PokerSimple

 

PokerSimple videos are for cash-game fanatics. Think of them as fun with benefits.

Lee Jones and I dive deep into strategy topics such as donking the flop, folding to 3-bets, and the math of shorthanded. And mental issues such as quitting, bankroll, and tilt.

I hope you have fun in here. And that you take away something useful.

Defending the Big Blind

Defending the big blind with middling hands is a mistake.

0:16 − The worst play in poker
2:23 − Position matters
4:34 − Defending the button
6:40 − Pocket pairs, aces, and other
11:17 − Closing the action

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Long Sessions

To play long poker sessions optimally requires training and planning. Being better than your opponents isn’t enough. You have to remain better, all the way to the end, every night. That’s how you crush poker for life.

1:11 – Marathon man
3:05 – The most important thing
5:46 – Standing up
7:20 – Profitable comportment while stuck
11:08 – Plotting your exploitations

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Taking Shots

Moving up. Taking shots at higher stakes at poker. You see the bigger game at the next table over. When should you take your seat?

3:08 – Leave your ego at home.
5:15 – Betting Strategy Changes
7:22 – Bankroll
10:28 – Our Shot-taking Stories
13:03 – Thrills Matter

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Donking the Flop

Do unto others as you wish they wouldn’t do unto you. That’s one of the lessons in this deep dive into donk betting.

0:30 – Headsup pots
1:46 – Balanced checking
4:13 – Multiway pots
9:11 – Defending against donk bets
10:54 – Wet boards and dry boards

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Expert Quitting

What does expert quitting mean at poker? What if, instead of playing bad when you’re stuck, you just up and quit the game instead? What would that do for your bankroll? And just think of all that next-day pain you could avoid. If only you were an expert quitter!

1:46 – Cinderella Syndrome
2:51 – Practicing quitting
4:20 – Curfews
5:28 – Stop losses
9:30 – Birds and Elephants

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The Math and Emotion of Short-handed

A lot of people avoid short-handed play because they aren’t sure how to play it. We suggest ways to thrive at short-handed, while having more fun and making more profit per hour. Specifically, don’t change a thing.

1:09 – More Decisions = More Money
3:50 – Don’t play more hands per position.
5:27 – The number of empty chairs doesn’t matter.
7:23 – Short-handed is fun and profitable.

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Two Hands Analyzed

Welcome to round one of Talking Hands, where we dive into analyzing submitted hands. This week you’ll see AK-suited flop a flush draw on a paired board, and pocket sixes flopping a set on a dry board against an aggro. Come on in!

0:50 – Hand 1: AK of clubs
4:20 – Way ahead or way behind
6:32 – Hand 2: Pocket sixes
7:12 – Maximum extraction
13:06 – Go for the gold

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Cell Phone Distraction

Optimization requires attention, yet all of us are packing the most distracting invention of all time. Have you ever thought your phone was costing you money at the table? Well, you’re right. It is.

0:46 – Brain Drain
6:24 – Less Phone = More Tilt
7:41 – Leave it in the car. We dare you.
10:14 – Training your impulse control
12:30 – Take this to the casino

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Preflop Bet Sizing

Are you sometimes sure that you want to raise preflop, but are unsure of how much? These easy-to-use formulas will take the pain out of preflop bet sizing.

1:56 – How much to raise?
5:20 – Absolute dollars matter.
7:02 – Out of position? More please.
9:10 – 3-bets
11:35 – The meta-game

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Folding the Small Blind in Limped Pots

As much as you love the button, that’s how much you should hate the small blind. That’s the theme this week as we examine the most pluggable leak in poker.

0:47 – Nothing Is Worse
1:54 – Your Act-Last Percentage
7:00 – A 50% Folding Range
10:29 − When You Flop One Pair
12:03 – Take this to the casino…

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Surviving Card Death

It’s hard to remain steady when the best thing you’ve seen in half an hour is ten-eight off-suit. But with the right perspective, and a few mental tools, your best game can stay alive when you’re card dead.

2:56 – Folding is poker too.
3:41 – Entitlement
6:15 – Don’t count on fold equity.
9:42 – Distraction for Discipline
11:00 – You’re not card dead.

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Tipping Etiquette

Who, what, when, why, where, and how much to tip.
1:18 – Tipping Based on Performance
4:57 – The Tipping Economy
7:51 – How tight can I tip?
9:32 – Split Pots
11:39 – Take this to the casino…

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Poker Combinatorics

Whether you are a poker combo expert or a newbie, this episode is for you. We start with an overview of how to work with poker combos, and then we give a specific usage that will save you a ton of money.

1:31 – A Combos Primer
4:29 – The Blakeman Bluffing Discount Theorem
10:36 – Math incoming
11:16 – They always have it
12:49 – Do try this at home

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Squeeze Plays

How’s your squeezing? Do you do it enough? Do you get squeezed too often? Don’t you hate that? This video is about cashing in both sides of the squeezing coin: Doing it to others, and not having it done to you.

1:31 – When Calls Become Raises
3:52 – The Double Squeeze
8:36 – How to Not Get Squeezed
10:12 – Herds of Limpers Attract Squeezers
11:41 – The Deep Trap

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Are You an Ethical Poker Player?

Is it possible to be an ethical poker player? Can you be your best self at a poker table? It is okay to take the sucker’s money? If you see something wrong, should you say something? These are among the tough questions we ask and answer in this week’s episode.

1:26 – Can I be an ethical poker player?
5:37 – The Noble Warrior
8:48 – Tactical Pain Infliction
11:44 – Angles
13:37 – When should I speak up?

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The Field Guide to Villains

How do you win the most from the worst? How do you lose the least to the best? Once you have correctly placed a player in one of the four boxes, how do you extract the max? Join us in this detailed discussion of villain types, and how to slay them.

1:21 – Loose Passive
5:15 – Tight Passive
8:19 – Loose Aggressive
12:04 – Tight Aggressive

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Letting Go of Results

We agree with Yoda. And all the other great sages who advise us to let go of the past. Now let’s aim their wisdom at your poker.

0:53 − Stay in Your Universe
4:10 − One Forgotten Card
5:26 − Confirmation Bias
7:34 − The Greatest Skill There Is
13:06 − Bad Beat Stories

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Poker Tells

Winning the information war is simple, but not easy. In this week’s episode, we break it down. How to gain more info, and send less. Without getting all serious about it.

3:32 – Trust Evolution
7:57 – Narrowing Ranges on Sixth Street
9:38 – Polarized Tell Ranges
10:58 – The Greatest Tell of All
16:53 – You Have the Right to Remain Silent

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Should You 3-bet with Ace-King?

It’s tempting to re-raise with AK before the flop no matter what. But is that always the best strategy? We think not.

1:20 – Definitely 3-bet AK on the button.
2:03 – But what if you’re on the big blind?
5:50 – Before you 3-bet AK out of position, have a post-flop plan.
9:25 – Playing post-flop if you didn’t 3-bet
11:17 – Sometimes the obvious thing is the best thing.

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Pot Committed

You’re in to the end. You’re showdown bound. You’re pot committed. But are they? Join us for a look at the moment-of-truth that makes no-limit hold’em the great game that it is.

0:52 – This is the Question to Ask
2:40 – This Means They Have It.
4:44 – Know Your Future
5:08 – Last Money in Pot
6:58 – Take this to the casino…

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Going Pro

The freedom. The despair. The soaring. The plunging. It’s all in your future when you quit your job and go pro. That’s what we dive into this week. Or rather, off of. The cliff.

2:26 – Upsides of Being a Pro
7:31 – Funding Your Startup
9:09 – Where to Live
13:15 – The Game Does Not Remain the Same
15:09 – To Jump or Not to Jump

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This Means They Have It

It’s hard to fold a good hand on the river. But it’s damn profitable if you get it right. Today’s video will help you make this crucial laydown when you should.

0:37 − Passive + Passive + Aggressive = Big Hand.
6:47 − Winning the Reciprocality Battle
7:16 − Bet until they bet out of nowhere. Then fold.
9:03 − The Tom Hand Rule

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Optimal Poker Bankroll Deployment

What is a poker bankroll? Your poker bankroll affects both how you play and how you feel. Bankroll decisions are poker decisions. They matter just as much as hand selection and bluffing frequency.

1:08 − What is a Poker Bankroll?
2:16 − Did You Know You Have Four Bankrolls?
6:45 − The Short-Stack Last-Money Blues
10:00 − How Much to Take?
11:33 − The Difference Between Low and Medium Stakes

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Seat Selection

It’s easy to have the best seat in the house, but only if you know where it is. Let us escort you to yours. And while you’re here, please leave a comment below. It can be a story, a question, or a topic request.

0:54 – Follow the Money Clockwise
1:28 – There’s You and One Other Big Stack
2:24 – Putting Players Where You Want Them
5:23 – Exploiting the Telegraphers

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Betting Sets

We do love our sets. They’re so exciting! And hugely profitable. But only if you know how to cash them in.

1:27 − Maximum extraction
2:47 − Bet the wet boards
5:56 − Bet to get stack-saving info
9:48 − Bet into big fields
11:30 − Bet your sets.

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Is Tight Still Right?

Should modern poker strategy be different? Is tight still right? Are you playing too many poker hands? We think some small changes in your poker strategy will improve your results.

0:15 − We’re all smarter now.
3:43 − Feeling comfortable and leakless
7:50 − How tight are the loosest pros?
9:58 − Nits
14:15 − Is tight still right?

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Folding Pocket Jacks Before the Flop

Thanks for watching, and please keep the feedback coming in the comments below. This band does take requests.

0:57 − Folding to 4-Bets
2:48 − Facing Two Raisers
3:48 − When to Set-mine with Pocket Jacks
7:00 − If it’s wrong to fold, it’s not wrong by much.
8:14 − How to Make the Fold

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Straddle Battles

Straddle hands are fun to play, and even more fun to exploit.

0:48 – Straddles are the new big blind.
1:55 – Double the blind, double your raise.
2:50 – Straddles and Starting Hand Ranges
5:25 – A straddle cuts the stacks in half.
7:01 – “I used to be that a**hole”

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Limp Reraising

Dear poker lovers, We are thrilled with all the great feedback we’ve received so far. Please keep your ideas coming in the comments below. Please be advised that we tweet, we coach, and we’ve got merch!

0:58 − A mental leak we all share
1:33 − Accept the inevitable before it happens
2:54 − When to limp reraise with big pairs
5:17 − Tommy’s limp-reraise-with-any-pair strategy
9:00 − Barreling all flops

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No Calling Allowed

Go forth and 3-bet.

1:24 – 3-Betting with JTs
2:16 – The Power of 3-Betting
5:43 – 3-bet then C-bet
6:03 – From the Villain’s Perspective
8:19 – Special Guests!

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Value Betting the Turn

We hope you enjoyed our first video. Please stay tuned for more.

1:30 – Why Tommy bets the turn
3:12 – Folding to the check-raise
5:03 – Folding over-pairs
7:38 – Betting the River
10:17 – Setting the price on the river
12:07 – Meta-game value of betting the river
13:07 – Make the flush draws pay

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Goodbye from PokerSimple

We love you. Seriously! So we made you this little movie to say so. And to say goodbye. It wasn’t the longest ride, but man was it fun. You can stay in touch with us via email at tommy@tommyangelo.com and jonesleeh@gmail.com.

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