Sensei’s Poker Dojo

(Crossposted from DC Forums)

Hey everyone, John and I have been working hard to put together a group coaching program that will enable us to teach a number of aspiring PLO players at a reasonable price. Details below:

Each course will consist of two 2-hour sessions, and each session will begin with a lecture/discussion on important topics, followed by a hand history review, and end with a live sweat of either John or myself playing. The course will be tailored primarily to beginning PLO players and those transitioning from NLHE. (We have plans to host a more advanced group in the near future) While we have things prepared fairly well already, we are happy to adjust the course to suit the specific needs of the particular group. The course will cost $500 and include personal help during and after the sessions.

There will be up to 3 groups running on the following dates/times:
Group A – Mondays at 7PM ET, 4PM PT (11/23, 11/30)
Group B – Tuesdays at 7PM ET, 4PM PT (11/24, 12/1)
Group C – Wednesdays at 7PM ET, 4PM PT (11/25, 12/2)

If you are interested, please email me at djsensei@deucescracked.com with your name, the group(s) you are interested in, and any other requests you might have. We will get back to you with a more comprehensive survey to allow us to tailor the course as specifically as possible to your needs. If these times do not work for you, feel free to email me with your interest and let me know which times do work, and we will see if we can set up a group at a different time.

Ever since making Triple the Gold I’ve been excited to learn how to play badugi, too. Sadly there were no online badugi games, and its only spread in live mixed games in LA or vegas, but pokerstars just recently opened up some games. At first it was only very small stakes games so I didn’t bother playing, but now they have games as big as 10/20 running. 10/20 limit, that is, so its still a pretty small game for me, but big enough that I actually feel motivated to sit and play. Tonight I played my first session. I only played for about half an hour on two tables, which worked out to about 60 hands, but I won $710.¹ I’m sure I was running good but I felt like I had a pretty solid idea of what kind of ranges I should be working with, and managed to make some good valuebets that other players might not have made, at least not in their first session ever.

The biggest thing I’ve learned so far is that most players tend to over-value making badugi rather than making the best hand. If they make a weak badugi early, they tend to pat immediately and take it to showdown no matter what.

Dealt to DJ Sensei [5s 2s 8d 6h]
DislikeJacks has timed out
DislikeJacks: folds
DislikeJacks is sitting out
SSSHIP_IT: folds
DeathDonkey: raises $10 to $20
Ahen0910: calls $20
DislikeJacks has returned
Splonk: calls $15
DJ Sensei: calls $10
*** FIRST DRAW ***
Splonk: discards 2 cards
DJ Sensei: discards 1 card [5s]
Dealt to DJ Sensei [2s 8d 6h] [5d]
DeathDonkey: discards 2 cards
Ahen0910: discards 2 cards
Splonk: checks
DJ Sensei: checks
DeathDonkey: bets $10
Ahen0910: raises $10 to $20
Splonk: folds
DJ Sensei: calls $20
DeathDonkey: calls $10
*** SECOND DRAW ***
DJ Sensei: discards 1 card [8d]
Dealt to DJ Sensei [2s 6h 5d] [9c]
DeathDonkey: discards 1 card
Ahen0910: stands pat
DJ Sensei: bets $20
DeathDonkey: folds
Ahen0910: calls $20
*** THIRD DRAW ***
DJ Sensei: stands pat on [2s 6h 5d 9c]
Ahen0910: stands pat
DJ Sensei: bets $20
Ahen0910: calls $20
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DJ Sensei: shows [5d 2s 9c 6h] (Badugi: 9,6,5,2)
Ahen0910: mucks Q73A badugi
DJ Sensei collected $217 from pot

Once I bet into two opponents after the second draw (one of whom is already pat) and then pat myself (well, duh) on the third, his Q badugi is never good and he should break it and try to catch up. If he was holding something like QJ3A then he should just fold (but if he shows up with a hand like that in this situation he’s got bigger strategic problems!). Its also worth noting that my range is pretty rough due to just flatcalling predraw and drawing one, so his 73A draw is very likely live. Whether I played the hand optimally myself, well, I’m not entirely sure but I think I did alright. If my opponents are making mistakes like this on the big-bet streets, then I’m definitely +EV in the game!

Dealt to DJ Sensei [3h 2d 4c Kh]
Splonk: folds
NoRevolution: folds
SSSHIP_IT: folds
FatsoFat6969: folds
DeathDonkey: raises $10 to $20
DJ Sensei: raises $10 to $30
cal42688: raises $10 to $40
Betting is capped
DeathDonkey: calls $20
DJ Sensei: calls $10
*** FIRST DRAW ***
FatsoFat6969 said, “BEEFCAKE LOVES BADUGI”
DJ Sensei: discards 1 card [Kh]
Dealt to DJ Sensei [3h 2d 4c] [Qs]
cal42688: stands pat
DeathDonkey: discards 2 cards
DJ Sensei: checks
cal42688: bets $10
DeathDonkey: calls $10
DJ Sensei: calls $10
*** SECOND DRAW ***
DJ Sensei: discards 1 card [Qs]
Dealt to DJ Sensei [3h 2d 4c] [Qd]
cal42688: stands pat
DeathDonkey: discards 1 card
DJ Sensei: checks
cal42688: bets $20
DeathDonkey: folds
DJ Sensei: calls $20
*** THIRD DRAW ***
DJ Sensei: discards 1 card [Qd]
Dealt to DJ Sensei [3h 2d 4c] [9s]
cal42688: stands pat
DJ Sensei: bets $20
cal42688: calls $20
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DJ Sensei: shows [3h 2d 4c 9s] (Badugi: 9,4,3,2)
cal42688: mucks QJ2A badugi
DJ Sensei collected $227 from pot

This is another example of the same thing. Note that I made a Q badugi myself on the first draw, but broke it to try and improve because his range of dealt badugis (which I have to assume he has, unless he’s snowing from the get-go) is for the most part crushing a Q, and of course my draw is very smooth. When I get there on the end, I correctly valuebet, and he pays off (even though he probably shouldn’t, as it would seem to be a stupid spot to bluff). I think his best play is probably to just fold here preflop facing a 3bet cold (or call and draw to the A2 if it was just a raised pot).

It also seems that most players believe anyone who pats and will fold too much on the end unless they’ve made badugi. I haven’t quite figured out how much I should be snowing as a result, but I suspect the answer is “much more often until they catch me”. I also am not quite sure what to do about calling bets on the end with a 3card badugi when my opponent is pat. If nobody is snowing then its clearly wrong, but I have no idea the frequency that its happening. I bet when higher stakes games open up there will be a lot more snowing and a lot more calling light. Doesn’t seem to be the case at 10/20 though. Fortunately I have access to an expert (the one and only deathdonkey, of course) and will probably be bugging him a lot in the coming weeks to teach me how to keep shipping it.

1. or, in limit terms, 35 big bets, which I think is a pretty good brag [↩]

This comes from a post I made on 2+2, in response to this thread by a dude who claimed to be very intelligent but unable to beat online poker even at the lowest stakes. It turned out pretty nicely though, and its been a while since I posted any pure strategy or theory, so I figured I’d share it with you fine folks as well:

The best player at any poker table, assuming that he has no glaring deficits in game theory or tilt control, is generally the one who can most accurately read the minds of his opponents. The first level of his advantage comes when he is able to interpret the meaning of their current actions based on information from previous streets or hands or sessions, and thus make the most +EV immediate response. The second level of his advantage comes when he is able to use similar analysis to anticipate their future actions. Armed with that knowledge he can adapt his strategies at a moment’s notice to put himself in the most +EV situations.

So how does this affect you¹? Well, the most likely problem is that your opponents are operating at a level of thought so far below yours that you are unable to accurately assess the direction their thoughts lead them. Many of their actions will seem irrational, and as such you are unable to analyze them in your normal manner. My advice when playing against such players is that usually the best way to beat them is not to try and out-think them, but simply to play a much more solid fundamental style of poker (Often called ABC poker, though it doesn’t have to be so basic). It will be very difficult for your opponents to take advantage of you, and in the long run their mistakes will compound and lead to you profiting.

Ideally, the best opponents for you (or any player) are the ones who are usually one level below you in thought. Imagine if you were playing at a table where you knew that every player had recently read the same poker strategy book as you, but that none of them realized that you knew that. It would be incredibly easy to exploit their weaknesses and profit from them, stealing many pots with air when they are obviously weak and showing up with a huge hand when they reveal their strength too early. Playing against people a level below you is just like that, in that you can often figure out what they’re thinking (and thus why they would take such an action) and then read their hand quite accurately. Also, they are more easily manipulated into making big mistakes when you can feign weakness. Alas, these players are not to be found in the microstakes, so either you need to grind up a bankroll to play midstakes or you need to acquire the money elsewhere somehow and jump right into it. I’d recommend the former, for the sake of your psychological development (being able to accept losing gradually larger and larger amounts of money, tilt control, and of course building up the “Blink” style subconscious library referenced in earlier posts²).

1. ’you’ = the original poster [↩]
2. ’earlier posts’ refers to the original thread as well. Someone mentioned the subconscious mental processes in effect during a poker game and referenced ‘Blink‘. [↩]

Last Thursday during day 1A of the main event, I was moved to a new table about 6 hours in. The blinds had just been changed to 150/300/25, and my new opponents were, almost without exception, fantastically weak and predictable players. I began attacking the blinds with ruthless abandon, probably winning about 1/3 of the hands played. Rarely were the pots more than the blinds and antes. (sometimes with a bonus 500 chip from one of the blinds calling my raise and checkfolding the flop). However, my stack was gradually and consistently increasing.

Now the thing about live tournaments, especially those with inexperienced fields, is that collecting the antes always takes up a ton of time. Time that could better be spent by me stealing more of their blinds and antes.  So with the advantage of my convenient location to the dealer’s immediate left, I took it upon myself to collect the antes from the 2, 3, and 4 seats and drag them to the spot on the felt where the pot would end up before the dealer even finished shuffling. In doing so, I probably added several extra hands to the session. The dealers liked me a lot, too, since I was making their job easier. It was a win-win situation.

Earlier this evening I was involved in an impromptu playing card fight at my friends place. It proved to be a hilarious and amazing way to end an evening of other games, due in large part to the enjoyment I get out of throwing cards. Now, this interest probably comes specifically from the fact that whenever I play live poker, I get a huge kick out of mucking my hand as accurately and smoothly as possible. Ideally, I’d have the seven seat every time and get to lob hand after hand across the table and past the board to bury itself under the muck with pinpoint precision. This practice has significantly increased my affinity for folding, a trait which serves me very well in a slow live game.

The biggest problem that most online players who rarely play live encounter during these sessions is that they are dealt so few hands per hour. The boredom leads to overly loose preflop play, which generally leads to a strategic disadvantage against your tight opponents. This is especially true in full ring games, which many online players are already unaccustomed to. Now there are of course tables where your opponents are so weak in a certain way that you can play most of your hands and still crush them, but those games are becoming few and far between nowadays, even in live games. My solution to this problem is to treat each mucking opportunity as a challenge, and always try to discard my hand in as stylish a manner as possible. It keeps me busy through those hour-long stretches of non-playable hands and keeps me out of trouble.

Oh, and an ipod helps a ton too! I used to be opposed to them on grounds of being anti-social, but I play better when I’m not being social anyhow. The right music can do a lot of good, so I generally choose my tunes strategically to get me in the right mood for the battles I’m about to face.

Not much.

Today I played about 800 hands, and 10 of them resulted in a pot of $2500 or more. Of those, 4 were all in preflop:

my AK vs. JJ (won $5000)
my QQ vs. TT (lost $5000)
my AQ vs. JTo (lost $1500)
my AQ vs. 88 (lost $3400)

Once I had KK against AA and flopped a set, but all of the money went in postflop when I was ahead. (+$5000)

So those were all pretty much left up to the fates. The rest were more skill-based, and I came out pretty well ahead:

PokerStars Game #16733817987:  Hold’em No Limit ($25/$50) – 2008/04/14 – 19:26:58 (ET)
Table ‘Eulalia V’ 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: TheGoat888 ($5368.40 in chips)
Seat 2: odilon251 ($3306.35 in chips)
Seat 3: NoTalentTom ($5000 in chips)
Seat 4: ~diQ~ ($1000 in chips)
Seat 5: straate ($10824.35 in chips)
Seat 6: phounderAA ($4900 in chips)
Seat 7: Leatherass9 ($5372 in chips)
Seat 8: DJ Sensei ($4986 in chips)
Seat 9: mbolt1 ($5000 in chips)
phounderAA: posts small blind $25
Leatherass9: posts big blind $50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [Jh Js]
DJ Sensei: calls $50
mbolt1: folds
TheGoat888: calls $50
odilon251: calls $50
NoTalentTom: folds
~diQ~: calls $50
straate: folds
phounderAA: folds
Leatherass9: checks
*** FLOP *** [4h 3d Th]
Leatherass9: checks
DJ Sensei: checks
TheGoat888: checks
odilon251: checks
~diQ~: bets $200
Leatherass9: folds
DJ Sensei: raises $400 to $600
TheGoat888: calls $600
odilon251: folds
~diQ~: raises $350 to $950 and is all-in
straate leaves the table
DJ Sensei: calls $350
TheGoat888: calls $350
*** TURN *** [4h 3d Th] [9c]
DJ Sensei: bets $1250
TheGoat888: calls $1250
*** RIVER *** [4h 3d Th 9c] [7s]
Semifaded joins the table at seat #5
DJ Sensei: bets $2736 and is all-in
TheGoat888: calls $2736
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DJ Sensei: shows [Jh Js] (a pair of Jacks)
TheGoat888: mucks hand
DJ Sensei collected $7972 from side pot
~diQ~: mucks hand
DJ Sensei collected $3122 from main pot

Full Tilt Poker Game #6037164322: Table Broadway (6 max) – $25/$50 – No Limit Hold’em – 20:26:09 ET – 2008/04/14
Seat 1: jameswaltert ($15,579)
Seat 2: ericberen ($5,000)
Seat 3: what a donk ($1,036)
Seat 4: SamH133 ($11,363)
Seat 5: QWERT88 ($4,850)
Seat 6: DJ Sensei ($5,097)
DJ Sensei posts the small blind of $25
jameswaltert posts the big blind of $50
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [3c Kc]
ericberen folds
what a donk folds
SamH133 folds
QWERT88 folds
DJ Sensei raises to $150
jameswaltert calls $100
*** FLOP *** [Ts Tc 3h]
DJ Sensei checks
jameswaltert bets $300
DJ Sensei calls $300
*** TURN *** [Ts Tc 3h] [Ks]
DJ Sensei checks
jameswaltert bets $900
DJ Sensei calls $900
*** RIVER *** [Ts Tc 3h Ks] [7d]
DJ Sensei checks
jameswaltert bets $2,700
DJ Sensei has 15 seconds left to act
DJ Sensei calls $2,700
*** SHOW DOWN ***
jameswaltert shows [6d Qh] a pair of Tens
DJ Sensei shows [3c Kc] two pair, Kings and Tens
DJ Sensei wins the pot ($8,097) with two pair, Kings and Tens

And a few others that aren’t so interesting.

So I suppose the main point here is that in any given session, so much of your success (or lack thereof) comes directly from the fortune of the poker gods, especially in the more aggressive games today. But if you can keep pulling in a big edge from the medium pots where skill matters a whole lot, then you should be better able than most to withstand the variance beast than most.

I generally hate advertising as a rule. It wastes my time, it is usually pretty annoying, and it is almost always aimed at people with a more primitive sense of humor than me. Now thats not to say I don’t love a good football-in-the-crotch scene now and again, but most ads come up woefully short when trying to woo my business with a joke. Also, the only redeeming purpose of advertising, that of spreading useful information about products or services to consumers, is so rarely effective for actually informing me about anything that is relevant to me that it just pisses me off more. And perhaps most offensively, the massive amounts of advertising we’re inundated with every day are an alarming manifestation of the corporate takeover of American culture. But thats enough frustrated ranting for now, lets talk about how to get those paper stacks!

Advertising’s effectiveness as a weapon against the unshielded mind is unquestionable, and poker is a particularly relevant example. When I start a new heads-up match (the ultimate game of psychological warfare!), I sometimes like to throw a few chips in the advertising budget early in a session. Usually my “ad budget” takes the form of a large multi-street bluff, where I show my cards if they fold and if they happen to call, well, they get to see them anyhow. I usually don’t just start spewing chips at the pot and hoping they eventually give up, but if I see a good situation for a big move that I think will work most of the time, I’ll be more likely to take that shot early in a session. When this one big bluff is mixed in with an arsenal of smaller stabs at the pot and other silly things like showing 62o when your opponent openfolds the SB, it can pretty quickly lead to a massive psychological advantage. Also, most weaker opponents will play their hands incredibly transparently when they think you’re a spewing maniac, so thinking carefully about the situation can lead to a lot of profitable situations.

Take, for example, a session I played earlier tonight. My opponent sat with $1000, and right from the get-go I began to openraise to a variety of strange sizes, between $20 and $50. It was not long before I found a spot for a multi-street bluff and followed through on the river. When he picked it off with a decent but not great hand, my ad budget had been deployed:

Seat 1: DJ Sensei ($1,015)
Seat 2: LASVEGASFUND ($975)
LASVEGASFUND posts the small blind of $5
DJ Sensei posts the big blind of $10
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [9d 7s]
LASVEGASFUND raises to $34
DJ Sensei calls $24
*** FLOP *** [As 4h 4d]
DJ Sensei bets $45
LASVEGASFUND has 15 seconds left to act
LASVEGASFUND raises to $100
DJ Sensei calls $55
*** TURN *** [As 4h 4d] [Kd]
DJ Sensei has 15 seconds left to act
DJ Sensei bets $175
LASVEGASFUND has 15 seconds left to act
LASVEGASFUND has requested TIME
LASVEGASFUND calls $175
*** RIVER *** [As 4h 4d Kd] [8c]
DJ Sensei has 15 seconds left to act
DJ Sensei bets $375
LASVEGASFUND calls $375
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DJ Sensei shows [9d 7s] a pair of Fours
LASVEGASFUND shows [5h Ac] two pair, Aces and Fours
LASVEGASFUND wins the pot ($1,367.50) with two pair, Aces and Fours

Now it was just a matter of keeping him at the table, and winning it all back, along with his starting buyin. After that hand I didn’t plan to run any more big bluffs on him, as they would have a pretty low chance of success, but I continued with a barrage of little stabs and showed him tons of weak hands, so as to maintain my bluffy maniac image until I was able to pick up a real hand and go for the jugular. I struck the first blow with a well-disguised hand and a nicely timed river checkraise:

Seat 1: DJ Sensei ($1,080)
Seat 2: LASVEGASFUND ($1,730.50)
LASVEGASFUND posts the small blind of $5
DJ Sensei posts the big blind of $10
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [5h 7h]
LASVEGASFUND raises to $30
DJ Sensei calls $20
*** FLOP *** [6s Ts 8d]
DJ Sensei checks
LASVEGASFUND checks
*** TURN *** [6s Ts 8d] [5c]
DJ Sensei checks
LASVEGASFUND bets $40
DJ Sensei calls $40
*** RIVER *** [6s Ts 8d 5c] [5d]
DJ Sensei checks
LASVEGASFUND bets $100
DJ Sensei has 15 seconds left to act
DJ Sensei raises to $444
LASVEGASFUND calls $344
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DJ Sensei shows [5h 7h] three of a kind, Fives
LASVEGASFUND mucks [Kd Td]
DJ Sensei wins the pot ($1,027.50) with three of a kind, Fives

And after that it wasn’t long before I dropped the hammer on him (note the particularly small openraise!):

FullTiltPoker Game #5288218879: Table Anchor (heads up) – $5/$10 – No Limit Hold’em – 4:06:13 ET – 2008/02/17
Seat 1: DJ Sensei ($1,539.50)
Seat 2: LASVEGASFUND ($1,263.50)
DJ Sensei posts the small blind of $5
LASVEGASFUND posts the big blind of $10
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [Qc Qd]
DJ Sensei raises to $26
LASVEGASFUND calls $16
*** FLOP *** [7c 2c 5d]
LASVEGASFUND checks
DJ Sensei bets $44
LASVEGASFUND calls $44
*** TURN *** [7c 2c 5d] [2d]
LASVEGASFUND checks
DJ Sensei bets $121
LASVEGASFUND has 15 seconds left to act
LASVEGASFUND has requested TIME
LASVEGASFUND calls $121
*** RIVER *** [7c 2c 5d 2d] [Js]
LASVEGASFUND checks
DJ Sensei has 15 seconds left to act
DJ Sensei bets $355
LASVEGASFUND has 15 seconds left to act
LASVEGASFUND raises to $788
DJ Sensei has 15 seconds left to act
DJ Sensei has requested TIME
DJ Sensei raises to $1,221
LASVEGASFUND calls $284.50, and is all in
Uncalled bet of $148.50 returned to DJ Sensei
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DJ Sensei shows [Qc Qd] two pair, Queens and Twos
LASVEGASFUND mucks [Ad 3d]
DJ Sensei wins the pot ($2,526.50) with two pair, Queens and Twos

Looks like my little advertising budget paid off! Of course it was contingent on him staying around after he won the first big pot, and me actually getting a hand to bust him with. It helps that usually if they win that first pot by picking off a big bluff of yours, they’re more likely to stick around since they think they can win more from a tilty spewer. If the first pot was a cooler or a suckout, they’re much more likely to hit and run, thus rendering your ad budget useless.

Imagine yourself taking a little constitutional into the woods near your home, headed for a particularly enjoyable overlook of the neighboring valley (which has been reputed to shelter a sizeable treasure!) You’ve been through these woods many times, searching for various bounties, and you reckon that you know your way around pretty well. You leave the maps at home, of course. Well it doesn’t take too long for this pleasant afternoon to turn dark and stormy, and the next thing you know you’re in a place you’ve never seen. As the rain comes down harder and harder, you lose track of the trail and begin to stumble into the thick brush.

But all hope is not lost! You break through into a clearing occupied by a wizened old sage. He stands in the center of the clearing and greets you, “Hello, traveler! There are three ways out of this clearing, but none without risk! The first trail leads straight back to your home, but to take it you must pay me the toll. The second may lead to your desired overlook, but there is a larger toll to pay and you must journey to the next clearing, where my brother awaits with another challenge. The final path is the most costly, but it may lead you directly to your goal and the treasure that awaits!” You face a difficult decision for sure, as you can barely see beyond the first bend in each trail. “Oh yes, and you’ve only got 20 seconds to make your decision” the sage adds.

Now you may be asking, “Wait a second, Sensei, is this another one of your convoluted poker analogies?” Well, yes, of course. You probably didn’t come here hoping to read some hippie ramblings about the woods. Our rhetorical forest here represents a session of poker, and the journey you’ve taken is a particularly tough hand. The three paths you currently face represent the actions fold, call, and raise, respectively. And the point I’m trying to make is that, while I love to wander in the woods and in life, its the last thing you should be doing when playing poker.

So many people send me hand histories and say “Sensei, look at this gross spot I had during a hand, what should I do now?!?” And 75% of the time, the tough spot they’ve found themself in is in large part the natural result of some earlier action that the player took without considering the consequences. Just as you shouldn’t enter the woods without a map and compass, you shouldn’t enter a poker hand without a plan and some foresight. Any time you’re faced with an action, don’t just think “OK, what is my best action right now?” without analyzing the future actions of the hand based on the cards that can come and the likely actions that will transpire given those cards, your opponents likely range of hands, and the current metagame situation of the table. This analysis is especially important in no-limit games where the bet sizing can rise nearly exponentially throughout the course of the hand.

Now at this point you may be saying “Well, that seems like a tough proposition, how can I teach my brain to think like that? It comes with practice and effort, for sure, but here are some things that will get you thinking on the right path right away:

1. Always consider stack sizes! Many times the correct play in a situation will vary widely if you have 20 or 100 or 300 BB’s left to play for. And in general, the deeper your stack is, the stronger hand you’ll need to get all the money in. Lets say you’ve got a nut flush draw (with an overcard Ace) in position on the flop, and the preflop raiser leads into you. Well if a pot-sized raise would be just about all-in, shoving is probably the best choice. You’re never in terrible shape equity-wise, he’ll fold a decent amount, and if you call the flop bet and whiff the turn, you may well have to call off the rest because your draw is strong enough. But what if you’re deeper? Lets say that if you raise a reasonable amount, your opponent can reraise pot back at you to get all-in. Getting 2-1 you probably are committed to the pot, but now you’ve committed a big chunk of chips and are probably an underdog to win the pot. Raising might not have been wrong in this spot, but perhaps calling is better. You can fold the turn unimproved, call again if the price is right, or maybe even take it away from him if he checks to you. You generally risk less, and can get the big money in with much better equity. The last situation of course is that you are very deep. If you raise and he reraises, you can call and have enough stacks behind to justify the call with implied odds. Because the pot will be bigger you have a significantly better shot at getting his whole stack, which may not be the case if you just call the flop. With a semibluff raise you also can balance the range of sets and other huge hands that you’d probably play the same way here. So in this situation, raising is probably best. As you can see, the best course of action can change a lot along the spectrum of stack depth.
2. Will my play lead my opponent to play his hand close to optimally, or will it induce him to make significant mistakes? You probably have more control over this than you think, and it has to do with everything from table image to stack and pot sizes and position. You may have heard the advice “put your opponent to a decision for his whole stack while risking a small portion of yours”; that idea is an offshoot of this concept (and generally a good one). Also, tangentially, minraising isn’t necessarily bad or wrong. Sometimes your opponent will make a much bigger mistake after you minraise than he would have facing a regular size raise or a float.
3. If you’ve found yourself in a situation where your next action is clear and obvious, don’t just quickly make your play and see what happens.* Stop and think about what could happen on the next street, maybe making a plan for at least a portion of the possibilities. Not only will you be better prepared for the potential situations of the rest of the hand, you’ll avoid giving off timing tells and you’ll be better prepared for similar hands later in this session or even further down the road. This also still applies sometimes even if your action is clearly to fold, especially in a multiway pot where your opponents might continue the hand (at which point you can have a little hand-reading practice and hope they show down).
4. After a session, go back to some of the interesting hands that you played and change some cards or actions around and decide if/how you’d play it differently. While this can be tough since you won’t always know what your opponents will have or do, it can often lead you to interesting discoveries or conclusions that you may otherwise have never thought about until they arose with the money on the line and the clock ticking!

Alright, thats enough for now. Get out there, out-think some fools, and get that sweet, sweet treasure! (And if you actually live near some cool woods or mountains or something, you probably should go for an actual wander now and again too. It’ll help keep you sane.)
* Unless you’re also using your quick action as a reverse timing tell, but thats a discussion for another time!

So lately I’ve decided to start playing a little more heads-up unlimited hold them, on account of all the cool kids doing it. I figure there are plenty of fish in the games, game selection is great since you only have to play against fish, and it’ll help my overall game become stronger and more dangerous. Some of the things I’ve learned so far are:

1. HU games are much more tilt-inducing. Something about so many chips flying around to battle with such marginal hands, over and over again, just leads to strong tilty impulses. In many games where the players are somewhat evenly matched, the one who tilts less has a huge advantage. I’m fortunate in this regard since I tend to be pretty good at not tilting, but I can see how important it is to keep a level head.
2. Its important to avoid grudge matches unless you know you have an edge. Its pretty easy to sit down against an unknown, play for a while, lose a stack for some reason, and then say “screw that I’m gonna get that money back” without considering your edge (or lack thereof). If he’s a better player than you and you’re steaming a little because of the last beat, thats a recipe for 7-layer busto dip, and chances are you won’t have any chips left for it!
3. People who buy in for weird small amounts are usually fish (sometimes on the last of their bankroll). If they start shoving the first few hands, you know they’re looking to gamble for a double-up or a bust, and you should just play tight until the latter happens. If they seem to be playing tight, chances are they’re afraid to lose it, so you should open up and steal lots of little pots from them (but beware when their stack heads for the middle!)
4. Top pair is the nuts.

Tonight I sat down at some 5/10 HUNL tables, with the following results:

On my fulltilt table, a shortstack sits in with $219. I open the button with A2o the first hand, he shoves, I call, and I hold up over his 43s. He leaves.

Shortly thereafter, a dude sits with a full stack. We steal blinds back and forth for about 12 hands, and then this happens:

FullTiltPoker Game #5063361147: Table Firm (heads up) – $5/$10 – No Limit Hold’em – 3:11:59 ET – 2008/01/31
Seat 1: DJ Sensei ($1,030)
Seat 2: hellaxela ($1,033.50)
hellaxela posts the small blind of $5
DJ Sensei posts the big blind of $10
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [Jc Qs]
hellaxela raises to $36
DJ Sensei calls $26
*** FLOP *** [Jd Tc 2c]
DJ Sensei checks
hellaxela bets $60
DJ Sensei raises to $180
hellaxela raises to $997.50, and is all in
DJ Sensei calls $814, and is all in
hellaxela shows [3c 9c]
DJ Sensei shows [Jc Qs]
Uncalled bet of $3.50 returned to hellaxela
*** TURN *** [Jd Tc 2c] [Jh]
*** RIVER *** [Jd Tc 2c Jh] [2s]
hellaxela shows two pair, Jacks and Twos
DJ Sensei shows a full house, Jacks full of Twos
DJ Sensei wins the pot ($2,059.50) with a full house, Jacks full of Twos
hellaxela is sitting out

He leaves too. Ordinarily in a ring game I would rarely checkraise this flop with a hand like QJo, because if he shoves I don’t know what to do, and if he calls i’m in an equally tough spot. But when playing HU, its such a standard flop to bluff or semibluff that I can do it with top pair decent kicker and be pretty happy to get the monies in. And of course I got them in as a 65/35 favorite (or something like that). (See HU observation #4 above)

Over on the pokerstars tables, a dude sits and this is our first hand:

POKERSTARS GAME #14951196095: HOLD’EM NO LIMIT ($5/$10) – 2008/01/31 – 03:03:55 (ET)
Table ‘Ara’ 2-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: street13 ($942.50 in chips)
Seat 2: DJ Sensei ($600 in chips)
DJ Sensei: posts small blind $5
street13: posts big blind $10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [As Kh]
DJ Sensei: raises $23 to $33
street13: calls $23
*** FLOP *** [6d 3s 6s]
street13: checks
DJ Sensei: bets $45
street13: raises $864.50 to $909.50 and is all-in
DJ Sensei: calls $522 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [6d 3s 6s] [9c]
*** RIVER *** [6d 3s 6s 9c] [5d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
street13: shows [2s 2d] (two pair, Sixes and Deuces)
DJ Sensei: mucks hand
street13 collected $1199.50 from pot

Kind of a funny outcome, but i’m pretty sure i’m ahead of his range here. Especially if he came to gamble, which judging by his stack size, he did. Note that I started with only $600. That was kind of some bait; in case the fish were afraid of a full $1000 stack, $600 seems a little more inviting. After the hand he told me he didn’t want to play against somebody who could call there with AK, to which I asked why not since it was basically free money. He sat back in and said he’d play a little more. We played like 5 more hands and he gave me a “bye” and left. So it goes. Many players including myself find these so-called “hit and runs” to be quite annoying, but you have to be able to tolerate them in order to play much HU.

On my other stars table, a dude sat in to play and we got into a nice little match. The first big hand was the following:

POKERSTARS GAME #14951216126: HOLD’EM NO LIMIT ($5/$10) – 2008/01/31 – 03:06:09 (ET)
Table ‘Klymene’ 2-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: nemuii ($898 in chips)
Seat 2: DJ Sensei ($1101.50 in chips)
DJ Sensei: posts small blind $5
nemuii: posts big blind $10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [Jh Ad]
DJ Sensei: raises $23 to $33
nemuii: raises $87 to $120
DJ Sensei: calls $87
*** FLOP *** [3d 7h 4s]
nemuii: checks
DJ Sensei: checks
*** TURN *** [3d 7h 4s] [Jd]
nemuii: checks
DJ Sensei: bets $130
nemuii: calls $130
*** RIVER *** [3d 7h 4s Jd] [5c]
nemuii: checks
DJ Sensei: bets $275
nemuii: raises $373 to $648 and is all-in
DJ Sensei: calls $373
*** SHOW DOWN ***
nemuii: shows [Kd Ah] (high card Ace)
DJ Sensei: shows [Jh Ad] (a pair of Jacks)
DJ Sensei collected $1795.50 from pot

After he checkraised the river I wasn’t too pleased, but given the price I was getting and his suspiciously goofy line, I felt obligated to call. Once he turned over AK there I decided this guy was a good one to keep playing against. Soon after this one he sat down at my other table, and we got into it hot and heavy. The first time I 4-bet him turned out to be a pretty weird hand:

POKERSTARS GAME #14951342158: HOLD’EM NO LIMIT ($5/$10) – 2008/01/31 – 03:20:49 (ET)
Table ‘Ara’ 2-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: nemuii ($985 in chips)
Seat 2: DJ Sensei ($1746 in chips)
DJ Sensei: posts small blind $5
nemuii: posts big blind $10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [5s 6h]
DJ Sensei: raises $23 to $33
nemuii: raises $77 to $110
DJ Sensei: raises $169 to $279
nemuii: calls $169
*** FLOP *** [6s 4s Ks]
nemuii: checks
DJ Sensei: bets $370
nemuii has timed out
nemuii: folds
DJ Sensei collected $557.50 from pot
DJ Sensei: doesn’t show hand

I think I have to call if he shoves, but I’m much happier to just take the pot the easy way.

In the next hand I make my first big call of the match, one that I’m pretty proud of.

POKERSTARS GAME #14951460819: HOLD’EM NO LIMIT ($5/$10) – 2008/01/31 – 03:34:57 (ET)
Table ‘Ara’ 2-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: nemuii ($1035 in chips)
Seat 2: DJ Sensei ($3109.50 in chips)
nemuii: posts small blind $5
DJ Sensei: posts big blind $10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [Ah Ks]
nemuii: raises $20 to $30
DJ Sensei: raises $80 to $110
nemuii: calls $80
*** FLOP *** [2h 7h 5s]
DJ Sensei: checks
nemuii: checks
*** TURN *** [2h 7h 5s] [7s]
DJ Sensei: checks
nemuii: bets $160
DJ Sensei: calls $160
*** RIVER *** [2h 7h 5s 7s] [Qd]
DJ Sensei: checks
nemuii: bets $400
DJ Sensei: calls $400
*** SHOW DOWN ***
nemuii: shows [6d 8d] (a pair of Sevens)
DJ Sensei: shows [Ah Ks] (a pair of Sevens – Ace kicker)
DJ Sensei collected $1339.50 from pot

Unfortunately it was closely followed by this lame suckout. If I had won this pot, I think theres a good chance he would have tilted pretty hard and lost way more to me, but he got lucky and seemed to get his head back on track a little. Again, see HU observation #4 above.

POKERSTARS GAME #14951477925: HOLD’EM NO LIMIT ($5/$10) – 2008/01/31 – 03:36:59 (ET)
Table ‘Ara’ 2-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: nemuii ($1032.50 in chips)
Seat 2: DJ Sensei ($3746 in chips)
nemuii: posts small blind $5
DJ Sensei: posts big blind $10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [Qd 9d]
nemuii: raises $20 to $30
DJ Sensei: calls $20
*** FLOP *** [9c 8s 3c]
DJ Sensei: bets $46
nemuii: raises $46 to $92
DJ Sensei: raises $176 to $268
nemuii: calls $176
*** TURN *** [9c 8s 3c] [4d]
DJ Sensei: bets $361
nemuii: raises $373.50 to $734.50 and is all-in
DJ Sensei: calls $373.50
*** RIVER *** [9c 8s 3c 4d] [Js]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DJ Sensei: shows [Qd 9d] (a pair of Nines)
nemuii: shows [Jd 9h] (two pair, Jacks and Nines)
nemuii collected $2064.50 from pot

This hand he luckboxes his way into a real hand, and I somehow don’t get there with my semibluff:

POKERSTARS GAME #14951488802: HOLD’EM NO LIMIT ($5/$10) – 2008/01/31 – 03:38:17 (ET)
Table ‘Klymene’ 2-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: nemuii ($1629.50 in chips)
Seat 2: DJ Sensei ($1356.50 in chips)
nemuii: posts small blind $5
DJ Sensei: posts big blind $10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [Jh 9h]
nemuii: raises $20 to $30
DJ Sensei: raises $80 to $110
nemuii: calls $80
*** FLOP *** [7s 7h 2c]
DJ Sensei: bets $130
nemuii: calls $130
*** TURN *** [7s 7h 2c] [8h]
DJ Sensei: checks
nemuii: bets $330
DJ Sensei: raises $786.50 to $1116.50 and is all-in
nemuii: calls $786.50
*** RIVER *** [7s 7h 2c 8h] [8c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DJ Sensei: shows [Jh 9h] (two pair, Eights and Sevens)
nemuii: shows [Ks Kh] (two pair, Kings and Eights)
nemuii collected $2712.50 from pot

At this point in the match we’re almost even, but a few big hands at the end turn it into a nice win for me. This hand was only my second 4-bet of the match, and, well, it worked out pretty nicely, as you can see . Its been a pretty long time since the last time I won one of these.

POKERSTARS GAME #14951598523: HOLD’EM NO LIMIT ($5/$10) – 2008/01/31 – 03:51:29 (ET)
Table ‘Ara’ 2-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: nemuii ($2214.50 in chips)
Seat 2: DJ Sensei ($2558.50 in chips)
DJ Sensei: posts small blind $5
nemuii: posts big blind $10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [Ad Ah]
DJ Sensei: raises $23 to $33
nemuii: raises $87 to $120
DJ Sensei: raises $179 to $299
nemuii: raises $400 to $699
DJ Sensei: calls $400
*** FLOP *** [6d Td 5h]
nemuii: bets $677
DJ Sensei: raises $1182.50 to $1859.50 and is all-in
nemuii: calls $838.50 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [6d Td 5h] [7d]
*** RIVER *** [6d Td 5h 7d] [2d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
nemuii: shows [Ac As] (a pair of Aces)
DJ Sensei: shows [Ad Ah] (a flush, Ace high)
DJ Sensei collected $4428.50 from pot

Almost immediately afterwards, on the other table, this hand happened:

POKERSTARS GAME #14951612851: HOLD’EM NO LIMIT ($5/$10) – 2008/01/31 – 03:53:11 (ET)
Table ‘Klymene’ 2-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: nemuii ($3543 in chips)
Seat 2: DJ Sensei ($1114.50 in chips)
nemuii: posts small blind $5
DJ Sensei: posts big blind $10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [Ts Th]
nemuii: raises $20 to $30
DJ Sensei: raises $80 to $110
nemuii: calls $80
*** FLOP *** [2c 8h 5s]
DJ Sensei: bets $130
nemuii: raises $3303 to $3433 and is all-in
DJ Sensei: calls $874.50 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [2c 8h 5s] [Qs]
*** RIVER *** [2c 8h 5s Qs] [Jh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DJ Sensei: shows [Ts Th] (a pair of Tens)
nemuii: mucks hand
nemuii leaves the table
DJ Sensei collected $2228.50 from pot

Then he gave me a “gg” and left.

So it was a pretty nice little session. Hopefully I’ll put in a lot more hands in these HU games over the next few weeks so I can be a superstar and win all the monies!

This is my current homework for myself, but I think its a pretty good idea for all players to do something like it now and again so feel free to try it yourself. If you do, let me know how it works out for you!

1. Go through my database of hands from the last few months at 10/20nl and 25/50nl and find the players against whom I play the most (or at least have the most data mined on).
2. Sort all of their hands by size, and pick out the biggest losing hands (principally, those when they lost stacks)
3. Distribute the data in a spreadsheet, sorted by mechanism (cooler, couldnt fold a loser, bluffed it off, bad beat, etc.)
4. I’ll then have available a list of their most likely weaknesses, catalogued by relative frequency (note: sample sizes will probably be too small for this, but I think any data is useful data)

Then, once i’ve got that all made, I can take a look at it before I start playing a given table, to see how I should set up hands against these particular opponents. I think it’ll be a good accompaniment to a HUD, but we’ll see. At the very least, i’ll probably get a better idea of who’s a better regular and who has some real leaks.