Video Review: The Six Figure NL System – Crushing 200nl in 2011

Here is the first video series produced by DailyVariance, focusing on ever-popular small stakes NLHE 6max.

The author is James “irunlucky” Hudson, a young semi-professional Canadian player grinding the NL100 and NL200 6max tables. In 2010, he turned a solid $136,000 profit for 680,000 hands. James also offers coaching, and this series is based on his own experience, both fixing the leaks of his students and exploiting those of his opponents.

I was a member of the four main poker training sites (see links on the right) until recently, and I have watched a few fairly good poker vids in the last three-four years, so it was interesting to see how this series would fare.

This series is comprised of eight videos, each about 45-minute long. Several file formats are available (eg. WMV and MP4), including mp3 for listening as a podcast when suitable. There was no DRM on my copies.

The first video is titled “30 Tips Big Winners Don’t Want You to Know”. The tips cover a lot of different topics, like 3betting on the button, squeezes, perceived ranges, bet sizing, iso-raises, donkbets… A few more general tips are also offered, for instance, knowing oneself so as to play one’s A game, what hours to play, avoiding starting table when multitabling a lot, or taking notes.

These tips are a bit of mixed bags, and as it is often the case with this format, a few of them are somewhat commonplace – but don’t assume you have heard it all before. Most of them deal with strategic points that are precise and specific, directly applicable, and well worth remembering.

The second video is about dealing with aggression. This is a very good topic in my opinion, since nowadays you are bound to meet a good deal of fairly aggressive players as soon as you move up a bit above micro-stakes. James considers the different counter-measures and what to look for when using them, also providing many examples from his own play. Preflop, flop, turn and river play are covered, depending on one’s opponents and their stats (a few guidelines are given for stats). Range strength and equity are generally the keywords.

The last third of the video is dedicated to 3 bets: what you want to call or 4 bet with and when to do so. Again, several examples are included, but a few range examples would have been useful (eg. some baseline 3bet range), perhaps backed with some basic maths. Anyway, this video does a very good job mixing theoretical and practical content, while keeping discussions easy to follow.

The third video is devoted to play from the blinds. The various factors involved in calling or 3-betting are discussed and again, the strength of the hand ranges in each situation (call, 3bet/call, 4bet…) is critical. On the flop, the merits of leading or check-raising are both considered in a similar fashion, then blind vs blind play is analyzed. Half of the video is devoted to other topics like flatting with big hands, iso-raising, squeezing, playing vs button minraises etc. This video is a bit more general than the previous one, and a few examples (eg. for ranges) and guidelines for stats would have been welcome. Good content nonetheless.

Videos four and five feature a review session played by James on nine NL200 6max tables. This is always an instructive exercise, as we have the opportunity to listen to the thought process of the coach, what stats he checks in the HUD etc. He plays a solid style without flashy moves, perhaps erring a few times on the side of caution, but it’s a good lesson for viewers and that’s a strategy that has cashed in more than $136,000 times last year. The action is sometimes difficult to follow on the nine tables though, as James doesn’t always tell what table he is referring to – but that’s perhaps due to the fact that I am not used to playing that many tables.

The sixth video is a live session on six NL200 6max tables, in the same vein as the two previous ones, but without the hindsight and more focus on the real-time decisions.

Videos seven and eight deal with database analysis using Holdem Manager and its numerous stats and filters. It is a great way to find leaks in one’s game, and these two videos cover many important things to check. Standard values for several stats are also provided, while the viewers are also shown how to set filters in order to review their play and results in very specific spots. James even identifies some aspects that could want a little tuning in his own game, which proves how useful database analysis can be.

Recommended?

The Six Figure NL System – Crushing 200nl in 2011 is a good video series aimed at the experienced recreational player or the aspiring small stakes regular. In spite of the series’ title, this is not a system per se, but rather a good collection of tips and advice in order to fix very frequent leaks, exploit them, and focus one’s attention on important aspects of one’s game.

As of this writing, the price tag is $197, which I guess begs the question: how does this series compare to training sites with hundreds of videos? I would say this is somewhat similar to comparing a short book with a forum containing some great posts: you can probably get the same kind of information for a cheaper price, but you would have to dig through all the content in order to find it, and unless you follow forums/training sites on a regular basis, this is quite a daunting task.

In other words, this series is a coherent bundle, provided by a successful player/coach who really plays the game at these stakes, and who knows why many players don’t do as well as they could. Considering the target audience is mainly NL100 players willing to move up or struggling regulars, the price doesn’t seem too prohibitive, and the content is certainly valuable, so I would recommend this series to them, especially if they prefer watching videos to reading books.

You can find further information on the DailyVariance page about the The Six Figure NL System.

Note: I received a review copy of this series.