Tip 10. Although I would say> Learn to disassociate with wins and losses. Poker's ability is to get you relatively high on wins and very depressed on losing. Find a game you can beat is absolutely critical but I would also say> A game that's "fun".
The small blind 3-betting frequency advice. One of my biggest leaks is just calling OOP with medium strength hands and not hitting enough to make it worthwhile. It just feels sexy when I do. 😎
@@FinalSagesame and I think that’s fine. Personally I don’t have an addictive personality when it comes to table games and slots. I might just play a few hands after a poker session to unwind. I have no problem leaving after 2 hands if I loose.
Yes!!!!! I only go to casinos with poker rooms. I drove 2 hours to an Indian casino recently and they didn’t have a poker room so I ended up playing Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em table game. Bullshit game. Lost money
An amalgam of what you've stated in the past. But considering clarity, concise, and correct, this is the best video you've ever put out, Jonathan. I'm going online to find your book now.
@@laynnerroad4037 oftentimes weak players play too wide of a range preflop and oversold post flop. So only play strong hands pre flop and be aggressive post flop. Don’t limp and create multiway pots.
Very nice breakdown. I’m an advanced player that makes a few hundred a month playing smaller games. Hoping to play 2-5 more often. Got my feet wet a bit already fun stuff. Going to look for that book!
tip #11: Study at home 1/3 of the time. I ordered your book. #12 When you get re-raised 90% of the time is best to fold. Yesterday playing 3/5 at the casino I had AA, on flop I C bet $30 and was re-raised $500 and I folded. V was kind to show me his cards he had 999.
good advice jonathan! just got stacked 2 times on the river with pocket aces because I was finding calls i shouldnt gave... got get that tip 8 on my mind all the time
@@felipeabreusabino9911 Sometimes the cards just fall funny... but in lower stakes games most villains WAY under bluff on the river. You can exploit this by over folding, to large river bets. Don't even worry about being bluffed, as their frequency is to low to in most games to hurt your ROI longer term. Now, obviously if you see a guy over-betting the river a lot more often than common sense would say he has a strong hand you might want to look him up at some point with a decent bluff catcher. But, generally lean toward folding large river bets in low stakes games.
If you are playing in a weak-ish game you can get a way with limping for instance small pocket pairs. Especially when players don't pay attention to your limps and your limping range.
Nope... bad idea. The problem with this is that you plan to flop a set of probably fold when you miss. So you flop your set one out of 8 times meaning you limp $3*8=$24 and that's only if someone in later position does not raise, and some of the time they will raise. Now you will call (or surrender the money without even seeing if you flop your set) and you are setting money on fire now. When you finally hit your set you likely will not make any money unless your Villain flops a decent hand, and most of the time he won't have a strong hand, and will just fold and you make little for your big hand. If he does continue some of the time you will still loose to his Flush or straight draw by the river. This is especially true in the multi-way pots you are creating by limping. One of those 5 villains is going to flop a draw. Once you account for all the pit falls and the casino rake, you are losing money long term limping. In these loose game just RAISE and you will likely get one or two callers. Against one villain even your lowly pocket pair of 6's is likely ahead post flop, but it will not be ahead with 5 callers. With only one or maybe two weak villains you can C-bet effectively on flops that give you range advantage and win even the times you would have folded your weak pairs multi-way. That said, yes limping in late position at times with hands that can flop once there is a lot of dead money might be OK, but as a rule DON'T LIMP!
@@_Coffee4Closers THIS. If you're the first to put money in, you should NEVER limp. The ONLY times I see limping being viable is: 1) if you're in the small blind, it folds around to you, and you're keeping the BB guessing by always limping. You can 3 bet if the BB raises you, and going heads up to a flop to outplay them post flop. This keeps them guessing to your range all the time (IF they're even keeping track). 2) If there are multiple limpers, you are on the button/blind, and have a small pocket pair (2's - 5's). These hands do not play well post flop unless you hit a set, and having multiple people in the pot will give you a better chance of someone having a pocket pair or pair one of their hole cards. They're limping anyway, so they're probably going to call you for at least 1-2 streets for value. Notice you are not the first one putting money in, so the limp/complete is differnet in this scenario. In my local $1/$2 NLHE game, raising on the button to $10 after a couple of limps just invites calls from the others anyway, and raising with a small pocket pair only to fold post flop doesn't make much sense.
@@brianlee1417 In loose low stakes games there is always going to be high variance just because your opponents will show up with a lot of totally random two pair type hands especially if they all limp call their way into pot. This can lead to wild swings in your wins and losses versus these games. However, that said in the end you will make money on these games if you just play a solid fundamental strategy and isolate the limpers by raising when you are first to enter a pot and 3-betting (re-raising) a LOT against these players when you have position and a decent starting hand. Yes, play a tighter range versus these guys so when you enter pots you will generally have range advantage post flop. When you flop top pairs or better bet, bet , bet.... Just know that when most of these guys start piling money into pots they probably flopped something pretty good, so be prepared to slow down, or over-fold to a lot of aggression unless you know a player is totally out of line. In the end, VOLUME is the solution to variance... the more hands you play (think of poker as one long never ending session) the closer to a normal distribution of hands you will get. In the end Bad Beats and Big Wins will even out, as everyone get dealt the same number of Sets, pairs, full houses, etc, over the long term. Just know that these loose callers will win a lot with garbage hands, so prepare for a wild ride, but in the end you will still do ok if you play a solid fundamental game. Oh, and don't LIMP!
Tip # 11: DON'T PLAY DISTRACTED!!! Don't try to play Pokemon Go, gamble on sports bets online, watch a football game, etc when you're trying to play your best poker. You will miss key information from tells, better patterns, etc when you're over-exerting yourself! Tip # 12: TAKE A BREAK!! If you're getting mentally drained STOP! you won't be at your best if you are playing on tilt, bored, tired, etc.
JLittle, love your content. I do wonder about your advice to not size up your raises. If a standard open at your table is 5x +, opponents treat anything less like a limp, shouldn't you size up? I play in Texas, 90% of the players raise to 5-10x or limp. I have struggled with this one. I tend to land on a 5x, or raise to 10. It feels wrong, but anything less gets 4-5 callers at minimum. Hell, I've 3 bet a 5x raise to 15x and still got 5+ callers. Do you adjust to this, or just stick to your fundamentals? I can see arguments for both.
Normal raise is 3x +1 per limper if people call too often make it 4 or 5x +1 per limp. If someone is limp calling a 4bet with garbage just play tighter ig high pocket pairs and just c bet flops wothout straight draws and board pairs incqse yhey somehow flopper something
Amazing and concise video as always! I just play small stakes tournaments but got some free "cash money" from an online app promotion. Came to youtube to look for any tips on what's the difference and boom! This gem was on the the first page!
I’m not sure whether in my local game if in fact just raising 3 or even 4x is the best/highest EV raise size as opposed to a larger raise sizing. I also don’t play in games that see flops two way, and often two way involving late position and a blind or two late position players.
Then you have to adjust your play accordingly. These are just baseline recommendations if EVERYONE is playing GTO (game theory optimal) poker. Most "fish" or call stations do not, so you need to take that into consideration. If you want to isolate them, then it makes sense to raise bigger preflop to discourage the other fish from calling behind you. Still, you don't want to go to large because you're risking 5-10 BB's for only 1.5-4.5 (depending on how many limpers you get before it gets to you), and that's not a good ROI.
I'd love for you to explain why calling small pairs in the SB is always bad. Button raises 3x, SB calls to set mine, BB calls, pot is now 9bb (minus rake). Let's say it's 33, you hit a set 12% of the time, it's not always going to be good enough to win, and often you won't get paid when you hit a set. So def still no calling in the SB to set mine?
Small stakes player here. I like to play tight passive to begin, build up some profit before turning on the aggression - 3 bet/range bet/check raise etc. I know this is a weak state of mind, but it’s what makes me comfortable. Must I change?
Probably OK, as long as you are grinding out a profit and building your bankroll over time. Once you get 20 or 30 buy-ins in bank-roll, take a couple of buy-ins and take a shot being more aggressive. See how you feel... if you take a beating you can always slow back down.
This is actually how I play. I WANT my table image to look tight so that people will take my raises more seriously. This opens the door to bluffs in heads up scenarios or when scare cards come out on the turn/river. But while I'm playing tight, I'm taking notes on all the other players to figure out how to categorize them (loose and aggressive, tight and aggressive, call stations, maniacs, etc)
Definitely start out tight, but I think you can be aggressive or loose to start with. I think it allows you to be more relaxed as you're still adjusting to the tables atmosphere and play style. It also makes it so when you do become aggressive people respect it more because they haven't seen you be aggressive yet.
Well you need to be playing according to the players around you. If the players are looser you should be tighter. If they’re tighter you should be loser. So yeah I think that might be a bit of a weak mindset and you’re probably leaving EV on the table. You should try to make the best decision every hand no matter what
Tip #11 - when you are up huge at a cash game, get your money off the table. If you enter the table with 5% of your bankroll and triple up, you now have 15% of your bankroll on the table. That's a huge chunk! Stand up and take a break (if possible)
I would think even more so, as the pot is inflated, and you want to push the BB out if possible. It might depend on Rake or no Rake in the game as well. I would lean more towards 3-Bet or Fold if it was raise in front of me. Otherwise you might find yourself "squeezed" buy the Big Blind or out of position post flop versus 2 Villains, and it is really hard to win in that situation.
No. 11 - what I call "Always account for variable change." Specifically, remember to always be improving, but pay attention to your opponents doing the same. A fish may learn how to be less fishy as the game progresses. A rock may open up on you. (Yes, the phrase is stolen from the movie 21, and I am probably not using it correctly.)
I don't understand bankroll management. You recommend having 3000 big blinds so in a 1/2 game thats $6000 in your bankroll. If you are just starting out playing poker and the smallest game is 1/2, how can you possibly have $6000? Are you suggesting not to play poker until you have saved $6000? Thanks for clarifying this concept.
coach you say never slow play but what about controlling your checking range? (checking with some of your good hands sometimes so that they dont bet at you everytime you check)
Yes that wouldn't be considered slow playing. I often check with top pair/ medium kicker when oop to protect my checking range. Also love checking top pair multi-way when I'm the pfr
I dunno I think a lot of these depends on the game. Open limping has been SUPER profitable for me because the fish will call with top pair no matter what. Also the rake at my club is only 2$ so not really an issue there.
Hey Jonathan, there's something that doesn't make sense to me. I play live 1/2 NLH in Montreal which is a huge poker place with many recreational players and every time i go i make 50-100$ an hour. Ofc sometimes i lose but i get the chance to win my money back at least during an 8 hour session if i stay disciplined. I just dont understand where 10-15$ an hour comes from.
The only time I open limp is if I know it will entice other people to call and someone will raise. That I can 3 bet. I do not do this play often but will pick my spot
Hello! I am a poker beginner. Can someone please explain me why I can’t open raise with seven blinds( as Jonathan said)? Why is it too expensive?The goal is to win the pot or steal the blinds in order not to pay the rake isn’t it? Thank you for any advice and sorry for my English.
Because the odds don't make sense. You are risking 7 blinds to win 1.5. It has to be work 82% of the time as a steal in order to be immediately profitable. If you only raise to 3bb then it only needs to work 67% of the time as a steal to be profitable. Also you cannot raise as many hands with that size because when you get 3bet you will have to fold the vast majority of a wide range. In turn you will have to open very tight. When you open tight, unless you are playing horrible opponents, they will only give you action with their best hands. That is why 3x is a good size
IMO, staying sane (tip 10) just comes with grinding for long enough. After many many THOUSANDS of hands played, you stop getting bent out of shape about anything other than your own bad choices. Even the really expensive pots lost don't bug you that much if you played it well, because you realize that playing that same play over and over and over again makes you money over all. Take an extreme example - not too long ago, I had AK suited under the gun. The button straddled. Table folded around to me. I raised, button called - heads up. Flop was K high uncoordinated. I raised smallish. Button called. Turn is an A. I raised bigger, maybe 2/3 pot. Button calls. Now I'm wondering if we're chopping or maybe he has a set below me, but the river is a K gving me Kings full and the only hand that beats me is pocket Aces, which only has one combo available. I bet 2/3 again and he shoves. He was a really strong player who I'd played a number of times before and had never seen him shove the river without a great hand. I honestly had him table read as having the rockets at that point - only thing that mades sense for him to slow play the entire way down. But, I only had about 1/4 of the pot left behind having started a little short, so even being pretty certain of my read, after about 30 seconds in the tank I called, and he turned over his rockets. I only spent about 2 minutes being pissed. Then I got really happy. Not only had I played it about as well as I possibly could have - and would have been paid off really well by all kinds of Ax, I had correctly made the narrowest imaginable read and been dead on.
I love JL but I'm disheartened as I'm stuck at 0.01/0.02.true ive gone from $12 to $726 in 5 years but I refuse to move up to 0.02/0.05 till I get to $1000 bankroll. And I'm not good enough. Room for improvement. That said0.01/0.02 on Stars is way tougher than live £20 buyins tourneys and £0.20/0.40 cash games in Poland 😂
Ok at 22:50 I fell off my chair laughing. And just before that "grow up" Wow I have not heard good solid advice like that is 40 years. Go Man Go. I am sure this vid will be deleted. Too real. Love the content.
I think it's funny that a lot of Poker Streams and Poker Influencers really try to act like playing a solid Range is being a "Nit". And Try to shit on solid, winning play style and in my opinion, try to trick players into playing Bad.
I've been meaning to say something for a while but you record your audio way Low or your microphone sucks. When I'm listening to you on my phone and I get a notification. Or something else it blows my ear drums out because I have it turned up so far.
I have followed this advice but no matter what I get called by weaker hands, out flopped and lose. Past 2 sessions anytime I have JJ, QQ or KK my opponent has the higher pocket pair. When I've had AA my opponent flops a set.. it's been a really tough go. I'll bluff in solid positions but opponent will call with middle or top pair. Anytime I try to bluff catch my opponent has it which makes it very difficult to want to call anytime I'm getting 3 bet win a solid hand. Pokers a tough game
Play live games in person. Don’t play online. It’s a scam. He probably uses … “Real Time Solvers” and not to mention Bots. I’m sure if you are a decent poker player you’ll do ok in love games. Stay off online . People now online are just using multiple computers to solve hands , whereas if you aren’t you are more likely to use because you are playing against a computer. It’s been documented. A lot of these players cheat, but also the site themselves sometimes uses , “Superbots”.
I don’t agree with the proper bankroll rule. It’s way too high. Most people can’t afford to set aside $6000 for poker $1/2. As long as you have a job, your paycheck can be your bankroll
@@McRuffin his point is that you can’t employ a strategy designed to beat poker players who know how to play poker against people who have no idea what they’re doing. You can’t assume that someone at a home game called your pre flop raise with a strong range, they could call with absolutely anything.
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