2+2 TheoryA collection of theory and strategy posts collected across the twoplustwo.com forums... ... ...arranged and edited with little care and attention to order, with as little effort and thought put into the project as possible 1 Table of Contents 3bet shoving 25bb........................................................8-11 End Game 3betting Behavior.........................................12-16 20bb to Push-Fold Play.................................................17-18 22 Flawed Reasonings..................................................19-27 Limpers and MinBetters................................................28-33 Overbet Nash..............................................................34-38 Preflop Ranges in HU SnG.............................................39-40 Push-Fold Poker...........................................................41-51 Learnin’ Dem SnGs Good..............................................52-55 MTT: Stack Size Theory.................................................61-64 Blind Stealing.............................................................65-72 Cold Calling................................................................73-76 Exploiting Short Stacks................................................77-83 Facing a 3bet..............................................................84-91 Fold Equity.................................................................92-100 Hand Reading 1.........................................................101-113 Hand Reading 2......................................................114-118 Playing Deep...........................................................119-125 Playing Limpers.......................................................126-134 Playing OOP............................................................135-147 Polarization.............................................................148-160 Reacting to 3bets.....................................................161-173 Reasons to Bet........................................................174-183 Playing Small PPs.....................................................184-192 Stack to Pot Ratio....................................................193-200 Playing Suited Connectors.........................................201-206 The Blocker Bet.......................................................207-211 The Check-Raise......................................................212-221 The Double Barrel....................................................222-230 The Squeeze...........................................................231-234 List of 2+2 Theorums...............................................235-237 Thin Value Betting....................................................238-245 Turning Hands into Bluffs..........................................246-249 Value Betting..........................................................250-260 Combinatorics........................................................261-269 3betting................................................................270-273 2 2+2 Dictionary ajmargarine Here’s a list of common terms and abbreviations used in the NL forums. AKQJT - Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten UTG - Under the Gun, first player to act preflop UTG+1 - Under the Gun plus one, second player to act preflop EP - early position MP - middle position LP - late position OTB - On The Button CO - Cut off, player one seat to the right of button HJ - Hijack, player two seats to the right of button SB - small blind BB - big blind c/c - check/call c/f - check/fold c/r - check/raise b/f - bet and fold to a raise 3-bet - a bet, a raise, and then another raise. The third action is a 3-bet. b3b - Hero’s plan is to bet, and then 3-bet if raised. reraise - raising the PFR VB - value bet CB - continuation bet PSB - pot-sized bet PSR - pot-sized raise PFR - preflop raise or preflop raiser 3 overbet - a bet amount larger than the current pot check behind - to check when it’s been checked to you, usually after betting action on previous street donkbet - either to lead into the PFR on the flop, or a tiny bet made in relation to the pot thin value bet - usually a river bet made when it’s unclear if you are ahead or not Monotone - a flop of all the same suit Rainbow - a flop of all different suits Overpair - having a pair in your hand higher than the biggest card on the board gutshot - an inside straight draw TPTK - top pair top kicker TPWK - top pair weak kicker TPGK - top pair good kicker TP2K - top pair 2nd best kicker--You have KQ, flop K72, you have top pair, 2nd best kicker (the Q) TPCK - top pair crap kicker TPBK - top pair bad kicker 9To - Nine Ten offsuit KJs - King Jack suited Ax - An Ace with any second card Kxx - refers to a King high flop Q73r - r = rainbow flop OESD - open ended straight draw OESFD - open ended straight flush draw pp - pocket pair sc - suited connector EV - Expected Value OOP - out of position FE - fold equity AI - all-in ATC - any two cards UI - unimproved TAG - tight aggressive LAG - loose aggressive LAP - loose passive sLAG - slightly loose aggressive 4 MHIG - my hand is good MHING - my hand is no good WA/WB - way ahead, way behind IMO - In my opinion IMHO - In my humble opinion JMO - Just my opinion FYP - fixed your post OP - original post or poster tl;dr - too long; didn’t read QFT - quoted for truth x-post - post made in more than one forum at one time OT - off topic lc - low content nc - no content goot - good moran - moron nh - nice hand meh - the sound you make when you shrug your shoulders signaling indifference; not great, not terrible. pwned - owned or pawned. Usually means you got outplayed. BB/100 - # of bb’s won per 100 hands played PTBB/100 - poker tracker big blinds won per 100 hands played. A PTBB is 2xBB. ~$7 - around $7 or about $7 FPS - fancy play syndrome aggro - aggressive SSNL - small stakes no limit MSNL - mid stakes no limit HSNL - high stakes no limit NLHE - no limit hold ‘em LHE - limit hold ‘em BBV - the Beats, Brags, and Variance forum PT - Pokertracker VPIP - voluntarily put money in the pot AF - aggression factor Villian is 24/10/3(98)- Pokertracker stats indicating VPIP/PFR%/ AF (with preflop aggression taken out) over 98 hands 5 Party Poker PS.pot limit PF . Float .PokerAce PAHUD . trips . you call closing the action on that street. Semi-bluff . you hold KJ. Stealing blinds . this is No Limit. blocking bet .full ring FT .heads up FR . Stars .pre-flop HH .betting/raising when you have a draw. you hold 44.Gametime Plus PA .GT+ .You call a bet with a marginal hand or draw. get raised.number indicates the buy-in. usually on the flop while in position.You bet.Ultimate Bet PL .PokerAce Heads Up Display PP . then lead out on the next street. you have a set pot control .Full Tilt UB .attempting to keep the pot small with a marginal holding minraise .6-max NL100 .flop is K42.often a river bet made OOP when an obvious draw hits on the end.raising the lowest amount possible 6 .PokerStars FT . with $1 BB’s Stop-n-Go .the smallest stack amongst the players remaining in the hand.openraising in late position with less than premium hands.hand history HU . with the intent of stealing the pot on a later street. you have trips set .flop is JJ8.full table 6m . where you bet and fold to a raise effective stack . so add 126. and he’s going to respect your first raise.68% lose 36. Blinds are 25/50. What if he calls. This is 10. 66. this is your first three bet shove. ATo+.3bet Shoving 25bb Insane_Steve Situation: You are playing a hypothetical aggressive opponent who is raising his button 2/3rd of the time.4% of the time.10.7 = 84. 61. though? Here’s the equity for each of those hands agaisnt this tight range: 1) 2 2) A 3) J 2 2 T 37. You get 150 chips for free when this happens. Villain makes his raise.4% of hands. effective stacks 1250 (25 BB).31% lose 29.4/66.59% win.61 to your cEV for this move. You have: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 2 A J 7 3 2 2 T 5 2 (for ****s and giggles) Which of these hands are good to shove over his raise? Depends on what he’s calling with: Scenario 1: Villain is a solid (but a bit too tight) player. He’s calling with 66+. A9s.94% win. 62. KQ.67% lose 7 . He’s folding 1 .52% win. Of course.15.07% lose 25. you’re obviously a dog.3% of the time.38%.33 -50. KJo+.6% of the time you are called.06%. but this post will not deal with post-flop play for now. and a dumb villain is going to get pissed off that you’re shoving so much and call lighter anyways.39 win 31.04 win 39.82% lose So the 15. 73. or you’re playing someone who doesn’t respect you as much. 3-bet shoving ANY TWO is +cEV.40%. A5s+.24 8 . in the former case shoving 32o is now bad (lol). cEV = -91. 67.29% win. lose 62.8% of his hands. Also. lose 60. cEV = -54.47.6%*1250 chips lost * (%lose -%win)): 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 2 A J 7 3 2 2 T 5 2 -45. cEV = -62. As you can see.7 = 76. Scenario 2: Either you’ve shoved a couple times over the villain in scenario 1.13%. This is also why raising to 3x at 25 BB effective is generally a leak -. KTs.99 -67. Let’s see how your shoving hands are holding up now if called. for a P(fold) chip EV of 114. We repeat the calculations. against a tight calling range. the suited connector hands play better than the weak ace.30 (!) What have we learned from this? Well. because a smart villain is going to adjust. Here’s the loss in cEV for each scenario (equals 15.74%. lose 58. but the pair is of course the best hand to shove against a tighter calling range. if your opponent is opening wide and calling this tight.57 -72.82 -94. You still get a fold 1 . minraises will get called a bit more often. Villain is now calling with top 15. you can’t just keep shoving over this raise. It’s already going to be long enough.5 respectively.46% win.8/66.4) 7 5) 3 5 2 32. A8o+. the P(fold) chip expectation falls to 84. Villain is now calling 44+.4 and 105. Wooooo. 1) 2 2) A 3) J 2 2 T win 40.05%. Of course.if you raise to 100 or 125. lose 53. This is because A2o is crushed by all your opponent’s range but the Kx hands. while JTs is still doing OK against the weak aces and low pairs. Q8o+.75%.05%.3.08%. He’s calling your shove with any pair.51%.615 win 31.06%.44%.75%. The most surprising find is that A2o fares worse than the low suited connecter here. You know the drill: This is top 26. Let’s do two more examples before I get to the point: Scenario 4: Villain is a drunk monkey. any suited king. 76s.04 win 27.210.. lose 71.4) 7 5) 3 5 2 win 34. and only have 60. KTo+. QTs. This is a whopping 39.12%.. 87s. 97s+. and JTs.7% of hands! You only get a fold 1 (39. any ace.38 win 37.1/66. A2. Your shoving ranges will fare as follows: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 2 A J 7 3 2 2 T 5 2 win 43.7/66.7) = 40.(26. lose 64. K9s+.7) = 60. Moving on.78 Everything but that 32o is still +EV here. cEV = . Let’s add a stronger but not amazing Ax hand to this mix: 6) A 8 win 41. Let’s see how your hands fare. cEV = -107. Better even than that low pair. now only the pocket pair is profitable against this range. cEV = .97%.62%. lose 47.70 Yikes. J7s+.8% of the time. lose 62. JTs. A8. He’s calling that shove with any pair.8%. a middling A-rag hand fares pretty well. I think I’ve convinced you that connector hands are bad against a wide call range. cEV = -28. so I’ll throw out 75s and 32o.09%. lose 72.3%. lose 54.72 in +cEV in folding. and show 22. cEV = -103. T7s+. along with a slightly better pair (55): 9 .98%. and that JTs isn’t too far off the pair in equity. cEV for folds is 91.59 win 27.1%.2 A ha! Against a wide calling range. cEV = -122. Scenario 3: Villain is tilting or just likes to gamble.9%. lose 53.59 win 32. QJ.95%. so P(fold) = 1 . J9o+.54. Q6s+.1%. any ace. cEV = -132. K7o+. cEV = -89. cEV of a fold is 87.81%. cEV = +33. cEV = -72.41%. 3) Against an opponent you suspect will call with a lot of his raising range.42 win 43.26%.4/25) = 58. lose 47.242 win 41. cEV = -61. and calling the same range as the villain in scenario 1. He’s only raising 25%.4%. cEV = -54. Hmmmmmm.74 win 48. of course. and marginal aces increase in values. 4) 3-bet shoving any pocket pair over a 3x raise with 25 BB effective is almost never a mistake. 2) Against an opponent you suspect will call your 3-bet shove somewhat wide but not a lot.67 (!) You can now 3-bet shove A8 and 55 type hands for VALUE here. 10 . but not JTs.56%. never mind the small chance you have of a fold! The difference between A8 and A2 and 55 and 22 is HUGE if villain is calling you mega-wide! One more example: Scenario 5: Villain is tight from the button. your edge in 3-bet shoving comes from FOLD EQUITY. cEV = +33. lose 53.39%.71%.54%. On the off-chance you are called. lose 49. lose 44.078 (!) win 51. Against this villain it is wrong to 3-bet shove A2. lose 53. it is best to have a pair or a middling suited connecting hand than a bad ace. Suited connectors should not be shoved against these opponents. but suited connector hands drop a bit in value. The equity calcs are the same.6. but your fold EV drops a lot: P(fold) = 1 . Your edge against this opponent comes from him playing mega-passive on the button. your edge is still in your fold equity.24%.(10.88%.1) 2) 3) 6) 7) 2 A J A 5 2 2 T 8 5 win 45.04%. What have we learned from this example? 1) Against an opponent you suspect is not calling your 3-bet very often. your EV in shoving comes from the fact that a middling Ax hand or a low-ish pair is a FAVORITE against whatever trash he’s calling with. At 5BB. without further ado. nearly all villains will either go all-in or fold. The effective stack depth where the calling frequency becomes significant is the SCP. your villain can only go all-in or fold. I discuss.. something that happens between 10-20BB for most players. Skates Points: Critical Points of Villain’s 3-Betting Behavior These are the critical effective stack depths at which your villain makes dramatic adjustments to their preflop ranges when facing a minraise. At 10BB. in-depth. Here.end game 3betting behavior Skates Preface: Hi everyone! Here is a sample article from the manual about 15-30BB play I was intending to write. A good. I would appreciate if you kept any chatter in this thread strictly about the article and not about the manual that is no longer happening. X-Posted from HUSNG.This is the effective stack depth at which your villain switches from an all-in or fold strategy to one that incorporates calling.This is the effective stack depth at which your villain switches their 3-bet sizing from 11 . but most do. When facing a minraise at 2BB. balanced player should not have these.. I should define them. 2) Skates 3-Betting Point (S3BP) . Before explaining why. If you are reading this and missed out on the debate. check out the HUSNG Regs thread for more info. some will mix in calling with some hands. There are two: 1) Skates Calling Point (SCP) . and give an outline of something that happens between 2030BB for almost all players.com. Very strong players have softSCPs that are very hard to define because they adopt mixedstrategies (they do not always play a given hand the same way). many of the stronger players today do not have SCPs at 20. At 22BB. When I say “majority” and “significant”. I am referring to a range that does not incorporate AA and KK. If instead of having a hard-SCP. Some people. we would like to remove them from consideration. S3BPs are almost always extremely hard (non-gradual). when you minraise at 10BB.always being all-in (or committing) to having a significant fraction of their 3-bets being non-committing. he should start to call with most hands because he does not want to risk more than 19BB to pick up 2BB. StandardVillain were to start gradually incorporating hands into a calling range at 18BB. The effective stack depth where the frequency of the noncommitting 3-bet size becomes significant is the S3BP. 80%). some villains will keep going all-in. will flat or min-3-bet with AA or KK and only those hands. 12%). he would have a soft-SCP at 18. This is a very common behavior among weaker players and mediocre regs at this point in time. they will almost certainly go all-in with the majority of their range. When talking about SCPs and S3BPs. and a very tight call % (say. Playing the way the StandardVillain played was incredibly profitable. but has often adjusted to having a wider calling range. Many players play in unbalanced ways with those two hands. If Mr. but others might switch to smaller 3-bets. This is not what we are looking to isolate. StandardVillain might always jam 33 if hero limps into him. This means that StandardVillain has a hard-SCP of 20. As such. it might be helpful to refer to them as “hard” and “soft”. I think this is because the average hero often had a very wide open % (say. but rather closer to 15. but the rest of StandardVillain’s 3-bet range is likely to have a 3-bet size 12 . Now. the average hero at higher stakes might still open very wide. if a villain 3-bets when facing a minraise. Sure. he should either go all-in or fold. At 20BB though. and in this case. he might have learned that when facing a minraise at less than 20BB. A “hard” SCP is what most players have. StandardVillain has been reading 2+2 for the past year. and are usually in the range of 22-25BB. neglecting the primary source of equity won by StandardVillain. Historically. At 15BB. they tell the whole story. Of course. I can not think of one villain I have come across who does not. take a breather. we ignore behavior with AA and KK. your easily observed frequencies no longer tell a part of the story. *************************************************** Hello again! If you play within a well-constructed set of rules. Most people have a fixed 3-bet size that they switch to when the first incorporate noncommitting 3-bets. but I strongly encourage you to step back and not continue reading until you try to figure it out on your own. I can just look at my database and pull the information directly.between the range of 4BB to 6BB. ************************************************* Stop here. I will walk you through it. I observe what I think to be a hard-SCP at 20. or box. anything that allows the hero to get a better estimation of those frequencies enables the hero to make more precise adjustments to better exploit their villain. what do you think my adjustments look like? Fix a stack depth and 13 . If I’ve played many games with you. then utilizes that information to come up with a maximally exploitive strategy to combat those ranges. then utilizes that information to make estimations of villain’s range on each street. can you think of any forum members or coaches that have well-defined SCPs or S3BPs? Are they hard or soft? How many of them that have easily recognized hard-SCPs play high-stakes? The answer is probably close to zero. As a consequence.. You should be able to extrapolate the rest of this article from what I’ve said already. If after one game with you. Then. Now that we’ve defined these.. Over the course of a match or series of matches. that is some very rudimentary poker theory. I can read your frequencies and exploit you. Although I would be happier putting a lot of caveats and footnotes in there. and here’s why: If I can notch you into a box. I am immediately estimating a 3-bet frequency I think you have at each depth below that. a good hero attempts to best understand the frequencies with which their villain takes each possible action on each street. I don’t gradually add hands into my opening range. I’m not going to spell that one out for you.consider a range of villain 3-bet frequencies. Since you are playing within this box that you have defined for yourself. I will raise any two cards.. *************************************************** And here you go: If your frequency is lower than 50%. you need to step back and think about it more. despite the simplicity of the topic. here is where things really get interesting. and fold all hands I would fold to a jam with. When thinking about a hard-S3BP and the adjustments you can make relating to it. Take a moment to try to come up with my opening range with respect to those frequencies on your own. I either raise everything. but my raising frequency at 14BB might be something like 40% (and raise-calling my J9s ). At this time. my adjustments are effectively in the binary. consider how a villain views your calling frequency and 4-bet frequency 14 . So what is the result? I have a raise/fold range if and only if I think your 3-bet frequency is less than 50%. (Of course. most strong high-stakes HUSNG players have soft-SCPs that are extremely hard to discover. and which strategy I adopt is dependent solely on your 3-bet frequency. *************************************************** Now. or I raise my calling range. On the other hand. I will raise any hand that I am also calling a jam with. hard-S3BPs are still found in virtually everyone. then my raising frequency at 16BB is likely to be 100%. they might see my raising range at something like 70%. Notice that my adjustment is not continuous.. If your frequency is higher than 50%. If you don’t see why that is the case. the size of my raise-calling range will vary based on your 3-bet frequency and the effective stack depth). Do you see why their adjustments might be mistaken or flawed? Do you see where I might be able to pick up an edge from this? Do you see how difficult it is for someone with a hard-SCP to compete with me? So what about S3BPs? These are much more interesting because this part of the game is not wel-evolved. I’m currently thinking of only a few exceptions. If I think you 3-bet all-in with 50% of all hands at 15BB. If someone were to isolate my hands from 14-16BB. When they 3-bet noncommitting. are they polarized? Are they merged? What does their 3-bet frequency look like below the S3BP (when they are only going all-in).when facing a non-committing 3-bet. figure it out 15 . Does it increase or decrease on the other side of the S3BP? What does that say about their calling range around the S3BP? What does that mean your opening range should look like? What kind of tricks can you pull? I’m not going to spoon-feed this one to you... and/or plays fit-or-fold on the flop when you c-bet.20bb to push-fold play lagdonk At 20 bbs down to which ever stack depth you think pure pushor-fold* should start (whether it’s 10/9/8/7/6 BBs -. but mix in some strong hands into your limping range -. The earlier phases of the match should give you some clues about how villain will respond. Maybe he has some exploitable traits you’ve spotted. 2) Min-raise ~40% of hands. fold the rest -. limp a whole bunch more. folds many of his big blinds. because villain is very aggro spewy in raised pots due to drug use or whatever reason. ideally): Typically.villain dependent. but villain will let you limp without punishing you. so you want your range to be stronger. 3) Similar to the above. 4) Raise very few hands.because villain perceives it as weak and has begun attacking limps pf pretty often. you should try a mixture of limps and min-raises on the BTN. Any of these BTN pf strategies can be appropriate against the right villain: 1) Min-raise ~70%+ of hands.because villain rarely 3-bet shoves. OOP: Tighten up your flat-calling range from the BB.because villain is a bit more active in raised pots. You want to enter pots OOP armed with significant flopping power and/or an ability to handle villain when he has position post-flop. and lets you take down limped pots reasonably often with a simple stab on the flop. and fold trash -. 16 . and to be able to call a 3-bet shove pf more often than a 70% range can. Playing fit-or-fold is way too expensive and unsustainable at this stage. and he will shove 52s when you make your first min-raise with AQo after limping the last gazillion hands 18 BBs deep. More of a growth area for me. You can also mix in some small 3-bets against against semithinking. such that hitting a pair will net you his bluffed off stack. Compare this to taking a more inducing/potcontrol/way-ahead-way-behind type check-call line earlier in the match when stacks are deeper against a barreling villain. It is very easy to cross commitment thresholds inadvertently. and review all of the hands that are +EV 3-bet shoves against someone who opens too often when stacks are short. nit-at-heart players who aren’t very comfortable lagging it up (in this case. especially if you balance them. and are doing so half-heartedly because they think they should as blinds go up. Try to avoid taking lines that involve calling a bet (or two) on earlier streets and folding to further pressure on later ones. 17 . and to be priced in to make correct calls with one over and a gutshot. or c-betting very often but folding non-strong hands to smallish check-raises. or other weak draws/hands. opening more BTNs than they’d like). monitor his BTN raising frequency as you get shallow. especially since you can still get called by worse (or draws) as pot odds become better for villain. Such lines are sometimes inevitable. Also.) Post-flop: Keep a very close eye on stack-to-pot ratios if you and villain start putting bets in on the flop or beyond. constantly look ahead before putting chips into the pot and adjust your future continuing/folding plans accordingly. small 3-bets when shallow can work against a number of opponent-types. but stacking off sooner when you feel more certain of your equity becomes more correct as the stack-to-pot ratio shrinks.like only c-betting if he hits. or three barrel spewing too often when you take a check-call line. but this is not my area of expertise. (That was a retardedly specific villain profile. In short. as the pot grows relative to remaining stacks. relying instead on emotional heuristics or misconceptions about theory. the point of asking about a situation is not to learn how to play it if ever occurred exactly the same way. or demonstrate serious flaws in their broader understanding of the game.” This is only true when playing against a maniac who always 18 . After all. Perhaps most informative is when people give me explanations that are largely irrelevant to the situation. but to figure out the concepts that really matter so that they can be applied to a wide variety of difficult spots. Do you understand the error in each? 1. and a few have to do with a broader approach to the game. I have to call the river. and some of them should never be applied at all. if I call the turn.22 Flawed Reasonings Mersenneary When I give poker advice. These are opportunities to produce the “aha!” type moments that can lead to significant improvements. the common theme is that each incorrect rationale focuses too little on calculating EV. “When bluffcatching. Some of them are misapplied to far too many situations. along with why they each suggest the chance to get better. I ask players to include the reasoning behind their decisions. Most are about in-game decisions. This article chronicles 22 different reasonings HUSNG students have given me when explaining their actions. Throughout. either on the 2+2 strategy forums or privately. cEV very closely mirrors $EV. If you should be giving up. Hourly rate is a much better stat to be proud of than your ROI. The question you should be asking yourself is whether the play is +EV. The error tends to come from people’s irrational desire to either say they lost the minimum. I’ll be down to 300 chips.. especially in the era of the rematch button.. not your shortstack if you get caught.” While I will concede there are sometimes very small differences where a stack of t1000 might not be worth exactly twice as much as a stack of t500 in a HUSNG. or say they won the maximum. That’s a results-oriented fallacy that takes away from your EV. 19 . It is quite often optimal with a bluffcatcher to call the turn and fold to a river bet. If I’m folding on the river.” Similarly. making the play that gives you the best equity in the hand is going to be what wins you the most money overall. “So I raised to define his hand.triple barrels after betting twice. they think. The elements of the equity calculation here are the pot size. The difference is almost never going to be enough to correctly stop you from making an otherwise +EV bluff. not against the vast majority of the population. 3. “waiting for a better spot” isn’t generally going to be why except in more extreme scenarios. The river decision is its own independent equity calculation based on your assessment of how often your opponent gives up on bluffs and what percentage of his range that gets to the river are value hands. 4. both in folding to too many turn bets and in making crying calls on too many river bets. When you’re folding. 2. “dang. you’re looking for a +EV spot. and your fold equity. the math from those three numbers is going to be why. your bluff size. “I’ll fold and wait for a better spot. In general though. I’d have been better off folding on the turn”. in practice. like passing up on 52% equity against an opponent open-shoving 75bb deep.” When arguing that he should check/raise an A K Q flop with Q 4 in a limped pot 20bb deep instead of check/calling. “If I get caught bluffing. eliminating all the junky hands. You might as well use Phil Hellmuth’s hand rankings to decide. they have a completely different range than “Any Two Cards”. It guarantees at least a certain amount of equity. “If I’m facing a minraise or a limp in the BB. 5. and limps generally leads to superior results better than what NASH provides. I like to play fairly nitty. not wanting to get into a marginal spot against a player I don’t know anything about. As if we had anything to fear from seven high! Knowing what our opponent is likely to have is not a benefit in and of itself.” NASH. Unfortunately.” Generally. many players use the NASH chart to dictate decisions like shoving over limps. It’s always a probabilistic guess. we’re never sure about any of your reads. Do a calculation. and when Oreos aren’t involved. Based on range of villains I generally face. Do the 20 . it is best used as a solely general guideline for <10bb poker. go by the population tendencies of how likely villains in general are to have each hand in his range. However. and how often is it not? That’s a better approach that will lead to a +EV decision. details the push/fold and call/fold equilibrium strategies for the small blind and the big blind respectively. not out of unwarranted fear of playing against a wide range. 6.a winning $100 player remarked to me that by raising. I can use the NASH chart to help make my decision. this is said by people who go on to pass up against highly +EV spots because they are not sure of your opponent’s tendencies. openshoves. how often is it profitable. and exploiting players with 2x raises. When you know nothing. folds. the more technically correct cousin of SAGE. Don’t fail to four-bet shove 77 just because you don’t know whether your opponent’s three-betting range is too tight for that to be profitable. NASH is at least relevant. he was able to define his opponent’s range more. While it is suboptimal >10bb. When people limp. “Readless. Raising for information is a play that always should be grounded in equity. It’s poker. 7. If you’re using this logic. “All-in luck graphs are for whiners who like wasting their time feeling bad about themselves. “Let’s not inflate the pot out of position. you hate money for not taking a quick look at all the information available to you.” Similarly. reg speeds. There are deepstacks. poor hands. turbos. Don’t get lazy and try to use a chart for everything. your best play is to be aggressive and get the money in while there is still at least some value to be had. and everything in between. not the often misleading generality. the level above. there are plenty of times when you should be making thin value bets on the flop and turn with hands that can’t stand up to further aggression. There are plenty of times when you want to inflate the pot out of position. and superturbos. even if that means playing it safe less often. it means making the most in EV on every single value hand you are dealt. 9. 8. all at the stake you’re at. most people will not have that experience. 21 . “I don’t want to build a pot with a marginal hand. with great hands.” While some HUSNG players get all of the action they could ever want at a buy-in and speed they’re positive is their most profitable. what your equity is when called. and what your equity is from checking behind or making a smaller raise. make sure you identify WHY it would be such a bad thing if the pot is bigger: Is it that you’re not getting value out of enough hands? Is it that too much of your opponent’s range can play well against your hand and decrease your equity? Focus on the math. In fact. Because EV-adjusted winnings have much better predictive value than your actual results. if you’re not positive which stake level or game you should playing at.” This is another reason that bypasses the correct rationale for taking an action and becomes quite hollow when the real reason doesn’t apply. sometimes with a marginal hand. Progressing as a poker player means winning pots with more than just your monsters and your bluffs.math of how much fold equity you have. and the level below. 10. Often.” Buried at #12. “If I have Q6 on a 642 board. Don’t be scared. Each seems immediately justifiable. players will quickly bet big or small without thinking about any of these details. and a host of other factors. a Jack on the turn would improve your equity in the hand against his range. if you had the Q6 in position on this hand and your opponent check/ called a bet. In general. this is perhaps the biggest large-scale leak you can fix if you have it. Just because a jack increases the amount of hands that beat you doesn’t mean that the card increases that percentage in your opponent’s range of hands. small.” Thinking like this often leads people to over-protect their hand and be too scared of what cards can come. with a few more examples of specific common in-game situations interspersed along the way. or anywhere in between with your monsters depends on your opponent. The first half of this article introduced how there are dozens of common flawed ways of thinking about HUSNG poker that are pervasive amongst average midstakes players. For example. not mathematical. your image. 12. We’ll now broaden this understanding towards your poker career and out-of-game poker choices. your opponent’s range. “Let’s bet small. make a real value bet. they tend to make use of heuristics that end up distracting from an accurate equity calculation at the core of the decision. I hate all turn cards that aren’t queens or sixes. Whether to bet big. but neither is well thought out when applied globally. “Let’s bet big. 22 . The reason for doing so is emotional. I have a big hand!” 11b. and don’t try too much to push people out on these type of flops. the board texture. or applied that to any of my decisions. “I haven’t really thought about how much I’ll play poker and when I’ll move on from the game. your perceived range. just out of instinct. 11a.” Different types of players tend to have one of these two instincts when learning the game. I don’t want to scare him off. how many buyins to carry. the best goal is maximizing your lifetime hourly rate. Maximally exploiting bad players is an exceedingly complicated concept and one that deserves to be treated as such. Learning how to beat good players is important as you move up. If you pick one stat to focus on maximizing in your poker career. you are making choices that are drastically affected by how much you’ll play in your life. 14. Start thinking about where you see yourself in poker in a few years and how to give yourself the best possible career path. 23 . If you think you should “just play ABC”. afraid to search for lines that have even better equity. and so many other decisions. you’re missing out on a lot of money. “I know this strategy is unexploitable. For most people.When you decide how much to study poker. money is a continuum. your current hourly rate. whether to move up. whether to invest in a coach or a training site. but otherwise. you’re holding yourself back from the skills that will allow you to succeed at the next level. I want to learn how to beat regs. focusing on bumhunting to maximize your current hourly rate is better.” Do you think you’re beating fish as badly as Phil Ivey would? That you’re playing perfect poker? If you’re sane and don’t think this. If you have no ambitions of moving up. 13. Make the most from the time you put in. or even your lifetime profit. “There isn’t much of a point in studying how to beat fish. both in fun and in money. If you think you might give up poker in a couple of months. so it’s what I choose to use. it shouldn’t be ROI. what game selection to employ. but complacency about how you play against fish is lighting money on fire. and the extra 2% of EV ROI you pick up against a regular fish is just as important as the extra 2% of EV ROI you pick up against a decent reg in an individual match. a subscription to a training site is far less valuable than if you know you are in it for the long haul.” This attitude falls back on the crutch of knowing a play is +EV. or learn more about why your play was actually correct. “I like to mix up my play and take different lines. If you’re not going to have a long history with your opponent. 16. “When I hit the turn after check/calling the flop. people think this is reason enough to trap. never mind the boatloads of EV they threw away to be convinced of that. There’s always plenty to learn. with or without reads. Always be excited to learn when someone says you’re not playing well. I should almost always check the turn to give villain a chance to bet again. and defense mechanisms that get in the way of improvement. Don’t close yourself off from chances to improve just because you want to feel confident in your game. 15a.” Translation: I like to take suboptimal lines just for fun. “So I checked to be deceptive. many players want to ease themselves of the emotional swings of playing shortstacked poker by strictly adhering to NASH and consoling themselves about how they had positive expectation. Take it as an opportunity to get better and win even more money in the future. 18. I don’t have much to learn there. “Shortstacked poker is pretty simple. and insta-check the turn when you hit: 24 . I don’t have much to learn there. 17. Take the most profitable line. Why is checking the best option. “Deepstacked poker is pretty simple.” I would get absolutely crushed against the best shortstacked HUSNG player in the world. Headsup players have notoriously big egos. don’t play them like it. equity-wise? What does your opponent’s range look like? How do you know it’s worth being deceptive against? Learn what are and aren’t sufficient reasons to take a particular line..” Check/call the flop. where too often.For example..” This is in the “tell me more” family of errors. and similarly dominated against the best deepstacked player.” 15b. 19. but it’s a mistake to shut down on bluffing just because you find out your opponent likely has a weak range. knowing everything that you know about it. “If villain calls flop bets light. True. You know how you feel in different spots. the best thing to do is know yourself. leading the turn often does far. Or. and you know where you can be exploited. “If I have a suited hand in the BB and flop a pair 25 . and I shouldn’t bother bluffing against him very much on any street. “I don’t know how I’d be exploitable if someone analyzed my database. 21. Take a while to think about it.” When people call flop bets light.along with looking away from the computer screen right after you see that you hit. he’s a station. your range is pretty weak. Sound familiar? Do this type of analysis on your own play. However. When you three-bet and readlessly check a 987ss flop with two times the pot left in your stack. they have a significantly weaker range for the rest of the hand. When you raise a healthy-sized river bet. 1. at least. and consider leading rather than just mechanically checking to the aggressor. and it will help you understand how to exploit others. you know how you play. some players will call down all the way no matter what they have. a range that produces much more fold equity than against players who call the flop in fit-or-fold fashion. it’s almost always for value.” In thinking about balance and exploiting the tendencies of other winning regs. far better on average than checking. 20. Take into account your opponent’s range. Here are a couple common tendencies for winning low-mid stakes husng players. how much of that range is now marginal showdown value that is likely to check. 2. it’s an instinctual reaction. you should. when that card is an overcard to the board against a player who does not double barrel wide for value or for bluff. You play most people only for a game or two and should be trying to maximize your value from their tendencies. and is not grounded in equity.” This reasoning serves as a crutch for people who are afraid to deviate from their moderately winning strategies. and continue to exploit.and a flush draw. I might make money in the short run. and work hard to rid your mind of the flawed understandings that keep you from making the most from the hands you’re dealt and the games you play. defend ones you think you might disagree with. It’s okay to be exploitable. To take your game to the next level. Talk with your friends about this list. 22. Break down your opponent’s range and what actions make the most against different hands. come up with more that I’ve forgotten. you have to figure out what aspects of your thought process about the game are distracting you from what really matters: Your EV. both in-game and in your lifetime poker career. keep being a moving target. check/calling or leading is preferable. Having a strategy that is willing to be dynamic takes more effort. I’m pretty much always check/raising because I know I have great equity. If you think your opponent might be catching on. 26 . Just because you know you have great equity and a non-monster does not mean it’s best to check/raise. but I’ll soon become exploitable. “If I make this play.” This is just to hammer home the point with an example a lot of mid-high stakes players can make errors on. When you have a pair and a two-card flush draw on the flop. While check/raising is often best. a good percentage of the time. but it gets rewarded when you click the withdrawal button. you’re in good shape. Anything besides folding is going to be +EV. but I kind of forgot about them. so we should not try to narrow their hand range down based on actions that do not warrant it. This is something I struggled with early on in my husng progression and I’m sure many others have or do struggle with as well. Dealing With Min Bettors The first question in the Q and A is from Marchy in Germany. 2) Our odds of calling a min bet on the flop are much greater 27 . I should have x-posted them here sooner. There are a few things I like to keep in mind when dealing with min bettors: 1) We’re usually dealing with a very wide range of hands. Feel free to comment/question them. Question: How do you handle players who minbet (1/4 to 1/3 of the pot about) 90% of the flops? At the moment i play the 33s on FullTilt and there are lots of these guys.Limpers and Minbetters ChicagoRy I posted these on my blog in the last few months ago. discussion and learning. that’s what they are here for. I just cant stand them because i really dont know what the best strategy is against them. Response: This is a very good question. I generally want to raise a stronger hand first. gutshot straights. .It might not be too difficult to win when you are hitting cards/ boards vs these players. weaker pair combo draws). but what about when you are card dead and the boards just aren’t hitting your starting hands? In these cases. at least in the early portion of our match. OESDs. you really have to pay attention to how you are playing your high cards.I want to also figure out how they react to a raise. here are a few things I like to do against min bettors: . good draws (flush draws. Keeping those points in mind. . overcards) and outright “bluffs” (weak hands that need runner runner to beat most hands that will play a big pot). perhaps with an outright bluff or semi bluff. if they fold again I start to see they are weak and will throw in a good amount of bluff raises along with semi bluff and strong hands and wait until they adjust. If I notice a fold I’ll try again. it’s 28 . the raises are most likely going to frustrate the player. therefore we’ll probably be calling a lot more often on the flop and we shouldn’t be worried about folding turns. weak draws (low flush draws. If a player is going to min bet every street with any hand. If they are not following the same betting pattern with all of these hands. 3) We want to be careful about getting overzealous about raising them too often in small pots and folding to the min bet too often in bigger pots.than on the turn. how often you are chasing without the correct odds and other decisions you make in marginal/close spots. then I want to try to find out which hands that they are deviating from their min bet strategy with and what they are doing instead.Figuring out if they will min bet 3 streets with strong hands (top pairs+). because most min bettors are going to be too loose and call with a lot of hands they should not on the flop. While I may not always get action on my strong hands. . If you bluff raise his min bet on the flop and he calls. if they bet 30 into a 200 pot on the turn. be aware of the odds you are being offered compared to their presumably very wide range of hands. Often times against constant min bettors. On the flip side. raising 3x to 90 is going to probably be an under raise. In this case it would be a 130-160 type turn bet (raise) that I would make. In conclusion. A few things you’ll want to avoid are bluffing off a lot of chips because “I haven’t bet big in awhile. Don’t blindly spew chips against these players. They will likely make the mistake of calling without odds.Don’t over or under raise them. you should find enough above to effectively combat the min bettor and to get you thinking in the right direction against almost all of them. be weary about following through on the turn. If their drawing hands are 20-25% likely to hit the river. he has to respect me here” or “he bets every street. While I gave a lot of general advice. you’re going to want to adjust and starting folding high cards to his bets. that is how they are going to win because they usually don’t get enough value out of their bigger hands and end up letting you build pots when you want with stronger hands.” Be careful on taking raises too far.going to be correct to call down with a hand like A high. If you notice he is starting to check hands that are really weak or that have no showdown value. so don’t be too worried about pushing them out of the pot with a 4-5x raise. You also want to be aware of the odds you are offering them. raising your weak top pair to 400 is going to be an over raise. In fact.Like I said earlier. I almost “ignore” their small bet and just raise them to what I would bet if they had checked. your raises will often be over 4x the bet against min bettors. you don’t want to “keep them in the pot” with an under raise that offers them the correct odds to draw. you might have to think a little longer/harder when facing the min bettor. A few other lesser points that I want to make about playing min bettors: . he can’t call a few raises from me. For example. 29 . since this is a player and situations you’re probably not dealing with on a regular basis. a lot of villains will limp and then call a 3-5x raise with a lot of 30 . You could call this a bluff-raise. First. We have a great read on villain and have found an exploit in their game (fairly rare early on). For example. the aggro-maniacs.I’d say above all. **We’ll assume that effective stacks are a relatively deep 4075bb. You would want to get chips in the pot preflop to steal postflop. a player that calls almost ATC preflop but is very weak/tight postflop. Our hand is better than the range of hands villain will call with. is another day and another blog post. unless otherwise noted. however. awareness is key against these players.” That is probably true. We’ll start with raising for pure hand value. Lets begin by looking at reasons why people raise limps.” -------------Facing A Limp (Or why you should resist the temptation of raising limps over and over and over again) You probably get what I’m going to advocate in this post. though it is not just a simple “take this advice but apply it in the opposite direction. 3. A common reply to “why did you raise his limp with that hand (we’ll say a hand like QTo)?” is “he’ll call with worse hands. the following is a response to another question from Spacko about “when you should raise limpers.” It’s a very general question but I notice that even good players often have a general problem with how they approach this area of the game. 2. The same can go for the opposite end of the spectrum. There are no doubt other reasons you can raise a limp.” That. and the most common mistake is a lack of discipline and emotional control when dealing with these players. but the most common will be similar to the 3 above. We think villain will fold a tremendous amount of time and we will raise for the fold equity. 1. Skates even admitted that he was pretty confused about the hand/line and it turns out Heir had a weak ace.worse hands. so you’re at a disadvantage (the deeper you are the more this is true).php?t=177357 In this thread. Throw aces into Heir’s range and it would be a pretty clear fold on this river. He assumed that Heir would raise any ace preflop.twoplustwo. The first factor of the hand that a lot of people ignore is position. Another factor is postflop play. As an example of how crucial it is to know most if not all of these things about your opponent. This will weaken your holding/value somewhat. this is generally not worth doing until effective stacks (in bbs) are pretty small (think like < 30bbs deep). many people don’t consider other factors of the hand besides the hand values.d. c/c. You’re out of position. Knowing they are limping weak and/or folding often is going to be much more valuable when you can pick up 50-100 chips each time or more appropriately.. and that would be to think about what it means to 31 .com/ sh. 5-15% of their stack a pop. raising a medium-strong hand like QTo OOP for around 4x the bb is probably not going to put you in good spots postflop. Based on that assumption. so you’re not going to want to pick up their 20 or 30 chips once or twice when you have 1500 chips and then have to figure out how they are adjusting later on. I’ll touch on one other point about limp raising before I conclude. he’ll probably fold. But unfortunately. the other big reason people will give when raising a limp is “he’s only limping weak hands. Moving on. How does your opponent play postflop? What is his calling range? What is his limping range? If you’re having trouble answering any of those questions. so therefore an ace could not be in his calling range. Skates (a 220-550 regular) raised Heir Apparent’s (a very solid 200/220 regular) limp with what you could call a “medium-strong” hand. it would be a pretty easy call based on Heir’s line (call.” While this is fine reasoning. I’ll point you to a recent thread in 2+2: http://forumserver.. c/bet). However. Most players will adjust after you raise their limps a few times. my default raising range for low-mid stakes husngs would be 55+. A good way to gain this information is to mainly only raise strong hands early on when facing a limp. Building off of that. game flow and reads developed and changed. good reads or not. your hand is just too strong to not want to build a pot. Now lets quickly touch on when you should raise limps. I would never suggest checking a hand like 99 or AK in the big blind when a player limps. -Your hand is very strong.” 32 . reactions to aggression and postflop play of villains so that you can take advantage of poor play as effective big blinds get shallow and leaks grow tremendously. KQo+. ATo+. That range would change as effective stacks.face a limp. -You really have a good grasp on this villain and his calling range as well as his postflop play. -The blinds are a big % of the effective stacks. Most players are losing value by constantly limping their button when stacks are deep. To conclude. 5-15% is probably a good rule of thumb for when you really want to be paying attention and looking for spot to raise limps for fold equity. A9s. With a hand like this. and to deviate from that strategy as the conditions above warrant. but on the first hand of a 22 dollar husng that would be my suggest raising range facing a limp from a random player. KJs+. in general I would suggest letting players limp early but especially paying attention to limp ranges. so why should you abuse that leak early on and force them to raise more often in position and generally play more aggressively throughout the game? It is my belief that you should not. Are you really worried about a player limping his button when stacks are deep? You shouldn’t be. position or not. Overbet NASH Mersenneary For those of you expecting “Everything I know about Poker” as promised in the Regs thread. As for now.00 No Limit Hold’em Tournament . Hero raises to t160. BTN/SB calls t120 Turn: (t360) 7 (2 players) Hero bets t320.Blinds t5/t10 .00. BTN/SB bets ? 33 . com Hand History Converter Hero (BB): t3500 BTN/SB: t2500 Pre Flop: (t15) Hero is BB with A 5 BTN/SB raises to t20. BTN/SB bets t40.2 players . BTN/SB calls t320 River: (t1000) Q (2 players) Hero checks.The Official Reddit. that’ll come eventually when I have more time. here’s a formal explanation of why you see (and should see more) overbetting in matches between good players. Take the following hand that occured early on at a 10k HU Event I just made up: MersennearyPoker. especially when they have a history together.com $10000. Hero calls t10 Flop: (t40) 5 A Q (2 players) Hero checks. you should all know what the Nash Equilibrium of this situation is (Equilibrium isn’t just an endgame thing). BTN concedes the pot for an expectation of -t500. further. as the button. This makes BB indifferent between calling and folding. after you make your river bet. or not at all. we have three choices on some site with crummy software: Betting t500. So. BTN has an expectation of +t500. as BB has plenty of busted draws. BTN shoves 100% of her value and shoves 2/3 of her air. meaning that 5/6 of the time. and that BTN has 50% Qx+. BB should be indifferent between calling and folding in equilibrium. let’s calculate it. pretend it’s a standard ace high board with no draws and it’s gone c/c c/c c/b if you’re hung up on that). Let’s say we decide to bet t2000. and 50% air. betting t1000. and some % of our air. but we’ll get to the practical applications at the end. your opponent should be indifferent between calling and folding. along with betting t2000 for all of our value hands. that both players know that the BB has Ax here always (this isn’t the best hand to demonstrate this. For now. and 1/6 of the time. again. at Nash Equilibrium.Suppose. The math on that: Code: -500 = (2500)x .(2500)(1-x) -500 = 5000x . naturally. Let’s note what happens if we try to make our bets only in 1000.2500 2000 = 5000x x = 2/5 Thus. EV playing this strategy is +t333. Hence. Code: 34 . Hence. For demonstration purposes: Let’s assume as the button. or only in 500: If we’re betting 1000. but whatever. This is. or betting t2000 all-in to the pot of t1000. In Nash Equilibrium. an idealized situation. we want to bet t2000 with the percentage of our air that makes it so folding and calling have the same EV for our opponent. Do you? If not. BTN shoves what makes a BB call correct 2/5 of the time. we should be doing so with 100% of our Qx+. 2/3 of the time we have an expectation of +t500. your chipstack is a weapon. you know the drill. The bigger the bet. we concede the pot for an expectation -t500. You want to use your chips to allow you to remain 35 .10500 10000 = 21000x x = 47.6% Which means we bet 100% of our value and 90. perhaps at a cash game with 10k behind and this river decision. 1/3 of the time it’s -t500. and 1/4 of the time. though. If we’re betting 500. what’s our EV? Code: -500 =(10500)x .-500 = (1500)x . we want to bet what makes BB call correctly 1/3 of the time. This makes BB indifferent between calling and folding. right?). we have an expectation of +t500. the bigger the EV.8% of our air. This is also applicable in smaller HUSNG pots. Say we’re really deepstacked. The general theme: When it’s clear your opponent is highly unlikely to have anything other than bluffcatcher.(10500)(1-x) -500 = 21000x . reckless stuff. Code: -500 = (1000)x . giving us an expectation of +453..3% of air. the best yet.(1000)(1-x) -500 = 2000x . which means betting 100% of value and 33.1500 1000 = 3000x x = 1/3 Thus. we shove 100% of our value hands and 50% of our air. meaning that 3/4 of the time. If we make a big overbet shove (crazy.. At equilibrium. So. betting pot is inferior to overbetting 2x pot. This means our expectation playing this strategy is +t250. Expectation playing this strategy is +t167. Let’s take it to the extreme.1000 500 = 2000x x = 1/4 So we bet what makes BB call correctly 1/4 of the time.(1500)(1-x) -500 = 3000x . as you move up in stakes and get more and more history between common opponents. if deviating from it affords you a better winrate because of the incompetence of your opponent.nobody’s going to know. it doesn’t have to be 50/50. aren’t attempting to balance ranges. but regardless. you get it. you might as well do it 100% of the time . ever check the river with a big hand in the example above. When does this help me take maney? The downside: I am a strong advocate that in the vast majority of games. But you read 2+2 strat so you can take more maney. Mediocre players who have no history. make it a critical error to not go for MORE than the +t300 expectation that t2000 overbet shoving guarantees you in this hand. you need to start playing more equilibrium strategies. Nash relies on both players having perfect information about each other’s strategies. but hookers and blow from all 36 . There also will be concerns about variance and putting your stack at risk for too slight of edges. However. If a Nash Equilibrium calls for you to do something 90% of the time. OK. and do not respond appropriately when you unbalance yours. Shoving is still a Nash Equilibrium regardless of what percentages BTN has air and value. At equilibrium. I would argue that the “you only have a bluffcatcher” situation is pretty commonplace. especially one you have history with.unexploitable as you bluff with a bigger percentage of your air hands. The Nash Equilibrium here is overbetting. there are numerous other spots that make thinking about equilibrium and how its occasionally counterintuitive conclusions more than mental masturbation. 2. be it end-game or early-game. This is ridiculous. Two quick points to make. All these are legitimate concerns: There’s simply no reason to play any Nash. which I won’t bother to show the math on: 1. Nash Equilibria are going to be useless. and that’s a significant part of why you see it at higher stakes. Stop thinking about Nash in poker as only relevant to the endgame and start thinking more about it in early-game decisions when you’re up against a tough opponent. overbetting is better than any combination of small/large bets with different types of hands. taking advantage of players who would never. who tend to understand and react appropriately to your frequencies. of the bing blang blaow you’re going to be singing. 37 . but the match becomes much easier to play if you reduce your opens to like 60%-75%. there are hugely losing villains whose basic approach is to try to win every pot. even if they’re minimal. In such cases. because opening 100% has a certain feel to it that causes some villains to play back faster (‘omg he’s blindly clicking raise every time he has the BTN’) than if you occasionally fold your BTN (‘oh he has some standards. no matter how many chips they risk and almost no matter what kind of resistance you put up. I recommend HokieGreg’s advice (which I presume is standard) when getting started. literally. opening super-wide might still be profitable if you’re skilled post-flop. because you basically have to show them a hand or bluff for stacks or fold and bleed off chips every time you enter a pot. (For example. until you 38 .’) You may want to start reducing your BTN opens if villain starts 3-betting a lot and is hyper-aggro in 3-bet pots / doesn’t fold easily to positional pressure and is generally hyper-aggro OOP / will pay you off lightly but will not go away often enough when you have air unless you put stacks into play every time.Preflop Ranges in HU SnG lagdonk I think one way of looking at it is: You want to raise as many BTNs as you can get away with before/unless villain adjusts.) As far as raise-sizing pf goes. So theoretically you can start off by opening 100% and seeing how villain responds. especially since most villains of the type I described won’t adjust well. Some people will start off at 85-90%. Opening super-wide against them can get really tough if you’re not running hot or sick good. KT+. I typically don’t limp until the effective stack is less than 23bbs. you don’t want to be calling with dominated hands against a nitty BTN-raiser (they do show up. You can call min-raises a little wider than 3x raises.design a scheme of your own that you prefer for whatever reason. don’t raise their limp with a wide range until you know exactly what you’re doing. and do just fine. QJ+. and stick to raise-or-fold pf. in order to make life harder for villain.5x between 50-30 bbs deep. where both cards can make a decent pair. some people never/rarely do it. and taking free flops with the rest of your hands. Anyway. As far as limping is concerned. search for “3-bet shoving 25 bbs deep” by Insane_Steve. I’m not sure exactly what ranges you mean here. a lot of people start playing push-or-fold preflop. Also watch how frequently your opponent raises. 39 . Others will c-bet 100% but play very weakly against frequent check-raises. but I strongly recommend starting out by playing very tight OOP. you say OOP you call anything remotely decent and raise all decent hands to 3 bb. unless you open a ridiculously low percentage of hands. so K9s > A2o. HokieGreg’s advice: raise 3x between 75-51 bbs deep. The key is that your pf raise-sizing should take effective stack size into account. because it’s pretty easy to exploit by 3-bet shoving. using the Nash Equilibrium tables as a guide. But please. until villain starts attacking their limps. Below that. and raise 2x between 30-13 bbs deep. Others will limp anything they’re not raising. raise 2.) Your OOP play is of course conditioned but how well or poorly villain plays post-flop. Start off by only raising limps with something like 88+. then I start doing it with many weakish and some strong hands. but the key is to play OOP pots much less frequently than pots in position. There are posts about this on this forum. So there’s a lot of flexibility in this arena. and then they’ll mix in some strong hands into their limps and fold the very worst of their limping hands. Finally. Look for hands that flop well. And if someone limps into your BB. Some guys will give you free turns when they miss and check/fold when they don’t connect and you fire turn or river. please start off by playing tightly OOP. You don’t want to be opening 3x when too shallow. AT+. shove or call here you’re going to lose less $$$ in ev than if stacks would be t2000 and t1000 and blinds 50/100 but you’re still 10bb’s deep and ev.Push-Fold Poker spamz Some people asked me to write this for a belgian pokerforum and I figured I could just post it here as well because there’s a question about this pretty much twice every week in the beginner’s thread and I think this is a decent guide for beginning players to play the really shallow endgame of a sng without too much errors or misinformation (or generally lack of information). However. Obviously if you make an ev. Stuff in advance: If you have t2700 and villain t300 and blinds are 15/30.7k in chips because they indeed want to finish you quickly. Some people will shove ATC when they have the chiplead with the 2. you are indeed the chipleader but this shouldn’t adjust your play AT ALL. Nothing really groundbreaking in here for more experienced players I think. You’re still only 10bb’s and should treat it like you both have t300 in chips. if he doubles up.decisions stay ev-! Don’t think about “I can gamble. Just keep in mind that in the end you should 40 . but because of villain’s play. this will not be because of your play. Maybe I’ve been a bit to harsh about “it shouldn’t affect your play” because sometimes it can. Also if you just won a big pot from villain one way or another this will affect metagame and he may be tilted so you should try and add these into the equation when you calculate ranges and odds and stuff. so your callingrange should get wider by a decent percentage. I’m still big chipleader!” make sure your moves are ev+. 13 obv) and double it.5bb’s in the pot. face cards are 11. Nash equilibrum: Something a little more worked out and interesting is the nash equilibrum: 41 . Then you look in the chart and see if you can push/fold from your button and if you can call if villain openshoves. Note that this becomes slightly ev. Power index is easy to calculate. just take the value of your highest card (ace is 15. Small negative ev. you can find a lot of links about it if you google for a bit. Some higher stakes winning players actually DO shove ATC in these spots because villain will often have a way too tight callingrange. Suppose first prize is €2k and second prize is €1k. Basically (since it only works for 6bb’s or shallower) this is just a crapshoot and it’s almost a “push any two cards” and hope villain folds. So you should only adapt this when really shallow imo.12.for the sb to push starting from 7bb’s. not 14. then you already have won the €1k and can just look at the end-game as being a €500 hu sng. and you barely need fold equity preflop to make shoving ATC ev+ because there’s already 1.only look at the amount of bb’s you have. Even if you play a big mtt. Doesn’t matter how big the difference between first and second place is really. You just have to know how shallow effective stacks are and calculate the power index for your hand and see whether you push or fold. If you have a pocket pair you add 22 to the number. If you think villain shoves tight your calling range should be a little tighter but you can shove wider. (See attached) Sage works with a chart and a power-index which is really easy to memorize. but still ev-. add the value of the other card to it and if it’s suited add an additional 2. 6bb’s is really nothing. Sage: Most people have probably heard about this already. there won’t come any ICM into play. Also note that this is far from optimal play. 54o } Hand 1: 60.23% 42734028 236778.(See attached) problem is you just see a chart there and while the chart itself is still pretty easy to figure out. now let’s look at a range of {AA. If I openshove what’s your callingrange? Obv only the other two aces. we’re 100bb’s deep and I’m on the button. Okay that’s for strong hands. but not J8o? Let’s just say we’re playing headsup.. Why are we shoving 54s for 20+bb’s for example.174% 57. When I openshove KK+ what’s your callingrange? Still.60% 00.1bb’s is because 54s has more equity because of the possibility to hit a flush. so.788% 39. There’s 12 combo’s of 54o. 54s } Hand 1: 41.995% equity vs QQ+ it’s still an ev+ call due to the sb + bb in the pot).826% 41.94% 00.54s}.56% 00. This BARELY has anything to do with it. In the small example I gave here the only reason why KK is not an ev+ call is because there’s 6 combo’s of AA and only 4 combo’s of 54s.00 { AA.00 { AA. What’s your callingrange now? You call with KK? equity win tie pots won pots tied Hand 0: 58. When I openshove QQ+ your callingrange is KK+ (although KK only has 49.54o}.00 { KK } Appearantly calling with KK will lose you money in the long run. So they started like this and in the end they came up with an entire chart of all hands you can openshove which is unexploitable for 20bb’s or shallower.23% 59530656 236778. There’s a decent amount of hands which say 20bb’s+ but the maker of the chart just 42 . you still need some info to go with it to know what you’re doing.00 { KK } this makes KK a snapcall if your range would be {AA. equity win tie pots won pots tied Hand 0: 39.99% 00.. You know 100% sure I only openshove AA on the button. only AA.23% 73162224 417762.212% 59.23% 110931084 417762. A lot of people think that in the nash pushing chart shoving a hand like 54s is 20bb’s+ and 54o for 2. So this is an equilibrum.assumed that you shouldn’t play push/fold deeper. which means a stalemate position: if both hero and villain use the pushing and callingrange you’re gonna be ev0 against each other. Can you still openshove this? Hard to determine a new equilibrum so you should go to Chubukov instead.if villain has a different callingrange than the “nash equilibrum” calling chart. what would you do with QQ+ in this spot? Would you also openshove it? Or limp or minraise in order to induce a shove from villain? If you would also openshove these hands. Just forget about the callingrange and you’ll be better off imo. i sometimes limp some hands which i could shove ev+ for sure but i just don’t want to change the dynamics of the match and let villain see some flops because it keeps him passive and happy). It only is ev0 if villain uses the pushing chart and will be ev. If you would play any other hand differently from the chart it becomes totally worthless and would have to be recalculated entirely before the equilibrum can be reached. Usually 10-12bb’s is the part where I start openshoving a lot of my buttons. I wouldn’t really recommend using this above 12bb’s. it’s better not to use it vs ANY opponent unless you know 100% sure he uses the nash pushing chart. Openshoving A2o for 200bb’s would be very likely ev. 43 . Suppose you’re 11bb’s shallow and you have Q7o.in pretty much all other cases. where there’s still room to manoeuvre a bit preflop. you can indeed openshove the Q7o as well. Another important thing you have to remember: don’t deviate from it if you want to use it. if villain allows you to limp. Actually. If one of the two deviates from one of the charts. HOWEVER. What does this mean? Do NOT use the CALLING chart against a random opponent. Nash says you can openshove this and it will be ev0 at worst.against the other. do it as much as possible and try to just stab at it postflop. because minraise/folding becomes too expensive and you need some specific gameflow for your opponent to allow limping (however. One last thing is that you have to take the bb and sb posted with the effective stacks in the chart (so looking for push/fold BEFORE blinds are posted actually). he’s gonna be ev. which is a really rare occassion. 44 . there’s an aggro push/fold dynamic already and you are on the button with 12bb’s effective stacks. any Ax and K3s+/K4o+ hands. we can still openshove a ton here without openshoving the top of our range. let’s just say you’re in a spot now with K3s. and preferably 12bb’s or shallower. don’t overdo this. Cliffnotes: 1) Sage is a bit outdated.2bb’s! That’s a whole lot. So you look up K3s and see that you can openshove it for 14. even though nash gives us almost 20bb’s. you’re probably not gonna openshove QQ+ vs this aggrotard who has attacked all your limps preflop already and will just limp in most of the time. What are the important things to remember from this chart? The fact you can openshove K2o for 10bb’s preflop imo. even with aggro dynamics there’s a lot of play left from 12-20bb’s and you can limp/openshove/ minraise/fold instead of just openshoving. this will take some time to master because it depends a lot on villain and gameflow but if you get some experience in it it shouldn’t be THAT hard to quickly see how villain plays and adapt to it.Chubukov: Okay. KK will only get called by KK+ so that’s a tiny fraction of a random hand and you still have equity when called (like you always do). Can you still openshove the K3s? Look at Chubukov imo: (See attached) What is this? This is a chart which says how deep you can be EXPRESSED IN SMALL BLINDS to openshove a hand and be still ev0 at worst when villain has a perfect callingrange due to flipping over your cards (the amount of small blinds is shown in the right column. Just use nash for 6bb’s or shallower because you will probably openshove QQ+ anyway with these stacksizes. so just cut in half for bb’s obv). Nash says this is a push. Basically his callingrange will be any pocket pair. So shoving a pocket pair. Ax or Kx hand for 10bb’s or less is always gonna be ev0 at worst. Again. 2) Use nash only if you use it correctly. Given. Obv AA you can shove for infinite bb’s as you chop in worst case. but let’s just face it. irregardless of villain’s callingrange. don’t use any chart. but openshoving is appearantly ev+.3) Use Chubukov if you dislike minraise/calling a shove.say . or limp/folding. or folding in general. 45 .14bb’s imo. against certain opponents it’s going to be the easiest way to play these hands. also don’t use it over . 4) When your opponent openshoves his button for x bb’s. but estimate a shoving range and see if you have odds to call with the dead money in the pot. Openshoving 33 or K3s for 13bb’s is something I do from time to time. Sage 46 . Nash 47 . 650529 65.411707 0.509992 478.400723 0.956513 70.366882 0.500000 0.355264 0.424149 0.805558 62.821017 192.211191 239.403144 0.151230 51.198947 0.432774 Max Stack for EV > 0 Inf 953.296894 138.440821 62.361211 0.454268 0.419399 0.433132 0.285621 0.367405 0.329477 0.401528 0.838788 49.771664 58.979590 81.292128 70.264712 104.542087 56.332789 0.621257 72.865649 86. The last number is the original question.379834 0.391325 0.629873 89.995465 554.847705 115.515440 .913083 136. P|call is the probability of winning given that you are called (plus 1/2 the probability of tieing). Hand AA KK AKs QQ AKo JJ AQs TT AQo 99 AJs 88 ATs AJo 77 66 ATo A9s 55 A8s KQs 44 A9o A7s KJs A5s A8o A6s A4s 33 KTs A7o A3s KQo A2s A5o A6o A4o KJo QJs 48 N_call 1 7 75 13 79 19 84 25 93 31 96 41 108 105 61 103 117 123 153 135 256 275 129 147 265 171 141 159 183 455 277 155 195 265 207 181 171 202 277 418 N_fold 1224 1218 1150 1212 1146 1206 1141 1200 1132 1194 1129 1184 1117 1120 1164 1122 1108 1102 1072 1090 969 950 1096 1078 960 1054 1084 1066 1042 770 948 1070 1030 960 1018 1044 1054 1023 948 807 P|call 0.310470 134.367031 0.201104 0.429500 0.197142 0.329722 0.339884 0.939490 50.362908 0.627695 81.Chubukov N_call and N_fold are the number of hands that will call/fold given that you move in with the maximum stack that you will do so with.221336 159.124788 98.175905 72.431528 0.226177 0.356565 0.226651 0.716196 79.366358 0.213589 274.744533 66.413933 183.207007 0.348532 106.457697 0.887184 319.141993 56.347061 0.385544 0.340952 0.670217 191.008197 331.366815 0.275315 58.389493 0.352858 0.747746 62. 402190 0.378587 0.373684 0.085252 22.379236 0.404082 0.832206 14.406766 0.199426 14.409880 0.445438 48.662167 12.371933 0.381805 26.636243 20.419539 23.816822 32.048416 13.685237 22.916352 17.910810 37.361114 0.473887 30.491482 21.393116 0.369025 0.363775 0.812358 45.295139 15.386607 0.359844 0.172344 44.396332 0.388455 0.440073 0.411106 0.383123 0.355839 0.675708 25.330652 36.378141 0.712524 24.389470 0.427277 0.845021 22.383218 0.785164 21.353033 0.680974 23.377014 0.355714 0.398126 0.716401 28.293343 15.541184 28.381931 0.718597 14.A3o 22 K9s A2o KTo QTs K8s K7s JTs K9o K6s QJo Q9s K5s K8o K4s QTo K7o K3s K2s Q8s K6o J9s K5o Q9o JTo K4o Q7s T9s Q6s K3o J8s Q5s K2o Q8o Q4s J9o Q3s T8s J7s Q7o Q2s Q6o 98s Q5o J8o T9o J6s T7s J5s Q4o J4s J7o 220 709 295 240 289 430 307 325 570 301 337 433 457 349 324 367 445 344 379 394 469 368 597 408 459 585 458 484 721 499 508 609 514 555 479 547 597 568 733 624 520 591 566 841 652 613 721 648 748 686 748 751 657 1005 516 930 985 936 795 918 900 655 924 888 792 768 876 901 858 780 881 846 831 756 857 628 817 766 640 767 741 504 726 717 616 711 670 746 678 628 657 492 601 705 634 659 384 573 612 504 577 477 539 477 474 568 0.955471 12.321860 19.375940 0.371425 0.381543 0.718552 26.163283 29.809464 39.418399 0.641032 16.392219 20.034981 14.819326 18.946538 43.367883 0.999415 19.368521 48.394731 0.194521 17.392879 0.389958 0.054119 47.363569 0.734011 17.383383 0.404171 0.890001 32.519706 32.370110 0.303331 30.106522 35.351305 0.077335 16.730843 26.351582 0.666038 49 .380441 0.867761 14.465705 17.434081 0.754152 34.422213 0.467553 0.400659 0.799380 17.380696 0.374112 0.426952 0.382276 0. 393756 0.302950 11.396225 0.074151 6.345783 4.425488 0.269797 4.040344 11.260066 8.409454 0.406646 0.463809 4.692773 5.359298 5.415998 0.403925 0.538836 7.385581 0.129509 4.378294 0.398164 0.403431 0.402754 0.384566 0.391983 0.418775 0.018033 4.505732 7.239171 7.769221 4.109201 4.397258 0.261043 7.318417 8.403003 0.097673 9.780675 10.420420 0.406672 0.972305 3.414534 0.503232 12.398770 0.650827 5.385474 0.207388 6.987293 9.000304 3.058991 5.920957 6.480421 5.946900 9.099835 6.405120 0.396930 12.406723 0.400861 0.885765 6.400359 0.413333 0.406508 0.812230 4.583641 6.401527 0.415718 8.570963 8.393276 0.138727 11.415272 0.401897 0.914721 7.251417 12.248512 6.439126 5.394962 0.428097 0.415307 0.412903 0.408748 0.399443 0.412488 0.271257 10.906238 8.994746 8.851054 .412623 0.406874 0.850294 4.394874 0.832254 4.410142 0.410324 0.204755 10.594160 6.110552 10.921088 11.422015 0.374878 0.Q3o 97s T8o J3s T6s Q2o J2s 87s J6o 98o T7o 96s J5o T5s T4s 86s J4o T6o 97o T3s 76s 95s J3o T2s 87o 85s 96o T5o J2o 75s 94s T4o 65s 86o 93s 84s 95o T3o 76o 92s 74s 54s T2o 85o 64s 83s 94o 75o 82s 73s 93o 65o 53s 50 857 853 733 792 767 975 891 945 755 841 765 878 855 886 949 969 947 877 873 1026 1045 970 1047 1123 976 1039 987 1003 1129 1115 1063 1097 1159 1087 1121 1145 1133 1145 1164 1153 1198 1225 1149 1197 1225 1201 1201 1225 1207 1225 1200 1225 1225 368 372 492 433 458 250 334 280 470 384 460 347 370 339 276 256 278 348 352 199 180 255 178 102 249 186 238 222 96 110 162 128 66 138 104 80 92 80 61 72 27 0 76 28 0 24 24 0 18 0 25 0 0 0.409633 0.414674 0.407938 0.571955 8.405076 0.395413 0.418616 0.156984 12. 640274 2.368277 0.376690 0.731972 2.994827 2.381553 0.362648 0.795837 2.243309 2.381559 0.340751 0.796223 2.394468 0.63s 84o 92o 43s 74o 72s 54o 64o 52s 62s 83o 42s 82o 73o 53o 63o 32s 43o 72o 52o 62o 42o 32o 1225 1225 1215 1225 1225 1225 1225 1225 1225 1225 1225 1225 1225 1225 1225 1225 1225 1225 1225 1225 1225 1225 1225 0 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.368290 0.567461 2.378493 0.585219 3.345836 0.114999 3.366747 3.374838 0.351459 0.359844 0.221509 3.777173 3.181602 2.386419 0.139745 1.395336 0.221293 3.591343 2.366073 2.366023 0.360776 0.402163 3.170312 3.380105 0.054809 2.737896 3.388261 0.825374 51 .323032 3.976146 1.342846 0.385498 0.331998 0. I was playing 50-80 SNGs a day. Along with these 2 main programs.com/blog/tools/ of this blog. I developed various AHK scripts. I’m not here to pimp them out .sickread. and have since made them available publicly. I went through many iterations of game review using HEM and SNG Wizard to try to hone by general game and my ICM-based decisions. The games are tough now.to be confident you are not leaving unseen holes in your game. and you need to be knowledgeable at every stage of the SNG to squeeze out your profit. bubble. I’m sure PT3 will do most .Learnin’ Dem SnGs Good Hood I’m reformatting this post from my blog. It may be easier to read over there than here (see link in profile ldo) As I’ve said many times before.I wrote them specifically for my own use as the needs arose. All the scripts are free (with the exception of 52 . getting good at SNGs is _ hard_. and heads up.if not all . but we also need to learn many additional sub-games: mid-level.of what I lay out below (except where my own custom tools come in to play). The main tools I used were HEM and SNG Wizard. When I played SNGs. which allowed me to review a very wide range of hands I played in a methodolical. Here I’m going to outline my final method I used. so it was impossible to review all hands. Any mention of a script can be found in the “tools section”: http://www. Not only do we have to play competent FR or 6-max poker. But at the same time.as you add on more tables and play more hours a day . it is important . systematic way. I don’t play SNGs much any more.a ‘pro’ version of WizHUD. I think by the end I was playing the mid-stakes 6-max games on stars and beating them for some. then play for 5-6 hours. and this information was internalised through many hours of study. I could give a pretty close approximation for nash for shover. A lot of my problems came from concentration issues playing multiple tables. I think at least 20% studying time is the least you should be doing if you want to continue moving forward. I would do the weekly ‘systematic’ review for a few hours. “How exactly am i meant to remember this?”. I’ve read many posts from players saying. I’m sure many regulars on the forum can do the same. I am splitting this in to two distinct sections: * The daily review * Systematically learning ICM from real hands This might seem like a lot of work. using some of the techniques I outline below. you should be getting through a review session much quicker. At the weekend. Put in place your own strict study session and. SB and BB in most standard 2-4 situations. the task seems daunting. Normally I would study an hour or two before playing each morning. But in practice it’s much simpler than it sounds. 53 . but that’s an optional extra). I was never great at that. but I was far from the best at the tables. but for the new player. And I was not that hot at them. But what I was damn good at was my ICM. Gimme a situation and the stack sizes and reasonable calling ranges I could nail the correct range of hands to be shoving. and making much better use of your time. Hopefully this post will help with that. I will mention something now that will come up a lot in this: I never use the SNG Wiz ‘game view’ (the list of hands in one tournament with tick marks) at any point of the review. I don’t just mark hands I feel I might have played incorrectly. I preferred this so that it would get my brain working before I started playing my first set of SNGs. I think many players do their reviews by just firing up some HHs in wiz. To be prepared for daily review. say a long foughtout bubble with interesting stack sizes. I have a notepad by the laptop to make these additional notes. But it’s important to get in to your regime and stick with it. I would do this for when there was a string of interesting hands. Again I had a small script to do this (which isn’t publicly available at the moment . Marking hands and tournaments.but you can just jot down the last 3 #s of the tournament ID in your notepad for now).The Daily Review. Using a hotkey (which is one of many I have in my “HEM Shortcuts” AHK script). but what if I make my hand J4o?”. quickly scanning for any red X marks. I would also irregularly ‘mark’ entire tournaments. checking a few 54 . I can mark the currently playing hand in HEM. The Review Session I would review in the morning. but also hypothetical situations such as “well here this is an easy shove with A4o. I would make extensive use of the ‘mark hand’ facility in hold’em manager whilst playing. You may work better reviewing at the end of the day. or a long set of BvB situations vs. a reg. whilst the hands are still fresh in your mind. reviewing yesterday’s hands. find the tourney based on the # you wrote down. Locate the hand back in the HEM hand list. I do the same process but for marked tournaments. Otherwise. right click and replay all hands. I could go through one and review/post important hands.step through the hands. Using all my shortcuts in HEM Shortcuts for the replayer. 55 . set the date filter to ‘yesterday’. I’ll go in to this a bit later in part 2. Make use of HEM’s mini-hand history. Reviewing marked hands. If you have WizHUD. do it now when the hand is up in the replayer and you have stats. and check out those problem spots. use the ‘paste’ button on the toolbar. and check the ‘only show marked hands’. Then right click and ‘Review all hands in replayer’. I may just pick a couple at random.but a few pointers: if you want to get outside help on a hand. then over on SNG Wizard. in 5 minutes. Click twice on the ‘date’ column to sort in chronological order (oldest first). I can review a tourney _very_ fast. If you have an ICM decision. or maybe the last ones I played. Find the hands in Tourney > Results > Data View. go to the tourney ‘hands’ tab. clear any filters. Paste it in an IM to a friend. it’s barely readable. and paste that in to the 2p2 converter). Post it on 2p2 (don’t use the ‘2p2’ format that HEM provides. and potentially destructive way to learn. rather the methods I used to do a review. Copy the ‘txt’ format.hands. This post isn’t about actually ‘how’ to improve. Share it with a friend (I paste that same text in to weaktight. you can middle click on a hand and it will be send to wiz for you. Once I’ve been through marked hands. right click. then sort the hands in chronological order.com). So in HEM. that gives you your equity vs known hole cards on each street. There’s no science to the next part . send this hand to SNG Wizard. If I have no marked tournaments. so I won’t go in to what exactly you should do at this stage . check ICM spots in wiz. and calling it a day. I found this a very ineffective method. copy hand to clipboard. have your notebook ready. For example. One is that simply the ticks and crosses are not accurate 56 . one time during a random tournament review. I was concerned I might not apply the changes. and missing the action. Because a lot of my preflop play is done automatically at a sub-conscious level. but having these filters. or step through the hands’ process. I missed an easy cbet on the flop. So I set up a “missed flop cbet” filter. I think there are two inherent problems with the ‘scan the game view and look at the checkmarks. Similarly. some times I wanted to check back a flop. and knowing I would check them daily. I never use the wiz ‘game view’ when reviewing games or when trying to learn ICM. so many scenarios can be modelled and saved as filters to be run daily. Of course. and ran it daily. So I created a filter “vpipped 22-55 UTG/HJ with >20BB eff stack 4 players+”. The second part of my daily ritual was running specific filters across the day’s hands. This was probably due to my focus on another table. to open fold small PPs UTG in 6max). Systematically learning ICM from real hands The problem with using SNG Wizard for review. gave me confidence to ignore these issues ingame because I knew they would surface in the review later. at various times I made some changes to my default preflop decisions (for example. Often these would be checks to ensure I’m not making any misclicks or board misreads due to multitabling. This would be a 4 or 5 filters saved in HEM to check common trouble spots. so I would have some ‘false positives’ in the filter. As I touched on earlier. The HEM filter system is pretty powerful once you get the hang of it.Daily hand filters. wiz says. First. 57 . linear fashion (stepping through hands in a tournament). This is no criticism of SNG Wizard. I may feel I’ve been making some mistakes on the button with 8-12 big blinds when 4 and 5 handed. this method is very ineffective at internalising the information in order to learn ICM and make the right play at the table. does no good to try and learn one certain spot. using our real hands. What’s important is that we can learn something from that hand to further our internal knowledge of the game and make a better. and a little extra I built in to wizhud. I would pick one ICM situation and create a specific filter through HEM. we can turn our review process from looking at hands in a one-dimensional. There are too many X’s that are obviously fine and. There are some specific situations (such as when there is a shorty all in) where ranges are way off that the ticks are meaningless. Any ace. or chastising ourselves for getting lots of red X’s does little to further our actual understanding of the game. many ticks for shoves that were clearly wrong. Then you see a hand where you folded when you should have called out of the big blind. broadway or pair. Each week. How are you supposed to remember this for next time? It’s not really relevant whether you played that hand correctly or not. you see a hand where you shoved too loose in the cut-off. much worse. wiz says. It should have been only top 40%. Clicking through hand after hand. Patting ourselves on the back for getting a sea of green ticks.enough to use as a guide for whether a hand should be reviewed or not. For example. to a dynamic and methodical process. But more importantly. more informed decision next time it occurs. looking at constantly changing dynamics and stack sizes and # of players. it’s just the nature of the game. A Systematic Approach with HEM filtering Using the power of HEM filtering. I may look at all hands that month or even wider) and we get our list of similar hands. I then set the date filter (all hands that week or. The benefits of this should hopefully be obvious. We can now easily see how well we are playing in this situation. you can also in some situations control the opponents stack size within certain bounds(this works only in blind vs blind situations). generally shoving too wide. our stack size. whether there are common errors (maybe over-valuing A-x type hands. The result is that we now have a pretend tournament in the ‘game view’ of sng wizard. blind level. we are cutting down on the number of variables (our position. i can then send all these hand histories in one batch over to SNG Wizard. etc). etc) and limiting it to a few uncontrolled variables (out hand. By seeing one specific situation. setups with limpers.Fairly complex filters can be created. 58 . Using the ctrl-middle click feature in wizhud. over-estimating our fold equity. just showing all hands in a specific context. etc). etc. opponents stack sizes. You can look at 3bet situations with deeper stacks. if it’s a very specific filter. Using the effective stack. The missing context.The result is really like a SNG Wiz quiz. you can also add blind steal stats and HEM note text and icon. One problem with this method is that it lacks the context of the situation. build up reads on the players.it allows you to get some sort of read when reviewing the hands with various stats. real opponents. When going through hands linearly. But when doing this contextual approach. the main goal isn’t to 59 . This was one of the reasons I created wizhud . you have real situations vs. except you have more control over the hands. and you can review your play at the same time as internalizing the scenario. etc. In the pro version. you see how the SNG progresses. so next time we can make the right decision for all player types. * When trying to learn ICM. apply specific daily filters to review certain trouble areas in your game. it’s easier to try to internalise specific ICM situations. It’s not that useful to conclude. we use this approach to have a body of example hands in similar contexts to see how changing variables effect correct push/fold/call ranges. only sending a hand off to SNGW when needed. then send this batch over to SNGW. One such variable is the read on the opponent. Next. that specific opponent at that time. Much more useful is to note how exactly our profitable shove range changes based on that player type. use filters in HEM to create specific scenarios. Mark hands and tournaments as you play. 60 . applying a set of 2-4 filters a week to review and learn. or irregularly when you have the time to study. “Well this was a bad shove because this guy calls super loose. using the HEM replayer to step through the hands. With hands in groups.”. You can do this exercise as part of a regular review. Cliff Notes At The Bottom * Have a regular daily process for reviewing your hands. and review these first.see how well you’ve played vs. while I thought that it was a fairly standard play for most of us here(read independent. and agree with my reasoning. I had made a -ev call because I had felt that the positive ev I would gain later in the game. Basically. this here may be the most -ev post I have ever written. if I win the hand. If you are on my side. I thought that at least they would understand intuitively the value from plays such as these. The controversy surrounding the argument of whether or not to take the immediate negative expected value or make the “correct” play has been coined the Gigabet Dilemma.) Even if the players do not know why they do it. then you have to take these negative situations and use them to your advantage.” For those that do not know. outweighs the negative ev of the specific hand. But the real question is. and the results of any single hand mean nothing in the long run isn’t enough. Before I get into the actual dynamics of that individual hand. your stack will still be able to contend with the fields? Understanding that every situation is one long stream of events. Because of Gamblers Ruin(cannot recover from zero) you are forced to 61 . boys and girls.MTT: Stack size theory Gigabet Ok. The Q3 push thread received quite a few responses from players who were confused about the validity of it. this is all theory. let me see if I can explain the “Gigabet Dilemma. Because you cannot mathematically prove the positive equity of future happenings with any certainty. how do you recognize when you can get on the negative side of the situation and know that if you lose that individual hand. there was a very long and controversial thread(in the MTT forum) about another hand that I had played. who has around 1/3 the rest of the field. Read through enough hand histories. while leaving everyones the same. with a bold face line running across the top of all of the blocks. I cannot comprehend what “one” chip is. You cannot create hard and fast guidelines to make that decision. there has to be a plateau in each situation that you can recover from. gradually increase your stack. Although you cannot make guidelines. Here is a very loose description of what I mean. so I will try and analagize it. If you think you would have troubles actually finding a correct model. with the blocks pieced in the pie evenly. Ok. I actually envision a pie type mold. and see if you cannot see actual game situations that are relatively close to that situation that is represented by your model. and have to be results oriented for that hand. Here is where it gets interesting. rather than 100s of thousands similar situations. and you will start to intuitively see the situations as they arise. I see each stack as a “block” that fits into a complete mold that encompasses all of the chips in play. except for one player. then adjust the sizes of the stacks until you find a model that calls for embracing the negative situation. because that is too small of a unit for my mold. and decide what the best decision would be in that model. you have to depend on your results from the texture of that individual setting to decide whether to make that -ev move. Once you get your model. Put everyone at near the same stack size. if you still cannot get it. you have to go by your feel for the situation at hand. the average stack. If you decide that your model calls for avoiding the -ev situation. but because you cannot recover from zero. use it as a relative comparison to some past stts you have played.recognize that each situation is independent. including the small stack. but the line could go 62 . and gradually increase the blinds. everyone has a block that is the same size. basically. here are some things that may help you. At the beginning of a tourney. so your bold face line is just a guideline that represents the saturation point of the chips in play. however that is too difficult to put into words. In my mind. imagine 10 blocks sitting next to each other. you can create one “model” that you can look at. Since each situation will involve different stacks. rather. It is counter-intuitive to make a move based on one situation. since they have less “preconceived” notions of how to play. then you have an ideal situation to take alot of negative ev to call an all in from another player. of course). I have put them in use enough times to know that there is no doubt in my mind that they are true. Obviously newer players will benefit from this more. go back and look at the hand history. and your stack hovers above the line. knowing I was going to take the worst of it in a showdown. because it would be more positive to wait until either the line moves. and try and put together a more easily identifiable model that represents the stacks at that table. if your stack is flush with the line. I hope that this isn’t too disjointed to read. and recognizing when +ev situations should actually be avoided. Basically. More experienced players may actually 63 . I will go through and explain that hand in detail. however. or your stack moves closer to the line. As the tourney goes on for a time. then you will understand alot more than just what I have written so far. than taking down that pot is very nearly always wrong. or nearly equal the size of a “block” that is near the level of your line. then any part of your stack over the line is essentially meaningless. and the size of the pot is nearly flush with the line. and while I know that understanding it may be difficult. Here is a kicker. If you can understand that statement. I have never put this theory into words before. When situations like these occur. If need be. capturing a block is nearly equivalent to doubling up.above or below avg. and the blinds get to a certain point. and there will be times. you will see that because the “line” is relatively stable. However. if you are using my model. however. There will be situations where math tells you to push with any two cards to pick up the pot(preflop. your line will get very erratic. This is working on the opposite side of the coin. because the line is erratic at that level of play. if one of the stack gets excessively larger or smaller than the fields. and your stack hovers above the line. using those meaningless chips to capture a “block” will make your stack a real force that controls the level of that line. and see if you can see why I pushed all in with Q3. when the size of the blinds will equal. Now that you have read this. please read through it a few times before asking questions that may have an obvious answer. and never really incorporate it into their game. but find it hard to believe that this is any kind of poker. 64 .intuitively understand it more. Why should I steal blinds? It’s only 1. you can win 1.5BBs (a successful steal equates to 75PTBB/100 which is a silly amount). I’m going to focus on stealing rather than defending and restealing. but even when the blinds defend.. working on stealing is going to be much easier and much more profitable than blind defence. depending on table dynamics. although you can still steal from other positions.. Hold’em Manager calculates this stat based on CO. since I play pretty terribly from the blinds. in an unopened pot. why should I get involved? Because 1. being the LAGtard nitbox that I am.5BBs. So what is blind stealing? Blind stealing is making a preflop raise (usually from late position). you still get to play a pot postflop with: 65 . Of course it won’t work every time (nor should you steal at every single opportunity).Blind Stealing HappyPixel Concept of the Week #4: Blind Stealing Blind stealing is a topic very close to my heart. but I also think that (especially for new players). BTN and SB raises in unopened pots. so here’s my advice on blind steals.5BBs is a LOT OF ****ING MONEY!!! For performing a single blind steal. to attempt to win the blinds. If either of the blinds tend to resteal a lot. in position. or by widening your value 4betting range (intending to call a shove ofc.Postflop value So you can often take down an even bigger pot on the flop with a cbet (more on that later).Initiative . Know your blinds It helps a lot to know who the blinds are. that doesn’t mean we can’t steal from loose players: we steal with a different range which we can play very profitably. you can also adjust by 4betting light. postflop. Stealing adds a TON to your bottom line.Fold to cbet% .. 3bet% tells us how often we’re going to get. we are actually value-raising. this normally isn’t a huge consideration. it’s probably time to tighten up your stealing range.. about “stealing” with a 66 .3bet% (in particular.. This should be our main indicator of whether we can profitably steal in a given situation. 3bet% from the blinds or 3bet% facing a steal) . please don’t turn value hands into bluffs intending to 4b/f) if they are aggro enough to bluff shove over your 4bet. However. That’s the easiest way to adjust to this .Additional history VPIP tells us how loose the blinds are in general.however.Position (this is huge) .VPIP . Obviously if the blinds are really loose. I ought to say something on that note. Useful things to know (most of these should be pretty obvious) are: . we can’t expect our steal to take it down as often preflop. But at micros. Instead of bluffing or semi-bluffing with our steal. 3bet (duh). On the other hand if we have two nits in the blinds we can steal with a huge range. Here’s an example to illustrate: Poker Stars $0. who 3bets 8% facing a steal. Of course he’s getting it in with QQ+ and AK here. and he’s not prone to shoving over 4bets.huge hand.15 BB: $72.90 UTG: $50.60 UTG+1: $78.75 all in. but 4betting is also folding out a ton of worse hands which we want to keep in the pot.75) Hero is CO with K K 4 folds. BB calls $5. com Hero (CO): $49.00 MP2: $28. but this is a spot where we should be flatting.15 all in. BB raises to $36. Suppose we are on the button with AA. We have position and can play the hand much more profitably postflop than preflop. We have a bit of history.75 MP1: $50.50.75 BTN: $35.50. We can induce huge mistakes postflop. and he’s 3bet our steals a few times.50 Flop: ($24. 1 fold. What should we do? Well. and he snap-folded. Hero raises to $41.10 SB: $28. SB raises to $20. Hero calls $6. whereas by 4betting preflop we allow him to play much closer to optimally. BB checks. Hero bets $16.10 Turn: ($127. and we have a fairly aggro reg in the SB.65.2 are all in) (3 players . I know a lot of you are stuck in auto4bet-get-it-in mode.8 players The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.65) 4 River: ($127. Hero raises to $1.2 are all in) 67 .25/$0.45 Pre Flop: ($0. SB calls $1.50. His 3bet range here is really wide. SB calls $6.50 No Limit Hold’em . BB raises to $8. We’ve 4bet his resteal with A4s once.25. So now we raise and he 3bets. 4betting is bad. over a decent sample.65) 9 (3 players .00) 3 3 Q (3 players) SB checks. Range manipulation ftw. I’ve seen a lot of this (as Goldseraph calls it) “reg spite syndrome” at 50NL. which isn’t paying them off anyway) and fold 80% of flops when they brick. Kings and Threes) SB mucks Q J BB shows A Q (two pair. against weak-tight (or weak-loose) players your cbet doesn’t have to be huge. Additional history is so situational that I can’t really go into much detail about it. Even though he’s incredibly loose preflop. However.Final Pot: $127. 68 . Like I mentioned. We can fire out a 1/2 pot (or even less) cbet and take down a decent sized pot on the flop. you should be willing to either tighten up your steal ranges or to get it in lighter postflop to counteract their wider ranges. This is especially useful against loose players. Depending on board texture and opponent you can make your cbet as little as 1/3 to 1/2 pot. Suppose there’s an 89/0 fish in the blinds. who shuts down a ton postflop when he misses. We have XX.65 Hero shows K K (two pair. and they’re going to setmine (against your huge range. and you should adjust accordingly. and has a ftcb of 79%.00) Squeezer was a reg called xxricecookaxx (fwiw it was very satisfying to stack him since he owns my soul and has a baby avatar ) and SB was a fish who we want to keep in the pot.20 Hero wins $81.45 (Rake: $3. I will say that some regs do exceedingly stupid things when in BB vs BTN or BvB situations. Similarly there are some regs who flat almost exclusively with PPs when facing a steal. Even without the fish it’s probably a good idea to flat here. Figure out when they’re spewing and take advantage. If you’ve seen that someone is going to be making moves more often postflop and getting it in lighter. he’s c/f’ing so often postflop that this is a profitable steal spot. Fold to cbet% tells us how often we can steal and cbet flop when we get called. Queens and Threes) Hero wins $43. Steal away. Pick hands that play well postflop. that’s fine. since they have position on you. . and so situational. If you’re uncomfortable playing offsuit aces like A2o-A9o I suggest you avoid them. If you are uncomfortable stealing with 95s. Play tighter from the HJ.. or if you suck direly postflop. This includes suited connectors. and own lots of people stealing and isoing from the CO and HJ when you have the button. But stealing with 40% of hands from the button against tight blinds is still pretty respectable.Against tight players. that I’m not going to construct exact ranges for you. .Play really loose from the BTN. In position = In power. 69 . Personally I steal with ATC against a lot of players. Personally I still steal with them. open up your steal range. except arguably more important. What should I steal with? Late position play is such a personal preference thing. suited broadways. Just see how much you can get away with (you’d be surprised).. there are probably better tables to sit at. Abuse it. and they will 3bet yo ass. suited gappers. Hijack is getting towards middle position. basically if something is s00ted you can’t go too far wrong. and having two players to act behind you makes stealing a lot trickier.Know your button Obviously this only applies if you’re in the CO (or HJ). However. Ball till you fall. I will give some general guidelines: . They are going to pick up on the fact that your range is so much wider in steal positions. People just don’t adjust anywhere near as much as you would expect. There are also some people who are serial 3betters/squeezers in position. strong offsuit broadways. pocket pairs. then don’t steal with it. This is pretty similar to the last section. Similarly you should be one of those annoying 3betters yourself. Play loose from the CO. suited aces. but you need to consider the people to act behind you. If you sit down at a table and see greg on your left and you don’t have a hot Asian girl as your avatar. . since you will flop top or middle pair pretty often. my steal from the BTN is a minraise. . which is huge (since we have equity. Personally. we risk 3. particularly ones who don’t like folding postflop.5. Against loose-aggressive blinds.5. it’s a good idea to make your bet sizing a bit smaller.5. and that’s ignoring postflop value. and you can get a couple of streets of value out of them.If we open to 3. Split’s probably done this already in his bet sizing post.. you’re going to be relying on equity and playability rather than fold equity. so we need our steal to work 57% of the time.If we open to 4BB. against a loose-passive fish. of course): . Bet sizing So. so we need our steal to work 70% of the time.. Weight your range towards hands that can flop decently with a high frequency. I’d avoid hands which have little top pair/middle pair potential. position and initiative).5BB. you can play hands like K8o and Q9o profitably. we risk 2. Because you’re going to be seeing a lot more showdowns. such as 75s. And my steal 70 .5.5 to win 1. so we need our steal to work 73% of the time.5BB.If we open to 3BB.Against loose players. It gives you a better price on your steals. we risk 2 to win 1. so we need our steal to work 63% of the time. Domination just isn’t as much of an issue against someone who is playing 60% of their hands. we risk 4 to win 1. . HappyPixel. against these kinda players. 4 cards for the price of 3. we risk 3 to win 1. you should tighten up your steal range (or just leave the table). However. here is something which for me is a big factor in blind stealing. if you do happen to flop a decent (but not strong) draw.5.If we open to 2BB. Also. you can also check back the flop a lot and take a free card.5 to win 1. you big donkey! But it only has to work 57% of the time to make it profitable in its own right. When you steal a lot. so we need our steal to work 67% of the time. but let’s quickly run through the math behind this: Assuming our hand has zero postflop value (which it doesn’t. .If we open to 2.. and I agree it’s not for everyone. And if someone open-limps the SB when you’re in the BB. So we want the SPR (stack-to-pot ratio) to be higher. that is your blind. you should generally do so with a tighter range since you are out of position. 71 . However. You have higher implied odds and it’s a nightmare for your opponent to play OOP while deep. so you may think minraising is gross.success rate has only dropped by a small amount from when I used to make it 3BB (less than the 10% needed to make minraising less profitable). Collect it. Stealing from the blinds You can steal from the SB when it’s folded to you. A smaller raise size accomplishes this. you can still steal with a pretty wide range (ATC if they are a nit). I strongly recommend that you try opening to 3x from late position.From the blinds: here (by MT2R) Stack sizes Pay attention to stack sizes. But with only one player left to act. But if you’re making it 4x from all positions. I won’t go into that. OK. It makes a big difference in the long run. since we can leverage our position more effectively postflop.In position: here (by Dan Bitel) . you can steal liberally (especially with suited cards). If that fails. If you’re deep with one of the blinds.. You can also “steal” limps. you can open larger with your better hands. you still have all the postflop advantages I’ve already mentioned. Flex your bet sizing (to reassert your dominance). so just make a decent-sized raise and take it down. Their range is really weak. but there are some interesting articles on that here: . since they don’t know or don’t care what your standard late position open is.. Another reason for making our steals smaller is that we have position. Also. a quick note about exploitative bet sizing: against unknowns and unobservant fish. ldo.95 SB: $4. and stay off Digger’s blinds.85 CO: $69.dr.35 UTG: $52.8 players The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.00 Hero mucks 6 J Hero wins $1.75) Hero is BB with 6 J 6 folds.85 Pre Flop: ($0.35 all in Final Pot: $1. or open lots of high-card kinda hands like Q9o if they’re loose. or if you’re in the blinds vs a shortstack you can just do this: Poker Stars $0.50 No Limit Hold’em . Hero raises to $58. Profit! Also. so if anyone has something to add. Oh. please comment! Happy stealing and in before tl.00 MP1: $50.25/$0.00 That’s just about everything I can think of about blind stealing.25.25 BTN: $50. com Hero (BB): $58.Versus shorter players. .00 MP2: $10. you can tighten up if they’re a push-orfold shortstack. SB calls $0.05 UTG+1: $10. Then flop TP and get it in. 1 fold 72 . against shortstacks you can make smaller steals. and two. although there are exceptions. if we believe ourselves to be ahead of their range cardwise. it is best to have a plan for which is the main goal unless it is highly dependent on board texture. bluffing are separate is that usually you usually don’t have much fold equity if you have large implied odds and vice versa. In general. When a villain raises. Firstly. the two most important questions about our opponents when we are considering cold calling are: do we have implied odds. cold-calling is generally bad. and skill edge. These ideas can be illustrated nicely by seeing the goals of 73 . we generally 3-bet. Based on their ranges. meaning that on some board textures you will have fold equity and some you will be likely to stack them. Thus. The idea is either to potentially bust the player we are involved with by hitting a monster against their made hand. while these two purposes can merge somewhat.Cold Calling alex23 Here we’ll talk about preflop aspects of cold calling. is their range weak enough that we will likely have fold equity on later streets? The reason the ideas of busting vs. often to be in a heads up pot. or to take the pot away from them on a later betting round. against a villain who is already showing strength. you end up with poor relative (and often absolute as well) position. Thus when we are cold calling. You are giving up initiative. positional edge. hopefully with outs to a better hand than theirs if that fails. we should have a plan for cold calling from the start. So why do we do it? Recall the three main edges in hold’em: card edge. When you are not in a heads up pot. we are mostly trying to push our positional and skill edge. if UTG raises and we call UTG+1. we are calling for the massive implied odds they offer. Vs. The standard is that we are trying to crack aces with a set. a nit who will mainly play big pair hands and AK preflop. we can create some kind of range for them based on their position. For instance. We are calling to bust them. the position we are calling from and their position also tells an observant opponent something about the strength of our hands. different player types. while tricky villains will occasionally mix in more speculative hands EP for balancing their ranges. On the other hand. vs. this player and what is the likelihood we will have fold equity later on. these opponents we could either bluff them or bust them based on board texture and betting action and the lines between fold equity and implied odds can become blurred. he will generally put us on either a strong hand or something like a medium pocket pair that can easily make a very strong hand postflop. Further. If they make an EP raise. Vs. we are calling to use our positional advantage to put pressure on them and put them in difficult situations where we can force them to fold better hands or extract value from worse in spots that are easy for us to play but marginal for them due to our positional advantage. but will go too far with overpairs and TPTK. we are calling so that we can value bet and raise them very aggressively. while if they make an LP raise. Bad players generally cannot be put on a range based on position. Also. If a thinking UTG raiser opens and we call UTG+1. there is a good chance we will play a multiway pot with no initiative and both poor absolute and relative position on postflop betting rounds. a passive fish. in all cases the two factors to consider are what are our implied odds vs. Finally. There are exceptions though. Vs. we will often have fold equity on later streets. vs. we can generally assume we have implied odds. Position ties well in with this in that it often tells us more about our implied odds and/or fold equity. Finally. it is generally terrible to cold call from 74 . We additionally have to consider our own position. a maniac we are calling to flop something strong enough to give them rope to hang themselves with. more for the risks. we our opening ourselves up to a potential squeeze from aggressive players from the blinds. a positionally aware thinking TAG/LAG. For most villains.calling vs. but we may not need as strong a hand to bust them as we need to bust a nit. if the CO opens and we flat on the button. For instance. As you can see then. extremely nitty players will have an extremely strong range regardless of position. and it really mostly relates to whether we have implied odds or fold equity. but in fact hands with huge potential like 33 may be less valuable (though probably still worth playing) vs. Similarly. drawing hands like 67s are pretty weak. or do they come from him bluffing too much? For instance. However. in some cases versus an MP open with us on the c/o we may decide that AQo is ahead of his range. vs. if we’ve been 3-betting relentlessly it may be time to cold call instead of 3-betting. if we are just to active and we pick up a hand like 67s we may just decide to chuck it. Against all of these except perhaps the aggressive nit whose bet sizing is too small. and you lose much of your implied odds because it is harder to build a pot out of position. Do our implied odds come from him overplaying strong.the blinds. You will need a very strong hand to beat his. 75 . and against stations even if they let you get to your draw. we may only need a good top pair hand to bust him. a bluffer are similar vs. The hand selection ideas vs. it might be wise to cold call with pocket pairs only. mainly due to the disadvantages you have in controlling the pot size being out of position. a persistent bluffer. if we haven’t been 3-betting much a 3-bet may be better in some cases than a cold call. Finally. we could add AK/AQ to the list. Now we come to what hands to cold call with. you often have to pay more if you are on a draw to see if you hit. and thus much of your fold equity. and if he has poor preflop hand selection and will likely play dominated hands we could even add AJ-AT and KQ/KJ to the list. and also where our implied odds come from. a nit who overplays big pairs. For instance. since against the group you will likely have no fold equity when you flop a draw. Vs. a calling station. the pot might be too small for you by the time you hit on the turn or river for you to get his stack. and if you have little fold equity it may be difficult to play draws successfully. we should look at our image when deciding when to cold call. so a fit or fold strategy where you attempt to hit a set may be best. but not monster hands? Do they come from him being a calling station. since you will hit a set less often than top pair playing the other range. Finally. You lose the implied threat of future bets. as 3-betting can open us up to a 4-bet bluff. a calling station. and a good top pair may be more than sufficient to take his stack. we may decide to cold call. the most important things to decide in cold calling are whether we will have fold equity or implied odds post flop. it must be remembered that cold-calling in and of itself is often not good and we must make up for it by a skill and/or positional edge. 76 .In sum. and if we do. However. and that was pure robotic SS-ing. there are 3 main types of actual SS (the ~20bb variety) The “nittynitty”: This is the 5/5. These players are amaaaaaaaaaaazing to have on our left as we can powerhouse their blinds every single orbit and have an insane 77 . 4/4. As it stands now. then you have put in very little and in return. 5/4 type that is most likely following a simple hand chart. if you are mindlessly pressing buttons. my chart says to do this” and they do it. I have this position. will make very little. and grind 24 tables? The answer is simple. This player type doesn’t think and most certainly doesn’t use any sort of variation in play. I hear more complaining about shortstackers than anything else in the poker world. A shortstackers winrate is severely capped given the simplicity of the strategy. there are this many limpers. if you are simply following a hand chart. The last time I drew up a SS chart without any variety it came out to 6/5. with certain stipulations.Exploiting Short Stackers *Split* Shortstackers.7. They look at their cards and go “ok. If you are using very minimal brain power. why would one hate someone for doing something they could just as easily do themselves? Why doesn’t everyone tick that “Buy in for the minimum” button as they sit down at their table? Why doesn’t everyone use a simple hand chart. and actually is the same as that old adage “you get out what you put in”. But why the hate? Apparently there is a loophole. Why? Because these people have found a mathematical loophole made possible by the current minimum buy-ins on poker sites. so they just take up space and we can really never win an easy pot against them. have it as an “auto-option”. but there are some at 50NL as well. and most have vpips of like 11+. They tend to have a gap of 2+ in their stats. They are terrible and have terrible stats to back it up. They really don’t light steal. hands to squeeze with over how many callers. They have wide ranges. 9/8. go absolutely insane in positional pots. or even 9/5. and almost never have a vpip of 10 or higher. there is another awesome program called “All-In Expert” that has made it very easy to figure out not only your exact range of shoving/calling (given factors like 78 . They will sometimes light steal. They understand what they are doing. etc). It is very standard to see them like 12/4. or try to use a chart and then go nuts. They make you call them a bit wider. The “pro”: This is the good kind of SS’r. and just make endless mistakes. call shoves poorly. but over time. Quote: Why they suck for us? Our edge against them is pretty small. Do not avoid them. What Can I Do To Improve Against Them!? There is an awesome program called “poker stove” that I went over how to use. The big reason they suck is because they leech the games. and almost never have a vpip/pfr gap of more than 1. which may get you tilty when you run into their top side a few times. because their strategy is so simple (basic FPP strategy really) and they play for long hours. They also plague tables. They tend to run stats like 7/7. but they also understand variation. However. 19/6. They have a bassline of actions (what hands to shove v a raise from every position. they don’t actually suck for us! They are profitable for us so long as your range adaptation is solid. Quote: Why they suck for us? Well. they will also utilize SC’s to their advantage. just adjust your calling and re-shove ranges appropriately. especially when there are multiple of them. They become more prevalent at 100NL and 200NL. They don’t take much per session. and will mix it up well. Why do they buy in in for 20bb? Because they fear losing money. they are leeching a significant amount of BI’s per level. The “going2lose”: This is our most profitable SS’r to play against.ROI/steal Quote: Why they suck for us? It really only sucks when they are on our right. and lots of tables. etc) they had it so they never had a tough decision against a SS’r. probably TT+/AK (and in all actuality. how position changed their ranges. so we cannot call. This is logical and mathematical. think logically while playing.. calling ranges. we get 34/66. One of the easiest strategies I can suggest for ranging is to figure out a nittynitty’s range. you could probably find the EXACT chart they are using if you explore the internet). here is just a basic look at/tutorial of All-In Expert: 79 . if you are reading this paper to figure out exact ranges. opening ranges. After spending maybe a total of 4hrs on everything (doing the work themselves. Now. Also. and most importantly. working it out with me. so I told them to spend a week creating a SS-ing strategy and then we reviewed it. Against this range. so we would call. That should help quite a bit. and then expand from there based on looseness. so we need 42. it is easiest to play against a nittynitty. etc). how to counter it. we know his range is super strong.. We have 34. Amazingly enough. which in turn makes you much stronger in other facets of the game.5%ee to call. If we pokerstove it. This is simple math. made it so they understood every range of a SS’r. But how do we know their ranges? Start thinking about it. The good. We know we are getting 23:17. though most people view is oppositely.stack sizes. I have actually had students before that had trouble against SS’s. Logically. But what if that OTB player was a “going2lose” player who was 18/9. I apologize. the ranges are concrete and they play super straight forward (in fact. TT is 53/47.Just consider this super beneficial homework =) Also. it is probably QQ+/AK ~JJ). but also the exact profitability of each hand. We think his range is wider (because it is) and probably 66+/KQo+/AJo+. folds to him OTB and he shoves for 20bb. Of course. this simple exercise (that took maybe 2-3hrs for them). is that SS’s force you to work through these math issues. we know that if we raise TT UTG to 3bb. I the pot is 24. you could hover your mouse over and hand and get 80 . which in this case I said was 99+/AT+. I designate his range.5bb. AT.5 because I assume that I raised to 3bb. If you were using the program. the blinds make up 1. and the SS shoves for 20bb. and some mixup hands like 22-55.This is what we would call a shove with. etc This is what AIE says I should call with. the SS’r would have to call 16. you should only 3b in this spot to like 14bb to ensure we don’t lose too much if/when other players wake up with really strong hands ““Dieting: A system of starving yourself to death so you can live a little longer. So how do you stop feeding them? DON’T PLAY WITH THEM! It is very simple. don’t play. so I would have to call 3. but it is 81 . but it takes work. He is mathematically entitled to it. I assume the SS’r raised to 3. If there are shortstackers at your table. there are 1. Notice.5bb. and if I shove. this does not take into account other players.” Jan Murray ” What the hell does a dieting quote have to do with shortstackers? Your bankroll is the diet of a shortstacker. I say his current range is a steal range of 30% of hands (this is not for a nittynitty player obvi).5bb. This is what AIE says is our profitable shove range.5bb. I assume I am not in a blind. You can work hard so you have a small edge against them. and that he will call very wide (this is certainly a “going2lose” calling range in certain spots). Now this may seem like an idealogical statement (especially for those who do loathe shortstackers).the ROI on it and see exactly how profitable it is This is what we would want to shove with.5 in blinds (so 5bb is the current pot). and really. Our WR is not very high against a SS in the first place. would eliminate them. they hate the work (albeit very little in reality) they have to do to beat them. 3. So people don’t hate shortstackers. 2.)NEVER sit at a table with more than 3 more shortstackers Quote: Tables with too many SS’s are terrible for our WR. Leave tables if they get invested. You cannot use the same strategy against each. Enjoy and good luck with your work and winning flips! 82 ..the answer is simple. it is much better than sitting with 5 SS’s. Too lazy to solidify their own game against them.the fewer the better. Quote: DO NOT confuse them.. So going full circle to answer the original question of “why does everyone hate shortstackers?”.)Deepstack tables don’t allow shortstackers Quote: Although these tables tend to be a bit more reg-filled.. Table selection rules involving shortstackers: 1.. 60bb buy in short. always. Because people are too lazy to figure out how to work around them. Don’t be lazy. that. but to eventually rid of them.possible to put yourself in better spots. it only gets worse. so when you add more of them.)There is a huge difference between 20bb and 60bb people. put in the work and time to make these shortstackers not only profitable for yourself. Too lazy to figure out the simple strategy and hand ranges to call/ shove with to beat them. oddly enough. so don’t even try to. but are terrible for a whole different set of reasons. 20bb people are SS’s. you are more likely to be 3bet preflop from villains both in the blinds and on the button (depending a bit on how loose you are from the CO). So. you raise to 3bbs and fold to villains’ 3bets to give you -9bbs.e. Net profit 1-3bbs over 4 hands You have now taken those “light 3bettors” and bent the situation such that their preflop drama is slightly +EV for you (though. Let’s look at the above thoughts. or about 22 orbits at 83 . it will be closer to BE over the long run). keep in mind that you’re not going to be 3bet 4 orbits in a row so over 200 hands. villain folds his 3bet to your 4bet) you get the following: 4 hands In 3 of those hands. If you successfully 4bet only once every 4 hands (i. People don’t fold often enough to 3bets in the micros. Preflop drama is for poor postflop players. In 1 of those hands.Facing a 3bet knn05 My initial thoughts when I agreed to do this ‘Concept of the Week: 3betting’ post for the micro forum were as follows: 1. Generally speaking. because you open wide from the CO and BTN. Thus. you’re a positionally aware poker player and you raise a wide range from LP and steal those blinds like it’s your job. calling 3bets in the micros just isn’t profitable and I think that most people will find that if they filter in their DBs for “faced preflop 3bet = true” that they will see calling 3bets is –EV. 2. imo. you 4bet and villain folds his 3bet of 1012bbs to give you +10-12bbs. Now. your LP raises are smaller at 3bbs and your villains are 3betting you to 10-12bbs. Now. “It depends!” It depends on position (are you IP or OOP). but you can see that if you’re being 3bet a ton and folding to even 75% of them (and I do believe that most micro’ers should be folding to the majority of 3bets that they face). It depends on the history you have with that villain (primarily. people often ask me. “How do I deal with these 3bettors??!!!” My answer is always the same. from my initial 2 thoughts and that little breakdown above. if you raise to the standard 4+1bb/limper (2p2 dogma) from LP. “he likes to limp/mini3bet his premiums on occasion. by picking out the correct spots to 4bet. You must pick your spots wisely and have enough history with your villain to know what type of range they are 3betting both for value and lightly. in the micros. do you have enough history). but. you need only successfully 4bet once. you can see that you can still fold to a majority of 3bets. Basically. all that preflop drama isn’t going to amount to much. But. JJ+/AK. I raised it up preflop here to isolate this 84 .the table. Now. I highlight this point because I am NOT advocating that everyone go out there and start 4betting light.” People should focus primarily on isolating the fish. HHs will explain these dependencies and will also give you some examples of how to play in 3bet pots. Etc. Now. in general. then your 4bets will need to work with a higher frequency to make all that drama breakeven or slightly +EV for you. that you’re still making a slight profit if you are 4betting in the right spots. but you can certainly also isolate the bad regs. Now. It depends on the dynamic at the table and what has been going on prior to the drama that unfolds. The first HH: Villain in this hand is a reg who I have at 10/5/3 AND I have a note on him that says. It depends on what range you think villain is 3betting you with. I find that all that preflop drama ends up being a break even play even if you are 4betting in the right spots and inducing preflop folds from your 3bettors. That’s just a general example. I will have an opportunity to stack him AND I have position on him.50 Flop: ($12.55 BB: $83.75 UTG+2: $50.50.75 Hero wins $5. UTG+2 raises to $6.65 UTG: $52. I could raise it up on the flop as I have 14 outs vs.95 SB: $25. villain’s cbet% over almost 500 hands is >80% so he’s still going to cbet here even if he has AK.75) 6 7 9 (2 players) UTG+2 bets $7.75) Hero is MP1 with 7 8 2 folds.75) 7 (2 players) UTG+2 checks. Poker Stars $50.00 Hero (MP1): $56.00. Not to mention. UTG+2 calls $0. but villain checks to me so I can pretty immediately assign his range as AK and bet on the turn and take this pot away. 5 folds. Note: I could have bet this turn and still taken the pot away even if the turn had been a blank such as a 2 or 3 etc.50. Final Pot: $27. I hit on the turn. if I raise it up on the flop then I will basically be polarizing my range to flopped sets and I know that this villain is capable of laying down an overpair. com BTN: $74.50. will have decent equity vs.00 MP2: $54. his limp/mini-3bet range.95 CO: $50.villain because if he limp/mini-3bets then I have a hand that. 2 pair. trips).00 No Limit Hold’em . if it flops well.00 UTG+1: $67. Hero calls $3. Turn: ($27. Hero calls $7. but. Hero bets $21. Hero raises to $2. his range (straight draw.9 players The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.40 85 .00 Pre Flop: ($0. UTG+2 folds Naturally. Now.50 Gin. “but he 3bets light from LP!” Fair enough. if I do call villain’s 3bet.Hero wins $21.20 86 . Poker Stars $50.35) I cannot stress the importance of taking notes on your villains while you are playing. I almost ALWAYS give that 3bet respect. Not to mention. I will be OOP post flop vs. then you can try to isolate that reg when you have position and when you have a hand that stands a chance of flopping with decent equity vs. villain is a solid reg running at 12/10/4 and has a wider 3bet range from LP (~9% from the CO and BTN).8 players The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked. a solid reg whose 3bet range in this scenario I would assign as JJ+/AK (in this case.60 CO: $53.. I’d weight his range as QQ+ and am thus highly uncomfortable felting JJ even on a low flop. Onto the next hand.20 BTN: $11.85 Hero (UTG): $51.00 (Rake: $1. I’ve seen this time and again. When someone 3bets my UTG raise. com MP1: $50. Easy fold preflop. People say to me.00 SB: $37. QQ+/AK as I hold JJ myself) and given that he 3bet my UTG raise.00 No Limit Hold’em . that villain’s limp/3bet range (iff you know that your villain will stack off with an overpair/TP type hand. However. but also of how your villain views you). But.. If you notice something like a reg limp/3betting premiums. In the HH below.very important point).70 BB: $55. I think that if you will pay attention that you will see these villains 3betting MP and other LP raises light as opposed to 3betting UTG/EP raises light. in the HH below. villain probably sees me as a pretty solid player and one thing that people really need to keep in mind when facing someone who 3bets wider from LP is that these villains are probably NOT 3betting your UTG raises light (be aware not only of how you see your villain.50 UTG+1: $50.00 MP2: $73. 3betting light from the button: In the HH below. to those of you who 3bet light from the blinds…I hear it all the time. I had him at 26/11.25 CO wins $4. Think about it. pretty much any 2 broadway KT+ and some SCs/off suit connectors. Now.e. I’m usually more concerned with protecting my button when there’s a nut job/loose villain sitting just to my right (i. not only is he stealing a ton of my blinds. 3 folds. But. In this HH. I am certainly happy to take it down preflop because I don’t have much history on this villain and. but he’s playing really wide from the CO and is trying to steal my button). I’d rather steal his BTN. A pfr of 11% can roughly be estimated from MP is. 22+. but he was running EXTREMELY loose at 22/11/3 over all. I only had ~100 hands with villain. You are playing a cash game. You will make the most money on any given table from the two opponents to your right and the two opponents to your left. but. 4 folds Final Pot: $4. while I do have position. you’re happy to take down the chips that are already on the table). it is VERY important to let the villains to your right know that you will 3bet their MP/LP raises when you are OTB and.50 Now. I am protecting my button and doing so pretty lightly imo with pocket 6s. People love sitting next to a nit because.e. you don’t necessarily want to see a flop when you 3bet preflop (i. Here. often. “I can steal his blinds all day!” Well. roughly. “That guy is attempting to steal my blinds 50% so I have to protect my blinds!” Protect your blinds if you must and certainly 3bet a wider range from the blinds both for value and for image. so you can imagine that he was pretty much a nut job and from MP.75 CO wins $0. imo.50. fair enough. It is MUCH more important to focus on protecting your button than it is to protect your blinds. Go into your DBs and look at your profit from the BTN and it should be much higher than your profit from any other position at the table.Pre Flop: ($0. I have very little idea as to how to play this opponent postflop. 87 . CO raises to $6. you’re not playing a SNG or an MTT.75) Hero is UTG with J J Hero raises to $2. lots of suited aces. 98s.00 { 6c6h } As you can see.03% 00.25.544 games 0. 54s.75 CO: $84.55 UTG: $50. JTs. given that I have very little history with this villain.txt 532. A4s+.550% 50. Also. 87s. 3 folds Final Pot: $3. I am ahead of the range that I assigned villain in this HH. KTo+. MP2 raises to $1. KTs+.75 Hero wins $3. T9o.450% 48. QTo+.625 secs 852. JTo. 98o.35 SB: $48. Hero raises to $5.9 players The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked. 87o } Hand 1: 50.00 { 22+.95 Hero (BTN): $58.75 Text results appended to pokerstove. but certainly not by much and. I am happy to take it down preflop because I lack the necessary history to outplay him postflop.52% 266429888 2762105.00 BB: $59. com UTG+1: $12. 65s. 76s.93% 00.75) Hero is BTN with 6 6 4 folds.00 No Limit Hold’em . QTs+.10 UTG+2: $24.50. T9s. Poker Stars $50.75 Pre Flop: ($0. 1 fold.042.52% 260572446 2762105.Focus on playing those villains at each and every table and I promise that you’ll do just fine.45 MP1: $39.470 games/sec Board: Dead: equity win tie pots won pots tied Hand 0: 49.55 MP2: $62. ATo+.526. it lets villain know to be a little more careful 88 . 55 Pre Flop: ($0.90 Hero (BTN): $51. why am I 3betting?” Are you 3betting for value? Are you 3betting to scoop up the chips on the table (i. it establishes my image in that villain’s mind). I 3bet preflop because over 500 hands.00 MP1: $31.50 Playing from the blinds: One of my favorite “moves” from the blinds is to punish people on the button who punish limpers. Always. always narrow your opponents range based on his actions both preflop and postflop. you should IMMEDIATELY be able to narrow that opponents range considerably depending on villain’s pfr from that particular position and his fold 2 3bet%. Each and every time you 3bet. when a villain calls your 3bet. I am protecting my button.75 BB: $59.20 CO: $60. How much do your hole cards matter when protecting your button? Not much. I have position and I have a nut job sitting to my right. this villain was running at 39/34 from the CO and had a fold to 3bet of 100% from the CO. ask yourself. “There’s a lot of 89 .75 Hero wins $0.75) Hero is BTN with 2 4 4 folds. Again. Poker Stars $50. In the HH below. Think about.15 UTG: $58. 2 people limp in and there’s a 2p2’er doing his job on the button and raising to 4bb+1bb/limper from the BTN.00 No Limit Hold’em . Hero raises to $6. CO raises to $2.25 Hero wins $4. your opponent has a very high fold to 3bet %)? Are you 3betting to compensate for being OOP post flop? In addition.8 players The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.70 MP2: $123. Here I am in the SB or BB thinking to myself.50.e. 3 folds Final Pot: $4. “Self.e.35 SB: $30. com UTG+1: $50.when raising from MP/LP when I am to his left and have position (i. villain was running 29/22/1 with an ATS of 60%. Okay. You’re going to be OOP post flop so I generally 3b from the blinds to compensate for position when I have a strong hand. this is getting long and I’m just going to post it and we can get some discussion going. This is an entirely different scenario than when you are in the CO or OTB and are 3betting. Now.” Now.00 Hero wins $2. I would encourage 90 . SB raises to $1. in this case.00 I’m really not going to go into too much detail on 3betting from the blinds because. com BTN: $50.95 CO: $50.chips on the table and villain OTB is just punishing limpers a majority of the time and won’t be able to call a 3bet.75 MP1: $40. Poker Stars $50.50 UTG: $52. This table was pretty tight and this was probably the 3rd or 4th time in a row that villain had retardedly mini-raised in the SB when folded to him. In the HH below. keep in mind that when you 3bet from the blinds that you are going to be OOP post flop.75) Hero is BB with Q 9 6 folds.95 UTG+1: $48. The majority of my light 3betting takes place from the CO/BTN.00 SB: $54.8 players The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.00 No Limit Hold’em .00 Pre Flop: ($0. unless I have a truly nutty nut sitting OTB or in the CO. Again. I’d rather focus on protecting my BTN than defending my blinds. Hero raises to $5. In summary. I didn’t have much history with this villain.00 Hero (BB): $65. I rarely 3bet light from the blinds for this exact reason.40 MP2: $52. but. I have position. again. I rarely 3bet light from the blinds in the micros. 1 fold Final Pot: $2. Thank you for your time and attention begin. . Calling 3bets in the micros is generally a losing proposition/-EV so I highly encourage people to FOLD to the majority of 3bets that you face during your stint in the micros.everyone to focus on their postflop game instead of looking for what I refer to as “preflop drama” spots. Let the discussion 91 . Just focus on the two players to your right and the two to your left and outplay those villains since they are the ones who will be giving you the most money. That said. I’m hoping that the beginning of this post showed you how you can make those light 3bettors “pay” for their preflop drama with some welltimed 4bets. I do not advocate 4betting light as I personally find that most of my opponents in the micros were not 3betting nearly as lightly as most people think. Various other definitions of fold equity are out there. say you are heads up in a no limit hand on the flop against a villain who decides to check and the action is on you. I’m specifically addressing fold equity as it relates to no limit hold ‘em cash games. Theory: Fold Equity Equation So how can the concept of fold equity be used to help our game? To eventually achieve this understanding. to define fold equity mathematically. they basically mean there is zero chance that a villain will ever fold if you bet or raise.Fold Equity watte23 Introduction What is fold equity? Very basically. For example. Note that it is completely different from pot equity. some theory is in order. The concepts here are basic and meant to serve as an introductory lesson to fold equity. The following equation represents this scenario: PF + (1-F)(-VSl+ HSw) = 0 Here we are saying the expected value of a villain fold plus the 92 . fold equity is the probability that a villain will fold his hand in the face of a bet or shove by Hero. For this article. which is the probability at the current time that you win a pot if it were to go to showdown with no further betting. We want to find out how often we need the villain to fold to make a jam breakeven expected value (EV). When you hear someone say “You have no fold equity”. but I find this to be the most direct and logical meaning. First of all. we can rely on an equation that helps us find the breakeven fold equity of a given situation. The expected value of our play when the villain calls is the amount that we win (Sw. we lose. You can find various online calculators that compute this for you given certain scenarios. plus the amount we lose (Sl. if Villain folds less often than this. Note that for this equation we are assuming that we are covered. The following shows how breakeven fold equity changes versus real pot equity for three different scenarios. if a villain folds more often than this.expected value of a villain call must equal zero. 93 .php This is great. since we know all variables except for F. using some seventh grade algebra we can solve for F and come up with our breakeven fold equity for various scenarios. our bet) times Villain’s pot equity (V). we gain. For a given pot equity. the sum of P and the amount the villain calls) times our pot equity (H). The probability that the villain folds (F) times the size of the pot (P) is the expected value of our play when the villain does indeed fold.com/fe-calculator. for example: http://dailyvariance. So. but it is more helpful to look at a graph to see how this equation behaves so that we can get an intuitive feel for how fold equity actually works in relation to our pot equity. The points on the X-axis where the curves intersect represent the point where you no longer need any fold equity because your pot equity is now enough to justify your bet. This is why semi-bluffing is so much better than stone bluffing. “But wait. The main objective here is to see how three very different bet sizings in no limit appear to behave regarding fold equity. for example. we are betting $130 into a pot of $140. For example. In the “overbet” case (the blue curve). you have zero pot equity). simply having 25% equity reduces the fold equity you need from almost 65% to about 40%. in the overbet case. we are shoving $155 into a pot of $90. But in many scenarios it is possible to fairly accurately estimate your pot equity given the villain tendencies and the line he has taken. Everywhere in between assumes you have some fold equity and some pot equity. where there are no more cards to come and you are sure the villain has at least a pair and you have nothing.” This is of course entirely true. each representing a different ratio of the amount bet to the pot size.e. Similar effects exist in the other cases as well.. Another case may be on the turn where you have undercards to the board with no straight or flush draws and you think Villain has at least a pair. So for this analysis let’s assume you have a rough idea of your pot equity in a hand. I don’t really know my pot equity. you usually know when you have none versus some. You have some insurance against your bluffs 94 . These are roughly representative of three different heads-up situations in a 200NL game. Finally in the “1/2 pot bet” case (the green curve). In the “pot bet” case (the red curve). the villain can never fold and it will still be +EV. At the very minimum. The points on the Y-axis where the curves intersect represent how much FE you need to break even in the scenario where you are drawing dead ( i. This may be the case on the river.On the graph there are three curves. An example of this would be if you have a huge draw on the flop with 45% pot equity and you shove with two cards to come. You will probably say. The graph really shows how having even a little pot equity helps our bluff cases immensely. Once you get to a certain percentage of pot equity. A couple points should be highlighted. I can’t see the villain’s cards. we are betting $100 into a pot of $200. failing. For a simple case. Due to the lack of fold equity. For example. with the X-axis representing bet size and the Y-axis representing probability of a fold. For example. This phenomenon can be exploited in no limit in certain cases. you exploit the fact that against such hands you have almost no fold equity. but is left as an exercise for the reader. even if your shove is a massive overbet. I suggest No Limit Holdem Theory and Practice by Sklansky. This could probably be analyzed with further mathematical rigor. A common situation here is having quads versus a likely full house. at some particular bet size as bet size increases. 95 . They think. For more information. “I’m winning less than 50% of the time. it is not clear to them why shoving big draws with meager equity is actually profitable. you are free to set the bet size. Generally. Usually this starts to happen around a half pot bet. you win a massive pot. The idea is. You do this by shoving. There are certain exceptions to the above graph. This concept is represented by a logistic curve. sometimes those weaker hands are never calling anyway or are not in Villain’s range. or straight flush versus a flush. And when that insurance pays off. villains will start to rapidly fold more and more hands. Those times. if you have the absolute nuts. how can this possibly be profitable. so bet as much as possible. so the only time you get a call is with a very strong hand. Once the bet size gets past a pot size bet and into overbet territory. What they are not considering is the large amount of money won when a shove gets called but sucks out anyway. I suggest reading up on the Zeebo theorem for more information. almost all hands are folding except extremely strong almost nut hands or occasional bluff catchers. take the case of a bet on the river after there has been action on previous streets. and it is highly probable that Villain has a near-nut hand. Fold Equity and Bet Size So how do most players decide whether or not to fold? There are multiple hands that villains can hold. When some players first start playing no limit. this is profitable when the profit from the overbet gained overcomes the extra money to be made by getting weaker hands to call with a smaller bet more often. you usually want a villain that can actually think above level 1 and hand read. but for the most part you should retain the above as your fundamental model. I might have called if the bet were larger because bluffs are in his range in that case. The idea is that in some circumstances. Yes. Use this fact by relentlessly value betting big. “This bet has to be for value. Abuse these players by getting more value with value hands. use fold equity by bluffing in spots where you can hold a strong hand and they most probably have mediocre holdings. it’s probably a bad idea to bluff. you have no fold equity. Overbet bluffing a river card that is terrible for a villain’s range when you have air is all well and good. meaning it’s either the nuts or close to complete air. Additionally. I fold. Therefore. you will occasionally get trapped. most solid players will start to think that the bet is polarized. the fish may actually have less fold equity against you then he would with a ¾ pot bet. In this case. Amazingly many of 96 . because Villain may think. In many cases this is true. Another exception that is relevant here is the “post oak” bluff. a smaller bet may actually have more fold equity than a larger bet.” These exceptions are interesting. but occasionally you will find players who will call slight overbets just as often as pot size bets. spots where you can represent a very strong hand resulting from the turn or river card combined with your line combined with a Villain line that is weak or indicative of a mediocre holding are great spots to bet big and let fold equity do the heavy lifting. I will again stress that to have fold equity. which is a concept turning the above idea on its head. Against good players who can hand read and are known to have the ability to fold.you may find that a certain fish always bluffs with the bet pot button. but for most villains the probability of a trap is so small given a certain line that it’s still fine to abuse them. You also may find players who refuse to call overbets without the nuts. and simply don’t bluff. otherwise he would not bet so small. If the villain has no ability to even recognize that his range is probably crushed based on board texture and lines. Using Fold Equity to Advantage Against bad players who are bad because they are very passive calling stations. but the old analogy of playing Mozart to a cow applies. In no limit once you bet larger than pot. Example 1: Fold Equity Preflop A very standard play is isolating a weak player with a 97 . if you getting caught running a huge bluff at some point. As well. For example. If you have shown down very few hands and the ones that were shown down were indeed solid. the inverse case can be exploited. This can be exploited if you do indeed pickup a monster because your monster will get paid off lighter. Simply continue to abuse them until they fight back. but may also apply online if your villains are paying attention and not mass tabling. On Stakes and FE Some may disagree with this. there will probably be period of time where your fold equity against villains may diminish significantly. Value becomes more scarce. In certain situations you may use image to manipulate fold equity to your advantage. There can be some leveling involved here. it will be much harder for villains to call down bluffs. Remember that what people expect will usually be based on what most recently happened. The reason for this is that there is more fold equity to be found as players become better thinkers and hand readers and know that they should fold in certain situations. most people tend to remember the most recent events. but I’ve found as you move up in stakes you slowly transition from having betting for value be your bread and butter to having more and more bluffs make money.these players do not adjust and will continue to allow themselves to be abused because they continue folding to overbets. This is probably most applicable in a live setting where everyone is paying attention to every hand. hence bluffing becomes more profitable. As players become stronger they will be reluctant to put in a ton of money with weak/mediocre hands. so feel free to bluff until your FE gets reduced due to people seeing you get caught. but due to psychological phenomenon of recency effects. It’s hard to have the nuts. Fold Equity in Practice: Examples Here are a few examples where the concept of fold equity is important in actual play. knowing that most times I will win the hand without even worrying about my actual hand strength.85 (Rake: $1. This example represents the middle part of the graph where we have both some fold equity and some pot equity. you may find fish who limp/fold constantly and/or fish who may sometimes limp/ call but then fold to 85% of cbets. In this hand.15 SB: $260. Full Tilt Poker $1/$2 No Limit Hold’em . and 98 . Hero raises to $10. With no fold equity the play would not be profitable because your hand strength is just not that great.00 Hero wins $21. This line is profitable here because sometimes the hero makes a hand.50 UTG+1: $914. MP1 calls $2. 2 folds.00) Hero is BTN with Q 7 3 folds.00) J A 8 (2 players) MP1 checks.50 BB: $152. I know that the villain limp/folds and folds to cbets way too often. the hero uses the tailwind of pot equity combined with fold equity to win the hand.00 UTG: $183.substandard hand because of the fold equity involved.15) Example 2: Semi-bluffing In this example. Hero bets $14.10 MP2: $294.10 CO: $74.9 players The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.65 MP1: $199.30 UTG+2: $140. 2 folds. MP1 calls $8 Flop: ($23. so I decide to isolate him with a marginal hand. com Hero (BTN): $307. MP1 folds Final Pot: $23. For example.90 Pre Flop: ($3. Find out who these fish are and then isolate them with marginal hands letting fold equity make the play profitable. 60 UTG+1: $18.sometimes the villain folds.50 Pre Flop: ($0. When the villain raises we can put him on a range that includes enough bluff raises that we should 3-bet and get it in given our equity and the chance that we have some fold equity here. Full Tilt Poker $1/$2 No Limit Hold’em $0.00 No Limit Hold’em .50 SB: $60. Poker Stars $50.75) 3 (2 players) UTG+2 checks.75) K 4 9 (2 players) UTG+2 checks. Hero raises to $2. UTG+2 calls $0. i.30 Ante .00. Hero bets $6.75 BB: $50. UTG+2 folds Example 3: Shoving with Draws Here we flop a hand with decent equity.9 players The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.50. 5 folds. but we can comfortably estimate our real equity at around low to mid 40s.8 players The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.75) Hero is MP1 with A 5 2 folds. com UTG+2: $66.e. com SB: $310. not a complete fish.55 Hero (MP1): $50. Hero bets $3. Only the combination of the two makes the line profitable. I will leave the Pokerstove as an exercise for the reader. It should be noted that we must be sure the villain is good enough to fold at some point. given our nut flush draw outs and gutshot.90 99 .75 MP2: $97.45 BTN: $43.00. UTG+2 calls $3 Turn: ($10. UTG+2 calls $1.00 UTG: $65.50 Flop: ($4.00 CO: $62. Good luck.10 MP1: $138. Hero raises to $221. P. So try using the concepts in this article and don’t be discouraged when you have a bluff that gets called and you lose a big pot. 1 fold. 100 . MP2 calls $8.00 Pre Flop: ($5. BB calls $6 Flop: ($35.BB: $200.95 Hero (UTG+1): $230.80 all in Summary Hopefully this article has given you some better understanding of what fold equity is and how it can be used to profit. Hero raises to $8. Hero bets $22. MP2 raises to $100.S. CO folds.65 CO: $100.90 BTN: $200. If you have valid reasoning for the play (as opposed to spaz shoving) it’s usually +EV.00 UTG: $114. 2 folds. BB folds. Thanks to damntra for much help in reviewing.40) J 2 4 (4 players) BB checks.70 MP2: $199. CO calls $8. and joopjan for a bit of help on the samples.40) Hero is UTG+1 with 5 A 1 fold. Having the confidence that the play was well thought out will prevent you from tilting and saying that a play was horrible after a bluff gets called and going on tilt because of short term results. the basics are describable. However. QQ. AK. what does 30% really MEAN? We know it’s loose. After some thought I came up with these Five Commandments of Hand Reading (I had ten. AK. AQ. 101 . Some of the best poker players in the world ignore many (or all!) of those other “rules” in poker. the first thing you do is you put your opponent on a hand. Hand reading is simultaneously the most important and the most difficult thing that a poker player does. blame the mod) to get you started. KK.9%. Know thy numbers. So you know that your opponent who just limped has a VPIP of 30%. your opponents work very hard to AVOID letting you know the cards in their hands. Total probability: 5.Hand reading 1 Pokey So you’ve got bottom set on a three-flush board and your opponent just check-raised you all-in. there is no “magic formula” for hand reading. have deadly-accurate hand reading skills. but are you really aware of what “30% of all hands dealt” actually looks like? Here are some probabilities of getting a hand in a particular preflop range: Super-premiums: AA. What do you do? Well. KQ. and make mountains of cash for their troubles. while there is a great deal of artistry in hand reading.sorry. Total probability: 2. Other players are exquisitely good at all the fundamentals but stink at hand reading and therefore struggle to consistently beat $50NL. Premiums: AA-TT. 1.6%. after all. but one of the tablets broke when EMC dropped it -. Unfortunately. AK. any ace. any suited broadway.those they will slowplay to disguise their hands. K5o+” Again.3. Any two suited: literally. suited aces. any ace. any ace. Unsuited ace: A2o-AKo. AQ. that’s more likely to be a player who missed 102 . any suited ace” 25% = “any pair. any broadway” 40% = “any pair. KQ. any suited connectors 32s+” 50% = “any pair. AA. To give you a VERY broad feel for what different percentages translate into. A2s+.6%. Any suited ace: A2s-AKs. any ace. Total probability: 5.1%. and AQ -. KTo+. any suited connectors 54s+. “Maximum suited connectors”: JTs-54s. but NOT the ultrapremiums like QQ+. QJo” or “any pair. 32o-AKo. Total probability: 14. any two broadway. AJ. AQ. AK. both T+. AK. any two broadway. suspect a trap: this is very often a strong hand that’s going for a check-raise. Total probability: 14. and 54s-JTs. Postflop aggression numbers also reveal much about a player. Any ace: A2o+. any suited ace” 20% = “any pair.9%. AK. here are some potential example ranges: 5% = “pairs 77+. remember to use the relevant range: a player who is 65/10 is looser than the 50% range when he limps but has a rather tight range if he actually raises. any two suited cards. any king. Any two broadway: Two cards. KQs. any ace. AK. When a player with an average aggression of 8 raises preflop and then checks to you. any suited king. any suited connectors 54s+. any suited king.9%.9%.Any pocket pair: AA-22. Watch these folks at showdown to try and figure out how they play their really big hands. Any two connectors: 32s-AKs. Total probability: 2. AQs” or “pairs 99+. Total probability: 14. including pairs.5%. AQ. Total probability: 23. any suited broadway. suited connectors 54+. KQo” 30% = “any pair.5%. QJs” 15% = “any pair. When you get that same preflop bet and flop check from a player whose average aggression is 1. Total probability: 3. Also realize that some players who are loose and passive will raise with SECOND-best hands like 88-JJ. Total probability: 10.3%.” 10% = “pairs 66+. KQ. any two broadway. and the only way you can really take advantage of this characteristic is by stealing their blinds remorselessly (though you’ll have to instafold if they catch you stealing and you don’t have an honest hand). All of this leads us to our second commandment: 2. On the other hand. medium aggression. Alternatively.there’s no flop that definitely missed your enemy. a tight preflop player has a VPIP under 20%. These folks won’t enter into a hand unless they’ve got something worth pursuing. the HUD trinity (VPIP. and any hand you’re willing to play is beating their range. Preflop aggresssion: a passive preflop player has a PFR under 103 . Aggressive players play aggressively and passive players play passively. PFR. Loose players play loose. expect to be ahead and bet consistently with your made hands.high aggression.checking is just what this player does. and low aggression -. you gain no information from the check -. rather. Mentally split players into three groups -. and average aggression) tell us much about a player. Categorize your opponents on three separate measures: Preflop looseness: a loose preflop player has a VPIP over 40% (I made up the number.and then adjust accordingly. Be VERY afraid when a player is playing out of character: the passive postflop player who leads and raises almost always has a monster. tight players play tight. They aren’t really making a major mistake preflop.exploit this mistake by hammering him preflop while you’re way ahead. however -. raise light and raise strong preflop while your hand dominates your opponent’s range. The ultramaniac who check/calls two streets also has a monster. especially at uNL stakes.and is giving up. These guys have crap preflop. but keep the bets small and try for pot control. That’s not to say you should be check-calling. Together. A leopard never changes its spots. His mistake is playing too many hands -. Know thy enemy. and you can fold without a worry. Beware of these folks postflop. and is waiting to beat your brains out. When that same play comes from someone with a postflop aggression of 0. but you get the general idea). Be prepared to play with caution when you don’t have a monster.4. Don’t fall for it. I will tell you that every combination of preflop and postflop playstyles is possible.” That’s a much easier range to play against. Say a player has a VPIP of 40% and a PFR of 20% and they limp in front of you. Alternatively. One huge word of warning: people often look at a player’s VPIP and conclude that the player is a loose idiot.. and here he didn’t. Then they call his raise and are shocked when they find out at showdown that he had rockets. it is aggressive for a player who has a VPIP of 15%. you discount QQ when a maniac limps. your range will be significantly wrong.” But we can already refine this range some more: we know that with 20% of those hands. tight-aggressive postflop) and LP/LP (calling station pre and post) is only one form of opponent. villain would have raised. This can only be discovered by observation. If you have a tricky opponent who raises his middle 20% and limps the top 10% and bottom 10%. any two broadway. and none are terribly uncommon. any suited ace. K9o or worse. If we assume that villain raises with his top 20%. Don’t mistake his typical preflop looseness with a wide range when he raises. When we’re trying to decide a player’s preflop holding. Postflop aggression: after the flop. A likely range here is going to be the difference between the two ranges. The true TA/TA (tight-aggressive preflop. any ace. Be sure to watch this opponent’s showdown hands. What sort of holdings do you expect them to have? Well. we know the player is willing to play with 40% of his hands. any king. Another very common player is the TA/LA: always 104 .a quarter of their VPIP. any suited connectors 32s+.. we should use their VPIP and their PFR to come to a conclusion. an aggressive preflop player will have a PFR over half of their VPIP. and you’ll be in a good deal of trouble with your hand reading. any two broadway. however -.you’d really like to know if your assumption about him raising the top 20% of his range is correct or not.. he has roughly the same hand range as when you’re raised by a 12/5. T9s or worse. K9s or worse. if you are raised preflop by a 65/5. a new game begins. or that an aggressive preflop player is aggressive postflop. our sample range for that looks something like “any pair. Remember. our sample range for this looked something like “any pair. or “any unsuited ace. That means that this is a floating scale: while 10% PFR is passive for a player who has a VPIP of 55%.” So take THOSE hands out of his current range: just like you discount 72o when a nit is in the hand. People often make the mistake of assuming that a tight preflop player is tight postflop. Now. If they miss. expect people to play a different style postflop from preflop. So the rule is: postflop is a new game. betting incredibly hard and relying on unobservant TAGs to call them down lighter because “hey. Another common player is the TP/TA.aggressive and solidly tight preflop. Flops have different “textures.” and those textures can be much more or much less scary. 105 . Don’t fall for it! It’s a ruse. and then postflop they play POKER. well. Suitedness: flops can come “rainbow” (three different suits). if a loose and aggressive player is check-calling you can expect him to have the near-nuts. They’ll be folding a tremendous fraction of the time on the flop. any damn thing. my TP3K dominates his range. On a draw-heavy board. but when they hit it will be with something sneaky-as-hell and solid-solid-solid. relying on folding equity and a better starting hand range to win money. they’re out of the hand. This leads us to the third commandment: 3. They then go into aggro mode. let’s start with the flop. He turns into a maniac postflop. because their image gets them mad phat postflop action. depending on your holdings and your opponent’s range. Less common at uNL. What affects the texture of a board? Well. Know thy board. once we’re on the flop and beyond we need to use average aggression and postflop tightness to decide what a player’s holdings are. who goes from nit preflop to aggro-monkey postflop. but if they hit the hand they’re going to hammer every street and try to get all-in by the showdown. These folks are splashing around in as many pots as they can as cheaply as they can. this opponent plays hands so infrequently that when he finds something -. but if a loose and passive player is check-calling you can expect him to have . and try to quickly figure out BOTH of these styles. escaping for 1 BB.ANYTHING -that he’s willing to play preflop he cannot bring himself to let it go. this idiot is 72/7..” They stack more TAGs than you and I could ever hope to. refining our original range based on their preflop play. More importantly.. different people respond in different ways to different board textures. but increasingly common at higher levels (and deadlydangerous when they do it right) is the LP/TA: this player is a total calling station idiot preflop. You’ll often see preflop numbers of 75/11 or 68/6 for these folks. Bet while your hand is best and charge him well to try and outdraw you. When the board is connected. Besides.6% and the odds that he has one spade drops to 14. If you’ve hit a solid hand (say.“two-suited” (two of one suit and one of another). note that many hyperaggressive opponents will be more likely to bet out. the odds that your opponent has two spades drops to 2.8%. he’ll be more likely to pay off a bet on a monochrome flop than he will to pay off a bet when the turn has FOUR spades (assuming he doesn’t have one). if your board has three spades and you have one in your hand. When the flop comes A-K-Q. A monochrome flop of J-T-9 is MUCH more dangerous than a monochrome flop of J-7-2.4%. you need to beware of two separate possibilities: your opponent might have two pair and your opponent might have an open-ended straight draw. if your opponent actually has a second-best hand. At small stakes games. The odds that your single opponent flopped a made flush are 3.75 times more likely than the made flush that has you killed.6 times higher than the odds that he flopped the monster. so the odds that your opponent is drawing to a flush are now 5. Two pair is already there. you can often steal these pots for a reasonably small (2/3rds-pot) bet. because your weakbut-made hand is often drawing very thin against it. the player holding JTs just stacked the preflop raiser holding AK. Always be aware of straight draws -. However. check/calling in the hopes of improving. the bigger the hand most opponents will need to call. beware of the flush draw! One small bit of math: let’s say that the flop comes with three spades and you have none in your hand. but it has to GET there first. Your more aggressive opponents will bet BOTH hands strongly. or “monochrome” (all three cards in the same suit). or “float” (smoothcall on the flop with the intent of taking the pot on the turn) with either a pure bluff or a semi-bluff (draw) on these types of boards. The more “suited” a flop is.they’re a gold-mine to the savvy poker player because so many people miss them. check-raise. two pair is the scarier event. but they will play aggressively with two pair.3% and the odds that he flopped a flush DRAW are 15. When someone plays back at you on 106 . many players will play very passively with a draw. Incidentally. Often. If you are first to act. Bet and protect! Connectedness: here we’re talking about how many cards to a straight the board has. if you are called. TPTK) DO NOT PANIC AND START CALLING! Bet out and protect against the draw that is 4. A straight draw can become an almost unbeatable monster. Then you’ll proceed based on the strength of your hand in relation to the range you think is likely for your opponent. a connected board can often be used as a powerful bluffing or semibluffing tool. The next highest board card is a T. That means you’re behind about as often as you’re ahead in this situation. No. too. A flop raise or a flop float can prove extremely valuable to you.the ones that have made two pair. Sure. and that’s even 107 . If an ace hits the board in a multi-way pot and I don’t have AT LEAST AQ. Worse yet.that’s virtually worthless since it’s highly unlikely to happen and also highly unlikely to get paid in any significant way by your opponent while still being the best hand. High Card Value: your opponents love playing high cards. In this analysis I’m completely ignoring your inside straight draw -. what are the odds that his hand beats yours? Well. you’ve outgrown calling raises with KJo and A9o (you HAVE outgrown that. the raise makes overcards much more likely than usual. Pressing back hard should win you this pot quite often WITHOUT getting to a showdown. However. I’m saying that this flop is a good one for you because it is unlikely to have improved your opponent in any meaningful way. Much like a suited board. I’m usually done with the hand. Think about this: say you have AJ on an ace-high board. This is a REALLY good flop for attack aggressively: considering your opponent’s stats. Say your 30/11/3 opponent raises preflop from MP and you call in position with 33. and when those aces hit the board your opponents will hang on to their aces like they were made out of solid gold. the flop comes 7-6-5. and the unlikely AA has you decimated. AK and AQ obviously have you outkicked. Playing these easily-dominated hands will prove very expensive for your inattentive opponents. you need to decide if they’re likely drawing or if instead they’ve flopped some powerhouse hand. If one other player has an ace.a fairly connected board. a pair of aces with a J-or-worse kicker is going to be in oodles of trouble unless that kicker connects. Opponents love nothing more than playing aces. there are four OTHER aces that beat you -. so the odds that this flop has completely missed your opponent are higher than usual. Heads-up. but realize this general rule: a flop that is high-card heavy is much more likely to have connected with your opposition than a flop that is high-card light. right?) but they haven’t. especially suited ones. virtually any opponent you could face has a less-than-50% chance of having an ace in this situation. Paired boards are perfect for continuing preflop aggression. proceed with great caution on ace-high boards. but they’re unlikely to fold any hand that beats you. too. Why? Because with an unpaired board there are nine separate cards in the unseen deck that could give an opponent a pair. with a PAIRED board. This is a fantastic chance to steal the pot. A standard continuation bet will win the pot a surprisingly large fraction of the time. However. assume you have a pocket pair. The odds are that if you somehow create a big pot. don’t give up when the flop comes with a high card.assuming that your opponent “only” has an ace! You throw in the other random two-pair and set hands and your hand will win at showdown less than half the time. even if you have an ace. You should use this against them if it is reasonable for you to do so. but VERY dangerous as a player’s LOW card. If they play back. However. fold and move on to the next hand. especially if that high card is an ace. a paired board is a cause for celebration. because the looser opponents will play many kings. This is especially true if the board has more than ONE high card. it’s now almost 50% less likely that an opponent has made a hand good enough to want to continue. you’re even MORE likely to be behind. and fold even more often than he would fold to a typical continuation bet. Q’s and J’s are less scary as a player’s high card. if you limped preflop and the board is AAK. if you raised preflop and the board comes 884 a bet in a heads-up pot is virtually MANDATORY: your opponent will realize he’s missed. Recognize that the odds that your opponent has missed the board are highest on low-card boards. 108 . Someone willing to play KJo preflop is virtually never going to fold that hand on a J-high flop. that number falls to only FIVE cards. because your opponent is not going to believe that you have the goods. and much lower when the board has high cards. In other words. One major exception to this rule: if you RAISED preflop. but if you bet the flop they will assume you DO have one. Mind you. Statistically speaking. most opponents will get the message and fold their aces with weak kickers. Worse yet. In short. King high boards are pretty dangerous. Paired Boards: usually. you can usually check-fold. A few general issues: Check-raises: when an opponent check-raises. high card value. similar issues with connectedness. let’s move on to the next rule: 4. he was confident enough to risk your checking behind in his quest to get more money in the pot. What’s more. Here we’re discussing how this particular hand has played out: who bet when and how much? Start looking for betting patterns. He knows you are betting and he doesn’t care. or a pair+draw. consider a slowplay like a flop check-raise or even a “check/call flop. Now. An aggressive opponent can bet “wet” boards with a draw. so if you happen to be in a pot that someone else raised. but keep your eyes peeled for such opportunities. On the turn and river. this will be opponent-specific. and may even bet these boards on a pure bluff. Another general 109 . Obviously. People often ask “can I ever escape from pocket aces?” This would be one situation where escaping would be easy. to start to put this all together. and will define the “texture” of the board. or the last card just helped your opponent in some way. check/raise turn. realize that most aggressive players know this. but a loose opponent may continue with as little as top pair. trust check-raises from passive players. or he is bluffing in a situation where he thinks he can scare you off your hand. Know thy hand history. the flop comes paired and you’ve got a sneaky monster. and you can then “snap off a bluff” and win a bigger pot than you otherwise would. These types of bets will usually mean one of three things: either your opponent was monsterously strong and slowplayed an earlier street.Also. a tight opponent will continue on “wet” (highly coordinated) boards when he has a strong hand or a strong draw. If you don’t have a sneaky MONSTER (and I mean MONSTER with a capital *everything*) you should be folding to this raise. A passive opponent betting into a “wet” board usually has the goods -. as different people will have different patterns. he is sending the message that his hand is unusually powerful. As a general rule. and board pairs will continue to pertain.” Your aggressive targets will fire off a continuation bet quite often. suitedness. As a general rule.these folks rarely bet their draws. Completely. a “combination draw” (straight and flush). ” The more passive your opponent. but the card has improved him.rule is that the more aggressive a player is. if a player called your preflop raise but then leads into you on the flop. I would say that until an opponent has an aggression factor of at least 2 you shouldn’t worry much about a check-raise semi-bluff.” Check-calls are precursors to check-raises on later streets from very aggressive players. how strong his hand is remains to be seen. Similarly. the more likely a check-raise is a bluff. people will often take a checkraise line against a frequent c-bettor. One caveat to this: check-raises on the flop are far more likely to be bluffs or weak hands than check-raises on ANY other street. On the flop. that would also be a donkbet. or a pairing of the board. they just precede more check-calls. from very passive players. Against a passive calling station this means “I have two cards.because it gave them two pair. I like pie. I believe this event is much rarer than most people think. you should expect that the card has helped his hand out and he is now value-betting. So: a check-raise on the flop usually means “I can beat ace-high. very aggressive players love to donkbet on scare cards. People are very quick to put a player on a bluff when he check-raises. When a passive player comes alive on a third straight card.. a donkbet should be interpreted as saying “that card helped me. or a fourth flush card..” Check-calls: this play is highly player-specific.” Against a tight and moderately aggressive player this often means “I’m on a draw. and until he has an aggression factor of at least 4 you shouldn’t worry much about a check-raise bluff. that would be a donkbet.” but a check-raise on a later street usually means “I can beat YOU. Of course. This is a cheaper bluff than a checkraise but it works just as often at these levels. and many 110 . or some odd-looking random card. if a player calls your flop bet but then leads on the turn. For instance. no kicker” because they know that their opponent will frequently have pure air. On the other hand.” Against a highly aggressive player this often means “I have a monster and I’m going to let you bet yourself to death. Donkbets: a “donkbet” is when someone who does NOT have the betting lead makes an unexpected bet. Look! Spades are pretty. even with hands like “bottom pair. Don’t expect that this means he has the nuts: I’ve seen passive players wake up and bet the fourth heart. the more straightforward this interpretation is. At these stages. you need to be aware of what the board looked like. some players will go from betting/raising to check/calling all the way to showdown. bet the river. Bet-check-bet: a strange-looking but rather common threestreet line is “bet the flop. What does this mean? Well.say top pair on a T-high board -.” where the opponent has check/called the whole way. the turn gave the opponent a draw. Beware of the hyperaggressive opponent who unexpectedly checks. this will often be a good opportunity to bet with any two cards. and they are now attacking in a last-ditch effort to scoop up the pot. or a board pair to try and steal the pot. Calling against some opponents will be extremely +EV even with bottom pair. these players have taken the “strong = weak. one obvious interpretation is that he has been bluffing and has now given up on the hand. ESPECIALLY if he check/calls a scare card. For some reason. If an obvious draw arrived on the end. since your folding equity will be through-the-roof. Be aware of this. this river bet is often what we call a “desperation bluff. Watch your opponents carefully to see if the turn check usually means they are giving up or if it usually means they are trapping you.” The hand has no showdown value so the villain bets in the hopes that you will fold the best hand. and the river either made the draw or missed. against other opponents it will be -EV 111 . However. and will often bet with little or nothing but immediately slowplay the moment they get a hand. that’s usually a sign that your situation is not as dire as you thought it was. weak = strong” philosophy to heart. when an aggressive player stops being aggressive. and so have stopped betting. you would really need to know more about your opponent before you knew if this was a bluff or not. Most players are straightforward enough that this will be the case. they feel they have strong folding equity (which is true). Another common reasoning behind this line is that the flop bet was with nothing. They are worried about the overpair. Another common situation is that a player flops a decent hand -. Against an aggressive opponent.aggressive players will take advantage of a turn ace or a third/ fourth club. check behind on the turn. Since you’ve shown little or no strength the whole hand through. Against a medium-aggressive opponent. That does not necessarily mean they are ready to fold. However.and then slows way down when the turn brings a K. Unexpected checks: a player who has been betting steadily in the hand suddenly starts to check. Know thy image. When you have a complete idiot who never looks past his own hand while playing the game. “what is my opponent’s hand?” Third-level thinking is asking. your hands were actually powerhouses. you had the goods. JT (flopped straight). For some of you. and you never show your hands without being forced to do so. How do we start to figure out our image? Only worry about image with second-level thinkers. Yes.with anything short of a powerhouse. if each of those five went to showdown and you displayed to the table your powerhouse winners. Your cards only affect your image when you SHOW them. most opponents will at least make some token effort to guess your hand. Be aware of 112 . don’t worry about image -. and they’re very quickly going to get sick of your crap and start looking you up. KQ (flopped trips). your starting hand selection is tight. Again. so against your better opponents understanding your image will be important. watch your opponents and take notes on what their lines mean.you’ll just be wasting your time and effort. Of course. This is NOT the time to get cute with QJs or 33 -. Alternatively. Against some opponents. Sure.this is the time to play squeaky-clean poker as tight as you know how. Recognize that your table image is now absolute CRAP. In the last five straight hands you’ve had AA. None of that matters. You won all five hands before showdown. it will not matter at all. Against others. and 55 (flopped set). Our fifth and final commandment ties in to everything we’ve already discussed: 5. All your opponents have seen is you betting and raising every hand. your folding equity will be HIGHER than usual. First-level thinking is asking. this is your first segue into third-level thinking. However. “what is my hand?” Second-level thinking is asking. this will be the very most important commandment. “Image” is how the other players at the table perceive YOU. because people will begin to believe that you don’t get involved with a hand unless you’ve got the goods. QQ. It all depends on how attentive your particular opponent is. “what does my opponent think my hand is?” Obviously third-level thinking is irrelevant against a first-level thinker. They doubt you. It’s the recent history that counts. if the flush card DID help you. he’s going to know that. If you stole a player’s big blind three times in the last four orbits. A player may not remember that you bluffed Seat 3 off his hand five times in a row. do exactly what you did the last time he saw you with the nuts. and he’s going to play back at you with any reasonably strong hand. If your table image has fallen apart and your bluffs have gotten picked off several times in a row. or bet 1/2 pot. and play back at you with all sorts of crap. People have much longer memories for hands that involved them personally. When you want a call. people will think of you as a maniac. tighten up and fold for the next two orbits -. but he WILL remember that you bluffed HIM off his hand once an hour and a half ago.push all your chips in. so concentrate most on your actions in the last two orbits. but won’t be low at all against the other players at the table. People will remember these things. or do something else. bet a DIFFERENT amount -. Alternatively. Most people have a relatively short memory. When you want a fold. Opponents will usually assume that your lines always mean the same thing. if you’ve been at the table for three hours playing a 12/8 game but you’ve gotten involved in 10 of the last 12 hands. their image of you will be determined by their own personal observations. If you bet 3/4ths pot on a river scare card with the nut flush. bet 3/4ths pot! Your folding equity will be tremendous.this. Your folding equity on a steal will be particularly low against HIM. Conversely. then the next time you are in a pot against that opponent and the river comes with a three-flush (not yours). Personal history matters more than table history. Recent history matters more than ancient history. don’t do what you did the last time he saw you with the nuts. so remember how your last two orbits looked at the table. 113 . As a result.in that short period of time you will rebuild most or all of your table image and you can then go back to doing your nasty deeds. Very few of your opponents actually have Poker Tracker. preflop. and river .LDO. What I mean by this is that preflop. For example. How it works On every street . turn. but this idea should help you when facing bets that make no sense.a player has a range of hands they will play. We use things like VPIP and position to have a base starting point. This is a pretty simple example. I’ll try not to get too tl. Let me put it another way: If someone cannot have a hand in their range on a previous street. we remove more and more hands from that starting range until we finally have just a few hands remaining. they cannot suddenly have it on this street. flop. a preflop range of hands from which we scale their range down progressively on each street. It’s a combination of figuring out what type of hand a person is likely to hold and how they will react with it.dr. You know he is very unlikely to have any sort of 3 (or 78) in his range preflop. their range is widest and as the action takes place. The better you are able to determine these two things (by better I mean the more narrowly you can determine their range of hands and actions) the better poker player you will be and the more money you will make. so on the turn it obviously makes no sense to be afraid that he has a made straight.Hand Reading 2 I vi ii V7 This is probably my favorite topic so I’m happy to be starting the thread this week. 114 . Why and What Hand reading is important because it allows us to make better (and thus more profitable) decisions . a tight ABC player raises UTG and on the turn the board is 2456. Playing HUDless As an add on to the last section. he’s probably passive and we should ISO him often.” EZ game. You can use VPIP and PFR to very quickly figure out what type of player someone is. their range is much stronger when they actually call. HUDs just allow you to play more tables. several of the biggest mid and high stakes winners don’t use a HUD. you know that if someone is c-betting more often.” “He hasn’t played a hand in the first 3 orbits. c-bet% and fold to c-bet% are also useful to have in your HUD.Useful Stats VPIP and PFR are great stats to start with to assign a preflop range and starting point. IMO. Stats are not the be all end all. even if the sample size is only over 20 hands. if someone is folding to c-bets more often. Notes Always always always always be taking notes on your opponents. if I’m not mistaken). then playing without a HUD is totally doable (in fact. Logically. It’s especially useful to note what someone’s stack-off range is. he’s probably pretty tight. Though you cannot really determine a concrete range over a small sample. Notes and reads trump stats. their range is weaker. If you’re playing HUDless though . you can reasonably assume that someone playing 30/0 is a passive fish and that someone playing 20/20 is aggressive. Profiling Get used to profiling players until you have a more in-depth read on them.play fewer tables and assume players are playing straightforward until you can start profiling them. 115 . and now he just reraised from the BB. if your note taking skill is solid. if you happen to see them in an all-in pot. like “check raised air on dry flop” or something like that. What I mean is that different player types tend to play their hands in a similar fashion. I don’t like putting much stock in stats like turn c-bet% because they take a while to converge. Anything that doesn’t line up with their player profile is good to know.and I’d recommend having a HUDless session once a week just to work on hand reading . I would recommend avoiding logical and obvious notes like “limp reraises aces” and instead look for things out of the ordinary. “He’s limped every hand this orbit. and similarly. this kind of thing takes time and observation. let’s say Level 1 = What is my hand? Level 2 = What does my opponent have? Level 3 = What does my opponent think I have? And so on.” Using aggression for value and hand reading AKA. because otherwise you could be making some very costly mistakes.” It is. It’s important to determine what level a player is thinking on. people are way more likely to call with a worse hand than they are to raise with a worse hand. The place where money is made and real players eek out thin value when they don’t have the nuts. This will help you to narrow ranges down on further streets. and raising. bluffs. Why? They’re thinking on level 1. The good stuff. You’ll have to do the grunt work for yourself. most players want to showdown with medium hands. It’s usually good enough (at micro stakes) to assume someone is playing their hand and not thinking about how it plays against your range. Don’t be the guy (aka me) who calls river raises too often because “they might be bluffing me this time.” Why? They don’t fold. Different sources label them differently but for purposes of discussion. and dead money.calling. “Wait I thought this was a COTW on hand reading. To be more specific. Most villains you face have a very concrete range for their actions . But it’s important to be at least aware of this idea. checking. but in general. They’re not putting you on a range and figuring out how their hand plays against it.Levels This doesn’t apply heavily in most cases at micro stakes but you should be thinking about it nonetheless if you want to improve your hand reading skills. and want 116 . This means that we get to play very optimally with marginal holdings. Post flop poker is a balance of aggression for value. The most common (and quoted everywhere) is “never bluff a fish. You need only think on one level higher than your opponents to beat them. want to raise big hands for value. postflop poker. How are they different that the guy nut pedaling or the guy folding a pair because it’s not the nuts? Aggression. Reliable lines Always be looking for patterns and similarities in player types and how they play different strength hands. Look at failure as an opportunity to improve yourself (in this context. your hand reading). he can’t have it on the turn. To quote Sounded Simple (hope it’s okay. They don’t want to turn one pair no draw into a bluff. if not I will take it out. He’ll let you know if you’re beat. but it’s just from last week’s COTW anyway): Quote: Originally Posted by Sounded Simple (3) Hand Reading Turn and river hand reading is 100x more complex than preflop or flop hand reading so the players who know opponents ranges will simply have an unassailable advantage. Recently I have been using a new technique to get a grip on hand ranges.to either fold or bluff their air. Players typically want to showdown their medium hands.Use your tracking software for review. You will never learn to trust your reads if you never go with them and find out you were right. But keep in mind ranges. If he can’t have a hand you can bet for value against on the flop. Do you actually know what 10% of hands looks like or the various ways that 10% can be made? . oh noes!!! Check fold cuz he hit his draw??? No. Tips for better hand reading . Say you have AK on a board of A67hh and OOP vs a passive fishy player. . - Open HEM/PT3 and filter for > Single Raised Pots > Final pot >180bb (shorter stacks are easy to play anyway) > You are OOP (because this is tougher) > You cbet and are called HU > You saw a showdown Then add these filters in turn: > You got called > You got raised 117 . The turn is a 4h.Use PokerStove.Trust your reads and go with them! You will never get better at hand reading if you don’t try and fail sometimes. Bet for value 100%. You may want to get more specific with the filters once you see patterns emerge. Do some work you lazy bums. If you get better at hand reading. For both “Got Called” and “Got Raised” Manually or in excel note the > Player Type > Flop SPR > Board / Board Type > Positions > Villains hand Your hand or who won is not relevant. now look at the info you have on what player types are doing on the turn with what holdings. Summary It should be pretty obvious why hand reading is important. *Don’t forget that you will need to do this analysis as you move up and/or games change over time. Ok and let’s get the discussion going! 118 . you will make more money. if anyone wants to know what I have found then post yours here or PM me and I will tell you if they correspond to what I have found In other words…. I won’t pre-empt results. Playing Deep mpethybridge Note: I am organizing much of this CotW around the Stack to Pot Ratio concept fromProfessional No Limit Hold ‘Em. I actually think that today’s raised pots play as if they were deeper. In PNLHE. How Deep is Deep? This is an interesting question that I don’t think has a clear cut answer. I don’t think 200bb is the minimum effective stack size necessary for a game or a hand to play deep. thus making even deeper games play more like shallower games in those situations. and you should assume that all of the stack size concepts discussed herein come from or derive in some way from their book. some of the plays that people think of as deep stack plays are very effective at 100bb games. Sunny Mehta and Ed Miller. by Matt Flynn. Full Tilt evidently agrees. 2007. I think that any raised hand where the effective stacks are about 130bb plays more like a deep hand than a standard 119 . on the theory that it takes at least 4 pot sized bets to get all the money in. 2+2 Publishing. on average. So props to them. my contribution is in the specific application of those principles to our micro games. probably significantly lower than they were in 2007. Conversely. say. because this is the max buy in at the deep tables it created. 2007. therefore. The average player is far less willing to stack off with a top pair hand than he was in. the authors round down to 200bb and call this deep. there is so much 3 and 4 betting going on even at $10 and $25 that SPRs are. and. you should avoid any situation in which a reg will have position on you. and to be careful about getting involved with them. so I don’t think it is very important. Take your ego out of the decision. Bear in mind that deep tables tend to attract regulars who think they have an edge on the field. Even in this situation. it is important to identify regs that you think have an edge against you. at a 100bb table where you have built your stack up to 150 or so bb. This is so important deep that I do not believe a player that is inexperienced in deep stack play should sit in a game deep if there is a good regular with position on him that has him covered. Should You Play Deep? You should play deep if your post-flop skills are superior to the field playing deep. This is a good situation to book your win. You should not play deep if your post-flop skills are average or inferior to the field at deep tables. Table Selection and Seat Selection When you start out playing deep. and there is a good reg behind you that has you covered. you should probably leave unless you have position on a fish with a big stack. While this is generally true for seat selection.100bb hand in today’s game. and another reg behind you has. simply because the reg can put you in tough spots for bigger amounts of money. so the average quality of the opponent you will face is significantly higher. though. for example. too. and. Why Play Deep? To win bigger pots. ideally. If you are inexperienced deep. Ideally. Consider leaving the table. 120 . the fish will be difficult to exploit because of the reg behind you. you should strongly consider leaving the table. you should sit with position on a fish you are targeting. it is far more important when you are deep than 100bb deep. and stand up. This might happen. The distinction is only important in specific situations. it is very difficult to extract maximum value from top pair hands. One pair hands go down in value. (Not to mention the extra value you can get by bluff-threatening a 200bb stack). It allows you to better exploit your informational advantage. Combining these two adjustments suggests that we ought to be calling in position with a wide range of drawing hands. though. So What Adjustments Do We Make When Playing Deep? According to PNLHE: 1. as well as the fear one pair hands have of playing a big pot. These are basically impossible to achieve at a deep table. In a deep game (or a hand where effective stacks are deep). When SPR is low. Hands that want to build big pots post-flop become more valuable. you make a profit with one pair hands even when speculative hands draw out on you--they just can’t draw out frequently enough for you to lose money. they can more easily extract enough profit to justify playing speculative hands.Why Do Deep Hands Play Differently? Providing a framework to use to think about stack sizes was the single biggest contribution the authors of PNLHE made to poker. Since it is therefore going to be very difficult to maximize your profit with 121 . suited aces and middle suited connectors. Position becomes more important. in the 4-7 neighborhood. 2. This should be obvious. 3. such as if you call with 98s and flop one pair. Deep. and this framework is the basis for the answer to this question. This is a function of stack to pot ratios. Similarly. it prefers really small SPRs. you are getting better implied odds to float on the flop if you flop a small piece of the board. If your hand is most likely to flop as a top pair. (I actually stoved it here but then deleted it because it doubled the length of this post to stove both a 60bb shallow hand and a 160bb deep hand). This includes small and mid pocket pairs. looking to flop two pair or better. This is true primarily because of the reverse implied odds you offer to speculative hands. Drawing hands go up in value. Stove it and you will see what I’m talking about. asserting that it wins big pots post flop often enough to accept the consequences of awkward SPRs rather than raising smaller with it. you normally fold small pocket pairs in early position. the final preflop pot is 24bb-ish and SPR will be under 7 at 150bb effective stack size and about 9 if at 200bb effective stacks. 6. You’ll have to mix it up to avoid being readable. if. like me. You should pot control these hands to try and ensure that the final pot is 4-7 times the size of the final preflop pot. and the button 3 bets you to 12bb. These are workable SPRs for one pair hands. playing a one pair hand with the opportunity to make really big post-flop mistakes. I’m just sayin’ is all. If someone raises to 4bb and you 3 bet it to 12bb. effective stacks are 192. you should aim to play small-ish pots that will minimize the reverse implied odds these hands offer. but manageable. This is also an area in which you can get creative at manipulating SPR by changing your preflop bet sizing. Consider varying your raise sizes. I know. if you are 100bb deep and you raise to 4bb UTG with 55. they specifically exclude AA. which is a horrible SPR for this hand. If he 3 bet you with a one pair hand. Remember that 3 bet pots are no longer really deep. 122 . according to PNLHE.these hands. Now the pot is 17. but it is worth thinking about incorporating 5bb and 2 bb raises into your preflop bet sizing to manipulate SPRs. I favor the following adjustments as well: 5. if he calls. AA is an exception to this adjustment. you are facing an SPR of 4-ish if you call. AQ and QQ. we hate minraises. While the authors sort of argue for at least considering making smaller raises preflop with hands like AK. They are a little on the high side. But suppose you are 200bb deep and you raise to 2bb UTG with 55 and the button 3 bets you to 8bb. For example. you basically have him right where you want him. In addition to these adjustments. This requires an adjustment to your preflop strategy. 4. and your SPR is 11. Never fold a pocket pair if SPR is shaping up to be around 13. I know. This just makes it easier to get all the money in because of the exponential increases in bet sizes. 7. Baluga specifically mentions adding to your range hands such as AJs. you are going to have to balance. Playing 200bb deep allows you the opportunity to run big multi-street bluffs that win big pots. but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the fact that: 9. to vary your 3 bet sizing. I actually hate this idea. Vary your 3 bet sizing. I personally think that this is usually FPS. you have to mix it up sometimes. however. or 4 betting and playing a pot with a really low SPR. Thinking About Exploiting Micro-Grinders at Deep Tables 123 . KQs and KJs. if you are going to vary your preflop raises. With your strong hands. in my opinion. If you are bluff or semi-bluff raising. This is crucial. you have the option of folding and losing less. if they can’t get really low SPRs. play pretty well with really high SPRs. maximizing the probability that the bettor actually has a hand he can call a raise with. The adjustment below comes to us courtesy of Baluga Whale: 10. prefer flop raises to turn raises. If you are value 3 betting. I advocate usually just check/calling or flatting with a powerhouse such as a flopped set on a very dry board. you want a SPR as low as possible so that calling your c-bet does not necessarily commit the villain to the hand.Also. Obviously. you want as low a SPR as you can get. Since people call EP raises with hands that can crack AA. 100bb deep. I think you have to suck it up and raise at least some of the time. 8. deep. I would probably pick the villains with the lowest c-bet %s to raise on dry flops. but there are occasions where I can see this being a good play. If you make small raises in EP with one pair hands and get 3 bet. raise in EP with hands that can crack hands that are looking to crack AA. I would suggest doing so with some of your one pair hands that. Now suppose that the field. you will lose a little less in the pots you lose to. Another application of this is directly inferable from PNLHE. we would break even stacking off our KK against AA against some villains. 4. Playing deep. But we play at the micros. Until I started playing deep. you will win. over the long run. on average. or to a guy who flops a set. All of this leads us to some important conclusions: 1. though. and stacking KK with our aces against others. that. on average. a bigger pot than you lose to the field. They over value 1 pair hands. But if you spend much time playing deep stacked. affords us the opportunity to win this battle and extract a profit from situations such as this where other players are breaking even. but second best hands. but it does give us some chances to manipulate pot size when we have AA against KK to win most of a stack. raises AQ to 3. and would apply to pretty much every deep game. PNLHE. say.5bb. I believed that situations like KK v. I don’t think 200bb deep is deep enough to be looking to fold middle set and save a few bets when you are set over setted. you have to be looking for opportunities to win the battle of the coolers. or inferable from. This is really just a specific application of the general rule that the deeper the stacks the more important skill becomes.5 or 4bb. They chase draws (see leak 3). and it is profit you owe to the fact that you planned 124 . They overestimate their implied odds. Over time.Pretty much everything in the adjustments section is in. The difference is all profit to you. AT when he flops two pair. 3. Playing deep. it is actually possible to win the battle of the coolers. They can’t fold good. Suppose you take the authors’ advice and start (usually) raising 3bb with AQ instead of your usual 3. Each time you flop a set or two pair. and micro-players have specific leaks: 1. AA were 0 EV situations. 2. while manipulating pot size with KK so as to lose the minimum to AA. So I would like to see some discussion on applying the principles in specific situations to flesh out my post. In every section I wrote.your hand around your hand’s value in a deep stacked game. you should pot control your one pair hands. 125 . The corollary to this is that when you have two pair or better. Playing deep. which I consider to be nothing more than a collection of very general statements that can be applied in a lot of situations and have exceptions in a lot of situations. I had to leave out the vast majority of what I wanted to say.dr. in fact. did not make this adjustment. You should play in such a way that it is basically impossible for most villains to chase a draw against you profitably. you should be building a big pot and charging draws ruthlessly. There are a variety of ways to do this. Conclusion Although this post appears tl. I think I covered maybe 2% of what there is to say on these subjects. 2. whereas the field in general. and they vary from opponent to opponent. but the idea is to not put yourself in a position where you justify your opponent’s overestimation of his implied odds. Therefore. any flop. Books. IO is when your hand is not strong enough to play at the current price. And all of them will generally recommend against open limping. The idea is to see a flop for cheap. DeucesCracked and other coaching sites. LIMPERS SPECULATE Everyone’s limping range is different. and likely that they are weak players. some examples. But the basic premise behind limping is the same: speculation.Playing Limpers KurtSF The basic jist of this is going to be: abuse limpers at every opportunity. then make a lot of money afterward when you spike. Its unlikely many limpers will describe their play with the term however. Thinking players describe this as Implied Odds. Some will limp with KK to trap you. and more people limp along behind. In other words. or IO. Some limp any two cards because they want to see a flop. Why? Because there’s tons of information available on poker strategy readily available. I’ll get into some reasoning. twoplustwo and other forums. but the implied profit from later streets if you hit makes the hand playable. but I want you to keep in mind that basic premise: limpers suck at poker and have hands they are unsure about. some math. when you see someone open-limp. 126 . its unlikely they have studied the game. Some limp with small pairs to setmine on the cheap. etc. its likely that these players have not availed themselves of these resources. Some people will never open-limp. Some will open-limp with AKs because “its a drawing hand”. and this is the microstakes forum after all. Second. First. But if there’s one place where you still find the limpers. Villain ??? How does he feel about his hand here? Pretty good ya? He’ll play it. Assume full stacks and unknown villains. But what about: Pre Flop: ($0. the folks you know are interested in seeing a flop and playing a hand (the limpers) have already acted. Poker is a game of edges . Hero is on your left and is a 15/12 TAG. there’s just not that many people happily limping along in every pot anymore. Let’s look at one (admittedly contrived) example. but let’s take a look at the HUGE opportunity for profit in isolating limpers. MP1 calls $0. Hero calls $0.35) Villain is BU with A 9 3 folds. it makes it more difficult for players who have absolute position on you to play the hand. MP1 calls $0.25. An edge can be knowing you opponents tenancies and exploiting them (what alex23 calls “skill edge”).you want to find and edge and press it. An edge can be having position on your opponent. its at the micro-stakes tables. One of the key advantages you gain in isolating limpers is a positional advantage. and makes it much more likely that you will have position on the field post flop. Hero raises to $1. Villain ??? 127 . its such common knowledge that limping is bad that isolating limpers is much less valuable than in years past.25. 1 fold. 25nl. and just has to decide to limp along or raise it up.25. Pre Flop: ($0. 1 fold. So keep in mind that some of this advice may not be as useful as you move up (and may even get you in trouble).35) Villain is BU with A 9 3 folds. If you don’t understand how valuable position is and how to use it to your advantage. and you have relative position on them. An edge can be in hand strength (being ahead of their range).25. POSITION Let’s start by looking at some reasons to isolate limpers. I suggest you study up with CaptVimes .Now. This works in a couple ways. MP1 calls $0. 3 folds. 3 folds. You just got the in-position player to fold the best hand FTW. Hero raises to $1. plus there a lot of RIO because a ton of Hero’s range is aces with a better kicker. 1 fold.25. And peel back the curtain: Pre Flop: ($0.85. 1 fold.85) T A 8 (2 players) MP1 checks. Results: Hero wins pot $2. Hero bets $2. MP1 calls $0.25. I’m not going to explain why initiative is good. and often also better than folding. INITIATIVE Again. 3 folds.25.25. OHAI you just won 6+bb with the worst hand! 128 . profits $1. Let’s just continue with the same example.25.How does he feel about his hand NOW? Not so warm and fuzzy. Isolating limpers gets you better postflop position in bigger pots. Fold! Do you see how Hero just got postflop position on EVERYONE left in the hand by isolating the limper and pushing the button out? Let’s peel back the curtain: Pre Flop: ($0.85) T A 8 (2 players) MP1 checks.00 Flop: ($2.35) Hero is CO with Q J 3 folds. MP1 folds.25..25.35) Villain is MP1 with 3 3 3 folds.60. Isolating limpers presses your positional edge. Hero raises to $1. . Hero raises to $1. 1 fold.. eh? Pre Flop: ($0. MP1 calls $1. Hero bets $2.35) Hero is CO with Q J 3 folds. Its usually better than limping along. Suffice to say. initiative is money in the bank. MP1 calls $0. eh? He’ll need to spike to be good. MP1 calls $1.00 Flop: ($2. MP1 folds. but in 3 weeks when Cangurino writes his Concept of the Week article you can read all about it.25. because putting in any more money than that makes you -EV. 5-10 rule and 1:8 blah blah blah. There is now a huge chance that the field catches a set. he’s got TP beat. We all know that if you can get a villain to put in 15-20% of their stack preflop when you’re holding aces that they cannot profitably setmine. Each one may have made a -EV call individually. get out. putting in too much of their stack to be profitable in the longrun. They don’t want to play! Give them a reason not to. Always use your initiative to cbet limp-callers. You’re now in the awkward position of having to cbet and give up on this hand. but you’re playing against the field. and if he starts putting money in the pot. Well guess what? All that standard math is for HU pots and doesn’t matter in multiway pots. GET THE **** OUT OF THE POT. All four of them just called without good odds to setmine. Please head to the back of the line and practice your EV calculations. Time to make some money. but MP1 check raises you on the flop. you bust it to $2.Isolating limpers will get you initiative in a hand. 77. std 2+2 raise of 4+1. and initiative is almost as good as cash most places. amirite! Four limpers to you. You’re OTB with AA. All it takes is one idiot with KTo to feel 129 . And when they do start putting money in the pot.. But guess what? He expects you to have TP. Obv if MP1 calls or c/r here you shut down to an offsuit-K on the turn. GANGUP EFFECT Let’s talk set mining for a bit. everyone calls. its still a fold. If you have AQ on the above board and action. We all know the math. 44. LIMPERS DO NOT LIKE THEIR HANDS! IF THAT CHANGES. Well. 55. Peel back the curtain and all 4 have small pocket pairs. that you can safely stackoff postflop and STILL be +EV. Gogogogogo!” *buzzzz* Thank you for playing. they are unsure about their hands. not so much if you’re playing against a field and are not HU postflop. say 22. something like 42% on the flop.. “Stupid idiots. Remember. priced in preflop, spike his T on the flop and peel your cbet, then put you on AK and bet the river and BAM you fold the best hand. Yuck. “But I did what I was supposed to do and raised! What do you want me to do, limp and setmine aces to avoid -EV situations?” No. But this CoW is not called Raising Limpers, its called Isolating Limpers. Same example, AA OTB with 4 limpers. Make the bet $3.25. Now you get one optimistic caller who is bad at math... feel free to stack off happily. NH, GG. “But what if they all fold? I make the minimum with my aces?” Yes, but you make money. +EV. Playing against a field is not like playing against one villain. Each one can individually be -EV and you are STILL -EV also. Let me repeat that: each one can individually be -EV and you are STILL -EV also! Because you’re not playing against a hand, you’re playing against many hands. You’re better off winning a small pot with your big hands than getting yourself into a pickle against a large field where you have high RIO. Reverse implied odds my friends... limpers are playing for Implied Odds, and when you have a good hand against limpers, that means you have the opposite, Reverse Implied Odds. Another example: Unknown villains, full stacks. Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is BU with A J 1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.25, 1 fold, MP1 calls $0.25, HJ calls $0.25, Hero raises to $1.25, UTG+1 calls $1.00, MP1 calls $1.00, HJ calls $1.00. Flop: ($5.35) T A 9 (4 players) UTG+1 checks, MP1 checks, HJ checks, Hero bets $4.00, UTG+1 calls $4.00, MP1 folds, HJ calls $4.00 Turn: ($17.35) T A 9 6: (3 players) UTG+1 checks, MP1 checks, Hero ?????? Kicks a puppy? What now? OHAI you’re in a world of hurt! 130 Let’s peel back the curtain and see that UTG+1 had 99 for bottom set and HJ has Q J for the OESFD. Yeah, HJ could have just as easily had 87 and made his straight. UTG+1 got greedy and tried to trap more money in the pot with his set (yes, even with the FD out). And you... you want to puke. Bet/ fold and protect against the draws? Check for pot control and call one on the river if the flush doesn’t come in? Or just c/f from here out, and risk folding the best hand or allowing them to draw out? ****. Let’s try that again! Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is BU with A J 1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.25, 1 fold, MP1 calls $0.25, HJ calls $0.25, Hero raises to $2.50, UTG+1 calls $2.25, MP1 folds, HJ folds. Flop: ($5.85) T A 9 (4 players) UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $4.00, UTG+1 raises $8.00, Hero??? Folds. Much better!! Hopefully next time he doesn’t get so lucky and flop that set. Most big hands play better against a smaller field, and big preflop raises will accomplish that.Don’t get married to one preset “strategy” for preflop hand selection or bet sizing. Think about why you are raising each time, and size your bet to accomplish that. FREE MONEY Now that we’ve discussed some of the advantages of isolating limpers, let’s start talking about how to use these advantages to make money. You know how you open your range in late position to steal the blinds? Yeah, if you don’t know why you’re doing that, go read Happy Pixel’s treatise on the subject. I quote: [QUOTE=HappyPixel It’s only 1.5BBs, why should I get involved? Because 1.5BBs is a LOT OF ****ING MONEY!!![/quote] The blinds are forced to put money into the pot with any hand. But there’s another player that puts money into the pot with marginal holdings: the limper. One more time, everybody now! 131 Limpers are bad at poker and are unsure about their hands. Every time a limper enters the pot in front of you I want you to hear this sound in your head: “CHA-CHING!” That’s your EV cash register counting up the bad money in the pot sitting out there for the taking. Another example, again unknown villains and full stacks. Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is HJ with two cards 4 folds, Hero ??? It gets folded around to you, what’s your standard opening range here? I don’t know, but let’s make one up for the example. Let’s say any two suited broadway, ATo+, KQ, and any pair. Fair enough? Time to tweek it. Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is HJ with two cards 3 folds, MP1 calls $0.25, Hero ??? What’s your opening range now? “Well, I was against random hands before, this time villain has a hand he wants to play, so I’ll tighten my range a little to preserve my equity edge and be +EV when entering the pot.” YOU! BACK OF THE LINE! What have I been prattling on about all this time? Isolating limpers gives you a positional edge, it gives you a initiative edge, and it gets you involved in pots with bad players who don’t like their hands. You don’t need to protect your equity edge when you have all this other stuff working for you! Here, let’s try that again: Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is HJ with two cards 3 folds, MP1 calls $0.25 CHA-CHING!, Hero ??? “OK, I get it. He’s probably got a small pair or something suited there and will need to hit the flop hard to continue. Well, there’s still a lot of players left to act. What if I added any suited aces to my open range?” Yes, good. Suited aces are ahead of a ton of his range (suited junk), and when he’s got better (small pairs) he STILL needs to hit the flop to want to continue. Plus, suited aces can hit the 132 flop many ways and play well postflop. A+. One more time: Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is HJ with two cards UTG calls $0.25 CHA-CHING!, UTG+1 calls $0.25 CHA-CHING!, 1 fold, MP1 calls $0.25 CHA-CHING!, Hero ??? Now what? “That’s a lot of money out there.” Indeed. “But I don’t want to play easily dominated hands, right?” *cough* “OK, OK. What if I opened... any 2 broadway, any ace, and any pair? Is that OK?” You are such a LAG. Welcome to the wonderful world of exploiting weak players! Here’s you diploma and a couplon for a free Happy Meal. Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is HJ with K J UTG calls $0.25 CHA-CHING!, UTG+1 calls $0.25 CHA-CHING!, 1 fold, MP1 calls $0.25 CHA-CHING!, Hero raises $2.00, 8 folds. Results: Hero wins pot $1.35, profits $1.10. Nice hand. “But they NEVER FOLD in the micros! I don’t know how it is at your stakes, but they ALWAYS come along, and now I’ve got a crap hand in a big pot!” Sometimes. Do I have to repeat the mantra again? Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is HJ with K J UTG calls $0.25 CHA-CHING!, UTG+1 calls $0.25 CHA-CHING!, 1 fold, MP1 calls $0.25 CHA-CHING!, Hero raises $2.00, 6 folds, UTG+1 calls $1.75, MP1 calls $1.75. Flop: ($6.55) T A 9 (4 players) 133 UTG+1 checks, MP1 checks, Hero bets $4, 2 folds. See where I’m going with this? “Um, they don’t always miss.” You’re right. About 25% of the time it will go like this: Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is HJ with K J UTG calls $0.25 CHA-CHING!, UTG+1 calls $0.25 CHA-CHING!, 1 fold, MP1 calls $0.25 CHA-CHING!, Hero raises $2.00, 6 folds, UTG+1 calls $1.75, MP1 calls $1.75. Flop: ($6.55) T A 9 (3 players) UTG+1 checks, MP1 checks, Hero bets $4, UTG+1 raises to $11, 1 fold, Hero??? Any doubt about where you’re at in this hand? So 75% of the time you win $4.65, and 25% you’ll lose $6. I’ll let you work out the EV calculation. SUMMARY Abuse the limpers at every opportunity. That is all. I was originally going to include a quiz and a video with my CoW, but I ran out of time. Maybe I’ll add them later in the week. My apologies for all the set-mining nits who are going to start wondering why no one ever pays them off anymore and where their winrate disappeared to. CHA-CHING! 134 so please be aware when you’re reading this. For example. I’ve decided to mostly concentrate on flop play. And only when you understand something you’ll be 135 .Position is important. Yeah I know. Playing oop Before I start talking about specific lines and stuff I’d like to make a few general statements about playing oop: . you’ve all heard and read that before. However there’s a huge difference between “knowing” and “understanding” and the latter needs a lot of work. I’m trying to write this from a game theoretical perspective (as good as I can). sure.Playing OOP magodeoz84 Disclaimer Playing oop (out of position) is a huge topic and it’s impossible to cover anything that could be said about it in a single COTW. let’s get to the interesting stuff. And I’m also sure that there’s quite a few of you out there who’ll be thinking “yeah. that against a lot of villains it’s better to play “incorrectly”. but there’ll also be some remarks about preflop and some information on turn play. So my point here is: Everybody who’s read a poker book or been on 2p2 for only a short time knows position is important. there’s no need to balance your range (and I’d say it’s actually bad in a lot of spots) against a guy that’s not paying attention and that you don’t see at the tables very often. And even though I’m sure I’ve improved a lot since my micro FR days I’m also a 100% sure there’s stuff related to position which I don’t get yet either. I know position is important.” But those of you who are on the same level that I was at when I started grinding micro FR probably don’t understand how important it really is. you know you’ll be playing the pot oop.Whenever you enter the pot from a position where you’re likely to end up being oop after the flop you willingly accept having a big disadvantage. Playing oop as the preflop raiser Preflop adjustments Whenever you open with a raise. discouraging. etc. however I don’t think this matters. Those are skill advantage. I’m going to focus on heads-up pots. It’s more of a warning that it takes some time and effort to get a better grasp of how positional issues should change your decision making. card advantage and positional advantage. So whenever enter the pot from a position where you’re sure or likely to end up being oop postflop your opponent(s) has/have the positional advantage.e. but I’ll make some comments about how you should adapt in a multiway pot. When you call a raise in the blinds. the other is when you call a raise being oop. I’m going to distinguish 2 different scenarios. My hand examples will be from 6m games cause that’s what I’m mostly playing at the moment. All those lines work just as well at a full ring table as long as you adjust for table dynamics and the villains in the hand. This is one reason why you should be tightening up your openraising range when you move away from the button. So in the first scenario you’re having the betting impetus whereas in the second you’re the pf caller. being a better player in general or having a good idea of villain’s tendencies which allows you to make good decisions against him postflop.). cause it’s not meant that way. other things being equal (mostly skill). I hope that doesn’t sound offensive or. One is when you raise pf and get called by a player that has position on you. even worse. When you raise in early position it’s pretty likely and even when you’re opening in the cutoff you’re not guaranteed to have position postflop. you prefer to be called by one of the blinds and 136 . In poker there’s 3 advantages you can have over your opponent (quick shout out to Baluga Whale from whose videos I borrowed that concept). which will mostly be the case when you’re in the blinds.able to make it part of your game in a non robotic way. you better have some good card advantage or skill advantage (This can be a lot of things: F. To make up for that. . As an example (that’s how I play) you could do 4x in EP. 3.play the hand in position rather than being called by a player in later position. let’s take a look at what your arsenal is when you end up in a heads-up pot oop. which basically means raising with hands that you think will still make you money on average even if some of the time you have to play them out of position or against multiple opponents and also taking into account the times when someone behind you wakes up with a monster.5x on the BTN and 4x from the SB. when you’re on the BTN. your positional disadvantage decreases as well.5x in MP. which maybe aren’t +ev by themselves but help you make more with your big hands). where the risk of being out of position postflop is biggest: You should raise with a stronger range. and if you get called you created a bigger pot when your range is stronger and you reduce the SPR (stack to pot ratio) which is good when you have to play your hand out of position cause when stacks get shallower. 2. the more likely you’re gonna end up out of position postflop. . you should include some hands for deception/balance. you loose less when you get 3bet and the players in the blind might call you lighter which is good. On the other hand. because you generally should be able to outplay them when you’re in position.Flop texture matters a lot: Standard cbetting is something that is pretty easy to learn. but in my opinion it makes the most sense to raise bigger in early position or in the small blind than in LP. having a decent idea which boards are good for cbetting and which aren’t should help you a lot. at least from a theoretical point of view. Against players that don’t pay a lot of attention (which will not only be the fishes but also masstabling regs) barring some very special circumstances there’s no reason I could think of to cbet more than ½ pot on a super dry A83r board with air. That being said. Or if you 137 . This has several advantages: From EP (and to some extent from the SB) you might reduce people’s willingness to call your raise.Change your sizing: Please don’t be lazy with your cbets. The cbet I just want to point out a few very important points: . 3x in the HJ/CO. Unfortunately this doesn’t always happen and the earlier your position. (Plus. There’s two things you can do to make up for raising in early position (or in the SB). The second thing you can do is to raise a bigger amount when your preflop position gets worse. This is open for debate. so especially for the micro players reading this. have TT on a T87 two tone board I got no idea why you would ever bet less than at least 2/3 pot (I’d prefer more) against someone who’s only thinking about his own hand and doesn’t adjust to bet sizes (unless you start overbetting big or minbetting). but this just isn’t necessary versus most opponents you’ll play against at the micros (and at small stakes as well for that matter). maybe also premium hands. Another example might be when you raise 55 in the HJ and the BTN who’s a huge station calls you. a lot of the sc’s got a piece as well. especially if you think he’d just flat the flop with 2pr+ and you don’t feel comfortable firing multiple barrels. But in general you should be c/fing in spots where you think that a cbet is going to get called or raised too often to show an immediate profit. maybe some suited aces. Flop comes QJ8 with a FD and you think that the BTN is calling with any gutshot or better. So whenever they check you can be quite sure they’re just going to give up. Let’s look at an example: You open in UTG+1 with AJ and a tricky TAG calls you in the CO. some suited connectors. His range there is like any pp. you need to win 40% of the time to break even. Now the flop comes 874 two tone. maybe some suited gappers. you bet 2 into a 3 dollar pot. This might be a spot where you’re generally better off just c/fing. A lot of players just don’t have that in their arsenal when they’re the PFR. And the reason for this is that if they cbet a lot of air they should also cbet their monsters. In this situation I really doubt he’s going to fold as often as he should to make cbetting profitable and making a multi street bluff versus a station is usually just bad.e. you should just give up. If you’re afraid of giving away information I’d recommend having a fixed amount based on board texture. then there’s a part of his range that made a FD and if he’s tricky he might still float you with air. The check-call This is a line that you should use less and also one where I struggle a bit. When you cbet. When to c/f is super villain dependent and also depends on your position. If f. That’s why against players that you think will take 138 . So if you expect villain to call more than 60% of the time and you don’t think that you can continue when called. probably any pp is going to call. The check-fold Again you should have a decent idea of flop texture and ranges. just to send him a message and prevent him from betting every time you check on the flop. If that’s the case. you should have a c/cing or a c/ring range.You could also c/r on the flop instead of c/cing. c/r (if possible c/s) turn with a monster or a good draw versus an agro player on your left. I use this mostly against players that like to float so I get value from their bluffs and it should also prevent them from barreling every time I check on the turn. How wide you can do this depends on villain’s floating frequency. Let’s say you open in MP with JTs and a good and aggressive villain calls you in LP. The cbet Flop. however this is something I don’t do very often at all when I’m the PFR. $2. This all depends on how wide you think they are floating you and how they are gonna respond to your c/r.To be able to cbet as often as you should. Against others I’d need some kind of combo draw. I’d prefer to c/c on the flop instead of cbetting and then either fold to a raise or call the raise and get bluffed off your hand on the turn. However this line should be used far less frequently than the other two. you can’t afford to play your monsters like this very often.This line works best versus aggressive villains that you expect to fire multiple barrels once you check. but against some villains doing this with any FD or OESD should work. . A few things to think about: . c/r Turn line This is a line I really like and which you should do as a semibluff and also for value. if you don’t think you can comfortably 3b/get it in here. However. That’s a flop where an aggressive villain is gonna raise your cbet quite often and against some very aggressive opponents a bet/3bet line might be best. The flop comes J87r.Sometimes it can also make sense to c/c to keep your equity share in the pot. this line might make you more money than the standard cbet. However to make this play work you got to be sure that this villain is floating a lot and will bet most of his floats on the turn.PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver. I think those pair+weak draw hands are probably the kind of hands which I usually use to strengthen my c/cing range. . .com 139 .00 BB (6 handed) . .Every once in a while it makes sense to c/c flop. This would weaken your cbetting range way too much.advantage of your obvious weakness and steal whenever you check. Example 1: PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em. Adjusting in a multiway pot I don’t want to go into detail here. Hero raises to $22. but a decent portion of the time just giving up is going to be the right play. Unless villain is a big nit. CO calls $16 Flop: ($45) 5 . 1 fold Total pot: $189 | Rake: $3 This was in a 3b pot. that it’s sometimes better to just give up when your cbet gets called. so I have some fold equity to go with my pot equity which is huge and I also maximize value against his bluffs by letting him put a bet into the pot before making him fold. Hero raises to $151 (All-In). And you also need a stronger hand than you would in a heads-up pot to play for stacks. All I wanted to say here is. I’d expect him to float me with Ahigh or some medium pp pretty often (if those are in his pf range). It’s important to recognize good spots to double barrel or c/r on the turn. A 2 folds. c/f Turn I’m sure you all know this line. so the stacks were perfect for it.Button ($282) SB ($236. CO bets $6. I prefer the c/r over a b/c line for two reasons: I’m the one getting in the last bet.75) Hero (BB) ($200) UTG ($200) MP ($200) CO ($391. You should have a range for cbetting the flop and then c/fing on the turn and firing multiple barrels all the time is going to be a sure recipe for disaster for most players especially at the micros. The cbet Flop. 2 folds. 140 .85) Preflop: Hero is BB with K . because it’s more likely that you’ll get called. 10 . CO bets $45. This also applies when you’re the preflop caller. So if I expect him to bet the turn pretty often. 6 (2 players) Hero bets $27. CO calls $27 Turn: ($99) 4 (2 players) Hero checks. but in general you should give villains more credit when they show aggression and you should also bluff less. And to only donkbet with monsters is pretty transparent. When you donk. . but I could imagine that you might get some spazzy bluff raises or light call downs if you have a good image. it might be a decent spot to lead out with your whole range to prevent the CO from taking a free card with all his unpaired overcards. Two basic things to consider: Your range in general should be pretty tight cause you’re going to have the positional disadvantage.You think donking out will maximize fold equity if you’re bluffing or value if you have a monster. . 141 . That’s not something you want when you’re bluffing or have a marginal hand. you take the possibility to cbet away from the preflop raiser and his range for putting money into the pot (calling or raising your donk bet) is gonna be stronger than his cbetting range would be. The lead out/ “donk bet” A donk bet is a bet made from a player who’s acting before the preflop raiser’s got a chance to act. For example if you call a raise from the CO and the flop comes 653. However. The reason for this is that whether you have a monster. How tight it should be depends on villain and on villain’s position/range. So with a good draw or a monster it might be a good idea to lead out. I think that most of those are really marginal advantages and usually not enough to make donking better than a c/c or c/r. This again is open to debate.It’s a multiway pot and you think it’s likely that the flop will get checked through. but in my opinion it’s usually not a good play especially in a heads-up pot.Playing oop as the preflop caller So now I’m going to assume that you’re calling a raise in the blinds. There are some spots though where I think donking is a good idea: .If you’re heads-up and you’re pretty sure that villain is gonna check back on the flop. a marginal hand or air you usually benefit from villain putting more money into the pot with a weak range. This is almost always the case when you call a raise from LP (and to some extent from MP as well). I hardly ever do it. a c/r is usually gonna work just as well. you might want to lead out to get him off two overcards. 60) 4 (2 players. BB bets $11. 1 all-in) Total pot: $64.00 BB (6 handed) .45) Hero (SB) ($200) BB ($29. 7 3 folds.15) CO ($200) Preflop: Hero is SB with 7 . BB calls $4 Flop: ($18) 3 . 1 fold Turn: ($42) 5 (2 players) Hero checks. You’ve got to realize though that if you’re c/fing the vast majority of the time you’re probably calling too light preflop. but especially oop you’ll just have to give up on some boards.30 (All-In). Hero calls $11.com Button ($434. 6 . however you have to make sure that a decent part of your range is either going to c/c or c/r.60 | Rake: $3 In this hand I was up against a very bad player with a short stack in the BB and a nitty/passive player (over 200 hands) on the BTN. $2. The check-fold Again it all depends on ranges and board texture. So I lead out expecting a call from the BB and a fold from the BTN the vast majority of the time.30) UTG ($40) MP ($285.PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver. 142 . BB calls $12. My equity against the fish is excellent and he’s bad so he could call with anything.30 River: ($64. At the same time it’s quite likely that the fish on the BTN is going to check back and I don’t want to give 2 players a free card. 4 (3 players) Hero bets $12. C/fing is going to be a good play in a lot of situations. Otherwise you’re just burning money by calling raises oop and then giving up to a cbet all the time. Hero calls $5. Button bets $6.Example 2: PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em. C/cing the flop with anything just to fold on the turn is usually not a good idea. 8 3 folds. In general you’re going to take this line with made hands that have some showdown value like top pair with a weak/medium kicker. Against a lot of players it would be better to c/c again (if you have a plan for the river). 9 . $2.40 Unless you have a very aggressive dynamic going this hand is probably too weak to c/r for value on the flop so I elect to c/c. Button bets $22.50) Button ($220) SB ($200) Hero (BB) ($211) UTG ($334. 1 fold. Hero calls $8 Turn: ($29) 10 (2 players) Hero checks. Button bets $6. the decision depends entirely on what you think of the villain in the hand.00 BB (6 handed) . but I didn’t expect this villain to have a large bluffing range here.com CO ($418. It’s really important though that you have a read on the villain and a plan for the rest of the hand.PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver. 2nd pair. eventhough the turn is a decent card to bluff at. Hero calls $4 Flop: ($13) 2 . But if you’re doing this the vast majority of the time you’re going to lose a lot of money. Button bets $8.85) MP ($249) Preflop: Hero is BB with 9 . Hero folds Total pot: $29 | Rake: $1. 4 (2 players) Hero checks. even bottom pair or Ahi. Here is a hand I played against a slightly passive villain: Example 3: PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em.The check-call It’s really tough to give general guidelines when you should be c/cing. On the turn. otherwise you’ll always have marginal hands 143 . Against some villains you might include some monsters/good draws into your c/cing range. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have some hands that you elect to call with one time and then give up. But if you’re playing against someone who won’t let you run him over with bluffs and you want/need to have a “normal” c/ring 144 . but in general you should bluff with those hands that have the best equity against villain’s calling range. eventhough they might overplay some hands or play others too passively. whenever you think you’ll get called by enough worse hands. So what hands should you choose for it? In general you’re going to have a range that you raise for value and a range that you’re bluffing with (good draws fall somewhere in between I guess). And when I look at the posts in the micro forums it’s pretty obvious that some players don’t really have a good idea what hands they should be c/ring with.when you c/c. As a general guideline I’d recommend to c/c with most one pair hands. There’s so much that can go wrong though and you need a solid read on villain to try this in my opinion. Most players that have some idea what they are doing have a decent understanding of what hands belong into their value range. while you c/r very good one pair hands and monsters plus a lot of draws. Something I wouldn’t recommend very often at all is to float oop with complete air to steal the pot later. The same is true for your monsters. This is really important. Now the other part of your c/ring range is going to be bluffs and semibluffs. Sometimes just calling is the more +ev line here. Well. Against some players you can call on an Ahi flop with anything and if they check back on the turn you can be almost certain that you can steal it on the river. Whether you can c/r KQ on a QT4 two tone board for value depends on your opponent and your image. sure then go ahead. Again there’s always exceptions. then you’re going to make a decision between a c/c and a c/r. Let’s say you decide for whatever reason that you want to c/r with roughly x% of your hands. sometimes you might decide that calling is more +ev than c/ring. C/ring for value is a viable option. The check-raise Whenever you think your hand is too good to just c/f (and donking isn’t a valid option for you in most spots). if you think it’s +ev to c/r bluff a huge part of your range. What I think is very important in this context is that you’re thinking about your entire range (and at this point I’d like to give a quick shout out to Foucault who helped me a lot with this stuff). cause every now and then I read a post from someone who asks if his c/r bluff with 55 on KT4r or so was a good one. $2. QJ. You don’t want to have 55 in there. Also any diamond on the turn would give me a flush draw so that would improve my equity when bluffing. I want to say that once more cause if that’s all you take away from this COTW I’m happy: Unless you think you could profitably c/r almost anything against a certain opponent.00 BB (4 handed) . if he calls with a big pair or an 8 I have about 8 outs.30 If he’s calling with a 9 I have about 14 outs. AA.60) UTG ($239. AJ. J9. choose hands that have the best equity vs his calling range. Hero calls $3 Flop: ($11) 8 .65) Preflop: Hero is BB with J . 9 . 1 fold.PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.Poker- 145 . 10 3 folds.85) CO ($272. Let’s assume you’re playing against a rather tight villain and his calling range (for simplicity let’s assume he’s not 3betting) on KT4r is going to be JJ-QQ.00 BB (6 handed) . So what should you c/r bluff him with? Again. Button bets $8. Example 5: PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em. Example 4: PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em.75) Button ($236) SB ($103. Button bets $5. sets. 1 fold Total pot: $27 | Rake: $1. That would be hands with a backdoor flush or straight draw. then there’s just no reason to put 55 into that range. Hero raises to $28. $2. any Kx.com Hero (BB) ($256.frequency. 8 (2 players) Hero checks. cause 55 has exactly 2 outs against a huge part of his calling range. this means you want to have hands in there which have a gutshot (AQ. choose those hands that have the best equity vs villains calling range and those hands which can turn a backdoor draw that’ll let you continue bluffing on the turn.45) MP ($428. Q9) an overcard (all Ax) or hands that can turn good bluffing cards. I usually wouldn’t c/r A9cc or A9dd there. maybe even a 7 or Q will improve my equity and helps me if I want to keep bluffing. you might be better off making the c/r on the turn than on the flop. A lot more could be said about playing out of position. Just realize that if you’re c/ring on a lot of flops villain might be suspicious when you suddenly flat on the flop and c/r on the turn. f.e. I know. Button bets $4. but I hope that you found this interesting/ helpful and feel free to ask if you have any questions or flame if you don’t agree with what I said. 1 fold Total pot: $19 | Rake: $0. so I’m going to finish it here. there’s easily enough stuff on c/ring to make that a COTW on it’s own 146 . 1 fold. I think this is quite long already (tl:dr.Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver. a good draw (8 outs or better) or even just something like mid pair that you don’t want to call down with.com Hero (BB) ($313.90 I’m probably bluffing with the best hand pretty often here and c/cing would be a good option against some villains as well. Hero raises to $20. because any heart. cause that way villain will put more money into the pot with a weakish range before you drop the hammer. T. J (2 players) Hero checks. PS: If anyone’s interested in doing it. Button bets $5. If you’re up against a very aggressive villain that fires multiple barrels frequently and you flop a monster. 9 1 fold. 2 .85) UTG ($50) Button ($76) SB ($200) Preflop: Hero is BB with A . I know…). The important point here is to note that I c/r with A9hh. Random thoughts 1. I think it would be be interesting to discuss some lines in more detail. Hero calls $2 Flop: ($9) 8 . and take a closer look at how to continue on different turns and rivers versus different villains. 147 . . He either has one pole (the value side) or he has the other pole (the bluff side). Let’s first start with the basics: Quote: What does ‘polarized’ mean? When something is polarized. So when we say a range is polarized. We notice they are both the same 10% range. What does depolarized mean? Depolarization is the exact opposite. we mean that a range is effectively nuts or bluff.Polarization *Split* Polarization. 148 . and on the right is a depolarized range. depolarization. yet have totally different hand strengths in them. which is 3betting.. This is a very basic concept. or have difficulty in understanding how to visualize polarization.dramatically opposite. What do they look like? Let’s take the most common spot where polarization is spoken about. So instead of a nuts/bluff type of range. we are dealing with something that is not so. but it is the building block of getting into intermediate and advanced strategy. it means that we are dealing with the poles. and polarized ranges are terms tossed around often on the forums. for lack of better words. However. On the left is a polarized range. most people either use the terms incorrectly. So let’s break this article into 3 different sections where polarization is the most prevalent: 3betting.) It gives value to our non-value hands. Especially in terms of restealing from OOP. CB-ing.50 No Limit Hold’em . is the composite of poling and depoling our ranges. So don’t go nuts balancing and poling here. 3Betting 3betting is probably the most common spot where people talk about polarizing. and depoling there. A quick note on polarization is that whether we pole or depole our range is based 100% on our opponent.25/$0.9 players The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked. and having an idea on combating them. if it puts you on level 2 vs a level 0 opponent. Bad hand readers just don’t need to be balanced against. because my opponents just don’t care. polarizing our range is usually best. what are good v bad spots to use it. This is true for a few reasons: 1. for all intents and purposes. and VB/ bluffing. Our goal is to understand what polarized ranges look like. But if I am playing 10NL. there isn’t a chance in hell that I care about being balanced. com 149 . Balancing. Take this spot: Quote: Full Tilt Poker $0. Many players get themselves in trouble using a depolarized 3b range in resteal spots because postflop becomes incredibly difficult (also considering the increased 4b dynamic which decreases outright profitability). Hero raises to $5. we can 3b. Our perceived range is tainted.CO: $19.75) Hero is BB with 6 3 6 folds.75.. If our opponent knows that we 3bet things like 63o. which will of course happen a very non-zero percentage of the time. or might call and float more liberally. giving 63o value if we think our opponent will fold enough of the time outright to show a profit. 1 fold. 1 fold Final Pot: $3. which means our opponent is more mistake prone.55 Hero (BB): $54.00 Pre Flop: ($0. Either way. 3.40 BTN: $32.75 I don’t think anyone can argue that 63o has no real value. and thus we are left with the options to 3b or fold. For instance.7($2. a common spot is with KQ.) It gives more value to our strong hands. He might 4bet more as a bluff thinking the crap side of our range is big enough to get folds.80 UTG+1: $51. If you 3b with KQ and get flatted. 2. It will be hard to bluff. we can’t complain.10 MP2: $20. So rather than folding the hand.45.10 SB: $50.5) .) It will be the easier range of hands to play from OOP.10 UTG+2: $152.25 UTG: $57. This may not seem like a lot. he is putting in more money bad than if our range were just the nuts. their C-Range is usually going to be very strong. but positive is positive. assuming we think that our opponent will fold 70% of the time our $EV on the outright 3bet becomes $EV = .75 Hero wins $3.26. then it makes picking up AA and 3betting even more profitable. or +1SB.75 MP1: $55. Well. BTN raises to $1.3($4.95) = +$. and also hard 150 . and for a hand that should be an overall loser in your DB. Flatting is just not an option. and other regs as well.00 Hero (BTN): $35.87 Pre Flop: ($0. Hero raises to $7.11 UTG: $9. Take this situation: Quote: Full Tilt Poker $0.. 1 fold Final Pot: $6. nor to say that you should never depole OOP.71 UTG+2: $27.65 UTG+1: $4.28 MP1: $15.10. Now. so adjust as the situation calls for. this isn’t to say that we can’t use polarized hands IP.75 The SB here is a regular in the game. The Issue + The Combat: The issue for us.so lets take a peak at his range in pieces: Piece 1: The “nuts” stuff.10/$0. Hero raises to $0.15 BB: $33.69 SB: $27. is finding the happy medium in weight. com MP2: $7.9 players The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked. and running 14/12 with a 12% resteal.25 No Limit Hold’em .75. 1 fold.35) Hero is BTN with 4 Q 6 folds.25.08 CO: $25.out minimax when we hit...75 Hero wins $6. Here are 4 different “nuts” ranges that most players will use for their top side of a polarized 151 . I know he is polarized based on some hands I have played with him (he has shown down a few crap hands after getting his CB floated). What I mean by this is making sure that we don’t weight one side of our polarized range too heavily. SB raises to $3. Each situation is specific and individual..this is just talking outloud. Some players will put some hands that others would consider “depoled”. This is the part that makes our life awesome. how much bluff they have. If we can figure out to some extent what percentage of crap there is in their range. So here are the most normal ranges (these are ranges you should have internalized. For each of the top side ranges. into the top side of their polarized range. we can figure out. roughly. at the very least for the percentage). 152 . Range 1/Range 2 Range 3/Range 4 Piece 2: The “bluff” stuff. we can gauge the profitability of a float or 4bet very easily.range. like KQ or AJ. Range 1 = . We also know that he doesn’t resteal JJ (as we have seen him flat that to a steal as well).34% of his range is crap. because it knocks out even more of the top left quadrant. Of course. (It should be noted that blockers are lovely in this mix. we don’t need to balance against those that don’t care about it. This is just so you can start visualizing it) So what is this doing for us? Well.9/12 = 7.) In saying all of this. like I mentioned earlier. say we know that he doesn’t 3b AQ. So in a purely black/white point of view. it will/should tweak their 4b/float range dramatically. This frames his resteal range at roughly QQ+/AK and crap. 78. or at least doesn’t always (we have seen him flat AQ v a steal before). But playing against regs especially. even in the smaller games.5% “nuts” : 92. sometimes pieces of the “nut” range will fold if 4B.6/12 = 21. and try 3betting a thinking player who understands.7/12 = 47.5% “bluff” (These calculations simplify everything into very black and white sections. the more weighted a player’s range would be towards the bottom assuming the pure 3b% is the same. aka. either top or bottom side. Now. our range tweaks. and sometimes pieces of the “bluff” range will 5B ship if we 4B. The more of that we can discount. And if we knew that he would play all of his hands straight up if he got 4bet (fold the crap. then we can show an outright profit by 4betting any 2 cards. Let’s take this spot: 153 . stack the nuts).66% “nuts” : 78.34% “bluff” Range 3 = 4. the “nut” part of range.5% “nuts” : 52. CB-ing Polarization of CB ranges is something that is becoming more and more prevalent. we need to be aware of it in our own game.5% “bluff” Range 2 = 2. If we keep a 3b % that is too high. This is why having an A or K blocker is fantastic. and also something that many still manage to mess up. This is something that is relatively simple to figure out. we need to be aware of how weighted.2/12 = 35% “nuts” : 65% “bluff” Range 4 = 5. We stab with things like JJ and AK because we think worse hands will continue enough of the time and we want to make a big pot against that range.50 UTG+2: $51.25/$0. Hero raises to $5.00 SB: $65. 65s.80.35) J 8 CO checks. and JJ/KK.40 MP2: $20.9 players The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked. 65s.80 Hero (BTN): $50. CO raises to $1. We stab with things like 22 and 65s because they have no value and we want to pick the pot up.50 No Limit Hold’em .75) Hero is BTN with K A 5 folds.90 MP1: $73. What kind of things can a check do?: Quote: 1. A polarized CB range = we CB 22-55.05 Flop: ($12.) induce bluffs 2.55 UTG+1: $64. JJ+/AK (it isn’t.75. and check QQ/AK behind.00 CO: $78. but a check can do lots.15 UTG: $13. 2 folds. We check behind with things like QQ and AK because they have SDV and we think a bet doesn’t do much. We stab with things like JJ and KK because we want to make a big pot and think enough worse hands will continue. We CB things like 22 and 65s because they have no value and we want to pick the pot up. com BB: $97. Hero ??? K (2 players) Let’s say my range is 22-55.) minimize loss when behind 154 .) induce comfortability 3. but it makes the spot easier to talk about) A depolarized CB range = we CB all of it.05 Pre Flop: ($0. CO calls $4.Quote: Full Tilt Poker $0. 25 UTG: $126. BB calls $1..) pot control (from a pot geometry POV) 5.50.00 BB: $116. 3 folds..and allow them to play fairly close to perfect at all times. Hero checks (2 players) Here.00 MP1: $100. then consider the check.50) Hero is MP2 with Q 6 4 folds. but a check would induce idiocy.50 Flop: ($5.. com Hero (MP2): $100. the times we 155 .05 BTN: $100. We take the parlay that we will make more. This is part of the parlay when considering a polarized CB range and checking the SDV part of our range.00 Pre Flop: ($1. is what happens the times that we check.00 SB: $103.50/$1 No Limit Hold’em . say we decided to check the flop (for whatever reason). A big point is #5. The other major points are #1 and #2.00 UTG+1: $111.4.9 players The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked. If a CB would let your opponent play perfect. and more often. We are giving hands like 44 or AJ free chances to spike and beat us. A quick note about this. Many players make the mistake of not letting their opponents make mistakes..00 CO: $177. Hero raises to $2.but they are the base ideas behind the check. Take a hand like this: Quote: Poker Stars $0.) WAWB + minimal overcards/hell cards can hit the next card 6. There is a huge difference between checking A9 behind on a 973 flop and KQ behind on a Q76 board.85 UTG+2: $100.50) 3 7 Q BB checks.) don’t want to face a CR Now obviously not all of these factors will be true every single time we check. Notice these are very definitive boards. then betting should be more heavily considered.stay good than we will lose the times when he improves. I will leave that up to you =) Bluffing/VB-ing This section of the article will review a couple of hands (from various places). then checking can be OK. Of course. There are some textures where betting ranges tend to be very polarized. and many A and K high boards tend to play similar. Also. Against fish and players that make more calling mistakes than betting mistakes. we should look to bet our strong SDV value hands a little more. and check the SDV). The issue against good hand readers is that doing this will turn your hand face up. although 156 . But if an outright bet should get at least 2 streets of value.but remember that making the best play doesn’t mean you will win 100% of the time. While hand reading is a very useful skill in all facets of our strategy. Every play in poker comes with risk. so why would this play be any different? The Issue + The Combat: There are two major issues with polarizing our CB range. but you should do some thinking in this area and see what you come up with as far as line creation and balancing are concerned. They would be 4 straight and 4 flush boards. It makes life easier against a good player (deletes a street and the chance to get CR’d on the flop).but again. The second is doing it against good hand readers who will lower IO and increase RIO. just understanding polarization will help in certain situations. I have to make this disclaimer because many players will get pissed when they get 2 or 3 outed after making this flop check.. The first is doing it too much and missing value (especially doing it too much against fish and station-TAGs). if a check now would encourage always getting 2 streets later in the hand. I will not go into massive detail in this part... but with the parlay of making your range very apparent if you continue to play the same way (CB-ing the nuts/bluff.. the combat against these polarized CB-ing players is very simple and effective. 5K The river ($62. especially not for pot (he doesn’t tend to have. then the entire dynamic and river analysis would be different. the online pot/overbet dynamic). let’s take a spot from the last episode of HSP between Doyle and Lex: Quote: ($500/$1000. he can call if he thinks Doyle’s range is at least 1/3 crap.they are not as dramatic. he either has a 5. Lex calls $20. (It should also be noted that in this situation Doyle may turn a hand like A3 or 44 into a bluff. only needing to be good 1/3 of the time to show a profit. Doyle isn’t someone that does a lot of thin VBing. Lex calls $60K To someone watching this hand at home. notice the definitiveness of the board. or he has nothing. Again. $300 ante)Lex straddles to $2K It folds around to Doyle who completes the BB with Q Lex raises $9K with 9 2 Doyle calls $7K The flop ($21. NO KICKER?!?!). Couple that with Lex getting 2:1 on the river.5K): 6 3 Doyle check. But. It looks like Lex is being a donk calling with bottom pair (and I mean.5K): J Doyle bets $20. and Lex even commented on this after the hand. Durrrr. Here is a hand that I ended up reviewing in a video I released earlier this year: 157 .5K): 4 Doyle bets $60K.5K. Lex’s call on the river makes a lot of sense. Had Lex’s opponent been say.. So when Doyle pots the river. it probably makes no sense. and that Doyle is being a donk by bluffing a donk..which changes things in the weighting process). and also the definitiveness of the opponent. To illustrate this. His range is totally polarized. Lex checks 2 7 The turn ($21. It should be noted that players who understand SDV well tend to polarize on the turn/river more so than players who don’t understand SDV. 50 No Limit Hold’em . Hero calls $3.75) 2 7 2 (3 players) BB checks. Preflop and the CB are totally standard. But using the concept of polarization allowed to make this play very easy. Hero calls $11 River: ($38.25 MP2: $89.35 UTG+1: $49. Tens and Sevens) BTN shows J K (two pair.70 Turn: ($16.05 SB: $70.75 (Rake: $3. com UTG: $67. but when he raises the flop..50. BTN raises to $6.9 players The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.75) 7 (2 players) Hero checks.50. BB calls $1 Flop: ($4. 1 fold..75) Hero is CO with T T 5 folds. BTN bets $11. Hero calls $23 Final Pot: $84.25/$0.25 BTN: $65.75) 4 (2 players) Hero checks.65 Pre Flop: ($0.30. Sevens and Deuces) Hero wins $81. So getting involved in a pot this large with just TT against a TAG is a rarity. a redflag has been raised. BB folds. BTN calls $1.00) In this hand our opponent is 14/11 over 800 hands.10 MP1: $23.Quote: Poker Stars $0.50 BB: $55. First. as a TAG. Hero bets $2. Hero raises to $1.75 Hero shows T T (two pair.10 Hero (CO): $72. BTN bets $23.a very standard TAG.75 UTG+2: $57. his raising range here is usually something like 158 . to not out level yourself here..set+. especially in position on an aggressive opponent (what he views me as). adjust well to aggression.it might weight down to 2:1 weak:strong. it pretty much solidifies that his range has to be bottom side weighted.if we consider weight. Also remember to think about weight.it changes things... Weighting polarization is 159 . Do I think he will ALWAYS raise 77/22 on the flop? Probably not.. and even create lines against players who understand (or don’t) poled ranges... Conclusion Polarization is a very important part of getting out of base-level thinking. So the rest of the hand is a pretty easy call down. It can help us pick off bluffs.this is the important thing... Remember though.or possibly even more bottom weighted at 3:1 or 4:1! When the turn comes off. because he understands SDV. So instead of his range maybe being 2:1 strong:weak. as the combos of nut hands have dropped to effectively 2.. I make an exception when the situation calls for it.. and bluffs sometimes. Would he raise a hand like 99 or 76? Probably not. draws sometimes. And this. While 160bb is hardly a pot size I would ever create with TT as a single pair..but made very easy when we look at polarized weight and combos.. . they heavily bottom-side weight their CR ranges.. 160 . just adjust accordingly and take advantage as you see fit.stay on level one against level 0 thinkers! Hopefully this article helped you frame and visualize some new things. and they top-side weight in some really absurd spots.. They heavily bottom-side weight their 3betting ranges.one of the biggest problems that regs in current games have. If you find someone who is doing something like this.. Just remember to only attack players that understand. Let’s start a discussion. Lets call that a loss rate of 350bb/100.75ptbb/hand for you PT3 users.Reacting to 3bets mpethybridge Obviously. Our goal when we get 3 bet is to use a combination of folds. your loss rate would be your average raise size times 100. Playing AA and KK I want to do this first. you only see people showing a profit if their pre-flop stealing range is on the tight side. Thus: It may sound defeatist.75ptbb/hand. and. this is a tough spot. in my experience playing and analyzing databases. we are looking to have the smallest loss rate possible. if you were not stealing in LP. If we achieve this. but. if you check your database. you may very well be out of position for the remainder of the hand. because I want to get it out of the way 161 . The math is simple: You have raised somewhere between 3 and 4 big blinds and the villain has 3 bet you. If you reacted to all 3 bets by simply folding. you will probably see that you are losing money in this spot. calls and raises to reduce our loss rate below 350bb/100 or 1. They are representing a big hand. You’ve raised and someone acting after you has re-popped you. but realistically. Don’t worry about this. and even then. only the very best players at their level can show even a small profit in this situation. In fact. or 1. most people lose money in this spot. It’s a hard spot to play for a profit. we are usually not looking to make a profit on this situation. then we have a +EV loss mitigation strategy for reacting to 3 bets. It is possible to profit in this situation. Either way. Conclusion: When you are holding AA or KK. when I 4 bet. my database for the last 180. go ahead and 4 bet these hands. You should only flat call with these hands in specific. All Other Situations 1.) and we get it all in when we think we are ahead.and focus primarily on playing close decisions where we do not necessarily welcome the 3 bet. for playing against 162 . for all practical purposes. For the most part then.000 hands I have played at NL $50 shows that it is more +EV to 4 bet than to flat call. Edit: CMAR let me off the hook on this. My Hold ‘Em Manager is not working correctly. unusual situations. my win rate is 4327bb/100. you are simply calling or folding to a shove. you are making a commitment decision pre-flop. I might suggest flatting when you are in against an aggro maniac whose 3 bet percentage C-bet% and AF are super high. We fold when we are behind his range (taking dead money into consideration. we are making pure value plays. The question here is almost always simply whether it is more +EV to 4 bet pre-flop or to flat call and trap. when you have a big hand. but the 3 to 1 relationship stays the same. my win rate is 1541bb/100 hands. Not surprisingly. but who you have reason to believe will fold to a 4 bet. and it will not let me filter for these hands at the moment. I might flat with a comparatively high frequency against regulars I trust will make a note to that effect. My intent is to look at some short stack ranges and which hands I have been profitable and unprofitable with. Reacting to a 20bb Short Stackers’ 3 Bets Often. Obviously. you are glad your opponent is cooperating with your intent to play for stacks. but sometimes you can see pretty silly things like a short stacker who min 3 bets your button steal. When I flat call a 3 bet with AA or KK. you should almost always 4 bet. I will fill in this section when I can figure out what the problem is. The numbers change significantly when I filter for just KK. Otherwise. I could not possibly improve on that. I am more inclined to call an all in bet with 99-JJ than I would be against a full stack. I start to think about seeing a flop. 2. simply because there is no way you can convince yourself that calling a 12bb 3 bet with your pocket pair to set mine is profitable. A careful database review shows that 80bb stack guys are. At the bottom end of the range you have essentially no room to do anything fancy. I am playing these hands essentially the same way as I would play them against a full stack. I usually shove or fold based on the villain’s stats. playing a 30bb stack pretty much exactly the same way as i would play against a 20bb stack. You can call and semi-set mine decent pocket pairs. the difference is crucial. When Effective Stacks are between 20 and 80bb Things get really tricky when the villain’s stack is in this range. Against the shortest stacks in this range. stronger than full stacks when they three bet. on average. you should err on the side of folding marginal hands that prefer deeper stacks--suited connectors. and when stacks get up to 80bb. just read his excellent post linked below. You might 163 . 99-JJ are pretty tricky to play in these situations. on average. and because they are simply more willing to lose their stack because their stack is smaller). you have to be prepared to NOT fit or fold. if you are going to play against these people. When stacks get to 50 or 60 big blinds. THIS IS A MAJOR LEAK. Thus. But at 80bb.short stackers. and at the top you are almost. small to medium pocket pairs and such like. The only exception is that I tend to think that somebody playing less than full stacked is more likely to bluff the whole thing off with AK or AQ unimproved than somebody playing with a full stack (both because they are. less skilled. And because SPRs are so low in these situations. Thus. You have a really good hand. playing full stacked. DON’T DO IT. but it is going to get out flopped a lot of the time. This revelation turns out to be a significant aid to playing against them and is going to plug a significant leak in my game. but not quite. in general. You should err on the side of folding these hands if the villain looks reasonably tight and solid with his 3 bets. or if you honestly appraise your post flop skills as not up to being able to win a high percentage of the time the villain has 3 bet a drawing hand and missed the flop. I generally look at the following factors in the following order to determine whether I will continue with the hand: a. you shouldn’t do it if his 3 betting range is tight or the situation dictates that he have a tight range. he is playing an 80bb stack because he thinks it will be easier for you to double him up when he does have a hand. To play middle strength hands like 88-TT against a 70-80bb stack. Thus. 3. So you’ll want to look for a villain who makes an unusually small C-bet on a low flop or some other indicator that the hand may be winnable. You would be compensated for this by knowing that you are going to get paid off with his entire stack at a slightly higher rate than you would against a 100bb stack when you do hit your set. and. respect check raises. Obviously be more inclined to call when you have position. For example.play 99. last night I found myself out of position relative to 164 . he is not relying on FE as much as a 100bb stack. for example. therefore. but look to steal the pot if he shuts down after the flop. in general. he probably has it. and. Villain’s 3 bet %. you are going to have to be able to win a high percentage of the time unimproved. Rather. so. Stack to Pot Ratios will be very low in these situations. if he is trying to get his stack in. so one decent-sized C-bet from the villain is going to get you to the commitment threshold. Just assume the opposite of what I have been assuming: that an 80bb stack knows his hammer of future betting is smaller. I honestly do not think you can come close to an effective strategy for reacting to 3 bets unless you display on your HUD and use the villain’s 3 bet% stat. and then tend to shut down to further aggression. General Considerations playing 100bb Deep In reacting to 3 bets. and call a flop bet if you don’t hit a set. 75) Hero is MP1 with 7 7 2 folds. I was not necessarily going to go away at the first sign of aggression. 1 fold. Here I called figuring I was flipping a huge part of his range and way behind a fairly small part of his range.40 SB: $42. he had 3 bet 24% of his opportunities. so AK and maybe AQ are definitely in my perceived range. he knows I am running at about 13/10 on this table. Hero calls $3. 3 folds. I feel pretty good about my prospects of winning this hand.50 BTN: $49. though. Hero calls $5. This stat was a bit misleading.25) 8 6 A [color=blue](2 players) This is a really good flop for me. CO bets $5. At 165 . because up to the point where we played this hand he had not flat called a single raise.00 CO: $50. His bet size is the primary reason: a half pot c-bet into a two-flushed flop lacks credibility.75. Hero checks. I raised and called a 3 bet. because the ace is not the ace of hearts. he folded or 3 bet.50 Flop: ($11. if he doesn’t have it.50 At this point.75 UTG+1: $73. Hero raises to $1. If villain has been paying attention.00 UTG: $69.75 Pre Flop: ($0.25 BB: $50.15 MP2: $50.a LAg (he wound up the session at 24/16/3) unknown who sat and immediately started three betting most spots where there was a raise in front of him and he wanted to play the hand. Also. it gives me bluffing opportunities against a lot of his range. Far from being concerned about the ace.25. Based on this stat I knew that he had a wide range. Hero (MP1): $68. he’ll let me know. CO raises to $5. If he does have it. and that a lot of it was going to be weak stuff that would not necessarily play well post flop.50. After 76 hands at the table. he has to be concerned that I have it. this point, I assume that he is worried about the ace and is “one and done”. I’m planning to fire any turn card to pick up dead money; I may still have the best hand, but I am certainly not beating anything he calls a bet with (well, K Q non- , I guess, might call) so this is in no way a value bet. I don’t check/raise because I want to take a line that is credible both for the ace and for the flush, in case the turn is a heart, and I think he will not put the flush draws in my range if I check/raise. Turn: ($22.25) J (2 players) Hero bets $13.50, CO folds Final Pot: $22.25 Hero wins $21.15 (Rake: $1.10) Had he called the turn, I still would have had the option of shoving any non-heart river representing the flush. I probably would not have, but this is certainly an option. Had a 4th heart fallen, then I would definitely have made a small value-betlooking bet, which I would be certain was a bluff. This is just a standard call-bluff, all in a day’s work, but you have to be willing to do this sort of thing to be able to play your small and mid pockets profitably. The key is to not do it indiscriminately, but, rather, to look for any sign of weakness; in this case, it was the small c-bet. I’m not going to lie to you--normally I fold pre-flop and if i do call preflop, I normally check/fold here. But here I had a villain with a wide range who showed weakness on the flop, and that made the hand look winnable. b. Position Obviously being in position is a good reason to call a 3 bet, but you have to be careful with this. When you are on a steal from the cut off or the button, your range is really weak, and most of the time you have to suck it up and fold, or occasionally 4 bet. So, for instance, here is a hand I played when I was in the small blind against a solid TAg 15/12/6 3 bet 3.1% (5,5% in BB): 166 Hero (SB): $103.00 BB: $50.00 UTG: $142.95 UTG+1: $67.10 MP1: $50.00 MP2: $32.65 CO: $75.00 BTN: $100.00 Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is SB with 2 2 6 folds, Hero raises to $1.50, BB raises to $4.50, Hero raises to $12, 1 fold Final Pot: $9.00 Hero wins $9.00 My thinking here is that even if I flop my set getting marginal set mining odds against his pretty wide 3 betting range, it is going to be hard to extract a profit out of position against a good player, so I can’t call. If I fold, i am folding the best hand a lot of the time, so folding is bad. When you can’t call and you shouldn’t fold, ldo, you raise. On the button, though, I would be strongly tempted to flat call this smallish 3 bet from this player. So out of position, while I sometimes do call, i am usually folding, but sometimes 4 bet bluffing. When I play on the button, or any time I am going to be in position relative to the 3 bettor, I am willing to call with a very wide range, but not all of my stealing range, obviously. I’ll call with all pocket pairs that have a decent chance of flopping as an overpair, and semi-set mine, or I will call a very tight 3 bet range with any pocket pair and set mine, and, of course, I will call with suited connectors some of the time, intending to shove most of my good to very good draws: UTG+2: $106.65 MP1: $97.20 MP2: $54.25 CO: $124.45 Hero (BTN): $100.00 SB: $76.15 167 BB: $40.00 UTG: $41.45 UTG+1: $50.00 Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with 9 8 6 folds, Hero raises to $1.50, 1 fold, BB raises to $5.50, Hero calls $4 Flop: ($11.25) 3 K 2 (2 players) BB bets $7.50, Hero raises to $94.50, BB folds Final Pot: $26.25 Hero wins $24.95 (Rake: $1.30) Villain in this hand was a little short at 80bb, and that fact probably makes this a preflop fold. I probably failed to glance at his stack size before I made my decision. But villain in the hand had a 3 bet % of 5.3% (8% out of the BB), so maybe I was just calling planning to try to take it away. c. History with the Villain Sometimes, for whatever reason, we find ourselves the target of a villain, or we find ourselves targeting a specific villain, and a dynamic gets created between the two of you that is way outside of the norm. There are quite a few players at $50 with whom I have an ongoing feud, and who I know are looking to outplay me simply because of our history. In this hand, the villain is a a solid reg at $50 (14/9/4 ATS 4% Edit: this is his 3 bet%). he had position on me, but I didn’t want to leave the table because there was a 76/32 or something that we had position on. The solid reg had 3 bet a couple of my iso-plays against the donkey, leaving me no choice but to fold like a lawn chair. When he branched out into defending his button, I knew I had to make a stand. And, because he would notice that this was the first time I made a stand, I figured he’d give me credit for a hand. BB: $106.85 UTG: $202.00 168 UTG+1: $105.10 MP1: $44.20 MP2: $53.30 Hero (CO): $100.25 BTN: $97.50 SB: $96.15 Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is CO with 6 5 4 folds, Hero raises to $1.50, BTN raises to $5.25, 2 folds, Hero calls $3.75 I called rather than 4 bet because no good comes of a 4 bet here. He may have a premium hand, in which case I’ve got a lot of money in really bad, or he may be pretty light but read the 4 bet as a tilty bluff and look me up anyway, or he may just assume that I have a monster, quietly fold, and go back to the business of 3 betting my iso-plays. In a way, what I am really looking to do here is just send the message that i will call a three bet, so he needs to make sure that he has a hand when he 3 bets me. Actually winning this hand is a somewhat secondary consideration--I just need to show him that my fold to 3 bet % is less than 100. Flop: ($11.25) K 6 9 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN bets $7.00, Hero calls $7 Here i am basically just floating him oop; I’m planning to check/ fold most turns, if I catch I am going to check/shove, and if a diamond comes I am probably going to bluff the turn and the river. Turn: ($25.25) 7 (2 players) The turn is really interesting because I pick up 4 probably clean outs, giving me a total of 9 all of which are probably clean. So now I have a situation where: i. I will improve to the best hand about 20% of the time; ii. A lot of his range is king-free, so I have decent fold equity; iii. A not insignificant amount of the time I have the best hand (AQ, AJ, randomness he is “outplaying” me with). I decide to split the difference between a blocking bet and a value-bet looking bet which may be a value bet but which may also be a semi-bluff. I’ll fold to a shove. Feel free to quibble with the bet size, just understand that my intent was to make a 169 bet that was a little high to be a blocking bet, and a little low to be a value bet. This wasn’t the best size for anything; it was a compromise bet size that could look like either. Hero bets $13.50, BTN folds Final Pot: $25.25 Hero wins $24.00 (Rake: $1.25) d. My Image Meh, in a way I have already covered this. Probably all of you think of me as a nit, and it is easy to jump to that conclusion when you see me at the table playing 11/8 in a big sample, or a card dead 8/6 in a small sample. This gives me quite a bit of freedom to make plays like some of the ones I have shown here, and to get credit for them. I use this most frequently by 4 bet bluffing with marginal or trash hands from mid and late position when a call would leave me out of position and the 3 bettor is likely light. 4. A Word on Frequencies Thus far I have not really talked about how often to do what. here is where I do that. The fundamental point that I hope has been driven home is that your strategy in reacting to 3 bets is entirely dependent on your post flop skill. If an honest appraisal of your post flop skill leads you to conclude that you are average skill for your level, then you should start out by folding most of the time. A fold to 3 bet of about 65-75% would be about right. You could flat JJ (maybe), QQ, AK and AQ in late position against most villains (go ahead and shove them against the maniacs and shorties) 4 bet KK and AA always (don’t trap, trapping is for people who can get away cheap post flop when they get out flopped) and fold pretty much everything else. If you consider yourself slightly above average for your stakes, and are looking to improve, do this: 170 First, steal more in LP. This will put you in more marginal spots in smaller pots. Once you get your win rate back to where it was with your tighter stealing range, then you can consider opening up by calling 3 bets with decent drawing hands and decent pocket pairs and look to play post flop. In general, when you call with pocket pairs, you are looking for low flops that, even if they didn’t hit your set, missed the drawing hands people 3 bet (KQ+) and a raise on the flop or a call followed by a bet when the villain checks a brick turn. When I hit a set in position after calling a 3 bet, I almost always play it extremely passively, often taking the line call/call/call (the third call assumes the villain puts his whole stack in). If the board is drawy or monotone, then I jam it. When you play suited connectors, look to be in position, usually, and plan to shove big draws as a matter of routine, and look to shove good draws against people who you suspect may be 3 betting light and who also have high c-bet %s. If you are looking to play more 3 bet pots, aim to be getting your fold to 3 bet down to somewhere between 50 and 60%. Once you feel like you have a significant edge at your stake, you should be looking to get the fold to 3 bet down as low as possible. In my last 180,000 hands at $50, excluding my traps with AA and KK, I: 4 bet 14% of the time for a win rate of 190bb/100 hands call 45% of the time for a win rate of -70bb/100 fold to 3 bet 41.3% for a loss rate 0f -357bb/100 Thus, by calling, I am saving myself 2.87bb/hand every time I call a 3 bet versus folding to it. knn05 has similar stats. She has said that she would post her actual figures in this thread, but from what I recall discussing this with her, her fold to 3 bet is right around 40% also. To a certain extent, your fold to 3 bet is dependent on your ATS; but only to a certain extent. knn05 and I are both pretty 171 5. therefore. the better your average hand. do this at every opportunity: 172 . so I am pretty satisfied with it (well. knn05’s range is very different than mine. and I often don’t need to improve to win the pot when villain bricks the flop. I’ll leave you with what. but I know my range works for me. the more willing you should be to call a 3 bet. I need a really. But. You probably cannot set mine profitably in multi-way 3 bet pots. in general. in general. my range is heavily weighted toward pocket pairs. but her ATS is at 32% and mine is only at 28%. if you get all in drawing with one of these hands. I like to call with suited connectors and pocket pairs. the less you steal. and. and I suspect that. The reason for this is not because I am set mining. really good reason to call oop with suited connectors. but I play suited connectors also. I am much more inclined to call a 3 bet with 76s than I am with T9s.close in folding to only 40% of 3 bets. I look for lower suited connectors. Conclusion this post feels a little disorganized. in my opinion is the best way to improve your results in 3 bet pots. In position. You cannot set mine profitably in 3 bet HU pots. Or rather. the villain has two of your outs. if your loss rate in these hands is better than folding. But: You don’t need to. usually. A word on Ranges There are no rules. I will have position when I call a 3 bet with suited connectors >90% of he time. for example. there are very few rules. Thus. but i hope it has given you some ideas on how to open up and lose less to 3 bets. I disfavor (but will still sometimes play) the suited connectors that need aces kings or queens to make their straights. but it is because I have a hand with made value. I would have no problem with someone changing this mix. 5. except that I haven’t flopped a set in a 3 bet pot since April 5 ). keep calling with them. UTG+1 raises to $6.75) 9 9 4 (2 players) 173 .75. Hero calls $4. 7 folds.25 Flop: ($12.75) Hero is UTG with 9 9 Hero raises to $1.Pre Flop: ($0. There are several reasons to make a bet. Fully understanding the reasons behind making bets will in turn lead to better decision making and a clearer though process. as well as a plan for any subsequent action. Why do we bet? Every single action we make while we are playing should have a sound logical reason to back it up. The two golden reasons to bet: Value: To make worse hands call Bluff: To make better hands fold 174 . A big mistake I see in many of the hands posted on the forum is where people make a bet with no logical reason or plan of action. and many of the tricky spots could be avoided if some logical reasoning were applied to earlier decisions. but the first two reasons are fundamental to a good strategy and should be fully grasped before moving on to betting for more advanced reasons.Reasons to Bet PokerRon247 Most of the strategies below have been discussed in greater detail in their own COTW threads. This is therefore designed as a guide for the lesser experienced players as to the different reasons as to why we bet. and not an in depth guide to how to play specific situations. the board texture and recent history? Value Betting: In very basic terms. how will I respond to a raise? If my bet gets called. given my image. resulting in you gaining nothing while ahead and losing while behind. See more about value betting here - COTW on Value Betting and here COTW on thin value Leak 1: One of the major leaks in beginning uNL players is not value betting frequently enough and not betting heavy enough. Many are only playing their own hands and are not putting you on a range and even when it is completely obvious that they are beaten. then it qualifies as a value bet. and a value bet doesn’t have to be called exclusively by hands that you beat to make it a value bet. his image. However. A losing bet is one where only better hands will call you and only worse hands will fold. Bluffing: 175 . they just cannot lay down their pretty looking hand. Calling ranges of players at the micros should not be underestimated. a value bet is one that is going to be called by hands that you beat. Sometimes Villains range for calling includes both hands that you beat.A successful bet for either of these reasons will result in a profit. what is my plan for the next street? And as you start to play against more sophisticated opponents: 5) What does my bet represent to Villain based on my image? 6) How is Villain likely to respond to my bet. and hands that beat you. Before deciding which of these main reasons you are betting for. value bets range from fat value to thin value. you should first take a little time to think about several things: 1) 2) 3) 4) What hands will call me if I bet? What hands will fold if I bet? If I make a bet. but if you are ahead more often than not. or zero. and are able to convincingly represent a legitimate hand. Bluffs are not as important at the micros as value-betting. A good semi-bluff is a double edged sword as you often take the pot down by making your opponent fold the best hand. and while you could probably sustain a positive winrate at 50NL and below by purely value-betting and never bluffing. but has outs to improve to the best hand. yet when you are called. chance of winning at showdown. and only in well thought out situations. it is a good skill to have in your arsenal. however it is much more useful in marginal situations and against better opponents. You must be aware of a couple of things when bluffing… 1) You must be confident that your opponent is capable of laying down his hand. 176 . and essential if you want to break into small stakes. You would use a bluff when you know that your hand has very little. you are often playing against the top of their range and are likely to win their stack when you hit. Semi-bluffing: A semi-bluff is similar to a standard bluff. How do we decide why we are betting? You should always keep in mind the Fundamental Theorem Of Poker as quoted by Sklansky…. See more about bluffing here - COTW on bluffing and here - Improving your red line Leak 2: The second major leak that beginning uNL players have is that they bluff too often and (as leak 1) they underestimate their opponents calling range. against the right opponents.A bluff is a bet that folds out hands that are ahead of yours. Semi-bluffing is making a bet with a hand that is almost definitely losing at the moment. Bluffing at the micros should be used sparingly. 2) You are telling a convincing story with your bets. then parts of your opponents range will be ahead of you and parts will be behind you.10 No Limit Hold’em . Conversely. Let’s look at a few examples…. and you think he can fold his hand. and every time you play your hand the same way you would have played it if you could see all their cards. they gain. you gain. You need to apply the above guidelines to your opponents range as a whole and choose your reason for betting (or other action) on that range. and every time they play their hands the same way they would have played if they could see all your cards. you should always have in your mind an idea of a range for your opponent. This leads to what I call range-targeting. If you are ahead of your opponent.” To put this more simply…. Our opponent in these hands is running at 24/10 with a fold to cbet of 80% (ie he folds unless he flops TP+). and you think he will put more money in the pot. Of course it’s not that easy because of the one main difference that poker has compared to other games. they lose. and this is where the skill of hand-reading and ranging becomes important.05/$0. he has trouble laying it down to aggression and will call pot sized bets. then you should bluff.7 players The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked. We have noticed that when he does flop TP+. Based on where your own hand fits into your opponents range.“Every time you play a hand differently from the way you would have played it if you could see all your opponents’ cards. every time opponents play their hands differently from the way they would have if they could see all your cards. Unless you are holding the nuts. you can choose your reason to bet. com 177 . If you are behind and have no realistic chance of outdrawing your opponent. you lose. We never know our opponents holdings with 100% accuracy. Range-targeting: While playing a hand. and target the appropriate part of their range with your betsizing. then you must make a value-bet. Poker Stars $0. 40 Flop: ($1. then that is all we need to bet and any more is unnecessary and will just result in us losing more money when he has hit. We are minimising our losses when behind.35 BB: $2. Hero bets $0.35 UTG+1: $13. 3 folds. MP folds Here we have flopped absolutely nothing. MP calls $0. If we put him on a range of AJ+/22+ and a bunch of suited connector type hands.15) 3 K A (2 players) MP checks. MP calls 178 . whilst not reducing the success ratio of the bet.10.35 BB: $2.SB: $10.7 players The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.35 UTG+1: $13. MP calls $0. Poker Stars $0. If we think that he will fold this part of the range to a ½ pot bet. com SB: $10. Hero raises to $0.10. We now need to use our betsizing to target the part of Villains range that we want to fold (ie the air and lower pairs).05/$0.15) Hero is CO with 3 3 2 folds.60.60 MP: $10.75 BTN: $19. then we can see that on this flop he will likely fold pretty much all of that range apart from 33 and Ax.90 Hero (CO): $9. Hero raises to $0. Because we have no sd value with our hand.90 Hero (CO): $9.15) Hero is CO with 6 7 2 folds.60 Pre Flop: ($0.55 UTG: $14.10 No Limit Hold’em .60 MP: $10. MP calls $0.50.55 UTG: $14. we want to bet out here and pick the pot up (it will be a bluff most of the time as we will not be ahead of anything in Villains range very often).75 BTN: $19.50.60 Pre Flop: ($0. 3 folds. according to our range. This time a bet of ½ pot will be losing lots of value. These are two very simplified examples of range targeting.15. but we have flopped a monster. In this hand we want to target the Ax part of his range that.10/$0.15) 3 K A (2 players) MP checks. Poker Stars $0.40 Flop: ($1. and that is the “bet for information” or “to see where I’m at”. This is a very successful technique that works well at the micros against unobservant. This kind of bet usually falls into the losing bet category. your opponents will start to pay more attention to your betsizing and you need to adjust your play accordingly. when you have a marginal hand.15 In this hand. Here we have the effective nuts (he would have likely 3bet AA/ KK) so we want to extract as much value as possible. MP calls $1. will pay us off well. Again we need to target the part of his range that we want to play against. a losing bet would be one where only better hands can call and worse hands will fold. Hero bets $1. choosing the part of that range that you want to play against and adjusting your betsizes accordingly. Reasons not to bet: As already stated. as worse hands will fold and better hands will raise or call. whilst not losing any value against the hands that wouldn’t call us anyway.25 No Limit Hold’em . it is the same flop. which is the opposite end of the range that we targeted in the last example. We are not interested in the low pps and the other hands that have completely missed the flop as they will likely be folding to any bet we make.8 players 179 . We are maximising our wins when Villain has hit. Another bad reason for betting is quite common among beginning players. but you can apply the concepts to any hand by putting your opponent on a range.$0. The following is an example of betting for information. because he will call at least double that. We raise our top pair to “find out where we are” and find exactly where we are by folding out hands that were obviously worse than ours. however you need to be aware that as you move up. 75. usually to try to get the pot heads-up with an inferior opponent.75. MP2 calls $0. resulting in lost value.25) Pre Flop: ($0. Hero calls $0. The first is that your opponent folds and the information you got was that you were ahead.50 MP2: $12. Isolation: An isolation bet is a bet used to narrow the field down. you will sometimes find yourself in situations where you may need to bet for a different reason. Most bets that go under a different name to “value” or “bluff” are often just variations.85) Hero is BB with T J UTG raises to $0. MP2 calls $1.80 SB: $22. and the information you get is that you were likely behind and have to fold. Other reasons to bet: As well as the main two reasons to bet. Hero raises to $4. as you will usually get one of two outcomes.00 MP1: $5.The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked. UTG folds.25) CO posts a big blind ($0.50 Flop: ($2. 2 folds.35 CO: $8. com UTG+1: $15. MP2 folds The information you get from betting in situations like this is usually completely redundant.05 Hero (BB): $31. or your bet will accomplish two things at the same time. The 180 .75 UTG: $4.00 BTN: $23. The second is that your opponent raises.25 UTG+1 posts a big blind ($0. UTG bets $1.85) 4 T 2 (3 players) Hero checks. 3 folds. most common reason you would use an isolation bet is as a value bet to isolate a bad player. Hero raises to $6.25 SB: $17.50 No Limit Hold’em .50 UTG: $21. This is usually a case of underestimating how much people will pay to draw.50. com UTG+2: $43. Where you would often flat an early position raise with JJ.35 MP1: $10.00 CO: $94. UTG+2 calls $1. Poker Stars $0.15 UTG+1: $16.25/$0. CO calls $1.35 BTN: $69.9 players The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked. 1 fold. UTG+1 raises to $1.00 MP2: $50.75 Pre Flop: ($1. the original raiser has shown himself to be an aggrodonk and the two callers are good solid regs. Again this falls into value-bet territory as you will often have the best hand and you want to charge your opponent to make his draw rather than giving free cards. 2 folds.25 Hero (BB): $60.25) Hero is BB with J J 1 fold. UTG+1 calls $4. which at the micro levels will often be 181 . 2 folds. this is a good spot to 3bet to isolate the fish and drive the two regs out of the pot. This is of course a bet for value as well as isolation because the fish will often continue with a much wider range than your JJ. See more about isolation bets here - COTW on Isolating limpers Protection: On certain boards you will need to bet to protect your hand from draws. and you have the advantage of taking them to the flop heads-up.50.50. A big leak that a lot of micro players have is allowing their opponents to draw too cheaply because they’re worried about scaring them away.50. 2 folds In this example. 50 No Limit Hold’em .75) Hero is SB with Q Q 5 folds. 1 fold A (2 players) In this example.50. with a 65% fold to 3bet. CO raises to $1.55 UTG+2: $15.55 MP1: $49.9 players The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked. People do not like to fold if they might hit the nuts on the next street. and you are not expecting to fold out better by betting.25/$0.80 BB: $52.50. it is sometimes necessary to protect yourself from being bluffed off a hand.00 Pre Flop: ($0.50) K K Hero bets $8. while you are not expecting to get called by worse. so make sure you charge them accordingly. so betting to take the hand down straight away is not a bad result in this situation. It is often used on the turn or the river to set your own price to see the next street or a showdown and is usually a small bet 182 .15 MP2: $51. Villain in this hand is a tricky 18/14 reg. As well as protecting from draws. it is still a spot where you should often be betting (obviously Villain dependent) as checking will give your opponent a good opportunity to both bluff and value bet you.25 UTG+1: $20.much higher than you would imagine. Blocking bet: A blocking bet is a variation on betting to protect from bluffs. Hero raises to $5. 1 fold.85 UTG: $50.85 Hero (SB): $82. com BTN: $28. CO calls $4 Flop: ($11. 1 fold.30 CO: $50. Poker Stars $0. Bet to make worse hands call and better hands fold. Only bet for any other reason if you are confident in your reasoning. but you don’t want to be forced into calling a decent sized bet and you think that the chance of being raised is small. See more about blocking bets here COTW on blocking bets Balance: As you start to play more sophisticated opponents who are hand-ranging you and reading into your betting patterns.(½ pot or less). The blocking bet can be a useful tool when you think you might have the best hand. but your bet will still usually fall into the catagory of “value” or “bluff”. A good example of this is a problem that a lot of people have around 50nl. A good counter to this is to start raising more flops. What this means is that you take the same line with different strength hands to help disguise your holdings. 183 . Value bet more. There are often additional reasons as to why you are betting. which has the double advantage of helping to get paid off more often when you do hit (people are more likely to stack off if they see you raising a disproportionate amount of flops) and also helps you take down lots of smaller pots by exploiting their tendency to fold. They find that their flopped sets stop getting paid off by decent players and this is because when they raise the flop or the turn it is almost exclusively with sets and they become very easy to read. either as bluffs or more usually as semibluffs. it is often necessary to balance your range. Summary: Always have a reason behind every bet you make. Bluff less. etc. My hope is that this helps some people figure out how to play pocket pairs according to the situation rather than just always raising. folding.. but I’m hoping it helps people think about their hand a little bit more. I am also hoping that this leads to some discussion on the points I may have skipped over too briefly. So I looked over a lot of topics and studied my stats and re-read some previous CotW’s and this is my attempt to summarize and expand a little on how some of the concepts relate specifically to playing small pocket pairs. Introduction: One of the reasons I wanted to do the CotW on playing small pocket pairs because they have been something I’ve been contemplating a lot and this would give me a great opportunity to take a look at my game and how I can best play them. Profit. or screwed up..Playing Small PPs Y2Dennis Many people play small pocket pairs like this: 1. I don’t claim to be an expert but I do believe that this should help beginners and act as a refresher and chance for regulars to re-evaluate their game and take a look at why they play small pairs the way they do. It shouldn’t be anything groundbreaking. So here we go. For the purpose of this I’m going to consider small pocket pairs 184 . missed entirely. ????? 2. Flop set 3. calling. of course). and 22 will play differently than 66 in many situations and I’ll try to make notes when I think this will specifically come into play.000 (about ½ are 25NL and ½ are lower. Lastly. but we can assume that generally shorter stacks are worse for small pocket pairs and deeper stacks are better. if it’s especially aggressive. I don’t open raise blindly. I edited a couple times but there’s a possibility I may have overlooked something and I don’t want anyone’s CotW uncredited if I mention it. I’m not going to address floating with small pocket pairs too much since there is already a fantastic CotW on floating and I’m not that great at it yet. Especially now that we have a full year of CotW’s done there should be tons of topics that crossreference each other and share similar themes. I looked through my last year’s database of 280. even briefly. I’m simply trying to make this as good as possible without directly copy/pasting everyone’s ideas which would obviously be no good. Here are some things that I try to keep in mind that will help 185 . Also. Blindly open-raising any pair in any position will likely burn you unless you are extremely skilled postflop.as 22-66. There are tons of topics that really apply to what we’re doing here and I’m going to try and link to these where I feel they’re especially important (full credit given. I’m assuming normal 100bb stacks but strategy will obviously vary depending on stacksize. By the way. or playing deeper. I will make notes here and there. someone please PM me right away so I can edit that information in. Early Position: Playing small pocket pairs in early position is going to be tabledependent. I don’t normally raise UTG with 22-55 and won’t raise 22. I hope people don’t think this is a lazy way of writing a CotW or think I’m trying to ride other people’s coat-tails. and won’t raise if I have a bunch of shortstacks after me (although I try not to sit at tables with more than three normally). however. but generally I feel this is the best way to categorize them. Many players here are better than me and I’m going to make sure my CotW utilizes their past efforts. if I mentioned a CotW and didn’t link/credit it. I was a VERY marginal winner both in the 25NL-specific hands and the lower levels) hands and was a slight winner open-raising (including 22). 33 or even 44 sometimes UTG+1. -What image do I have? If we’re playing aggressively and people have been playing back at us lately.me decide that it’ll be OK to raise my marginal hand out of position (keep calling it that. People don’t read as well and will stack off much worse. Open-limping: boooooo. -How well do I cbet. Reacting to open-limps and open-raises as UTG+1: Since we’re in EP. You’ll have a positional disadvantage. I do not condone open-limping. HUGE DISCLAIMER I DONT PLAY LIVE VERY MUCH: but I think that open-limping live might not be nearly as awful as doing it online. if UTG limps or raises. and you don’t want to build a huge pot preflop with a small pocket pair. If it’s a tight table and no one has been playing back though. there’s a good chance we could get floated or played back at. if it’s a more aggressive table (especially at higher limits) then we should probably be dumping them more often than not. If you open-limp UTG or UTG+1 you pretty much define your hand if you get raised and flat. 186 . If we’re tight I’ll tend to raise these hands more often than if I’ve been aggressive. regardless of our position. feel free to disregard this until they start playing back. Regs will be able to read you really well and you may not be able to extract as much value OOP vs the weaker players as you would like. I would say that you should have a really good idea of how to cbet and double barrel/use turn scare cards in order to be really profitable playing these hands. I think I would open-limp live sometimes. We’ll tend to get more respect since we’re in EP but we still may not get as much as we’d hope. depending on conditions obviously. On the contrary. read hands and generally play postflop? If your postflop skills aren’t completely developed yet there’s absolutely no reason to get yourself into marginal decisions and hands. it simply defines your hand way too much. but really just about never ever online. the initiative disadvantage and you’ll very rarely have a good card advantage other than a small edge in coin flip situations. we’re obviously in UTG+1. it’ll help keep things in perspective): -If it’s a really tight table and lots of pots are being taken down by preflop raises and/or cbets then we can feel better about raising. obviously not a huge worry though because of the UTG raiser). We will get three-bet more often by aggressive players and if we can’t react correctly to three-bets then we would do better to just dump these hands. but it’s something to consider. when conditions were optimal. I was a small loser with these hands in 25NL for a little while in MP because I called threebets way too liberally and lost a ton doing this (something I revert to when tilting sometimes). In my 280. By the way. Ideally there aren’t aggressive squeezers behind us. and that there is a better chance of being three-bet off our hand by a real hand since there are tons of people behind us that could wake up with a 3-betting hand (and maybe even aggressive squeezers who can put us on the hand we have fairly easily and think they can push UTG out. this is as good a place to put it as I can find. Open-limping here is worse and even live I’m raising or folding at this point if no one has opened yet. We will talk more about reacting to 3-bets with small pocket pairs in a bit. but I want conditions to be pretty good for me. we will 187 . We can also begin to flat raises more often since we’ll have position on a fair enough amount of people who are left behind us that decide to play and there are less chances for people to wake up with a huge hand behind us. Middle Position Middle position is where I’ll start to raise more often but I’ll still take caution if I’ve got a lot of aggressive players or shortstacks behind me (in which case it could be time to consider switching tables). Obviously since this occurs only in one situation my numbers are smaller. I may flat. but I think we can feel pretty good dumping this situation unless we have some good reasons not to. Simply put. There needs to be no shortstacks/aggressive squeezers behind me and I need to have some sort of note that the raiser is going to stack off somewhat lightly. etc. The problems are that we may often find ourselves sandwiched and won’t be able to float or try to take the pot away (if we feel we can do so.000 hands I did this about 60-80 times. of course) which helps us make up for some of the times that we miss our set. so I think it’s important to note that I would much rather be flatting a tight UTG raiser than a loose MP raiser. board and villain dependent.Depending on table conditions. Also. I’m raising. for more than one more street. TT. There’s no need to increase the SPR since most of the time we’re not going to have a hand we really want to continue with. squeezing looks pretty sexy. I’m not going to 3-bet small pocket pairs. which doesn’t worry me much at 25NL and under. but if that’s the case then we need to leave the table next time the blind comes around. JJ. but I still hate three-betting). I’m not squeezing or three-betting very often for reasons I’ve outlined before. We can extract value because of our position versus good hands and we’re generally going to be able to take control more often than we could with more players behind us. We are in position and can float a bit more if we’re good enough at it and aren’t as worried as people waking up with big hands behind us. if someone is 24/21 raising MP and we have a cold-call and I’m on the button. We could easily get three streets of value from someone when we’re in position rather than scaring them off on the flop or river (villain dependent. but 188 . If someone has 99 and we flop a set we’re rarely getting stacks from them even if they have an overpair and stacks will only go in on set over set or against super loose postflop players.win stacks more often versus someone who has a really tight range that will include tons of overpairs and TPTK type hands than someone who will be flopping weaker pairs. if it’s unopened and I have a small pocket pair. So we’d like to play against the tightest ranges we can get. On the other hand. So take all this into consideration when deciding whether or not to flatcall. people are going to squeeze someone who’s flatting a 10/7 player raising UTG or UTG+1 hardly at all. Maybe with super aggro players behind us or with aggro shorties or something we can find a fold. We’re ideally hoping for the villain to have a big hand when we have a small pocket pair so we can hit our set and get stacks. Late Position: By late position. I’m flatting most raises unless stacks are short or I think there’s a great chance we’re getting squeezed. And when we do flop a set we’ve shown enough strength to possibly scare off hands that could possibly pay us off like AQ. As far as 3-betting goes. etc. draws and middle pairs more often. especially at the small price of 3-4BB. When we 3-bet the villain is going to 4-bet a good amount of the hands we want them to have and force us off our hand. if ever. This of course assumes that we are going to get in stacks and not get sucked out on every single time we flop a set. which is a fairly small difference.5 blinds which means we have 40. Normal 3bets will be at least 10bb if 189 . If they’re pushing 20% of their hands we have 43.2% equity and 66 has 47% equity. If we think calling lighter may deter the shorty (or other shorties) from pushing light on us in the future. then we can probably call SLIGHTLY under equity.6% equity with 66. but assuming we raise 3x blind and they push 20x blind we’re normally calling 17 blinds to win 24.77% equity with 66. This is some fairly rough math. I’m really only touching the tip of the iceberg here and the beating the shortstack CotW was phenomenal. Reacting to 3-bets Generally we’re going to be out of position and the stacks are going to be too small for us to profitably call a 3-bet with our small pocket pairs. Realistically calling anything other than minraise 3bets against people who have a really strong raise is going to get us in trouble.8% equity with 22 and 46. Read the CotW on crushing shorties for more advice. Reacting to shorties with small pocket pairs: If you have two or more shortstacks behind you should raise anyway but leave the table as soon as you can. With larger pairs we may feel that we’ll have the strong enough hand unimproved enough to call them. but I’d still do it only on the very rarest of occasions. If a shortstack is pushing 10% of their hands and all pairs Pokerstove says 22 has 36. if ever.97% equity to call profitably. You can use this as a rough estimate as to call or fold. If they are pushing 5% of their hands but all pairs we have 27% equity with 22 and 43. but a decent guideline. but that will very rarely be the case with our small pairs. which is silly.there are situations where I can envision doing it if there’s enough dead money. and even against an unimproved AK/AQ type hand we are going to be out of position and unable to steal the pot often enough. Mathematically we flop a set about 11% of the time so we’re going to need to be calling less than 11% of our stacks in order to profit. If the shortstack pushes depending on how loose they are I may call. calling a 3-bet is almost never a good idea. We’re out of position so playing a hand fairly straightforward doesn’t bother me as much. Shorter stacks and it’s likewise a much.we (or someone else) raised to 3bb and we aren’t getting good enough odds considering we aren’t getting even half-stacks most of the time we nail that set. hit set. We also have a better chance at setmining if there are more people in the pot but keep in mind that they likely have marginal hands and won’t get it in often against us. Unless we’re super-short and then we get to figure out the shorties pushing range. I want to flat call if the raiser has a strong range obviously. so we need to have a plan other than “call. We also are either facing only one player left if we’re SB or closing the action if we’re the BB so we can feel comfortable enough that we’ll get to see our flop. though. There is a superb CotW (I know. If they have a tighter range we can feel comfortable set-mining/folding. Fun times. or if there are several people in the pot already since I don’t want to create a situation where I screw myself out of a multiway pot with a great SPR by getting fourbet out of it or stuck out of position with a poor hand. If the 3-bet is larger we really should fold unless we have a sick read and want to four-bet bluff but 1) we already flatted in LP and may have defined our hand already and 2) I’m not good enough to discuss this further so let’s just say fold. profit”. If we’re the BB we can definitely flat and try to outplay the SB on the 190 . From a purely setmining point of view. I’m pimping other people’s work a lot and using lot by mpethy on reacting to 3bets that can help you out if you want to take the pots away from them postflop. If we’re in position we have a tiny bit more room to play around if we believe we can take the pot away from them if we don’t hit our set. much easier fold. Playing from the blinds: With a small pair in the blinds. If we’re deep and we’ve noticed our opponent stacking off or dumping large portions of his stack off with overpairs and/or top pairs then we have a much stronger argument for calling the 3-bet and should proceed accordingly. If someone is attacking our blinds I feel ok 3-popping them with a small pair once in a while if they steal liberally since we can’t get stacks against them often enough anyway. table. I’ve found that my 3xBB raises don’t get much respect and I find myself getting played back a bit versus decent players in the BB. If it open folds to the SB and they limp. we raise. this may sound lazy (and maybe it is) but I think that the blind defense is really situational and since we’ve got almost all the info possibly available to someone preflop that writing about general situations is difficult. etc. figure out if we can extract a lot of value if we hit our set. if it’s just one player and us and I’m raising to 5xBB and trying to take it down. You can try to sweeten the pot with a small raise if your table is really weak but generally against competent opponents it may be best to raise to try and take it down or check and flop your set (dependent on aggression. from what position. If they three bang us. If the BB is tight or poor then feel free to raise as usual. there isn’t a hand in the deck I check in this situation. but I think a good general rule is to look at the villain’s range. we re-evaluate as normal and make a note. I had a really tough time writing this section for some reason. Summary: Overall playing pocket pairs is a little more tricky than they seem at first. Honestly. We’re keeping our SPR too small by just checking and may not get stacks even if we flop a set vs a good hand.). the fact that we’re OOP and whether or not we can extract a ton of value or whether we should try to take it down now. etc. too. If we want to setmine we need to evaluate the 191 . I’m raising with any two cards here. If I’m the SB and it’s folded to me I raise any pair. That general rule goes fairly well for our late position section.flop even if we miss our set. venice10 did a really good job on blind defense that you can read to get a better idea of blind defense. but I typically raise 4xBB from the SB instead of my usual 3xBB. We really have to consider who raised. and if not then we can consider 3-betting. If for some reason we have our option in the big blind to check with our small pair. I’m still not three-betting my small pairs a ton here though. it depends. 192 . Raising early on isn’t a bad idea if you know why you’re doing it and the conditions are good. If we don’t our red line is going to go down too quickly and we’re going to develop a considerable leak. We have to be aware of our opponents range and the opponents that are sitting behind us. but there are conditions under which we can consider doing so.situation and make sure that it’s a good spot to try and do so. In other words. Calling three-bets is generally bad. but doing it blindly is a leak also. especially if we have a plan. 000) and a SPR of 30 with Ivey (300. we divide the smallest stack.000 stack and durrrr has a $200. What is SPR? Stack-to-pot-ratios are simple. PNLHE maybe overrated it’s status a little. You divide the amount of the smallest stack by the final preflop pot.000 stack but Ivey has a $500. 193 . our opponent has $200 and the pot is $10 on the flop. Sunny Mehta and Ed Miller. For example: We have a stack of $100.000/10. I’ve heard that SPR is a controversial topic in NLHE but I’m not sure why. and the pot size is $0. so the SPR is 10 We have a stack of $10 .50.our opponent has a stack size of $15. our $100 stack by the final preflop pot. 10/0.000/10.Stack to Pot Ratio DonkDonkDonkDonk Introduction I could make this COTW real short and say ‘if you want to know about SPR.5 = 20. $10. read Professional No Limit Hold ‘Em by Matt Flynn. That means that we have a SPR of 20 with durrrr (200.000 stack and the final preflop pot is $10.000). SPR is 20 When there are more than one opponent in the hand we can calculate the SPR with all the opponents. you’ll have to bare with me.000.’ Since I won’t do that. but SPR is an enormously helpful tool that you can use to improve your game no end. For example we have a $300. 100/10 = 10. 15 UTG: $32. Why use SPR? SPR simply puts a numerical value on the relationship between the smallest stack in the hand and the pot size.20 UTG+2: $50. manipulate the pot preflop and to make better decisions post-flop.I hope this makes sense. Instead of saying ‘the pot was big’.00 No Limit Hold’em .55 BB: $54.00 65/19 fish UTG+1: $40.75) Hero is CO with K K UTG calls $0. UTG calls $1 make a standard raise to 3x for value. it’s really simple mathematics.00 MP2: $14. 3 folds. good. Flop: ($2.90 SB: $44. fish comes along. I hope I am not making it complicated. say ‘the SPR was small’ We use SPR to help make better commitment plans.00 BTN: $33.40 Hero (CO): $50. Using SPR at uNL Here is an example of a hand in which we don’t use SPR Hand A: Full Tilt Poker $50.50 4 folds. Hero raises to $1.50.9 players MP1: $44.25) 2 J 7 (2 players) UTG checks. 194 . but taking it into account is vital in my opinion. It isn’t the be-all-and-end-all of poker as PNLHE said it was. Hero bets $2. UTG calls $2 Make a reasonably sized cbet on a good flop and he calls.25 Pre Flop: ($0. that’s also pretty sweet for me. but if I did that that would give me an SPR of around 16 which isn’t great for my hand. I think I am ahead here and given he is a big fish I think I am committed to my hand given the SPR is 8. Hand B: Full Tilt Poker $50.25) 2 J 7 (2 players) UTG checks.20 UTG+2: $50. UTG calls $2 I usually make it 3x the blinds. UTG calls $3.50 4 folds.9 players MP1: $44. I’ll go for a 5x raise that will give me a more favorable SPR of around 8 Flop: ($4. Hero bets $9.55 BB: $54. Well I said I was committed on the flop and the 6 is unlikely to 195 .25) 6 (2 players) UTG checks.25) 6 (2 players) UTG checks. Hero bets $4. most of them can be avoided if he considered and used SPR effectively.00. UTG raises to $10.40 Hero (CO): $50.75) Hero is CO with K K UTG calls $0.15 UTG: $32. omgwtfbbq what do i do is he bluffing head asplode?? Hero made several mistakes in this hand. Hero raises to $2. 3 folds.00 No Limit Hold’em . UTG raises to $26 and is all in.Turn: ($5.00 MP2: $14.00 BTN: $33. Turn: ($11.00.25 Pre Flop: ($0.90 SB: $44. Hero bets $3.00 65/19 fish UTG+1: $40.50 Make a reasonably sized cbet on a good flop and he calls.50.50. 2 folds. then you can say that you’ll only get it all in profitably if the SPR was less than 4. However. you estimate that if the SPR was over 4 then committing all your chips versus this opponent would have a negative expectation. if BB was really tight that he will rarely stack off without 2 pair+. We estimate maximum SPRs based on the particular hand and the particular opponent.have improved his hand. but it helped him create a plan and then manipulate the pot size in order to carry out the plan. BB calls $1. Hero raises to $1.75) Hero is CO with A A 5 folds. However that doesn’t mean that the maximum SPR is the optimal SPR. I’m going to go ahead and stick to my plan and commit my chips against this aggrodonk Hero calls $17 The biggest mistake that hero in hand A made was not that he raised to 3x after the limper but it was not making a commitment plan on any street.50. Target SPRs We can estimate the maximum SPR as the highest SPR that you can get the money all in and expect to have a positive expectation. even though the only action Hero B did differently is raise more preflop. 196 . SPR didn’t tell hero in hand B how to play the hand.00 Here is a good spot to estimate a maximum SPR. you could say that you’ll commit if the SPR was 10 or under. If BB was a loose spewy aggrodonk. If he had made a plan like the hero in hand B. That means that if the SPR was 4 or less you can commit versus this particular opponent and expect to profit. Maximum SPRs Maximum SPRs are estimates on the largest SPR you could expect to profit when you get the money all in. Pre Flop: ($0. he would not have been put in such an awkward spot on the turn. Top pair hands and overpairs are triskaidekaphobic. It is the SPR that is going to win you the most money when you get all in. it depends on two major factors: 1. aggressive TAG. you might raise that a bit. and JJ+ make top pair hands and overpairs. A set mining nit won’t commit his chips without a set or a very low SPR and will fold otherwise. 13 is a uncertain middle ground where people have just enough implied odds to set mine and draw out on you as well as having enough to bluff you off your hand. While low SPRs like 4 or 6 are easy because you can bet/bet/commit and large SPRS like 21 aren’t bad because you aren’t usually stacking off anyway. Quote: your ideal stack-to-pot ratio with a particular hand versus a particular opponent.PNLHE defines target SPRs as. So a good target SPR versus him might be 4. straights and big draws. Good target SPRs with TP/OP hands are either much lower than 13 or much higher. broadways. Drawing hands like small pocket pairs and suited connectors love the number 13 for the same reason as TP/OPs hate it. So how do you estimate your target SPR? Well. Against a solid. 2. You want to make as much money preflop versus this guy because he is going to play reasonably perfectly versus you postflop and with lower SPRs he is more likely to spaz out or feel committed with his pocket pair. That means that they fear the number 13. Your opponent A good estimation of your target SPR has to take into account the stack off ranges and tendencies of your opponent. Your hand This is the most important. obviously. His calling range is going to be wider than just pocket pairs and 197 . AK. If you’ve played any significant amount of poker you should know what starting hands make what type of hands by the river. AQ and other big aces. Small pocket pairs make underpairs and sets and suited connectors make flushes. who knows but adjusting your preflop raise sizing every so often in order to achieve a more favorable SPR will really improve your game. While this has it’s merits. or maybe there is a shortstack in the blinds and minraising from the button is more profitable. however doing this automatically is costing you money. however he is still solid and isn’t going to commit a lot of chips without a good hand. Raise Sizes Raising to 3/4bb+1 per limper in all positions is the overwhelming trend in online poker. you can set a target SPR of 6-7. Against a maniac fish you can set your target SPRs as high as 10-11 because he is going to do stupid stuff with stupid hands and the higher the SPR the more money you can win off him. Managing the preflop pot is very important because 1bb difference on the flop can mean 30bb difference by the river. I have only given a basic guide. Manipulating the pot to achieve your target SPR Once you have set a target SPR it is time to achieve that target (we set targets for a reason). To 3bet or not to 3bet Deciding whether to 3bet can be a difficult thing to do. Think about your target SPR and then think ‘is raising to 3x going to achieve this?’ Maybe you are deep with a whale and raising more isn’t going to lose you value. 198 . You raise the same all the time because otherwise people can read into your raise size. and it’s something I do when I play. STOP. my one PSA is. He can also be encouraged to stack off if he hits TPTK or something of the sort. I could go through all different hands and players but I feel I don’t have to. use your brain and come up with your own target SPRs for common situations that you find yourself in. and it all matters. these target SPRs change because of specific reads and tendencies that every player has (remember no two players are the same).will seek to bluff you every once in a while. Against him. THINK AND ADJUST! Your standard might be 3bb plus one bb for every limper. UTG+1 raises to $1. you should have planned it out before hand. Here by 3betting we allow him decent odds to call with smaller pocket pairs and we are going to be OOP with a bad SPR against a player who is going to play reasonably perfectly against an overpair. considered all the possibilities and then made your decision.Remember people have a tendency to call 3bets especially in position.00 Here although we have AA and we want to get the most value out of the hand. I think flat calling here is a good play. I am not doing well against his range but the SPR is 5 surely I have to commit with my pair of jacks’.25 Pre Flop: ($0. Low SPRs usually make decisions easier but they can make decisions harder when you’ve got a marginal hand against the opponents range and you are OOP. not a great situation in my opinion.20 11/9 with 81% f3b UTG+2: $50. Sometimes. 199 . If we just call the SPR is huge at 36 which is better for our hand as it removes the fear of getting stacked by a better hand as we are not going to stack off without a set anyway.55 Hero (BB): $130.65 BTN: $33. If we 3bet to $5.90 SB: $44.50. So before you 3bet you should think ‘if I am called I will be in a pot with a low SPR’ and then think do I want to be in this pot with my hand/position against the opponent and his calling range? I see this a lot people 3bet KJo or something in the SB and then they get called and then they’re like ‘oh **** what do I do.00 UTG: $54. 6 folds.50 and he calls we are setting up a pot with an SPR of 11 which is really close to 13 and 13 is bad for our hand especially against a tight player.40 CO: $61. Hero calls $1.00 MP2: $14. MP1: $44. He isn’t going to stack off preflop either unless he has the other two aces.15 UTG+1: $120. Well it’s too late for thinking about that buddy.75) Hero is BB with A A 1 fold. flat-calling when you would normally 3bet can be the correct decision if you are deep. If you don’t have any. Sunny Mehta and Ed Miller.Remember in poker there are three advantages you can have over your opponents -Skill advantage -Positional advantage -Card advantage In general. if you have skill and/or positional advantage over your opponent you can afford to have high SPRs because you allow yourself more room to maneuver and exploit these edges. fold. If you don’t have either but you have card advantage. 200 . Conclusion if you really want to know about SPR. read Professional No Limit Hold ‘Em by Matt Flynn. try and aim for smaller SPRs as positional and skill advantages are less important the smaller the SPR. Their playability mainly comes from hitting draws. those will be the gist of this CotW.84%) 201 .Suited connectors represent 4% of hands . They make good pairs and on a lot of boards. I’ll classify them in 3 categories : . you will be : Flopping a flush . simply because a pair of ace if better than a pair of king which is better than a pair of queen aswell that a A high ace flush beats a K high flush.High sc. you obviousy will make the most profit with them. their value mainly come from hitting pair. they go from QJs to AKs.Low sc. 23s to 67s. 78s to JTs. Example : 7 8 A couple of general thoughts: There are different scs type. those suck. A couple of numbers : . you’ll have decent equity. .Medium sc.118/1 (0. You see my point right ? .With any suited connector.Playing Suited Connectors babar86 Definition : Suited connectors (or sc) are cards of the same suite and connected. 31% From : http://www. You can now start opening low sc’s. Late position (LP) : You now are 3 or 4 handed. It’d increase your EP pfr and you’ll get 3bet light. you’d hit draws but they play terribly out of position. the looser you can open and vice versa. I usually raise the high end of the medium sc (89s+) but you can play tighter if : there are aggressive players left to act (especially in position).1/1 (10. 202 .9%) Flopping a Straight draw (8 outer) 8.cardschat. you are not confortable playing postflop. You can’t stack a nit when you make a flush on the turn every single time he has a big overpair. Like before. And you’ll hit a pair/2pairs/trips 35. which is why high sc > medium sc >>>>>>>>>>> low sc.com/f11/various-pokerodds-69737/ When we make a simple addition : You’ll flop a solid draw (flushdraw / str8draw) or a nuts made hand 23. I won’t get into details because this is pretty basic but the tighter blinds/btn plays.Flopping a flush draw . it depends a lot of the blinds and btn if you are in the CO. Middle position (MP) : The table is now shorthanded. don’t play low and medium sc in EP. Otherwise. Just don’t.5%.3 to 1 1.75% In today’s games. you have a crazy mother ****er image. I’ll open 78s utg all day long if : 1) BTN is a 12/8 nit.8. This is why draws go down in value whereas pairs go up. You can raise high sc. implied odds are not as good as they used to be. you’d hit bad pairs and don’t know what to do because you are out of position.45% Flopping a Straight 75. SB and/or BB are fishes. Dump the low sc.6 to 1 10. Preflop : When you are the pfr (everybody has folded) Early position (EP) : Your gameplan must vary according to the table’s aggressiveness. All of those. You’ll get squeezed a decent amount. 10% opens utg). You need to know what type of hands you can profitably play against that range. your pairs might not be good and if they are.In the small blind. you are utg+1) Fold. ATs+. 45s up to 89s only have 35% against that same utg range. A couple of variables though : . Midle Position: I usually fold most of them except if bad players behind (preferably in the blinds). 2 scenarios : EP opens. KJs.Our post flop skill (includes the fold equity we think we have on some boards against a specific opponent) 203 . AQo+. this pot is probably going to be multiway and you’ll have to play more straightforward than not. 10% opens utg = 22-AA. Late Position : this is the most interesting situation imo.20% pure equity. I’ll usually open any sc’s there. But there is also time your opponent will check fold the best hand. When someone opens and you are in position : Early Position: (utg opens. cbet and give up on the turn the best hand which will happen way more than 10%. you still need to go to the showdown. he’s a standard regular (16/13. I might fold low sc’s if the BB is loose. Pokerstove tells us T9s up to KQs have 40. On the other hand. FOLD NOW. you already know that but playing out of position sucks. Now. therefore you want to polarize your 3betting range to premium hands and “trashy” hands and call everything between. most regulars don’t call 3bet out of position. You won’t make a profit by calling low sc’s against a wide range (cf.His post flop skill Don’t overestimate your fold equity. You’ll fold against EP and MP. Playing from the blinds : Again. even in position. Against fishy opponent. especially drawing hands. Fold equity comes from aggression and your aggression should be based on your equity (the more equity you have in a pot. ranges are wide. BUT. 204 . you can include them in your 3bet bluffing range along with what you usually 3bet. playing from the blinds. In late position. let’s talk about late position play (the difference between a losing and a winning regular mostly comes from late position play). you’ll understand why). you need to include high sc’s and even some JTs for isolation/slight value purpose. The better you know your opponent tendencies in specific spots. When ranges are wide. pairs value go up and draws value go down (because of the lack of implied odds). they are pretty much the top of your bottom range. The intrasec value of sc’s (the time you’ll make 2pairs/str8/flush or anything that can beat AA) is generally not good enough so that you can play any sc profitably. Here’s why I’d rather play JTs than 45s. you need to 3bet a merged range (only for value but wider). You need to rely on fold equity. Your calling range will include high and medium sc’s. Your goal won’t be to crack aces anymore. Against middle and late position opener (MP vs HJ vs CO vs BTN). the more you can call with lower sc’s.. the more you can play a hand aggressively…). No. Quick thoughts about post flop : The more equity you have. I CALL or I RAISE (if he has air) . It might not be SUPER +ev but it’ll increase your overall aggression and it’ll be a huge step from being the empty seat weak tight nit to becoming the crazy loose regular nobody wants to play with. Wow. It looks short to me compared to 205 . Don’t be afraid of getting it in with a gutter and a flushdraw on the flop. if we think deeper about it : your opponent knows that you don’t play aggressively your fd+gutter on the flop. The best of you probably got my point and I’ll put an anti spoiler there because this information is so valuable Spoiler: [The wider you raise for value. The value of a given hand depends a lot of the situation/opponent and you’ll need to play a lot to get a feeling of what hand you can make a profit with. When you do raise your fds+gutters/A high flushdraws on this flop. you won’t make a profit calling with 5 high out of position but if your opponent folds a lot to 3bet. his range is polarized. you only have 55/66/TT/56 in your value range.You’ll call (or 3bet if your opponent defends with worse but I won’t get into that. A standard player will think “okay. only 1325 words. the more you can bluff!] Conclusion : I think this is hard to give a general plan on how to play suited connectors. Also. the more aggressive you need to be. it’s already covered by knn05) with your high and medium sc’s. he won’t be able to call you down with 77/88/99/JT or even JJ because his equity just dropped down significantly against your range. you can 3bet and still have a decent chance to flop gin. Therefore when you raise 5h6hTs. and fold/3bet your low sc’s. please tell it on this thread or by PM asap. the best is. To keep the discussion going. to post hand histories to illustrate recurrent pre/post flop situations you feel you struggle with and we all talk together about why a line A is better than a line B. I’ll respond to your questions and edit the main post later. English isn’t my native language.the CotW relative to playing small pp’s. But I hope I covered everything to say about suited connector’s. imo. If so. If you notice any big grammar fault. 206 . you should feel fine about getting called. Definition: A bet made OOP on the turn or river. but hopefully I can get the discussion going in the right direction. I am much happier making a blocking bet with second pair/ underpairs or weak top pairs than I am with total nothing. Things to consider: Your hand strength: I would not make a blocking bet with a nuts/air type hand.The Blocker Bet I vi ii V7 Blocking Bets I don’t claim to be an expert on the subject. In a sense. You bet because your hand has value vs some of your opponent’s range. The bet you make is typically smaller than what you would likely face if you checked. I’m losing value when ahead and not effectively bluffing when behind. but you don’t figure to have the best hand if you have to call large bets and get to showdown. Your opponent: Make blocking bets vs villains who don’t see them for what they are (as in. a blocking bet is kind of a bluff. basically most regs at 50NL and below). attempting to “set the price” of the river or showdown. You do have showdown value. I don’t feel fine about getting called when I make a small bet with the nuts/air. enough so that it makes betting slightly better than check/ calling or getting to showdown. When making a blocking bet. but you do also fold out a few better hands. Don’t make blocking bets vs aggor-tards who will raise 207 . you anyways. Don’t make blocking bets vs passive players who would check behind anyways. Board texture: My input here might be a little more vague. Basically, you want to make blocking bets on boards where your opponent should realistically only be raising with hands that beat you. Why villains call: You may be sitting there reading that last statement, thinking to yourself, “Wait a sec, I vi, if they only raise with better hands, aren’t I bluffing?” Sort of, yes and no. Villains call (incorrectly) for two reasons when you make a blocking bet. One, “lolol pot odds, I have to call this.” And two, “Whut fux?? I has Ace King, I draw to tawp pair!!” Which brings me to my next point. Bet sizing: A pot sized OOP turn bet is not a blocking bet. A 2/3 pot sized OOP turn bet is not a blocking bet. I will go so far to say that a ½ pot sized OOP turn (or river…) bet is pretty much the most I will blocking bet for. Remember what I said about why people call? Give them a reason to call unprofitably. Are you OOP on the turn, up against a TAG reg, with JJ on a 26TK board? Go ahead and bet ¼ or 1/5 pot and see what they do. They call? Bet 1/5 pot again on the river and laugh when they show you 77 or AT. Each situation is different, but the main thing to remember is that you are keeping them from making big bets that you can’t profitably call, and you do rate to have the best hand a fair amount of the time if you can keep the pot size manageable. If you get raised with JJ after block betting a 26TK board, you can be like 90% certain you’re beat. But hell, with the games playing as nitty as they are these days, I could see even a hand as strong as KQ/AK just calling you down, for fear that you flopped huge. So keep in mind that when you get called, you sometimes won’t have the best hand, BUT you kept the better hands from maximizing against you. And what was that thing that Split taught us all a while ago? Say it with me: Minimizing loss is the same as maximizing gain. And now the fun examples! Hand 1 Villain is a reg running 14/9/5 over 2400 hands. His flop Cbet 208 % is 68%. I figure he is opening with basically all pocket pairs, strong face cards, and medium suited face cards, sometimes medium suited connectors. His flop check doesn’t mean much, because this board is super dry. He checks his AK here sometimes. He’s betting the turn with his whole range, IMO, after I check both streets. I bet super small on the river both to get all of his weak crap to call “because lolol pot odds I have to call this,” and because I do get to fold out better hands sometimes. I’m basically gonna have to flip a coin and guess if I check the river and he decides to bet like $7 with his 22 - 88 UI. -------------------HAND #1 -------------------Poker Stars, $0.25/$0.50 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 9 Players Hand History Converter by Stoxpoker SB: $47.20 (94.4 bb) Hero (BB): $52.25 (104.5 bb) UTG: $49 (98 bb) UTG+1: $51.90 (103.8 bb) MP1: $53.40 (106.8 bb) MP2: $59.05 (118.1 bb) MP3: $55.90 (111.8 bb) CO: $10 (20 bb) BTN: $66.70 (133.4 bb) Pre-Flop: Hero is BB with 9 9 3 folds, MP2 raises to $2, 4 folds, Hero calls $1.50 Flop: ($4.25) T A 6 Hero checks, MP2 checks (2 players) Turn: ($4.25) 6 (2 players) Hero checks, MP2 bets $2, Hero calls $2 River: ($8.25) Q (2 players) Hero bets $2, MP2 folds Hand 2 No stats, no HUD. Villain seems interested in the pot, my hand 209 has showdown value, but I can’t call a big river bluff, should he decide to turn his unimproved pocket pair into a bluff. I set the price, hopefully getting a “lolol pot odds” call from those hands, and I’m folding if he raises (since it will mean Jx almost always and Ax sometimes). Villain claims he had TT, and I’m inclined to believe him. -------------------HAND #2 -------------------Poker Stars, $0.25/$0.50 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 8 Players Hand History Converter by Stoxpoker CO: $68.60 (137.2 bb) BTN: $34 (68 bb) SB: $43 (86 bb) Hero (BB): $50 (100 bb) UTG+1: $44.45 (88.9 bb) MP1: $45.10 (90.2 bb) MP2: $54.50 (109 bb) MP3: $59.25 (118.5 bb) Pre-Flop: Hero is BB with K K UTG+1 raises to $1.50, 6 folds, Hero raises to $6, UTG+1 calls $4.50 Flop: ($12.25) J J A (2 players) Hero checks, UTG+1 checks Turn: ($12.25) 9 (2 players) Hero checks, UTG+1 bets $5.50, Hero calls $5.50 River: ($23.25) 5 (2 players) Hero bets $5.50, UTG+1 folds Hand 3 Villain was 80/13 over 3 orbits I use blocking bets to keep the pot small and get to showdown, and because i think worse will call. I fold if he raises at some point...betting prevents me checking and being bluffed off the 210 best hand. Note here that even though we didn’t win the hand, we got to showdown and lost the minimum because we set the price. I do think this is the type of player who will call down with much worse, sometimes even AK. -------------------HAND #3 -------------------Poker Stars, $0.25/$0.50 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 8 Players Hand History Converter by Stoxpoker MP3: $50.15 (100.3 bb) CO: $69.55 (139.1 bb) BTN: $70.05 (140.1 bb) Hero (SB): $50.50 (101 bb) BB: $63.35 (126.7 bb) UTG+1: $60.40 (120.8 bb) MP1: $11.30 (22.6 bb) MP2: $67.15 (134.3 bb) Pre-Flop: Hero is SB with T T UTG+1 folds, MP1 calls $0.50, 3 folds, BTN raises to $2, Hero calls $1.75, 2 folds Flop: ($5) 9 5 2 (2 players) Hero checks, BTN bets $3, Hero calls $3 Turn: ($11) 3 (2 players) Hero bets $3.75, BTN calls $3.75 River: ($18.50) 5 (2 players) Hero bets $3.50, BTN calls $3.50 So anyways, I hope this week will provide some great discussion on blocking bets. I think people either don’t use it enough, use it incorrectly, or use it without knowing why. Again, I don’t claim to be an expert on the subject, or even that my examples were good ones, I only hope I get the thread going in the right direction. 211 The Check-Raise mpethybridge Sorry guys, we have had our first person fail to deliver a scheduled CotW thread, so I am filling in on no notice. To be perfectly candid, check raises are a weak part of my game, so I am pretty much the worst person to be doing this topic. I need it to be clear to everybody that this is the first OP in the CotW series that is not intended as an authoritative treatment of the subject it presents. Rather, it is my intention to just get the discussion started. I’ll structure the discussion using my stats, my hands and my play. Feel free to comment or add your own hands or stats to illustrate points. Using Check Raises At higher stakes, one of the main reasons for check/raising is to protect your checks when you don’t have a hand and you need a free card to improve. You need peple to be wary of your checks and to be more inclined to check behind you rather than make a play on the pot, so you check/raise enough so that they have it in their head that you may very well be setting them up to lose a bet when you check. In theory, this could work at the micros, but I just don’t think people are paying enough attention to you to warrant balancing your actions in this way. It IS increasingly true that the games are getting more aggressive, and that if you check your villain will bet at you a high percentage of the time. This is a good argument for value check/raising maybe more than we have 212 75) Hero is SB with K K 5 folds. But in my opinion. CO bets $3.50. It looks like a pretty drawy board. I usually valuebet rather than check/raising. No luck. I think the cut off’s hands are weighted toward the trashy end of his stealing range because he made a big.00 Pre Flop: ($0. who 3 bet 16% of his opportunities from the big blind. I go ahead and check to him with a high degree of confidence that he will c-bet his steal.50) 6 5 2 (2 players) Hero checks. because this is what people do--they c-bet their steals. most of the villain’s stealing range.25 CO: $101.50.00. Hero calls $2.55 BTN: $48. The part of the hand I was uncertain about was the raise.00 UTG: $57. non-standard raise. CO folds So my thinking was basically what I outlined above. So here are some situations where I will check/raise: 1. 1 fold Flop: ($5.30 BB: $50. but it missed. In this hand from last night I was actually making a play on the big blind.25.65 UTG+1: $58. Cut off is a 39/9/2 UTG+2: $59.95 MP2: $256. it remains unnecessary to protect our checks. or did not hit very hard. I have a big hand on a drawy flop and villain is likely to have and bet nothing. because villains will not step betting at your checks when they have seen you check/raise. rather than the check. 1 fold. CO raises to $2.20 MP1: $92. Hero raises to $9.been. It just seemed to me that there were a 213 .15 Hero (SB): $119. Thus. I flatted the steal in the hopes that the BB would squeeze. so maybe he thinks my c/r is just a play trying to push him off the pot and he plays back with a little something. 1 fold. Hero raises to $1. most of his call-a-shoverange is flipping me from slightly ahead or is way ahead. and. I look aggressive. CO raises to $5. and that I was likely not getting any further action. Using a Short Stacker’s Aggression Against Him. because I do this as a matter of routine. I usually turbo-muck AQ against a 3 bet OOP. so I preferred calling and seeing the flop. and maybe what I said above was wrong and it will slow some people down against me. Hero (UTG+1): $121.25 BTN: $9.75) 5 8 Q (2 players) Hero checks. Hero raises to $28. 3 folds.25 Pre Flop: ($0. but. but against someone this loose and aggressive. the flop is so low he has to look at it as having missed me.00 CO: $19. realistically. I felt pretty good about calling.25 all in 214 . I can also see shoving here.90 UTG: $19.75. b.75.25 SB: $50.25 Flop: ($10. I really don’t know whether this was a good use of a c/r or not.00. but that was the thinking.75) Hero is UTG+1 with Q A 1 fold. 2.lot of cards that would be bad either for my hand or my action. It also seemed that he probably didn’t have anything anyway.20 MP: $10. CO calls $8. CO bets $6. The villain in this hand plays 29/15/8 and 3 bets 10%. Hero calls $3. I could come up with dozens of these hands.25 BB: $52. so the check/raise wasn’t costing me future action often enough to outweigh the following considerations: a. 50. CRAI here looks a little “bluffy.5.75 BTN: $45. A and B combine to make it very likely that shorty will look me up here thinking I am muscling him with air. but I can probably muscle him off that.50. BTN bets $1.50.35 Pre Flop: ($0. BTN calls $1.75 215 .30 (Rake: $1. obviously). Villain is a pretty weak player--14/6/1. He could have a better pocket pair. b. so I really can’t check/call. Hero raises to $5. Hero raises to $1.50.95) Three points here: a. 3.00 SB: $46. When Your Trash is Probably the Best Hand But You Need to Win Now.75) Hero is CO with 3 3 5 folds.70 Hero (CO): $141. but I do it all the time. I have the best hand and he is weakly stabbing with air. I’m not sure about this one.” c.20 MP2: $59.00 MP1: $74. I think this is a standard play post-flop (non-standard preflop. but I am going to hate pretty much every card in the deck. Shorties abuse fold equity. 2 folds Flop: ($3. UTG+2: $100.Final Pot: $39.25 BB: $111.75) 6 6 Q (2 players) Hero checks. but it is one of the main uses of a flop c/r.40 UTG+1: $68. BTN folds Final Pot: $6. Otherwise.15 UTG: $50.25 Hero shows Q A CO shows 9 9 Hero wins $37. 45 (Rake: $0.50. I have the best hand almost certainly. Hero raises to $7.00 BB: $20.50.25 216 .Hero wins $6. and I am oop.90 Hero (BB): $50.85 (Rake: $0. Normally I fold or 3 bet 77 in the BB against a button steal.20 CO: $59.90 UTG+1: $75. but I sometimes just call. so I don’t mind winning right now.00 UTG: $40.65 BTN: $50. BTN bets $2.50. but I am going to hate most turn cards.40) Again.95 Hero (SB): $50. but the rest of the deck still sucks for you. I called this time because this was my first hand at the table.95 UTG+2: $10. I Check/Raise Big Combo Draws CO: $23. I don’t know--standard or boneheaded? 4.35 BTN: $56.25 Hero wins $7.25) 4 5 5 (2 players) Hero checks.35 Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with 7 7 6 folds. SB: $38. BTN folds Final Pot: $8. 1 fold.30) This sort of situation comes up a lot on paired boards because you feel so much better about your small pocket pair because of the combinatorics of a paired board.25 MP1: $46.25 MP2: $10. Hero calls $1 Flop: ($3.00 UTG: $41. BTN raises to $1. and I never raise light in my first couple of orbits. 00 Hero wins $7.50. MP2 calls $0.40) Flops with flush draws aren’t the greatest ones to c-bet with air.00) 4 T 6 (2 players) Hero checks.75) Hero is SB with Q A 7 folds. BB calls $1 Flop: ($3.25 MP2: $55.90 UTG+2: $10. so villains expect to see check/folds in spots like this more often than usual. but doesn’t bet/call very much. but I like check/raising them on occasion. BB folds Final Pot: $8.80 UTG: $103.45 MP1: $25.50. BB calls $1. I bet big combo draws a lot.00 BB: $62.00 MP1: $100. Bluff Check/raising I look for a high aggression factor. UTG+1: $65. A situation where the villain can’t have much of a hand most of the time is nice.20 BTN: $50.00 Hero (SB): $136.UTG+1: $52.85 CO: $51. too. So they are more inclined to bet if you check and fold if you bet.75) Hero is SB with A K 4 folds. Hero raises to $2.50.50. 1 fold 217 . here there are lots of hands the villain (AF 4. 5.2) can bet but few he can call a check raise with.55 Pre Flop: ($0. which means that the villain bets and folds or bets and raises.60 (Rake: $0.75 UTG+2: $103.00 MP2: $39. Hero raises to $1.40 Pre Flop: ($0. BB bets $2.50. 2 folds. Hero raises to $48. so I check raise a lot on the turn to build the pot after I have established on the flop that the vilain is going to go with his hand.00 (Rake: $0.50) 2 4 J (2 players) Hero checks. and I usually do it with the best hand or a combo draw that I bet the flop with and then bricked on the turn. which means 70% of all my check raises are from the blinds. Below is a pretty classic case: 218 . 40% of all my check raises are from the big blind. but this is a list of what I have when I am check raising the flop from most common to least common: Top pair overpair trips a set air combo draw two pair a vulnerable overpair Check/Raising the Turn I can cover this very briefly: Often. BB bets $3.50 Hero wins $10. but not always. Hero raises to $8. I play a lot of deep tables. BB folds Final Pot: $10. 30% of all my check raises are from the small blind.50) Some Stats on My Check/Raises: I check raise 6% of flops I see.Flop: ($4. these are check/raises all in. I’ll withhold the precise percentages.50.00. 05 (Rake: $3. in reviewing my DB just now. Hero calls $2.25) 3 (2 players) Hero checks.00 UTG: $94.BTN: $50.00) So the small flop bet was just designed to see if he had an ace.75. 2 folds. CO bets $7.25) 3 (2 players) Hero bets $69.90 Hero (UTG+1): $145. He minraises.55 BB: $50.50.40 CO: $78. Some Stats on My Turn Check raises.25. because. Hero raises to $1. So: 219 .95 Hero shows 7 7 Hero wins $24.25) 7 9 A (2 players) Hero bets $2. I saw that my turn check/raises were check/shoves only about 35% of the time. CO calls $20 River: ($69. This is more randomly distributed among the early positionsthan flop check/raises. CO raises to $5.40 MP2: $62. Actually.75. which is the only way I am going to make money on the hand. CO calls $44. Hero raises to $27.35 all in Final Pot: $157. because it gives me an excuse to check to him on the turn.50.50. which is awesome. and much lower if you ignore hands against people playing less than 100bb. I am only doing it with hands I want to get all in with or on a rare semi-bluff.60 Pre Flop: ($0. 3 folds Flop: ($4. CO calls $1.00 SB: $55. by and large.75) Hero is UTG+1 with 7 7 1 fold.90 Hero wins $130.45 MP1: $101.50 Turn: ($14. the remaining 20% coming from mid pos and the CO. There’s probably a lot more that can be said here. these are usually hands I think are the nuts or a bluff. I actually bluff-check/raised the turn far more often than I did with combo draws. a combo-draw or air. So I only check/raise 2. but can also have trips. Reacting to Check/Raises: FOLD In all seriousness. 220 .6% of rivers. but this is already really long. I only saw two this year. Basically. you need to have a hand or a read to continue. so I don’t really see the need to illustrate with hand histories. you should usually be folding. BB and both early positions. but. I usually have a set. two pair. I need the villain to have a good hand or a good spot to bluff and I need my hand to be effectively the nuts. for the most part.3% of turns. an overpair. But i shove combo-draws on the turn far less than I ought to. Al of those were on boards where I had called on the flop and the turn paired the board (and none of them worked ) Check/Raising the River Well. I am rarely check/raising the river.I check/raise 6. you should fold. 20-ish% of which are from SB. On occasion a villain will check/raise you when you have a powerful hand you can continue with. 75ptbb/hand).5ptbb/hand). I posted the hands and the ways I use check/ raises more as a starting off point for the discussion than as a “how-to. on average. I am getting pounded in LP with my steal c-bets being check/raised.” 221 . So have a hand or have a read to continue. As you can see. my win rate with an overpair where I have been check raised is 1717bb/100 (8. just fold. _______________________________ As I said at the outset. My win rate with top pair top kicker or top pair good kicker is 1558bb/100 (7. please do not consider this authoritative. stronger hands that play well against check/raises. but making a profit in the earlier positions where I have. otherwise. What is a hand you can continue with? Well. So these are good enough if you are paying attention.This is a HEM screenshot of all $50 hands I played this year in which I was check/raised. on average. therefore you will want to C-bet flops to make them fold all of their misses and value bet later streets to get calls from the hands they hit and call down with.The Double Barrel Ricky1231 It’s going to be very valuable to win the pots on the turn and river when you do not have the best hand since. Double barreling is so opponent and situation specific that I won’t be able to give you guys an exact playbook about the subject in text alone. They are PLAYER READS. A quick warning about double barreling: As I have said in numerous videos and have pounded into the brains of several of my students. This concept is all about how to win those pots with a second barrel. you make most of your money at micro stakes by C-betting flops and by value betting later streets. BOARD TEXTURE and 222 . the pot will be larger on later streets. Things to considder: Three big things come to mind when thinking about double barreling. The biggest mistake that bad players generally make is that they call too many junky hands pre-flop and they don’t fold later streets. not by betting a ton turns and rivers trying to make them fold top pair weak kicker etc. What I can do is give you a whole bunch on information on the topic in the hope that you will understand the underlying concepts and learn to apply them in the right situations on your own. Board texture actually influences several things. You’ll see what I mean when I get into examples of specific textures. For example if your opponent is calling a bunch of hands out of the big blind they will have more hands in their range that flop marginal junk like 2nd or 3rd pair that will peel the flop but will have trouble calling later streets. Generally speaking. it is going to be better to double barrel against a wide FCR than a tight one since wide FCR’s will have more marginal hands in them. namely flop continuing ranges. Scare cards: I don’t think I need to go too much into this. board development and scare cards. Knowing how different board textures develop on later streets will be vital in your understanding of double barreling. 223 . These terms are loosely defined below. Some board’s won’t change much while others will change a great deal.EQUITY. Scare cards are anything that hits your perceived range. A flop continuing range is influenced both by pre-flop calling ranges and by board textures. Everyone will have slightly different flop continuing ranges and this is where player reads become important. Also. Board development: Board textures will change based on the turn and river. especially when you relate it to FCR’s. some board textures are going to get peeled by more hand combinations than others and this will play a big role in double barreling. Flop continuing ranges: A flop calling range will simply be the hands that our opponents will play back at our flop C-bets with. Rick’s list of double barreling generalities: 1) We want to double barrel when the board texture develops such that our opponent’s turn continuing range is much smaller than their flop continuing range or when the turn card improves our hand’s equity in the pot. They are also cards that result in bad board development from your opponent’s perspective. 2) Bad boards to double barrel will be ones where your opponent has a low/tight FCR. even on bad barrel textures. I’ll try to tie some things together. I teach and play a pretty aggressive game and if I were just monkey shoving every river after two barreling. It is also because our opponents will be much more likely to float or peel light against us when they are in position. pair the board. Here are some various flop textures. we should be more likely to double barrel when we are out of position. Reads will be very important when in marginal situations since each persons preflop and flop calling range will be different. A big reason why we two barrel is to make our opponent fold his marginal hands so why we would always be auto-shoving rivers when called is beyond me. Try to remember the little generalizations I just made. Ace high and king high “dry” flops 224 . 4) Bad cards to double barrel will be ones that improve your opponents percieved range. I’d be broke. IT DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU ARE COMMITTED TO BETTING THE RIVER. 5) All other things being equal. 6) You will be amazed how much note-taking will help. I can’t stress this enough. If for example. If they just call. 8) Look for spots where your opponent would almost always raise you with a strong hand or draw on the flop.3) The best card to double barrel will be a scare card that both results in bad board development and improves your equity. this could be a sign of weakness (or not if you and your opponent are on the same level). This is because we cannot take free cards to capitalize on our equity in spots were our opponent is unlikely to fold to a turn bet. 7) JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE BARRELED THE TURN. or are considdered to be “bricks” in general. Flop textures and how they relate to barreling: I said that knowing how boards develop would be an important part of double barreling. we see someone make a very loose peel against us when OOP then we should seriously considder fireing more bullets against them in the future. doesn’t want to fold and you should be reluctant to double barrel without reads or specific meta. I’m referring to flops like J42 etc. One high card. These cards will be something in neighborhood of 9x and Tx. you probably won’t have it by the river. so long as you’re prepared to two barrel when required. BOARD DEVELOPMENT: There are no real scare cards that can come ont he turn and the worst this board will usually be will be on the flop. Use reads to figure it out for when they are in position. These boards are decent for C-betting because your opponent will usually fold all unpaired hands but since the jack does not make up as much of your perceived range as an ace does. There will be 3 over cards on the jack that will be decent to 2 barrel. you are likely to get peeled lighter on average. You can still bet equity based two barrel cards (if you turn a flush or straight draw) to balance for when you want to bet good hands. there will also be several cards over the 4 that are good to betbecause they will be scare cards for small pocket pairs and will aid in bad board development. OUR EQUITY WHEN BEHIND: When you don’t have the best hand on A82r. two low card flops When I say 1 high card and 2 low cards. These boards are fine to C-bet. When you get called on this flop. your opponent will be folding 6x7x.These are great boards to C-bet on. There are also no draws that your opponent could be check-calling the flop with. especially if they bring a flush draw because these are perceived equity boosters that will make it very tough for our opponent to bluff-catch the turn with marginal hands due the the thread of a looming third barrel. Not only are aces and kings in your perceived opening range but it will be very difficult for your opponent’s pf range to consistently connect with these boards. To put it simply. OPPONENTS FCR: It should be very tight when they are OOP. your opponent often has top pair. when you c bet on A 8 2 . BOARD DEVELOPMENT: This sort of depends on just how low the second card is. 225 . KxQx etc. OPPONENTS FCR: It will be middle of the road. loosely coordinated board is something like 9 7 4 and sets up excellent for barreling. This means we need to be c betting these flops with the intention of betting a ton of turn cards to punish our opponents for peeling us light. BOARD DEVELOPMENT: This board also gets pretty damn bad a good about of the time. OPPONENTS FCR: Very tight. Again. OUR EQUITY WHEN BEHIND: SUPER AWESOME! Coordinated boards 226 . loosely coordinated boards A low. OUR EQUITY WHEN BEHIND: A lot of our range will have 3 to 6 percieved outs with a whole bunch of backdoor draws. BOARD DEVELOPMENT: Probably won’t get too scary from your opponents perspective. Why? Because these flops get peeled by everything. since people need some sort of strong hand to call a bet on these textures. Not bad if you ask me! Two high card. we should be less inclined to fire multiple barrels when called. Low. Examples of these flops will be K Q 2 . Lets hope you turn a draw. The most innocuous this board will usually be will be on the flop as there are five overcards that can come off. The reason is because people cannot call a bet without some sort of top/2nd pair or draw. OUR EQUITY WHEN BEHIND: It’s not spectacular. OPPONENTS FCR: All pairs will call. one low card These may be the absolute best boards to C-bet against a reasonably wide pre-flop calling range when in position. a lot of ace high hands as well as weak draws and other random hands. when we C-bet. For example. Therefore when we do occasionally c bet and are called. It may also be correct to occasionally bluff in this spot or to bet thin for value in spots where your opponent alyways expect you to be barreling. Summary on textures and barreling: These obviously aren’t all of the possible flop textures but I hope that by now you can come up with some strategies related to other boards. Examples would include a hand like A K . For this reason. Some hand histories: Try and figure out where the concepts apply. these are generally bad boards to c bet. Some of you guys will move up to mid-high stakes it will really help to get a feel for what level your opponent is on. I can’t overstate this. sometimes it will be correct to check back a strong hand on bad double barrel cards because your opponent won’t expect you to frequently bluff. One thing we need to remember about these textures is that our opponent will almost always raise or check-raise our C-bet with the top of his range. we can actually double (and tripple) barrel these boards somewhat often since a flop flat call is almsot always a marginal hand and our range will be stronger. Notice that some boards get peeled a lot while others don’t and some boards can get very scary while others rarely do. What should an “air” C-betting range look like on these flops? Generally it will be something that can improve when called but not so strong that we would be bothered to get check raised off of out hand.These are flops that hit ranges hard. When these double barreling concepts become common knowledge then it can sometimes be correct to play your hands in a way that is counter intuitive to this logic. When making the decision to barrel please use your player reads to make some assesment on just how wide someone is peeling your bets and how likely they will be to fold on various turn cards. On a flop such as T 8 7 you can expect to get peeled and played back at a ton. on average. 227 . 9 players The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.00 No Limit Hold’em .9 players The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.00 CO: $565.00) Q BB checks. com **HAND ONE** (Villain is a weak regular who calls wide from the blinds) MP1: $400.50 Hero (UTG+2): $433. Hero raises to $14.00 BB: $300. BB calls $20 Turn: ($70.00) T 4 6 (2 players) BB checks.00 UTG+2: $784. com UTG+1: $1060.00) Hero is UTG+2 with A K 2 folds.00 BTN: $63.00 No Limit Hold’em .00 MP1: $2027.00 Pre Flop: ($6. BB calls $10 Flop: ($30.55 228 . 5 folds.10 CO: $400.00 **HAND TWO** (Limper is a weak fish) Full Tilt Poker $1000.00 MP2: $3005.Full Tilt Poker $400.00 UTG: $174.00 SB: $72.00 MP2: $139. Hero bets $20.40 UTG+1: $152.00. Spoiler: (2 players) Hero bets $54. CO calls $10.60 SB: $819.00 SB: $490.00) 4 Spoiler: 5 7 (2 players) Hero Checks **HAND FOUR** (BB is a tough regular) 229 . com BTN: $249.00) Hero is BB with J Q 5 folds.00) A Spoiler: Hero Bets $135. CO calls $50 Turn: ($185.8 players The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.50 Hero (UTG): $440. 5 folds Flop: ($34. 2 folds. 1 fold. CO calls $30 Flop: ($85.00 MP1: $764.50 UTG+1: $484.00 Pre Flop: ($15. MP1 calls $14.00 Hero (BB): $1040.00 CO: $394.BTN: $2457. Hero raises to $40.00 No Limit Hold’em .00) 6 3 K (2 players) Hero bets $50.00 Pre Flop: ($6.00 UTG: $425.00) Hero is UTG with K A Hero raises to $14.00.30 BB: $578.00 (2 players) **HAND THREE** (Caller is a good regular) Full Tilt Poker $400.00 MP2: $813. 00 UTG: $174.00 MP2: $139.00 SB: $72.9 players The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked. Spoiler: (2 players) [Hero Checks] 230 . BB calls $10 Flop: ($30.00) 9 BB checks.00. 2 folds.40 UTG+1: $152.Full Tilt Poker $400.00 BB: $400.00) Hero is CO with Q J 5 folds. com MP1: $400.00 No Limit Hold’em . BB calls $20 Turn: ($70.00) 7 4 T (2 players) BB checks. Hero raises to $14.50 UTG+2: $400.00 Pre Flop: ($6.00 BTN: $63.10 Hero (CO): $433. Hero bets $20. A typical squeeze range facing open from a regular (who has a fold button) would be: IP: 231 . Why should I squeeze? It’s quite simple. For example I make 24ptbb/100 when I squeeze without TT+ AQ+. The question should be. Because it will show an instant profit. why should I not squeeze? For proof just go to your pt/hem database and look through your non premium hands where you squeezed someone and compare the profit you normally get on those hands. It’s called a squeeze because you’re essentially forcing the cold caller to become squeezed out of the pot and fold since there’s not a lot of ways he can defend himself. I’m not claiming to be all knowing What is a squeeze? Squeezing is 3betting an opener while a cold caller has called the initial raise. However when I normally play this range of hands I lose 4ptbb/100 What hands to squeeze? In general I would advice to squeeze when it’s possible when you have a decent hand that doesn’t play well multi way. I’m pretty sure for most of you. squeezing will show a higher profit. but does play well in a 3bet pot.The Squeeze Joopjan Disclaimer: I know people have varied opinions regarding 3bet ranges and how to deal with 3bets/squeezes so this I merely how I see it. Who should/shouldn’t I squeeze? The more a villain folds to 3bets the more profitable your “bluff” squeezes become. squeezing becomes especially profitable against opponents who fold too much too 3bets. Low/medium/high. A2-A5o. Much like a normal 3bet. if he’s playing fit or fold post flop it will still be profitable) in ever trying to bluff him off a better hand because he’s not folding. It’s possible to divide all your possible holdings into 3 categories compared to the villain’s range. because you would become super unbalanced. Possible hands you can include are 99/88 a8/a9o KQs KJs. Q8s/Q9s Why this range? Those of you that have seen mine and Greg’s video about “bluff raising” will already know this. If someone is prone to 232 . This doesn’t mean you should always squeeze any 2 when you have the opportunity. The more someone folds to 3bets the less inclined you should be to squeeze with value hands because they aren’t going to get called by worse as often. Another point noting is that the wider a villain’s range is the wider their range for folding/defending will become.JJ+. Since it’s a lot easier to value bet against them. Of course you want to squeeze with your “high” strength holdings because you’re going to get called by a ton of worse hands and/or are happy stacking off. A6s+. ATo+. More on this will probably be in Greg’s 3betting COTW. Why would you turn a medium strength hand into a bluff (which you have to fold when you get 4bet) when you can call and play a multi way pot with big implied odds instead. This is especially true against fish who never fold. As for your “bluff” squeezes. It shows an auto profit to squeeze against people who fold to 3bets 75%+. K9o+. Q8s/Q9s OOP: TT+ ATo+ K9o+ Q9o+ K2s-K9s. If a villain never folds to 3bets there’s no point (generally speaking. Cold calling to set mine in a multi way pot is going to show a bigger profit most of the time. Therefore you have to select the holdings with which you do squeeze. while it would be ok to 3bet them in a vacuum. Instead you should increase the value range you squeeze vs those villains. This includes most medium/low pocket pairs. K2s-K9s. Q9o+. People aren’t squeezing as bluffs as often as you think. Is there anything I can do if I cold call and I get squeezed (Back raising)? 233 . If you call you should raise a pretty wide range of flops because it won’t be possible to profit if you play fit or fold in these spot. How do I defend against a squeeze? Defending against squeezes is a tricky thing to do and not surprisingly a lot of people make mistakes with it. You have to treat the 3better as if he was a short stacker who’s shoving over your opens lightly. This is especially true when there’s several fish on your left who are prone to cold call you. If you’re in position you can call with your hands that play well multi way like Suited broadways and shove a pretty wide range of value hands. This becomes less the case if there’s a fish behind you but in general I would either 4bet or fold. The second best defense against habitual squeezers is to open less wide of a range so you set yourself up less to get squeezed. calling a 3bet while oop puts you in a ton of tricky spots and it becomes very difficult to play your draws aggressive enough to call with low suited connectors or pocket pairs. If you do find someone whose opening super wide and he has become exploitable I would suggest to either 4bet or fold if you’re OOP. they defend with the wrong hands or they defend in the wrong way. People aren’t squeezing you often enough at the micro stakes that it becomes something that you will need to defend against. Even if they are capable of squeezing “light”. The best defense against a squeeze is to fold. If you make a small 4bet you are often going to find villains flatting your 4bet in this situation which you don’t really want with TT or JJ. A lot of common mistakes are that people don’t defend enough. Why is defending so tricky? Because the size of the pot means it becomes hard to 4bet as a bluff because you will almost always be priced in to call the shove. Therefore it’s often correct to 4bet shove if you’re going to call the shove anyway if you want extra fold equity.4bet shove it’s also better to flat call with the bottom of your value range because your often going to get shoved off your equity. Fold when you get squeezed and be more likely to 4bet shove than to call 234 . That’s why if you back raise you are going to get called by an incredibly wide range. when you cold call you announce you don’t have a hand strong enough to raise. Don’t squeeze hands that you’re not sure about. you can cold call JJ+ occasionally and then back raise when you get squeezed. This is also what makes squeezing so powerfull. If you have someone who like to squeeze behind you (Or if you think the original opener isn’t going to call you without kk+). There’s one thing you can do to exploit this though.No. This will often cause you to win stacks Cliff notes • • • Squeeze a wide range Squeeze hands either as a bluff or for value. 235 . And sometimes they’ll call with 22 anyway.Nobody ever folded a full house. The first is that if you put your opponent on a full house and you can beat them. from straight flush over quads/FH/nut flush down to set over set. You are losing value if you don’t. If you have 22 on a board with three Aces. This theorem also generally applies to any monster over monster situation. This is particularly true when there is three of a kind on the board. However. you have no way of knowing if they have 22 or TT so go ahead and felt them. don’t expect to be able to push 66 off his hand. The second thing to realize is to never try to bluff anyone off a full house. I mentioned a couple theorems that originate on 2+2 and a bunch of people were. It is true that some villain may fold 22 on a board with three aces. If I’ve forgotten any. Application: There are two basic applications to this theory. Zeebo’s Theorem . Reasoning: Nobody is good enough to fold a monster. I’m sure someone will mention it. “Huh? Wat?” So here is a list of 2+2 theorems. Most players aren’t even good enough to fold a hand that looks like a monster but really isn’t. Players will call with an incredible range of full houses in that spot. don’t be afraid to overbet/push the river.List of 2+2 theorums Cry Me A River In the uNL chat today. Reasoning: Simply put. It is not and automatic fold but you need to consider if villain has a monster or just hit his draw. Or. OOP on the river. it is also an extremely popular and well known theorem.When you are OOP HU on the river and a 4-flush comes always bet. The turn is where most players who flopped a monster stop slowplaying and try to build pot. You will get a ton of folds. particularly HU. However. particularly 2+2 players can try to exploit this theorem. perhaps the best known. this is a VERY reliably theorem. Application: A raise on the turn is a signal to re-evaluate where you are at. Reasoning: In raised pots. Reliability: Yes. If you have a hand you don’t want to turn into a bluff (very villain dependent) like top set or the K-high flush then check/calling can be fine. with the exception sometimes of LAGs and maniacs. Application: Bet a lot of 4-flushes. you ARE turning your hand into a bluff. Keep in mind though. Reliability: Against fish and bad players in general. Most everyone is folding nonflush hands (that beat you) and small flushes. Clarkmeister’s Theorem . especially by floating. most players will just call down with one pair (be it pocket pair or top pair) type hands as well as draws.Reliability: This is the most reliable theorem. But over the long haul this is a VERY profitable spot to bluff. Nothing you can do there. it is time to re-evaluate one pair hands. Somebody will post and argue that it is actually 100%. a 4-flush is an ideal bluffing situation. So depending on the player (a decent 236 . BelugaWhale Theorem .When you are the preflop raiser and your turn bet is raised or check/raised. Nearly 100%. A lot of good players. they raise if they hit their draw. sometimes villain has the nut flush or calls with the K-high flush. Reasoning On a paired (or otherwise very dry flop) a player with an overpair is unlikely to want to stack off because usually the only hand he gets action from is a monster that crushes him. 237 . Yeti Theorem . For this reason. someone who DOES have a monster usually will usually slowplay here. For many players. Reliability: These days this is mostly considered a joke theorem or a sarcastic excuse for spew. Since neither strong hands like top pair and overpairs don’t 3bet here and monsters don’t 3bet here the only hands left that 3bet are bluffs. This is because Internet games between regulars are so much more aggressive than pre-Internet (ie live) games.player who is ALSO capable of making a play) you may need to discount this theorem considerably. Application: If someone 3bets you in this situation. Against some players (ABC TAG) this theorem does still hold merit however. 4bet/push.A flop three bet on a dry (preferably paired) board is always a bluff. Aggression is often used to conceal hand strength as much or more as slowplaying is used. “fast play is the new slow play” so players will stack off in these spots both with overpairs AND with monsters. What is thin value? Let’s go back to the theory of betting. In this COTW I will try to describe what thin value betting is. if you’re not capable of value betting in the correct situations. 238 . There’s 2 (main) reasons why you should be betting: to get called by worse hands or to get better hands to fold. they lose. Why is thin value betting so important? To go back to the fundamental theorem of poker: Quote: Every time you play a hand differently from the way you would have played it if you could see all your opponents’ cards. better hands will call as well. and every time you play your hand the same way you would have played it if you could see all their cards. Your value betting against certain hands in their range while some other (and hopefully fewer) hands in their range will beat your hand. You will not be able to win as much as others. In fact it is often said that the single thing that defines mid stakes players from micro stakes players is their proper use of value betting.Thin Value Betting Joopjan Thin value Value betting is the most important thing there is in poker. Sometimes however when your value betting. You may be the best player out there. why you should be value betting as thinly as possible and how to defend against thin value bets. they gain. This is called thin value betting. For example: having AA on A367J is a very easy value bet that requires little to no hand reading. Because thin value bets come up so often they have a huge impact on your winrate. you need to be more certain of your read that you’re going to be called by worse hands. There’s also plenty of times where you will bet preflop for thin value. This is probably a huge leak for a lot of micro stakes players. Another big advantage to being able to value bet thinly is that it lets you balance your range for betting the river. However if you start making thin value bets people will have a lot harder time playing against you because suddenly they can’t bluff catch as wide as they used to be able to. How can I learn to thin value bet? The most important thing you have to learn to be able to value bet thinly is to hand read properly. you lose.Conversely. Sometimes however villain will also call you with better hands. You expect to get called by a wide range of hands of which you dominate some. A2 on A367J requires you to know (or have an indication of) villain’s calling range. Because there will also be hands in villains range that will beat you. If you’re only betting when you are almost certain you have the best hand (or the worst) villains are going to be able to play almost perfectly against you. Thin value post flop comes up a lot when you are isolating weaker opponents. every time opponents play their hands differently from the way they would have if they could see all your cards. This is especially true because thin value bets are often bets on the river where the amount won (or lost) is often the greatest. You might isolate someone 239 . Just think of all those times you have checked back the river and when you have villain show up with something that might have called another bet. Thin value preflop Thin value isn’t necessarily a post flop thing. and every time they play their hands the same way they would have played if they could see all your cards. A good example would be you 3bet AQ against another regular OOP. Every time you make a thin value bet and they call incorrectly you profit. you gain. This of course is no different than normal value betting however thin value betting takes things a step further. 00) Hero is BTN with 9 Q Hero raises to $6. Hero bets $32. For more on this check out the COTW on isolating.00 BB: $134. SB calls $32 240 . com Hero (BTN): $522. This even counts on the river if the draws brick. This means that you should be more inclined to bet for value with these marginal hands against (passive) opponents on wet boards. Q9 on A92 will hardly get called by worse on more than 1 street. For example Q9 on J96ss can easily bet for thin value. SB calls $5. Hero bets $14. BB checks. Villain is unlikely to continue with a lot of hands and part of his continuing range has you crushed. This means he might call you with weaker hands like 98s but he will also call you with hands that dominate you such as KT. BB calls $4 Flop: ($18. But he will probably also have AK and QQ in his range. Board texture The wetter the board texture the wider the range of hands your villain is going to call with.00 SB: $205.00) 9 J 6 (3 players) SB checks.65 Pre Flop: ($3.00) 3 (2 players) SB checks. Thin value preflop can also exist when your 3betting (or 4betting) someone.with K9o preflop for thin value. Betting for thin value preflop is one the reasons why isolating is so good. You profit from their mistake of limping and playing too loose preflop with easily dominated hands. SB calls $14. Turn: ($46.3 players The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked. Hand #1 Full Tilt Poker $1/$2 No Limit Hold’em . For example if you 3bet an utg raise with KK it can often times be considered for thin value. BB folds. Most of the time if villain did have a really strong hand he would have (min)raised the turn with it so his range is mostly medium and low strength hands. Hero bets $53.39. Villain is pretty fishy so he can show up with a wide range of hands. Bet sizing The smaller you make the bet the less often it needs to work.00 (Rake: $2. For example a thin value bet of 1/3 pot only needs to get called by worse 1/4th of the time Bet size in relation to pot size .River: ($110.33 0. Final Pot: $163.5x . The more likely villain is to call with worse hands.50 0. I believe it’s still a bet against this particular villain.7 0. Reducing the 241 .% of success needed 4x . A lot of villains will also only look at the pot odds and will not think about the actual hand that you are repping by making a small bet on the river.66 1x .00 Hero wins $161.00) Villain shows: A 6 As beluga once said people are more likely to make the mistake of calling too much than the mistake of folding too much.25x . Therefore while the river might look somewhat thin because of all the missed draws. When he faces a “small” bet on the river however.66x .20 So as you can see the % of success needed decreases when the betsize decreases.80 2x . A lot of villains will put you on some kind of missed draw that’s trying to get them to fold their draws. This means that as the bet becomes thinner and thinner we can decrease the betsize and we will need to get value from a smaller % of his range in total. the more inclined you should be to value bet for thin value.00) 3 (2 players) SB checks. SB calls $53. Position As with everything in poker.bet size also has the added benefit of making opponents more likely to call you with the weakest part of his range. For example some people might hero call ace high if you make the bet small enough. Pseudo thin value Pseudo thin value is when you have the nuts or close to the nuts. In general try to err on the side of betting. As you can see however there are still worse hands that ended up calling me though. This also ties into block bets somewhat. Not being able to get bluffed off your hand also doesn’t hurt. If he does have something like 77 that he was slowplaying however he will almost always raise them so against the nutty end of his range you wont lose value if you make a small bet. Being able to see what your opponent does is a big advantage. To be able to get called you have to reduce your bet sizing to induce light calls (or raises) from him..twoplustwo. This is probably what classifies as a spot thats too thin to bet. When the value is razor thin and your unsure on whether to bet or to check behind. 242 . When the value is too thin http://forumserver. For example: You have 66 on 667QK and you bet both the flop and the turn and he called twice. People don’t like folding because they won’t see the results and don’t like getting bluffed off hands. Sometimes you might make a small thin value bet while oop both as a blocking bet and to get thin value from your opponent.r-spot-482500/ This was one of the first hands i posted after joining 2+2. Here its pretty unlikely villain is going to have any kind of made hand that is able to call your bet. but villains range only contains hands for which it is almost impossible to call another bet. Position makes your decisions alot easier..com/78. There’s simply too many hands to have me beat on the river. Therefore people’s calling ranges are oftentimes wider then you would think. Be wary however. Sometimes when you know villain has a range that consists almost only of missed draws it will be profitable to make a really small bet (10-25% of the pot) to get those to fold. against thinking opponents you cant just start raising any thin value bet. They will try to balance their range and will try to put you on a range. If you have a draw yourself as well with no or low showdown value. Alot of people see a 1/3 pot and only see the pot odds but against a regular you have to think why they are making that 1/3 pot bet. If they have some kind of middle pair they are more likely to call because they will assume (incorrectly) that they will have showdown value. This can be done either by bet sizing (not the best of tells) or by putting him on a range based on the action leading upto the street. If you aren’t repping anything you are more likely to get looked up lighter. People aren’t likely to turn their showdown value into a bluff though by raising. When you have identified that villain is actually thin value betting the easiest defence is to raise. Most villains at the micro stakes are unable to hand read very well therefore when you raise their thin value bet they will almost always fold because a thin value bet is by nature almost always a bet/fold. Some common thin value spots -Bet/check/bet 243 . Your bet will have a great price because villain only has to fold 1 in 5 or so for it to be profitable but if villains range contains mostly draws he most likely will fold most of his better draws that missed How to defend against thin value This ties into hand reading again. Do you really think there’s alot of villains out there who are going to make a 1/3 pot bets as a bluff? I see way too many regulars snap off these bets with some kind of middle pair for no reason at all. You have to be able to identify when your opponent is thin value betting. Another type of common defense against thin value betting is actually thinking what villains are trying to achieve with betting. In fact many of the defenses that work against blocking bets work against thin value bets as well.This also ties into making really small bluffs. If you’re playing against someone good however it becomes a very poor line for value. The more draws there are on the board the wider their calling range is going to be and thus bet/ bet/check or bet/bet/bet becomes better against them. Then when you check back flop they are assuming you have some kind of showdown value hand as well (or are afraid of them not cbetting a super dry board) and will go for thin value. If you had a very strong hand or a bluff you would almost always bet/bet/bet so they will put you on your exact holding. This means that against regulars who aren’t good this is a great line for thin value because they snap you off with the dumbest stuff. They could be giving up on the hand if they dont think they have enough pot + fold equity to make cbetting profitable. Taking the bet/check/bet line against good regulars also opens them up to river check/ raises. Often times villain will have a hand like QQ on K52 and will be unsure what to on the flop. They bet the flop for value because they will cbet with a wide range then they check the turn because they wont be able to get 2 streets out of their hand. A fish’s calling range is almost always bigger on the turn then it is on the river. Then when you check the river to them they bet because they assume they can get thin value.When someone takes this line it is almost for thin value. Bet/check/Bet is almost never the best line against a fish in position. They will see what your trying to achieve. When you check/raise them it is hard to actually represent a credible hand so they will look you up pretty light. When you check back the river they will assume you are just giving up on the hand and will try to go for thin value themself most of the time. Therefore they will check. This also has advantages however in that you can start taking this line as a bluff. -Check/Bet When someone doesn’t cbet a board it often means 3 things. This is often the case when they do bet the turn. This is often times the case as well as there are a lot of regulars who don’t think enough about their opponents range. They could be slowplaying a big hand altough this doesnt occur too much. Cliff notes 244 . Whenever I take this line i always get looked up by all kinds of middle pairs. Or they have showdown value but they dont think they are going to get called by worse by betting the flop. the more you should be inclined to bet for thin value The better you are at handreading the easier thin value betting will become 245 .• • • • • • Thin value can make up a big part of your winrate People have wider calling ranges then you think The smaller the bet size the smaller the range you get value from needs to be Think about what villain is trying to achieve when he’s betting The more villain calls with worse hands. or make enough thin-value bets The next two leaks that are related to the above at the micro levels are: 1: Underestimating Showdown Value 2: Bluffing unknowns These are important to remember as we explore this concept of the week. but will vary on the villain/ level. let’s talk about what I feel some of the biggest leaks at the micro FR stakes.Turning made hand into bluff SammyG-SD Before we talk about the mechanics of this COTW. For discussion a made hand. in any hand we have that beats the board and is better than “X” – high. With X usually being an Ace. 246 . What is a “made hand”. First leak I see that a lot of the villains have is: Quote: The average Micro Stakes players Call too much. when they should be folding This leads the corollary that I see new winning players have at the micro-stakes Quote: uNL Players don’t value bet enough. If we describe the villain as “fish”. As we get better at hand reading and understating our villains. don’t bluff the wrong villain. “Antonious Patrick” . 3: Bluffing too much/the wrong villain. then why are we talking about another type of bluff? Good question. you can start to identify the situations where it may be profitable and eventually you can implement. “unknown” we probably don’t want to be trying to bluff them. “monkey”. When every we are bluffing. and how they play their monsters on wet/dry boards. You should also know when they like to bluff. Know your Image 3. we are “representing a range”. and has been stated many times on the forums by countless posters. 247 . there will be opportunities where we can make money off this type of bluff. So here are SammyG’s entrance criteria before we implement this bluff: 1. 2.So if the biggest leaks at the micros for the wining uNL players are 1: Not v-betting enough . As I have moved up the ability to fold by the regs seems a little more prevalent. Know what part of his range you are trying to get to fold. 2: Underestimating Showdown value. “calling station”. “donk”. Know Your Villain. “Know your villain” So as I stated earlier. “ mouth-breather”. and hopefully improve your WR. we have to know that: a) Villain understands what our line means b) Villain’s software has the FOLD button installed and has shown the ability to click it. One of the notes I use to take at NL25 all the time was “Knows how to fold in a big pot/turn/river” . “spazz”. when the are taking pot control lines. So if you know about it. what the villain is representing. My fold to 3bet is 73%. There will be times we are doing this type bluff where our hand is currently ahead of them (or even). Your showdown value probably has increased for most of your holdings. Full Tilt Poker $0. but they may have better equity against us. then bluffing a made hand is probably not a good idea. Villain is 20/16. with a 3bet from the button of 10% and a fold to 4bet against me of 11/13.50/$1 No Limit Hold’em . If you are targeting one hand to fold that is better than your hand.60 248 . the other was AA vs AA. Let’s look at some examples: This first example is a preflop situation. who is capable of bluffing at anytime with any hand. So he has not seen me 4bet him light.65 CO: $96. even though I have.“Know your Image” If you have cultivated a crazy/agro image at a table. and what do you think villain will be continuing with. I am running about 19/14 overall. but there are tons of flops/turns/rivers that we do not want to see. com MP2: $65. but if you are taking a line where there are 18 different combos in villains range you can get value from.9 players The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked. “What are you trying to get to fold” Think about what you are representing. and I noted in one of those calls he had AQ vs my AA. Now why do we bluff. I like he explanation given: Quote: We buff to get the villain to surrender their equity in the pot. Or we have a hand that could be good. with 8/8 UTG. then you may want to think about maximizing the value part of villains range. I figure his squeezing range here is KK+. AK+. 1 fold. who is a serial floater raise me on the flop. Here is an example on the flop. he would wait until the turn to fire. I raised PF in MP and get HU against a solid reg.70 MP1: $107. I am not in horrible shape against KK+. Kxs.BTN: $109. Axs. 9 Players LeggoPoker. I figure if he had a set. 2 folds. 3 fold. Hero wins $22. BTN raises to $12. I do not put many monsters in his range.00 BB: $100.AK+. Full Tilt. and his range.10 MP2: $34. 2 fold.com . since that I have a note that he only plays monsters fast on wet boards. $0.75 UTG+2: $84. MP1 calls $3.70 UTG+2: $104.00 Hero (UTG): $246. unless he is slow playing AA/KK PF.50) Hero is UTG with 2 2 Hero raises to $3.55 MP1: $94. Hero raises to $31.90 BB: $207. and Villain.00 SB: $100. Basically given my range.50 Hero (UTG+1): $109. and waits with sets on dry boards. UTG+1 calls $3. Basically. Flop is fairly dry.35 CO: $100 BTN: $100 Pre-Flop: 6 6 dealt to Hero (UTG+1) 249 .5 A while back ago I started to add a few hands to balance my 4bet range against regs and black twos were the first one’s I added.50/$1 NL Hold’em Cash Game.65 UTG+1: $181. and I believe I probably can even get him to fold some AK and all the other trash.85 UTG: $80.Hand History Converter SB: $95.15 Pre Flop: ($1. MP1 calls $3. 250 .1fold I figure there are not enough hands that he loves to get it in here that takes this line. I will either need to turn my hand into a bluff on the turn with a stop and go. I will post some river hands later on in the thread.50) J 4 7 (2 Players) Hero bets $5. MP1 raises to $12 . UTG+2 folds. So remember the rules: 1. Know Your Villain. I can’t call this. Know your Image 3. Know what part of his range you are trying to get to fold. 5 folds Flop: ($7. Hero raises to $3. knowing my double barrel %. Plus. or c/f most turn cards. My read was that he polarized most of his range to bluffs here. Hero raises $28. 2.UTG folds. so even though I may be ahead. The kinds of players that are very common in micro stakes.Value Betting Cry Me A River Value betting There are only a half-dozen reasons why we bet: Value . however we’d be happy just to win the pot now. VPBSID . Deception .Villain will fold hands that beat us. VPBSID. Shania loves you. Being effective with your value bets is incredibly important against loose passive players (calling stations). This is a key component of play in the micros. Protection . 251 . Rolls right off the tongue.To make it incorrect for villain to chase draws.Merge your range. you’ll never forget! The post will deal primarily with betting for value.Villain will call with worse hands.Our hand has equity. memorable acronym.Villain’s reaction tells us where we are. Semi-Bluff . Information .Say it with me. Bluff . yo. doesn’t it? Now that you have an easy. What is a value bet? A value bet is any bet where you expect to be called mostly by worse hands and the value gained from worse hands calling exceeds the loss incurred when you actually don’t have the best hand or you’re otherwise forced to fold before showdown. We need to be enough ahead of his calling range to make up for the times he raises. you want your opponent to call. it’s called pandering. straights.When value betting with less than a monster. When value betting. If you are able to deduce your opponent’s hand. sets. And when he does call we don’t want him to have a better hand. 2pairs. you can’t bet. If he doesn’t usually have a worse hand or if he’s not going to be able to call with a worse hand.com/watch?v=qv2C_m0D-gY 252 . you gain a tremendous advantage. This also involves being able to evaluate board texture. And when he does call you want it to be with a worse hand. When you value bet. I’m referencing Rounders. Deal with it!) http://www. a board where he either has the nuts or air) then we have to be way ahead of his calling range in order to make betting profitable. Value betting and especially value betting thin often involves TPNK and middle pair type hands. So when we value bet we do not want to see a raise. we don’t want to have to bet/fold very often. Hand Reading The fundamental theorem of poker states: Quote: If you can read hands you can overcome the disadvantage of incomplete information. Betting big hands. You may remember this scene from Rounders (yeah. The ones we really have to think about are the more marginal hands. flushes is usually an easy decision. Especially against stations who will call with anything. an aggressive player. If we’re in a situation where he’s going to raise our bet a lot (ie. low straights or small flushes. But the majority of these situations are one pair hands. In order value bet effectively. If he has a better hand then betting is just costing us money and we shouldn’t be betting. we often can’t call a raise. you need to be good at hand reading. Sometimes things get tricky with sets on coordinated boards.youtube. And you’re going to be turning hands into bluffs when you should just be taking showdowns. The way to beat LAGs is to trap and sometimes call down a little light. You need to be able to put people on ranges and ideally hands. If you can’t do this. If you’re going to valuetown people you need to also put them on calling ranges. You need to practice. if you can’t hand read it’s going to catch up to you and you’re going to suffer as you try to climb out of the micros and you can’t just feast on donks all day while avoiding the other decent players. You’re going to miss bets a better player would make. This is one of the fundamental skills in poker. are most useful against calling stations and other players who call too much (ie. Know your enemy Value betting. If you want to be a good player you need to be able to routinely put people on hands. putting your opponent on a range isn’t enough. You can get away with auto-betting in the micros. and there’s some real BS (representing trips by checking? WTF?) but at it’s core you need to be like Mike. You need to learn the common patterns used by the various types of players. you are going to spew. LAGs don’t call down very much. this is a typical Hollywood setup. TAGs who aren’t very good). However.Yes. Value bets are not very useful against LAGs. especially the nano-stakes where everyone is so bad it doesn’t matter. Avoid value betting LAGs They’re just going to raise you and then you’re screwed. 253 . Eventually you should be doing this automatically for every hand. They bet and raise when they have a hand (and when they don’t). Against TAGs and good sLAGs you will want to use a combination of value betting and trapping along with other weapons in your arsenal (ie. bluffing). especially thin value bets. What’s more. If you have a loose and/or aggressive image. Use your image Your image is very important in putting your opponent’s on a calling range. your opponents will be much more inclined to call you down with their more marginal hands. When it is checked to us unless he’s slowplaying or intending to check/raise it usually means his hand doesn’t have a lot of value. The more you value bet. When out of position it is much more difficult to judge an opponent’s hand strength. The more LAG you are. If you have a tight and/or passive image. It is also much more difficult to get value since our OOP bets will be perceived as much stronger. In particular. So if you are LAG or sLAG be more inclined to value bet thin. Be more inclined to make thin value bets when you have position and you can use the knowledge gained by position to your benefit. When we are able to act after our opponent we are much more able to judge when he doesn’t have a strong hand. Which leads to a self-fulfilling cycle. if a tight player has already called a bet be wary of continuing to bet into him unless you have a strong hand. 254 . your opponents will tighten up their calling range because they will tend to put you on better hands. A positionally aware player will need a much stronger hand to call us down than when we are betting with position. the more LAG you will appear. You’re just not going to get more than one or two streets of value OOP from a tight player with less than a monster. be less inclined to value bet thing because you’re not going to get calls from weak hands. If you are nitty or passive. the more you should value bet.Use position Position is important in value betting because position is an important tool in hand reading. Be less inclined to value bet OOP. Consider instead starting to open up your play a little so you can start to get more value from marginal situations. You’re not trying to force a fold when you value bet. Don’t turn hands with showdown value into bluffs If your opponent can’t call you with a worse hand then you’re not value betting.Bet size can influence calling range The size of your bet can influence your opponent’s calling range. not value betting. You want to value bet (thin) when your opponent’s hand is a bunch of squishy mid-range hands. Beware of polarized ranges Be aware of when your opponent’s range is polarized to the extent that he’s almost always either raising (or slowplaying) or folding. You either made a mistake in their range/calling range or you bet too much and pushed them off their hand. You’re often better off checking behind.. Not when he either has a monster or air. four to a straight) without a big hand. Most players are not calling multiple streets on A-high boards without an ace. This is where board texture really becomes important. When you’re value betting and your opponent folds it means you’ve made a mistake. try a 1/2 pot bet instead of a 3/4 pot bet. On the other hand. When he has air. Many players shut down when obvious draws hit unless they were chasing. Well. If your opponent is on the tight side and you think he’s going to fold too much of this range. Always remember you want worse hands to call. there’s no point in betting you’re not going to get any value.. When he has a monster. You are bluffing. Beware of chasers 255 . Bluffing there may be a good idea. it should be obvious why you don’t want to be betting into monsters. Most players aren’t calling down on very scary boards (four-flush. If the four-flush hits on the river and you don’t have a decent flush you’re not betting for value because your opponent is seldom calling with a worse hand. if your opponent is a serious station consider maximizing value you by making potsized bets all the way. but know that you are bluffing. Keep this in mind. On the other hand. Go back to that list of reasons we bet. So you’re often still okay to value bet against these players when draws come in. if we’re going to value bet the flop thin and shut down if called we’re usually better off checking the flop. When these draws come in. They’ll usually either play these hands aggressively or fold. Don’t become predictable. keep them guessing. 256 . you need to be able to assess the likelihood you’re still ahead or you’ve just been out-drawn. people are going to start snapping off your bluffs with ace-high. If every time you bet it’s a value bet from a tight range then observant players will have an easy time adjusting to you. For example. This is particularly true against loose players who are good enough to fold hands like bottom pair but will chase draws. if you bluff much more than you value bet. Think ahead If we are value betting thin and getting called is going to get us into trouble on later streets because we’re not prepared to go after multiple streets of value consider checking this street instead of later streets. In many cases you’re no longer ahead of your opponent’s range let alone his calling range. especially stations will chase draws. particularly OOP if we’re just going to give up when called. TAGs and LAGs are much less likely to chase draws without odds. Especially against tricky opponents. Easy to play against. Part of a well balanced attack Solid value betting is part of a well balanced attack.Many players. You may still be ahead of the ones who call with any pair but the ones who can fold will have polarized ranges if there aren’t many one pair/overpair type hands that you’re beating since the draw came in. That is. you become easy to read. don’t give your opponents the opportunity to float you or call with a weak hand and then take the pot away from you on a later street when you obviously give up. If your betting range is out of balance. An opponent may accidentally fold a hand he didn’t mean to (misclick). especially if he doesn’t have a good read on us.71 257 . calls and certainly folds. the ideal situation. A thin value bet where we are equally ahead and behind villain’s range) is actually +EV. When we bet. we give players an opportunity to make a mistake. aggressive players are much more difficult to play against. “I can’t win because they always suck out on me!” First.77 Hero (BB): $2.A aggressive move that is break-even is +EV An aggressive move that is mathematically break-even (ie. When he check/calls flop his range is something like A2/ A3/A4/A6/A7/A8/AT/AJ/89/9T/56/45/67/78/55/99. What happens when we fail to value bet? Otherwise known as.66 SB: $0.02 No Limit Hold’em .00 UTG+2: $0.04 UTG+1: $2. Full Tilt Poker $0.9 players MP2: $1.78 BTN: $1. to adjust to. An opponent may misread the meaning of our aggression. Bets and raises are much harder to read and play against than checks. AQ/A9/A5 are possible but you have to think even someone this passive is leading a lot of the time. In addition. His preflop limping range is huge.00 UTG: $2. Whenever you bet. So we are well ahead of his calling range even though our kicker is marginal.01/$0.1 after 80 hands. there is a small Shania component. Three streets of value from a calling station: Villain is 40/3/0. Players start wondering if maybe they shouldn’t be folding middle pair and they may start to make some bad calls.32 CO: $3. Or you may tilt someone as they get fed up with being run over even if we aren’t really being all that aggressive. 02.141% 12.10. we’re actually only winning 54. UTG+1 calls River: ($0.08% 16. UTG+2 folds. the worst case scenario is that stacks go in and we lose a full $.78% of the time.09. What’s more.36% 16.78% 979 1329.09 in profit) According to PokerStove. UTG folds. For simplicity sake we’re just going to make this assumption that for any split pot we lose $.00 { A2s.32 Pre Flop: ($0.02. Hero checks Flop: ($0.859% 54.Even though we have a dominating hand and appear to be way ahead. UTG+2 calls $0.MP1: $2.00 { As8c } Hand 1: 29. MP2 calls $0.13) 5 A 9 (6 players) Hero bets $0. MP2 folds.83) J (2 players) Hero bets $0.75.08% of the time we win $1.12 rake UTG+1 shows: A2 Hero wins: $2.10.21 ($1.10. UTG+1 calls $0. 2 folds.33) 6 (2 players) Hero bets $.$. CO calls $0.25.02.78% 4283 1329. UTG+1 calls Final pot: $2.33 . our equity on the flop is almost 71% but we only win 54.02. 1 fold.08% because we wind up splitting the pot 16. A2o } Please read that again . the calling station will outdraw us almost 30% of the time! In a split pot.02. UTG+1 calls $0. CO folds Turn: ($0.08% of the time: Board: 5s Ah 9c Dead: equity win tie pots won pots tied Hand 0: 70.03) Hero is BB with A 8 UTG calls $0.10 to the rake. 54. 258 . 30. he’s just calling the turn with 2pair a significant amount of the time.09.37. Whether he raises river or just calls out third barrel doesn’t matter.78% of the time we lose $. So how often are we folding the turn and how often are we folding the river/losing showdown? When he hits his 2pair. On average we will make $. Our expected value from this hand is ($1.1678-$.Either because he’s slowplaying or just because he’s a station.93x.30.10. 54.2914) $. Except there’s one thing missing here. If he hits his 2pair on the river and raises (or slowplays the turn) this hand costs us $1.75) $.09.12. If he hits his 2pair on the turn and raises this hand costs us $.93. we lose ($. He’s basically never raising with a worse hand and even when he has a monster he’s not always raising . 16. We lose the hand either way . So instead just keep in mind that we actually average slightly more than $.16.by folding or at showdown. So I’m going to estimate that he raises the turn 25% of the time and we see the river the other 75% of the time. half the time he’s going to hit it on the turn and half the time on the river.12x. So how much do we lose? With TPNK against a calling station we are folding if he ever raises. 29.08% of the time we win $1. 29. So that’s what happens when we keep our foot on the gas and 259 .14% of the time we lose ???. But I’m not goign to go down this road because it requires a lot of assumptions about when a station will stack off. That’s when we both make 2pair.30 on this hand.10x.14% of the time we lose $.37x. So when we lose. However.09x.10.78% of the time we lose $. When this happens we’re going to win more than $1.93.5408$.25+$1. 01/$0. What happens when we blink? Full Tilt Poker $0.33) 6 (2 players) Hero checks. CO folds Turn: ($0.02.20 in profit) This is a really simplified case.32 Pre Flop: ($0.32 ($. UTG+1 checks River: ($0. Even the worst calling stations will bet there when they river 2pair.10.03) Hero is BB with A 8 UTG calls $0. Hero checks Flop: ($0.take our opponent on a ride to valuetown.9 players MP2: $1. UTG+2 calls $0.78 BTN: $1. They’re also betting their one pair hands sometimes after we check two streets.02 No Limit Hold’em .02.02. MP2 calls $0. even when he hits 2pair. 1 fold. UTG+1 checks Final pot: $. UTG+1 calls $0.71 MP1: $2.00 UTG: $2.00 UTG+2: $0. Even though villain cooperates by checking it down. CO calls $0.01 UTG+1 shows: A2 Hero wins: $.77 Hero (BB): $2.02. we’re still 260 .66 SB: $0. 2 folds. UTG folds.33 rake $.13) 5 A 9 (6 players) Hero bets $0.02.33) J (2 players) Hero checks. UTG+1 calls $0.32 CO: $3.10. MP2 folds. We’ve assumed that villain checks it through here as well. And of course we will hit out 2pair sometimes too.04 UTG+1: $2. UTG+2 folds. 1 fold. UTG+1 calls River: ($0.05x. because we’ve kept the pot small.32 CO: $3.2914) $.02 No Limit Hold’em .66 SB: $0. However. Full Tilt Poker $0. 2 folds.02.20.78% of the time we lose $. I’m going to estimate that we only lose $.02.00 UTG: $2.5408-$. UTG+1 calls $0.71 MP1: $2.10.77 Hero (BB): $2. And of course we still lose 29.12x.1678$.06. CO calls $0.00 UTG+2: $0.32 Pre Flop: ($0.04 UTG+1: $2.02.25.03) Hero is BB with A 8 UTG calls $0. 29. Hero checks Flop: ($0.02. UTG+2 folds.20x. we’ve basically ignored the effects of 2pair over 2pair. MP2 calls $0. 54. UTG+1 calls $0.83) J (2 players) 261 .14% of the time we lose $.06 on this hand.9 players MP2: $1.01/$0.08% of the time we win $. UTG folds.12.33) 6 (2 players) Hero bets $.02. 16.10. Again.78 BTN: $1. On average we will make $. Our expected value from this hand is ($. UTG+2 calls $0.05 to a split pot as villain isn’t going to stack off nearly as often. CO folds Turn: ($0. But we’re going to ignore it in all cases because it’s difficult to model accurately (how often do we play for stacks?) and they should (more or less) cancel each other out because they occur just as often in all these cases.05.08% of the time.13) 5 A 9 (6 players) Hero bets $0. MP2 folds.only winning 54.14% of the time. 29.08% of the time.42 in profit) This is a really simplified case.42x.08% of the time we win $.11 on this hand. because we’ve kept the pot small. 54. And of course we still lose 29.5408-$. our EV in these hands when we: Bet all three streets: $. UTG+1 checks Final pot: $.1678$. Our expected value from this hand is ($. That failing to value bet costs a ton of value and turns very profitable hands into marginal earners. even when he hits 2pair. On average we will make $. And of course we will hit out 2pair sometimes too. However.37.42. when villain raises or bets somewhere after we take our foot off the gas.2914) $. we’re still only winning 54.37x. If you can’t win because the calling stations keep outdrawing you.07x.Hero checks. In summary. When we hit our two pair and get more value than checking it through two streets. However.14% of the time.11. Obviously this hand is potentially much more complex. We’ve assumed that villain checks it through here as well. Even the worst calling stations will bet there when they river 2pair. Even though villain cooperates by checking it down.78% of the time we lose $. You’re actually usually not that big a 262 .07 to a split pot as villain isn’t going to stack off nearly as often.06 I’ve only analyzed three very simple cases.79 ($. They’re also betting their one pair hands sometimes after we check two streets.14% of the time we lose $.04 UTG+1 shows: A2 Hero wins: $. I’m going to estimate that we only lose $.83 rake $.30 Bet two streets and check it through: $. 16. I’m not going to delve into all these sub cases because I think I’ve made my point.11 Bet flop and then check it down: $. it’s because you’re not making enough from the times they don’t out draw you. ie.07. That’s the value of compound interest. Anyone can get value from their monsters. People like to post about folding KK preflop or folding sets but these situations are relatively uncommon. When we bet two streets instead of one. bet with a flopped set on a dry board. We need to take advantage of when we are a favorite because otherwise the difference between winning and losing is not very big. The real difference is in the frequency of winsversus the loses. There are some important things you should take away from all of this.favorite over the calling station so you need to squeeze every bit of profit out of them you can when your hands hold up. That’s why we need to keep hammering these guys. Otherwise these one pair hands turn into only marginal winners and you will have a hard time staying profitable. Giving up a street of value is absolutely huge because that third street is by far the most profitable street. However. In all three cases. It’s being able to capitalize on these very common situations that really distinguishes the marginal winners from the good players. If you are not rigorously exploiting your opponents you are giving up tremendous value over many. many hands. bet. when we go from two streets to three streets our EV almost triples. the amount of money we lose when we lose the hand is almost as much as the amount we win when our hand holds up. 263 . The real key is that the kinds of valuetown hands happen extremely regularly. Anyone can bet. our EV only (about) doubles. Marginal one pair hand type situations occur again and again and again. Combinatorics derosnec Chomp asked me to post about counting combos. there are a lot of straight draws on many flops. So 48 ways for AT+. I don’t know) this post might be obvious and second nature. How many ways can the opponent have AK? 3 aces remaining multiplied by 4 kings remaining = 12 ways he can have AK. there are 48 ways he can have an OESD (16 ways of 98. For example. so if there are errors. 95. That’s 112 ways he can have a straight draw (ok. please tear into me all you want. You have QQ. and 85 aren’t very realistic. Take the remaining cards and multiply them by each other. and 16 ways of 95). While reading this. so I have some time now. 84. How about 67? 3 * 3 = 9 ways. What you will notice after doing this after while is you’ll start to gain some insights. I like to learn. Check Poker Stove to verify. But maybe for a few it will be helpful. On A67. Combinations 101 It’s easy to do. but you 264 . 16 ways of 43. 16 ways of 84. For some (or most. 16 ways of 85) 64 ways he can have a gutshot (16 ways of T9. 16 ways of 54. Example: Flop is A67. keep in mind that I have an IQ of about 20 or 30 in the mornings and that I’m not a coach or anything. 8 ways for AK. 8 ways for JT. You are the pfr and bet. that leaves 6 ways for KK. 3 ways he can have QQ. 18 ways total. 16 ways he have T8. 8 ways he can have AT. The first thing you’ll notice is the ways he can have top pair. K9+. Are you generally ahead here? Assume we put his pf range at 22+. and 6 ways for 99. QT = 12 ways. huh? And trips or better? 4 ways he can have AJ. Range versus Combinations The example above is a bit more revealing (to me at least) of the reality of opponent’s distribution of hands than merely just saying he has X range. 76. That’s almost as many ways as he can have top pair. He calls. 265 . Q9 = 12 ways. So. 6 ways for QJ. 16 ways for 98. while those who use combinations are looking at that bread with a microscope and seeing all that constitutes it (maybe that’s a dumb analogy). And 16 ways he can have K9. Let’s try AA on a QJJr flop. 6 ways for TT. Q9+. 8 ways he can have KJ. AQ = 6 ways (because 2 aces left and 3 queens left). 8 ways for J9. 38 ways he can have trips or better. 1 way JJ. you are – to use an analogy looking at a piece of bread. KQ = 12 ways. That’s 96 ways he can have a straight draw. T8+. We’re behind 38 combos. So that’s 42 ways he can have TP. What about straight draws? 32 ways he can have an OESD. If you are only using ranges. The other hands: we’ll assume he folds 22-88/A8/A9 to the flop bet. Add it all up and we get: We’re ahead of 156 combos.get the point). A8+. 98. J9+. Impressive. 000 flop combinations heads up (I think). he might play TT different as the pf caller on a Qh6s7s flop than he would as the pf raiser. Our reads are based on a tiny % of those flops that opponent has seen. as opposed to MSNL/HSNL). 2)Preflop dynamics. So you have direct hand evidence of 15 hands. or a monster multiway might differ how he plays it heads up. So. The reasons why might be obvious but I’ll discuss them anyway. 4)Flop texture: There are roughly 17. Will he play it the same on all flop combinations? Our read on how an opponent plays a set will probably come from only one or two flop combinations observed. man. What do 15 hands tell you? Very little. a draw.Reads versus Combinations You might argue. Sometimes an opponent is the pf raiser. 6)Steal situations: An opponent might call more/be more 266 . “But I have my reads. 3)Number of opponents posftlop: How an opponent plays top pair. Assume that opponent has a VPIP of 20 and WTSD of 25. That means – at best – you saw 15 showdowns where he put money in preflop (not checked his BB). sometimes he is the caller. have severe limitations and are not as good guideposts in assessing the strength of our opponent’s hand postflop as we think they are. on the button. 5)Position: How an opponent plays a hand out of position. This affects how he plays his hands postflop. See the next sections for why. Take opponent having a set for example. in my opinion. 1)Sample size: Say you have 300 hands on an opponent (which is a lot of hands against a micro opponent since we are not playing the same people often. In other words. I don’t need to count no stinking combinations. he might play a set different OOP than he would on the button or in good versus bad relative position.” Reads. or in good/bad relative position will likely affect how he plays his hands postflop. 7)Your image: This is very important from my experience. given this practice. you will start to gain quite a few insights. put you on AK. So. don’t fold full houses (Zeebo Theorem). assuming you’ve made it this far in the thread. counting will become much quicker and intuitive because you will have seen so many similar scenarios. What will begin to happen is that your game will start to lean towards a Game Theory-ish Optimal strategy. counting top pair combos on the flop. I don’t have a time bank of 2 hours per hand. When I tightened up over my last 100k hands (my vpip dropped to about 14 or 15). but playing his sets fast against me. but by doing that you start to make your plays less based on your own hand and more against the distribution of your opponents’ hands.aggressive in these situations than in non-steal hands. So. you are exploiting your opponents based on the ways they can have a hand. which makes your 267 . They minraise with sets.” You want to review your hands in PT and apply combo counting to see if you made good decisions. The Not-So-Obvious Value of Combinatorics So. you will become a much tougher player. I felt like I was getting coolered a lot. for example. etc. you might be thinking. Now. General Micro Plays/Theorems versus Combinations A lot of players at the micros make the same plays. he was playing it slow and cautiously against me. don’t c/r bluff the river. After you do that for a while. But what was probably happening is opponents were playing their hands differently against me than they were against other opponents. while an opponent would play TPGK fast against another player. So. Maybe I was. will require little thought. combo counting is of less value. When you begin to apply these insights. True. for these situations. slowplay the flopped nut flush. “No way in hell am I doing all this counting at the table. raise turn with better than top pair (Baluga Theorem). if KTo is in his range. So. I call with a small pp for set value. I’ll reduce it from say 12 combos to 2 combos by only selecting KcTd and KhTc. Of course. And on turns and rivers. you go through a hand and reduce the ways he can have a hand so you can weight them appropriately. if I do this 5 times in a row against him he will likely adjust. If I end up on a river. Weighting Just because someone has a range of XYZ. Now I was no longer playing my hand. despite the reality that they are often a tiny part of the ways he can have a hand. but I can flop sets/two pair/etc too. So. another insight you will likely gain is how few legitimate flush draws an opponent can have compared to other hands. Also. But after playing around with combo stuff. by playing with Poker Stove. after spending way too much time analyzing PT hands. I determined that they do not have a pair of aces or better on that flop the majority of the time. 268 . I can play aggressive enough to cause him to fold more often than he should.opponent’s task of exploiting you very very difficult. for example. I noticed that I was doing a lot of this: tag UTG/MP raises pf. and given opponent’s play so far I assess that there are 70 ways he can have a better hand and 40 ways he can have a worse hand. the flop comes A62r. For some reason our brain spots flush draws right away. doesn’t mean X is as likely as Z. in Poker Stove. I fold having not made my set. So I started to check-raise here or raise from LP (doing it in a way so that it is profitable based on pot size). I check. Heads up. but only 24 ways he can have a monster. your play will naturally become much tougher. An example: So. he c-bets. but rarely so given pf and flop action. keep that in mind. there are alot of tags who do think. there are a few tags. where your opponents are rarely engaged in the process known as “thought”. and at 50nl. look up Bobbo Fittos’ posts. be very careful about ever bluffing.Warning At 10nl or lower. 269 . So. At 25nl. To see combo counting in action by one of th ebest. people began to adjust. but rather fundamental when you think about poker in general. you can play perfectly against me with any holding when I 3bet. “You can’t make a play for value that you do not make as a bluff”. Pretty simple. you can 3bet any two cards profitably. So. Eventually. Create a polarized situation as an example: if I only 3bet with AA. Some of the smarter regulars realized that a vast portion of players considered 3betting only when they had the best possible hands (AA. If I 3bet with AA and 45s. A fantastic paraphrase from Bart Hansen. There is generally a very large misunderstanding of the 3bet/4bet game among the poker community. At first. 4bet 270 . KK. it began in 6max games where people’s PFR was rather high (in same cases. it was a bit absurd. and sometimes AK). However. The 3bet/4bet game as we know it is the result of what was a very profitable way of abusing people’s inability to adjust to rampant 3betting. your KK has 48% equity against my range and you can’t make much a move at all. as there is also a misunderstanding of why people have and do engage in a 3bet/4bet game. which sounds ridiculous. when people are unable to adjust in any way. 25%).3betting Ronin Talken There are a lot of threads that read: “what should I do against a villain with a 25% 3bet%” or “should I 4bet or flat with ATs?” etc. There were winning regulars with 3bet%s upwards of 30% in 6max games. To my knowledge. and what all this “balance” and “range analysis” is really about. people began to widen their 3betting ranges. and the 3bet was so strictly used for value that it was the most easily abused situation in which to bluff. If someone folds too often. Or.If someone is either going to 4bet or fold. but they were doing it incorrectly. What they should have done was take a hand that makes them no money into a hand that makes them money. Thus. the hands you 3bet-fold are largely irrelevant. you’ll create a polarized 3bet range. . so you have to do more than just bluff very often. The theory is: . . and going to fold more often than they should. people started to 4bet lighter. but applied it incorrectly. and thus his range is relatively weak.Joe Donk’s PFR is too high. more generally: . However. 271 . plays fit or fold (ie. well. For example: . and allow SCs to remain SCs. what they did was turn a hand that already makes them money into a hand that makes them slightly more money. You decide that Joe Donk will 4bet shove a range of approximately: JJ+ AQ+ Because. you are getting your equity from their folds and all-in situations. Obviously. They stopped folding TT and JJ 100bbs deep.Joe Donk raises preflop. That’s 4. flat lighter. a Cbet will often take it down). Now. and you decide you want to start abusing him. So.If someone is either going to 4bet or fold. you have to create a balanced range. if you don’t plan on calling a 4bet or 5betting. and your opponent is rarely ever flatting you.You are 100bbs deep . It was rather revolutionary when people began to 3bet with a polarized range (the nuts or a bluff). the first level of this game is: . he’s a nit..lighter. Now. you should bluff more. No longer are people folding too often. but fundamental. Rather obvious. etc. and when he does. it is profitable to 3bet them.2% of his possible hands.You have position on Joe Donk .Joe Donk does not flat 3bets. This forced these regulars to rethink their 3bet game and actually balance. People began 3betting SCs and SgCs. They had the theory correct. Sure.Flat: 22-TT. If your opponent folds. Our range matches itself in the sense that we are not more likely to show up in a 3bet scenario with a stackoff hand than we are the nuts. logic is probably telling a lot of people “why would I want to 3bet Q2s instead of AJs?” The answer is rather simple: . You do not dominate your opponents stack-off range. SCs.2% range of stackoff hands with hands that we 3bet with as a bluff. Take the hands that you can’t flat with profitably and turn them into a bluff. you want to stack off with a pretty similar range of hands. What this does is weaken your 3betting range. your hand doesn’t matter. Let’s say the exact same range of hands. you don’t have equity against him. He’s probably going to fold to a Cbet. If your opponent shoves. 272 .Q2s-Q7s Now.3bet: top 4.JJ+ . when he folds preflop. If your opponent calls. but again.2% of hands . but make hands that otherwise were NOT profitable into hands that are very profitable. and vice-versa.What happens when your opponent folds? In all of these situations.K2s-K9s .What happens when your opponent calls. This means that your preflop ranges begin as: . we now 3bet with: . it doesn’t matter what you had.What happens when your opponent shoves? . Now. So. he is going to be making a mistake 1/2 the time. this isn’t optimal. generally +implied odds hands that want to see a flop but cannot stackoff against his range. since we’re either going to force a fold or fold ourselves. Well. there’s no reason to use any of those +implied odds hands. you can flop 2pair or a flush. the situation really isn’t that different than hand 1. You can call and deal with the variance involved in getting it in behind because you have committed so much money that folding would mean folding equity against a stronger range. you aren’t particularly happy. then Check-Raises all-in on an A25r board? . This way.AQ+ . he’s going to make a mistake 1/2 the time. you have a hand that doesn’t have equity against his range. or you can fold and lose 9 or 10bbs. but say we wanted to exactly mirror our top 4.So. so when he wants to stack-off. SGCs. When he 4bets. But poker isn’t black-and-white. AQ or AJ. you can now 3bet that AJs very confidently. When your opponent starts to flat too often (or if they begin this way. he’ll call a 3bet and play an 18+bb pot with something like KJo. despite all evidence to the contrary. But. On the contrary. So. you aren’t nearly as worried about getting it in. and also not good enough to stack-off with (so we do not commit ourselves into stacking off with what was meant to be our 3bet-fold range). If your opponent starts flatting 3bets with a whopping 20% of hands. Now. and you’ll often have a mandatory all-in. now we have a new evolution in the 3bet/4bet game. it’s A2+. The PSR is very large so the value of top pair goes up. While your opponent might only 3bet with AA. what happens when villain’s start flatting our 3bets too often? Well. In that situation. the range I chose here is meant to give you the most equity from a hand that did not otherwise have enough to flat. When that A25 flop comes down. now you can create bloated pots in situations where your opponent’s hand strength is weak comparative to the strength his range would normally be isolated to. you aren’t dealing with the logic that it doesn’t matter what your hand is. not much. so your equity shoots way up. your range should shift to value. you’ll have a high PSR and a hand with the ability to flop TPWK and flush draws. Sometimes. Maybe hands as weak as A2 or Q8. 273 . A quick note: why hands like K2s? What’s the difference between K2s and 72o in this situation? Answer: In theory. as is often the case in the micro-mid stakes) you should depolarize your range. and it is really hard to play very strong post-flop poker with air. your opponent WILL flat.When your opponent doesn’t fold enough. So. Now your opponent’s range has dominated hands when you have AJs. You don’t isolate his range to only include hands that beat you. Though there isn’t equity in your hand to flat (in this situation--there are situations in which flatting K2s is +EV). you are now working on the other end of the general fundamental poker theory spectrum: .but you can do that with Q2s too. The difference now is that your opponent’s Ax range isn’t AK. We all realize that people are 3betting with air and the nuts. flat with AJs. A2. it’s pretty simple math to figure out how often you should be shoving. so you’re getting 3-1 on your money. even if your opponent is only 4bet shoving with only 20% of hands and opens 100%: . middle pair. than you would with 22. you have the same question to think about: . Say you have K2s and your opponent’s range is 20%. others will spazz relentlessly). but obviously isn’t as deep as it goes. When you depolarize your range. as HU SnG players. The question here is how to balance your flatting range versus your 274 . You want to simplify your decisions in these spots.Blinds. If you fold. we are very quickly limited in our abilities to 3bet with air. you’re flushing money down the toilet. Your opponents will often react in very different ways to bloated pots (some become very fit-or-fold.That makes an enormous difference in your equity share of a stack-off situation. because you can’t fold anything in your preconceived 3bet range. Since you cannot 3bet-fold with almost any holding and make it a profitable play. The same will hold true for much weaker holdings (ie. you now lose this part of your arsenal. Not that getting it in with K2s is a mistake. To create a polarized example for the simplicity of learning.. And further. I would rather 3bet KJ in this situation as you will flop top pair more often. you’ll flop top pair. and is All-In You have 500 left with a pot of 1. in general. With hands like KJ. Every 3bet has to be a 3bet-shove or a 3bet-call. You’ll be able to play your hand better. you’ll probably want to choose hands that play well postflop. When the blinds get to the point where they are too high to 3bet-fold. or not enough? If your opponent isn’t getting it in light enough. but you aren’t 3betting with it with the intention of created a polarized range.500 chips. You only need to win the hand 25% of the time to break even. You can’t. This covers a general outline of how the 3bet/4bet game developed. flushes and straight draws very often. pretty much any two broadway cards). While A2s is a marginally better holding than KJ. you have 38. 50/100 .Is my opponent folding too much. etc.Effective stack size: t1000 Villain raises to 200 Hero re-raises to 500 Villain raises to 1000.5% equity. and this entire dynamic is often NOT the most profitable way to make money. it usually isn’t where most villains have their biggest leaks.What is my VPIP oop? The beauty of a polarized 3bet% is that it makes MORE hands profitable. What people fail to realize is that people aren’t folding too much anymore. If I’m 3betting all the broadway hands that I would otherwise flat with.What do I do with A2-AT? Do you see me flatting with them oop? . When I depolarize. and understand the development of thought that brought poker to where it is today. It’s just important to know that HU SnGs are very limited in how long you can maintain a 3bet/4bet dynamic. Now that you know the limitations of the 3bet/4bet game. Say you sit across from me. and how it affects the lategame. This is more of an end-game strategy thoughtprocess. my range might look like: 3bet: top 10% Flat: second 30% 3bet: bottom 10% VPIP: 50%. How do you figure out if I am polarized or 3betting with a wide value range? . as I prefer to keep as small a PSR as possible in the early game to abuse my postflop edge. and I’m feeling spunky that day. . you can take that information and apply it to your opponents. Though engaging in these dynamics is profitable. say the exact same amount. they’re likely in my 3betting range. 3bet%: 20% If I’m 3betting a wide value range.shoving range. and so taking players to those streets as often as possible will force many more mistakes than you can force preflop. I personally don’t engage in much 3betting. my flatting range slims considerably.What do I do with my 2broadway hands? Do you see me flatting them oop? If they aren’t in my flatting range. if I am polarized. My 3bet% is about 20%. SnG players are not used to playing hands on the turn and river. For example. my flatting range drops considerably. and not the 3bet/4bet dynamic. my range drops a full 1/5 of the hands I was playing before: 3bet: top 20% Flat: second 20% VPIP: 40%. 3bet%: 20% 275 . there probably isn’t even a K in my range for flatting. For example. and only playing pots oop with mediocre holdings that you can now abuse. You have no profitable option. Again. . K2s-K9s. regardless of whether it’s polarized or depolarized. Just stop doing it. Three barrel the crap out of me.Now. not a HU SnG concept. it’s weak. so shipping it for another 75bbs is wild. AQ+. you should bluff. While you might have started the match with a PFR of 90%.Don’t flat. drop it to 50%. . Maybe just never 4bet. you could create a polarized 4bet range. but so incredibly important. is to lower your PFR. you have other adjustments. Your KTs is the best hand 1/2 the time. If the flop is K23r. However.Put a LOT of pressure on my when I flat. If we were deeper. If I have a polarized 3bet range. So. By 276 . we return to: . Just flat me a lot. with a similar range of hands to your 3bet range. I was 3betting you because you were folding too often to my 3bets. If my range includes a wide value range. A general adjustment you may have to make to someone who 3bets a high percentage. My 3bet game also hinges on the theory that you raise an exploitable percentage of the time. You might not realize this. it might go: Hero: Raise to 3bb Villain: Raise to 10bb Hero: Raise to 25bb And I’ll raise to 25bb with that range of JJ+. and crushed the other 1/2. As a matter of fact. Q2s-Q7s. your adjustment is pretty obvious. You can’t really flat that 4bet. and does crazy things to the way I have to play pots in which I flat. this is a HU Cash concept. or you’re in for a world of hurt. I’m wasting all my value hands to earn 2-3bbs. when I play a cash game reg. So simple. I can’t have TPGK.When your opponent doesn’t fold enough. think about what I am trying to accomplish with what I am doing. but it also weakens my OOP flatting range. you can strengthen your BTN raising range and thus fold less often. that means I’m counting on you either 4bet or folding. .When your opponent folds too often. unless it’s K9 and the occasional K8. To adjust. you should play for value. If I have top pair. and your actual range in the late game (when the fold equity matters most) is 25-30%.. You can small ball rather effectively this way. and adjust to those doing it correctly. and most people err on the side of folding too much in limped pots.. If you 3bet 20% of the time at the 10/20 level and that shows up on your villain’s HUD at the 50/100 level. and thus can be abused. Many people will also create a limping range. even if it’s a limped pot. with rare exception. However. If your PFR is only 50% and you can flat 20% of hands.strengthening your range. It’s avoiding the 3bet/4bet game. understanding why and how you should be 3betting will help you exploit people doing it incorrectly. poker boils down to two theories. it’s much larger in the late game. you are no longer folding too often.You get to see flops in position. I prefer to keep the pots small and 3bet a wide value range in the end-game. think about it this way. your opponent is going to make an extremely exploitable fold. . these villains are rather rare. Against many villains. but for 1bb at a time. crazy 277 . but it’s the exact opposite of this post.but I don’t really want to delve into this too much. most people’s 3bet/4bet game isn’t very strong. If this is all a bit overwhelming. However. Benefits and drawbacks: . you’ll get to play postflop poker and make 10bbs whenever you hit. When using the 3bet in HU SnG land. be wary of how earlygame 3bets will affect your ability to gain the fold equity you want when it matters. abusing the image I’ve created by 3betting a small % of the time. you are folding much less when I 3bet. However.You lose initiative. dry boards. There are some villains that will still play rather large pots with air whenever you flop top pair. .Your range for both raising and limping is unbalanced and exploitable. This is also exploitable. he’s getting it in with KJ when you 3bet with what is still a 20% range. which can be good. I would rather just fold than pay a SB to see a flop with a hand that I can’t raise. If your opponent sees that your average 3bet% is 0-5%.If your opponent is a super-donkey/station. No matter how deep you go.. . While the equity is there in the early game. These two theories are applied in every individual situation against every individual opponent (ie. when Isildur shoves. . I’d like to end this by saying this goes deeper. wet boards. This continues into every facet of poker. he shoves with a “merged” (wide) value range that includes no air.villains. Now. If you see Isildur shove against Ivey on an 789T board with 6x. and your exact ranges for doing the things you do can be more precise. it’s because he probably shoved with air the few times. At first. it’s because I think you’re calling with worse hands. you should play for value. it’s because I think you’re folding too often because you believe my range to be weighted heavily toward monsters. The reason your structure your ranges the way you do is to find the most value across all your ranges. 278 . and I should just call with my draws. In all spots. Ivey would only call with Jx. river NASH spots.When someone doesn’t fold often enough. Then. as it defines your 3bet/4bet adjustments. Playing for value means both bluffing less (or not at all) and widening your value range. Ivey adjusted to Isildur’s polarized range (the nuts or nothing) but calling with two pair and straights. but instead a lot of hands with equity against Ivey’s calling range.When someone folds too often. you should bluff more often.): . When I raise the turn with TPTK. nitty villains. This is just a general guide for people with little knowledge of what was posted above. as it always does. When I raise the turn with nothing but a straight draw. etc.