Re: Gigabet\'s HH and our SnG Strategy
 

Jman, I think there is a lot to learn from reading the STEP 5 higher HH from Giga's point of view.

Foremost, we got a glimpse of what it is like to play a game for stakes we don't play. With higher calibre players.

What do I think we can take from this game and apply to our current games? In terms of pure game play, not the mental side of the game, IMO, very little.

On the $55s and $33s, these guys can't lay down marginal hands. The calibre of play is very suspect. As long as I continue to play very straight forward poker, with few moves to get me into trouble, I will continue to have a positive ROI.

For example, when it's 6 handed, with 50/100 blinds, and I reraise a mini limper with AK and they still continue to call me with A6, there is just no reason to play any other way that straight forward shoot em up good cards poker!

Scuba
who has Yosemite Sam on the mind.

Re: Gigabet\'s HH and our SnG Strategy
 

bottom line- gigabet makes these plays because he is playing with players who are in many ways more predictable. they all know the strategy, they all have the basic theory. unlike 11 players, who can't read raises the same way and couldn't interpret someone's betting hints if they had a gun to their head. in this way, "better" players are easier to play against. they will put you on hands and make laydowns.

so i don't think it makes sense to take this strategy down lower, even to the 55s or 109s when more people have a clue. the +EV you gain from playing tight and proper is >> than the EV you gain from someone folding AQ to a reraise when they are out of position, or something a fishy low player would not do. you just have to play different players differently.

so don't go trying to beat the 22s this way. i think if gigabet tried to play the 22s in many ways he would just play straightforward and mostly correct. if he came across a decent 2+2er, someone a little more predictable, who raises like this with QQ-AA and will fold AK unimproved, semi weak tight, he would then go into smart mode and out think them.

this doesn't really have to do with what you do with small edges, and whether you should be raising you AQs and stuff from middle position, a +EV play which many 2+2ers pass up.

Re: Gigabet\'s HH and our SnG Strategy
 

Why isn't anyone reading that posted hand history, picking a hand that may or may not be the most optimal play, and ask what I was thinking when I made this play. I can almost promise this is the only HH I am publicly posting. And leave out the pure math plays, those should be obvious(scuba chuck scared me for about 5 minutes with that T6 post).

Re: Gigabet\'s HH and our SnG Strategy
 

The Q9 cold call and steal on A high flop and the Q4s reraise from an utg raise stood out, can you explain your thought processes on these two hands?

Re: Gigabet\'s HH and our SnG Strategy
 

As mentioned above: This hand. Your thoughts here on the reraise to a 100 chips bet which does not seems like a weak bet. Oh and calling this 50 chip bet in the first place as well.

#Game No : 2015156831
***** Hand History for Game 2015156831 *****
NL Hold'em $15000 Buy-in + $500 Entry Fee Trny:12010061 Level:1 Blinds(10/15) - Saturday, May 07, 21:57:10 EDT 2005
Table Step Higher 5 #1014153 (Real Money)
Seat 8 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: cbristow ( $1055 )
Seat 2: seepspp ( $970 )
Seat 3: baxlog ( $1000 )
Seat 4: dj_dedrick ( $1000 )
Seat 5: genoa_st ( $1000 )
Seat 6: sjnjb ( $1000 )
Seat 7: Evenkeal ( $1000 )
Seat 8: pairofdeuces ( $990 )
Seat 9: scoots_mc ( $985 )
Seat 10: XLhomestead ( $1000 )
Trny:12010061 Level:1
Blinds(10/15)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Evenkeal [ 9d Qc ]
cbristow folds.
seepspp folds.
baxlog folds.
dj_dedrick raises [50].
genoa_st folds.
sjnjb folds.
Evenkeal calls [50].
pairofdeuces folds.
scoots_mc folds.
XLhomestead folds.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 6c, Th, Ah ]
dj_dedrick bets [100].
Evenkeal raises [300].
dj_dedrick folds.
Evenkeal does not show cards.
Evenkeal wins 525 chips

H2
 

Why steal the blinds with 45 when they are this low?

#Game No : 2015194843
***** Hand History for Game 2015194843 *****
NL Hold'em $15000 Buy-in + $500 Entry Fee Trny:12010061 Level:2 Blinds(15/30) - Saturday, May 07, 22:05:00 EDT 2005
Table Step Higher 5 #1014153 (Real Money)
Seat 8 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: cbristow ( $1055 )
Seat 2: seepspp ( $940 )
Seat 3: baxlog ( $1210 )
Seat 4: dj_dedrick ( $915 )
Seat 5: genoa_st ( $1025 )
Seat 6: sjnjb ( $975 )
Seat 7: Evenkeal ( $1175 )
Seat 8: pairofdeuces ( $960 )
Seat 9: scoots_mc ( $790 )
Seat 10: XLhomestead ( $955 )
Trny:12010061 Level:2
Blinds(15/30)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Evenkeal [ 4c 5d ]
cbristow folds.
seepspp folds.
baxlog folds.
dj_dedrick folds.
genoa_st folds.
sjnjb folds.
Evenkeal raises [90].
pairofdeuces folds.
scoots_mc folds.
XLhomestead folds.
Evenkeal does not show cards.
Evenkeal wins 135 chips
Game #2015197079 starts.

H3
 

Last one I could see because of the position but this one...gutsy. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

#Game No : 2015210560
***** Hand History for Game 2015210560 *****
NL Hold'em $15000 Buy-in + $500 Entry Fee Trny:12010061 Level:2 Blinds(15/30) - Saturday, May 07, 22:08:14 EDT 2005
Table Step Higher 5 #1014153 (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 9
Seat 1: cbristow ( $975 )
Seat 2: seepspp ( $895 )
Seat 3: baxlog ( $1165 )
Seat 4: dj_dedrick ( $885 )
Seat 5: genoa_st ( $1285 )
Seat 6: sjnjb ( $975 )
Seat 7: Evenkeal ( $1190 )
Seat 9: scoots_mc ( $1595 )
Seat 10: XLhomestead ( $1035 )
Trny:12010061 Level:2
Blinds(15/30)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Evenkeal [ 7h 4h ]
sjnjb folds.
Evenkeal raises [90].
scoots_mc folds.
XLhomestead folds.
cbristow folds.
seepspp folds.
baxlog folds.
dj_dedrick folds.
genoa_st folds.
Evenkeal does not show cards.
Evenkeal wins 135 chips
Game #2015212337 starts.

Re: Gigabet\'s HH and our SnG Strategy
 

[ QUOTE ]
As mentioned above: This hand. Your thoughts here on the reraise to a 100 chips bet which does not seems like a weak bet. Oh and calling this 50 chip bet in the first place as well.

[/ QUOTE ]

I would assume the whole reason you call this bet PF is so you can make a move just like he did postflop on a nice board. He has position on his opponent and expects him to fire out with a continuation bet on the flop, giving him a chance to take it away if he does. At this level, it's not likely that people are going to telegraph their weakness often by making a dinky continuation, so he makes a normal size bet. At lower levels this would be a tough sell, because many of your opponents are not going to be able to get away from A9 here. However, I'd imagine that at this level people will frequently fold aces of that caliber to the flop action, so it works pretty well.

H4
 

What made you come over the top with a 300 raise here?

#Game No : 2015218468
***** Hand History for Game 2015218468 *****
NL Hold'em $15000 Buy-in + $500 Entry Fee Trny:12010061 Level:3 Blinds(25/50) - Saturday, May 07, 22:09:52 EDT 2005
Table Step Higher 5 #1014153 (Real Money)
Seat 7 is the button
Total number of players : 9
Seat 1: cbristow ( $975 )
Seat 2: seepspp ( $940 )
Seat 3: baxlog ( $1165 )
Seat 4: dj_dedrick ( $915 )
Seat 5: genoa_st ( $1285 )
Seat 6: sjnjb ( $930 )
Seat 7: Evenkeal ( $1190 )
Seat 9: scoots_mc ( $1565 )
Seat 10: XLhomestead ( $1035 )
Trny:12010061 Level:3
Blinds(25/50)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Evenkeal [ Qc 4c ]
cbristow raises [100].
seepspp folds.
baxlog folds.
dj_dedrick folds.
genoa_st folds.
sjnjb folds.
Evenkeal raises [300].
scoots_mc folds.
XLhomestead folds.
cbristow folds.
Evenkeal does not show cards.
Evenkeal wins 475 chips
Game #2015220515 starts.

Re: Gigabet\'s HH and our SnG Strategy
 

What do you think of the popular strategy on these boards of avoiding a lot of marginal situations? I know a lot of people on this board don't play anything other than SNGs and aren't terribly good postflop, so they avoid them for that reason, but you seem to embrace them. I think it is partly because you play against opponents who are more predictable in their own way, who you play with regularly and keep notes and memory on, who will make mistakes in different ways than 11 and 22 players, but what do you think of the general early game strategy on this board?