Saturday, August 18, 2012

First Week: Potential Overload

The bitch about APA VIP Training week one has and always will be the tech setup.  Register the accounts, download and install poker clients, download and install pokertracker, pokerstove, camtasia, teamviewer, skype... hand charts, training files, reading assignments, tracking reports...checkyourbets setup...

Oh my god, let it all stop!

But it doesn't stop there, because after installation - assuming that goes well and smoothly - comes the part where I must have the answer to the question:  "What do all these things mean?!?"

I was a model student in my training days for one reason above others - I was able to figure all this crap out by myself.  But I (and others before me) am more likely to be the exception than the rule.


The biggest threat to a student in the first week is overload.  It is a fine line to walk:  Show a student how pokertracker works, but don't overwhelm him into a stupor.  I try to reduce it to simplest terms to start:

VP$IP tells you how often a guy plays a hand he is dealt.  We just call it VPIP.  If he plays every hand, he is VPIP 100.  If he never plays a hand, he is VPIP zero.  PFR tells you how often the guy comes in with a raise.  If he raises every hand he plays, his PFR will be equal to his VPIP.  If he never raises, his PFR will be zero, regardless of VPIP.  AFq tells you how a guy is likely to act - whether he is more likely to bet or check/call.  AF tells you how the guy is likely to respond to you - whether he is more likely to call, or more likely to raise/fold.  3betPF, Fold to PF3bet, Fcbet, Tcbet, Fold to FCbet...all percentages suggesting the likelihood of each action...WTSD, W$SD, W$WSF, BB/100... ATS, Fold BB to Stl...Float F, Float T... Hey, you can look at all these ranges on pokerstove...!!!

A soft squishy poof, and I imagine bits of brain scattering all over his monitor and keyboard.


I end a long session with a promise that "it will all become clearer as you play, so for now just play your normal game and the HUD will naturally start to make sense."

Yeah, right.  I just got a student excited about pokertracker.  I just demonstrated how I can make exciting 3bets or floats or check-raises using just HUD info. I just loaded a student's poker client GUI with a hundred little numbers overlaid onto the poker table.  And I expect him to kinda ignore all that and play 'normally"...?

A text message in a godforsaken hour describes how he raised his BB against a UTG limper.  He had J4o.  UTG calls and they are heads up.  The flop is J62r, he cbets for value and gets raised.  He 3bets, gets 4bet-shoved, and calls with Top Pair, less-than-crap-kicker.

As I am reading this and wondering how this horrible story was going to end, a question is asked - I forget exactly, but it was about some number on the UTG Villain's HUD, and if he interpreted it correctly.

"Dude, you don't need a HUD to know that you can't possibly be good with J4o on a J62r board against a raise and shove!!!"


So yes, this happens.  I overloaded him.  This settles down however, and things settle in naturally (I hope!) after this initial short-circuit.


The actual fundamental rationale behind all these tools is something I intend to delve deeper into beginning week 2.  Unlike all my previous Programs, this is the first time I did not start Week one with this.

In any case, here's a sneak preview:  Poker, like business, is a game.  A game of decisions.  Decisions are created out of accurate information.  So whoever has the closest-to-accurate set of information is able to make the superior decision.

This is why we pokertrack.  Good decision to bet versus bad decision to call = clear winner.  Good decision to bluff versus better decision to call = slight winner.

Ability to use and decipher HUD versus playing with instincts = runaway winner.


This is why we checkyourbets.  Good decision to play versus bad decision to play over the optimal number of hours = loser.


PT3 guide Files have been uploaded to our APA Philippines VIP Training Group on Facebook.

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