Davis, Aron. The Poker Blueprint

4 Play to Learn

Play to Learn

© 2010 Aaron Davis and Tri Nguyen - All Rights Reserved.

http://www.DailyVariance.com

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5 Play to Learn

The Learner and the Grinder

The difference between these two mentalities is also the gap between a microstakes grinder and a high-stakes player. You should tackle poker as a competitive game and strive to become better every day. It is not a mere vehicle that provides you with a modest income. Simply changing your perception of the game will improve your skills much more and much faster.

The “learner” will try to understand difficult poker concepts and try to outplay his opponents. He questions what hands are in Villain’s ranges, what his raise on the river means, what spots are best for check-raising, and a multitude of other situations that arise in every session. He desires knowledge. He knows he can get better. He wants all the edges he can get. He enjoys playing poker. Every bad beat is simply a result of variance.

The “grinder” only wishes to win money and does not care to improve his game. He is content with his marginal winnings and taking money from the occasional fish. He plays at the same stakes for months and even years. He may play 8+ tables and simply wait for the nuts. He misses out on the small edges because he does not care to fight back. He may want to fight back at times, but fails because he lacks the experience and knowledge. Every bad beat results in anxiety or anger. He loses control of himself and his game deteriorates. He is doomed to mediocrity. Poker becomes a grind.

I hope that after reading this book, you will fall into the “learner” category. If you find yourself in the “grinder” category, don’t sweat. You’ve just taken a big step in improving your game by seeking more knowledge. Keep up your momentum.

I found myself in the “grinder” category for a while without realizing it, and had to grind it out at the same stakes for months. Poker really became a grind. There was no more fun playing the game that I used to stay up all night reading books and forum posts. Once I became aware of it, I worked harder and improved tremendously within a few short months. It was a lot more enjoyable and refreshing as well.

You will get from this book what you put into it. If you read it without applying any of the strategies, then it is merely information. I cannot promise you a magic bullet, but I can assure you that if you study the materials in this book and apply them, you will become a better player—enough to beat your current game.

Remember, knowledge is not power; it is applied knowledge.

© 2010 Aaron Davis and Tri Nguyen - All Rights Reserved.

http://www.DailyVariance.com

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6 Table Selection

Table Selection

© 2010 Aaron Davis and Tri Nguyen - All Rights Reserved.

http://www.DailyVariance.com

6

7 Table Selection

A Brief History

A few years ago, when online poker was full of really bad players, it was easier to win. I miss the days when bad players would open-limp all the time and had no problem stacking off 200BBs with top pair, no kicker. Unfortunately, those days are gone. However, fish are still swimming around, just in smaller groups than before. You should go out of your way to search for them. This is because table selection is the most important factor separating winning and losing players.

Player Stats

If a player plays over 35 percent of his hands, unless he is regular, he is almost always bad. If he plays over 35 percent of his hands and raises less than 10 percent of his hands, then he is almost always bad. The most profitable fish are loose and passive (aggression factor less than 1.5) who will often fail to extract value from their strong hands post-flop.

Important Note: If you don’t know what these numbers mean, I strongly recommend buying a hand history tracking program like Holdem Manager. You can set it to automatically store all the hands you play and give you useful stats about your opponents’ games (how loose they’re playing, how aggressive they are, how much they’re up or down in a session, etc.).

Stack Sizes

Anyone sitting with less than 100BB should get you salivating, especially if they are playing on just one table. This almost always means they are recreational players, and that means there is a lot of passiveness in their game.

If you find players who regularly play less than 25BB, they are likely professional shortstackers and they aren’t very good. Although they can be annoying, the best way to deal with them is to not call their shoves too light. My range for calling their shoves is 55+/ATs. This range changes with respect to our positions. If I open UTG and a short-stacker shoves, my calling range is tighter. If I open in the CO or BTN and a short-stacker shoves from the blinds, my calling range will be wider. Your calling range also depends on how loose they are. It’s your job as a player to figure out his estimated shoving range.

Player Tendencies

Although practicing this advice is hard, before sitting down, watch the game for a few minutes to see who is playing normally. Sometimes a solid regular has a losing session and can be playing his C game, which you can exploit. Some people start to play looser than

© 2010 Aaron Davis and Tri Nguyen - All Rights Reserved.

http://www.DailyVariance.com

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8 Table Selection

their normal game if they are on tilt. Some don’t bluff as often because they don’t want to lose more. Figure out which players fall into which categories. Once you are able to recognize tilt among regular players, playing poker will be an easy task. No money tastes sweeter than tilt money.

Seat Selections

If I have the option of having position on a really good player or having position on a really bad player, then I would instantly choose having position on the bad player. A good player can give you a lot of trouble by using his positional advantage, but you can easily counter this by folding a lot of your marginal hands and playing only with the nuts. Since he is so aggressive, you can basically win by closing your eyes and check-calling three streets with your strong hands.

If I were starting a table, then I would sit at the top left corner (10 o’clock position in a 6- max table). For some reason, the majority of fish like to sit in the lower two seats. By sitting to a fish’s immediate left, even if the table fills up with the best players at your stakes, the game is still worth playing.

Number of Fish Required

As long as there’s a fish at a table, that game is worth playing. If you are unsure on how to play against the rest of the table, you aren’t losing much value by folding all your nonpremium hands. No matter how good your opponent is, it’s going to be tough for him to exploit you if you play against him with a range of TT+/AQ+. Of course, he will be stealing your blinds left and right, but the presence of the fish makes it a very high-EV situation.

Bum-hunting

Bum-hunting is when a regular sits at a heads-up table and waits for a really bad player to join and play. This practice has been frowned upon by many online poker players. But in the words of Don Corleone, “It don't *sic+ make any difference to me what a man does for a living.” I feel the same way regarding table selection. If bum-hunting is your table selection standard, go for it and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Screen Names and Avatars

If a player has a screen name of an alcoholic drink or a car, then he is usually a recreational player over the age of 30. Such examples are whiskey72 or Ferrari_lover.

If a player has a screen name of a famous player follow by a number, then he is usually bad. Such examples are Phil_Ivey_123 or Helmuth33.

© 2010 Aaron Davis and Tri Nguyen - All Rights Reserved.

http://www.DailyVariance.com

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