In b4 balling, gl man ship Teh monies

Chipstack pics are sexy

For sure subbed to this theard. Go baby go. So the action is good ij bay area

The reasoning is simple. When I play hands like 74s ultra deep I am looking for gin type situations, to hit a straight or back door a flush. I play these hands in situations in which villains would never put me on these types of hands. So, villains will put me on the typical set mining or broadways. So, when I hit a 8 6 5 or a 6 5 3 board and raise turn or river, V's will incorrectly think I'm either making a move or that their 2p hand or overpair or even set is good and they will shove for stacks.

When this happens they have a high degree of confidence that I (merely being a semi-competent ABC nitty player) have TPTK or an overpair). So when I flip over 74s it throws them for a complete loop.

To be clear, you have to be fairly deep and have a good handle on table dynamics, villain image and also your perceived image. This is much easier to do in the live game using all the info available than the online game. If you are trying to compare online to live in this argument, its apples and oranges.

Actually, 74s doesn't carry reverse implied odds because its not like I'm ever going to stack off on a 7 4 K A T type board. When I'm playing hands like 74s (and to be clear, very rarely) I'm looking to flop/turn gin while also using my image.

The above type of balancing is something I do around 5% of the time in respect to my overall game. Obviously it will be skewed in this thread since I'm only going to post 3 - 4 hands per session so it will look like i'm doing it 25% or 50% of the time which I'm not.

All I can say is that 95% of the players I play against feel the way you feel, which I guess is good for me. My villains are rarely able to put me on a hand and conversely when I shove they often think my range is one thing when in reality I'm shoving with a hand they would never expect. So, my bluffs are more profitable because I can rep AK and my value shoves are more profitable because I have hands they never imagine me having. And as long as I'm deep enough and have a good handle on reads, table dynamics, and my perceived image, then I can literally almost play ATC profitable. But again, to be clear, I'm only doing this 5% of the time. As my skill grows I suspect I can profitably increase that. Ideally, I want to get up to the GTO theorized 20%.

Here is my last counter argument (friendly debate not argument), its not so much that the situation is, "Man I've been card dead for a while, I'm going to mix it up now...".

No, the situation is more like, "Okay, I feel that my villains see me a certain way, I'm in position and if I raise they will put me on JJ+, AK, AQ, KQ and right now I have 74s or 76s. So I will raise, rep those hands for bluffs and if I hit my hand play for value" In the case of me calling, then my range widens to include pocket pairs. Obviously, I need to be very sensitive to which villain I apply the above deductions to. The good news is that at 10/25nl, all villains are Level 2 or Level 3 so I can make these sorts of plays at that table (I least I hope I can) vs 2/5nl where there are still some villains that are Level 1.

Trust me, there is a lot of thought behind it. Sorry if it doesn't seem like it, but I'm not splashing around with $6k mindlessly or playing ATC playing bingo poker. I 100% agree that if I were playing ATC for bingo poker that is -EV. Absolutely. But i'm not. I'm conscious of the table dynamics, my position, my villains' ranges and tendencies, and my perceived image. Or, at least I think I am.

I do appreciate your concern and FWIW, I have a little you on my shoulder when I'm making these plays and I have to justify it to him that I do have a plan and am not just trying to playing slot machine bingo poker...

Love the thread so far. Your session reports help out alot as far as how I should be thinking about the game. Thanks and keep it up. gl gl

I love this thread. I've wanted you to do something like this for a while.

Regarding the recent discussion with 74-type hands: I really dig what you're doing. When I hit gin with those hands, the players in my game give me max value very often if they have just about any showdown value. Fortunately for them, my self control likes to ride off on a bright pink unicorn right after I take my chips out of my rack

So yes, I play bingo far too often because it is fun & profitable when I am rewarded for my bad play. One of the reasons I dig your writing is that it kinda shames me into wanting to do what is right instead of being a $hitty reg (shout out to LotGrinder) who gambools every damn session. I see you succeeding and it MAKES ME WANT TO BE A BETTER MAN, lol.

/gos rant

Good luck, and keep posting the good & the bad.

Yeah I balance oop but I want blockers. Folding small suited connectors in 3bet pots should be standard.

ISO limpers, set mining, nut and second nut flush mining and 3 betting with blockers is what you should focus on.

I don't have a problem with your play just making sure you don't make that a habit. Which I know you will noy. I just thought you should play a little tighter on your first shot.

You already know you have what it takes. I'm on your side my dude.

you and kydd have by far the best and most insightful hh's i've come accross, bout time you started this up. looking forward to more shot takings. gl!

this is a pretty interesting position on balancing against competent opponents.

once you get more sessions in against other competent opponents at the higher stakes, your going to have some very interesting reg wars ensue when they become familiar with you

Do you take notes on your hands or can you remember all the details? I can't remember what I had for breakfast today?

I am looking forward to your journey and insight into the game. Good luck.

Subbed, glglglgl!!!

+1 You are one of my favorite posters. You write in a clear/concise format and on top of that it is very entertaining, thank you for sharing your wisdom/humor with us.

I have a lot of questions that apply to this thread, as I am in the process of moving to 2/5. But I'll save for later.

Subb'd

This gave me a boner.

The only thing I'm disappointed about in this thread so far is the lack of your catch phrase. Prison rape one time? :-P

Subbed... Looking forward to more of your reports!

WEEK #2, DAY #5
Week #2 mini bankroll as of Day 5: +$5,000
mini BR needed for taking a shot Friday: $6,000

CLIFFNOTES: Need to grind $1k more Thursday to take my shot this Friday (tomorrow). Won about $2k today but had to pay some bills. Sorry for the wall of text

Today was an interesting day. First, I met another 2+2er HappyLuckBox and he's a pretty nice guy and solid player. We even ended up playing in the same Deep Stack game at the Matrix and he got to witness some of my craziness first hand . But before we get to that...

I started off my day grinding at Bay 101 2/5nl deep stack. I was playing probably some of the best poker I've played in a while. Unfortunately, I didn't take notes today however I do remember a few key hands. In particular, I thought I'd change this up a little bit and discuss a situation that happens among thinking aggro players: Leveling Wars.

I got into a leveling war today which unfortunately I lost (i'll get to that in a minute). The thing about leveling wars is that on the surface they appear "stupid". However, if you win them you get to impose your will on the table and realize some super fat value when you win the war

There was an aggro villain that was raising 1-2 times per orbit virtually every time from MP and LP. He was a thinking player but he had a sizing tell, his $20 - $25 raises were his lighter raising range (which I think was pretty wide: Axs, Kxs, 87s+, 75s+, broadways, 88+) while when he had a strong hand he raised $35 - $45 (which I had narrowed to TT+, AJ+, KQ).

He had position on me and I ended up being either UTG or in the blinds when he raised. Our table was pretty limpy/cally and so I started squeezing like Florida Orange juice with a pretty wide range: JT+, 88+. After a couple of orbits of limp/3-betting him I probably racked up $300 in squeeze profits but I could tell he was figuring out that I was squeezing light and so after about 3 consecutive squeezes I stopped for a while.

Fast forward an hour, he had returned back to his frequent raising routine and I picked up AT UTG and limped. True to form he raised $25 from MP and there were 4 callers by the time action got back to me. So, I 3-bet to $140, he calls, and everyone else folds, heads up.

Now, here is the fun part. I know that he is raising light. He knows that I know he is raising light and so he can call me lighter than he'd normally call a 3-bet. Now, he knows I'm going to c-bet a high percentage of the time so when he calls me preflop he is doing that with the intention of making a move on me a high percentage of the time.

So, on to the hand. Eff stacks $650, I cover (I have $3k) Hero has AT

Hero limps UTG, UTG+1 limps, V raises $25 from MP, LP calls, HJ calls, CO calls, BTN calls, blinds fold, Hero raises to $140, folds to MP who calls, everyone else folds. Heads up.

Flop($380) 8 7 7
Hero leads out $200, V insta ships all-in for $650. Hero....????

So, I expected some fireworks. V's insta ship can be with a wide range which also has a fair amount of air in it. 8x, 99-JJ constitutes the majority of V's value range and V's range does have flush draws and even straight draws in it as well as just complete overcard air like KQ or KJ. Again, this is a byproduct of V committing to call me down light preflop. "If" he is calling me with a wide range then the only way he can profitably make that call is if he is willing to make moves on me post flop.

In any event, I have decent equity against the majority of V's range so I call.

Turn and river brick out, V shows A7 FML

Even though I lost, I'm happy with the line I took and I was committing to call probably 90% of all boards post flop since I'm c-betting almost always in this situation and the c-bet is going to commit me a fair amount of time since V's range is going to be really wide...

So, after losing that hand, I decided to call it a day and I left Bay about $1k-ish up.

I then went to Matrix and sat down in the deep stack game there.

I lost a pretty interesting hand I'd like to discuss against a pretty good thinking player that plays the 10/25nl game but he was slumming it in our 2/5nl deep stack game.

I had beat him in a tough pot earlier for $500 ish in which I was sure my TPGK was ahead of his and I put the pressure on him and he ended up folding on the turn (sorry, can't post the details of that hand since I didn't show). So the following hand is part two of our battle.

Eff stacks $700, I cover villain (Hero has $3k). I'm UTG w 99 and limp, 4 limpers, V is on the BTN and he raises to $60. Now, this is an interestingly sized raise. I put him on 99-AA, AK, AQ with this sizing with majority weight being to 99-QQ. When he plays the 2/5nl game he treats it like a 2/5nl player treats 1/2nl. He isn't going to get too out of line, splashing around, making sick moves. He's more or less playing pretty snug. So, I flat with the intent of set mining mostly depending on how things develop. An aggro rec player calls from MP, everyone else folds so we are 3-way to the flop.

Flop(190) 8 7 4
I check, MP bets $60, V flats from the BTN, Hero...????

This is a very interesting development. There is absolutely no way on Earth V is ever going to let that $60 bet pass through if he has TT+. So I can eliminate that from his range. So, V must be floating with Two overs that are weighted to 2 diamonds, something like A Q type hands. If this is the case, then I like my equity on the flop as relates to this situation. Yes, a flush draw with 2 overs has slightly more equity than my 99, however, FD equity drops in half on the turn. Also, there is a good chance V may be floating with two overs simply because that $60 bet is really weak and transparent. Lastly, if I c/r that is going to appear pretty strong and fold out hands that have decent equity as relates to this pot, hands like AK/AQ. So, I raise to $240.

Now, MP folds and then V flats from the BTN with $500-ish behind.

Turn(670) K
I tank chk, V bets $240, yuck yuck yuck. That King is smack in the middle of V's floating range and if V had something like AQ I expect him to ship it on a bluff rather than go for a value bet bluff. So, after tanking for about 3 minutes I ended up folding my 99 face up. V says good fold and shows me 88 for the flopped set

I was one hand off from the range I assigned V for his preflop button raise. I put V's pocket pair range as 99+ and didn't think he would dip lower than 99 but apparently I was wrong and just one pocket pair off. Looking back on the hand, set of 8s make sense. V is the type of villain that will go for max value and isn't going to be overly paranoid about "getting the flush draws out". He is confident enough in his post flop play to do so... Regardless, I made the fold and lucky for me turn was a K and not a 2

Anyways, I could have had an epic $4k+ day, if a few swings would have hit my way, yada yada yada but not to say I didn't have some rungood. I flopped quads and stacked a V for $600 YUMMY!!!! Overall, I ended up about $1k up from my session at the Matrix

Here is my sexy chip stack pic from Matrix today



overall, I'm about $1k away from being able to take my shot Friday, so hopefully I run good Thursday (today). You may notice that my math isn't adding up as far as my wins this session and how much I have to win in order to take my shot.

Well, I had to pay some bills and that came from my winnings today.

May the run good continue.

thread saver

thx for the good vibes and comments. Yeah, I imagine I'm going to have some interesting reg wars. Stay tuned for next week. Same Bat time. Same Bat channel.

I normally take notes, or I should say I used to take notes and record 2 - 5 key hands per session. I haven't been that diligent with that over the last few months but I am returning to my old note taking ways. An unexpected by product of this thread...

Cool thread, sub'd and gl!

Epic thread

Curious. In the A10 hand, otf, you don't like a check/jam there...for maximum level?

I suppose it doesn't make total sense with your pre line and also he may check back, but yea. His stack size makes a c/jam perfect. If he stabs that is.

subbed

I was thinking the same thing.

You are one of my fav strat posters on 2+2. Hope you go on a great run.

This whole post is just.... GOLD
Very clear explanation of the times you play the 74s types of hands, why you do it, what you're looking for, etc... Right down to explaining that in reality you do this maybe 5% of the time and only with deep effective stacks. I must admit, I wish I was better at deep stack play myself, and am envious of you for playing at a level where these types of plays have an important place. Indeed, for those of us just trying to hit SSNL online against people who just play their own 2 cards we don't get much opportunity to find spots for hands like that and abuse perceived image. So once again, very jealous of you for having the opportunity to work on your game at that level, but confident you will make 2p2 proud!

Subbed, and keep it coming!

DGI, good luck & keep up the good work.

that was my first thought also.

but i think that would work much better against non thinking aggro opponents who like to pounce at any sign of weakness regardless of the action.

against thinking aggro opponents, a check after a l/rr is very suspicious, and i think there is a good chance they let it check through. it would also set up some interesting unbalanced situations in the future for when dgi does cbet in l/rr pots or 3b pots.

BUTTTT... would much rather here dgi's opinion than my own.

There are several reasons why I choose to lead out in this situation:

#1) Balance. I like to play these hands and situations the same way I would play my strong value hands like 99-AA. Am I ever going to go for a c/r here with a hand like JJ, QQ, KK...??? Google "G-bucks" OR CLICK HERE . This is a concept I think that many don't accurately apply to their game. When most players think "Balance" they only think in terms of preflop hand selection in not in the way they actually play a hand post flop.

#2) Remember our preflop deductions. We deduce that V is raising light and calling us light right?. Thus, the only way V can profitably take the preflop line he is taking is if he is committed to making a move against us post flop. The pot is roughly $380, I bet $200 which means he is perfectly sized for a Jam/bluff. He had $600-ish behind and that is perfect sizing to jam me. Plus, he knows I'm raising light and he knows I'm going to c-bet a high percentage of the time. Basically, this is a situation where BOTH villains are at Level 3. If I actually check this flop that would actually make villain check back a large percentage of the time because he is expecting my c-bet. When I fail to c-bet here, its going to give him pause and decrease the times he bets because a bet by him is actually awkward here. Pot is too small for him to overbet shove with complete air.

#3) I have great equity here and when we have great equity we want to get more money in the pot. When I bet $200-ish here I know that is probably the best bet to get V to shove over the top of me and I want him to shove over the top of me here. There is a good chance my hand crushes his since I expect him to jam all draws (FDs and SDs including gut shots) as well as overcard air. Obviously, he's jamming 99+ hands as well. I just got unlucky and he flopped gin. But even against him flopping trips, I still have decent equity against that. Guess I should have used my "ONE TIME!!!!"

#4) There is also a chance V chickens out and diverges from his preflop plan and just folds all together if I lead out. However, if I go for a c/r he will check back in this case and see a free turn card. And on turn, my equity cuts in half and V may regrow some balls and shove me on turn with what he could deduce is the best hand (AJ/AQ).

To be clear, going for a flop c/r isn't terrible. But in this case, its not optimal since it will lead to V chking back more than he would just jam over the top of me and I WANT him jamming over the top of me. So, a mixture of all the reasons I highlighted above with the principle reason being reason #1 and #2. #1 is a reason I'm a beast to play against (or at least I hope I am...)

anyways, off to the grind in an hour or so. $1k to go, wish me luck