Polished Poker Vol. I Study Group

The obvious stat that jumps out indicates that playing these hands with the initiative is a more profitable approach. I went ahead and created the 3Bet Quasi Range Quick Filter for HM2 and will be diving further into my analysis as it relates to playing the hands in and out of position.

What I found surprising was that I'm showing a loss from the cut-off/button position and a huge profit from the small blind position. My sample size is small and there are 4 hands from the button/cut-off where I lost 35bb+ that are weighted heavily with my sample size. I'll need to go back and review those 4 hands to make sure I picked the appropriate opponent and to see if it was a cooler or if I had a misstep along the later streets. Otherwise, I would anticipate that playing this quasi range in position vs the ideal opponent should turn some nice profit. In summary, I think this range of hands plays extremely well from the small blind, cut-off, and button positions but the primary focus is to play them aggressively vs the appropriate opponents that don't like to fold to 3-bets and like to open a lot of pots.

sidgucci said:

The obvious stat that jumps out indicates that playing these hands with the initiative is a more profitable approach. I went ahead and created the 3Bet Quasi Range Quick Filter for HM2 and will be diving further into my analysis as it relates to playing the hands in and out of position.

What I found surprising was that I'm showing a loss from the cut-off/button position and a huge profit from the small blind position. My sample size is small and there are 4 hands from the button/cut-off where I lost 35bb+ that are weighted heavily with my sample size. I'll need to go back and review those 4 hands to make sure I picked the appropriate opponent and to see if it was a cooler or if I had a misstep along the later streets. Otherwise, I would anticipate that playing this quasi range in position vs the ideal opponent should turn some nice profit. In summary, I think this range of hands plays extremely well from the small blind, cut-off, and button positions but the primary focus is to play them aggressively vs the appropriate opponents that don't like to fold to 3-bets and like to open a lot of pots.

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This is going to happen for most micro and small stakes players. Having initiative becomes a lot more important than flatting hands because you aren't outplaying your opponent enough post flop. And really at those stakes you shouldn't very often. There's a misconception because people say, don't 3-bet AQo, you're turning it into a bluff. Against some opponents you are, but most of them are going to c/f most flops unless they hit. Some are going to call with worse, and some will just fold pre. As you move up in stakes, then flatting these hands will have a lot more value. However right now against the kind of opponents you're facing, and most micro players skill levels, it's better to take the initiative.

As far as your sample with in and out of position, it's likely too small. Keep an eye on it though and save your filters.

Is everyone signed up for the workshop? Make sure you get in there, because most of these guys charge $300-$1k/hr for coaching and you're going to get their time for free. It's going to be a lot of great info you won't want to miss.

John A said:

Is everyone signed up for the workshop? Make sure you get in there, because most of these guys charge $300-$1k/hr for coaching and you're going to get their time for free. It's going to be a lot of great info you won't want to miss.

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Signed up for it when you first posted
Thanks a lot for arranging it.

John A said:

Is everyone signed up for the workshop? Make sure you get in there, because most of these guys charge $300-$1k/hr for coaching and you're going to get their time for free. It's going to be a lot of great info you won't want to miss.

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OMG just saw that. IN! and thanks...

This is a great learning opportunity. Anything that will up our game is more than welcome ,esp for free.

vinylspiros said:

OMG just saw that. IN! and thanks...

This is a great learning opportunity. Anything that will up our game is more than welcome ,esp for free.

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Had a feeling some people were missing this. I'm excited to check it out.

Hi John.

First, thank you so much for offering this. It's a really fantastic opportunity.

I tried to sign up for the workshop just now but got an error message on the page. Not sure if my registration went through.

this is what I got

• Error - System.Net.Mail.SmtpFailedRecipientException: Mailbox unavailable. The server response was: must be authenticated at System.Net.Mail.SmtpTransport.SendMail(MailAddress sender, MailAddressCollection recipients, String deliveryNotify, SmtpFailedRecipientException& exception) at System.Net.Mail.SmtpClient.Send(MailMessage message) at MailSender.Send(String to, String subject, String body) in c:\APS WS\LBWS\App_Code\MailSender.cs:line 32 at TrainingUser.RegisterUser(TrainingUser user) in c:\APS WS\LBWS\App_Code\TrainingUser.cs:line 211 at linklokSave.RegisterTrainingUser(String userType) in c:\APS WS\LBWS\linklokSave.aspx.cs:line 186 at linklokSave.Page_Load(Object sender, EventArgs e) in c:\APS WS\LBWS\linklokSave.aspx.cs:line 58

Yeah, we had our server burn up in a fire last week. We had to rebuild a new server and set it up. So the site where you sign-up, and everything that you signup for will be recorded (because it's from a different server). The info that is sent back to you though, was on the old server. The developers haven't replaced / fixed everything yet. I told them about this a couple of days ago.

If you sign-up, you will be in the system, so don't sweat it. You'll get an error, but your info will be there and you'll be sent the login info this week. I'm hoping the developers fix this monday, but it's been lower priority on a long priority list.

John A said:

Yeah, we had our server burn up in a fire last week. We had to rebuild a new server and set it up. So the site where you sign-up, and everything that you signup for will be recorded (because it's from a different server). The info that is sent back to you though, was on the old server. The developers haven't replaced / fixed everything yet. I told them about this a couple of days ago.

If you sign-up, you will be in the system, so don't sweat it. You'll get an error, but your info will be there and you'll be sent the login info this week. I'm hoping the developers fix this monday, but it's been lower priority on a long priority list.

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John, so sorry to hear about the fire. It is a good reminder to us that there is so much work that goes on behind the scenes when running a website. I hope you are able to get up to full speed soon.

Thanks. Yeah, it was quite unexpected, and a major pain. We have several servers and that one had some of the web stuff (like for the workshop), and it was also the main licensing server for leak buster. Fortunately most of our customers are pretty understanding. Just glad it's resolved.

cold calling = burning cash,,, agreed

Ok I checked compared HM2 stats for this month cash games only against previous months this year.
Overall this month I am +11bb/100

Overall I was -18 bb/100 in all hands when playing against a raised pot

where I flat called a raise with AQo/AQs AJo/AJs ATo/ATs KQo/KQs KJo/KJs
I was minus a total of 200 bb (of which I lost 100bb in one hand ace flush v full house all in on turn and was rivered)

Where I re raised with those hands I was plus 20bb.

And this still was after I have read polished poker.
conclusion cold call a raise = burning money

In April I was -36bb/100 in raised pots
In fact I only have one month in the year when I have a positive win rate in raised pots.
I have reduced the percentage of hands played against raised pots since reading polished poker and have raised my 3 bet percentage in the SB from 3% to 6% and am showing a profit from the Sb for the first time ever this month,
Still work to do in the BB where my 3 bet % is still only 2.9 and im losing consistently.

Figaroo2 said:

Ok I checked compared HM2 stats for this month cash games only against previous months this year.
Overall this month I am +11bb/100

Overall I was -18 bb/100 in all hands when playing against a raised pot

where I flat called a raise with AQo/AQs AJo/AJs ATo/ATs KQo/KQs KJo/KJs
I was minus a total of 200 bb (of which I lost 100bb in one hand ace flush v full house all in on turn and was rivered)

Where I re raised with those hands I was plus 20bb.

And this still was after I have read polished poker.
conclusion cold call a raise = burning money

In April I was -36bb/100 in raised pots
In fact I only have one month in the year when I have a positive win rate in raised pots.
I have reduced the percentage of hands played against raised pots since reading polished poker and have raised my 3 bet percentage in the SB from 3% to 6% and am showing a profit from the Sb for the first time ever this month,
Still work to do in the BB where my 3 bet % is still only 2.9 and im losing consistently.

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Good work. It's easiest if you see it for yourself of course, instead of someone else telling you X or Y doesn't tend to work.

Now I don't want any misunderstandings though. Poker players tend to have big ego's, and they want to believe they can play just about any hand. However, in most micro and small stakes games, these kinds of hands will usually end up as -EV when flat called. I've coached over 100 students and about roughly 100% at small stakes have -EV results for these hands. Why?

It's pretty simple. They don't have initiative, and they don't make the best decisions post flop often enough to turn their hand into a +EV calling decision. Now, as you get better and you move up stakes, you're going to need to have a wider flatting range, and you'll need to know how to make these hands +EV. Believe it or not, that will happen over time. It's not really worth investing too much time into right now however, because as you move up, your opponents decisions and situational post flop plays will change a bit. For now, it's better to just mitigate your losses for these kinds of hands, play them in a way that becomes +EV, and slowly improve your game.

I know a lot of training videos, and other people you hear will tell you, "don't turn X or Y into a bluff." Well, in some situation you might be doing that, in others, when you use a quasi range for example, you won't. It will be for value. So learn how to make this adjustment, and it will be on the most profitable changes you can do to your game. Don't believe me though. Look at your own results.

Quick update: Vol II of this series is 27 pages in. It's going to be multiple choice, and fill in the blank style workbook for this material. This should really explain and put all the material together.

I've been playing a bunch of $25NL zone the past couple days and have been incorporating the quasi 3-bet range stuff and it has been working really well. I'm amazed at how many people call a 3-bet than fold on the flop. The thing that really surprises me most is how wide people have been calling me, but than they usually fold on the flop which is making me more money than I actually have been making from going to show down with the best hand. I don't have HM2 or PT so I can't post any stats, but I can confirm it definitely works.

John A said:

Quick update: Vol II of this series is 27 pages in. It's going to be multiple choice, and fill in the blank style workbook for this material. This should really explain and put all the material together.

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Awesome, John! Where do the students go to access Volume II?

I traveled to Daytona & Jacksonville this week and broke even at the $2/$2 NLHE cash games. I came away from this trip recognizing that although I am familiar with the starting hands from position, +EV 3-Betting scenarios and identifying opponents to use the 3-Bet Quasi Range, I was struggling with balancing on different board textures. I didn't commit the lessons taught to memory and I suffered at the table. Because I was unfamiliar with how to balance properly, I sat at the table lacking confidence and had to throw away many hands that could have been profitable if I was more familiar with board textures and equity percentages.

Since I returned home, I have made flashcards and carry them with me throughout the day reviewing them and committing the equity percentages and strategy to memory. In addition, I've been watching WPT & wsop replays and pausing the play on the flop to challenge myself to see how each player should play the hand optimally. With repetition and practice, I'm sure it will all come together.

looking forward to this today,Great stuff really.

vinylspiros said:

looking forward to this today,Great stuff really.

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The workshop? Yeah, it's going to be fin. Starting in less than an hour... weee!

I was watching but my laptop was lagging hard while trying to watch/type.

Unfortunately had to close it down.

Try again?

How do we access the recorded workshop? I couldn't make it because I was playing a live Deep Stack tournament, but at least I cashed after 11 hours of playing.

redwards92 said:

I was watching but my laptop was lagging hard while trying to watch/type.
Unfortunately had to close it down.

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Same thing I'm wondering. I was looking forward to it for weeks, but on the day of the workshop I had something come up the night before and was unable to make it.

A9ofHearts said:

I've been playing a bunch of $25NL zone the past couple days and have been incorporating the quasi 3-bet range stuff and it has been working really well. I'm amazed at how many people call a 3-bet than fold on the flop. The thing that really surprises me most is how wide people have been calling me, but than they usually fold on the flop which is making me more money than I actually have been making from going to show down with the best hand. I don't have HM2 or PT so I can't post any stats, but I can confirm it definitely works.

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Yup, it works well. Should we tell more people, or keep it to ourselves?

FYI, I'm not having support answer any e-mails about the webinar (because there's something like 60+). We sent out several e-mails that explained you'd get a recorded copy when it's available. So if you've signed up, you'll get an e-mail with all the info you'll need.

John,

How do you, and the guys who presented their sections of the webinar, think it went?
I am probably like many who couldn't absorb all that stuff in one sitting, went blurry eyed, and will need to do the slow deliberate review to get half of what was covered. So from our POV it is a wealth of good stuff.