The Rec Poker Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Ep 076 - No Limit Tournament Paradigm Apr 23, 2018

Show notes

I have been playing tournament poker recreationally for 6 years and feel like I have been learning strategy piecemeal as I have increased how much I play. However, I often feel like I’m lacking an overall approach to the game; like some of the tools I have in different situations are not really congruent with each other; like they don’t necessarily fit into an overall strategy -- and I am wired with a need to have an overall construct or framework upon which everything else is built. So, I’m curious if you have a general overall strategy when it comes to tournaments upon which all the tools fit into -- and, if so, how would you describe that overall strategy. Another way to think about this would be if you were advising a brand new player and you wanted to give them some high level, overall strategic thoughts about how to approach a tourney - what would you say? And how would you have them start building their skills on that overall framework?

Ep 075 - Staking & Investing plus tipping Apr 16, 2018

Show notes

What are the various types of staking arrangements that are out there (for both pros & recreational players)? Have you personally had investors or invested in others (what types of arrangements)? What are the pros & cons? Any advice for less experienced recreational players who want to move up in stakes but don’t have the personal bankroll to do it? Ideas on financial support/backing to help make that happen? SIDE QUESTION: What is your approach to tipping after cashing tournaments?

Ep 074 - Luck Apr 09, 2018

Show notes

Bad beat stories are incredibly common in poker rooms everywhere, and many of us feel that others are luckier than others. How can we handle the luck factor in poker and our emotional response to that? What kind of advice do you give someone who consistently gets it in good in the biggest spots in tournaments, but seems to always lose?

Ep 073 - Post-flop bet sizing Apr 03, 2018

Show notes

Throughout our hand examples, we have heard a number of different thoughts about bet sizing post-flop, but I would like to dig a little bit into this directly. I know our pros prefer to address specific hand situations, but I would really like our listeners to be able to understand a bit more of the strategic theory behind bet sizing on the flop. Let's assume blinds are 100/200 and we all have at least 10,000 chips (50 big blinds). We raised from middle position to 500, we got called by the button and the blinds folded, so a pot of 1,300 chips. Regardless of what we are holding, the flop will either: 1) Be great for us 2) Be really bad for us 3) Not be great or horrible for us, but better for our range than our opponents 4) Not be great or horrible for us, but better for our opponents range than ours Assuming we decide we want to continuation bet, how does the flop connection with our hand (the four options above) impact the size of our bet -- or do we bet the same size regardless of how we connected? How does our opponent playing style impact our bet sizing? Are there any other major factors that could impact the size of our bet?

Ep 072 - Pre-flop bet sizing at a loose table Mar 26, 2018

Show notes

In prior episodes we have talked about bet sizing to open pots including the potential of varying the size base on stage of tournament, position, and the adjustments for limpers. This question is specifically about the risk & reward of playing at loose tables early in tournaments. In many of the weekly tournaments I play ($100 or less), a raise to 2.5 to 3.5 big blinds invites 4-5 calls most of the time. In order to successfully steal blinds or even get to heads up post-flop, you would need to open raise to about 5-6 big blinds. However, this seems like an extreme amount of risk for the reward of picking up 1.5 big blinds (if everyone folds). So, in these situations, I wonder what the optimal strategy might be. Let's say I am in early/mid position, UTG+1 with 99 and we are all basically sitting at the 10k starting stack with blinds at 25/50. It's too early to have dead reads on everyone but I expect it to play like most of these tournaments with a bet of 200 not accomplishing much, or getting it down to 3-4 players minimum. Because of the high risk, low reward, I'm wondering if this is a spot to just limp even though I hate open limping -- my rationale being that if I'm going to basically be set mining in a multi-way pot, and if I hit a set I will likely get paid, I might as well enter the pot as cheaply as possible... and if there is a raise after me, I could consider 3-betting against certain opponents (or at least to isolate). Another option would be to just raise to my standard, preferred size of 2.5-3.0 times the big blind and try navigate the mutli-way pot. The other option would be to raise large, say to 400 for a chance to win 75 or get heads up with someone and try to outflop or outplay them. Thoughts?

Ep 071 - Adjusting for fast, small buy-in tournaments Mar 20, 2018

Show notes

Many of the books, and even input from our resident pros, is within the context of a larger buy-in tournament which is generally much deeper stacked and longer blind levels. What are some the key things we need to bear in mind when considering input about those tournaments and how it translates to the small, weekly tournaments? These are tournaments where you perhaps start with 10,000 chips and face blind levels of 15-20 minutes. Although average stack should not be the benchmark, it is useful as a reference point -- and in these low buy-in weekly tournaments, often the final table has an average stack of 10-15 big blinds. How do we adjust our learning about larger tournament strategy and what are the key things to consider in these types of tournaments that is different than the larger buy-in, multiple day tournaments?

Ep 070 - Steves Running Aces Pot O' Gold experience Mar 12, 2018

Show notes

Steve discuss his strategies going into the Pot O' Gold tournament at Running Aces which features 6 day 1 flights, buy backs, and an accumulator bonus. He discusses how to approach the end of day 1 depending on your overall strategy in the tournament, some general tournament strategies he is fine-tuning, and a specific hand or two from the tournament.

Ep 069 - Big stack end of day 1 & on bubble Mar 06, 2018

Show notes

In this episode we address a second question from rec player Don Dukate: When I have a decent stack nearing the bubble (bagging for day 2 or the money bubble), I think my play tends to become too loose/aggressive and I lose a lot (if not all) of my chips. Is this just a natural part of things or what things should I consider to see if I have a leak or am playing sub-optimally?

Ep 068 - Big stack early & middle of tournament Feb 26, 2018

Show notes

In this episode we address a question from rec player Don Dukate: I sometimes get a big stack early, maybe first three levels. I was looking for input how to play the big stack. Do you apply more pressure, see more flops, or other? I don't seem to capitalize on this advantage and am not sure what should be my overall approach; or changes to my current approach.

Ep 067 - Online 5-handed; TT in Big Blind Feb 20, 2018

Show notes

$11 6-max online tournament We are about 40th place of the 180 remaining from about 400 entries; top 54 will get paid. We have 28k chips with blinds at 25/500 (so 56 big blinds) Our opponent (or “villain”) in this had is about 3rd in chips with 67k •Villain in the cut-off has recently added quite a bit of chips to his stack and has picked up his aggression, he quickly went from 11k to 67k in the past 16 hands where he has played 10 of them. •Out of a total 56 hand sample size -- He is playing 38% VPIP (voluntarily put chips in) with 17% PR (preflop raise). •He has only 3 bet once and never 4 bet. •He has C-bet 100% of the time and folded to a c-bet 3/7 times. •He has won every hand (6/6) that he went showdown (this includes the 3 all-ins below). •In his big winning hands he open-limped and called a raise with 22 and then shoved All-In over a c-bet with a set (22k shove over a 2.1k c-bet). And then called two all-ins (16-20BBs) pre with KJo and AQo *** PRE-FLOP *** Player1(UTG): folds Villain(CO): raises 1,000 Player2(BTN): folds Player3(SB): folds Hero (BB): raises to 3,500 with [Ts Th] Villain: calls 2,500 *** FLOP *** [Ks 5h 6c] Hero: bets 3,500 Villain: calls 3,500 *** TURN *** [Ks 5h 6c] [3h] Hero: bets 4,000 Villain: calls 4,000 *** RIVER *** [Ks 5h 6c] [3h] [Ac] Hero (17k): what should we do ???

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