Zachrina

Hi again,

I am now submitting my second home work. Hope this is okay??

I am definately playing better since starting the course and cannot believe I have been playing all this time without even picking up a SHC. I would be so much better by now. AAh well whats done is done so lets hope there are still lots of other lazy paople out there virtually playing with their eyes closed so we can take their cash!!!

Anyway, home work time.

Home work 2.

Question 1: What do you think you could play differently than suggested in the BSS Starting Hands Chart and why?

Answer, I am now using a HUD so can easily identify villains tendancies. Even without the use of a HUD I can adjust my SHC play according to their stats. An example of this would be to steal from very tight players with a slightly weaker holding than recommended in the SHC. I would probably also raise in MP with high mid pairs like 88 and 99 as they are much stronger than 22. All my plays would be player dependant of course.

Question 2: I have posted 2 hands in the forum already and will defo be posting many more. Really appreciating this great service, thank you guys.

Question 3: What is the equity of AKo against the top 5% range? 5% means 88+, AJs+, KQs, AKo.

Answer, For this I used equilab. The equity of AKo is 46.32%

I shall continue playing and studying. I am actually enjoying studying as much as playing at the moment and am really happy to have found this course at such great value. Thanks again.

Zach

Originally posted by zachrina
Hi,

I have been playing poker for around 5 years in total, but only really took a keen interest in the game last year or so.

I have had some successes in MTTs which I thought I was pretty good at but after starting to study the game realsised I know very little. I recently won a few tourneys on FT for over 2k and decided to investigate private coaching. This turned out to be very expensive so decided to look into training sites through 2p2. Then I came across PS.com and watched a couple of vids. Stumbled upon the beginners learning course and now I'm here. If only I'd have found this a few years ago!!!! I'm so excited to get started.

Welcome to the course, so let's get things started

As a side note you should leave private coaching for the future after you have reached a higher level and need that extra "kick" or mentor to help you along the way.

I have decided to start playing 'cash' as it requires less time commitment than MTTs and I find MTTs can be very 'tilting' as you can invest so much time for so little reward. I have just played my first two 1hr sessions using the BSS chart and am pleased to say I'm 2BIs up over 426 hands at NL10, wooooo!
I did have a tendancy to try to 'run before I could walk' in the past but have decided to work through this course as it comes. I even took a look at the rules of texas holdem at the start just in case I had previously missed anything. I have now watched the required vids and read relevant articles so far. Even read and watched a few more.

Okay, sorry to run on! Homework time.

Home work 1.

Q1, What is my motivation for playing poker?
A, I am a competative person who enjoys the excitement and challenge of winning. I would also like to earn some extra cash from playing.

Q2, What are my weaknesses in poker?
A, I try to play as much as possible but feel it is not enough. I am a slow reader which hinders my poker studying although your videos are very helpfull. I also get distracted easily when studying and playing. I don't concentrate on what other players are getting up to enough when I'm not in a hand. Sometimes even when I am in a hand. I will have so many leaks I am not aware what they are but they must be there because my overall ROI says they are!!
I am very curious and tend to call bets when I am pretty sure I'm beat. My post flop game is also very weak but hopefully lessons 2 and 3 will iron this problem out.

Q3, What is tight aggressive?
A, TAG is playing starting hands in line with the starting hands chart strongly. Putting pressure on my opponents, forcing them to make mistakes.

If you are a slow reader and/or don't enjoy reading I do recommend sticking with videos. However you still have to do some readings at times and to make things easier you can split articles in multiple pieces that you can read over the course of a day (or a few days).

For the rest of the items I recommend that you start setting up some short/long term goals so you at least know where you want to be headed.

After you've done this you can start looking at what areas of your game you should focus on first (and since you are new to this game you will have lots of areas but I recommend sticking to a few such as have a solid preflop game, and flop game).

Best of luck at the tables and keep us posted.

Originally posted by zachrina
Hi again,

I am now submitting my second home work. Hope this is okay??

I am definately playing better since starting the course and cannot believe I have been playing all this time without even picking up a SHC. I would be so much better by now. AAh well whats done is done so lets hope there are still lots of other lazy paople out there virtually playing with their eyes closed so we can take their cash!!!

Anyway, home work time.

Home work 2.

Question 1: What do you think you could play differently than suggested in the BSS Starting Hands Chart and why?

Answer, I am now using a HUD so can easily identify villains tendancies. Even without the use of a HUD I can adjust my SHC play according to their stats. An example of this would be to steal from very tight players with a slightly weaker holding than recommended in the SHC. I would probably also raise in MP with high mid pairs like 88 and 99 as they are much stronger than 22. All my plays would be player dependant of course.

Question 2: I have posted 2 hands in the forum already and will defo be posting many more. Really appreciating this great service, thank you guys.

Question 3: What is the equity of AKo against the top 5% range? 5% means 88+, AJs+, KQs, AKo.

Answer, For this I used equilab. The equity of AKo is 46.32%

I shall continue playing and studying. I am actually enjoying studying as much as playing at the moment and am really happy to have found this course at such great value. Thanks again.

Zach

Homework 2 done, congrats.

Q1: you got it right. Use your SHC whenever you have to use your standard game (ex: no info on opponents).

As soon as you pick information you can start making adjustments.

Q2: Posting hands will definitely help you out in the long term and i recommend you spend the extra effort to put as much info as possible (villains, explain thought process, etc.)

Q3: Did you expect your hand to have 46% equity? if not, why not?

Can you estimate such equity without the use of equilab?

Best of luck at the tables and keep us posted on your progress !

Hi,

I have not had too much experience of putting people on ranges (although I should have been doing this all along I know) and definately need to study/practice this more. I definately think this is one of my many weaknesses.

As for working out equity without equilab? I am going to practice doing this whenever possible as obviosly we first have to put our opponents on a range to calculate equity right? When we have calculated our equity am I correct in thinking that equity is kind of like odds? As in, if we are getting 56% and we are pretty sure we have the correct range of our villain. If we are facing an all in we should call as we have over 50%.
I suppose it also depends on stack sizes and if they would shove with the bottom end of their range though eh?? (I suppose I just answered my own question there eh?).

I am also going to set myself short term goals for at least the period whilst doing the course. Should I post this in the forum? where? I think this will motivate me more,

Also I have started at NL10. I hope this is okay. I have the BR and have also had winning days every day since playing and studying. I am not a complete novice and often play some live cash at my local casino (mostly against drunk gamblers). So I hope this is okay to start here on NL10. I promise I won't move up again until I have the required BR and am confident with my game.

Anyway, thank you

Zach

Hi Zach,

I have not had too much experience of putting people on ranges (although I should have been doing this all along I know) and definately need to study/practice this more. I definately think this is one of my many weaknesses.

You can work on this by reviewing your sessions and actively thinking about what hands people can take actions with while you play.

As for working out equity without equilab? I am going to practice doing this whenever possible as obviosly we first have to put our opponents on a range to calculate equity right? When we have calculated our equity am I correct in thinking that equity is kind of like odds? As in, if we are getting 56% and we are pretty sure we have the correct range of our villain. If we are facing an all in we should call as we have over 50%.
I suppose it also depends on stack sizes and if they would shove with the bottom end of their range though eh?? (I suppose I just answered my own question there eh?).

While playing you should look at estimating your equity (or chances to win the hand) and compare it to your pot odds.

For example, I have AK on a 9 6 4 r board. I have two overcards and thus I roughly have 6 outs.

My rough chance to improve on the turn is 12%, and river 24% (counting both cards).

Now, if we are talking about a range it gets a bit more complicated.

So let's say we bet 50 into 50 and villain shoves to 100. We have to call 50/250 so 20% pot odds. We look at our hand and see that we have a flush draw and we expect 7 outs to be live (and we are on the flop). Thus we can estimate that we have 7*4=28% equity and can call.

I am also going to set myself short term goals for at least the period whilst doing the course. Should I post this in the forum? where? I think this will motivate me more,

Yes, please post your goals here.

Also I have started at NL10. I hope this is okay. I have the BR and have also had winning days every day since playing and studying. I am not a complete novice and often play some live cash at my local casino (mostly against drunk gamblers). So I hope this is okay to start here on NL10. I promise I won't move up again until I have the required BR and am confident with my game.

As long as you have the right BR and you are comfortable at this limit you should be fine.

Best of luck at the tables.

Hi again,

Maybe I should just watch more vids and read more articles on equity.
I am really struggling to find out where you get your numbers from??

I think I may be over thinking the whole issue!

So if I have to bet 50 to win 250 then my pot odds are 4 to 1 which is where you get the 4 from in your calculation of 7 (outs) * 4 (pot odds) = 27 (equity).
Is this correct?? I feel like a complete dumb ass btw!

I have been playing with equilab and can you tell me in what situation would I only have 7 live outs when holding a flush draw on the flop???? If villain has a set then to me this doesn't effect my flush outs and if he has a straight draw then my flush will beat his straight if he hits it anyway! ???

I have a long way to go. I will not give up.

I have just been looking at equilab again and still do not understand where our flush draw can only have 7 live outs?? I lose only 1 out if they have a set and the same if they have 2 pair?? I also just read an article on another site that you can work out equity using the formula (out * 4) - (outs - 8) = %equity.
From what I can see the equity for most calculations is just the odds of me hitting my outs as a percentage. Is this true??

Board: J♥5♥2♣
       Equity     Win     Tie
MP1    26.46%  26.46%   0.00% { AhTh }
CO     73.54%  73.54%   0.00% { 5d5s }

Thanks,
Zach

Hi Zach,

Yes, equity is the chance you will win the hand. So if you are behind it's the chance you will improve to the best hand and thus hitting one of your outs.

If you have to put in 50 to win 250 (250 is after we put 50 in so we actually have to call 50 to win 200). Thus your pot odds in % is 50/250 = 0.2 (you put one 5th of the money).

The 4 from my calculation was from the "rule of 2 and 4" where you multiply your outs by 2 or 4 depending on if you are going to see one or two cards (either the turn or river, or turn and river). That number is then the amount of time your draw/hand will hit. So for my flush draw to hit on either the turn or river I multiply my 9 outs (or lets say 7 live outs) by 4. That gives me 36. That means there is a 36% chance of my flush getting there by the river.

Remember that while playing you cannot be exact so we have to make estimations.

The example I gave you was just that, an example. You do have 9 outs to hit a flush but if for example you play against a nit that you know only raises sets then not all of your outs are live, so estimating 7 (or even 8) outs as being live will give you a better approximation.

As you can see 9 * 4 = 36% which is way off than the 26.5% you got with equilab. but 7 *4= 28% which is a lot closer.

Let me know if this makes more sense.

Hi Bogdan,
Yes it does make sense but I don't remember seeing this rule of 2 and 4 being covered yet?
Will this be covered later or can you recommend further articles to read so I can easily work this out at the tables?
I think we would benefit from an article if this sort.
I am going to go over a few hands and calculate my equity as I really need to get this down before moving on.
Thank you for your patience.
Zach

Originally posted by zachrina
Hi Bogdan,
Yes it does make sense but I don't remember seeing this rule of 2 and 4 being covered yet?
Will this be covered later or can you recommend further articles to read so I can easily work this out at the tables?
I think we would benefit from an article if this sort.
I am going to go over a few hands and calculate my equity as I really need to get this down before moving on.
Thank you for your patience.
Zach

Hi Zach,

There's this article: http://www.pokerstrategy.com/strategy/bss/1563/1/ that discusses odds and outs.

Hi,

I will go over that article again, thanks.

I also saw an excel spread sheet on the lesson 3 podcast with Veriz but can't seem to find it anywhere either?? It was the pokerschoolxlsx sheet and also an equity calculator??, any idea where I can get this or can I do all the same calculations with equilab??

Thanks.
Zach

Hello again,

Here is my homework for Lesson 3.

Question 1: You are holding KQ. What is your preflop equity against an opponent who has 33? How does the equity change on this flop: J53? (Tip: you can use the Equilab to help you with this task.)

Answer: KQss has 50.78% pre flop against 33dc (49.22%). On a flop of Js5d3s the KQss equity is 26.46%. We go from being an even money shot (1 to 1 or 50/50) to being a 3/1 underdog.

Can I ask if we put our opponent specifically on a set of 3s here that we should call when we are getting 3/1 pot odds??? This would be correct I assume? Also when we are getting only the equal amount of pot odds to actual odds of hitting our cards then surely this is just a break even call in the long run so we call anyway??

Question 2: What would you do in the following hand? (Remember that it is important to explain your reasons, simply posting "Fold" or "Call" isn't enough!)

No Limit hold'em $2 (9-handed)

Players and stacks:
UTG: $2.00
UTG+1: $2.08
MP1: $1.92
MP2: $1.00
MP3: $3.06
CO: (Hero) $2.08
BU: $2.00
SB: $2.00
BB: $1.24

Preflop: Hero is CO with AJ
5 folds, Hero raises to $0.08, BU calls $0.08, SB folds, BB calls $0.06.

Flop: ($0.25) 263 (3 players)
BB checks, Hero checks, BU checks.

Turn: ($0.25) 5 (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.22, BU raises to $0.44, BB folds, Hero...?

Answer: In this hand we are getting slightly over 4/1 pot odds and need only 4/1 to make the call. As with question 1 the same concerns arise as with equal odds to pot odds and also what our villain may be holding. I suppose this is where our implied odds will come into our thinking??

Question 3: I have already started using the hand evaluation forum and will continue to do so.

Thank you,
Zach.

Originally posted by zachrina
Hi,

I will go over that article again, thanks.

I also saw an excel spread sheet on the lesson 3 podcast with Veriz but can't seem to find it anywhere either?? It was the pokerschoolxlsx sheet and also an equity calculator??, any idea where I can get this or can I do all the same calculations with equilab??

Thanks.
Zach

Unfortunately I do not know about this spreadsheet.

I'm assuming you can do all the calculations using a pen and paper (and equilab).

Originally posted by zachrina
Hello again,

Here is my homework for Lesson 3.

Question 1: You are holding KQ. What is your preflop equity against an opponent who has 33? How does the equity change on this flop: J53? (Tip: you can use the Equilab to help you with this task.)

Answer: KQss has 50.78% pre flop against 33dc (49.22%). On a flop of Js5d3s the KQss equity is 26.46%. We go from being an even money shot (1 to 1 or 50/50) to being a 3/1 underdog.

Can I ask if we put our opponent specifically on a set of 3s here that we should call when we are getting 3/1 pot odds??? This would be correct I assume? Also when we are getting only the equal amount of pot odds to actual odds of hitting our cards then surely this is just a break even call in the long run so we call anyway??

First off, you got the numbers right.

Second I recommend that we never put our opponent on just a single holding. We are always facing a range. So it could be sets/2p/draws for example or in a spot where we face a nit we can say sets (rather than just 33).

The odds you calculated there do not include the rake so you are actually losing money if you call on a break even play because we have to substract the rake after.

Question 2: What would you do in the following hand? (Remember that it is important to explain your reasons, simply posting "Fold" or "Call" isn't enough!)

No Limit hold'em $2 (9-handed)

Players and stacks:
UTG: $2.00
UTG+1: $2.08
MP1: $1.92
MP2: $1.00
MP3: $3.06
CO: (Hero) $2.08
BU: $2.00
SB: $2.00
BB: $1.24

Preflop: Hero is CO with AJ
5 folds, Hero raises to $0.08, BU calls $0.08, SB folds, BB calls $0.06.

Flop: ($0.25) 263 (3 players)
BB checks, Hero checks, BU checks.

Turn: ($0.25) 5 (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.22, BU raises to $0.44, BB folds, Hero...?

Answer: In this hand we are getting slightly over 4/1 pot odds and need only 4/1 to make the call. As with question 1 the same concerns arise as with equal odds to pot odds and also what our villain may be holding. I suppose this is where our implied odds will come into our thinking??

Exactly, your implied odds come into play.

What can we expect villain to pay us off with when we hit?

Question 3: I have already started using the hand evaluation forum and will continue to do so.

Thank you,
Zach.

Looking forward to seeing more hands from you in the evaluation forum.

Homework 3 COMPLETE !

Best of luck with the next homework and at the tables.

Can I just ask? Does PS Elephant not exist any more?? The links do not open from the course lessons! I have HEM2 so it's not really a problem but it's just that lots of articles still refer to it on this site.

Also can you recommend a reasonably priced private coach for the micro limits as I feel I need some more help.

I stated previously that I used to play tournaments but moved over to FR cash as it's a good lace to get the basics down first. Is this the best place to start and then mix in tourney play when I understand theory and concepts better?? I suppose if this is the case then a FR low limit coach would be beneficial to my game for now.

I have just had a look at the coaches section and noticed that you (BogdanPS) provide private coachings? I also noticed that you do analysis via HEM2 which looks interesting. You recommend that I have at least 25000 hands in my dta base so I will push on get get more playing time under my belt and then I think I will have an analysis done. 3k hands and counting, could be a while!

Thanks,
Zach

Hello again,

I have completed the work for lesson 4 but have a few quwstions on the things covered.

First of all as I asked in the last post, does PS Elephant not exist any more?? and also the video Who is your opponent - NL5 is not available anymore?? I've also searched the video section and can't find it. If it is not available do you recommend another similar video??

Q1, I have submitted a couple of hands where I have initiative but do not know how to provide a link to the thread. Yes I am pretty dumb with computers (old school and trying).

Q2, I have not done this yet as I want to know how to provide link and also not wanting to provide rubbish info. I will do when I work out how to provide a link I promise.

Q3, You are on the flop with KQ. The board cards are J, 9, 8, and your opponent holds 77. What is your equity in this spot?

A, I first worked this out using the; out*4 rule (outs=10*4=40%), then ran it through equilab where I was happy to see that the actual equity was 41.41%.
Obviously this was an easy one to use the *4 rule as we knew all of our clean outs. I am still trying to get better at working out my equity whilst playing.

Originally posted by zachrina
Can I just ask? Does PS Elephant not exist any more?? The links do not open from the course lessons! I have HEM2 so it's not really a problem but it's just that lots of articles still refer to it on this site.

Also can you recommend a reasonably priced private coach for the micro limits as I feel I need some more help.

I stated previously that I used to play tournaments but moved over to FR cash as it's a good lace to get the basics down first. Is this the best place to start and then mix in tourney play when I understand theory and concepts better?? I suppose if this is the case then a FR low limit coach would be beneficial to my game for now.

I have just had a look at the coaches section and noticed that you (BogdanPS) provide private coachings? I also noticed that you do analysis via HEM2 which looks interesting. You recommend that I have at least 25000 hands in my dta base so I will push on get get more playing time under my belt and then I think I will have an analysis done. 3k hands and counting, could be a while!

Thanks,
Zach

Hi Zach

Elephant does not work anymore. Since you have hm2 you should stick as it is all you need plus more.

I recommend that you first exhaust most of the free coaching material before you pay for a coach. A lot of the fundamentals can be learned this way. I do offer private coaching for both Fr and Sh games. I can help you with everything from goal setting to hand reading and everything else. But as I mentioned that I recommend that you at least finish this course. I have sent you an invite via the community tool and we can talk about private coaching there.

Best of luck at the tables.

Bogdan

Originally posted by zachrina
Hello again,

I have completed the work for lesson 4 but have a few quwstions on the things covered.

First of all as I asked in the last post, does PS Elephant not exist any more?? and also the video Who is your opponent - NL5 is not available anymore?? I've also searched the video section and can't find it. If it is not available do you recommend another similar video??

Hi Zach,

Yes, Elephant does not work anymore. You are all set with your HM2 though so you are in good hands.

It appears that the video has been removed. I would recommend looking here: http://www.pokerstrategy.com/video/#contenttype=0&gametype=3&tablesize=1&languages=en&levels=basic,bronze,silver&lowerlimit=0&upperlimit=100&ob=date&od=desc&page=1&rpp=10

I have filtered for all videos for full ring that are silver or less. There are a lot of videos you can watch.

Q1, I have submitted a couple of hands where I have initiative but do not know how to provide a link to the thread. Yes I am pretty dumb with computers (old school and trying).

Whenever you are on the page with the hand you can copy the link from your navigation bar.

For example the link to your thread here is: Zachrina

You can do the same for all the threads here (simply copy the URL from the navigation bar and paste it in the page).

Q2, I have not done this yet as I want to know how to provide link and also not wanting to provide rubbish info. I will do when I work out how to provide a link I promise.

Q3, You are on the flop with KQ. The board cards are J, 9, 8, and your opponent holds 77. What is your equity in this spot?

A, I first worked this out using the; out*4 rule (outs=10*4=40%), then ran it through equilab where I was happy to see that the actual equity was 41.41%.
Obviously this was an easy one to use the *4 rule as we knew all of our clean outs. I am still trying to get better at working out my equity whilst playing.

Very good, you got it spot on.

The rule of 2 and 4 is meant to be an estimation. It will be off by 1-5% on average depending on how many clean outs we have.

While you play you can use the same rule of 2/4 and try to estimate how many outs you think you have (what are you drawing to). If you aren't sure if all of your outs are clean simply take one or two away. For example, lets say we have a flush draw and we don't know if all 9 outs are clean, simply take 8 outs and multiply by 2 and 4 (or even 7).

Homework4 complete, congrats !

Best of luck at the tables,

Bogdan

Hi Bogdan,

Thank you for advising me on coaching. I will take advantage of all the free stuff first. Probably getting impatient with the slow grind but will persevere. I'm not getting any younger!

Here's my links from lesson 4, Q1 and Q2. thanks again for your advise.

Q1, I have initiative:

NL10 KK 3 way

Q2, A post I have commented on (and got overuled, LOL):

A8s

Cheers,
Zach

Hi again,

I have worked through the articles, videos and podcast for lesson 5 but when faced with the questions for the home work I realised that I should probably go over the stuff again. I will submit my answers now just to see if I am on the right path but I am continuously going over the videos and articles again and again until all the info goes in!

Question 1, My hand where I based my play on opponents stats;

97s in BB v many fish

Question 2, A hand I have evaluated of another players;

1st NL10 SH 76s

Question 3: Consider the following situation:

$10 NL Hold'em (7-handed)

Stacks & Stats:
UTG ($10)
MP ($8)
MP2 ($9)
CO ($10)
Hero($10)
SB ($10) (17/13/2.6/24/1212) [VPIP/PFR/AF/WTS/Hands]
BB ($10) (27/9/2.0/29/333) [VPIP/PFR/AF/WTS/Hands]

Preflop: Hero is BU with 6d , 7d
4 folds, Hero raises to $0.40, SB calls $0.40, BB calls $0.40

Flop: ($1.20) 3d , 3h , Td (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($1.20) Jd (3 players)
SB bets $1.00, BB calls $1.00, Hero...

What action would you take, and why?

Answer 3, I would raise here to protect my weak flush against another diamond on the river. I don't see sb or bb holding a FH here as they have not tried to protect their JJ against FDs on the flop, of course this could be a slow played 10s full but thats unlikely. A higher flush is also possible but again unlikely (and unlucky). Taking stats into account, SB looks pretty standard TAG and BB is edging towards the looser style. SB could be taking a stab here with TP after no aggression was shown on the flop and BB probably has a big diamond and possibly an SD.
I raise here to 4 or 5 dollars which basically commits me so would only fold if both players shove.

Question 4: Consider the following situation:

$10 NL Hold'em (8-handed)

Stacks & Stats
UTG ($8)
MP ($10)
MP2 ($9)
MP3 ($6)
Hero ($10)
BU ($10) (25/21/3.8/26/1250) [VPIP/PFR/AF/WTS/Hands]
SB ($10)
BB ($10)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Jh , Js
4 folds, Hero raises to $0.40, BU 3-bets to $1.30, 2 folds, Hero calls $1.30

Flop: ($2.75) 6h , 9s , Tc (2 players)
Hero...

What action would you take, and why?

Answer 4,

I would be leaning towards betting 3/4 pot here. I would consider a check raise as villain is an aggressive player but if I check and villain checks behind there are lots of turn cards that will make life very difficult for our pocket J's here.

If villain raises me after my bet I may be forced to fold as a call would surely commit my stack to this pot. I would have to use info I have witnessed on villain before making my decision (sorry, I took the easy way out!).

I hope these answers are okay, if not I will go over the stuff again.

Thanks,
Zach