Q&A with Valor

Ste05 · 18-05-2007 3:27pm #1

I'm not sure what's happening with Tao of Pauly's "Well" but while we're waiting Valor who has agreed to be thrown down the "Well" so here goes:

1) What games/levels/site are you playing right now?
2) Do you play tournaments or are you strictly a cash player?
3) How did you progress to your current Level, grinding it up through the levels or shot taking that worked out well?
4) Do you play much Live, if so which is your favourite "Casino"?
5) Are you planning on playing in the ME of the WSOP ME this year?

Marq · 18-05-2007 3:35pm

1) Live dublin cash game, effective stacks 250.
UTG raises to 5, button calls, you're the big blind with 24o.
You have no information on the other players. Call fold or raise?

2) You're a student yes? Do you find it difficult to balance the two?

3) How's the downswing? You seemed quite philosophical about it, but if it has continued are you in danger of having to move down levels?

4) Do you lead an extravagant lifestyle? Have you cashed out much this year?

sikes · 18-05-2007 3:41pm

Marq wrote:

Live dublin cash game, effective stacks 250.
UTG raises to 5, button calls, you're the big blind with 24o.
Call fold or raise?

lol, we werent that deep btw!

1) Biggest mistake you see players make preflop and postflop.
2) Biggest downswing?
3) Whats your pc setup?
4) What HUD stats do you have running.

BigCityBanker · 18-05-2007 3:41pm

Did you ever consider that you are actually playing bad rather than running awful... damn wrong well..

anyway...

What are the 3 most important factors at a table for you?

What makes you uncomfortable sitting at a poker table? Another player having position on you etc..

How heavily do you rely on PT.

Do you play Omaha?

Biggest mistake you see others make?

Biggest mistake you make?

Best advice you could give another poker player?

Hitman Actual · 18-05-2007 3:58pm

1. How long do you play per session/day/week, etc? On how many tables?
2. What are the important skills needed for beating low limit online cash (.5/1 to 2/4)? Does any one skill dominate the others?
3. Do you spend much time working out the maths of the game, or do you work on internalising the right/wrong way to play hand by discussing with others, forums, etc?
4. Have you ever played any live tournaments? Do you think tournament-only players understand the game less than cash-only players?

HiCloy · 18-05-2007 5:17pm

You mentioned before somewhere you used to give coaching - how did that go? Do you still do it?

LuckyLloyd · 18-05-2007 5:36pm

This post has been deleted.

stevire · 18-05-2007 5:42pm

Dont post often put always lurking!! Just have a cupla questions

Do you play many big buy in events? (i.e Waterford Open, GJP Festival, etc)

If so, whats your mentality/strategy when entering such a big event?

valor · 18-05-2007 5:43pm

1) What games/levels/site are you playing right now?

At the moment I'm playing Prima 5/10 NL and occasionally 4/8 which Prima offers when there aren't enough 5/10 going. I've also taken a shot at 10/20 which I plan to continue properly when my exams are finished. The reasons I chose Prima to play are are many
1 I need a site I can play on while in America during the summer so I've moved from party early to transition myself
2 the bonuses (rakeback) at the skin I play are are IMMENSE
3 its very easy to datamine which is very important to me
4 the games are overall quite soft. they games play very tight but there are alot of "bad tags" which make the games easy to play in - less aggressive than Party etc

At the moment I'm playing at most 7 tables because Prima software is so bent, I struggle to multi table without timing out. I'm getting more used to it though.

2) Do you play tournaments or are you strictly a cash player?

Well I started out poker like most playing 5 Euro SNG's with my mates, but since I started playing online I've been almost exclusively a cash game player. I planned on playing the Irish Open ME but it was sold out and I did play the Side event but did terribly. Thats the only the second live tournament I've ever played in.

I have plans to begin playing more donkaments in the future. I'm considering playing the EPT circuit in September. While in Vegas this summer I will play some WSOP events and see how it goes, and also begin playing some online MTT's to sharpen my game

3) How did you progress to your current Level, grinding it up through the levels or shot taking that worked out well?

Completely through grinding it up. I'm a complete bankroll nit and I would say that my lack of shot taking has actually been detrimental to my progress. Almost 2 years ago now I deposited $300 on Empire and began grinding at 10c/25c and I haven't looked back since. I moved up to 50NL with 1k, 200NL with 4k and so on. My recent shot at 10/20 is the FIRST Time I've ever taken a shot at a limit without having over 40 buyins for it [apart from moving to $50NL]

4) Do you play much Live, if so which is your favourite "Casino"?

I very rarely, if ever, play live. I've played in the Fitz about 10 times in the last 2 years and enjoyed it somewhat. I find it relaxing as compared to online play because I can donk it up a bit and also play lower stakes which means less pressure. I do however get bored of playing 4 hands an hour VERY quickly and start to do stupid things. The Fitz is teh only casino I've played in [not 21 so SE wont let me in] so I guess it has to go down as my favourite

5) Are you planning on playing in the ME of the WSOP ME this year?

I plan on playing some live satellites once I get to Vegas and hopefully qualifying but I doubt I will buy in If I fail to satellite

valor · 18-05-2007 5:59pm

Live dublin cash game, effective stacks 250.
UTG raises to 5, button calls, you're the big blind with 24o.
You have no information on the other players. Call fold or raise?

Well I would call live because my edge vs these players is huge and because live is boring. Online I would muck without thinking twice. I could raise (squeeze) here sometimes too but I dont think this is a good spot for it

2) You're a student yes? Do you find it difficult to balance the two?

Yeah I'm currently in 3rd out of 4th year in Business and Legal Studies in UCD. Yeah I find it extremely difficult to balance the two to be honest. Not to be immodest, but I've always been among the top students in every class/school I've ever been in but that hasn't been the case since I've come to University, in large part due to poker. I find the allure of making so much money is too great for me and I constantly want to play poker, or discuss poker and work on improving my game. I also find that even when I should be studying instead of playing I will procrastinate about not studying because I would rather be playing poker and end up actually doing nothing productive.

I managed a recovery somewhat in the term before Christmas, where I did go to most of my lectures and studied and I did very well in those exams, but this term has been more downhill. I've done 4 out of my 6 exams and they have all gone reasonably well, but nothing special

I also really dislike UCD. I dont like the people or the place and In general I've been pretty unhappy here. For that reason, and because I want to concentrate on poker I'm considering taking next year off to play full time, but I havent made a definitive decision in that regard yet

3) How's the downswing? You seemed quite philosophical about it, but if it has continued are you in danger of having to move down levels?

I havent been putting in that many hands recently because of exam pressure but I've made a small profit so far in May. [I still feel i'm running bad but who knows?] April was a disaster, my biggest losing month ever. There is very small chance of me having to move down because I'm such a bankroll nit although if my 10/20 shot goes badly I might drop to 3/6 to recover for a few weeks.

4) Do you lead an extravagant lifestyle? Have you cashed out much this year?

Not really to be honest. I spend more on eating out, buying books and drinking than I otherwise would but thats about it. Obviously my success means things like buying a new laptop (which I did last week) or paying for my trip to Vegas arent major concerns. It also allows me to be generous towards my parents which is always good.

I've really only started making big money in the last 6 months and because I've been in college I havent had much to spend it on. When I come back from Vegas I plan on buying a car and a new computer setup and to go on more holidays etc. If I do come back to College I Also plan on renting a pretty expensive apartment so I can live in more comfort.

I've cashed out around $15k so far this year I would say, although thats just a guess. I've put some of my money into index funds so that accounts for most of my cashouts.

valor · 18-05-2007 6:07pm

1) Biggest mistake you see players make preflop and postflop.

In my opinion the single biggest preflop leak good/decent players have is playing too many pots out of position against other good/decent players.

Postflop I see too many people raising when they should be calling [pot control, all worse hands fold only better continue etc]

Players calling too many 3 bets is also a very large leak imo

2) Biggest downswing?

During April I lost all my months profit back and more in the last 10 days of the month, I'm not sure how many buyins I lost I would say its around 25 though.

3) Whats your pc setup?

Pretty high end PC with Dual Acer 19" monitors. I like them but the resolution isnt as high as I would like. I'm going to upgrade my monitors when I come back from Vegas so I can play more tables with ease and because I can \o/

I also just bought a new 17" Dell laptop which I wil be using while in Veags.

4) What HUD stats do you have running.

I rely mostly on VPIP/PFR/AGG/SAMPLE SIZE but I also have raise/fold to cbet and went to /won at showdown displayed. I don't make adequate use of these stats really and I'm gonna try to do so more so in the future.

shoutman · 18-05-2007 6:14pm

How many hands did it take you to get from where you started to your current levels of play?
Did you comfortably beat the levels all the way up to where you are playing now?
Which levels took you the longest time to beat/ which levels were the hardest?

Do you have any interesets outside of poker? And if so what are they?

valor · 18-05-2007 6:19pm

Did you ever consider that you are actually playing bad rather than running awful

Yes. I posted most of the hands from my downswing on here and on 2+2 and the general consensus was that I was playing badly AND running badly. My play was being worsened by the fact I was in a losing mentality but still being put in really really awkward spots where its difficult to make correct decisions at the best of times.

Im 100% confident I have a big edge in my current games, and I cant wait for results to show it

What are the 3 most important factors at a table for you?

Im not really sure what you mean by this question? I'll assume it means what requirements to do I use to table select but if you meant something different simply re ask it

Since I've moved to Prima I dont have any selection requirements - there are usually around 10 tables going so I just sit at the first few that have seats. When I played at Party I used sixth sense to fish hunt / sort tables by VPIP and sit down based on that.

What makes you uncomfortable sitting at a poker table? Another player having position on you etc..

I really hate playing to the right of a good aggressive player who keeps 3 betting me. It really gets on my nerves. Playing against GOOD 30/25 lags etc is really annoying. Apart from that I cant think of much.

How heavily do you rely on PT.

Religiously, I review all my biggest pots after a session and I datamine very heavily aswell

Do you play Omaha?

Not really. I played 3k hands of 5/1 a few weeks ago and sort of got into it but I fell out of the habit. I want to start playing more of it though to get better at it. I'm gonna set myself some hand targets for Omaha once my exams are over.

Biggest mistake you see others make?

as above

Biggest mistake you make?

Tilting is by biggest mistake by far. I would say it cuts my win rate by a large % especially because when I tilt I have to stop myself from playing and it cuts down how many hands I can play

Best advice you could give another poker player?

Well obviously it depends on what level they are playing but I think the best advice I can give to a SSNL player is to Read 2+2 SSNL and MSNL religiously. Read every thread and try to comment on every hand. If you are a beginner and dont want to be ridiculed maybe just respond in your head and evaluate what you have said against what the "good" posters say. Try to figure out what you would do in that situation and try to put into words why you would do so

I have like 4.5k posts on 2+2 and posting/reading threads has been IMMENSELY helpful to me.

valor · 18-05-2007 6:31pm

1. How long do you play per session/day/week, etc? On how many tables?

It varies - I usually play for 1 or 2 hours day on 6-10 tables. I often fail to play as many hands as I have wanted because of college commitments and this is one of the reasons I want to leave college.

2. What are the important skills needed for beating low limit online cash (.5/1 to 2/4)? Does any one skill dominate the others?

I think discipline is the single most important skill needed here - all you need to do is stick rigidly to a basic set of rules. People try to get fancy or "make plays" far far too much imo. Playing solid poker is all thats necessary at my level, let alone at these levels

Other important skills include table selection, hand reading, pot control, selective aggression and learning how to play 3 bet pots properly

3. Do you spend much time working out the maths of the game, or do you work on internalising the right/wrong way to play hand by discussing with others, forums, etc?

As I already said, I spend alot of time on 2+2 and thats my favored way of analyzing a hand, alongside MSN discussion with friends. I dont really consider the maths of poker anymore because I know all the maths I need - odds to flop set, turn flush, etc etc so they are just second nature at this stage.

4. Have you ever played any live tournaments? Do you think tournament-only players understand the game less than cash-only players?

As already stated, only the Irish Open side event in Which I lasted around 3 hours.

To be honest, that question is bandied around quite a bit and I don't know the answer. The reason I don't know is because I never play with tournaments players. The only time I would do so is without my knowledge at a cash table so its a question which is impossible for me to evaluate.

My only experience of "tournament" players is watching poker on TV or watching Donks like Victor Ramdin and Hellmuth play on HSP. I dont have the required knowledge to answer the question, but I would have to say I have a strong prejudice that donkament players suck based mostly from here/2+2

valor · 18-05-2007 6:34pm

HiCloy wrote:

You mentioned before somewhere you used to give coaching - how did that go? Do you still do it?

It went good. I did it with a few 2+2 SSNL posters who PMED me asking would I do coaching because they respected my posts on there. I didn't advertise the service or anything. I quite enjoyed it, it was a good way for me to return to fundamentals and to verbalize some of the concepts that are second nature to me but that I don't really think about.

I havent done any in a couple of months because the money wasnt really worth it for me, although I will consider doing more coaching in the future. It would be good if I could find a couple of students at lower limits and take them up through the limits, would be quite satisfying.

sock.rocker* · 18-05-2007 6:44pm

wud u mind telling us the skin u play? im looking at joinin tilt nd have datamined 75k hands there but keep readin that tilt is jus too hard nd sites like prima are softer.

wud u def advise ppl to goto prima?

valor · 18-05-2007 7:08pm

2) How do your family and friends view your primary means of income and plans to take a year out and focus your energies more readily on the game? Does your family have any background or previous history in gambling, punting, cardgames?

Well my parents didnt like it at all when I started poker but basically they cant argue with the financial results of it. They are pretty easy going and they respect its my life and If I want to take a year out for poker thats up me. My dad says that he cant really understand it but thats it probably a generational thing, that people can now use poker as a career. They do want me to finish my degree but if my career is poker I dont think they will mind. Theres no real history of gambling/poker in my family apart from my paternal grandfather who "played cards" but gave it up when he got married! I've heard that story about 50 times.

Most of my friends are pretty cool about it and I guess jealous of the money I have. When I get drunk one of my favourite rants is to talk about how "I'm absolutely ****ing loaded" and they all take it in good spirits \o/

3) Will you vote next week? If so, for who and why? If not, why not?

Well Ill answer but I dont really want comments on it/turn it into a political debate or whatever. I left it too late to get in my postal vote form and I have exams so I cant go home, so I wont be voting but If I was I'd be voting for FF - Blayney #1. This is Donegal North East BTW

4) Can you see yourself pursuing poker long - term?

In short,yes. My short-medium term career plans include alot of poker. I would say its very very likely I will be a professional player for a few years.

5) "The games have dried up and, short of a repeal of last year's legislation, online poker has an insecure long - term future". Discuss.

God I hope not. I think this has some elements of truth - games will probably get progressively harder over the next while. However, I am not worried really for several reasons

1 expansion of poker in Europe and Asia. From what I've heard, Asians love to gamble and suck at it, so as economies especially in South East Asia continue to grow really fast we should have a new wave of fish which really has no end
2 I am confident in my own personal ability to become better faster than 99% of other players. Even if it ends up in a situation with only semi pros and pros playing I think I would still be able to make a comfortable living from online poker because I will adapt faster
3 I think UIGEA will get repealed and there will be a new wave of American fish. Hopefully this happens

Maybe I am just fooling myself and being overly optimistic on these points but I really dont think so.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to do this. I have no doubt that it will be a good read.

Sure thing

shoutman · 18-05-2007 7:10pm

valor wrote:

It would be good if I could find a couple of students at lower limits and take them up through the limits, would be quite satisfying.

Willing candidate right here.

LuckyLloyd · 18-05-2007 7:14pm

This post has been deleted.

valor · 18-05-2007 7:15pm

stevire wrote:

Dont post often put always lurking!! Just have a cupla questions

Do you play many big buy in events? (i.e Waterford Open, GJP Festival, etc)

If so, whats your mentality/strategy when entering such a big event?

As already stated, I have only ever played 1 major buy in event. As such, I dont really have a strategy for preparing for these type of events. I'll get back to you after I've played a few WSOP events this summer!

valor · 18-05-2007 7:22pm

shoutman wrote:

How many hands did it take you to get from where you started to your current levels of play?
Did you comfortably beat the levels all the way up to where you are playing now?
Which levels took you the longest time to beat/ which levels were the hardest?

I dont have all the databases since I've started anymore, but I would guesstimate I've played 400k hands in the last 2 years. I have comfortably beaten every level before moving up, but I have had to move back down a couple of times.

when I first moved up to 2/4 I struggled horribly and had to move back down to rebuild - my roll collapsed back down to like $3k at one stage If I remember correctly. The Move to 3/6 was the biggest jump in skill and that took me a few attempts also, but I never had such a climb down as the one at 2/4

Do you have any interesets outside of poker? And if so what are they?

NO!! LOL.

Em, I read alot. I watch alot of TV shows [mostly online] such as The Sopranos, Prison Break, Lost, Jericho. Mostly American Dramas

Apart from that and poker my only other interests are socialising - drinking and chasing women \o/

robinlacey · 18-05-2007 7:55pm

how did you go about putting money in index funds?

i looked into it a while ago (half heartedly to be honest) and it seemed for most of the companies you had to either live in america or be willing to commit to putting huge amounts of money into them.

also if you don't mind people knowing,what is your twoplustwo username?

Mr.Plough · 18-05-2007 7:58pm

When you started playing micro stakes, had you already been reading up? or did you start reading forums as you went along?

what books have you read and which was most helpful?

i havnt got the patience to play 0.25/0.50 online and lower, any tips for drilling bankroll management into a core part of your game so it is second nature?

SpermManJelly · 18-05-2007 8:27pm

You said you recently took out 15k,does this mean you leave the rest of your roll on the particular site your on?(40 buyins to what ever site you play on)
If so when tilting or down money have you ever found yourself moving up to higher than 10/20,25 50....chasing?
On that point do you have an advice on controling chasing.:D

I wish to 6 table 1 - 2 on a particular site,how much would you suggest depoisiting,20 buyins?Or less more?

valor · 18-05-2007 9:18pm

robinlacey wrote:

how did you go about putting money in index funds?

i looked into it a while ago (half heartedly to be honest) and it seemed for most of the companies you had to either live in america or be willing to commit to putting huge amounts of money into them.

Well I havent got money in index funds, maybe thats the wrong terminology? I just mean Rabodirect and Quinn Life investment funds

also if you don't mind people knowing,what is your twoplustwo username?

My 2+2 SN is Praetor

valor · 18-05-2007 9:25pm

Mr.Plough wrote:

When you started playing micro stakes, had you already been reading up? or did you start reading forums as you went along?

Yeah I started reading Small Stakes No Limit forum on 2+2 around the time I started playing 25/50c. I didnt start posting until last summer though, I lurked for a long time. I also used to read flopturnriver.com

what books have you read and which was most helpful?

I've read Theory of Poker and Harringtons books and to be honest I didnt find either particularly helpful, although when I read theory of poker I was very new to poker. I might re read it at some stage and get more meaning from it. I have no plans to read any poker books in the future, Strategy on 2+2 is light years ahead imo

i havnt got the patience to play 0.25/0.50 online and lower, any tips for drilling bankroll management into a core part of your game so it is second nature?

This is a pretty difficult question to answer because its such an intangible thing, its just to do with personality traits really. I cant really think of any advice to give except that playing outside of your roll is retardo and the road to busto, and that even at levels as low as 25/50 you can make alot of money and learn alot

valor · 18-05-2007 9:27pm

sock.rocker* wrote:

wud u mind telling us the skin u play? im looking at joinin tilt nd have datamined 75k hands there but keep readin that tilt is jus too hard nd sites like prima are softer.

wud u def advise ppl to goto prima?

I'm not sure if I would advise people to go to prima, I have specific reasons for playing there and the games are plentiful and easy enough at 5/10. I have no idea what the qualify of the play is like at lower levels to be honest, but you could give it a go.

If you do decide to go to prima PM me and I can give you a referral to the skin I am at

I would certainly not play at full tilt, I would imagine Party is your best bet

valor · 18-05-2007 9:31pm

SpermManJelly wrote:

You said you recently took out 15k,does this mean you leave the rest of your roll on the particular site your on?(40 buyins to what ever site you play on)
If so when tilting or down money have you ever found yourself moving up to higher than 10/20,25 50....chasing?
On that point do you have an advice on controling chasing.:D

My roll is spread across several sites, I am trying not to keep too much at one site incase it goes busto \o/

I have never chased my losses at a higher limit so I can really give you any advice on controlling chasing except to say not to do it, its pretty dumb

I wish to 6 table 1 - 2 on a particular site,how much would you suggest depoisiting,20 buyins?Or less more?

Depending on your skill level id say 20-25 buyins is enough to multi table 1-2 - Read Pok3rPlaya's bankroll management thread for a good discussion of the topic

Chucky the tree · 18-05-2007 9:39pm

valor wrote:

Most of my friends are pretty cool about it and I guess jealous of the money I have. When I get drunk one of my favourite rants is to talk about how "I'm absolutely ****ing loaded" and they all take it in good spirits \o/

Do they not just retort "So you can buy the next round then yea?":D

valor · 18-05-2007 9:40pm

Yeah I get that alot.

cooker3 · 18-05-2007 9:58pm

Nice responses so far

I have 1 main question. Do you think anyone can become a successful winning poker player. As in you started at low stakes which a lot of posters including myself play but through hand analysis posting on various forums etc you have moved up to playing fairly high stakes. Do you think if me and others had the same dedication that we would become as successful as you or is there an inate ability which some have and others don't?

Q&A with Valor

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