I completed Daniel Negreanu’s poker masterclass recently. Notes from the class:

  • Out of position = Defense.

  • In position = Offense.

  • What are these positions:
    • Out of position = SB, BB, under the gun, under the gun + 1
    • Then Middle position and Middle position + 1
    • In position = Hijack, Cut off, Button/dealer

  • When you are position get super aggressive and maximise profit.

  • When out of position be super careful.

  • How good of a hand you have is totally dependent on your position in the table.

  • When out of position dont play below 77.

  • If you can call you can probably raise.

  • Don’t raise in SB and BB unless you have really good hand. Call is the best option.

  • When you sit on a table have a playbook based on which you know when to call, raise etc. But based on other people change your baseline as well as playbook.

  • C bet = Continuation bet.

  • Rainbow = No chance of flush.

  • Strive to understand range of hands opponent might have instead of specific hands.

  • Build a mental database of opponents’ hands.

  • Their range will change based on stack size, their mood, how their past hands went.

  • When betting grows, range gets more polarized.

  • Keep your own range balanced. Sometimes mix to keep opponents guessing.

  • Person with the range advantage should be the one betting more/be more aggressive.

  • Dry board/flop = Not many possibilities of draw/getting players to play.

  • Wet flop = Opposite of rainbow flop.

  • Under the gun player should be wary of wet flops and check as his range of hands weaker.

  • Factor player tendencies in range advantage.

  • Think a few streets ahead always and have a plan.

  • 3 bullets = Having to bet the flop, turn and river.

  • Adjust your ranges based on perception of you that other players have after seeing your initial hands.

  • Loose from one position can be right from another. Loose or tight is dependent on what you have as well as where your position is.

  • Don’t adjust range based on stakes.

  • Learn how to balance your range.

  • A nit might only play top pairs and say AK. If after the flop they check they might be holding AK. Raise to see if they re raise or call.

  • To defend against the same play above learn to vary your play.

  • Sometimes to protect a hand like AA you go all in when the villain might be in button with a code variety of hand including Q9. So instead of thinking of just protecting your hand just bet the pot or something. Don’t go all in.

  • Start with villain’s range and then keep narrowing till you figure out his cards.

  • Fold frequency = 100 in pot and villain bets 200 = 200/ 100+200 = 2/3 times you should fold.

  • Don’t keep cbetting when there are multiple players in the table.

  • C-betting works only when there is one player and that too when you know he missed the flop. If wet board and villain in Button then think carefully about c-betting.

  • Board textures, range of opponents and your own perceived range and table image matters a lot while c-betting.

  • Use check raising to keep people guessing.

  • You want an image to be feared. Check should never mean I don’t have a hand and bet should not always mean a good hand. Let them keep guessing.

  • If someone is short stacked and raised and then you 3-bet, it essentially means there will be an all in scenerio So make sure you have really strong hands.

  • When bluffing make sure the story adds up.

  • If someone is min raising pre flop he probably does not have AA or KK. Mostly he has some KJ or KQ or some smaller pocket pair.

  • Don’t call 3B, 4B out of position with hands like K10 offsuite with multiple players in the pot.

  • On the river you are either value betting or bluffing. Be clear what it is.

  • Sometimes under bet if you think the villain will think you are bluffing and re raise you.

  • Over bet bluff if you think villain has marginal hand and you can get him to fold. You should know what the villain’s range is before going into a play like this.

  • Have a mix strategy. Don’t be predictable.

  • Preflop limping is a bad strategy.

  • Don’t get attached to premium hands like As if it is a super wet board and there is a high chance one of the villains have a flush or a set.

  • Think about trouble hands like KJ. If someone 3bet with you and you hit a KK pair there is a chance that the other person might have KK already or KQ or AK. So lot of hands you are beat with. So play carefully.

  • Play suited connectors only with deep stacks.

  • When you have chip lead then don’t start doing bluffs, calling all in with weak hands and lose your lead. You don’t win the tournament in an hour. Show patience.

  • Think about all in from short stacks if you open with weak hands like 68 suited.

  • If you are with less than 15 big blind either fold or shove. No point calling because there is not much play left on turn and river.

  • With multiple players you don’t want to call all in with just top pair. Someone might have overcard pocket pairs.

  • If you are short stacked near the bubble and your goal is finishing ITM then fold even hands like AQ.

  • Once you are ITM but short stacked it makes sense to hold and let players go out. You are not winning the tourney anyway.

  • If your goal is only winning then shove with any good hand but be okay with going out empty handed.

  • If you are chip leader or deep stacked then wait out the blood bath. There will be many opportunities to make money later.

  • Once you are ITM you can pay much more loosely. The main money is in the final table. So aim to reach there.

  • Position matters more before the flop.

  • See the places where where the payout structure changes massively and there is a big jump between positions. At that spot play very very conservatively.

  • If there are 3 players at the final table, you have the biggest stack and you see the 2nd player raising then it makes sense for you to fold with even hands like AJ because the 2nd player guy won’t risk his tournament life with a less than AA, KK or AK hand.

  • Once you move to a new table rethink how you want to play. Observe who are the short stacked, if the chip leader is with you in the table. It is super hard to bluff the chip leader so play very tight.

  • At around 20BB start playing very tight. Dont worry about average stack size.

  • No fold equity when you are short stacked as the other person does not have to worry about losing all your chips if you raise post flop.

  • If you are deep stacked and by the river you are not nutted then just give up and fold.

  • Think about your table image.

  • Keep changing your game based on people’s perception of you. If people think you have been bluffing way too often use it to extract value when you have a really good hand.

  • If your range is changing based on how the last few hands went it is a sign of tilting. Be very focused and play your natural game instead of focusing on the past few hands.

  • Avoid going to many all ins. It is a sign you are gambling too much and getting into too many coin flips.

  • Choose to sit left of the maniac aggressive player in cash games.