I really enjoyed the video and love the replayer format because it's easy for him to pause/rewind to talk about specific concepts. Great video Foucault

Thanks, bw!

This looks very promising! I like the format of concepts being broken up in series. It allows very clear explanations.

This concept in particular was one of the things I understood pretty well already in my opinion and I still learned a couple of things.

I'm definatly looking forward to the other parts of this series, and the other academy videos aswell.

great vid bud

Very gd vid. It was a nice change from simply sweating someone because instead of rushing concepts due to fast play all the time needed could be taken to explain things thoroughly.

Thx bigjimmylea1:)

Nice vid! I wouldn't change anything.

Coffee or tea, Foucault?

Great video btw, learnt a lot.

Great video. I appreciate the format. It allows for more in depth analysis and explanation. A superior teaching tool, imo.

Thanks Foucault
Thanks PokerSavvy Team

Absolutely fantastic!!!

I loved this video, the format made the difficult easy, and your explanations were excellent.

I think watching videos with this format, mix with the normal ones, will make anybody a much better poker player.

Thanks,
Juan

Thanks Andy, very helpful. Well explained.

Excellent commentary, ship the next installment.

All the concept vids are great, they all together can be watched like u read an amazing poker book.
In combination with the live action vids i think, thats the best essence of poker you can ever get.
Well Done Foucault, cant wait for vids on other topics !

My thoughts exactly. It's like reading a book, only you won't get an information-overload. When you read a book you're likely to misapply alot of the things because of the information overload and some of the things are probably too advanced aswell. Afterwards you have to try to find out how everything actually works at the tables yourself. You might do things wrong, run well, and learn a bad habit, or do something well, get unlucky with it a couple of times and think you're doing it wrong.

These video formats allow much easier absorbtion of information. It's 10 times clearer than books, easier to remember as you both hear and see it at the same times and there's more time taken per concept. And instead of risking your own money at the table you can see people that already know how to apply the concepts playing in the live videos, allowing you to test yourself by predicting the action/reasoning and learn from mistakes you'd make in that same spot without losing any money. I'm really improving at a 10 times faster rate than I managed before joining this site, though I was actively trying to improve as much as I could. I feel I could beat the player I was a month ago for a living now. Thanks pokersavvy!

Very nice second video! Not only did it provide great insight on how floptextures should affect decisions, but also had great insight on other things like potcontrol.

Just finished part two. Very well done. I like the indepth discussion of each situation. Good Job!

I used the download feature. Worked very well. Took 3 minutes to download over a wireless network, which is very fast imo. Playback was flawless. Looks like the system is working well.

Thanks for adding another great feature. This training site is everything i could hope for and more.

This type of video has become the new standard. I think it's extremely good and I feel I'm becoming much better by watching Foucault's videos than I do by watching Stern's or Haxton's videos. The reason is that this is more of a class in school rather than a "ghosting" session with a look inside the mind of a genius. I think, in order to apprieciate Ansky's and Ike's playing videos, you need an insight into why they make the plays they make. That basically means you need to know the fundamental theory and Foucault's videos do a great job in explaining it.

I would love to see more of these types of videos.

Also, it's great to have a video where you don't have to watch all the time, but also just peek at the screen a couple of times and then listen to you reasoning your way through the hand. I watched/listened to your second video on my way to school today, while waiting on the bus. It was great, and I was sitting on the bus having poker revelations.

Thanks, ohjoy (and everyone else).

Please do look at my videos only as scaffolding for the likes of Ike and Ansky. I may be the better teacher (I have a fair bit of actual teaching experience), but they are both much better players. In fact, even before I was a Guest Pro, I joined PokerSavvy in order to watch their videos.

I agree with you about not having to look at the screen all the time. I like to have videos on in the background while I'm doing other stuff.

REALLY Excellent series!

I have learned a lot from just watching this series alone. The series has been great and I love that each hand is discusses in great length. I do have one small question though about series #2, chapter #2. At about 14 minutes into the video, you are in a hand with Q10os against "thewhippet". After listening to your thoughts on his hands, I wonder why you did't think that he might have AQ, KQ, or QJ (since he did raise)? From previous play did you notice a loose opening range from him?

Thanks

His opening range was (appropriately) wide, but the more important thing was that he checked a fairly coordinated flop. That isn't just a read specific to this player. I think that an unknown is almost always betting hands better than QT in this spot.

I must say I've enjoyed (?) your two vids in the series and am looking forward to the third installment. Theres just one thing. (Perhaps here is where a "preflop fundamentals" series might have been of value)

1. You call w QJs in the CO from UTG(?) open. Without access/mention of a range or player type for opener surely this is leakish at 100bb stacks. Unless you have a read that player is weak and you can put a move on him.

Likewise w 89s are you calling with these hands to take it away later ?. the QT a 300bbs seems standard but some of the other calls are at best questionable I feel - please enlighten -

Thanks - Looking forward to further vids

thanks again

Beloved,

Good questions. You're right that calls like these make the most sense against weaker opponents and with deeper stacks. There's more to it than just looking to steal the pot, though. With position and a highly playable hand, there are a lot of ways in which I am going to make better decisions than my opponents.  That may involve floating or semi-bluffing the flop, it may mean making a monster hand, getting in a thin value bet, or even making a good fold.

At a 6-max game, QJs and 98s are not going to be big dogs even to an UTG raiser's range. Against the strongest hands in his range, I have good implied odds. Against the weaker ones, I have good immediate odds. 

I hope that answers your question, but let me know if it doesn't.

Andrew 

I defiantly find your style of teaching the most effective and
informative, I enjoy them a lot and i hope savvy let you do more videos! I’m currently in the middle of writing an essay
relating to narrative regarding Foucault, Saussure and discourse analyse! It’s
doing my head in, lol

More of this, please!

I don't think I've ever learned this much watching a poker video.

After all the positive feedback I want to point out that I got Andrew to do these and would like all of the credit here.  Also note, if his videos stunk I would have blamed him being a guest pro on the admins and taken none of the responsibility because thats how I roll. 

Thank you for iSTRONG's video aswell!

Andrew.

Just finished the trilogy!....Really helpful vids, and i hope pokersavvy will commission you to do some more work, because IMO these are the most informative vids on the site.  I think the slide-show type video works as a great format to convey the information and have really enjoyed the series.  Wondered if i could pose a couple of questions on the most recent third installment.

1. In the A3 suited hand, you flop bottom pair on a j83 board, and decide to check raise.  My understanding for this was b/c you didnt think this hand would play well on many turns.  Does this mean you advocate this play with mid/bottom pocket pairs.  E.g if you had pckt 3's on a j28 board, would you have made the same play?

2.  In the series as a whole the gameplay focuses on 6max tables.  As a FR player, i am interested to know how you think bigger tables changes the dynamic with regards to calling/playing out of the blinds in general.  In my experience, at MSNL FR, check-raising ranges are a lot tighter and thus hand ranges that pre-flop aggressors/c-bettors continue with (having been check raised) are much narrower. 

Finally, if you are going to do another vid. I think a series on 3 betting would be really good.  What hands to three bet with oop, and how to play in 3-bet pots.

Thanks for your help,

JC

Juan,

Thanks for the compliments and questions. My answers:

1. I would prefer check-raising to check-calling with smaller pocket pairs, but overall check-raising with A3 on J83 flop is better than check-raising 33 on a J82 flop because your equity is probably about twice as good when called. Think about how many more outs A3 has against KJ relative to what 33 has.

2. The focus of the series was meant to be 6-max games. I've never really played FR below 5/10, but lately I've been playing a lot of 5/10 FR, sometimes even as high as 25/50. I see what you're saying, but I also think that open raising ranges tend to be tighter, meaning that they tend to flop stronger hands and can not be check-raised especially light for this reason. There are also weaker players at FR in general, some of whom won't bet at a flop that they miss, meaning that when they do bet they are less likely to fold to a CR. Remember that these generalizations are only based on tendencies I've observed. In theory, 6-max is nothing more than FR with the first three players folding, and the better players understand this. 

Hi,

great vids its good to have it broken down into flop, turn and river.

One thing i dont like about pokersavvys videos is the format, the cards are often not in color. Why is this the case for some videos? In the full tilt vids its much easier to see the cards, also in the party poker examples it was much easier. Not a big problem but thought i would mention it.

I also have a question about a hand you played in flopfundamentals 2. You flatcalled a raise with AK and then called the flop as well, and folded on turn. If you thought he was making a C.bet into a great flop for Cbets, would it not be better to raise him there, or were you floating and planning to take away if he checks turn? If he has air or low pocket pair im pretty sure he folds to your raise, and if he has a legit hand you will know on the flop when he 3-bets or just calls. You might also get a  free card on the turn. What was the plan with calling.  

keep up the good work, learning alot from these videos.

Good question. Sorry for the slow response, I hadn't been keeping an eye on this thread.

It wouldn't be a bad spot to raise, but I'd actually be more inclined to do that with a weaker hand that had no showdown value. With AK, I'm beating a lot of his air, which means I gain less equity by "bluffing" him off of those hands. In some cases, I'm even dominating hands like Ax or Kx and may stand to win another bet if a gin card falls. 

Most people don't double barrel well anyway, so I can find out if he has a legit hand for cheaper by calling and folding turn than by raising the flop.

Thanks for the question, and my apologies again for the delay in responding.

The format is clear and concise.

Very easy to follow.

Video is great!

Great information and looking forward to future series.

The turn and river series are already finished actually

I'm rewatching the flop/turn/river series and noticed how much my thought process changed/improved between the first time I watched them and now, leading to a question about a hand in the 2nd flop video that I didn't have earlier. I guess I could also have posted this in the bet-sizing video tread, since that's what it's about. The hand played out like this at a full 3/6 6-max table:

Stacks:

Pre-flop: ($9, 6 players) Hero is BTN

UTG raises to $21, Hero calls $21, 4 folds

Flop: ($51, 2 players)
UTG bets $51, Hero raises $204, UTG calls

Turn: ($459, 2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks

River: ($459, 2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks
UTG shows:
Hero shows:

You reason that you potted the flop because of the stacksizes - he won't be able to shove a draw over you like he could 100 BBs deep. Then on the turn, you check behind because if you bet ~$400 now, he can check-shove draws on you.

But if you're gonna check behind on the turn, it means you're letting him see 2 free cards. Draws have most of their equity on the flop, so if you're gonna make a big raise on the flop and then check it down, your you're making a big raise on the flop with a minimal equity advantage and it shuts you down on the turn, where your bets will show a higher expectation. On the turn you're a much bigger favorite against his range than on the flop because the draws are in trouble now, but you check behind because he can check-shove 100bb-style now. Since it's more profitable to bet 2 streets against draws, don't you think it would have been more profitable to raise the flop a bit smaller, like $170, and then bet like 2/3rd pot (or whatever is most optimal sizing) on the turn? This would make for the following turn scenario:

Pot $391

Stacksizes $1555

Check, bet $265

A check-shove would now be $1290 more into $921, being an overbet, so you're too deep for him to check-shove a draw (or atleast it's unlikely that he does, and if he does, you got great leverage on your bet). A smaller check-raise will put him in an akward riverspot with a smallish riverbet left in the stacks. So now he's either gonna have to make a bad call, or fold and give up his equity in the pot, which your pot-sized flopraise and turncheck couldn't accomplish.

I might be wrong about a smaller flopraise being better, but I think I'm correct anyway when I say that your pot-sized raise on the flop would have shown a bigger profit if stacks were even deeper? This preventing him from check-shoving turns with draws, or atleast force him to do it with a lower frequency, allowing you to bet again on the turn. And if that's true, the is atleast merit in raising the flop smaller, right?

Thanks, EFG

Very good post, EFG, and you're probably right. I don't have much to say in my own defense! I'd only been making pot-sized bets and raises against him, so I didn't really want to deviate from that, but it's pretty dumb to handicap oneself like that. I've since evolved my deep-stack game a bit so that I use pot- and over-sized bets more selectively and, I think, effectively.

Remember also though that a lower equity bet that gets called is (sometimes) worth more than a higher-equity bet that gets a fold....

Great vid, but I would like to see some advice on floating and bluff-raising (the right situations to do it, not because I want to get FPS).  Thanks

Thanks for the idea. Floating and bluff-raising have come up a few times in some of my live play videos, and they'll be addressed in the context of 3-bet pots in my latest series that will premiere this month. It's a good idea for a dedicated video, too, though- thanks!

Mr. Foucault - your video series on flop/turn/river is teaching me a lot.  Thank you for making them.

I'm sorry if this came up in the flop fundamental vids somewhere but I have trouble with these situations.

I raise preflop and get called by someone in position and this happens(no combo draws or anything, just a pair and nothing else)...

AJ, flop comes KJ2 - I have showdown value, but I'm oop...lost here.

T9 or A9, flop comes J92 - I have showdown value, but my pair is vulnerable to over cards, and I'm oop...lost here.

QQ, flop comes AJ2 - showdown value oop

stuff like that....I basically don't know what to if called, and then if flush cards, straight cards and stuff show up, on the turn I don't know what to do if I bet or checked.....

any advice?

Obviously, it depends on your opponent, but assuming standard midstake TAG:

Usually when you check J9x FD flops as the PFR, you're check-folding, so villain will fire 100% of the time. Check-calling A9 balances your checking range. Basicly you're trapping him with 2nd pair. You can mostly call again on the turn and fold river. If your opponent starts auto-barreling at your check-calls, you can start taking a c/c c/raise line with draws and AJ etc every once in a while to protect your flop check-calls.

AJ on KJ2 rainbow is different, because you won't get (semi)bluffraised as often on this board. The problem with checking this board is that it turns your hand face up. Unlike the J9x FD flop, usually you're check-calling here, since it's such a great board to cbet your air on. Still, it's hard to get more than 1 street of value here. A callingrange also includes more Jx than Kx in general, so a cbet for value is fine. If your opponent plays fit/fold to cbets on this board, c/c and bet turn if villain checks back. If your opponent floats alot, cbet and c/c turn. 

Hope that helped, and maybe Foucault will correct me if I'm wrong about something

Very nice response as usual, EFG. This is something I address in the flop series, though EFG's made some useful additions here. The way your opponent will perceive the check is the single most important thing. That said, against an opponent who isn't going to read you well, I'm actually more inclined to bet A9 on a J9x than the AJ on a KJx. Reason being that the hands you fold out in the former case generally have better equity against your pair than they do in the latter case. In other words, it's far easier for Villain to hold an overcard or two.

Thanks guys, that helped a bunch!

Yes, especially at smaller stakes, betting the A9 and checking the AJ gets better. Weaker opponents will bluff at your AJ checks and won't bluffraise your A9 cbets, and play their draws more passive on average aswell giving you a relatively easy time playing OOP.

Once again Andrew and Epic...thanks....I studyed your responses carefully and they are very insightful.....You guys are good, keep up the good work and know that you are appreciated.

Thanks PM. Best of luck to you!

fantastic series, found and plugged a couple of huge leaks in my own game and am using a lot of the concepts and explainations in all three of these video series with my own students. most of all thank you for providing me a simpler way to break down river situations, i was making the river far too complicated and leveling myself a ton (and consequently giving away a lot of money) on the river.

look forward to all your new vids

Glad to hear it, ani, thanks for the kind words.

Hi,

just one question about the QJs hand (utg opens, you call from from CO with QsJs, flop is Jc8h4h, he bets you call). the turn came 7h and you folded to a 2nd barrel.

when the turn comes 7h, your opponent is representing massive strength by betting again, so I was wondering if you'd still fold if the  turn had totally bricked, say 2s. Here your opponent could be betting TT, 99 or even 77 to protect from the FD and SD, so you're not way behind as often. 

 What if he checks in that case ? would you bet ? your never fold out better hands, but you still don't want a give a free look at the river to AK, AQ, KQ ... 

Hi,

just one question about the QJs hand (utg opens, you call from from CO with QsJs, flop is Jc8h4h, he bets you call). the turn came 7h and you folded to a 2nd barrel.

when the turn comes 7h, your opponent is representing massive strength by betting again, so I was wondering if you'd still fold if the  turn had totally bricked, say 2s. Here your opponent could be betting TT, 99 or even 77 to protect from the FD and SD, so you're not way behind as often. 

 What if he checks in that case ? would you bet ? your never fold out better hands, but you still don't want a give a free look at the river to AK, AQ, KQ ... 

thx ! 

Louis,

It depends quite a lot on the opponent, but in general against an UTG opener I'd say top pair medium kicker should be a fold to a second barrel even on a blank. Again, it depends on the opponent, but I don't really expect the pairs you mention to bet both the flop and the turn. Protecting against draws isn't worth much if you're simultaneously narrowing my range to only hands that have you drawing near dead.

I might bet a small hoping to get a call from something like TT or 99, or even AK/AQ if he puts me on a draw. At least in the case of KQ and AQ, though, there's little cost to letting them see the river. Sure I lose the pot and maybe another bet if the A or K hits, but maybe I win a bluff from KQ when an A hits and certainly I win a bet from AQ when a Q hits.

Sorry it's been so long since I've spoken to you all. Hopefully you're still benefitting from the many videos I made during my 2+ years as a PSP producer.

If you're hankering for a hit of Foucault, you might be interested in my new Thinking Poker Tournament Seminars. These are pre-scheduled, small-group discussions focused on the most common
mistakes and skills gaps that I see in my NLHE tournament students. Each
two-hour seminar costs $150 per person and is capped at five
participants, to enable individualized attention and opportunities for
everyone to ask questions and participate in discussions. The content is
prepared and the discussion facilitated by me- it’s like an interactive
poker video!

The next seminar will be held at 11AM Eastern time on Monday, December 19. The topic will be Advanced Flop Fundamentals,
and it will take one of my most popular PokerSavvy Plus video series as
a starting point on which to build more advanced skills.

Participants will learn how about alternatives to the continuation
bet, how to deal with donk bets, when to slowplay, and how correct flop
play varies with stack and pot size. My Flop Fundamentals video series
will be required viewing in advance of the seminar, because everything
we discuss will build on those concepts while getting more in-depth and
sophisticated. Playing common flop spots well is essential to tournament
success, so you don’t want to miss this seminar!

To register, please e-mail andrew@thinkingpoker.net with
subject line “Advanced Flop Fundamentals”. If you have questions, please
post them here, as others may be wondering the same things. Also please
leave a comment if there’s a topic you’re interested in or a time that
would be better for you- there’s plenty of flexibility to accommodate
everyone, I just need to know what you want to see!

Thanks and hope to talk to some of you soon!

Andrew