O-Poker

I just discovered a new podcast and immediately listened to every episode of the podcast. It is the latest from PokerRoad - Cash Plays with Bart Hanson. You can listen to it on the PokerRoad website or on Itunes.

I listen to as many poker podcasts as I can (Ante Up, P5s Podcast, 2+2 Podcast, a few of the PokerRoad ones) and was excited when I heard an advertisement for a cash only podcast. I wasn't sure what to expect. So far, there haven't been any guests on the show and only one host, but Hanson does a good job of filling the show with cash poker content. He is mainly a live grinder, so a lot of the hands that he discusses are related to deep stack full ring live NL cash games and might not completely apply to online 6 max cash games. Listeners also email in tough hands and he comments on them.

So far, he has brought up a lot of great situations and concepts. Below are a few things that he discussed on the show. (I am probably going to expand on a couple of his topics for some future blog posts)

Thin Value Betting on the River - How often do you need your opponent to fold for it to be a profitable play? Don't let the times where you get called and lose discourage you from making the same play again if you feel that long term it is a profitable bet.

Preflop raises in live games - I forgot how big of bets people will call preflop in live cash games.

Negative Slow-Play - or why you need to play your big hands fast. He makes some really good points.

Deceptive play to represent big hands - along with the power of back door flush draws.

What sort of implied odds you need to call for your call to be profitable long term

Taking Small Edges (Is there ever a time not to take them?) - I disagree with his stance on this one. He says that sometimes you might not want to take a small edge (55/5) in a cash game. A couple of times mentioned are:

1. Early in a session if it will effect your play for the rest of the session. - I disagree pretty strongly with this one. If you getting stacked early in a session is going to make you play like crap for the rest of the session then you shouldn't be playing or should just make it a habit of quitting in any session that you get stacked early. This might be easier said than done, but you really need to think about your play if you are playing a lot different when you are stuck. (I'm sure we are all guilty of this at sometimes.)

2. If you are playing in a good game (where you are one of the better players) that is over your bankroll. - I can almost see his point here. If you feel like you have a big edge in a game that is over your bankroll then it might be better to get your money in in a spot with a bigger edge against a weak player. I am of the mindset that you should get your money in whenever you are a favorite, because that is how you win money long term. If you are playing with way too short of a bankroll (even in a really juicy game) then you probably shouldn't be playing that game or should sell some of your action in that game.

I'll try to expand more on some of the topics that he discussed on the show. So far, this is the only cash game podcast that I have found. I'm looking forward to Cardrunners starting up their podcast, but I'm not sure when they will ever get it off the ground.