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wow this kind of took me on a time-machine trip :
a PM i sent to another bonus whorer back in the glory days of the 600e offered by B2B (back to back) ON EACH ONE OF THEIR SKINS. the bonuses were truly incredible (when i started grinding them my entire roll was 2.1k USD and when I finished a month or two later it was like 12k) and it was the first cash game experience i ever got after having made maybe 1.5k playing 10$ sit n gos on party.
some of the advice is very dated (this is back in the day where open-limping was by far the most common preflop play even in 6-max cash games) but it s crazy to think that i sent this over 4 years ago in 2006. another relevant thing to mention was that i was switching from playing monkeys on party to playing nits. in fact, it was probably the 1st time in the history of online poker for the majority of a player pool to be bonus-whoring nits. this is particularly interesting considering a couple of bjaust's questions about instincts, what has become automatic in my play and why. when i mentioned i "learned when not to be spewy" i was referring to this exact period. at this point, all anybody had to go on was Super System, so some of the finer points (that now appear lolobvious) i was literally making up on the fly (and clarifying for myself during the writing of this PM).
as a single post this is def tl;dr but this is my blog so fuck it:
06-12-2006, 07:21 AM Post subject: What I do on b2b to not go broke
Straight Flush
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 4,019
Hey. I said I was down 22 buy ins and I wasn t lying (buying in for 50E at nl100). And I've made them back and then some by changing my style. Hope this can help you. Basically what was happening to me was I was not adapting to the tables, I was not trusting my gut when I knew I was beat etc... Add to that lots of monster -1 for me vs. monster +1 for villain... You get the idea.
It'd be kinda fun to discuss this further just between the 2 of us (to not get a whole "how to pwn b2b" thread out for everyone at ftr) so after you read these few lines, write me and tell me what you've noticed has lost you the most money (HH for b 2 b obv sucks, but try to remember patterns if you can) : c-betting getting no respect? Firing hopeless 2nd bullets? Getting the shit value-betted out of you on the river?
As I try to identify exactly what it is that helped me it's hard. I guess it basically is "play better poker". Helpful, I know
1) I loosened up my raising requirements massively
Most important thing was to develop a solid Lagg style. I used to be uber-tagg
The people who hurt me the most early on were the nutcampers. I'd often try to bluff them off hands but found that, ironically, the nut-campers were the toughest ones to bluff ("there's an ace on board? oh well... I've waited SOOOO long for this KK maybe I'll call this just once...").
To exploit the nutcampers, I steal a shitload. When folded to me, I will raise a pretty huge range of hands if there are no really good players to my table left. Sooted connectors/gappers, 2 big cards, CO and later any ace, any suited king etc... Obv you know bout the risks/benefits of lagg play (getting paid off bigger, higher variance blah blah)
2) I stopped open-limping
A raise from any position at your typical b 2 b table has a huge chance of taking down the pot uncontested, even at 6 max.
3) I rarely follow others by limping
Unlike Party, I don't think it's way + EV to limp suited connectors and the like after 2-3 ppl have limped before you. Since it's unlikely these weak-tighties will pay you off huge when u do hit a big flop (unlike your avg party donk who'll put 200$ on tptk), I prefer to fold my draw-ish hands or to raise them to isolate and for deception.
The best part about these typical b 2 b-ers is that they'll often call your raise after limping but will play post-flop extremely passively. There are even a surprising number who will simply limp-fold to you raise over and over again. It's basically free money. And if they wake up and start firing at you (unless they are identified donks) you can lay down most hands confidently. All the other times, c-bet and take down an uncontested pot and irritate them.
4) I Expanded my reraising range
At 6 max tables, I will now rarely call a raise. Only exception is if i have a sooted broadway with a raise and min 1 caller in front of me. I guess this contradicts what I said about not overlimping earlier (3)... Maybe I should reexamine this . But for now, it's prob the only time I'll call a raise.
If I smooth-call a raise w AQ oop I'm pretty much spewing money or asking to play an ace-high flop tentatively.. or asking the dream q-high flop 1 in 7 times... might as well be set hunting . I have 2 bonuses left w b2b so I'll probably end up losing money to you by telling all this shit but oh well, it's an interesting excercise.
Unless you are playing w sharks, the preflop reraise commands huge respect so most will fold or call your reraise hoping to connect in a big way. When they don't, you make about 11E profit by c-betting. When they push preflop and you fold, meh. You lose 10E but imo crappy table image increases likelihood of big payoffs w big hands later on.
5) When table fights back
4 things :
1-tighten up (obv)
2-don't give passive calls preflop that bet into you lots of credit. Ex : you raise from CO. folded to bb. He calls. Flop comes rags. BB bets into you. Without a read, I will usually reraise this automatically 1st time it happens. This may sound crazy, but in my experience, this is bb waking up at your looseness and saying "that flop prob didn't hit the bastard". Your reraise is scaaaaaaaary... most of time this is an easy 10bb profit. Oh yeah : don't be scared of those lame-ass minraises on the flop. More than half the time when my c bet is minraised by someone who has been at the table for awhile, it's again the "I don't believe you" bullshit. If it's some fishy calling-station obv I'm out but most of the time I will either flat-call and reevaluate on turn or come over the top with a sizeable reraise. And like I said earlier, when this backfires and you have to fold after committing lotta cash to pot, you will seem all the more maniacal and get much looser calls (tighten up and get paid off whee!!!) in later hands.
3-Check-raise scary flops : this is a move I use against weak-tighties (the type who limp-smooth call your raises a lot preflop). It has become by far my favourite weapon (haha sounds so ridiculous using word "weapon"). I would not use it against a good player because it doesn't make much sense but here is situation :
I have been raising a lot... I have missed the flop but have a reasonable hand/reasonable draw and I don't want to get bluffed off it ( this is def useful in the "table fights back" portion of a session).... I am out of position (obv). My favourite hand to do this with is AK on 2 broadway flop (ex : 10-j-rag). If I c bet and get reraised I am not liking my hand so much. If I check and villain checks behind, it will be hard to convince him by betting turn but at worst he is giving me a free card at my 10 outs. When I check and villain bets (weak-tight villain that is...) it is usually because villain connected w fl0p or because I demonstrated weakness. In both cases, weak-tighties have tough time dealing with reraise unless they have top two. At worst, villain calls and I have some outs, but very often I have seen weak-tightie villain fold this in a heartbeat. This is a ridiculous play that doesn't make much sense (why not bet if there are draws on board? If you have such a monster, why bet so hard on flop?) but the weak-tighties tend to just shit their pants and run for the hills. A better player will not believe it though, be warned.
4-get the fuck out of there if you are getting 3 bet preflop all the time by good players like TigerLou, tetrissony, Thor etc...
K. That's a start. I could probably go on longer but I would probably be just rambling on for my own pleasure. Let me know if this is at all helpful, interesting, or possible ridiculous. Obviously if I raise your blind it is QQ+ from now on...
Also not sure if this matches up with your basic style, but imo lagg is where it's at on b 2 b. Guys like CocoBill claim to play pretty standard Tagg 21/9 VERY profitably on b2b so it's def not the only way to go... Big swings too playing lagg. But other aspect for me is that it makes my sessions invariably intersting. Not just waiting to outmonster some nutcamper's monster.
Good cards and gl.
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