anhvusa

Good Job! Homework #5 Done!

About Task #3
It's a very close decision: does protection or pot control weigh heavier here? Do you want to protect against hands like 3x or A:dx and K:dx? Or do you want to control the pot size and try to induce a bluff on the river in case there is no T, no J and no additional ♦?

Raise/fold is out of question - with the given pot size and the good made hand you have, it can't even be considered.

In case you decide to go broke, you can't really be blamed either. It's not a sign of weakness that the rather tight small blind decides to bet into two people here, though. I would say a call is to be slightly favored, while the many outs against you are annoying. The big blind who calls rather loosely speaks in favor of a raise/broke again. Both options are finally considered equal, which shows - all things considered - how close and full of variance these spots really are.

About Task #4
You've called pre-flop and then hit a good board. You basically have two choices now: either you assume that your opponent will go broke loosely or puts you on a bluff often and you thus check/raise - or you play check/call in the spirit of way ahead / way behind. The problem with the latter is that there are a lot of cards you don't want to see in the later course of the hand. All in all, it depends on your balancing as both lines make sense under certain circumstances.

A check/fold would be really pointless, of course. It's hard to say whether you should donk-bet here; donk/fold can be discarded as that would turn your hand into a pure bluff and your opponent would interpret this as weakness and start raising you out of flops with hands like AK/AQ/air. So, if you want to donk-bet, it has to be a donk/3-bet.

Good luck on tables and with the School. Some more points earned.

Hi coach!

Thanks for the advice and the constructive comments that motivate me to force myself work harder on my games, though I still have many critical leaks to fix, and many things which have to learn and review on my own.

Thanks and best regards,

anhvusa

Originally posted by anhvusa
Hi coach!

Thanks for the advice and the constructive comments that motivate me to force myself work harder on my games, though I still have many critical leaks to fix, and many things which have to learn and review on my own.

Thanks and best regards,

anhvusa

But you already started to fix those leaks with the course, posting hands. You are doing great work! Keep going!

Question 1: Post a hand for evaluation where you have either a) freeplay, b) slowplay, or c) multi-way pot situation.

NL4 99 on limped pot

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

KK nl5

Question 3: Consider the following situation:

Stacks & Stats

UTG ($25)
UTG+1 ($25) rock
UTG+2 ($25)
MP1 ($25)
MP2 ($25) LAG
MP3 ($25) maniac
CO ($25)
Hero BU ($25)
SB ($25)
BB ($25) calling station

Preflop: Hero is BU with Q :heart:, J
5 folds, MP3 raises $1.00, CO calls $1.00, Hero calls $1.00, 1 fold, BB calls $1.00

Flop: ($4.10) 3 :heart:, J :club:, A :diamond:(4 players)
BB checks, MP3 checks, CO checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($4.10) Q :club:(4 players)
BB bets $2.05, 2 folds, Hero...?

What action would you take, and why?

As on TURN, here we've got 2 pairs, and it's quite a strong hand, but with a heavy-draw board like this, and the BB has made a move, when he didn't do on FLOP. With these dangerous community cards like this, he would complete his straight with KT or got 2 pairs that could beat ours with A3, AJ or even AQ.

Of course, we could consider to make a Raise against him on an unraised pot like this if we're certain our strong hands rarely have beat. But it would be hurt to get 3bet from him and we have to Fold or a Call from him with a dangerous RIVER card come later and it's harder for us to make decision.

On conclusion, I would choose the safe side, to Fold here, on TURN, and waiting for another chance to have him beat.

Originally posted by veriz

But you already started to fix those leaks with the course, posting hands. You are doing great work! Keep going!

Hi coach!

I'm very happy that's you've been watching on my work and give me not only lessons, advice, but also the motivation to make me keep moving and working harder I know this is just beginning, the first step of the long run to find my own leaks, to fix them, to improve my game, to make my game nearly perfect. I hope I could keep doing this consistently to achieve my goals.

Thanks for commenting on my thread and best regards,

anhvusa

Good Job! Homework #6 Done!

About Question #3:
Two lines can quickly be discarded here: fold and raise/fold; your hand is simply too strong for those alternatives.

It's hard to assess whether you should put in a raise here. When a rather passive player decides to bet into three players while being out of position, it does look strong. It's more likely an indication of a made hand than that of a draw.

A raise naturally protects, but you run the risk of isolating yourself against very strong range. Which weaker hands could your opponent possibly continue playing here?

The deciding factor finally comes in the size of the pot. This tiny pot simply isn't worth putting yourself into a tough spot where you could potentially end up risking your entire stack. A raise would be overplayed here and pot control takes the precedent over protection.

Thanks for the great feedback. I know from my own experience that motivation is the most important thing actually in poker. There were a lot of spots where I needed that also, when you had spots where you just couldn't win. Whatever you did, getting always rivered or any other way beaten. That's also why I am trying to motivation you and trying to get your mindset in better shape.

Best of Luck on tables and with the Course. Some more points earned.

Hi coach

Thanks for your reply and points (though I don't deserve them completely!)

I'm very happy because of sharing of your experience in poker with me. That's priceless and very helpful for my developement in poker. I appreciate it and hope I could learn many things more from you (because I admire you so much ♦! Truely!) Following from the beginning of the course until now, though I haven't played my games not well, and still have made many mistakes, but I've learned alot of things that could be a large pace in my poker career (I mean it's very/very better than the way when I first played poker) Furthermore, the BSS Beginner Course has put first corner stones not only in technical skills in play, but also a Poker Mindset for me. I enjoy the course so much until now (though, recently I felt regretly not to attend your live coachings :(), and hopefully could pass the next exam to continue to learn and improve my games along with other Pokerstrategists.

Thanks and best regards,

anhvusa

Hello anhvusa,

Feels great to get such a good feedback, at least I see I am doing somewhat great work. ♦ But ye, I wish I would have something when I began my poker career to boost up my knowledge. It's really helpful to have such a player with experience. Hopefully I will be able to teach you even more.

Passing the exam definitely will be big step forward and of course you can still continue with posting hands and discussing strategy with me. And also more advanced schools are in the way.

Best Regards.

Hi coach!

Many thanks for your motivation and useful advice for me, and also for all the great feedback in your evaluation for my hands (in Hand Evaluations). I appreciate very much. I hope I could be good enough to pass the exam to be able to take advanced courses to make my games better and I can move up higher.

It seems quite tough and challenged for me to play in Short-handed tables. Perhaps I haven't done well in FR enough to go SH. I think I have to practice and work on my games harder to make sure I feel confident enough to take the challenge in SH games. Anyways, I would like SH rather than FR, because SH game is more dynamic and more complex than FR game, and I would like to take the challenge in this game.♦

Thanks and best regards,

anhvusa

Question 1: Post a hand for evaluation where you have played on a 6-max table (short-handed).

NL2 KJs vs AJ

NL2 A3 hit two pairs vs FD

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

Nl2 Oesd

Question 3: Consider the following situation:

Stacks & Stats:
UTG ($10)
MP ($10)
CO ($10)
BU($10)
SB ($10)
BB (Hero) ($10)

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

Flop: ($1.60) 3 :spade:, 2 :heart:, Q :heart:(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?

On Flop, we've got a very strong combo-draw (OESD + FD). But, the CO raised first on PreFlop and 3bet (ship) on Flop, likely he has hit a set with his QQ or a FD nuts with his A K :heart:. Additional, the BU has shipped, it means he has a high PP like KK or AA (with a in), or at least he's hit a set too . In this spot, I think we have small edge on opponents, and likely to be dominated if our FD hit on Turn. It's quite hard to make decision right here whether ship like them or just give up the hand. I would choose the safe side, Fold, and wait for another chance.

Question 4: Consider the following situation:

Stacks & Stats:
UTG ($10)
MP ($10)
CO (Hero) ($10)
BU($10)
SB ($10)
BB ($10)

Preflop: Hero is CO with A :club:, K
2 folds, Hero raises to $0.40, BU calls $0.40, SB calls $0.40, BB calls $0.40

Flop: ($1.60) A :spade:, 4 :club:, 4 :diamond:(4 players)
SB checks, BB bets $1.20, Hero...

What action would you take, and why?

Fold is not an option in this multi-way pot.

Our A got hit on Flop with a high kicker, and we're OOP, so I would like to take an 3bet on SB's raise, and the amount a Re-raise is a little bit bigger (because we're OOP and have the initiative), something like ~$4.

Good Job! Homework #7 Done!

About Question #3:
In this case, you decided to bet out yourself and two players behind you go all-in. You would have to invest $8.40 in order to participate in a $22 pot, which corresponds to an equity of 27.63%.

Board: Q:h 3:s 2:h
Dead:

Equity Win DrawLoss Hand
Player 1: 38.538% 38.538% 0.000% 61.462% 5h4h
Player 2: 14.540% 14.540% 0.000% 85.460% QQ+
Player 3: 46.921% 46.921% 0.000% 53.079% 22-33

You get the required odds even when you're exclusively up against very strong hands!

About Question #4:
Top pair / top kicker has been and will always be a hand that's tough to play, especially in a multi-way pot. In this case, you've hit a nice flop, but you're up against 3 opponents on a dry board which doesn't allow for any dangerous draws.

A fold on this board is, of course, too weak. You can't really hit much better and there might be worse Ax hands willing to pay you off.

If you think that your opponent(s) is/are often willing to go broke on the flop with worse hands, raising might not be the worst of choices. But one thing is clear: if you raise, you have to go all-in on the flop! Raise/fold with your top pair is absolutely out of question.

Even though this might leave a bitter aftertaste in a 4-way pot, you should play this like a way ahead / way behind spot here - by playing it passive, you will extract the maximum from weaker hands and bluffs while avoiding big losses against stronger hands.

Good luck on tables and with the School. Some more points earned.

Hi coach!

Thanks for having a deep look on my homework with many correction and fulfillment for my mistakes and what I've missed in my homework. Even though I haven't done my homework so well and completely, but still receive your points :). I appreciate them so much. Furthermore, I want to say many thanks to you for continuing to spend your precious time for judging my hands with many constructive and helpful comments what I can learn something from.

Thanks and best regards,

anhvusa

Question 1: Post a hand for evaluation.

NL2 JJ needs more protection or not?

NL2 KK got stuck on River once again!

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

NL2: Slowplaying Monsters

Question 3: Consider the following situation:

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 BB with 8 :heart:, 9
4 folds, Hero raises to $4.00, 3 folds, BB calls $4.00

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

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

What action would you take, and why?

Check/Call, Check/Fold don't have meaning in this spot.

The situation is we've got our FD completed on Turn with a medium pair, but our hand is still be dominated by A :heart:x, K :heart:x, Q :heart:x or even T♥x here.
We have no choice, but to bet, around 3/4 pot to pot size. Something between $15 and $19.5, but I think we should bet bigger (pot size) to protect our hand. If we get called, the next decision in on turn. Otherwise, if he Raises our bet, I think we canconsider to Fold here, because based on the opponent's stats, I think he should Raise our Bet if he thinks his can dominate ours (because his AF is quite enough for him to make a move on this situation).
So, the action here is Bet/Fold.

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

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?

In this situation, it's quite hard to make a decision between Call (AI) and Fold. Because:

+ The CO has 3bet on PreFlop, BU called, and we somehow know both of them are TAG players. It means they must have something like PPs to make such a move like that.

+ But why the CO checked on both Flop and Turn, while the the BU takes aggression? There are still many people in the pot and CO thinks his over PP still can be beaten by the others, or even he slowplay like Hero did to his Fullhouse on Flop.

+ River: Hero takes the actions, but got the reaction from CO, he's AI. Even though big pots for strong hands, small pots for weak hands, but we have to re-consider this situation from the PreFlop. If we Call here, we need about 21.07% Equity to do it, but actually:

Board: 7♣8♠8♦ K♦ Q♥
       Equity     Win     Tie
UTG    14.29%  14.29%   0.00% { 8h7h }
UTG+2  85.71%  85.71%   0.00% { KK-QQ, 77 }

Of course, we have no choice to Fold here based on this calculation. However, in real time, we've got short time to make a complete calculation and explaination like above, and when we bet with a size bet like this on River, it means we're committed to shove if we get Raise (AI in this situation). So I think I should shove and see whether my monster has got beaten or not.

Good Job! Homework #8 Done!

About Question #3:
In this case, the right answer is quite obvious. Both AF and WTS speak in favor of a check behind for bluff induce. But your hand is too strong here, so you want to get it all-in on the turn. There are a lot of hands you still have to protect against, too. Playing for bluff induce or pot control would simply be too weak and dangerous.

About Question #4:
About preflop play I'd say that it's still doable while we even are a bit deeper. I expect the hero to play solid postflop play. So Calling is definitely fine here with having 2 opponents in the hand and getting great implied odds. But for more beginners it's deifnitely a very close spot while they ain't gonna be able to laydown weak hands.

As we have the information that CO is a TAG player. Therefore, we expect him to have a strong 3bet range. Unless we have some other information like he has a wide 3bet range. But while we don’t have that, we basically consider his range to be something QQ+, AK or sometimes even tighter.

So now you have to ask yourself what kind of hands would play like this on river? KK may slowplay like this. QQ definitely is as well in his range. AK/AA he wouldn’t play this way since he know himself as well that he isn’t going to get Called by worse hands. So basically it’s up to the nuts most often. You only beat bluff there and I don’t expect the opponent to bluff in this case unless we know the table dynamics better.

Best of luck in exam! Some more points earned.

Hi coach!

It was a very busy week with me, but I'm very happy because I've passed the final exam of the course. It was very surprising. I know that's just the beginning of my poker career and there are many things I have to learn more to make my game more perfectly (actually nearly perfect ♦), but through the course I've learned many things from you, not only the first basic lessons, but also correction of my faults in my games. I appreciate all of them. All in all, I just want to say many/many thanks to you for guiding me first steps in poker and how to improve it. I would try my best to improve my games and hopefully someday I can beat you! ♠_biggrin:

Many thanks and best regards,

anhvusa

Hello anhvusa,

Thanks for the great feedback and I am glad to help you around. Obviously you will be welcome to hop in again here in this thread and continue even posting anything you want to discuss. Although hands are better welcome into the Hand Evaluation forums.

Also if you ever want to book a Coach I have made cheaper offers and even given free hours for those who finishes the course. https://forums.pokerstrategy.com/forum/thread.php?threadid=152085

Obviously any kind of feedback into the Private Coaching thread would be welcome as well. I will write a small feedback to you after I have evaluated your exam.

Best Regards.

Good Job! Your exam is done and evaluated!

I would now advice to take a look at the No Limit Advanced Learning path. Which is located here: No Limit Advanced Learning Path. Although it's without any homework but it's still a path which will help you get the understanding of more advanced stuff. Although it may require higher ranks. Some may require even Gold status.

You are still welcome to use this thread for your progress and if you face any questions about your play/stats or anything you want to ask. Also don't hesitate to continue posting hands which I will be most likely evaluating.

About your exam:
One of the few analyzes actually which had really in-depth analyze in it. I did really like it. You are taking your learning path really seriously and which even should look like for every poker player who wants to become good at it. Most of the hands and even simple questions you did give a depth explanation and which was really nice to read. Of course you did some mistakes like in the math part and so on but it's not a huge problem. Math part was anyways more advanced stuff so I wouldn't really worry about that much.

In future we gonna concentrate more on your hands and try to fix some leaks which. Hopefully you gonna continue posting in the thread. We could take a look at stats and many different kind of things. Maybe even some mindset problem.

Do you have any questions about the exam?

Good Luck on the Tables and with the next learning Path. If you have any questions don't hesitate to hop in your Locker Room thread and ask or post your progress.

Hi coach!

Sorry for being far too long from my own Locker Room thread and missing many your live coachings (I hope I could have more time to take all of them :(), and many thanks for all your valuable evaluation about my exam and my hands in Hands Evaluation sections (I thought I was doing not completely and missing many things in the exam ♦). Honestly, I don't care too much on the final result of the exam, all I want is to understand completely (80-90%) all the things which I've learnt from the Course (still I haven't been good enough like that ). Anyway, it's a long road ahead to become a good poker player and there are many things (also many faults) I have to learn much more. Thanks for your motivation, guidance and supportive actives which could give me more energy to move on and up.

BTW, after the Course, I've been spending so much time on playing, but only review sessions on my own (find leaks and try to fix myself ) and haven't spent any minutes to review lessons, or taken new lessons (I think this one is the biggest problem of mine), so I have some questions that I think the answers and evaluation from you could help me to understand and fix my leaks:

* My stats on 20k hands should be like this:
VPIP: 22.7|PFR: 13.2|3Bet: 5.1|vs3BetCall%: 24.6|Sqz%: 3.3|WTSD%:28.3|W$SD%: 50.2|AF: 2.45|Agg%:27.5
Flop Cbet%: 83.3|Flop Cbet% Success: 54.8|Turn Cbet%: 54.6|Flop FoldvsCbet: 59.7
Steal: 58.9|SB Fold to Steal: 82.4|BB Fold to Steal: 85.9|SB Resteal: 11.5|BB Resteal: 7.0
Winrate: 10.93bb/100

I was playing quite loosely and passively recently (especially limped with low/medium SCs, Ace low suited connectors, even one/two gappers suited, etc in middle positions, like MP3, and CO/BU) and it was quite frustrated for me to play with AT-AQ, TT-JJ. Even it's quite good running, but I'm feeling I'm doing wrong and would get stuck if I was on downswings. I know there are many leaks that's still lying beneath my stats which I couldn't see. Would you show me and give me some recommendation to improve my games? (I'm multi-tabling almost 7 tables)

* I intend to change to SH after beating NL4, but there seems to be a lot of things I should learn, understand, and apply correctly and fluently in my games. Maybe I should finish the Advanced BSS Courses or re-enroll the BSS Beginners Course once more to fulfill the basis. Would you recommend anything about changing from FR to SH? (higher limits seems to have less FR tables than SH and... of course SH is quite more dynamic, exciting, but also needed a good skill to play ♦)

Many thanks and best regards,

anhvusa

find leaks and try to fix myself

You can still post the hands for us to comment it. Don't try to evaluate all the stuff yourself, you might overvalue yourself and which is often times a leak as well.

VPIP: 22.7|PFR: 13.2|

The gap between VPIP/PFR is way too huge. You are playing way too many hands by calling and most likely loosing a lot money by that.

3Bet: 5.1|vs3BetCall%: 24.6|Sqz%: 3.3|

Seems to be fine, could be squeezing a bit more but it ain't a huge leak.

WTSD%:28.3|W$SD%: 50.2|

WTSD is way too high, with good run you might earn winning but most likely you are calling down too much. Watch it out. Of course it's possible that you are doing great but I rarely doubt with you being new to poker that it's gonna be really good, as even what W$SD shows, exactly 50% with even having a good run according bb/100.

AF: 2.45|Agg%:27.5

Could be a bit more aggressive but it ain't a must, rather take the neutral approach than being too passive/aggressive.

Flop Cbet%: 83.3|Flop Cbet% Success: 54.8|Turn Cbet%: 54.6|

Your CB is way too high on flop. Of course the opposite is that CB success % is good but it will most likely change. You just having a good run right now. Should take a look where you CB and what kind of boards, against what kind of opponents. Against looser opponents try to avoid multibarreling or betting at all.

Flop FoldvsCbet: 59.7

Fold vs CB is a bit too high, you seem to be playing fit/fold too much? Might should take a look how you play those hands what you Call preflop or either call less preflop and then most likely will be this stat fixed as well.

Steal: 58.9|

Stealing % is way too high. You most likely don't pay attention against whom you stealing, try to understand that and of course against what kind of stacks you stealing.

SB Fold to Steal: 82.4|BB Fold to Steal: 85.9|SB Resteal: 11.5|BB Resteal: 7.0

As the stats say that you don't defend much your blinds. But on those stacks it's not must to defend anyways. Rather take a passive approach and avoid marginal situations when your postflop skill isn't even good.

Winrate: 10.93bb/100

Most likely it will fall soon enough, as it seems that you just having a really great run right now, according the stats you ain't playing overall very good poker like the gap between VPIP/PFR and stuff.

Would you recommend anything about changing from FR to SH?

Nah, not at very beginning. Rather get used to FR and the preflop/postflop play, you still have got a lot leaks to fix.