Vegas bound in 12 hours. Need to get some sleep and pack in the morning. Looking forward to meeting everyone. Might do some video blogs while out there (or maybe aejones will interview me OMG!).

Flights suck, but loaded some good listening material to the ipod. Mindful practice and peace seems essential in a soul crushing place like Vegas! A leggo member sent me this link a while back. Meant to share it earlier but here it is.

http://www.freebuddhistaudio.com/

One thing I got from lwrunner's group chat (see private forum) was the habit of reviewing 'how' you played a session. This is not reviewing hands. What I do now is make a list of good and bad things I did in the session. For example, played a crazy and loose opponent today. He called 3bets with 70% of hands, literally never folded to cbets, called 2 barrels to bluff rivers, played tricky with monsters (loved to c/r river), potted every turn when i checked flop, 3-bet 32% and rarely folded to 4-bets, etc.

Good
- Adjusted 2 barrel frequency in 3bet pots (he had a huge timing tell)
- Check strong hands on turn and river often, sometiems bet turn and check river based on texture. Guy would float complete air 2 streets and bluff river..
- Check tons of flops in position to call him down
- Raise with mostly hands that call or 4-bet to his 3-bets

Bad
- In general, it takes your brain a while to really adjust to extreme players. bttech's video vs stevebets is a great example. Still some spots where I should be checking rivers oop, and not raising turns because his range is so incredibly wide.
eg. i 3bet 75s, cbet K93ss, turn 7s I bet (based on timing and board 75 is good here like 90% of the time). River is offsuit 7 for board of K93ss77. I insta shoved for pot, but clearly mistake in heat of battle. His range for calling 2 streets is so much wider than the average player. Most players have made hands here and call a much wider range than betting (of worst hands at least). But this guy can have any gutshot, any lone spade, A -highs with no spade. He is betting way wider than calling. But sometimes it takes our brain a while to realize these things

- Didn't bluff raise enough on flops that he is bluffing very often/rarely hits and doesn't play back on.
- Should play turn slower more often with strong hands since his cbet + turn checks in 3bpots was generally weak.

Something I'm getting better at is choosing games based on my mood, concentration, and variance tolerance level. My EV, particularly in HU games fluctuates a ton. I think I actually maximize my EV and definitely lower variance by picking games more carefully. I'll avoid playing the super aggro Russian guy if I'm not in mood to gamble it up. Save my tough matches for the afternoon when I'm more fresh. Sometimes grinding some 6-max in the evening. It's +EV and I can more or less autopilot. If I was playing 5/10+ it makes more sense to just play whenever. But mid stakes games are so good and always running. There's really no need to push yourself too hard playing in suboptimal conditions. This method is working well for me. I grind more hands at a higher hourly this way. Historically I have been bad about putting in hands because I tend to take longish breaks when running bad.

Getting pretty psyched for Vegas. Talked with Bobbo today. Apparently I get my own room now, which is probably good since I talk in my sleep. Bobbo and Assani take pickup ball damn seriously. I am really really rusty. Going to shoot around tomorrow and try not to embarrass myself.

Played some 6-max today to warm up for Vegas. The plan is to play a bunch of live poker. I'll probably end up grinding online and playing blackjack though. I actually used to count cards as a part-time job before I learned poker. Funny to look at it now. I must have made like 6k in 2 years, but it was pretty fun and taught me about gambling. Back around 2003 best friend and I went to Vegas for the first time. We did nothing but play blackjack, eat, and sleep. I came home about 3k in the black, and it was one the happiest and carefree times of my life.

Slowed worked back into the groove at 6-max. Played 1/2 my hands at 6-max today. Fortunately nobody knows how to play. Gonna grind some 2/4 this week, but not higher. Dont want to ruin a good month and want to go to Vegas on a good note.

His turn raise obv makes no sense. But I think 3-betting small forces him to make the biggest mistake. Because if I call I always have something and he's much less likely to bluff. The best line is to CiB and c/c every river card.

Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

BB: $60
UTG: $410.65
MP: $385.90
CO: $202
BTN: $186.35
Hero (SB): $255.70

Pre-Flop: J K dealt to Hero (SB)
2 folds, CO raises to $6, BTN folds, Hero calls $5, BB folds

Flop: ($14) 9 K 7 (2 Players)
Hero checks, CO checks

Turn: ($14) J (2 Players)
Hero bets $10, CO raises to $34, Hero raises to $58, CO calls $24

River: ($130) J (2 Players)
Hero checks, CO bets $138 and is All-In, Hero calls $138

Results: $406 Pot ($3 Rake)
CO showed 5 4 (a pair of Jacks) and LOST (-$202 NET)
Hero showed J K (a full house, Jacks full of Kings) and WON $403 (+$201 NET)

Turn was a misclick. But I like my line to bet flop/turn.

Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

MP: $232.80
CO: $138.75
BTN: $200
SB: $358.45
Hero (BB): $324.15
UTG: $200

Pre-Flop: K 9 dealt to Hero (BB)
2 folds, CO raises to $4, BTN folds, SB calls $3, Hero calls $2

Flop: ($12) T 7 8 (3 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $10, CO calls $10, SB folds

Turn: ($32) 6 (2 Players)
Hero bets $57, CO calls $57

River: ($146) 7 (2 Players)
Hero bets $253.15 and is All-In, CO calls $67.75 and is All-In

Results: $281.50 Pot ($3 Rake)
CO mucked J J (two pair, Jacks and Sevens) and LOST (-$138.75 NET)
Hero showed K 9 (a straight, Ten high) and WON $278.50 (+$139.75 NET)

Paul Erdos was a prolific mathematician. The guy lived out of a suitcase and did math problems until the day he died. He traveling around the world to collaborate on mathematical problems. He was known for walking into a room and declaring "My mind is open!".

We should ask this question when sitting down to think about poker. Whether it be watching a video, read forums, review hands, or play. New information is filtered through our mental models and abstractions. Abstractions are helpful because they simplify analysis and give us a structure to interpret new knowledge. In poker there are a few standard ways to analyze hands, and we incorporate new info into these hand analysis models.

However pre-existing models can hinder growth. Out of the box thinking is often fruitful. The ansky-aejones video we a great example. They both have some specific ideas about the game. If the best players often don't agree on spots, the rest of us should certainly open our brains. Existing models facilitate integration of knowledge, opening your brain facilitates expansion of models.

Vegas is booked. Arriving on the 30th. Rental car booked for $350 for 2 weeks. Gonna crank out 1-2 more videos before. And possibly make some dual video action. Looking forward to the Leggo party, 2p2 meetup, summer league, hanging at the house, and mostly just relaxing like an actual vacation.

Month is going well. 1/2 to my $ goal, and 5k hands ahead of pace. Sundays are really frustrating for me lately. The games are incredibly good, but I run bad and bad stuff follows. The games are also higher variance. I need to fix that, or take Sundays off. Leggo continues to amaze. Zugwat is a huge addition. Every single video lately has been top notch. Looking forward to meeting the gang in Vegas (2 more week!).

I rarely read BBV, but stumbled upon this. It's a good read about emotional control, grinding, and crushing mid stakes. Guy has made over 350k from poker playing no higher than 3/6.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...9&postcount=37

Continuing from last time. To recap, I mentioned these techniques to approach poker problems.

• Solve a more specific problem
• Solve a more general problem
• Make the problem easier
• Solve a similar problem

Solve a more specific problem. We are already pretty good at this technique. "Plugging in numbers" and figuring stuff out is a technique we've used since grade school to solve math and science problems. The analysis of a single hand is an example of this that is well practiced. But there are also other ways to get your hands dirty. Do EV calculations by hand. Sometimes you can analyze a hand to death theoretically. But also try making some assumptions about the situation, plug in some %'s and figure out the EV of different options. It often gives some new insight, or at worst confirms existing beliefs.

Solve a more general problem. This is the modern approach to poker. Instead of considering how to maximize EV in a single hand, approach the problem in terms of ranges. Next time you're stuck in a tough hand, generalize it to a range problem. In a given hand there are often multiple close options, especially on later streets. Asking how you play other hands in the situation often results in illuminating insights.

Make the problem easier.This is kind of the reverse of the last point. Suppose you know villain's rough hand range. Even in this case the best play may not be obvious (to go further, even if villain's hand is faceup the optimal play is sometimes not obvious). Rather than figure out how to optimize against his range, make the problem easier and find the optimal play against a single hand. For example, how do you maximize river bet sizing against his weak bluff catchers? How do you choose a bet sizing to induce a c/r?

Solve a similar problem. Often you can learn much more from a hand than how to play that exact hand again. Changing perspectives is always helpful. Put yourself in villain's shoes. Do you like his line? Would you lose the same amount of $ in the situation? What if the history was different? What do you do with other hands here? How do you react to different bet sizes? All are worthwhile questions to ask yourself.

Also just finished a video. It's the 1st of 6-max series I did at 1/2. I actually haven't played 6-max in over 6 weeks but I played great and wasn't rusty. Also brainstorming ideas for my next theory type video. Theory videos are a ton of work, and sometimes feels like it's giving away too much info. But I don't mind that since it doesn't give away that much info about my own game.

Over history, people have found amazing solutions to the world's problems. Build the pyramids, put a man on the moon, send information securely over the internet to name a few. In the pure academic sense we've also solved incredibly tough problems like Fermat's Last Theorem and most of the Hilbert problems.

Long time ago as a budding mathematician I learned a few key principles of problem solving:

• Solve a more specific problem
• Solve a more general problem
• Make the problem easier
• Solve a similar problem

These principles can also help in analyzing poker situations. Often improving and understanding the game is met by road blocks because we don't pose the problem in the correct form. As a specific example consider consider the situation of playing 4-bet pots. Suppose you're playing a very aggressive and bad player. He 3-bets 50% of hands, rarely folds to 4-bets. I'm sure many hu players have played such opponents. It can be frustrating and not obvious how they are losing money. Let's pose the problem a little differently.

Since he defends (never flats) 50% of hands, we can't show an immediate profit by raising any 2. Thus, we obviously fold the weakest hands. It's not hard to see that that against such an opponent we should never raise/fold a hand (assuming a 3x open) since we don't shove immediate profit. Even air hands should be either folded or 4-bet. So say we pick some range, say 40% of 'playable' hands. I don't know what's optimal here, it depends on his postflop play, stack sizes, and our relative skill level.

Now pose the problem differently.

Hero (SB) posts an imaginary blind of 3bb (the open)
Villain (BB) posts an imaginary blind of 10bb (3-bet)

Flatting is equivalent to limping. 4-betting is equivalent to open raising. So we 4-bet some value range. With 100bb we have roughly a pot-stack-ratio of 1. We look at our equity against his calling range, his tendencies, and figure out the optimal play. I know you might hear complaints like it's hard to play AK when you miss the flop etc. But we are playing our 'opening' range against his 'flatting' range. If our range is better/stronger/more optimal than his we make money. Reducing the problem of 4-bet pots to a problem we understand better (how to beat opponents who flat too many weak hands oop), the situation isn't as daunting.

To recap, we reduce 4-bet pots against loose and non-folding opponents to a huge blinds game with a PSR of 1. This is an example of solving an analogous problem. The other techniques listed above also apply to poker. To be continued.

Took the first 4 days of the month off to review some videos/hands, and got some life stuff done. Finalized the apartment which was a big relief. Still need to book a flight/car for vegas, which I keep putting off. Grinding the last 2 days and I seem to be back on track. Running well and playing well (5/5 winning sessions this month!). Already 5k hands in 2 days, so well on my pace for ~40k hands again. I'm finding that ~1k hands is a good session length for me 2-tabling HU. Overall pretty happy with my game. Going to make some videos and grind a lot this weekend.

Note: Someone asked about what type of spots to study (from last blog) in the frequency exercise. It really doesn't matter as long as you find the study valuable/improves your thinking. Big pots bring a lot of EV, but also don't forget that most pots are small/medium, and you want to win all of those. Some suggestions

- 3-bet pots when you check as the aggressor (in and OOP)
- 4-bet pots when they flat (more applicable to hu)
- 3-bet pots IP as the non-aggressor. Look at c-bet/2barrel frequencies. And value 3 barrel ranges
- 3-barrel spots raised pots. Lower stakes players miss a lot of profitable 3-barrel opportunities. Remember when you rep strong hands the same line will also work as a bluff. Think in terms of what range villains get to rivers with, and punish them if they have too many weak hands
- Playing OOP raised pots when flop is checked (when to donk, c/r etc)
- River when the first 2 streets are checked (lots of bluff opportunities against predictable opponents who never check decent hands 3 times)
- Turn when you get c/r on the flop
- c/r the river when the turn gets checked (and flop is bet)

I could list 20 more cool spots but that should get you started.

Followup to my training video. I mentioned implicit learning in the video and recent blog posts. The most common way to implicitly learn is to play lots of hands. Over time you develop a feel for frequencies and betting patterns.But I believe there are some issues with this approach, which makes it painstaking and very long.

Recent event bias. Our minds are biased to remember recent events. Running good or bad, or running into the top/bottom of people's ranges can drastically skew reality. This is where math is very useful. Hand combos and equity is objective. That theoretical basis gives a foundation for understanding the correct plays. Of course we often give weights to hand combos, and recent event bias effects those weights.

Confirmation bias. We see things that confirm our existing beliefs and emotions. When running bad you might make ridiculous folds, or even calldown when beat to confirm that you're just running bad/it was a cooler situation. When getting run over (perhaps opponent is also running hot), you can bluff or calldown in terrible spots since you want confirmation that they can't always have it. But in reality most players are extremely exploitable, don't bluff with a balanced frequency and there's a reason you keep running strong hands when playing badly.

Fragmented learning. What I mean is that we learn slowly and nonlinearly. We learn in little chunks. This is the nature of poker learning. Learning involves periods of rapid growth and periods of plateauing. How this relates to implicit learning is that you can learn something (say a particular line/spot) but it doesn't occur often enough, so there is no re-enforcement. This is why people often repeat mistakes. They learn, but without re-enforcement they make the same mistake (particularly in more rare spots).

Hindsight bias. Can call this the Daliman syndrome. It's much easier to be correct after seeing results. But even in 2009 people are results oriented when it comes to poker. This is related to confirmation bias and recent event bias. But again, a fundamental understanding of theory, frequencies, hand combos, equity, etc can minimize this.

Finally, how can we improve on implicit learning? One way which is very easy with today's tools is the massive hand review.

Frequency analysis exercise.

• Pick a chunk of 30-50k hands. 10k is probably too little and 100k is too much, but somewhere in between works.
• Using HEM (can probably do in PT3 too), filter the hands by a very specific scenerio. For example all hands when you are IP, the flop was checked HU, and villain bets the turn. This is a common spot where people don't really understand what to do.
• Analyze the hands to get a feel for people's ranges, frequencies, and how you played the hand.
• Think about ways to improve your play in that spot. If you're losing in that spot what can you do differently? Tighten up with calldowns? Bluff raise more? Take snabs because people have weak ranges there?
• The point is to look at large chunks of similar situations. You can avoid some of the pitfalls mentioned above by looking at repeated situations.
• Note: This is also a great way to simply fix leaks. Look at specific spots you have trouble with, figure out typical opponent ranges, and determine appropriate adjustments.