opened the pot, other guy raised him (3bet) and we are either IP o OOP with holdings especially like TT, JJ, QQ, AKo + AKs. I never know if I should 4bet them, cold call or just fold.

Another quiestion, a quick one, hope we have time. For now I play lower stakes than usual, and sometimes people here just blow my mind

A lot of the times people do very weird staff, like check-raising or donking completely inappropriate boards. That gives me a headache, since I can't figure out any hands, with which this play makes any kind of sence. I.e. we opened MP or CO, BB calls and goes for x-r on A♠:K♦:3♦: or 2♠:2♣:5♠: Obv this is our boards, so we have 60-80% of air in cbetting range; is it all right to just fold it all?

Hey, will be the coaching today or not ? I think I saw it scheduled for today, but now I cant find it in coachings week schedule

Hi all, iam from spanish comunity, gratefull to be here!!

Are any place where i can download the HUD that w34z3lz is using in this video: https://www.pokerstrategy.com/video/37969/

I love to have this HUD, however i dont have notecaddy and iam not interesting in notecaddy functions (yet).

pd: Sorry if my english isnt good!

Huh ? Anyone ? Anything ?

Originally posted by msnek
Hey, will be the coaching today or not ? I think I saw it scheduled for today, but now I cant find it in coachings week schedule

Next session is on the 9th. We'll be playing live and streaming from Twitch at the same time.

sign me up : )

Hello w34z3l! This week it's gonna be live play only, as stated on coaching page?

Hi w34z3l,

is there a seperate thread for your Poker in practice series?