Mr. Little, I just want to thank you for your constant output of pristine poker teaching content for free here on your channel. You are a gifted communicator and every video is a master class on poker. Every time that you formulate a sentence it has a purpose and conveys invaluable information. Thanks again for making us better poker players, human thinkers and, to some extent, to ENABLE some of us to make a living playing this game seriously.
THANKS FOR YOUR GREAT TIPS. MY GAME HAS IMPROVED IMMENSLY SINCE I STARTED USING YOUR STRATEGIES. I PLAY IN A LOCAL CARD ROOM SMALL STAKES TOURNAMENTS. IVE BEEN TO 6 FINAL TABLES INA ROW AND CASHED 3 TIMES. YESTERDAY FOR $600, & LAST WEEK FOR $480, ORDINARILY, I WOULD HAVE NEVER GONE THAT FAR. EXCEPT, FOR YOUOR BRILLIANT VLOGS. THANKS EVER SO MUCH!!!
Thanks for this video of solid tips. A request: I would love to see a video about how much information you try to gather before labelling someone as a particular player type in a live game. I see a lot of mention of different player types in videos like this, and I would love you to walk us through how many hands / showdowns, and what kind, you need to observe before you label someone as "straightforward", for example.
As a cash game player myself, you do not get to pick and choose what tables to play on. Casino usually have a waiting list to play, and as players bust or decide to leave, the floor manager will fill the empty seat according to the list. You can only request a seat change or a table change once you've already played a few hands.
I feel like the biggest tip I can give is to get used to variance. Many people just starting out limit volume because mentally they are just not used to losing 5 buy-ins in a session, even though a solid winning player will have losses that large quite frequently if they play a lot.
You are punting way too much if you lose 5 buy ins in a session and probably have a gambling problem. Been playing 40+ hours a week for over a decade and never needed more than 2 bullets and if I ever did I would go home rather than play on tilt
For live this may be true, but for online play (especially when playing multiple tables) you WILL lose 5 bullets a session at least once in awhile if you keep playing for a few hours, even without tilt or poor play. @@charlesdean640
I beg to differ on your point 2.4, where you said "Look to get position on the worst players." That is certainly true at the games you play, but at the low stakes games that I play, it's more important to get position on the crazy big-bet players. It is *often* true that these are the worst players, but not always. You asked for additional hacks. Here is mine: A fairly small percentage of your win rate is determined by how you play when you are getting good cards and connecting with the board. It's true that maximizing your wins is important, but it is a much smaller effect on your win rate than how you play when you are getting bad cards or (even worse) good starting hands that miss. This is where I see otherwise good players blast off all their winnings and then some. After two hours of card dead, then you finally get a top pair with OK kicker with your QJs, do you still have the discipline to lay it down if the tight player check-raises you?
@@omgbaxtergames Oh, I definitely agree. I said they are *often* the worst players, but not always. Sometimes, however, they are pretty crazy preflop but they are very sharp post-flop.
You are one of the very few coaches who honestly talks about how players will go on long downswings. I suspect that most poker vloggere on TH-cam haven't experienced major downswings yet because the time period is so relatively short for vlogging. Possibly, that is also why very few pros from 25 years back are still successful.
If you’re a pro whether it was years ago or now, then I imagine you understand long downswings. I think it’s more or less that they stopped putting in the necessary work to stay ahead of the competition as the game evolved ever since the poker boom.
I’ve been playing since 1997. I think I’m just below winning at this point but I tip extremely well, and my focus is to have fun. Winning some tournaments or beating tough games for years or nearly breaking even is a win. SF Bay Area isn’t some easy ass joint
The game is really good here in Florida.I only have about 300 hours this year but at 46bb /100. Play somewhat tight and exploit weaknesses. Show a bluff early and get called light the rest of the day. The few losing sessions I've had were just some variance. 1 and 2 outed on some rivers after getting money in good. I finally never let that get to me or tilt me. Only time I get tilted if I make a bad mistake myself. I continue to play tired and do something stupid like read the board or my hand wrong.
Out of curiosity, how do you measure your “46bb/100”? Specifically, how are you counting the hands in order to get the correct denominator for that? The numerator is east of course as it’s just whatever your net gain/loss is over all your sessions. But are you counting hands each session, or counting orbits, and then just estimating by saying “well it’s a 9-handed table and sometimes a player is away from the table, so I will count each orbit as 8.5 hands”, or something else?
@Trephining i think estimating 25 hands per hour will get you a more conservative win rate . In my local casino I've seen the dealer data and the slowest dealers deal at 20 hands/hr. The fastest at 26/hr.
@Trephining I use bankroll tracking app pro. It's 8 handed at average 30 hands an hour. Can be more or less depending on the dealer. To get an accurate hand count, I set a timer and used a counter app to get the hand count ..
" they haven't moved up and neither have you " I just started lol. The good thing is that I'm not playing anywhere near great poker, but I'm up almost $2000 at this point playing for a short amount of time. Thanks Jonathon
Nice man, just remember to keep learning and be aware of how much was from gold decision making and how much was just pure luck. That $2000 can easily swing the other way if your playing a real high variance play style. Im speaking from first hand experience lol. My biggest session has been +$5000 and my biggest losing session has been -$3800.
This is part of Jonathan’s teaching that I don’t really agree with. The reality is most players are recreational and don’t have aspirations to be professionals. That doesn’t mean that they necessarily less skilled. Most of the people playing $2-$5 or greater really have no business gambling the dollar amounts they do. The comment above for example, if you are swinging $3000-$4000 in a session or two and your annual income is less than $150,000 you’re probably making an irresponsible financial decision. There’s nothing wrong with spending 2% or 5% or your income on something you love to do but let’s not pretend that just because that person moved up in stakes they are necessarily better, they might just be willing to lose more. I’ve played $1-$2 at $1000 capped for probably 3 years and been profitable for the last 2. I know I could move up in stakes but risking $5000 in a session on a game with such variance feels irresponsible.
I find it difficult to pinpoint specific mistakes other than too lose, too aggressive etc. One problem is that you just don't get to see other players cards all that often. Any suggestions?
I find it harder to play against splashy players. They are completely unprictable. You also end up having a lot more players play until the end. It’s hard when you have like 5-6 players play to the end.
Playing against them on apps that have credit instead of real money vs now playing 0.02$/0.05$, I also agree that it’s much harder to play against people who just pay anything to see the flop over and over; just no consistency in how strong their hands are or any real patterns to what they do. When there is something to be actually lost, it is much easier to prey on people who play tighter. However, I do agree that playing by against a single or 2 splashy players is great as you don’t have to constantly be prepared for every hand to be called by 5 people no matter what you open raise to - you can instead just play for value/tighter a little more than you normally would
You're not adjusting. In these games, you need to loosen up preflop and tighten up post flop. In games like what you described, understand that big unsuited cards go down in value and hands like small suited connectors and smaller pairs go up in value. As long as there isn't a ton of raising, preflop positional range becomes a little less important. If you're in EP, you can limp with suited connectors and small pairs more often, again as long as there isn't a ton of raising. And if 5 players limp to you and you're in late position, consider raising with small suited connectors, and smaller pairs if they consistently check to thw raiser. You can see the turn for free very often in this spot. In both these scenarios, you can just throw away the unsuited big cards like AT, AJ, KJ, QJ, KT, QT. Don't go crazy with the one and 2 gap small suited cards either. You want to be connected. Post flop, you need to be careful with top pair holdings on busy boards. AK is great when it comes K82 rainbow, but its not so great when it comes KT8 with 2 suits and theres 5 people in. Also, Ax and Kx suited, and maybe Qx suited in position, go up in value against people who will limp any 2 suited cards.
How do I know when I need to consult private lessons? At what point do I realize that PLs are the most efficient way to get better? Ps. What are some guidelines for high value questions I should be asking to maximize my improvements?
idk but most 2NL players are 10 to 20VPIP on avarage... its easier winning 10NL than 2NL (30k hands on 2NL and im around -20dollars), on 10NL im +200dollars.. idk how to win 2NL and idk if i even have to at this point
Just make some nonsense comment about luck when you change seats. If you’ve been lucky, say you think you’re luck is gonna change and if you’ve been unlucky just mention that as you change seats, only the good players will know you’re full of it.
Right. Never hurts to say shlt like “man I hope I don’t get Aces again, I haven’t won with them all year”, or some other nonsensical thing that will make you sound like you’re a card player and not a student of the game.
![$1/$2 Cash Game Preflop Strategy [Mastering The Fundamentals]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/49eaxUxRTPo/mqdefault.jpg)
Mr. Little, I just want to thank you for your constant output of pristine poker teaching content for free here on your channel. You are a gifted communicator and every video is a master class on poker. Every time that you formulate a sentence it has a purpose and conveys invaluable information. Thanks again for making us better poker players, human thinkers and, to some extent, to ENABLE some of us to make a living playing this game seriously.
That's very kind of you to say, I appreciate it!
A digestible length of video from Jonathan Little. My dream come true.
Hahahaha
THANKS FOR YOUR GREAT TIPS. MY GAME HAS IMPROVED IMMENSLY SINCE I STARTED USING YOUR STRATEGIES. I PLAY IN A LOCAL CARD ROOM SMALL STAKES TOURNAMENTS. IVE BEEN TO 6 FINAL TABLES INA ROW AND CASHED 3 TIMES. YESTERDAY FOR $600, & LAST WEEK FOR $480, ORDINARILY, I WOULD HAVE NEVER GONE THAT FAR. EXCEPT, FOR YOUOR BRILLIANT VLOGS. THANKS EVER SO MUCH!!!
You're welcome! Congratulations on your cashes!
Thanks for this video of solid tips.
A request: I would love to see a video about how much information you try to gather before labelling someone as a particular player type in a live game. I see a lot of mention of different player types in videos like this, and I would love you to walk us through how many hands / showdowns, and what kind, you need to observe before you label someone as "straightforward", for example.
Love your honesty Jonathan...❤
You're welcome!
Always good stuff from you M. Little , tx for sharing !
Glad you enjoyed it Raphael!
Happy to hear #1, since I heavily utilize this lol
Thank you for the reminders
You're welcome!
I love your vids Jonathan. How are you adjusting to your opponents while multi tabling 14 tables though?
Likely using a HUD of some sort. Maybe multiple HUDs if that’s possible.
Thanks!!
As a cash game player myself, you do not get to pick and choose what tables to play on. Casino usually have a waiting list to play, and as players bust or decide to leave, the floor manager will fill the empty seat according to the list. You can only request a seat change or a table change once you've already played a few hands.
He covered that scenario!
I feel like the biggest tip I can give is to get used to variance. Many people just starting out limit volume because mentally they are just not used to losing 5 buy-ins in a session, even though a solid winning player will have losses that large quite frequently if they play a lot.
You are punting way too much if you lose 5 buy ins in a session and probably have a gambling problem. Been playing 40+ hours a week for over a decade and never needed more than 2 bullets and if I ever did I would go home rather than play on tilt
For live this may be true, but for online play (especially when playing multiple tables) you WILL lose 5 bullets a session at least once in awhile if you keep playing for a few hours, even without tilt or poor play. @@charlesdean640
@@charlesdean640 wait till he tries tournament poker
I beg to differ on your point 2.4, where you said "Look to get position on the worst players." That is certainly true at the games you play, but at the low stakes games that I play, it's more important to get position on the crazy big-bet players. It is *often* true that these are the worst players, but not always.
You asked for additional hacks. Here is mine:
A fairly small percentage of your win rate is determined by how you play when you are getting good cards and connecting with the board. It's true that maximizing your wins is important, but it is a much smaller effect on your win rate than how you play when you are getting bad cards or (even worse) good starting hands that miss.
This is where I see otherwise good players blast off all their winnings and then some.
After two hours of card dead, then you finally get a top pair with OK kicker with your QJs, do you still have the discipline to lay it down if the tight player check-raises you?
Bad players and players that crazy big bets aren’t mutually exclusive. Usually they’re one and the same
@@omgbaxtergames Oh, I definitely agree. I said they are *often* the worst players, but not always. Sometimes, however, they are pretty crazy preflop but they are very sharp post-flop.
You are one of the very few coaches who honestly talks about how players will go on long downswings. I suspect that most poker vloggere on TH-cam haven't experienced major downswings yet because the time period is so relatively short for vlogging. Possibly, that is also why very few pros from 25 years back are still successful.
If you’re a pro whether it was years ago or now, then I imagine you understand long downswings. I think it’s more or less that they stopped putting in the necessary work to stay ahead of the competition as the game evolved ever since the poker boom.
Rampage just found that out the hard way. Dude is down 7 figures right now.😢
Great point. Any player I’ve known goes on long bad runs. Regardless of skill. Refer back to focusing on bankroll vs game levels
I’ve been playing since 1997. I think I’m just below winning at this point but I tip extremely well, and my focus is to have fun. Winning some tournaments or beating tough games for years or nearly breaking even is a win. SF Bay Area isn’t some easy ass joint
Great info
Glad it was helpful Richard
The game is really good here in Florida.I only have about 300 hours this year but at 46bb /100. Play somewhat tight and exploit weaknesses. Show a bluff early and get called light the rest of the day. The few losing sessions I've had were just some variance. 1 and 2 outed on some rivers after getting money in good. I finally never let that get to me or tilt me. Only time I get tilted if I make a bad mistake myself. I continue to play tired and do something stupid like read the board or my hand wrong.
You're in Jacksonville aren't you?
Out of curiosity, how do you measure your “46bb/100”? Specifically, how are you counting the hands in order to get the correct denominator for that? The numerator is east of course as it’s just whatever your net gain/loss is over all your sessions. But are you counting hands each session, or counting orbits, and then just estimating by saying “well it’s a 9-handed table and sometimes a player is away from the table, so I will count each orbit as 8.5 hands”, or something else?
@Trephining i think estimating 25 hands per hour will get you a more conservative win rate . In my local casino I've seen the dealer data and the slowest dealers deal at 20 hands/hr. The fastest at 26/hr.
@Trephining I use bankroll tracking app pro. It's 8 handed at average 30 hands an hour. Can be more or less depending on the dealer. To get an accurate hand count, I set a timer and used a counter app to get the hand count ..
@@Jamesskains tampa/ st pete.
I really like this 🔥☺
Philly! Parx, Rivers (Sugarhouse), or Live?
Ha...following...going to be heading there for first time in a couple weeks and wondering same!
Parx seems to have the best game selection from what I’ve seen.
@@Trephining Thanks...happened to run into a Philly native at my out of state casino and he echoed that
hey bro been watching u for a lil while but love your ch keep it up i made it 16 place in a 600 person online tournament lil by lil i gettting there
That is awesome, congratulations!
" they haven't moved up and neither have you " I just started lol. The good thing is that I'm not playing anywhere near great poker, but I'm up almost $2000 at this point playing for a short amount of time. Thanks Jonathon
Nice man, just remember to keep learning and be aware of how much was from gold decision making and how much was just pure luck. That $2000 can easily swing the other way if your playing a real high variance play style. Im speaking from first hand experience lol. My biggest session has been +$5000 and my biggest losing session has been -$3800.
This is part of Jonathan’s teaching that I don’t really agree with. The reality is most players are recreational and don’t have aspirations to be professionals. That doesn’t mean that they necessarily less skilled. Most of the people playing $2-$5 or greater really have no business gambling the dollar amounts they do. The comment above for example, if you are swinging $3000-$4000 in a session or two and your annual income is less than $150,000 you’re probably making an irresponsible financial decision. There’s nothing wrong with spending 2% or 5% or your income on something you love to do but let’s not pretend that just because that person moved up in stakes they are necessarily better, they might just be willing to lose more. I’ve played $1-$2 at $1000 capped for probably 3 years and been profitable for the last 2. I know I could move up in stakes but risking $5000 in a session on a game with such variance feels irresponsible.
I find it difficult to pinpoint specific mistakes other than too lose, too aggressive etc. One problem is that you just don't get to see other players cards all that often. Any suggestions?
Thank you for the consisten videos
My pleasure Craig!
I find it harder to play against splashy players. They are completely unprictable. You also end up having a lot more players play until the end. It’s hard when you have like 5-6 players play to the end.
Playing against them on apps that have credit instead of real money vs now playing 0.02$/0.05$, I also agree that it’s much harder to play against people who just pay anything to see the flop over and over; just no consistency in how strong their hands are or any real patterns to what they do.
When there is something to be actually lost, it is much easier to prey on people who play tighter.
However, I do agree that playing by against a single or 2 splashy players is great as you don’t have to constantly be prepared for every hand to be called by 5 people no matter what you open raise to - you can instead just play for value/tighter a little more than you normally would
You're not adjusting. In these games, you need to loosen up preflop and tighten up post flop. In games like what you described, understand that big unsuited cards go down in value and hands like small suited connectors and smaller pairs go up in value. As long as there isn't a ton of raising, preflop positional range becomes a little less important. If you're in EP, you can limp with suited connectors and small pairs more often, again as long as there isn't a ton of raising. And if 5 players limp to you and you're in late position, consider raising with small suited connectors, and smaller pairs if they consistently check to thw raiser. You can see the turn for free very often in this spot. In both these scenarios, you can just throw away the unsuited big cards like AT, AJ, KJ, QJ, KT, QT. Don't go crazy with the one and 2 gap small suited cards either. You want to be connected.
Post flop, you need to be careful with top pair holdings on busy boards. AK is great when it comes K82 rainbow, but its not so great when it comes KT8 with 2 suits and theres 5 people in. Also, Ax and Kx suited, and maybe Qx suited in position, go up in value against people who will limp any 2 suited cards.
games that have feeder system, the feeder table will always be the best
How do I know when I need to consult private lessons?
At what point do I realize that PLs are the most efficient way to get better?
Ps.
What are some guidelines for high value questions I should be asking to maximize my improvements?
idk but most 2NL players are 10 to 20VPIP on avarage... its easier winning 10NL than 2NL (30k hands on 2NL and im around -20dollars), on 10NL im +200dollars.. idk how to win 2NL and idk if i even have to at this point
I will be buying in for $250 on a 1000 bankroll and you can’t stop me. I am the river goblin.
Just make some nonsense comment about luck when you change seats. If you’ve been lucky, say you think you’re luck is gonna change and if you’ve been unlucky just mention that as you change seats, only the good players will know you’re full of it.
Right. Never hurts to say shlt like “man I hope I don’t get Aces again, I haven’t won with them all year”, or some other nonsensical thing that will make you sound like you’re a card player and not a student of the game.
Shouldn’t this be titled: 3 hacks to crush… Little stakes?
Ok I’ll see myself out.
You're a clever wordsmith and a cunning linguist 😅
Firtst to comment :)
My 12 year old grew out of that comment years ago
@@supremeleaderarmy9164was that before or after they grew out of leaving negative comments in general?
Great video please Mr Little slow down speaking a little bit. Awesome advice!
second to comment :(
This was a collissal waste of my time. Dont waste yours