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AJG's picture
Hole Card blocker tool

I cant find much on this tool except to download it.What sites does it work with (I would assume PS/FTP? maybe more?) and how dows it work exactly (ie does it auto place itself over my cards, can i easily see them if i need to? supports multiple tables?)What is the best way to get the most out of it - i have a basic grasp of why this tool is good for practice and improving hand reading/"playing the player" and all, but are there any more specific recommendations to using it to get max benefit.Thanks in advance,Aaron

RyPac13's picture
I used it in an older video. 

I used it in an older video.  It probably works with any single poker skin, as it just goes over the part of the screen you want and blocks it out for you consistently.  It's the same tool Collin Moshman uses, he and the developer gave us permission to use it around the time I made that video.I would personally use it in two ways:1) Drop down to the lower stakes (as little as 10% of your current stakes works), block your hole cards and try to just push your opponent around blindly, using aggressoin and board texture to steal pots.  Never look at your hole cards.  I believe I won 2 out of 3 or all 3 of my matches when I tried this and recorded using the hole blocker (obviously some variance there even without hole cards blocked).2) If you have trouble being consistent with decisions and you tend to get too emotional/compulsive at times in a game, then block your hole cards as they are dealt preflop.  Before you hit "unblock" or remove the blocker at the time, make sure you think to yourself "if I have a hand like X I will do this" that way you are not being misled by seeing a specific hand.  So you will not pick up 43s, a bad hand to play OOP short stacked, and decide "oh well I can play it here since I need to play a weak hand every so often" and make a bad call/raise.  You will think "I need Q7+ to call here, K5+, J8+, I'll 3bet the next 3 sets of each of those and the next 5 suited sets along with AT+, 55+ and KJ+ and I'll outright 3bet shove 22-44."  Then you pick up any hand and you know what you're playing more or less, know what you're folding, and know what you're 3betting.

dzikijohnny's picture
Dude....just get a postit

Dude....just get a postit note and put it on your screen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

RyPac13's picture
People are super finicky

People are super finicky about their monitors.Multiple friends of mine have been tilted beyond believe when I placed my finger on or near their monitor to point something out.But yea, if you want a stick note on your screen, it'll be pretty similar to this program :)

AJG's picture
Yeah I know people like that

Yeah I know people like that Ryan! But Im not one of them. And thanks for your response.Still, post-it notes aren't nearly as elegant a solution as this tool...;-)

ITRIED2WARNU's picture
Re: Hole card blocker

Just an FYI - I am working on a video as we speak that will use this tool, so hopefully you enjoy it.

Brent
ITRIED2WARNU

My Coaching Page

AJG's picture
Cool, and as I just signed up

Cool, and as I just signed up I can watch it (unless its Premium content - Im not overly abundant in the funds dept ;-) )I tried a few matches as per Ryan's post. I was actually quite amazed at how well I could play without looking at my cards (although as a friend pointed out to me, I needed to turn off dealer chat cos they are visible in there, not that I was looking though).The only time I stopped was when effective stack became short, and we were playing allin pots... Although maybe doing this is also missing some point of the tool. Reading Moshman's HU book atm and he talks about doing this right up to the last hand (although I cant see the value in playing the possibly final hand blind).

RyPac13's picture
It can be valuable at short

It can be valuable at short stacks.  Minraise or limp some until you're super short, in which case try to solve the problem of "when should I call, when should I shove" with your set of assumptions (you can't see your cards so you can have ATC, what's he shoving? etc.)  It should be a nice exercise in problem solving relateable to other spots.

dzikijohnny's picture
Can you set u SngWiz to do

Can you set u SngWiz to do this in the quiz mode as a good tool?

RyPac13's picture
What do you mean? In SNGwiz

What do you mean?In SNGwiz isn't it setup by showing you a situation then you click the correct answer to find out if it was correct?I suppose you could look at the specific stack size and guess a range then go with your guess once you see the hand, but either way you get feedback in SNGwiz as to whether or not you made the right choice, something you won't get in a live game (so I think SNGwiz should be just as usful either way).