Blind Battles: Hand #4

[TStoneMBD]

BB is a very good, tough player.

everyone folds to you in the SB, you raise A5o, he calls.

Flop is a XXX

you bet he calls

Turn is X

you bet he calls

River is X

you have no pair

what boards do you checkcall on, what boards if any do you bet and what boards do you checkfold?

[Surfbullet]

I check fold almost all of them, unless i had a read/reason to call, betting seems silly.

if he was floating he would have popped me on the turn, so he's got a hand that he wants to showdown which is almost certainly better than mine. I'd expect him to jam most draws in position so I think the likihood of him calling along with an OESD or some-such is pretty slim. I also don't think he'll bluff much when I check because he can't know that i'll c/f something as good as an A, and he can't expect me to keep firing UI with worse than an A.

Surf

[wackjob]

I see a lot of your posts where "villain" is a tough TAG.. why do you play against good, possibly superior opponents so often?

[TStoneMBD]

because when you play higher stakes games you are playing alongside of other good tags and were all beating up on a few fish. im posting blind battles against good players because i think my biggest room for growth is against tough competition. i dont care about posting hands against fish because im training myself to beat tough players.

[wackjob]

this is a bit offtopic, but quite valid IMO:
I understand that as the stakes increase, the fish decrease, the good players increase, etc. However, at some point I would think that playing 10/20 or 20/40, 4-8 tables, would produce more profit than higher limits, due to what has to be a greater win rate and the ease of playing more tables.

Playing at a table with 1 fish, 1 Lag and 2-3 TAGs, you are going to find yourself HU vs a TAG over and over.

I guess if you play for the challenge of the game and the $$$ doesn't matter nearly so much, then playing higher limits might make more sense.

[cartman]

[ QUOTE ]
this is a bit offtopic, but quite valid IMO:
I understand that as the stakes increase, the fish decrease, the good players increase, etc. However, at some point I would think that playing 10/20 or 20/40, 4-8 tables, would produce more profit than higher limits, due to what has to be a greater win rate and the ease of playing more tables.

Playing at a table with 1 fish, 1 Lag and 2-3 TAGs, you are going to find yourself HU vs a TAG over and over.

I guess if you play for the challenge of the game and the $$$ doesn't matter nearly so much, then playing higher limits might make more sense.

[/ QUOTE ]


From an pure dollars worth of EV perspective this is an equation in two variables. How many total BB can you win per hour at the two games and how many dollars is 1 BB. If you play at twice the stakes, even if your win rate drops in half you will on average win the same total dollars. Tolerance to variance, desire to improve, intellectual challenge, etc. are all matters specific to each individual.

Cartman

[Arnfinn Madsen]

[ QUOTE ]
I see a lot of your posts where "villain" is a tough TAG.. why do you play against good, possibly superior opponents so often?

[/ QUOTE ]

I see a lot of posts like that on this forum, and I don't understand them. Isn't the point of improving both to milk the fishes more and to improve the range of players you have an edge against. I think we are all very good at milking fish, so improving in that area is not very important while discussing how to turn a good player into a sucker is very valuable.

[oreogod]

I like discussing how to play against good players. If u are truly intent on moving up the limits u end up playing more and more of them. I actually like playing good players, maybe Im one of the few, but I find it more exciting then playing terrible players. Sure, money-wise its not the smartest thing, but purely for playing value its much more fun.

I know Phil Ivey mentioned something like this in a new interview. Ive always felt that way. Either way, if u are playing 100/200+ u are usually playing the same group, sure there are fishes, but usually if u want to play u have to play good players as well. My understanding anyway. Who knows.

Isnt phil ivey supposed to have a good degree of skill in outthinking thinking opponents? At least Harrington felt that way in HoH

[TStoneMBD]

hi arnfinn. when you get to the high stakes level you need to learn how to play against good players because the good players know how to play against you. if you dont know how to match their skills and are a dog to them you often wont be a favorite enough in the game even if there are fishies. you people saying that you have no interest in learning how to beat good players is truly startling.