An00bisY00tubis Thanks man!

guanaco mofo Thanks Guanaco! Good point as well!

the hero we need but dont deserve

i honestly don't think that girl is there for the poker... ;-)

She's there so Phil can "poke her" later. lol

Arvindhan L Thanks! You have to know your opponent. That's the key in spots like this. And to Dan's credit, he's a great player with a good mind for the game. He knows that I can have a flush here and he's capable of folding!

Thanks!

Jacek Gątkowski Appreciate that. I'm having 2x a week videos from now on. For more good content in the mean time though head over to my blog www.alectorelli.com - there's plenty more there!

Thanks for that!

+Eric Holmquist Most of Alecs content from his own games are against pros/good players. This is not a line you should use EVER at like 2NL, since as you said, nobody will ever fold there.

+Eric Holmquist Most of Alecs content from his own games are against pros/good players. This is not a line you should use EVER at like 2NL, since as you said, nobody will ever fold there.

Yeah, you have to adapt to the players ur playing... However since you really never know for sure what your opponents have, it's always guessing... And a bluff is still a risk that can cost you a lot of chips...

Thats cause your friends are always going to call and ur stacks are never big enough to fold

this is an advanced move against advanced players. Playing with friends or old NITs 2/5 live at your local casion, you have to basically get it all-in with the nuts and get paid off & then be patient and fold some big hands when they go over the top b/c they only jam huge hands and they will call down with any top pair or better....

casino*

Remember you can never bluff a bad player, only good players can be bluffed that has really helped my game

doiwantsomerandom Thank you! But don't only take my word on anything. You're smart as well. Be creative and find your own solutions... that's what makes you better at poker!

I agree, but for a different reason. A super strong hand would very rarely raise in that spot. Why? Because he's never going to be scared of the next card and he wants to give everyone else the opportunity to bet again so he can get the most value.

+Shane Dooley Or most levels.

Yup, in $1, $2 NL, I see guys call with just about any pair. They would've called Alex with any weak flush

Indeed, I feel like online you can try to "represent" a strong hand, but mostly that just won't work... If someone has a (top) pair or even lower pair on the board, they'll just call. Sometimes these are dangerous moves that can cost you a lot of chips... But online is kinda different than live and it's not all that loose.

Totally agree, no way anybody would try this at small to mid stakes after 2 people call on a flush board. Ridic.

@@seamuswardowski1962 I play $1/2 live and the fourth club is an instant fold with two callers. No way a $1/2 player would fold Shak's hand.

Viliam Brozman Thanks Viliam. I'm putting out 2x videos a week so there's plenty more in store!

Mihai Paduraru Thanks Mihai, I'm doing 2x a week from now on so stay tuned for more updates!

Mike Brandon Well said Mike, but Dan is not a fish :) The key is to know your opponent and make sure you're only playing against them when you know what they think about you! Def a great point you made.

+Daniel Chan i would have done the same as Alec did. By me checking the flop, called the turn doesn't mean my hand is weak. I could either flopped the nuts or turn the nuts, since i have position i will maximize my pot by playing it slow and bet big on the river

I don't see the point to say that? Even if Dan shak was a beginner and called the river, the move is still a good move because it puts a ton of pressure based on a good read.

@@chessbrilliance8783 no, they would snap call you. They would never check a flush eitherway

@@amalguptan6716 true most beginners just look out for high cards and pairs, they wouldn't be likely to fold a queen pair

alaman321 Thanks!

Sardar Kamolov Donk leading is generally very strong in this case, since Shak would be looking to squeeze out value from worse flushes if he had an Ace or King high flush. Alec, I'm curious if Shak bet very small on the river (like $600), would you interpret it as strong value/ weak value/ a protection bet? And do you think you'd be able to raise Shak as a bluff IP at that point? Thx :)

Scott Hedley +Sardar Kamolov Good question Scott. I think Sardar is right; donk leading is strong. If Shak bets $600 it's almost always weak. I may raise it, but at that point I'm not sure he'd give me as much credit. A lot depends on real time feel in that spot and exact sizing and what I feel he's thinking. You have to be in tune with the game to know that one. Alec

Saniya Avokiraloms I'll take it!

+Saniya Avokiraloms he had a brief moment of feeling like a man after helping that woman open her bottle, and acted out on it.

+whitedevil2 yeah he didnt look very happy when she asked him to open it :D :D :D :D

+Saniya Avokiraloms he was probably thinking "oh god, this is supposed to be a man thing, right? you're strong, Phil. you're the man, Phil. you can do it, Phil!! whew!"

+whitedevil2 lol :D

Horatiu Bogdan Glad you liked it!

+Darren Moloney u gotta adjust to the field...

pretty much what im sayng

+green dreems Please explain what 10/25 and 5/5 means. I usually google poker terms but I don't know what to google to find this one out and I see it often.

its the blinds of the cash game

Maicon Souza Isn't a 25$ bb pretty big though? And what's the point of having the big blind and small blind equal?

Rod Norman I didn’t catch that the first time. What a jackass. He and deeb both. Shak definitely hadn’t made any decision yet, either.

Agreed

+Robert Thou Something like that, yes. It would also be harder for me to have Ax Kx hands because I would fold them preflop (hands like A9o) whereas I would raise them when he limps.

you wish

Christopher Lescarbeau Thanks Chris!

James Gilliam Thank yoU!!

Rudi Storm Thanks Rudi, appreciate that.

Mf Cubb The same. That's why my play is strong here. Folding is correct if you're Dan. I'm not overcalling with air often enough to c/c river with Tc8c.

Should he Shak, have led out on the flop?

+Mf Cubb He can yes. Good thought.

I most certainly would have led on the flop, probably pot size to discourage draws.

+Ben Pon Opening action in 4 handed is risky even with nut flush draw. If one of the opponent has flush and reraises you are going to have to pay a lot for your 7 outer also some villains might reraise something weaker but still the price of call should be based on 7 outs. Only benefit is getting some one pair hands out. With K high flushdraw betting is even worse since 3 opponents have total of 6 cards to have Ac in addition to flushes that reraise and ace is the most playable card preflop meaning there is ~20% chance someone has better draw + ~15% someone has flush.

+Glenn White Sometimes you would, but it's dangerous to put villain's range exclusively on semibluffs with the Ac.

He probably would. I think a better player like ivey would have called him

+TheBoldImperator to elaborate a little more, he's in a four way pot on the flop and has very little fold equity if he does decide to semibluff with the Ac (he's always getting called by any villain who has a decent club in his hand and someone who already has a made flush and decided to slowplay is never folding on the flop). when you get called, you're drawing to a quarter of the deck twice because even if you do somehow have the best hand it's so easy to blow you off it if the turn/river bricks (villain's range is far less capped than yours is when you make this move and they call. they can have sets, they can have two pair, they could even have TPTK all deciding to check on the flop and play pot control/showdown value). your hand is face up when you bet into four players with a strong draw. it's either Ax/Kx of clubs or Ac/Kc. a set or QJ doesn't raise into four players on a three flush board (because you're only getting called when villain has you crushed or has good equity against your hand aka a club which will just fold on any brick and put you into a gross situation if the fourth club does come and the board doesn't pair), and the reverse implied odds increase dramatically when you do it with less than the K of clubs (and since we see Alec won't do it with the 7c he likely wouldn't with the 10c either). so there's very little Alec can rep that his opponents would fold to, essentially the nuts/close to the nuts (which is rare) or a semibluff (more common). and then if someone check raises you you're never comfortable calling it down with just the Ac. if more than one opponent calls and turn bricks it's a very difficult spot to play even with position. if you make your flush, you almost never get value out of it unless you cooler someone or you're playing against a fish (Shak folds the third nuts here for god's sake!) checking behind allows you to disguise the strength of your draw and it uncaps your range. you could be checking behind with the Ac or the Kc or the 10c or a set or two pair or made flushes (especially if they're mediocre flushes). it gives Torelli more opportunities to win the pot on later streets when he checks behind with the Ac because he can rep big on certain turn/river cards (board pairs) and he's going to hit his club a lot of the time too. it also gives his opponents an opportunity to put more money in the middle with rubbish holdings like 88, which they never do if he raises on the flop. not to say of course it's never a good idea to semibluff with the Ac, but poker is extremely situational and you should never make decisions in this game by automation.

TheBoldImperator Tl;dr apart from ur first sentence. If villains are calling with any decent club/x then semi bluffing Ac becomes way more profitable, you can get them off on turn or win more $$ when another club comes

lemonsadadtrewd if you read more than the first sentence you'd realize I addressed that. what are you hoping villain has when you fire off a double barrel on a four flush board? Kc/10c/9c/8c (shak folds 10c here but regardless) EXACTLY? that's not a wide range to be extracting value from, especially if you want to continue on the river, which you almost always will with the nuts. do you really expect him to cry call with 9c to a value bet a significant portion of the time? this isn't NL5 where villains value own themselves with any club in their hand, people at this level tend to play with some level of competence and hand reading abilities. in essence, you get some amount of value from weak flushes on the turn if the club hits but not very much unless you've coolered someone, and you're also not factoring in reverse implied odds in case villain has a set or two pair on the flop (say if the board pairs on the turn, villain decides to slowplay, and you make your flush on the river), again, something I addressed later in my post. yes you can fire off dubs and take it down sometimes *if* turn bricks and *if* you're heads up (remember Alec is tight and doesn't like to fire off bluffs that often anyway). what happens when you get more than one caller to your flop bet, as will happen often in a four way pot? are you really going to try and push a dub through two or three players drawing to a quarter of the deck at best when you know your opponent's range is mostly made flushes and sets if you get called?

+sanekabc I had the same feeling