Greetings,My name is Jeffrey and I used to post here in the later half of 2009. Basically, I became interested in the site after losing my shirt at the mid-limit HUSNG games. I've always been break-even or slightly profitable in ring games, but these tournaments require a completely different skill set. And I'm not only thinking in terms of strategy or tactics. There are many ways to fall into the abyss of cognitive distortion in this highly personal and intense form of poker. Anyway, I just wanted to say 'hi' to all my old chat, video, and Skype buddies.I've taken nearly a year off from poker for a very good reason: I wasn't able to control my emotions well-enough to stick within my bankroll requirements. When I played a strict, disciplined game I did well up to $11 HUSNG's. Unfortunately, I allowed myself to become obsessed with whether or not I was up or down on a given day. To try and get even I would continually move up to higher limit games (i.e. negative progression). This was a horrible idea for so many reasons. My risk of ruin was greatly enhanced even if I played perfect poker. Furthermore, it's much harder to win a $55 HUSNG than a $5 game based on the skill set of your average opponent. Next, it's never a good idea to play with scared money as it undermines your ability to make rational decisions. And that's not to say anything about already being tilted since you've lost a few consecutive games if you're moving up to recoup your losses. I just watched Cog Dissonance's video on 'focusing,' which gave some practical solutions to some issues that plagued me in the past. Anyway, I'm now back with a fresh perspective and I'm going to try to take another shot at playing these HUSNG's.I do have a few questions if anybody wants to chime in: 1) What happened to PrimordialAA? I used him once to do a hand history review and it was awesome. Also, I absolutely love his videos and think he's a stand-up guy. Unfortunately, I've noticed he hasn't made any recent videos and is not listed as a current coach. Furthermore, I used to railbird him while he played the upper limits (on Pokerstars) and I haven't seen him.2) In terms of end game strategy, has anybody came up with any recent additions or replacements for SAGE and Nash?3) What are the hot profiling sites for getting information on unknown opponents. I used Sharkscope in the past, but it appears the site no longer offers free views or even pay-for-view services. I need to purchase Pokertracker or HEM so I can build my own database. But first I want to prove I can beat the smallest limits before investing too much more money. I take very detailed notes while playing and these can come in handy, but they are only one tool. I want what my opponents might be using against me! 4) Question about rake and games in foreign currencies: I'm wondering if anybody plays the micro-games on Pokerstars in Euros. I keep my bankroll in US dollars but will sit the ultra-micro stake turbos in Euros. There is a penny transaction cost per game (and they charge you the transaction fee if you unregister) if I'm not mistaken. This is probably a good question for Pokerstars support, but I know there are a lot of international players who might have some feedback.Anyway, I'm done rambling. I look forward to watching more movies and participating on the forums. BTW, I really enjoyed the videos Rypac13 and Skates made together (especially the one you almost didn't include). You two compliment each other very well. There is a nice tug-of-war between pragmatic and theoretical considerations. Thank you, Jeffrey
- Primo left us last year for another site, though he's mostly focused on playing poker compared to making videos. He still has a few videos to do for us from when he was here and those will come at some point.- SAGE is generally considered outdated/not useful these days. Not many people use Nash exactly as it was designed. SB ranges can be the same (but generally only up until 8-12bbs, then you play in a NON shove or fold strategy) but OOP most people are usually tighter (and usually correctly so). Chubakov is another end game tool. In the end, shove or fold strategies short stacked shouldn't be too dwelled upon, edges aren't massive and if you are playing well it's likely you can't get enough value for your time to put more focus into it. 10-30bb stacks are massively important though.- Sharkscope was working fine as of yesterday. 5 free searches a day and paid options with the only accurate database I know for sngs. I've heard another large tracking site is going to add sngs in the next 6 months. I'll keep an eye on that.- Not sure on foreign currencies, Stars support will probably be able to answer that one within 6 hours.- Thanks for the compliment. Skates just did a 3-4 video series with Barewire on moving from hu cash to hu sng (finished yesterday). He's probably done with videos, but I may get him to sit in on one or two with me in the future. No promises.
I recently started using Holdem-manager. I think it's a pretty good program that you can try out for free for 15 days.
Skates just did a 3-4 video series with Barewire on moving from hu cash to hu sng That's great... a husng to hu cash series should be welcome too :D
I'd like to see series "from hu sng to hu cash", may be Skates will do it in future? :)
Probably not Skates, he's likely done after this series. It's always possible though.We'll monitor the hu cash to hu sng series and see how it does, if it goes as well as I expect we'll get working on the opposite.Do note, this hu cash to hu sng series should have value both ways. While it's focused on moving into hu sng, there's still a ton of talk about the differences in each and skill sets and similarities, all helpful to players that want to jump into hu cash (also there's a Skates hu cash video on the site, and Barewire has done a deep stack series which is very applicable to hu cash, Brilliant also did a deep stack recently and Cog has some deep stack videos in the library that might help as well).
Greetings Ryan and RJRJ, Ryan, I appreciate your feedback as usual. I just fired an email to Pokerstars so I can ascertain whether or not I should keep my bankroll in US dollars, Euros, or both. Also, I asked them why they charge a transaction fee on top of the rake. So I look forward to hearing their response.Also, I just went to Sharkscope and as you explained, nothing has changed since I last used it. I must have been using a link to a different part of the site (i.e. the forums). It's nice to keep track of the coaches and see how they have progressed (or declined) in the last year. Of course, part of that is just variance, but it's nice to have some means of evaluating performance.With respect to Skates, it would be a bummer if he stopped making videos--at least at the low limits. I'm not sure if I've ever watched anything approaching his nuanced analysis of the ultra-low and low stake games. But, of course, people have to move on. If you can coax him into making one or two more videos it would be appreciated.Next, thanks for the feedback on the alternative end game systems. Furthermore, thanks for directing my focus to the more relevant part of the end game (e.g. 10-30BB). I'm going to have to re-watch your video (and others) on the End Game. I've noticed that many newer videos seem to take a more conservative approach to pushing/folding and instead focus on playing until the stacks are shorter. Since the game is constantly evolving, it's always important to adapt to changing game play. I'm sometimes a bit leary when watching older videos as I wonder if they are operating under outdated assumptions. But I suppose a timeless approach that simply focuses on making rational positive expectation decisions is best. I like the fact that your site has a wide variety of different coaches and you seem to advocate a philosophy that avoids rigid poker ideology. RJRJ: thanks for the information on HEM and the 15 day trial period. I'm going to give it a whirl and see how it compares to Pokertracker. Thank you, Jefffrey
I'll see what I can do. Odds are, if he does any more videos at all (and that's nowhere near a certainty), they would be with me.Thanks for the rest of the feedback. I'm glad you notice some of the "flow" of the site, for lack of a better term.Old videos are still relevant and good, some are better than others, and of course the latest is going to be the strongest (on average), but that's the same for any instruction (even in different fields). Progression is good, but I think the earlier stuff was mostly strong enough to still provide a lot of value today. Needless to say, we'll keep pumping out new and high quality videos either way.