Zugwat - In The Cage 6/19/09

[Zugwat]

Originally Posted by siegfriedandroy

Any aha moments in your career?

How fast did you move up stakes?

How much difference in skill do you think there is between mid (2/4), High 5/10-10/20, and super highstakes 25/50+?

What do you think will be the state of the games in 5years time?

in terms of aha moments I think a big realization was to always be focusing on what my opponents range is, and be thinking about all the possible hands he can have, knowing that he can have a variety of things, rather then being like "well I think he has this hand"

I'm not entirely sure but i think there is more of a difference between midstakes and highstakes, then there is highstakes and superhigh stakes.

I have no idea what the state of the games will be in 5 years, but unless online poker gets legalized and regulated in the U.S, I imagine the games will probably stay about the same for a while.

[Zugwat]

Originally Posted by intricate1

First off, love the cage to me these are better then any single training video period, I think if you guys were to advertise this and make it a monthly thing it would draw in alot of your target audience.

1- Have you read the law of success by Napoleon Hill?

2- describe your mindset during a generic poker session, nothing related to your in game thought process, but everything else.

3-if there was one unique message you could burn into the heads of every immediate NLH player in here what would it be?

4- imagine you were teaching a world class backgammon and gin rummy player HU NLHE and he asked for you to describe the approach he should take to become competent against respectable players.... ?

1 - I have never heard of that book, what's it about and what led you to ask if i had read it?

2 - When I'm playing I am usually pretty relaxed, I usually listen to music but If i really want to focus I wont have music on. I try and stay aware of how I'm playing and weather I want to be playing, and If i find myself slipping or realize that I'm basically forcing myself to play and not actually wanting to play, then I will quit, (or at least strongly consider quitting)

3 - NLH is a very learnable game, if you take the time and put in the effort to study, review your sessions, find out what your doing right and wrong, then you will improve

4 - This is a very open ended question, but I would start by explaining the concept of ranges, and then I would try and teach him how to ask himself the right questions about a hand that will lead him to learn how to play it best, and begin to figure out the correct thought processes himself.

[Zugwat]

Originally Posted by PlsTilt

Do you ever have doubts about yourself? When breaking even, plays not working, or straight out leaking money to the tables?

If you are ever uncertain about your game, how do you deal with it?


if games would be available regularly, with some hours hosting great games and some hours hosting only poor games, how many hours would you preferably play poker on this day? And how would you divide time over sessions?

I certainly do go through periods where I question my game. I usually will try and take a break, or play weaker competition. I also make sure I'm talking with friends and not just sweeping bad sessions under the rug, but rather trying to figure out what hands I played bad, what I should have done, and also if my overall strategy vs my opponent in that session was working or not working.

[IcarusJam]

lifetime graph please?

[Kesky]

Hey.

Please elaborate on your stars avatar. I think it's really great.

[jungleman]

When i first played you at 10/20, i thought you were kind of a robot :P ; however you did not seem so in our most recent match...

-How did you make the jump between high stakes and nosebleeds (50/100+?)
-What concepts are important for winning MTTs? I've noticed many of the bigger MTTs winners play a ridiculous amount of hands at least in the later stages, seemingly in spite of who is to the left of them..
-How did/do you like COLLEGE PARK? Any particular places of interest?
-What was your major?

[elguapo]

What advice would you give to 50nl 6max winner looking to eventually move up stakes and also switch to HU?

[Zugwat]

Originally Posted by desire

How do you feel about leading in HU ?

I've been thinking about this a ton and so far I still think that I would prefer to play all of my hands in a manner I want to play my other hands and not really deviate from it. However, against mediocre to bad players do you think it is OK to like c/c flop lead turn when you think they are extremely unlikely to barrel the turn card for some reason (and we don't want it to get checked through so we lead to get max value but would never do it with an air type hand or a draw) ?
Also I guess a huge % of hsnl players has started playing very pot controllish and c-betting very little - it seems like the correct adjustment to that would be leading flops with various type of hands or overbetting turns or c/r'ing turns but in my limited railbirding and HH reading experience people don't do it that much ?

kind of rambling here but I guess if you could put some thoughts in on balance and leading that'd do just fine, thanks

leading is a very solid tool hu. I do it when my opponents polarize their c-bet range, or don't c-bet very much in general. I also lead when I have a hand that I dont want to check / raise and I dont want to check / call or check / fold. Example of this would be like KQ on 8910 flop. If an opponent is c-betting too much and betting 8x and 9x type stuff I would probabaly just check / raise it.

In terms of check / call flop lead turn, its not a play I usually do but if you had a very specific reason why you think your opponent isn't going to bet the turn then it makes sense to lead. You just have to be aware of what your'e trying to get value from, or trying to fold out, if you have a draw or air.

Also, you are dead on in saying that leading, check / raising turns, and over-betting turns are all good adjustments to someone who c-bets very infrequently.

[aejones]

will you ever beat me in ping pong?

[toocrispy]

If you had to face one live pro in a 5 round boxing match, who would it be and why?