Tight Poker

[darinvg]

I've been breaking even for a long time now and feel like I'm getting fucked so I thought I'd post a full HH for review. You just need to signup for the free part of pokerxfactor to view. I thought I played pretty well but there are a lot of tight folds and a great bubble. Comments welcome, enjoy!

[mewsiclovr]

That is some serious bubble pwnage. I especially like the 73o push UTG.

Are those standard limps from EP with AJs and 88 in lvl 2?

[ugignadl]

Nice, enjoyed watching that.

With 5 or 6 left I think I would have played a few more hands than you did.

Nice bubble.

[hiho]

Nice, enjoyed watching that.

With 5 or 6 left I think I would have played a few more hands than you did.

Nice bubble.

Which ones would you have played?

[darinvg]

That is some serious bubble pwnage. I especially like the 73o push UTG.

Are those standard limps from EP with AJs and 88 in lvl 2?

I figured you'd like the bubble.

It's standard for me.
I don’t like to get crazy w/ 88 early. I open raise it in later position.
AJs, again I don’t want to raise it but it’s a nice hand to see a flop with. Also, if I only limp small pairs early it makes it easier for the regulars to put me on a hand.

Ugi
I’d be interested to hear some on the hands you would have played. I know there were some very tight folds w/ QJ, A8, etc but with my stack size I didn’t feel like it was worth the risk.

[flash]

Nice, enjoyed watching that.

With 5 or 6 left I think I would have played a few more hands than you did.

Nice bubble.

Awesome bubble, but I would have played a few more hands w/ 5 or 6 left also. I went through it pretty quick, but I seem to remember a KQ and a couple A8, A9 type hands in unopened pots.

[jacedk]

I'm at work, but I registered and will check out the video when I get home.

Darin, I found one of your old post where you ask about pokerXfactor. I guess you decided to join. What's your opinion of the site? Would it be worth it for a casual player to join?

It looks pretty good, but for a player like me, $ 149,95 plus a monthly fee of $24,95 is a lot. I guess you need to play at a certain level to be able to make that worth while.

Feel free to post the reply in a new thread, if you don't want this one hijacked.

[ugignadl]

I'll probably have some time tomorrow, it's 2:45 AM here at the moment. Will get to it.

[darinvg]

Jace, my review is up in the poker forum.

Ugi, take your time.

[jacedk]

Jace, my review is up in the poker forum.

Yeah, I saw. Thanks.

[ugignadl]

Thoughts while watching:

Hand 35: I might have raised, 90/10 fold/push.
Hand 37: Raise vs Push: I'd go 50/50.
Hand 41: Here I would go push/fold 50/50.
Hand 42: I'd push this. The blinds here are foldamatics.
Hand 47: As with 37, 41, I'm pushing 50/50.
Hand 48: Push unless button is a freak (which he's not).
Hand 53: I'm pushing this for sure.
Hand 64: Why push this and not 42, 48, 53?
Hand 67: Commence pwnage.

Summary:

Given your opponents, while playing, I would have folded 35, 37, 41, 47. Push 42, 48, 53, 64.

We do have different styles, and mine might be outdated. I'm trying to teach my little sister to be a winning player at the 6+0.5 and 5+0.5 STTs (turbo and regular NL) on Stars. She started pretty poorly a long time ago, and finally wants to improve.

I did regularly frequent the 20+2s on Party around a year ago, before making the big move to cash.

Still, this is how I would have played them.

[darinvg]

The rebuttal:
Hand 35: I might have raised, 90/10 fold/push.
I don’t see any reason to get involved w/ Q3 here.

Hand 37: Raise vs Push: I'd go 50/50.
I’m never pushing QQ here. I want to get some value.

Hand 41: Here I would go push/fold 50/50.
The SB has 13BBs. There’s no way I’m pushing Q9 here.

Hand 42: I'd push this. The blinds here are foldamatics.
The blinds yes, but the again the button has 13BBs. I can see a raise here folding to the button and calling the SB and BB.

Hand 47: As with 37, 41, I'm pushing 50/50.
I have 82 and 12BB. I don’t understand a push here either.

Hand 48: Push unless button is a freak (which he's not).
With A8, a push wouldn’t be bad but again the button is a little big. I can see making it 500 here.

Hand 53: I'm pushing this for sure.
With the antes I can see pushing this. The seat one to my left has really messed up a lot of pushes in this game.

Hand 64: Why push this and not 42, 48, 53?
The difference in blinds of 100/200 vs 200/400 is huge. You really have to open your range w/ the big jump in blinds.

Hand 67: Commence pwnage.


Some of the pushes you advocate seem a bit to big/raw to me. They might be slightly +ev but if the villains are calling just a bit to light, they could turn negative. Very good discussion though, thanks! Maybe I’ll try and post some more of these if people want.
One final note to everyone that I recently discovered is how big a difference the antes make in the 100/200 level. They are enough to swing –ev to +ev.

[levistep]

Now that I look back, some of the hand numbers may be off by 1 or so.

AJs: I might raise 3x here, and i'm calling a min bet on the flop then seeing a cheap river
Hand 18: I'll limp with KJs, raise 3x in latepos
Hand 27: Nice river call. If it was anything else but a 4 you would be folding because I can see that guy holding TK, or AT.
Hand 31: Does everyone else push here, because that's how i usually do it. I wish there was a better move, but I push like 65% of the time (with loose players behind), and limp 15%, and sometimes minraise if the guys behind are really tight.
Hand 48: From CO I might try raising with a8, unless those guys are really loose.
Hand 53: I'm limping/raising 50/50 with qk, unless the guys behind are super aggressive
Hand 64: I'm pushing with a5, is everyone else pushing here too?
Hand 68: k4 I probably wouldn't be pushing here.
Hand 71: 5qs i'm not pushing either. I mainly do the reckless bubble pushing after the smallest stack has already folded. If he is still in the hand, he is much more likely to call than the guy who has 4k chips.
Hand 72: This is another crazy push, but you've much chips at this point.
Hand 74 + 78: This is the type of reckless push that I really like. You completely isolated the 2nd biggest stack.

Getting away with this type of raising happens like 1 in 20 tourneys.

[ugignadl]

Hand 35: I might have raised, 90/10 fold/push.
I don’t see any reason to get involved w/ Q3 here.

Start the road to domination a good reason?

Hand 37: Raise vs Push: I'd go 50/50.
I’m never pushing QQ here. I want to get some value.

IME people are more likely to call a push than a 3x rr.

Hand 41: Here I would go push/fold 50/50.
The SB has 13BBs. There’s no way I’m pushing Q9 here.

Your FE is enormous.

Hand 42: I'd push this. The blinds here are foldamatics.
The blinds yes, but the again the button has 13BBs. I can see a raise here folding to the button and calling the SB and BB.

Mmmm good point. I concede to this.

Hand 47: As with 37, 41, I'm pushing 50/50.
I have 82 and 12BB. I don’t understand a push here either.

FE=huge. Still not standard for me, only if opponents weak.

Hand 48: Push unless button is a freak (which he's not).
With A8, a push wouldn’t be bad but again the button is a little big. I can see making it 500 here.

And folding to a button push? I think I still disagree on this one.

Hand 53: I'm pushing this for sure.
With the antes I can see pushing this. The seat one to my left has really messed up a lot of pushes in this game.

Yeah, I thought the same.

Hand 64: Why push this and not 42, 48, 53?
The difference in blinds of 100/200 vs 200/400 is huge. You really have to open your range w/ the big jump in blinds.

Good point.

Hand 67: Commence pwnage.


Some of the pushes you advocate seem a bit to big/raw to me. They might be slightly +ev but if the villains are calling just a bit to light, they could turn negative. Very good discussion though, thanks! Maybe I’ll try and post some more of these if people want.
One final note to everyone that I recently discovered is how big a difference the antes make in the 100/200 level. They are enough to swing –ev to +ev.

Resp:

Yes well. I am speaking from trying to teach the little one how to do well at the 6+0.5 and 5+0.5. People there are very weak WRT the bubble and just before. I admit, in some places a raise is better.

[darinvg]

Levi rebuttal:
AJs: I might raise 3x here, and i'm calling a min bet on the flop then seeing a cheap river
That’s fine.

Hand 18: I'll limp with KJs, raise 3x in late pos
I don’t like a limp in lvl 3 early w/ KJs

Hand 27: Nice river call. If it was anything else but a 4 you would be folding because I can see that guy holding TK, or AT.
Yep.

Hand 31: Does everyone else push here, because that's how i usually do it. I wish there was a better move, but I push like 65% of the time (with loose players behind), and limp 15%, and sometimes minraise if the guys behind are really tight.
Limping is bad. You can make it 375 to go though.

Hand 48: From CO I might try raising with a8, unless those guys are really loose.
Raising here is an option. I folded since my stack size is tricky.

Hand 53: I'm limping/raising 50/50 with qk, unless the guys behind are super aggressive
Pushing is fine here w/ antes.

Hand 64: I'm pushing with a5, is everyone else pushing here too?
I hope so.

Hand 68: k4 I probably wouldn't be pushing here.
This is a classic example of owning the bubble. The button can’t call unless he has a monster and the blinds won’t hurt me. Pushing like this is what makes it possible for me to really dominate the rest of the game.

Hand 71: 5qs i'm not pushing either. I mainly do the reckless bubble pushing after the smallest stack has already folded. If he is still in the hand, he is much more likely to call than the guy who has 4k chips.
I’m pushing any two here to continue to own. lwrunner is a good 2p2er and can’t call.

Hand 72: This is another crazy push, but you've much chips at this point.
Another perfect setup.

Hand 74 + 78: This is the type of reckless push that I really like. You completely isolated the 2nd biggest stack.
It’s some of the thinner pushes that I made earlier that allowed me to do this.