Thursday, October 11, 2007
10,000 hands of NLHE
You know what playing about 10,000 hands of NLHE online has taught me….
Volume matters
When you can cram a whole bunch of hands into a small window of time, it is much more likely that you’ll experience a high number bad suckouts by your opponents. You are also able to put a bunch of bad beats on your opponents, and you are able to experience a really high number of hands that play out just the way they are “supposed to” – i.e., the best hand holds up after all of the money goes in.
When you play a live game session, you might get dealt AA 3 times. If you get no action 2 times and then get stacked when your opponent hits a miracle flop, if you’re like me, you assume that you are on some horrible run and the other players are really bad. If, by magic somehow, you were able to compress about 10 of these sessions into the same time window (as you can in online poker), you get a much more balanced view of the distribution of outcomes with AA (i.e., you get dealt AA 30 times, you double up 4 times, it’s folded around to you 10 times, you win with a continuation bet 6 times, you win with a turn bet 4, you have to fold to a dangerous board 3 times, and you get stacked 3 times).
So I guess I’m beginning to appreciate the variation and swings of NLHE a little more – and maybe I’m becoming a little more tolerant.
Profit Centers
I’ve also started to learn where profit comes from in NLHE for me. In business, you can make a profit by selling lots of items with a very small profit margin (i.e., newspaper) or you can sell a few items with a huge margin (i.e., yachts). In poker, you get an opportunity for both. Poker Tracker will tell you some of this info. But I’ve learned that I win $$ primarily from the following 4 profit centers. These are listed in descending order of profit margin.
1 – I flop a monster hand that is well disguised and I stack someone holding premium starting cards. A hand came up last night that is a good example. I held 4-6 suited in the big blind and I was able to stack someone holding AA who min raised from the button. After the flop comes 5-7-A, it goes check, check, and a 3 comes on the turn, and we re-raise each other until we both have a double stack in the middle of the table – Gigantic margin
2 – I flop a set – Big Margin
3 – I start with a premium hand and it holds up – Medium Margin
4 – I play a mediocre hand in late position and catch a flop or I win with a bluff – small margin (4 or 5 Blinds)
When I multiply the margin from these 4 situations by the frequency of them happening, I discovered that I’m making most of my money from profit center #4 – that is, playing aggressively from late position. The following hand illustrates this. I’m in the cutoff with J-9o. Action is folded to me. I raise it 4x the BB. The SB and BB defend. The flop comes A-10-8. SB and BB check. I bet 2/3rds of the pot and win it. This is a pretty low risk, standard play. The margin is pretty small (8 big blinds), but it happens so frequently that it has become my #1 profit center.
Volume matters
When you can cram a whole bunch of hands into a small window of time, it is much more likely that you’ll experience a high number bad suckouts by your opponents. You are also able to put a bunch of bad beats on your opponents, and you are able to experience a really high number of hands that play out just the way they are “supposed to” – i.e., the best hand holds up after all of the money goes in.
When you play a live game session, you might get dealt AA 3 times. If you get no action 2 times and then get stacked when your opponent hits a miracle flop, if you’re like me, you assume that you are on some horrible run and the other players are really bad. If, by magic somehow, you were able to compress about 10 of these sessions into the same time window (as you can in online poker), you get a much more balanced view of the distribution of outcomes with AA (i.e., you get dealt AA 30 times, you double up 4 times, it’s folded around to you 10 times, you win with a continuation bet 6 times, you win with a turn bet 4, you have to fold to a dangerous board 3 times, and you get stacked 3 times).
So I guess I’m beginning to appreciate the variation and swings of NLHE a little more – and maybe I’m becoming a little more tolerant.
Profit Centers
I’ve also started to learn where profit comes from in NLHE for me. In business, you can make a profit by selling lots of items with a very small profit margin (i.e., newspaper) or you can sell a few items with a huge margin (i.e., yachts). In poker, you get an opportunity for both. Poker Tracker will tell you some of this info. But I’ve learned that I win $$ primarily from the following 4 profit centers. These are listed in descending order of profit margin.
1 – I flop a monster hand that is well disguised and I stack someone holding premium starting cards. A hand came up last night that is a good example. I held 4-6 suited in the big blind and I was able to stack someone holding AA who min raised from the button. After the flop comes 5-7-A, it goes check, check, and a 3 comes on the turn, and we re-raise each other until we both have a double stack in the middle of the table – Gigantic margin
2 – I flop a set – Big Margin
3 – I start with a premium hand and it holds up – Medium Margin
4 – I play a mediocre hand in late position and catch a flop or I win with a bluff – small margin (4 or 5 Blinds)
When I multiply the margin from these 4 situations by the frequency of them happening, I discovered that I’m making most of my money from profit center #4 – that is, playing aggressively from late position. The following hand illustrates this. I’m in the cutoff with J-9o. Action is folded to me. I raise it 4x the BB. The SB and BB defend. The flop comes A-10-8. SB and BB check. I bet 2/3rds of the pot and win it. This is a pretty low risk, standard play. The margin is pretty small (8 big blinds), but it happens so frequently that it has become my #1 profit center.
Comments:
<< Home
My word to the wise....becareful of your profit #4 situation as there are some players that will notice these patterns in your play and will begin to let you do the betting for them when they actually hold the goods. That's the beauty of these poker tracking software and sites....tons of note taking capability.
I play against a few players that are so easy to figure out that I search for them constantly when playing. When they are in Cut-off or the Button, they always raise the standard amount and always follow through with a continuation bet. 2 things work in this situation...1) a min re-raise or 2) a call and follow up with a river bet. BOTH options always result in a win for me.
I'm more fond of heads up sit-n-gos now a days. I use to only play cash games, but you can make quick money in the HU SNGs.
I play against a few players that are so easy to figure out that I search for them constantly when playing. When they are in Cut-off or the Button, they always raise the standard amount and always follow through with a continuation bet. 2 things work in this situation...1) a min re-raise or 2) a call and follow up with a river bet. BOTH options always result in a win for me.
I'm more fond of heads up sit-n-gos now a days. I use to only play cash games, but you can make quick money in the HU SNGs.
# posted by 
: 8:56 AM
: 8:56 AM
10k hands? I'm impressed, that is volume. I dunno who this anonymous is, but don't stop raising your CO/button and cbetting 90% of the flops - you found the secret of winning money at NL.
Post a Comment
<< Home
