RMickelson13

I thought the same thing. It "seems" simple. It also depends if you're playing in a Live or Online environment. Like jwalthour had mentioned, going over all of this in your head during the game play isn't the easiest thing. To make it a habit, PSH, every time! We have to consciously think about each of the factors, each and every hand, one hand at a time, every time! Awesome stuff Owen!

Excellent video! Very surprised there aren't more comments and a huge thread about this... it is the basics and fundamentals ....the PROCESS that makes the biggest differences. I learned a lot. Thanks Owen!

Attitude is everything! I sold cars for half a decade and during that time, I tried to stay sharp (like we do with RIO training and other resources to improve our game at poker) practicing good salesmanship, dealing with people correctly, and during my research and development period, I came across a book by Napolean Hill, called, "Law of Success," with nothing but practical approaches to living, thinking, business, and everything that matters with the Growth Mindset --- this is great stuff and is a way of life. Thank you Leszek. Good luck at the tables and in life and hope all is well!

Thank you and I agree. I couldn't quit being a loser, quit drinking and quit smoking cigarettes all in one year ;)

The Big $109 Notes

22:31 in to the action, the 6-9o hand was beautifully played and the call on the river absolutely made sense because, like you, I thought that the only reason that villain went all in was because that was the only way he thought he could win the hand...to get hero off the hand and take the pot down. The line of play just didn’t make sense from the villain, good read, great call Espen.

With everyone folding pre-flop back around to hero on the SB, a raise with this hand facing only the BB is just fine. We (hero) hit a good flop, not a bad turn, which our opponent/villain was trying to represent the deuce I suspect, and then tries to represent the Ace on the river I guess ...Any more thoughts?

Right around 31:00 in to the action, you have A-Jo from the Button and have re-raised the villain (winnetou1402) a few times earlier and the dynamic of the game I believe is in your favor, you have momentum, winnetou1402 could be even "sick of getting bullied", based on prior play and their willingness to get it in light and we usually dominate their range, and during this hand, you just call. I guess if you have A-Qo or better, a raise is better??? and A-J, A-T, K-Q, Q-J even, calls are okay...? I am a big believer in switching it up and in a cash game, I would consider a call about 50% of the time with hands like A-Ko to A-To even, but in a tournament with the blinds constantly going up, I think I would choose to punish my opponent and charge top dollar. What are your thoughts?

I say this because I was in a hand over the weekend on a Saturday that was similar, however, was in a live cash game and I thought about it the whole way home (an hour drive from the venue), the whole day Sunday, and all day at work...so I am in a 6-player cash game, playing $1/2 NL Hold Em, I am UTG, straddles are allowed, and no one has yet to straddle so i decide to spice the game up a little bit, honestly to encourage action to the other players. I straddle $4, get 1 caller from Middle-Late position and a player that has just joined the table sitting in the SB, who is fairly aggressive and has a wide range decides to raise to $20. The BB folds, I look at A-Qs of spades, I like it, and I decide to just call. I think I made a mistake and should have raised to $55, taking back control of the hand. Some more factors I forgot to take into account was that I was winning, had the biggest stack, and my table image was good. Should I call here? Should I have re-raised and made it something like $50 or even more? What other things should I consider here? Also, in the A-J hand that you had, do you think you should have re-raised to something like 7.5k to 9.5k or even shove? I know you said you think a 3-bet might have been better, but more specifically, what sizing would you have chosen, based on all the factors, his stack size, yours, your hand vs his, history, etc.?

Back to my hand that I was involved in and put in a tough spot...The flop comes J-J-7. It’s heads up between the SB who raised my straddle pre-flop and I and he checks, I decide to check back. An Ace comes on the turn and he checks quickly, I decide to check it back now to try and induce a bet from villain on the river as I believe he had something like 88, 99, TT..or worse at this point, something maybe like A-T, small pocket pairs, I don’t think I am up against QQ or KK or I believe I would have faced a c-bet on the flop for sure, AA is less likely with me holding one and one being on the board. AK crushes me and any J-x combo has me crushed. The river comes a Ten and I get what I wished for as villain bets out $50, about a pot-size bet. What would you do here? What would others do here? (open to suggestions and opening up a discussion)

I will let you/others know what I did shortly and also let you/others know what my opponent/villain had as well.