I agree with Cliff about the Holdem Indicator. Since you are not looking for stats with HI because you have HEM, I guess you want it so you can use it to calculate odds and such. I would stay away from software like that because I think it will make you loose money in the long run. Some even give advice on how to play which is dangerous. You can learn to calculate your pot odds and outs, that is easy and you don't need a software for that.

*nods* that was kind of my thinking. Looking at the blurb it seemed to be useful in providing Expected Value, Win Odds, Pot Odds, Hand Probabilities by the river for Hero and Opponents etc, so i thought it might be quite useful while still learning. It's kind of like Hockeyguy said in one of his videos about being able to focus on only two things when swinging the golf club, one of which should be the ball.
I just figured that to have all the odds and stuff covered might mean I could concentrate on opponent reads and playing my cards properly until they become second nature, at which time id be ready to consciously focus on those other skills. I can calculate my pot odds and outs etc but doing so in time, while thinking about all the other stuff I need to consider is actually quite hard work

But I think perhaps you are right and I should just stick with HEM and go through this learning process with its steep curve, and emerge stronger for it.

Thanks for the advice

You would be doing the right thing. Personally, I suck at calculating odds during play. I just don't have the time for it. As you say I also concentrate on other things. I just see if I need to call half the pot size, then I get at least 2-1 odds which is break even, but to do more advanced stuff will take more practice. But if I have a software telling me the odds I will never learn it because I will not practice to do it myself. About the EV, I think that as long as we play premium hands we don't need to worry about EV for now. The win odds that it shows are in my opinion crap. Then you have the implied odds which it doesn't show. Even if you don't have pot odds to call, you can still have implied odds to call. For example, NL100, if you are in the BB with pocket 33 and UTG opens $4, the pot is now $5.5. You have to call another $3 to win the $5.5 which is 5.5-3 pot odds = 35%, so you don't have pot odds to call because you only flop a set 1/8 times which is 12.5%. The pot odds are bigger than the win odds. But with implied odds you are risking $3 to win his entire stack of remaining $96. So now you have 96-3 implied odds = 3%. The implied odds are smaller than the win odds. So with this math the call would be profitable in the long run. What I want to say with this example is that a poker software will not show you this. It will tell you that your pott odds are not good and that you should probably fold.

Lol, i don't think that is my biggest problem to be honest.

Since my £19 win I've lost $60

Generally my game is improving, i'm picking up steady little wins, i'm playing tighter and more aggressive and I can see the results are there. I'm building up my stack but then losing it on silly all-in moves when I think I have the best hand but don't.

I know what you mean. I have the same problem with stupid all-ins or bets and calls that is making me loose money because I thought I had the best hand. But more and more now I'm being more careful when I get raised and it's marginal for me. I rather fold then call and loose more. Sure I get bluffed many times, but I think most often, it's not a bluff. Today it felt damn hard to fold a set of Queens to a possible flush on the turn. Curiousity killed the cat and I've stopped being so damn curious. This is of course different from the coolers/bad beats that are impossible to get away from. There are no way I'm folding AA preflop. Well maybe if I was playing a MTT on a full-ring table and all 9 players before me are all-in preflop. That must be the only time my AA are not that good

Anyway, good luck at the tables!

Thanks

I've had 3 all-ins with AK on the pre-flop this week.

First I won against KK. Second I lost against KK, the third I lost against AA. All against complete muppets playing 50-70% vpip who had been raising big with trash all session. Typical, the time I choose to make a stand they have the goods.

Should simply have folded them I think.

I think for now I'm better just to simply avoid any all-in or huge raise and to just fold. Just play tight and steady, pick up some steals, cbet appropriately and avoid going to showdown unless I know i have the nuts. Even if i think I have the best hand just to simply fold it for now. Build my bankroll up slowly, continue to learn, develop my skills etc and then try again. Perhaps just to set myself a target of making 20-33% a buyin and then leaving the table for a new one.

The sad simple truth is that I dont know enough yet, i'm trying to juggle all this new knowledge and until the basics are ingrained I'm just making mistake after mistake.

I've just been playing around with HEM Hud abit more and something came up that I'm curious about. Hoping someone can enlighten me.

I've already got Raise 1st by position and if i understand that right that will give me the raising hand range of my opponent while in that position. Right?

So i decided to add VPIP by position, just to have a looksee.

Opponent:
Overal VPIP:24%
Overall PFR: 23%

VPIP by position: 12/15/18/50/20/23
Raise 1st by pos: 12/16/20/78/27/-

What i'm wondering is why are his raise 1st stats higher than his vpip stats by position?

If you look at his stats for the button. His VPIP is 50% and his Raise first is 78%. I would have expected his VPIP to be higher than his raise 1st as it would include calls, 3bets and such like right?

Am i just being really dumb? Am i missing something?

Raise first is a subset of all hands where the action is folded around to you. VPIP includes every single hand, including when someone raises before you are to act.

So if it's folded to you on the button, you may think it's profitable to open almost any two cards (or 78% of the time). However, if someone has already entered the pot, you may decide to only play your hand 50% of the time. This is a situation where Raise 1st would be higher than VPIP.

widgewilliams wrote:Thanks

I've had 3 all-ins with AK on the pre-flop this week.

First I won against KK. Second I lost against KK, the third I lost against AA. All against complete muppets playing 50-70% vpip who had been raising big with trash all session. Typical, the time I choose to make a stand they have the goods.

Should simply have folded them I think.

I think for now I'm better just to simply avoid any all-in or huge raise and to just fold. Just play tight and steady, pick up some steals, cbet appropriately and avoid going to showdown unless I know i have the nuts. Even if i think I have the best hand just to simply fold it for now. Build my bankroll up slowly, continue to learn, develop my skills etc and then try again. Perhaps just to set myself a target of making 20-33% a buyin and then leaving the table for a new one.

The sad simple truth is that I dont know enough yet, i'm trying to juggle all this new knowledge and until the basics are ingrained I'm just making mistake after mistake.

a couple quick thoughts on AK preflop all in at micros

it is a lot different when you 3 bet/shove w/ AK preflop than when you 3 bet AK and someone else shoves forcing you to call or fold. Most Players at this level rarely 3 bet, so when they 4 bet it should tell you something. Although the fact you have AK substantially reduces the mathematical chance someone has AA or KK, it doesnt eliminate this possibility.

That being said, If i am vs a laggy/maniac type i will pretty much get it in regardless of who initiates the shove since i am going to run into a lot of Ax and Kx type hands which i dominate, as well as QQ or less pairs that are basicaly a coin flip in a vacuum, but once some money is already in the middle i am almost always going to be getting odds to call. Versus this range of hands i am positive EV in the long run so i will get it in and let the cards fall

If i am vs a very tight player i am going to take a longer look and be more willing to at least consider folding to a 4 bet shove depending on the situation. Tight players at micro games dont 3 bet light very much and certainly dont get it in w/ AQ-, Kx, or TT- on a four bet shove as a normal part of their game, so their range is much more limited if they shove/4bet. If you happen to be the 4 bet/shover and get a call with AA or KK thats the way the cookie crumbles sometimes since nobody loose or tight is folding AA or KK preflop.

So bottom line is to remmember not all situations are the same and the OP style is tight and aggressive thinking poker. So a friendly reminder to always be thinking about the situation since different opponents and different situations will require you to make appropriate adjustments

gl hg

Tim,

yeh, that makes sense. It's obvious really now you've explained it

Rob,

that makes sense too. I've not had alot of luck with AK post flop but when I see them as my hole cards after folding the last 20 hands it is very tempting to play them fast and hard, get the money in and hope luck is on my side, but i guess it is better to ditch them cheaply if neccessary and wait for a better opportunity. Better to pick up a few small bets than lose a big bet

Hi all,

I would also say that raising with any hole cards is not the same as calling with the same hole cards. If I raise with KT on the button and I get a caller I can play the hand, but if I'm facing a raise from UTG with my KT on the button, I would probably fold. My calling range has to be stronger than my raising range. Unless I'm going for implied odds or trying to hit a monster hand in a multiway pot.

Cheers,
Kris