Q&A with Valor

valor

cooker3 wrote:

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?

The point is that most people dont have the same dedication that it takes to become as successful. I think that to beat up to 2/4 you can just follow a playbook if you learn it properly but that once you get beyond that you have to have high intelligence and an innate ability, determination and some luck \o/

sock.rocker*

some nice biggin urself up lol

are you really strict wit bankroll cause you went bust taking a chance before or is it just in ur personality to play "safe"?

im thinkin of playin nl50 wit 400dollars nd movin up to nl100 wit bout 1500 if i ever got that far.. i dont buy in for max online, roughly 3/4max

califano

1.) Level3 in a good structured live MTT and youve taken a few knocks. Your down to your last 1/3rd of your starting stack and you get AKo and open raise from mp. A rock in the C/O just over min raises. Do you tank it in regardless or fold.

2.) In cash games with no risk of anyone else getting involved do you like to gamble against short stacks for their stacks with KQ/99 type hands?.

3.) Do you think that Michael J. Fox was faking Parkinson's Disease a while back or at least pouring it on just a little too thick?.

Goodluck2me

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

first time youve been in my class

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/

we bitch loads behing your back though! lol

My Question:
Are suited connectors more valuable in cash games or tournaments?
Did you think simon/mark were the **** when we started off too?
Funny how i teach them things now.
How often do you 3 bet light. i.e. how many raises does it take for you to play back?
What is optimum amount to bluff per session, say over 100 hands you got to river with what amount should be bluffs?
Do you ever treble-barrel?bluff or otherwise? psb.
Why dont you post as Valor on 2+2?
Do you not think it would be a better investment to finish your degree and play during+after it than to have wasted 3 years?

What % of Davids are winning players?
Who was your biggest influence in starting up the game?
What level of stakes would it take for you to say enough is enough i need not move higher, ive done what i need to do?
Are celebrity players all fur coat and know knickers?
If you had to give you entire bankroll to anyone out of these to play 10-20 for you for a day who would you choose
Lloyd
BCB
DitPoker
Dougee19
Sikes
JBravado
Ocallagh
Oscar
Daithio

Who would it be, i have purposely left myself out for obvious reasons.
P.S. i totally pwned you and paul at €5 SnGs, my game just never went passed that stage. €70 was a lot to a kid in Belgrove.

Nice Well

dvdfan

On Datamining Youve Said in this thread:

3 its very easy to datamine which is very important to me

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


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.

When you say you datamine heavily is this datamining 10 tables for an hour before you sit or 16 hours of datamining while you sleep and go to college

Ive seen in recent threads that the majority of people think 100+ hands is needed to get an accurate read by stats and more if youre using post flop stats effectively, considering your playing approx 60 hands an hour at 6 max tables youll need to be playing for about 2 hours before getting anything useful and at that stage the table could break up and possibly the session is coming to an end. Does this make heavy datamining more essential if your serious about using stats or whats your take on this?

How is your concentration level while playing 6 games. Is most of your time taking up watching the action or do you have time to take notes and if you do you find yourself rushed between making notes/reading notes and watching the action. Do you review hands after and take notes or just make notes from memory.I find too often ill be reading threads on here or 2+2 or sports news or something while playing while i could be using the time better to take notes or watching play closely and what position ill be playing in next ect?

When your tilting how does it effect your play most, is it your tilting play preflop that gets you into bad situations or is your preflop play ok and your post flop decisions your downfall?

valor

Level3 in a good structured live MTT and youve taken a few knocks. Your down to your last 1/3rd of your starting stack and you get AKo and open raise from mp. A rock in the C/O just over min raises. Do you tank it in regardless or fold.

there isnt really enough information here, ie how much would I have left if I folded, how much behind if I called - how tight was he, previous history, my mage etc

2.) In cash games with no risk of anyone else getting involved do you like to gamble against short stacks for their stacks with KQ/99 type hands?.

it depends on how short really. If I open either of these hands I will auto call an all in up to say 15BB. IF a shorty open pushes I would call with 99 but fold KQ, depending on players to act behind etc

3.) Do you think that Michael J. Fox was faking Parkinson's Disease a while back or at least pouring it on just a little too thick?.

uh. what?

Paul Tergat

goodluck2me wrote:

we bitch loads behing your back though! lol

always better to do it to his face!

goodluck2me wrote:

Who would it be, i have purposely left myself out for obvious reasons.
P.S. i totally pwned you and paul at €5 SnGs, my game just never went passed that stage. €70 was a lot to a kid in Belgrove.

Sure Joe Maybe my fiver was a token pot builder!



Right then 'Valor' : so many questions so little time


What aspect of Cross-Cultural Management do you see being most important in poker?

Which draw do you like best - backdoor nut quad draw or over-set draw?

Situation: 6 handed, you're on button with AA and there's one limper and 2 over limpers, stacks 400BB each, what's your move? (you have no stats)

How much do you expect to make in Vegas online?

same question for live play...

Chinese or Indian?

You lose 4 or 5 hands in a session due to 2 outers, do you:
a) break the door of your wardrobe?
b) throw your phone at the wall?
c) put a hole in the wall?

Do you have any superstitions when playing poker?

Rhianna or Christina Milian?

When do you expect to win your first bracelet?

Christoper or Paulie?

Which boardsie do you respect the most as a cash player?

Brendan or Donal?

more questions later....

Goodluck2me

I knew you`d be out of the woodwork after that comment paul!

sorry i meant to say Y`arit paaol.

Also Valor inspired by the ever-inspirational paul.

What parts of Our course do you think actually affect poker, if any?
serious question like, i have a few theories.

Do you only hate UCD becuase you havent managed the art of "scoring a moutie" im pretty sure i know of a few girls who would change your mind.

valor

Are suited connectors more valuable in cash games or tournaments?

It doesnt matter which, its more related to stack depth. Stacks are usually deeper in Cash games.

Did you think simon/mark were the **** when we started off too?

Yeah I thought Simon was the best player in that game at the start but I think me you and Mark were clearly the biggest winners in it

How often do you 3 bet light. i.e. how many raises does it take for you to play back?

This is a pretty difficult question to answer, its too intangible a concept. I 3 bet with air a decent amount mostly in an effort to cultivate an aggressive image to get paid off when I have something. Maybe once every 50 hands or something? I dunno

What is optimum amount to bluff per session, say over 100 hands you got to river with what amount should be bluffs?

I very very rarely bluff. I 3 barrel maybe one or twice in a thousand hand session, often times none. I fire 2nd barrels a decent amount though.

Why dont you post as Valor on 2+2?

Dunno

Do you not think it would be a better investment to finish your degree and play during+after it than to have wasted 3 years?

Yes. The fact is I dont want to though so its a question of whether I can convince myself to come back in September to do it. I havent really decided yet but lately im leaning more towards finishing the thing.

What % of Davids are winning players?

God I dunno, 20-25% maybe? really hard to estimate especially because there are so many lurkers

Who was your biggest influence in starting up the game?

Well Paul got me into it so I guess alot of props have to go to him!. In terms of learning poker theory I havent really had one particular mentor, although in recent times coaching with MDMA [who also coached Robin] has been very helpful

What level of stakes would it take for you to say enough is enough i need not move higher, ive done what i need to do?

I dunno. I mean, this time last year if I thought I would be moving up to 10/20 soon I would have been delighted. I dont think I'll ever be satisfied though, If I make it to 300/600 I wont be happy until they start spreading a higher limit \o/

Are celebrity players all fur coat and know knickers?

The vast vast majority of celebrity players suck donkey balls. My favourite is Esfandiairi though

If you had to give you entire bankroll to anyone out of these to play 10-20 for you for a day who would you choose
Lloyd
BCB
DitPoker
Dougee19
Sikes
JBravado
Ocallagh
Oscar
Daithio

Who would it be, i have purposely left myself out for obvious reasons.
P.S. i totally pwned you and paul at €5 SnGs, my game just never went passed that stage. €70 was a lot to a kid in Belgrove.

Niall

Nice Well

thanks

pok3rplaya

Who is better at flipping, pok3rplaya or Valor?

valor

dvdfan wrote:

On Datamining Youve Said in this thread:



When you say you datamine heavily is this datamining 10 tables for an hour before you sit or 16 hours of datamining while you sleep and go to college

Ive seen in recent threads that the majority of people think 100+ hands is needed to get an accurate read by stats and more if youre using post flop stats effectively, considering your playing approx 60 hands an hour at 6 max tables youll need to be playing for about 2 hours before getting anything useful and at that stage the table could break up and possibly the session is coming to an end. Does this make heavy datamining more essential if your serious about using stats or whats your take on this?

I leave Prima open with 10 tables all day except when I'm sleeping and computer is off, it doesnt take up much resources or anything so I always have them open when im not playing. the player base in my games is pretty small so I have 10k hands + on all the regulars and I almost never have to face a player without stats. I've always been big on datamining - I used to use hhsmithey.com when at poker who email you 60k hands a day

How is your concentration level while playing 6 games. Is most of your time taking up watching the action or do you have time to take notes and if you do you find yourself rushed between making notes/reading notes and watching the action. Do you review hands after and take notes or just make notes from memory.I find too often ill be reading threads on here or 2+2 or sports news or something while playing while i could be using the time better to take notes or watching play closely and what position ill be playing in next ect?

Em, I make notes after interesting hands but I dont pay much attention to pots I'm not in. I'm often reading boards or 2+2 or chatting on MSN which I really shouldn't be doing

When your tilting how does it effect your play most, is it your tilting play preflop that gets you into bad situations or is your preflop play ok and your post flop decisions your downfall?

um, when I tilt I end up getting into stupid situations. I will call a 3 bet when I should fold, flop a pair and ****ing call down, or else I will decide he is light and 3 barrel etc. Just stupid things

valor

pok3rplaya wrote:

Who is better at flipping, pok3rplaya or Valor?

I am better at everything

Paul Tergat

goodluck2me wrote:

I knew you`d be out of the woodwork after that comment paul!

sorry i meant to say Y`arit paaol.

gravy etc.....

goodluck2me wrote:

Also Valor inspired by the ever-inspirational paul.

goes without saying! he didnt nickname me 'the swami' for no reason :rolleyes: oh actually he did

oh also valor:

Dem Franchise Boys or three 6 mafia?

Best time to play - day or night?

Utd or Chelsea tomorrow?

Do you actually think you will ever get round to playing tournies online?

Are you bothered that you don't play much live poker? is it a waste of time as more money can be made elsewhere?

is it all about the money? or would you play if you were not allowed to gamble?

would you play as much if you were taxed on earnings?

valor

p_larkin99 wrote:

What aspect of Cross-Cultural Management do you see being most important in poker?

Cross Cultural management has no practical applications its total bull****

Which draw do you like best - backdoor nut quad draw or over-set draw?

Well, when I flop an overset draw I also automatically have the backdoor nut draw so I guess its a bit of both

Situation: 6 handed, you're on button with AA and there's one limper and 2 over limpers, stacks 400BB each, what's your move? (you have no stats)

Paul this question is only appropriate for 10 minutes before one of our finals. I'd probably play it the same as you though - raise to 24BB.

How much do you expect to make in Vegas online?

It depends how how long I stay there, how much I like playing live/WSOP events and how much drinking I do but If I dont make $50k just from online play Ill be annoyed

same question for live play...

I really have no idea. I dont know how much live cash games I will be playing or how many events I will enter but I would hope to make $20-$30k at least

Chinese or Indian?

Indian

You lose 4 or 5 hands in a session due to 2 outers, do you:
a) break the door of your wardrobe?
b) throw your phone at the wall?
c) put a hole in the wall?

Well, if I lose due to bad luck none of these will happen because that doesnt really bother me much. But the next time I play a hand badly then (d) I'm throwingmy old laptop out the window

Do you have any superstitions when playing poker?

No not really

Rhianna or Christina Milian?

Christina not close

When do you expect to win your first bracelet?

Before I'm 25

Christoper or Paulie?

Depends from what perspective but I would have to take Paulie. Hes the man

Which boardsie do you respect the most as a cash player?

I dont know to be honest, its tough to know how good some people are especially people dont post their results etc. I think Robin's posts are consistently good

Brendan or Donal?

Phil

robinlacey

p_larkin99 wrote:

Dem Franchise Boyz of three 6 mafia?

this is like asking mike mattusow or phil ivey

Goodluck2me

valor wrote:

Phil

Phil FTW! get him on boards, he would sort this place out no end with a bit of high-end entertainment.

valor

What parts of Our course do you think actually affect poker, if any?
serious question like, i have a few theories.

Well, obviously data mining from BIS This morning! thats the most obvious one I can think of

Some of the Economics and Finance we have done probably relates well to ROI and Variance and stuff but that level of theory is not something I have studied!

OB may have some application for the psychology of poker but again its not something I've considered in detail

Do you only hate UCD becuase you havent managed the art of "scoring a moutie" im pretty sure i know of a few girls who would change your mind.

I have scored TWO mounties since coming to UCD which for a country bumpkin isnt bad I guess!? We arent all rugby playing chameleons who blend in as a D4 head depending on the company!

valor

Dem Franchise Boys or three 6 mafia?

Well I'll have to go for Dem Franchise Boyz, after all they get their name from being young black entrepreneurs.

Best time to play - day or night?

I used to find the Party games softer at night but since I've moved to Prima I've found its pretty much the same standard the whole time, although the best reg plays during the day. From a personal standpoint im a total night owl so I prefer playing at night

Utd or Chelsea tomorrow?

I think United Will win but I hope im wrong!

Do you actually think you will ever get round to playing tournies online?

Yes

Are you bothered that you don't play much live poker? is it a waste of time as more money can be made elsewhere?

Not really. I might change my mind after Vegas this summer but seen as I dont have the roll to play higher than 10/20 live I can certainly earn more 8 tabling 5/10 or 10/20 online. I think I would like to play in more live tournaments and obviously you can have huge scores there.

is it all about the money? or would you play if you were not allowed to gamble?

Its about 95% about the money. i enjoy poker as a hobby but If I was a losing player or gambling for money was illegal or something I would only play very occasionally

would you play as much if you were taxed on earnings?

I would move to avoid paying tax in an instant

robinlacey

you mentioned earlier in the thread that you find the 5/10 games on prima good and that there are a lot of bad TAGs that you make money off.

you also said that you very rarely bluff,so i'm wondering how you make most of your money off these TAGs.

do you make a lot off them folding to your second barrells,or is it more a question of them paying you off with second best hands far too much?

valor

robinlacey wrote:

you mentioned earlier in the thread that you find the 5/10 games on prima good and that there are a lot of bad TAGs that you make money off.

you also said that you very rarely bluff,so i'm wondering how you make most of your money off these TAGs.

do you make a lot off them folding to your second barrells,or is it more a question of them paying you off with second best hands far too much?

Well I dont make much money! I've been losing ever since I moved to Prima 5/10 so maybe I'm just deluded that its an easy game

In Theory, its more the second part of them paying off too much with second best hands. Guys who call off 1/5th of stacks PF with low pocket pairs, playing too many pots out of position with weak holdings & bluffing in retarded spots.

Its also not the case that there are no fish - there are a good amount of them and I'd say most of my "theoretical" profit would be coming from more fishy players, but what I like about the regulars on Prima is that they arent very hard to play against as compared to the 5/10 guys on Party - they dont give me as many headaches or cause me to tilt as much which is very important

ArmaniJeanss

You go along to a €20 Freezeout in your local pub,( The Dog&Duck). You find out that every table will be 10-handed except for 1 table which will be 8-handed because the landlord wants to record it on his camcorder. Later on you discover that one of the Dog&Duck barmen is asking people he's acquainted with if they want to play on the 'camcorder table'.
In your opinion is this a well-run tournament? Would your opinion change if the buy-in wasn't €20, but €3500?.

On-line poker is a ruthless business, under what/if any conditions would you refuse to take 'easy money' off an opponent. e.g, if you were told they were drunk/suicidal/educationally subnormal/bankrupt would you softplay someone or at least encourage them to stop playing?.

H2H in an STT/MTT, your opponent gets disconnected... do you wait?

Finally, AA UTG first hand in WSOPME... a)standard raise and play a flop b) limp hoping to reraise and get 10% in preflop or c) panicky KillPhil all-in ?

MrPillowTalk

I used to play prima all the time it was the nuts back in the day and the games were crazy as it was the only site that spread 25/50 and 50/100 lol that pretty funny when you look at whats being spread now. You say its pretty tight now. I still have the guts of 10k on there from ages ago and might give it another spin, the games on prima used to be completely populated by scandies who loved their draws is this still how it is?

I studied commerce in UCD and hated every second of it, so feel your pain on that one.

Do you think your life balance is healthy? You say you see yourself playing poker as a career in the medium term, will you be content to grind at a pc screen every day when your in your thirties?

I see in a previous post that you agree that the ft games tend to be tougher and you dont advise playing there as a result, I tend to agree however after playing the 5/10 and 10/20 there for a while they are completely beatable it just means some adjustment to your game and new strategys to deal with nits who call too much in some spots and fold too much in others. My point is that playing tough games is necessary to improve your game, I destroyed the tribeca 10/20 for most of last year however tbh I got away with so much that it was actually not great for my game when I went back to playing tough games like the crypto and ft 1020, do you plan on attempting the tougher games or is it all about the buck?

Nh wp etc on the well

Silver-Tiger

Fantastic Read
Wp Valor

Macspower

Great well Valor. I come up with some interesting questions and post later.

Wow so much so young!

valor

You go along to a €20 Freezeout in your local pub,( The Dog&Duck). You find out that every table will be 10-handed except for 1 table which will be 8-handed because the landlord wants to record it on his camcorder. Later on you discover that one of the Dog&Duck barmen is asking people he's acquainted with if they want to play on the 'camcorder table'.
In your opinion is this a well-run tournament? Would your opinion change if the buy-in wasn't €20, but €3500?.

I dont really get the question, is this what happened at the Irish Open? I would say its a fairly dodgy practice picking and choosing people for the TV table tbh

On-line poker is a ruthless business, under what/if any conditions would you refuse to take 'easy money' off an opponent. e.g, if you were told they were drunk/suicidal/educationally subnormal/bankrupt would you softplay someone or at least encourage them to stop playing?.

Hell no, I will take anyone's money down to the last penny, the only people whose money I wouldnt take are people I consider friends. everyone else is fair game regardless

H2H in an STT/MTT, your opponent gets disconnected... do you wait?

no

Finally, AA UTG first hand in WSOPME... a)standard raise and play a flop b) limp hoping to reraise and get 10% in preflop or c) panicky KillPhil all-in ?

I would just make a normal raise

valor

Silver-Tiger wrote:

Fantastic Read
Wp Valor

Cheers

valor

MrPillowTalk wrote:

I used to play prima all the time it was the nuts back in the day and the games were crazy as it was the only site that spread 25/50 and 50/100 lol that pretty funny when you look at whats being spread now. You say its pretty tight now. I still have the guts of 10k on there from ages ago and might give it another spin, the games on prima used to be completely populated by scandies who loved their draws is this still how it is?

Yeah the VAST majority of players on there are Scandi's but they arent as LAG as their counterparts at other sites as far as I can make out

I studied commerce in UCD and hated every second of it, so feel your pain on that one.

holla

Do you think your life balance is healthy? You say you see yourself playing poker as a career in the medium term, will you be content to grind at a pc screen every day when your in your thirties?

No. I dont exercise properly or eat healthily, and these are things that I Really have to start working on. In terms of sitting in front of a computer in the future, I dont see myself as being an online poker professional forever but I wouldnt be averse to it if other things dont go well

My long term career plans are essentially : Play poker, take profits, invest profits, rinse & repeat. By this I mean investing in anything from start ups, property, currency etc. Give me 5 or 6 years and I should have a very healthy investment portfolio and once I start making more money from that than from poker I will probably phase poker out and play only recreationally.

I see in a previous post that you agree that the ft games tend to be tougher and you dont advise playing there as a result, I tend to agree however after playing the 5/10 and 10/20 there for a while they are completely beatable it just means some adjustment to your game and new strategys to deal with nits who call too much in some spots and fold too much in others. My point is that playing tough games is necessary to improve your game, I destroyed the tribeca 10/20 for most of last year however tbh I got away with so much that it was actually not great for my game when I went back to playing tough games like the crypto and ft 1020, do you plan on attempting the tougher games or is it all about the buck?

Well - my advice about staying away from FT is all 2nd hand gossip I get from 2+2. I have never played NL cash there so I have no real idea how good the standard is compared to the only sites I have played at - Tribeca, Party & Prima.

There is an argument to be made for playing in really tough games to improve your game but I feel that my game is steadily improving anyway and to a large extent, yes it is all about the buck. I want to be playing in the biggest games in the world, but more because I can make more profit there than because I have any desire to be recognized as a great player etc.

Nh wp etc on the well

Thanks

Heisenberg.

This post has been deleted.

valor

The Scientist wrote:

Great read dude..

Thanks

When did you first start playing?

About 2 and a half years ago, February 05 or so I started playing 5 euro SNG's with my mates on College. I started online in July 05

Will this be your first time in Vegas?

Yeah, I'm not 21 until tomorrow So havent been before!

I share your view on poker books and i'm currently reading the boards poker archive instead. I havent gotten into 2+2 as much as i'd like to, so which 2+2 forums would you advise another player to visit? What forums have been the most beneficial to your game and which is your most visited?

Well it obviously depends on what game you want to develop, but personally I only read MSNL. If you are a SSNL player I would recommend reading and posting there while reading the MSNL board and trying to understand why people give the advice they do, and ask questions if you dont.

a-k-47

First off congrats on moving up to 10/20 and good luck chasing the women tonight for your 21st bday.

Q.1) You win a million on the lotto, what % would you put into your BR to move up levels or would poker become recreational only as a result?.

Q.2) Liverpool or Milan next wednesday?.


Lovely little well you got there , very well answered to all q's. wd. good luck