Matt Vaughan (Poker Vlogger) - Ask Me Anything - Including Hand Analysis

[bakang]

Hi
I appreciate your help. I wonder what would happen if you played the small stakes at Bet on Line for a week. At best you'd have to say "I have to play more hands because this negative variance is amazing." I have you feeling you'd advise us not to use it, as they openly rig the deal. When do you know a site is rigged? Would it take a lot of losing with AK vs QJ or would you know sooner? Have you ever known a site to cheat when it's players have pairs vs undercards? I know you don't have to do this so, thank you.

 

[Oranaro]

Hello, I played some hands I'm not quite sure if I did well or not:
I play nl5 6 max:
I'm BB with AKo
HJ raises to 2.4BB
SB calls
I 3bet to 6BB (I think that I had to put 9BB at least)
HJ folds
SB calls
The flop is Kd8h9h
SB donks to 7.2BB (I feel like he had something, and wants to protect with fold equity)
I shove 180BB
He calls with KhTh
Turn is 4s river is Qs
I win the pot.

I'm not sure about how well I played, if there were one color flop, I'd for sure not went for the all in, but he could have a KK, but he played it quite weirdly, calling 2 raises, and donk betting, I don't see him on a hand that can beat me. If he had a set on the flop, why would he donk bet? He would like to trap. So that's my thinking process.

 

[qbblsw]

Freeroll Strategy

Hey, I am a new player basically only playing in freeroll tournament games.

I was wondering if there are any pointers you could give me as to how to approach games like that.

Until now I've been playing very tight early because I feel like people call/raise too much preflop and trying to transition to more loose aggression later in the tournament (though I think I play too loose esp. postflop once I am in the top ~10% of players by stack).

Is there a point at which I should avoid trying to get as much money in the pot vs people with equal or larger stack than me if I believe I have more than 50% equity in the pot vs. my opponent?

Thanks for your time.

 

[Chase]

Hey Matt - just wanted to say I've been watching a few of your vlogs and am thoroughly enjoying them! I really like how you explain your thinking behind every play you make. The video/audio quality is excellent, and overall they seem very professionally done. Please keep 'em coming and good luck at the tables!

 

[Chase]

Hi again Matt - I have a few of questions if you don't mind. These are all with respect to online play only.

First - how important is playing multiple tables to making a living as a Pro?

Second - What percentage of your income comes from MTTs versus Cash games?

Third - how many hands do you open or call/raise on average every time around the table in MTTs?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Matt Vaughan]

Hi
I appreciate your help. I wonder what would happen if you played the small stakes at Bet on Line for a week. At best you'd have to say "I have to play more hands because this negative variance is amazing." I have you feeling you'd advise us not to use it, as they openly rig the deal. When do you know a site is rigged? Would it take a lot of losing with AK vs QJ or would you know sooner? Have you ever known a site to cheat when it's players have pairs vs undercards? I know you don't have to do this so, thank you.

Any single player is going to struggle to identify whether a site is rigged - obtaining relevant sample sizes and actually performing analysis on them isn't trivial. You usually need groups of players banding together to get large enough samples to be meaningful. Additionally, we're all subject to cognitive biases that often lead us to blaming sites for the bad beats we suffer, when it's just part of this game we call poker.

I recommend this video I recorded answering a question on a similar topic:

For whatever it's worth, I played on BetOnline and never had any issues.

 

[Matt Vaughan]

Hello, I played some hands I'm not quite sure if I did well or not:
I play nl5 6 max:
I'm BB with AKo
HJ raises to 2.4BB
SB calls
I 3bet to 6BB (I think that I had to put 9BB at least)
HJ folds
SB calls
The flop is Kd8h9h
SB donks to 7.2BB (I feel like he had something, and wants to protect with fold equity)
I shove 180BB
He calls with KhTh
Turn is 4s river is Qs
I win the pot.

I'm not sure about how well I played, if there were one color flop, I'd for sure not went for the all in, but he could have a KK, but he played it quite weirdly, calling 2 raises, and donk betting, I don't see him on a hand that can beat me. If he had a set on the flop, why would he donk bet? He would like to trap. So that's my thinking process.

I think there are a couple things going on here, but the biggest one is that you are thinking in binary terms - you either beat him, or he beats you.

You determined through hand reading that you didn't think he could hold a hand that "beats you," so you shoved a MASSIVE amount over the top of his lead, knowing it's hard for you to be behind.

The problem with this is that you pretty much force him to fold everything that you're crushing like a weaker Kx hand, and you get no folds from hands that are doing okay against you.

Remember, just because you "have the best hand right now" doesn't mean that you are ahead from an equity standpoint. Hands like JThh and KXhh are pretty much the only non-set, non-two pair holdings that want to get it in with you for this size. And they are doing totally fine vs you from an equity standpoint.

You might be SLIGHTLY ahead, but you're pushing a tiny equity advantage for a massive pot. Instead you could size smaller and still get action from a weaker king, straight draws etc that aren't doing as well equity wise - you have them borderline crushed. You'll win way more money from them in the long run, and now if a bad card comes, you might actually lose less when you're beat.

And this brings me to the other big point. I think a lot of this shove is motivated by a fear of being drawn out on. Yes you get value from some hands, but you lose a ton of value against others by doing this. But you mentally protect yourself because you say "if I lost, I couldn't have done anything else - he just got lucky."

This somewhat fear-based mentality is a big barrier for many poker players, and it's important to pay attention to where it might be affecting you.

 

[Matt Vaughan]

Hey, I am a new player basically only playing in freeroll tournament games.

I was wondering if there are any pointers you could give me as to how to approach games like that.

Until now I've been playing very tight early because I feel like people call/raise too much preflop and trying to transition to more loose aggression later in the tournament (though I think I play too loose esp. postflop once I am in the top ~10% of players by stack).

Is there a point at which I should avoid trying to get as much money in the pot vs people with equal or larger stack than me if I believe I have more than 50% equity in the pot vs. my opponent?

Thanks for your time.

People in freerolls will generally not try too hard to play well. So you could make an argument for passing on very close spots because you have a skill edge, but this concept
is a slippery slope. It's very easy to make that a justification for passing on way too many spots that are actually very good for you out of fear of busting the tournament.

In addition, most freerolls have very poor structures. They will be on the turbo side of things, so you won't want to pass on opportunities to chip up often if ever.

As far as being tight early and loosening up later, this seems like a decent rule of thumb. I probably wouldn't try to open your ranges up too much and lean on aggression until right on the bubble, and then again as the pay jumps grow. Because people in the freeroll usually won't care about busting early on, so trying to push them off hands usually isn't going to be very effective.

All of this is generally only true in free rolls or play chip situations. With actual money on the line, even at low stakes, I wouldn't apply this the same way.

 

[Matt Vaughan]

Hey Matt - just wanted to say I've been watching a few of your vlogs and am thoroughly enjoying them! I really like how you explain your thinking behind every play you make. The video/audio quality is excellent, and overall they seem very professionally done. Please keep 'em coming and good luck at the tables!

Thank you so much! The vlogs are enjoyable to make, but a ton of work, so reading messages like this one really makes my day. Cheers!

 

[mssmotilda]

Dear Matt, I have a suspicion that some poker rooms use their own bots to win top prizes in tournaments, and the random number generator is just a program that can be hacked if desired. What do you think about it?

 

[Matt Vaughan]

Hi again Matt - I have a few of questions if you don't mind. These are all with respect to online play only.

First - how important is playing multiple tables to making a living as a Pro?

You have to play significantly higher stakes to make the same hourly if you only play one table, and that means tougher competition. Vast, vast majority of online pros will multi-table to maximize their hourly rate.

Second - What percentage of your income comes from MTTs versus Cash games?

MTTs can't really be examined in this way. Even some of the best pros in the world at mid stakes have losing years playing thousands of online MTTs a year. So I don't think about it in terms of what % of my income MTT's account for.

Third - how many hands do you open or call/raise on average every time around the table in MTTs?

My VPIP (hands voluntarily played preflop) % hovers between 25-30% in MTTs. But it's very concentrated in later positions and the blinds.

Thanks in advance.

You're very welcome.

 

[qbblsw]

How "good" do you need to be to become profitable at micro/low stakes?

Hi,

So being new to the game, I've bled/spent money playing poker on PokerStars (~25 Euro) mainly due to getting bored and not playing disciplined and secondarily due to not having a complete strategy beyond opening a certain percentage of ranges and playing based on my hand's equity vs the board.

So my questions to you are:

1. If I have a few hours a week to getting good at poker, how would you say I should allocate my time?
2. How "good" or close to optimal play do I have to get to become profitable at low stakes (on PokerStars)? If I am someone with a decent amount of mathematical aptitude, how much study/practice should I expect to put in before getting to neutral EV at low stakes (including rake)? I enjoy poker, but if I can't get to the requisite skill level to at least not lose money on low stakes in a reasonable amount of time/money I'd like to know before spending more.
3. What should my priorities be in terms of my own play (besides obvious things like striving to play correctly)? How (relatively) important are things like getting a read on opponents' play styles, opening with the correct percentages of hands from each position, constructing balanced ranges for postflop etc.
4. What would you say the gold standard for learning resources for poker is?

Again, thanks for taking the time to field questions

 

[qbblsw]

Addendum to previous questions

Is it worth in low/micro stakes to try to study GTO or should I focus more on exploiting bad opponents for now?

 

[Tammy]

Don't miss Matt breaking down some hands in his latest video for our CardsChat YouTube Channel:

 

[Matt Vaughan]

Hi,

So being new to the game, I've bled/spent money playing poker on PokerStars (~25 Euro) mainly due to getting bored and not playing disciplined and secondarily due to not having a complete strategy beyond opening a certain percentage of ranges and playing based on my hand's equity vs the board.

So my questions to you are:

1. If I have a few hours a week to getting good at poker, how would you say I should allocate my time?
2. How "good" or close to optimal play do I have to get to become profitable at low stakes (on PokerStars)? If I am someone with a decent amount of mathematical aptitude, how much study/practice should I expect to put in before getting to neutral EV at low stakes (including rake)? I enjoy poker, but if I can't get to the requisite skill level to at least not lose money on low stakes in a reasonable amount of time/money I'd like to know before spending more.
3. What should my priorities be in terms of my own play (besides obvious things like striving to play correctly)? How (relatively) important are things like getting a read on opponents' play styles, opening with the correct percentages of hands from each position, constructing balanced ranges for postflop etc.
4. What would you say the gold standard for learning resources for poker is?

Again, thanks for taking the time to field questions

1. How you go about studying the game should depend on your goals. Write down what you are primarily trying to accomplish through poker, whether that be entertainment at a low cost, side income of a certain amount, going pro, etc. This can also tie into "why you play poker" at a higher level like what gives you fulfillment from playing.

I know this might not feel like it answers your question, but once you go down that rabbit hole a bit, it should help align your actions with your goals in terms of how (and how much) you study.

Last caveat I'll also mention is that it really matters what you're playing. Live vs online, MTTs vs cash, etc. That will change the answer of where you should focus your time. Plus how much study you've already done. Some training sites are great but are geared toward more advanced players and don't have a very good beginner/intermediate curriculum.


2. With resources available today I think you can become breakeven at low stakes in a few months if you really apply yourself. But a couple hours a week is pretty low in terms of time put in. So maybe shoot for more like 6-12 months. You don't have to be extremely good to beat low stakes online, but the lowest stakes have really bad rake so you're fighting an uphill battle EVEN if you're much better than your opponents. A lot of people get stuck in a micro stakes rat race.

3. At certain points in your game you'll answer this question differently. But in terms of ease of implementing balanced with importance, I guess I would say:

Solid preflop ranges > Pot odds/Equity > Flop Texture Analysis/Cbetting > Later Street Strategy > Higher Level Stuff (Reads, Exploitation, etc)


4. I'm not sure I understand the question. There is no gold standard or perfect way to study the game and get good. Every site thinks they have the best training material lol. Many of them have great material (knowledge), but don't explain it well (teaching). So I'd recommend "shopping around" a little if possible when it comes to study materials. Not all sites will click the same way for every player.

 

[Matt Vaughan]

Is it worth in low/micro stakes to try to study GTO or should I focus more on exploiting bad opponents for now?

The common advice nowadays is that you can't know how to exploit bad opponents without understanding a relatively unexploitable baseline, and I think this advice is decent.

It doesn't mean you need a PERFECT GTO strategy implemented, but you want good foundational understanding that you're able to bring to the table. Otherwise you're kind of shooting in the dark in terms of knowing who is exploiting whom.

 

[Tammy]

Matt's latest Play and Explain video is live! This time he's tackling mulitway spots and how you should be approaching them. A hand for hand run through at 25c/50c and $1/2 tables.

 

[Chica_bonita]

Matt's latest Play and Explain video is live! This time he's tackling mulitway spots and how you should be approaching them. A hand for hand run through at 25c/50c and $1/2 tables.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWWbNEo0tFo

I like the way Matt explains his actions!
Thanks to Tammy, I will definitely look!
arty:

 

[apLike]

Hello Matt, when will you please us with new posts in this topic?

 

[Matt Vaughan]

Hello Matt, when will you please us with new posts in this topic?

Hey! Well this is an Ask Me Anything thread, so as soon as you guys ask me anything new, I'm happy to answer!!

I may also post from time to time in here to keep you guys up to date on what's been going on with me.

Recently I participated in the CardsChat wsop Team Event during the WSOP $400 Colossus. Was a blast seeing some of the other CC folks (even though I didn't end up making a deep run).

The following day I ended up firing two bullets into the WSOP's $500 Salute to Warriors tournament. This tournament raised almost $75,000 for charities supporting veterans, and I ended up making a very deep run. I made it to Day 3, and because of the structure of the event, that was with only 21 players remaining from a field of about 3,200.

Unfortunately I was dealt just one single hand on day 3!! Somehow three players busted before me even thought it was the first hand, so I busted in 18th, technically making the final two tables (although we hadn't consolidated yet). It's my best finish in a WSOP event so far, although not my biggest cash. I earned a bit over $6,000 for my troubles, and my best ever WSOP cash is more like $17,000, but I had a ton of fun playing.

I'm now taking a few days off to take it easy and recuperate, as well as prepare content and get ready for my next few events.

Not sure what I'll play next, but I'll definitely play the main event, which is coming up SO FAST. I'm super excited.

Keep hitting me up with those questions guys! Happy to answer anything about WSOP as well.

 

[TeUnit]

I dont know if you remember this hand from the CC tourney, but I was in the BB with less than 7blinds, you were utg with less than 9 blinds, and Protential had you covered utg1. You limped, Protential shoved and everyone folded. Were you planning on doing a LimpN Go? If so what are you looking for to execute that move?

 

[Tammy]

This video has been in the hopper on our YouTube channel for awhile, but now it's live and ready for your consumption!

What is a range? Matt talks you through this poker fundamental.

 

[Rob Hobson]

Very good!

 

[Matt Vaughan]

I dont know if you remember this hand from the CC tourney, but I was in the BB with less than 7blinds, you were utg with less than 9 blinds, and Protential had you covered utg1. You limped, Protential shoved and everyone folded. Were you planning on doing a LimpN Go? If so what are you looking for to execute that move?

Hey, great playing with you during the game, and sorry for the delayed response!

I don't honestly recall what hand I had, but I would play all my hands as folds, limps, or open jams off of that stack size and that position. There are some hands in my range that really benefit from trapping, like QQ+, and it allows me to sneak in with some weaker holdings as well. But the key to doing that is that I need some hands that are capable of limp/calling it off if I'm going to have hands that will limp/fold.

But anyway the purpose is to keep a smaller pot and a larger SPR so that I have maneuverability in a postflop spot where I think I will have an edge most of the time.

 

[TeUnit]

Hey, great playing with you during the game, and sorry for the delayed response!

I don't honestly recall what hand I had, but I would play all my hands as folds, limps, or open jams off of that stack size and that position. There are some hands in my range that really benefit from trapping, like QQ+, and it allows me to sneak in with some weaker holdings as well. But the key to doing that is that I need some hands that are capable of limp/calling it off if I'm going to have hands that will limp/fold.

But anyway the purpose is to keep a smaller pot and a larger SPR so that I have maneuverability in a postflop spot where I think I will have an edge most of the time.

I really appreciate the response.