Today was a bit of a grind. I wanted to spend the day trying out different moves at the $11 games, to learn how the average opponent reacts to donkbets, weak cbets, monkey-aggro 3betting, and so on. This led to some interesting swings...but I kinda expected this because when you try out stuff you're bound to crash 'n burn once in a while.
The most important lesson I learned today, is that at this level, elaborate bluffs just burn money against the average opponent. A lot of them make crazy call-downs with bottom pair, even if the board is super-drawy and you've bet strongly for 3 streets. The best strategy seems to be to just play straight-forward, be tight on the BB, and valuebet strongly when you hit.
Here's an example of how bad the players at this level are, and how crazy they go if they hit any part of the board, even with a ridiculous weak kicker:
***** Hand History for Game 25268429846 ***** (Poker Stars)
$3000.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Monday, February 23, 06:04:02 ET 2009
Table 143075609 1 (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Seat 1: Hero ( $2065.00 USD )
Seat 2: Villain ( $935.00 USD )
Villain posts small blind [$15.00 USD].
Hero posts big blind [$30.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ Ah Kd ]
Villain raises [$75.00 USD]
Hero raises [$270.00 USD]
Villain calls [$210.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 7c, 9d, Ks ]
Hero checks
Villain bets [$635.00 USD]
Hero calls [$635.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Jc ]
** Dealing River ** [ Qs ]
Hero shows [Ah, Kd ]
Villain shows [Kh, 3d ]
Hero wins $1870.00 USD from main pot
First he calls a 3.5x 3bet with K3o, and then goes all-in on the flop because he hits top pair and doesn't know what else to do. Reverse implied odds...even if he hits his king (which unfortunately for him he did), his pot-sized bet will only be called by better hands.
Anyway, I feel I learned A LOT today. I played a few $22 regulars who dropped down to the $11 games, and they didn't seem any better than the average $11 player. Overall, I feel very comfortable playing and expect to move up relatively quickly.
I also spend 2.5hrs watching (more like "studying") videos, which in my opinion helps immensely in learning quicker.
Current bankroll: $411.2
Tuesday, 24 February 2009
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4 comments:
Thanks a lot for the links on your blog, glad you subscribed to the site.
Good luck with the continued grind, I'm sure you'll continue to learn and improve your game at a great rate if you keep up your desire to learn.
Ryan
Love your site a lot, I learned a TON the past few days.
Hit some bad variance today, but it's all good, because most of the time I got my money in good and just got coolered. Please make a video on how to prevent people from rivering an inside straight with 72o when you hold JJ ;)
Your question will be answered in an upcoming interview with the PokerStars RNG.
LOL, cool!
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