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First published in 2017 by D&B Poker
Copyright © 2017 Jonathan Little The right of Jonathan Little to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the t he publisher. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library. ISBN: 978 1 909457 77 5 Cover and book design by Horacio Monteverde. Printed and bound by Versa Press in the US. Cover photo by Jayne Furman/pokerphotoarchive.com All sales enquiries should be directed to D&B Poker:
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CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS INTRODUCTION 01 PRE-F 01 PRE-FLOP LOP STRATEGY STRATEGY:: INTRODUCTIO INTR ODUCTION N 02 PRE-FLOP 02 PRE-FLOP STRATEGY: FIRST IN 03 PRE-FL 03 PRE-FLOP OP STRATEGY STRATEGY:: WHEN WHE N FACING LIMPERS 04 PRE-FLOP 04 PRE-FLOP STRATEGY: WHEN FACING A RAISE 05 PRE-FLOP 05 PRE-FLOP STRATEGY: OTHER SITUATIONS 06 POST-FLOP 06 POST-FLOP STRATEGY: INTRODUCTION 07 POS 07 POST T-FLOP STRATEGY STRATEGY:: AS THE PRE-FLOP P RE-FLOP AGGRESSOR AGG RESSOR 08 POST-FLOP 08 POST-FLOP STRATEGY: AS THE PRE-FLOP CALLER 09 POST-FLOP 09 POST-FLOP STRATEGY: VARIOUS TECHNICAL SKILLS 10 ADDITIONAL 10 ADDITIONAL TOPICS CONCLUSION
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Mastering Small Stakes No-Limit Hold’em would not have been possible without the love and support of my wonderful wife Amie. She takes care of everything so I can write in peace. She is the best. We recently had our first child, James. He likes to cry and eat. Occasionally he sleeps. Our parents babysat a lot so I could sneak away to write. This book would have sat idly on my computer as an incomplete project if it was not for their help. Huge thanks goes to a few people who worked hard to make this book possible. Ken Adams, Suzan Baroni, Albert Hart, and Larry Little diligently edited this book, which is no small feat, given it is quite dense. Dan Stanley worked hard to ensure all the free digital content throughout this book is up and running. Albert Hart created the FloatTheTurn.com FloatTheTurn.com hand hand range analyzer, which made discussing ranges easy and intuitive. Dan Addelman and Byron Jacobs of D&B Publishing put everything together and ensured Mastering made it into your hands. They are by far the best publishers in poker. Finally, thank YOU! Your support allows me to continue creating educational poker content for players who are willing to work hard to take their games to the next level. Without you, none of this would exist. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to make it happen.
INTRODUCTION Many players dream of winning huge amounts of money from high stakes cash games or winning a major tournament for life-changing money. The reality is that the vast majority of poker players struggle to beat even the smallest stakes games. If you are stuck in small stakes games (or if you think you beat the games but never seem to be able to accumulate a large enough bankroll to move to the middle stakes) then this book for you. We will thoroughly discuss how you can develop fundamentally sound strategies that are difficult for your opponents to exploit, and when to depart from those strategies in order to exploit your opponents’ mistakes. By fully understanding when to play a fundamentally sound strategy and when to make exploitative plays, you will give yourself the best chance to win the most money possible from your opponents. I want to make it clear that this book is applicable to both cash games and tournaments, live and online. While these games and venues have subtle differences, they have a lot in common. At the end of the day, poker is poker. In the opening section of this book, I will lay out the strategies to use to beat games where your only goal is to win chips (cash games) and will later discuss how to alter your play when your goal is to win as much equity as possible (tournaments). Do not fool yourself into thinking that you should use a drastically different strategy in the opening stages of a tournament compared to a cash game. The opening stages of a tournament, where there are no immediate payout jumps, and cash games play almost exactly the same. Similarly, live and online poker have subtle differences that we will discuss later, but they have more similarities than differences. Before moving forward, it is important to understand that people play games for different reasons. Many poker players play as an excuse to socialize and have a night away from home. While all players would like to win, the socializers do not take the game seriously and rarely study it away from the table. Another type of player wants to push the boundaries of the game. They enjoy making hero
calls and maniacal bluffs. These players often study away from the table, but their fancy play syndrome keeps them from rising to the top. The final type of player simply wants to win. They are not concerned with “having a good time” or “blowing off steam”. They do not let their emotions dictate their play. These players have extensively studied the game and are rewarded by profiting from it. Players can be a mix of these three types, but most who are stuck in small stakes games due to never being able to grow their bankrolls are not the studious type who actually care about winning. If you aren’t the studious type, you must change that immediately if you want to become a winning player. While you do not have to be a stone-faced player who wears a hoodie and never talks, you should study the game seriously, as if winning is the only thing that matters. At the table, feel free to be jovial, especially if it keeps the game casual, but to succeed in the long run, you must seriously study poker and apply what you learn in the heat of battle. If you do not diligently study and apply what you learn, do not expect to experience good results, no matter how many books you read. The term “small stakes” is often thrown around with no clear definition. The exploitative strategies in this book will work well at live cash games up to $2/$5 (and perhaps higher), online cash games up to $.50/$1, live tournaments with buy-ins up to $500, and online tournaments with buy-ins up to $50. That said, the goal of this book is to teach you to be a strong poker player who can hold your own in any poker game. This book goes well beyond teaching you a few tricks to beat the worst players in the world. It is instead an in-depth guide that explains everything you need to know to begin your journey to becoming a strong poker player pla yer.. In terms of big blinds per hour, small stakes no-limit hold’em has the potential to be incredibly profitable. It is not uncommon for the biggest winners in cash games to win 12 big blinds per hour ($24 per hour at $1/$2). Tournament players can win at the rate of 50% return on investment or more ($50 per $100 invested). It is important to be realistic about your expectations from poker. If you think you are going to immediately transform from being a losing $1/$2 player to a $5/$10 crusher, you are fooling yourself. Mastering no-limit hold’em takes years of dedicated study and time spent practicing at the table. Do not assume that you will study this book and start winning tournaments every other day. While that may happen from time to time (variance is crazy!), you will still experience your fair share of bad luck. However, as your skill level and win rate increases, these bad runs will become less frequent and less intense. We will discuss bankroll
requirements in the Bankroll Management section, which will make it difficult for you to go broke even when you are in an extended dry spell. This book, however, is not for complete beginners who do not know the absolute basics, such as the rules of no-limit hold’em. While I will make a point to briefly explain numerous basic concepts as they arise, there will be no time devoted to concepts such as reading the board and counting the number of outs you have. You may be wondering if a two-time World Poker Tour champion with over $6,400,000 in tournament cashes is “in touch” with the play at small stakes games. Throughout my career, I have played a large number of small stakes tournaments with great success. I make it a point to play small stakes live events every once in a while to continue developing reads versus amateur opponents (and to get experience for the WSOP, where large prize pools inevitably attract many amateur players). I also play small stakes private cash games from time to time to gain experience. When I play online, I load up every $8 and larger buy-in tournament. This usually results in me playing up to 24 tables at once, many of which have low buy-ins. In preparation for my previous eBook, Strategies for Beating Small Stakes Poker Cash Games, I spent two weeks grinding $1/$2 at a local casino. While I probably ran a bit hot, I won at the rate of $35 per hour. In addition to my experience on the felt, I teach numerous students who I have helped transform from small stakes losers to middle and high stakes winners. If you are willing to dedicate yourself to studying the game, you will eventually develop the skills necessary to beat small stakes games and progress to the middle stakes, where you can start winning a significant, life-changing amount of money.
PRE-FLOP PRE-F LOP STRA STRATEG TEGY Y: INTRODUCTION In my groundbreaking tournament series, Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker, I outlined my pre-flop strategy based on stack sizes. This concept was foreign to many players then, and to many, it still is even now. Even some decent players who frequent the middle stakes have not extensively thought about their pre-flop strategy, or they use the same predefined strategy for all stack sizes. This is a significant mistake. For example, raising A-2s from early position is a perfectly fine play if you have a very deep stack, but with a shallow stack, it is an easy fold due to its lack of implied odds. The term “implied odds” refers to how much you can potentially win from your opponent when you make a premium hand. When the stacks are deeper, you can play more speculative hands because when you improve to the nuts (the best possible holding), you have the potential to win a huge amount of money, even though it will only happen occasionally. If you only win a small amount of money when you make the nuts, the amount you win will not offset the amount you lose when you fail to connect with the flop (as will often happen). It is important to understand that in every poker situation you encounter, sometimes you will win and sometimes you will lose, depending on how the cards fall. What distinguishes the profitable situations from the unprofitable ones is how much you stand to win or lose on average, if you ran the same situation a million times. As an oversimplified example, let’s look at a situation where you have 3-3 and are facing a 3 big blind raise from a player who will always double you up if you make a set (three of a kind). This information alone does not tell us if calling with 3-3 before the flop is a profitable play. The stack sizes are vitally important because they determine how much you can potentially win when you make a set.
If the stacks are 50 big blinds, you have to put in 3 big blinds to potentially win 50. Knowing that you will flop a set 12% of the time, you will win 50 big blinds 12% of the time and lose 3 big blinds 88% of the time. The equation to determine your profit in this situation is: Profit = (% of time you make a set) × (amount won with a set) – (% of time you don’t flop a set) × (amount lost when you don’t flop a set) In this case, that translates to 0.12 × 50 - 0.88 × 3 = 6 – 2.64 = 3.36, which means that you win 3.36 big blinds on average when you hold a small pocket pair and call a pre-flop raise of 3 big blinds from your 50 big blind stack before the flop. Sometimes you will win 50 big blinds and sometimes you will lose 3 big blinds, but in the long run, you will win 3.36 big blinds on average, making this a very profitable situation for you. Now look at what happens when you have a 12 big blind stack (instead of a 50 big blind stack) and face the same 3 big blind raise. In this case, you only win 12 big blinds when you win but still lose 3 big blinds when you lose. The result is now 0.12 × 12 – 0.88 × 3 = -1.2, which means that you will suffer a loss of 1.2 big blind on average when you call the pre-flop raise with 3-3 when your stack is only 12 big blinds deep. Since calling in this situation is a losing play, you should play your 3-3 in a different manner, either by going all-in pre-flop or folding. How to figure out if going all-in is profitable will be discussed later. When discussing stack sizes throughout this book, I will always refer to the “effective stack size”. The effective stack size is the shortest of the stacks involved in the pot. For example, if you have 200 big blinds in your stack but everyone else has 30 big blinds, you are playing with a 30 big blind effective stack. This is because the most you can win or lose is 30 big blinds if you get only one caller. If the stacks were reversed, with you having 30 big blinds and everyone else having 200, you are still playing a 30 big blind effective stack. Of course, I realize that all stacks at the table are rarely equal. You have to do your best to estimate the rough effective stack and play accordingly. For example, if you are in middle position with 40 big blinds and the players yet to act have 20, 40, 40, and 35 big blinds respectively, you don’t know which player will end up being your opponent, so you have to make a rough estimate that you are playing a 35 big blind effective stack (although that changes if only the 20 big blind
stack gives you action). When discussing putting chips into the pot, a few terms will be used that may be unfamiliar or unclear to you. Limping is when when you call the big blind before the flop. For example, at $1/$2, if you put in $2, you are limping. You cannot limp after the flop. Checking is when when you do not have to put additional money in the pot, nor do you want to put additional money in the pot. You can only check before the flop from the big blind when everyone limps before you. After the flop, if there is no bet before you, you can check. Betting is when you voluntarily put in the first amount of money on the flop, turn, or river. For example, if on the flop everyone checks to you and you want to put $10 into the $14 pot, you are betting $10. Calling is when you match the current bet. For example, if someone raises to $6 before the flop and you put in $6, you are calling. This term also applies post-flop. If someone bets $20 into a pot on the turn and you want to see the river, you have to call $20. Raising is when you put in an additional bet beyond what is currently required. Before the flop, the required amount at $1/$2 is $2, so if you put in any amount greater than $2, you are raising. If you put in $7, you are raising to $7. After the flop, you can only raise if someone has made a bet before you. For example, if someone bets $10 into a $15 pot and you put in $25, you are raising to $25. If instead they check to you and you bet $10 into the $15 pot, you are betting (not raising). 3-betting is when you put in the third bet. This is a confusing term as it comes from a now-antiquated form of poker, limit hold’em. Before the flop, the first bet is the big blind. The second bet is the pre-flop raise. The third bet is a 3-bet, or a re-raise. So, if someone limps for $2, someone raises to $8, and you put in $20, you are 3-betting. After the flop, if someone bets $10 into the $15 pot and you raise to $25, that is just a raise, not a 3-bet. If your opponent then puts in $75, that is a 3-bet. This term confuses some amateurs because they incorrectly think it means putting in 3 big blinds, not the third bet. 4-betting is when you put in the fourth bet. This works exactly as 3-betting works, except it is one additional bet. The same goes for 5-bet, 6-bet, etc. Pushing means to go all-in, which means to wager your entire stack.
Players will be referred to by their position at the table. The positions at a 10handed table, starting with the first player to act before the flop and going clockwise are:
UTG (stands for Under the Gun, also called First Position) UTG+1 (also called Second Position) UTG+2 (also called Third Position) UTG+3 (also called Fourth Position) Lojack Hijack Cutoff Button Small Blind Big Blind
As the table becomes shorter-handed, you remove the UTG+3 position, then UTG+2, then UTG+1, and then UTG. So, for example, at a table with only six players, the seats are Lojack, Hijack, Cutoff, Button, Small Blind and Big Blind.
If it is five-handed, remove the Lojack. Using this terminology will allow us to discuss poker in a way that is not ambiguous. Sometimes, I will refer to a group of positions when making general statements. UTG, UTG+1, and UTG+2 are Early Position UTG+3, Lojack, and Hijack are Middle Position Cutoff and Button are Late Position Small Blind and Big Blind are the Blinds As mentioned in the Introduction, the strategy portion of this book assumes payout jumps in tournaments are not a concern. Adjustments to make based on tournament payouts will be discussed later.
PRE-FLOP STRATEGY: FIRST IN The following pre-flop raising ranges are based on a “normal” game consisting of a mix of players. After presenting each default range I will outline adjustments you should make when you are in the most common “abnormal” situations. The two most common situations you are likely to find yourself in are when: Most of your opponents are weak, tight and straightforward, both pre-flop and post-flop. This occurs when they think they should only bet when they “know” they have the best hand. You beat these players by stealing every pot when it is clear they do not like their holding. Most of your opponents will call with a wide range of hands before the flop and then call all the way down to the river with any sort of “acceptable” holding. This occurs when they want to see all five board cards before determining whether or not they actually have a strong hand. You beat these players by playing somewhat tightly before the flop, which, on average, will lead to you making stronger hands than your opponents. The following section only applies to when everyone folds around to you. If someone limps or raises before you, you should not use the strategies in this section. In the later chapters I will dissect how to play when players limp or raise before the action gets to you. I understand that you may think that this chapter “does not apply to your games” because the action is rarely folded around to you, but I can assure you that this is the best place to start because you can easily build on top of this simple situation, making more complicated situations easier to understand. In the initial chapters of this book, I will go on tangents that explain common concepts that you must understand if you want to succeed at poker, especially as you start moving up the ranks. Do not skip this chapter! It is essential if you want to build a strong foundation for a winning strategy.
Pre-flop Raise Sizing It is quite common to see players raise to 5 big blinds or more when the action folds to them in small stakes games. I am sure you have encountered players who raise to $10 or more at $1/$2 whenever they have a playable hand. Making large raises is usually a significant error because it forces everyone else to play a snug strategy. While you can profitably raise large with your absolute best hands, such as K-K, you cannot profit from making large raises with your marginally playable hands, such as 9♥-8♥. This means that if you want to develop a strategy to play more than only the absolute best hands, you have to either choose a smaller pre-flop raise size or develop a limping strategy. You should almost never open-limp (limping when the action folds to you), especially when you are initially building a solid foundation. When you limp, you make it difficult for your opponents to make an error because they only have to put in one big blind to see the flop. If four people limp, the person calling on the button with any two playable cards, such as K-9o (offsuit) or 9-5s (suited), is not making a meaningful error. However, if there is a raise and a few callers, those hands become completely unplayable. Many amateur small stakes players make the error of calling reasonably-sized pre-flop raises with these hands every time they look down at them, which bleeds their bankroll dry over time. Of course, if your opponents are simply the worst ever and will call gigantic raises with all sorts of junk, feel free to raise small with your marginal hands and large with your premium hands. That said, I do not think most players in today’s games are that oblivious. Do not make the egotistical mistake of assuming your opponents are completely clueless. A basic concept that many amateurs fail to grasp is that you make most of your profit from your opponents’ mistakes. It may boost your ego to think that you profit by outplaying your opponents by making heroic folds and sophisticated bluffs, but in reality, the biggest winners in the game play a fundamentally sound strategy that is difficult to exploit the vast majority of the time. They profit whenever their opponents make errors. Fortunately for you, many of your small stakes opponents will make errors almost every time they enter the pot. Most of the time when you are first to enter the pot, you should make roughly a pot sized raise. To figure out how much a pot sized raise is, you multiply the last bet by 3 then add in any additional money that is in the pot. When everyone
folds to you, the last bet is the amount of the big blind. So, when everyone folds to you: Pot sized raise = 3 × 1 + .5 = 3.5 big blinds This formula also works when there are limpers. If there are 4 limpers, the last bet is 1 big blind and there are now 4.5 additional big blinds in the pot (4 total from the limpers and 1.5 from the blinds). When there are 4 limpers in front of you: Pot sized raise = 3 × 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + .5 = 7.5 big blinds The formula works when there is any amount of action in front of you. When there is a pre-flop raise to 3 big blinds and a caller in front of you: Pot sized raise = 3 × 3 + 3 + 1 + .5 = 13.5 big blinds In general, you should make it .5 big blinds more when you will be out of position and .5 big blinds less when you will be in position. This is because you do not mind action when you are in position and you are content to pick up the pot with no contest when you are out of position.
Early Position Strategy: First In 40 or more Big Blinds When you have a deep stack of 40 big blinds or more, you have the potential to splash around a bit. This is due to your somewhat large implied odds. This also means hands that do not have large implied odds, such as marginal Broadway hands (a Broadway card is an Ace, King, Queen, Jack, or Ten), go down in value because they often make top pair with a marginal kicker, which is usually good, but when it is not, can cost you a lot of money when deep stacked. While it is certainly possible to have effective stacks of 100 big blinds or more in small stakes cash games and tournaments, the vast majority of games will feature stacks smaller than 100 big blinds. Especially in small stakes tournaments, stacks will rarely be above 100 big blinds after the initial few levels. For this reason, there will be no discussion on how to play super-deep stacks. A thorough discussion on playing super-deep stacks of more than 100 big blinds can be found in Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker Volume 1 and Jonathan Little on Live No-Limit Cash Games Volume 1 . When the action is folded to you and you have a deep stack of 40 big blinds or more, you should raise with these hands from early position ( Diagram 1 ).
Diagram 1
This chart, created with the FloatTheTurn.com Range Analyzer, shows which hands you should raise (in red) when the action folds to you. The numbers below the hand matrix show you which percentage of hands are selected (13.1% in this situation), as well as the number of combinations of hands (174). This information will prove to be valuable as you progress forward. From early position, you should raise with a tight range because you have to play your hand from out of position against what will often be multiple opponents. Notice that all suited Aces and the best suited Broadway hands that
have a large amount of potential to make nut hands have been included in this range, but there are very few offsuit hands. This is because with the suited hands, you will occasionally improve to flushes, which have a high likelihood of being the best hand. Many players opt to not raise with the weak suited Aces, but they are perfectly playable when deep stacked due to their ability to make the nut flush when someone else makes a worse flush. When looking at any pre-flop range, it is important to understand that you should play all of the selected hands in exactly the same manner, using the same bet sizing. By doing this, your opponents will have no indication about your specific hand’s strength based on your raise size or your mannerisms. The less information your opponents have, the more mistakes they will make. You should make few, if any adjustments to your pre-flop strategy from early position based on your opponents’ tendencies because it is too likely that someone yet to act will wake up with a premium hand that has any hand not already in your range in bad shape. If your table is incredibly passive and your opponents essentially never raise if you limp (unless they wake up with a premium hand), you can consider developing a limping range of hands that would prefer to see a cheap flop, such as the hands shown below in pink ( Diagram 2 ).
Diagram 2
Notice now that the raising hands are in red and the limping hands are in pink. The major problem with limping with this range is that some of the marginal hands are removed from your pre-flop raising range. This means that when you raise, your range will primarily contain premium hands. This may not sound like a bad thing, but if your opponents are observant, they will attack your limps relentlessly while getting out of your way (or calling with hands that have large implied odds) when you raise. The main time you want to open limp instead of
raise is when you are at an incredibly passive table. If you try limping with these hands and find that you face a raise more than perhaps 20% of the time, you should change course and revert back to the default strategy of raising with all your playable hands instead.
Between 12 and 40 Big Blinds As your stack gets shorter, you should adjust by raising fewer hands that rely on implied odds to be profitable. For example, if you raise with A-2s to 3 big blinds from early position with a 100 big blind stack, you can potentially win 97 more big blinds when you flop the nuts, which is 33.3 times your pre-flop investment. If you instead have 20 big blinds and raise to 2.5 big blinds, you can only win 8 times your investment. As the effective stack shrinks, you should size your pre-flop raise to be a bit smaller, to 2.5 big blinds instead of 3 or 3.5 big blinds. This is because you no longer need to raise to 3 big blinds to price out the junky hands and you can also easily get your entire stack in the pot by the river by simply betting all three streets. In general, as your stack size decreases in proportion to the pot, your bet sizes should also decrease. You will later see that this logic holds true for postflop bets as well pre-flop. When the action is folded to you, if your stack is between roughly 12 and 40 big blinds, you should raise with these hands from early position ( Diagram 3 ).
Diagram 3
Notice this range contains a few more offsuit Broadway hands because your opponents will have smaller implied odds with their drawing hands, meaning that it is not so detrimental to stack off with top pair with a strong kicker. The smallest pairs have also been removed because they are implied odds hands that rely on getting paid off when they improve to a set in order to be profitable. Often, they play quite poorly after the flop when you raise, get called, and then fail to flop a set (which will happen 7 out of 8 times, on average). In general, as your stack decreases and your opponents play better, you should play even
tighter, often ditching pairs as big as 7-7 and all the non-premium Broadway hands.
Fewer than 12 Big Blinds Both in tournaments and cash games, once you get down to 12 big blinds of fewer, you are in a push all-in or fold mode. This is because stealing the blinds yields a significant increase to your stack. Also, your opponents will often be getting roughly the correct price to call an all-in with any reasonable hand, meaning they will often be making small errors when they fold to your all-in. With stacks of more than 12 big blinds, make a normal raise to 2 or 2.5 big blinds instead of going all-in unless your opponents are world-class (which will essentially never be the case in small stakes games). To make mastering short stacked poker easier for you, I created the FloatTheTurn.com Push/Fold app which clearly displays the hands you can profitably go all-in with when the action folds to you, based on your position, stack size in proportion to the blinds, and the size of the antes. The app was developed so that with one click, you can find the correct pushing chart. You can download the app for free in the iTunes and Android app stores, or you can use it on the web (or in your phone’s internet browser) at FloatTheTurn.com/app. It is completely free, so you have no excuse not to try it. While it is simple enough to use the app at the table, I suggest you test yourself with the app’s Quiz feature until you have most situations memorized. Quiz yourself whenever you have spare time. You can even play the timed mode and get points based on your performance. Trying to beat your previous high score is fun! If your stack is 12 big blinds and there are no antes in play, you should go allin with these hands from first position at a 10-handed table ( Diagram 4 ).
Diagram 4
This chart may be quite foreign to most small stakes players because it suggests pushing A-5s but not 9-9. This has to do with the range of hands your opponents “should” call your all-in with. Even as I type this, I am surprised to see that 9-9 is a fold. I should study my Push/Fold app more! The charts were developed using a sophisticated game theory optimal (GTO) program. If your opponents will not call your all-ins with the “optimal” calling ranges (as most will not), you should adjust by pushing hands that fare better against their calling ranges. For example, if you know your opponents will call a
12 big blind push with any Ace, you should fold A-5s, but push with 9-9, A-Jo, and A-10o. While it is easy to rely blindly on charts, you will profit much more if you know how to adjust to your opponents’ tendencies. In most small stakes games, you should take the low suited Aces out of this pushing range and instead add in 9-9, 8-8, and A-Jo. The FloatTheTurn.com Push/Fold app has a feature to tighten up your pushing range by 10%. In this case, using that setting takes A-5s, A-4s, and A-3s out of the pushing range, which is closer to what you should actually do in this spot. One other thing worth mentioning is that these charts assume your only options are to go all-in or fold. If you decide to strictly follow the charts, do not think that you can limp, or make a small raise, with the unselected parts of the range. If you splash around with your junky hands, you will quickly bleed off your stack. By sticking to a robust short stack strategy, you will be nearly impossible to exploit, meaning that any deviation your opponents make from the optimal calling ranges will win you money in the long run. Of course, when you are all-in and called, you should expect to go broke a decent amount of the time. Following these charts will by no means make you impervious to running into premium hands or getting unlucky. On average though, by sticking to them, you will profit. If your stack is 6 big blinds and there are no antes in play, you should go all-in with these hands from first position at a 10-handed table ( Diagram 5 ).
Diagram 5
Many amateurs are shocked to see that even with a 6 big blind stack, they cannot profitably push all-in from first position with any pair or Ace. One of my biggest leaks as a novice poker player was thinking that any Ace was obviously a great hand when short stacked. As an aside, you may be wondering why A-4s and A-3s are not included in this chart but were included in the 12 big blind UTG pushing chart. While it makes sense that you should push a wider range as stacks get shorter, the composition of hands you push should change because when you have 6 big
blinds, your opponents should be more prone to call your all-in with any Ace whereas when you have 12 big blinds, they should fold most marginal Aces. Be sure to adjust your range accordingly if you are playing in a game that uses antes (they are common in tournaments). For example, if your stack is 6 big blinds and there is an ante in play that is 12.5% (1/8th) of the size of the big blind (such as when the blinds are 100/200 with a 25 ante), you should go all-in with these hands from first position at a 10-handed table ( Diagram 6 ).
Diagram 6
As you can see, that little ante makes a big difference! While the antes are
incredibly important when dictating whether or not you can profitably push with a short stack, they do not matter quite as much when you are deeper stacked. The main adjustment you should make when there are antes in play when deep stacked is to raise a bit more often to a slightly larger size. It should be made clear that these push/fold strategies will rarely apply to cash games because most players do not hang around with 10 big blind stacks. They instead reload and opt to play deeper stacked. However, if you find yourself in a game where some players implement a short stack strategy, or just never reload when they get short, when the effective stack size is short (as it will be when everyone folds to you in late position and the players yet to act all have tiny stacks), using these strategies will work well.
Middle Position Strategy: First In 40 or more Big Blinds When the action is folded to you when you have a deep stack, you should raise with these hands from middle position ( Diagram 7 ).
Diagram 7
As you move to the later positions, you should raise with a wider range of hands. That being said, you cannot go too crazy because you still have to worry about the four to six players yet to act. Notice this range includes a few more Broadway hands and suited connectors compared to the early position pre-flop raising range. Many junky big cards and A-x (A-x refers to an Ace with an unsuited card below 10) are still not playable due to their large reverse implied odds. One of my leaks when I first started playing poker was thinking that any Ace was playable from middle position. Apparently, I used to overplay any Ace! Do not fall into the same trap that I did. As you move to even later positions, such as when only four players remain compared to when six players remain, you can raise a few more hands, such as additional Broadway hands (K-10o, Q-Jo) and decent suited big cards (K-9s, Q9s). If everyone yet to act is incredibly tight, you can experiment with raising any Ace. The main time you should add A-x to your range is when you are at a tight table and will frequently steal the blinds. If you fail to steal the blinds with A-x and flop top pair, bad kicker, you need to proceed with caution, opting to put only one or two bets in the pot after the flop. If the game is incredibly loose, playing the initial range suggested should work out well for you because it will be much stronger than the ranges your opponents play. One of the easiest ways to win at small stakes games is to simply play better hands than your opponents.
Between 12 and 40 Big Blinds As your stack gets shorter, you should adjust your range to favor hands that do not rely on implied odds. This often means cutting out some of the suited Aces and suited connectors and replacing them with offsuit Broadway hands. When the action is folded to you, if your stack is between 12 and 40 big blinds, you should raise with this range from early position ( Diagram 8 ).
Diagram 8
Of course, if your table is on the tighter side, feel free to raise with some
offsuit Aces and additional suited connectors (suited hands with one gap, such as 9-7s, count as suited connectors in my vernacular). As your stack diminishes to fewer than 20 big blinds, you have to be careful not to raise too wide, especially if your opponents are aware that they should go all-in over your pre-flop raises. There is no point in raising 8-7s if you will frequently get pushed on, but if your opponents are content to call and see a flop with a wide range of junk, 8-7s is perfectly playable because you will often win the pot after the flop by improving to the best hand or stealing the pot with a continuation bet. Always think ahead and try to figure out what will likely happen. If you think you will get pushed on a large portion of the time and you have a hand that cannot call an all-in, you should simply fold. Some players may read the previous paragraph and take it to mean that you should consider open limping with hands that are decently playable but will have to fold to an all-in or 3-bet if you raise. The problem with this logic is that if your table is aggressive, your opponents will raise your limps even more liberally than they will 3-bet or push over your raises. This means that your limps will frequently be attacked, also putting you in a tough spot. If you somehow find yourself at the rare table where players will attack pre-flop raises but will not attack limps, then limping gains some merit. I, however, have never encountered a small stakes table where that has been the case.
Fewer than 12 Big Blinds Returning to the FloatTheTurn.com Push/Fold app, you will see that from the hijack seat (when there are four players yet to act) when everyone folds to you, if your stack is 12 big blinds and there are no antes in play, you should go all-in with this range ( Diagram 9 ).
Diagram 9
When there are six players yet to act when everyone folds to you, if your stack
is 12 big blinds and there are no antes in play, you should go all-in with these hands ( Diagram 10 ).
Diagram 10
Notice that there are significant differences between these two ranges. I hope it is crystal clear that if you are in early position, you should push all-in with a tighter range compared to late position. It may be surprising that when there are six players yet to act, you have 12 big blinds, and are using a push or fold strategy, hands as strong as A-10o and K-Qo should be folded. If you want to play these hands with this stack size, you should
opt to use a min-raise, push, or fold strategy. This will allow you to min-raise hands like A-2s and K-Jo with the intention of folding to an all-in. The only problem with this is that if your opponents figure out what you are doing and adjust, they will run you over, bleeding your stack dry one min-raise at a time. Here is a potential min-raise/push/fold strategy for when you have a 12 big blind stack with six players yet to act ( Diagram 11 ).
Diagram 11
Playing a min-raise/push/fold strategy usually allows you to profitably play a wider range, in this situation, 17.6% of hands as opposed to 10.9% of hands. While this min-raise/push/fold strategy is likely not optimal, at many tables, it will show more profit than a push/fold strategy. As you learn more about your opponents’ tendencies, you can tinker with the composition of value hands compared to bluffs in the min-raising range. If you expect your opponents to frequently fold before the flop, add in more min-raise/fold hands. If you expect them to push over your min-raises quite often, add a few more strong hands to your min-raise/call range, such as A-Qo, A-Js, and A-Jo, and open fold some of the min-raise/fold hands, such as 2-2 and 8-7s. As your stack decreases down to 6 big blinds, you should push significantly wider. For example, from the lojack seat (when there are five players yet to act) when everyone folds to you, if your stack is 6 big blinds and there are no antes in play, you should go all-in with this range ( Diagram 12 ).
Diagram 12
As discussed in the early position section, adding an ante allows you to profitably push many more hands. Here is the range for pushing the same 6 big blind stack from the lojack, this time with antes in play ( Diagram 13 ).
Diagram 13
Always be sure to pay attention to the blind and ante structure of the game you are playing. If the antes are 12.5% of the big blind and you forget to account for them, you will make a significant blunder. The difference between being able to profitably push 22% of hands and 33% of hands is huge. As you move to the later positions, you should strongly consider adjusting your pushing range based on your opponents’ calling strategies. For example, if you have J-10o with a 6 big blind stack in the lojack seat with no antes in play, you should normally fold. However, if the players at your table play much too tightly when facing all-in bets (as many amateurs do) you should probably go all-in.
Be careful to not take this concept of altering pushing ranges so far that you push any time your opponents fold to you and you are in late position, because even the weakest players will eventually figure out what is going on and will adjust. Some weak players will over-compensate and start calling incredibly wide because they “know” that you have nothing. Once in a $1,000 buy-in World Series of Poker event, I was the big stack on the money bubble with about 50 big blinds. Everyone else at my table had fewer than 10 big blinds. This allowed me to go all-in with any two cards when the action folded to me because my opponents should fold almost every hand because if they are patient and wait for someone else to bust, either at our table or one of the other tables, they are guaranteed to get in the money, locking up a nice profit. After pushing the table around for about 20 minutes, everyone folded to me in the small blind, I looked down at 10♥-4♣, and made my standard all-in 10 big blind wager (push/fold charts do not apply on the bubble). The player in the big blind instantly called. I assumed I was in bad shape, but he proudly turned up 8♣-6♦ and announced “I knew you didn’t have anything!” He was right about that, but apparently he forgot to look at his hand. My 10-high held up, sending my opponent to the rail with no money in his pocket.
Cutoff Strategy: First In 40 or more Big Blinds When the action is folded to you and you have a deep stack, you should raise with these hands from the cutoff ( Diagram 14 ).
Diagram 14
Nailing down a specific opening range as you get closer to the button is difficult because the tendencies of players yet to act become increasingly more important. For example, if the three players yet to act are blatant maniacs who will 3-bet any hand they deem playable, perhaps you should instead open with the following from the cutoff when everyone folds to you ( Diagram 15 ).
Diagram 15
Notice that you can defend against a 3-bet reasonably well with most of this range. You should shy away from raising with A-x offsuit and offsuit connectors because those fare quite poorly in 3-bet pots, even against a wide range.
If the remaining players are incredibly tight, you can open as wide as any two cards. While pre-flop raising charts are a great way to lay out basic opening ranges, do not fall into the habit of blindly following them, especially if your opponents consistently make the same pre-flop mistakes.
Between 12 and 40 Big Blinds From the later positions with a medium stack, the hands you put in your raising range should be determined primarily by the tendencies of the players yet to act, not your stack size. For example, the range of hands you should raise if you will rarely get 3-bet should include more implied odds hands (because you will often see a cheap flop) compared to if you will frequently get 3-bet (because the preflop pot will be large, decreasing your implied odds). Here is a solid starting range when you have a medium stack ( Diagram 16 ).
Diagram 16
Fewer than 12 Big Blinds Returning again to the FloatTheTurn.com FloatTheTurn.com Push/Fold app, when there are no antes in play, you can push with the following range from the cutoff when the action folds to you and you have a 12 big blind stack ( Diagram 17 ).
Diagram 17
If instead, there is a 12.5% ante, you can push this (significantly wider) range ( Diagram 18 ).
Diagram 18
I am sure I am starting to sound like a broken record, but you must be keenly aware of the structure of the game you are playing. As stated earlier, when the players yet to act are overly tight, you can push with an even wider range. If they will call your all-in with a wide range, fold (or perhaps limp or min-raise) with the hands that you are not happy getting all-in with, such as K♠-5♠ and 6♠-5♠. Do not think that you have to blindly follow the push/fold charts simply because they exist. Even with a short stack, you have numerous options at your disposal. For example, suppose everyone folds to you in the cutoff and you have a 12
big blind stack with A-3o. You know with a high degree of certainty that the players yet to act will only go all-in over a min-raise when they have a premium hand (that has A-3o in bad shape). They will just call with Broadway hands and strong suited connectors. This is an ideal situation to min-raise with the intention of folding if you get pushed on. So, you decide to min-raise. Only a weak, tight player in the big blind calls. The flop comes 7♥ 7♥-4♣-2♦ -4♣-2♦ and your opponent checks. This is a great spot to make a 1.5 to 2.5 big blind continuation bet, depending on how you expect your opponent to react to various bet sizes. If your opponent will not care which amount you bet (because he will continue with pairs and fold everything else), you should bet 1.5 big blinds. If a tiny bet may induce him to call with a somewhat wide range of marginal hands that have lots of equity versus you, such as A-7 and K-10, you should bet a bit larger to make him play more straightforwardly straight forwardly.. Notice that by continuation betting, you put your opponent in a situation where he will react honestly. This will allow you to play almost perfectly. While you may occasionally get check/raise bluffed by a hand like 9♥ 9♥-8♥ -8♥, most of the time you will pick up the pot with minimal risk. Do not overlook the fact that that this play allows you fold pre-flop when you are dominated, which is a significant benefit. While open pushing before the flop in this situation is certainly profitable, it may not be the most profitable play, especially if you are aware of the mistakes your opponents are prone to make.
Button Strategy: First In 40 or more Big Blinds When the action is folded to you and you have a deep stack, you should raise with roughly this range from the button ( Diagram 19 ).
Diagram 19
You should have a preconceived notion as to what a “standard” button raising range is. Some players raise with any two cards when they are folded to, whereas tighter players open with a range similar to the one suggested that you raise from middle position. The “optimal” raising range when facing generic opponents is somewhere in between, or roughly 45% of hands. This range is a bit looser than the range that many excellent players raise with, but it is fine to be aggressive when you are certain to have the positional advantage against players who are prone to make errors. If your opponents will often 3-bet large from out of position, you should tighten up, opting to ditch many of the hands that cannot continue against a 3bet. A reasonable button raising range when the blinds are maniacal looks something like this ( Diagram 20 ).
Diagram 20
Even against maniacs, you should not become incredibly tight, opening only hands that can easily withstand aggression. This is because even the most maniacal players will tighten up if it is clear that you are only raising with strong hands. It is fine (and ideal) to have some hands in your range that you plan to fold when you get 3-bet. If one of the blinds 3-bet large, perhaps to 11 big blinds or more over your 3 big blind pre-flop raise, you should fold out most weak offsuit Aces, offsuit connectors, and the weakest suited hands. If they 3-bet to 8 big blinds or less, due to your excellent pot odds, you should continue with the
entire range besides the weak offsuit Aces and offsuit connectors. Do not worry if this wide 3-bet defending strategy is currently out of your comfort zone. Combating 3-bets will be thoroughly discussed in a later section. If the table is tight, you should widen your raising range, perhaps as wide as any two cards. This is because you will rarely be 3-bet and when you are, you can fold all but your best hands. You may encounter players who are normally tight when facing 4 big blind raises but loosen up (as they should) when facing 3 big blind raises. Against these players, it may be ideal to raise to 4 big blinds with your entire opening range. Do not take this concept of making larger than normal raises too far. If you start raising to 10 big blinds and your opponents play tightly, they will be playing well against you.
Between 12 and 40 Big Blinds As stated in the cutoff section, from the button, your opponents’ tendencies should be your main concern when selecting your pre-flop raising range. A good default starting range is the same one suggested in the previous deep stacked button section ( Diagram 21 ).
Diagram 21
As the stack sizes decrease, especially from late position, you should raise to a smaller amount than previously suggested. This is because you do not have to build a large pot early to realistically get your entire stack in by the river when you improve to a strong hand. Try raising to between 2 and 2.5 big blinds from late position and see how your opponents react. You will find that your tight opponents will continue to play as if they were facing a larger raise. When they fail to account for their increased pot odds, it allows you to steal the blinds more often, making a small pre-flop raise immediately profitable with a wide range.
Fewer than 12 Big Blinds Again, consult the FloatTheTurn.com FloatTheTurn.com Push/Fold app when the action folds to you on the button. I am going to make the assumption that you have already downloaded the app and quizzed yourself enough times that you know how wide you should be pushing from the button (yes, it is very wide). Be sure to study how various ante sizes alter your decision. While you should rarely adjust adjust your pushing range from early position (because you have to worry about the numerous players yet to act waking up with a premium hand), from late position you should tinker with the ranges based on how often you expect your opponents to call. For example, if you think the players yet to act will only call with the top 10% of hands, you can push a 10 big blind stack from the button with any two cards. You can figure out how much you stand to profit in this situation by using the following equation: Equity = (% they fold) × (pot you steal when they fold) + (% small blind calls) × (equity in pot – amount put in pot) + (% big blind calls) × (equity in pot – amount put in pot) Please note that this is a bit oversimplified. Sometimes both opponents will call, and some of your estimations about their tendencies may be inaccurate, but this is a good place to start. With no antes in play, let’s assume that if you push from the button with 10 big blinds, each remaining opponent will call with this overly tight range ( Diagram 22 ).
Diagram 22
To figure out your equity in this situation when you push with any two cards, you have to figure out how much you win when you steal the blinds (the first part of the equation), how much you lose when the small blind calls (the second part of the equation), and how much you lose when the big blind calls (the third part of the equation). Using a free poker hand equity calculator such as Equilab, you can quickly find that a 100% range wins 32% of the time versus the above tight 10.3% range.
77+,A8s+,KQs,A10o+,KQo 68.09% random
31.91%
So, your equity is .528 big blinds profit, which is enough to make this a profitable play. play. Equity = 0.8 × 1.5 + 0.1 × (.32 × 21 – 10) + 0.1 × (.32 × 20.5 – 10) Notice that if you added in an additional tight player who is taking roughly .312 big blinds out of your profit, you can still profitably push any two cards from the cutoff. You can infer that pushing any two cards from the hijack will always be unprofitable because no one will call much tighter than this 10.3% range. In the real world, most players will not call so tightly. You can still use the above equation by altering the percentage of the time they call and your equity versus their calling range. Experiment with this equation to determine when you should push and when you should fold. Keep this equation in mind because it will come into play later when we discuss how to play a short stack when someone raises in front of you as well as when there are limpers in front of you. It is also important to understand that just because pushing a hand is profitable does not mean it is the most profitable play. For example, pushing A-A from the button for 50 big blinds is certainly profitable (on average, you will always profit with A-A) but it is far from the most profitable option.
Small Blind Strategy: First In 40 or more Big Blinds Against Strong Opponents Up until now, you have been raising with your entire playable range when you are the first person to enter the pot. That concept goes out the window when everyone folds to you and you are in the small blind because you are certain to be out of position throughout the hand, both pre-flop and post-flop. From the small blind against competent opponents, your goal should be to minimize the amount of money you put in from out of position while also defending your equity in the pot. Many amateurs implement a strategy of raising with their best hands, calling with their marginal hands, and folding their trash. Their actions tell their competent opponents exactly where they stand. Clearly that strategy is not a good option. Other players opt to raise with a wide range, but that is also not a good strategy because the big blind can call (or 3-bet) with a wide range due to his roughly 2:1 pot odds and having position. Against strong players, reckless aggression is not a winning strategy. Notice that when everyone folds to you, you will be getting 3:1 pot odds to limp (assuming there are no antes). For example, at $1/$2, you have to put $1 more into a pot that will be $4 after you limp. This means that you only need to realize your equity 25% of the time to break even. Since all hands have 25% equity versus the big blind’s random hand, you should strive to find a way to play a wide range. You will be out of position and often face difficult decisions, but even then, you should strive to see as many cheap flops as possible. So, against competent players, what can you do to ensure you see a cheap flop? You should play in a manner that makes it difficult for your opponent to blindly raise your limps. This implies that you do not raise your best hands, such as A-A and K-K, instead opting to limp. By limping with your best hands, you can limp with many more junky hands because they are “protected” by the presence of the premium hands in your range. This strategy works well because, if the big blind raises, you can 3-bet more often, and if he checks, your range will be well-disguised. Against a competent opponent, a powerful strategy is to start by limping with this range ( Diagram 23 ).
Diagram 23
I am sure many readers of this book are now scratching their heads. Yes, I am suggesting that it is perfectly acceptable to limp from the small blind with all of these hands versus a competent big blind when the action folds to you. In order to play in this manner, you will have to become wellversed in post-flop play, but you will be by the time you finish studying this book. Your best hands will get outdrawn some portion of the time, and that is an acceptable result. You will also have to bluff intelligently when you have a decent likelihood of stealing the pot. You will have to learn how to fight for pots. This is the exact opposite of what
many small stakes players do. They want to sit back, make the nuts, and then pile in their stack. With this limping strategy, you will often be checking marginal pairs and blasting away with your bluffs. This is where poker gets really fun! If you limp with this wide range and your opponent checks, that is great. You have now achieved your goal of seeing the flop with a wide range. If your opponent raises, you have two strong options at your disposal. Before moving forward, it is important to understand that you should respond differently to various raise sizes. At $1/$2, if you limp and the big blind raises to $24, you should fold all but your best hands because your opponent is risking $22 more to win $4. If your opponent raises to $4, you have to continue with your entire limping range due to getting 3:1 pot odds. You will find that most players will opt to raise to between 3 and 4 big blinds. The following strategy assumes that is the case. As your opponent raises larger, you should defend less often. This strategy also assumes your opponent attacks your limps a decent amount of the time. If your opponent essentially never raises your limp, you should adjust by only defending with strong hands when he raises because your wide range should fare poorly versus his tight raising range. Here is a reasonable way to respond with your limping range when your somewhat aggressive opponent raises to 3 big blinds ( Diagram 24 ).
Diagram 24
The folding hands are your absolute trash that are likely too weak to even limp (although they may be playable if the big blind is incredibly passive, both preflop and post-flop). The limp/folding hands are the absolute worst hands in your limping range. This strategy has you folding fewer hands than if your only options were to
limp/fold or limp/call (which is also a powerful strategy because again, it keeps your range disguised) because you will be turning some of your junky hands into bluffs. The limp/calling range makes logical sense. You want to see a flop with all of these hands because they are likely either the best hand at the moment or can easily improve to the best hand on the flop, plus you will usually be getting the right pot odds to continue. The limp/3-betting range is where many of my students show resistance. They are simply not comfortable with limping 7-6o and then 3-betting to 3.5 times the big blind’s raise (12 big blinds over the big blind’s 3.5 big blind raise). To them, it feels suicidal because they pessimistically think they are going to lose every time they get called. In reality, your opponent will often either 4-bet large (or go all-in) or fold before the flop. With this “polarized” range, your junky hands are protected because you will have a premium hand that is strong enough to defend versus a 4-bet 42% of the time (your 3-betting range is 6.9% out of your 16.6% total 3-betting range). It is also fine when your opponent calls because many of your junky hands (especially the suited ones) have a reasonable chance to improve to strong post-flop hands. A polarized range is a range containing your best hands as well as some of your worst hands. A “linear” range contains your best hands and some of your decent, but non-premium hands (such as A-10o and K-Jo). Keep this in mind as you move forward and learn how to exploit specific opponents. In general, you want to have a polarized range versus strong players who will fold to your significant aggression and a linear range versus players who will call with a wide range. Notice that much of the junky limp/3-betting range will fall below the hands that your opponents will call your 3-bet with. For example, when your opponent calls your 3-bet with K-Qo, your junky hands like 7-4s will have 39% equity. This is much better than having hands like Q-Jo, which only has 26% equity versus K-Qo. The junky suited hands in this polarized range are rarely dominated. Blockers
You are probably wondering why Q-6o and Q-5o are in the limp/3-betting range. It is because they do not fit cleanly into the other ranges, plus they have a bit of blocker value. A “blocker” is a card that makes it more difficult for your opponent to have a strong hand. While Aces and Kings are the main blockers
that you should be concerned with, when facing a wide range, Queens and Jacks become relevant as well. Notice that for each possible unpaired holding, there are 16 possible combinations. With A-K, you can have:
If you know that the Ace of hearts is missing from the deck because it is in your hand, there are now only have 12 possible combinations of A-K:
(because A♥ A♥-K♣, A♥ A♥-K♦ -K♦, A♥ A♥-K♥ -K♥, A♥ A♥-K♠ are now missing) This means that when you know an Ace is missing from the deck, your opponent will have A-K (and all other unpaired hands containing an Ace) 75% as often compared to when you do not know there is an Ace missing. For pairs, there are six possible combinations: A♠-A♦ A♠-A♦, A♦-A♥ -A♥,
A♠-A♥, A♦-A♠,
A♠-A♣ A♥-A♣
Again, if the Ace of hearts is missing, there are only three possible combinations: A♠-A♦ A♠-A♦,
A♠-A♣,
A♦-A♠
(because A♠-A♥ A♠-A♥, A♦ A♦-A♥ -A♥, A♥ A♥-A♣ are now missing) This means that when you know an Ace is missing from the deck, your opponent have A-A 50% as often compared to when you do not know there is an Ace missing.
What all of this amounts to is that when you have a high card “blocker”, you know that it is less likely that your opponent has a strong hand he can continue with when faced with aggression. Taking this concept one step further, since you assume that many players will 4-bet their best hands in this blind versus blind situation over your limp/3-bet, you are not concerned about having an Ace blocker, and are instead looking for blockers that take combinations of calling hands out of your opponent’s range. Since most King-high pre-flop hands are strong enough to limp/call due to excellent pot odds and showdown value, you should look at the Queens. Q-6o and Q-5o fall nicely into the category of hands you do not want to limp/fold, while at the same time being bit too weak to limp/call due to their lack of showdown value and post-flop playability. When your opponent 4-bets (usually quite large or all-in), you can happily continue with your best hands and fold the junk. If you happen to be very deep stacked and your opponent 4-bets small (between 2 and 2.3 times your 3-bet), you should consider calling with some of your junky drawing hands, assuming you do not think your opponent’s range consists of only premium hands that you are drawing thin against. Remember, this strategy is for when you are facing a strong opponent who is capable of bluffing, not someone who is weak, tight, and straightforward. Vary Your Ranges
So far, only nice, clean ranges have been presented for you to use, but in reality, your ranges should constantly be in flux. The previously outlined limp/3-betting range above could easily be too loose. You should not feel obligated to 3-bet Q6o and 10-3s every single time. If you get the vibe that your opponent likes his hand, you should simply fold all your junk. If you have been overly aggressive recently, meaning your opponent will be less inclined to believe that you have a strong range, you should also fold. If you think your 3-bet may get called a large percent of the time, you should adjust your bluffing range to contain only the low suited connectors and gappers that will usually not be dominated by your opponent’s calling range. There is no point in 3-betting Q-6o and J-3s if you have relatively little fold equity and will often be dominated by your opponent’s continuing range. If you have been very tight and your opponent thinks you play in a straightforward manner, you should 3-bet with an even wider range of hands that are not good enough to limp/call. You may want to 3-bet with only your junky hands, electing to call with your best hands in order to not give your opponent
the chance to fold. Your opponent can’t make a mistake versus your A-A if he folds before the flop to your limp/3-bet. Remember, this somewhat “balanced” strategy works best when you are up against a good, competent opponent. While it will work decently well versus everyone, it is far from optimal in every situation. Remember, you should always adjust to your specific opponent. Against Weak, Tight Opponents
Against weak, tight opponents who will fold to a pre-flop raise, unless they have a hand they deem to be worthy of putting a significant amount of chips in the pot, you should consider raising with any two cards. This is because weak, tight players will fold often enough to a pre-flop raise to allow you to profit immediately. To figure out how often a complete bluff (meaning you have 0% equity when called) needs to succeed in order to be profitable, you divide the amount you are risking by the amount you stand to win, plus the amount you are risking. So, at $2/$5, if everyone folds to you in the small blind and you raise to $20, you are risking $18 (the $2 from your small blind doesn’t count because it belongs to the pot, not you) to win $7. Note that you can raise smaller, to 2.5 or 3 big blinds, if your opponent will still play tightly, although I have found that most small stakes players respond in a tight, straightforward manner as the bets get larger. So, a pre-flop steal needs to work 72% of the time to show a profit (18/(18+7) = 72%). So, if your opponent will call less than 28% of the time and you play anywhere near competently after the flop, you will immediately profit by raising to 4 big blinds with any two cards. A 28% defending range looks something like this ( Diagram 25 ).
Diagram 25
While many players will defend wider than this range, the tightest players will fold the weak Aces and some of the junky Broadway hands when faced with a “giant” (at least in their opinion) 4 big blind raise. Also, when you get called, you are not drawing stone dead. You will usually have at least 30% equity with even the worst hands in your range. If your opponent defends tighter than the following range, you can almost assuredly raise with nearly 100% of hands from the small blind when the action folds to you ( Diagram 26 ).
Diagram 26
It is quite common to find players who play tighter than this. When you spot them, raise their blinds relentlessly. If you roughly know your opponent’s pre-flop calling range, you will know which flops connect well with it. Let’s assume your opponent calls your pre-flop raise with the previous semi-tight range. On an Ace-(Broadway card)-(low card), such as A-J-6, your opponent will flop top pair, middle pair, or a draw about 53% of the time. The following image is from the analytical tool Flopzilla. The little “funnels” to the left of each type
of hand displays which hands you think your opponent will continue with if you bet. Since most weak, straightforward opponents will only continue with middle pair or better when facing a bet, those hands are the only hands selected ( Diagram 27 ).
Diagram 27
If you make a flop continuation bet of 50% of the size of the pot ($20 into the $40 pot) versus this weak, tight opponent, you will immediately profit because you only need your opponent to fold 33% of the time and he will fold about 48% of the time. Remember, to determine how often a complete bluff needs to succeed, you divide your bet by your bet plus the pot, so 20/(20 + 40) = 33%. If your opponent folds more than 33% of the time, you can profit by blindly continuation betting with any two cards. If you tinker around with Flopzilla, you will find that the worst flops for you
(because they connect well with your opponent’s range) are those containing three high cards or three middle cards. On those boards, you should usually check if you do not have a strong hand or draw. Essentially all other flop textures can be attacked at will because this type of player will fold too often. That said, be aware that some players will call your pre-flop raise tightly but will then turn into calling stations after the flop. Against Calling Stations
A calling station is someone who rarely folds when they think they have any chance at all to win. It is not uncommon for amateurs to be calling stations on particular streets. Some players play tightly pre-flop and on the flop, but if they make it past the flop, they have a hand they think is worthy of seeing a showdown and will never fold to any amount of additional aggression. Other players will call pre-flop raises with any two cards and will call the flop with that entire range, but will then fold to a turn bet unless they have top pair or better. It is always important to pinpoint your opponent’s exact tendencies (ambiguously labeling them as a calling station is not precise enough) and then adjust to take advantage of them. Against someone who plays tightly pre-flop and on the flop but then rarely folds on the turn or river, raise pre-flop with a wide range, bet the flop with a wide range, and then only continue betting on the turn and river with your best value hands. Against players who call with too wide a range on all or most betting rounds, you should put money in the pot with your value hands and keep the pot manageable with everything else. Notice that this is a very different strategy than the one initially outlined against a competent player. The next diagram presents the strategy you should use against a typical calling station who will only raise or 3-bet with his best hands (most calling stations are passive, not aggressive) ( Diagram 28 ).
Diagram 28
Notice that most hands in your raising range have 55% equity or more against the random hand your opponent will call with. Your limping range will win way more than the required 25% of the time (based on your pot odds) to justify calling. Limping is a great strategy against somewhat passive calling stations because you don’t have to fear being pushed off your hand. As you learn to play well after the flop, you may even decide that you can profitably limp the rest of your trash currently in the folding range if the big blind will almost never raise
because even those hands have more than 25% equity. After the flop, you can simply bet when you have a reasonable value hand or strong draw, and check when you don’t. While this sounds overly simplistic, if your opponent will not fold when you bet, you should only bet when you expect to get more out of the pot than you put in. Just be open to the idea that your opponent may eventually figure out your strategy and adjust. If you notice your opponent ramping up his aggression, especially when you show weakness, you should start betting with a few more bluffs, especially with your semi-bluffs that have some equity. A semi-bluff is a bet made with a hand that is almost certainly behind when you get called but has a decent amount of potential to improve. Draws (both strong and weak) fall squarely in this category. Against Maniacs
Against a maniac, someone who will constantly raise and reraise any time you play passively, you should limp with a decently strong range and call a raise with most of it. A reasonable small blind limping range when the action folds to you would be this ( Diagram 29 ).
Diagram 29
Notice that it is not suggested that you raise from the small blind with your best hands. Actually, you should adjust based on how you expect your opponent to react to a raise. If he will 3-bet over your raises on a regular basis, feel free to raise with your best hands. If he will just call, as many maniacs will do when they face aggression, you should limp with your entire playable range. This range is quite difficult to exploit with aggression because it is made up entirely of hands that are either best at the moment or have a decent chance to improve to the best hand.
When you limp/call a maniac’s raise, you should be prone to check/call down any time you make a reasonable pair. If you find yourself folding middle or bottom pair by the turn or river, you are almost certainly making an error (unless your specific maniac is only wild pre-flop and on the flop). Combating maniacs will be discussed more in the Post-flop section.
Between 12 and 40 big blinds Against Strong Opponents
As your stack gets shorter, the initial limping strategy outlined against good, competent opponents still applies, but you should probably tone down limp/3betting with the junky hands a bit. This is because you will often have to push all-in if you get raised, based on your stack size. For example, if you limp with Q♠-5♥ from the small blind and a good, competent opponent raises to 4 big blinds, if you have a 25 big blind stack you should usually either go all-in or fold. Alternatively, you could 3-bet to 8 big blinds with the intention of folding to an all-in, but then, your opponent can easily call, citing 3:1 pot odds. You should almost certainly remove many of the worst hands from your limp/3-betting range unless you are confident your opponent is raising your limp much too wide. As your stack dips below 25 big blinds, you may prefer to adjust to a mixed strategy of raising, limping, and folding. This is because as your stack diminishes, stealing blinds becomes more important. This should lead you to play in a manner that picks up the pot immediately with hands that are decent, but not premium. You should consider using this strategy when you have between 18 and 25 big blinds, raising to 2.7 big blinds with your raising range ( Diagram 30 ).
Diagram 30
This balanced strategy will work well against strong opponents. Notice the limping and raising ranges are protected by the presence of hands that can confidently get all-in. This will make you nearly impossible to exploit if you play well after the flop, putting your opponent in a tough spot despite having the positional advantage.
Against Weak, Tight Opponents
As stated earlier, you should relentlessly raise your weak, tight opponents who will fold too often before the flop. Keep in mind that when these players call your pre-flop raise, they usually have a strong holding. That should lead you to be a bit more cautious with bluffing if you happen to see the turn and river. Do not fall into the habit of blindly betting simply because your opponent did not show aggression. Many of these tight players succeed in small stakes games because their opponents mistake their passivity for weakness. Against Calling Stations
Against players who will call your raises with an exorbitantly wide range, you should raise with your value hands and limp your marginal hands. When you expect to have the best hand, you should put money in the pot and when you don’t, you should check. Before moving forward, it is important to understand that simply having the best hand is not a good enough reason to value bet. You have to have the best hand when you bet and get called more than 50% of the time to profitably value bet. Against calling stations, this is quite simple. You look at your opponent’s range, assume they will fold the absolute bottom of it (such as unpaired cards lower than the board), and then bet when you beat more than half of the remaining range. This roughly works out to you value betting with bottom pairs on the flop, middle pairs on the turn, and top pairs on the river (of course, this guideline depends a great deal on the board texture and your opponent). Imagine a situation where you face a competent opponent who knows how to play well. You raise with Q♥-10♥ from middle position to 2.5 big blinds out of your 40 big blind stack and your opponent calls in the big blind. The flop comes Q-7-3. Your opponent checks, you bet 3 big blinds into the 5.5 big blind pot, and your opponent calls. The turn is the (Q-7-3)-6. Your opponent checks, you bet 6 big blinds into the 11.5 big blind and your opponent calls. The river is the (Q-73-6)-K. Your opponent checks. Should you value bet? Well, which hands are you trying to get called by? A pair of 7s will almost certainly fold if you bet again. Perhaps you can get value from Q-9 and Q-8, but most of the time, when you bet and get called, you will lose to a better made hand. However, when you check behind, you will probably win this pot about 65% of the time. So, when it checks down, you win 65% of the time, but when you bet and get called, you may win only 30% of the time, or less. Always make a point to figure out what you are trying to get value from and make sure it is not
only a tiny part of your opponent’s range. Suppose that your opponent is a calling station instead of a competent player in the previous example. If that was the case, you should almost certainly continue betting the river. Most calling stations will be unable to fold any pair. So, instead of only getting value from a few worse Queens (when facing a competent player), you can get value from any one pair hand and perhaps even Ace-high, meaning when you bet and get called, you may win 80% of the time or more.
Fewer than 12 Big Blinds One last time, I suggest you consult the FloatTheTurn.com Push/Fold app when you get short. While you could work hard to develop a limping strategy, you will be best served pushing with the wide range by the math. As always, you should adjust your pushing range to reflect your opponent’s calling strategy. If you know he will fold everything besides the top 15% of hands, you can profitably push 10 big blinds with any two cards (remember how to confirm this using math?). If he will call incredibly wide, you should tighten up the app’s suggestions. For reference, here is the pushing range that the app suggests from the small blind when the action is folded to you when you have an 8 big blind effective stack with no antes in play ( Diagram 31 ).
Diagram 31
Many players do not feel “comfortable” pushing “junk” like 9♠-5♠ and 7♣-6♥, but if you follow the app, you will be unexploitable, meaning you will either break-even or profit, depending on whether or not your opponent deviates from proper calling strategy. Your level of comfort should not dictate your strategy. If a play is the most profitable option, you should make it.
Chopping the Blinds In small stakes cash games, it is common to chop the blinds, which is when both players take their blinds back and move on to the next hand. Most players chop because they are afraid to play short-handed. This is not a good enough reason. There are two main situations when you should chop the blinds. The first and most common time you should chop is when the rake is too high. I once played in a $5/$10 game where there was no rake if you chopped but if you raised and stole the big blind, you had to pay $2 rake. If your opponent called in the big blind, you had to pay $4. It should be clear that this is an unwinnable situation for either player. If you play $1/$2 and the house takes more than $1 if you limp and the big blind checks, you should chop. Ideally, you want to play in games where the rake is less than 10% of the size of the pot, capped at a low amount, such as $4. The second time you should chop is when the players on both sides of you play well. If you expect to have no edge when playing against the players next to you, simply chop and move on to the next hand. That said, there may be some value in playing pots versus strong players. The main time this is the case is when they are prone to tilt or when they will view your unwillingness to chop as a personal attack. If you can get a normally strong player off his game by accepting a bit more variance, it is well worth the price. In general, chopping with only one of the two players on either side of you is frowned upon. If the player on your left wants to chop but the player on your right does not want to, you should be thrilled to accept that arrangement. This is because, on average, chips flow to the left. If you lose nothing to the player on your left and get to play against the player on your right, the chips will only flow in your direction. It is unethical to only chop when you have a bad hand. Some amateurs think that chopping is something that is done only when they have a junky hand. If they look down at A-A after agreeing to chop on a previous orbit, they will raise, often putting a bewildered look on the big blind’s face. When you agree to chop, it is for the entire session, or until you announce before the hand is dealt that you are no longer chopping. In $5/$10 and higher cash games, I would estimate that I chop about 10% of the time. If your unwillingness to chop aggravates your opponents and you want to keep the peace, casually say something like “I came here to gamble, not fold!”
or “Sorry, I always play.” While you may occasionally hurt someone’s feelings, playing instead of chopping will gain you the experience required to move up in stakes where playing is the norm. If you have no experience with playing from the blinds in heads-up pots because you always chop, you will be unprepared to tangle with more experienced opponents. There is no big blind strategy when the action is folded to you because you win the blinds and move on to the next hand.
PRE-FLOP STRATEGY: WHEN FACING LIMPERS Now that you know a fundamentally sound strategy for how to play when you are folded to, situations when you are not folded to can be addressed. This section is split into when you have more than 18 big blinds and when you have fewer than 18 big blinds. While I could break this down further, in order to remain concise, 18 big blinds is the point where your strategy should shift from raising pre-flop and then making a continuation bet (with the intention of getting away from your weak hands) to either pushing all-in pre-flop or raising pre-flop and then going all-in on the flop. Just be sure to keep in mind the principles from the previous section when thinking about combating limpers. Most of the time in small stakes games, there will be one or more limpers before the action gets to you. It is important to try to put the limpers on a range and adjust your strategy accordingly. Limpers come in two main types, Honest and Tricky.
Combating an Honest Limper More than 18 Big Blinds The primary type of limper you will encounter limps with a range that consists of hands they perceive to be too weak to raise. These limpers will be referred to as “honest limpers” because they act as you would logically expect them to act. An honest limper may limp with this range from early position ( Diagram 32 ).
Diagram 32
Notice that this range contains many hands that most novices perceive as being decent, but not premium. These players are easy to play against because when they raise, you know they have a strong hand and when they limp, you know their hand is marginal. It is important to understand that this type of player’s range can vary wildly. In general, as your opponent limps from a later position, he will have a wider range, although some players limp a rigid range from every position. Loose versions of this player may limp with a range like this ( Diagram 33 ).
Diagram 33
Once you have made some assumptions about the initial limper’s range, you have to figure out if you want to limp behind or raise with your playable hands. This is where combating limpers becomes tricky because there are numerous factors that differ in importance from situation to situation that must be considered. Ask yourself the following questions when determining whether you should limp behind or raise: How strong is my hand? You should almost always raise with your best hands in order to build the pot. With your drawing hands, you frequently do not mind seeing a cheap flop. How will the initial limper react to a raise? You should raise with a different range versus someone who will call the raise every time compared to someone who will usually fold. How will my opponent play after the flop? Will your opponent respond straightforwardly to a flop continuation bet if you raise pre-flop? Will he be more inclined to apply aggression in limped pots? How will the players yet to act react? If you limp behind, will they usually limp behind or will they raise? Do you expect lots of players to limp or very few? If you expect a raise to get lots of callers, you should limp behind or fold hands like A-9o and K-10o. If you think everyone will fold, raising allows you to isolate the honest limper. If you decide to raise, you have to figure out how much to raise. In my experience, most players will call any raise smaller than 4 big blinds and will fold to any raise larger than 8 big blinds. Most honest limpers are making errors by having a limping range, so you should develop an exploitative strategy to take advantage of them. If your opponents are oblivious to what you are doing, you can use the strategy of raising large with your junky hands and small with your premium hands. This will result in seeing the flop with premium hands while stealing the pot before the flop with your junky hands. I want to make it perfectly clear that when you have a premium hand, you want to get action. One of the most costly blunders many amateurs make is to raise huge with their best hands because they are afraid of getting outdrawn. They think “I would rather win a small pot with my A-A than get outdrawn”. While they win the tiny pot almost every time when they raise to 12 big blinds
over one or more limpers, they miss out on a huge amount of post-flop value. You must become comfortable with seeing flops with your best hands if you want to have any chance for substantial success. Sticking to the same pre-flop raise sizing from earlier, your “default” raise size should be to about the size of the pot. You can increase or decrease this sizing based on how you expect your opponents to react. Remember: A pot sized raise = 3 × (last bet) + additional money in the pot, including the blinds. So, if there are 3 limpers, a pot sized raise = 3 × 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + .5 = 6.5 big blinds. Suppose one player limps from the cutoff and you are on the button with A-A. If you know that your opponent is a somewhat oblivious weak, tight player who will fold most of his hands if you make a pot sized raise to 4.5 big blinds, by all means, raise smaller. Perhaps you should make it 3 big blinds versus this specific opponent. On the other hand, if your opponent will view a small bet as if you are trying to rope him in (inducing him to fold), you should make a pot sized raise or larger. Alternatively, if only the weak honest cutoff limps and you have J-8o on the button, this is a decent spot to raise in order to either steal the pot before the flop or to get heads-up in position versus the honest limper. If you think your opponent will fold to a pot sized raise, make that play. However, many players in small stakes games limp because they want to see the flop, meaning they will call any raise they view as “cheap enough”. For that reason, you should experiment with raising larger, to about 6 big blinds (or maybe even more). Also, the players yet to act in the blinds are incredibly important in this situation. If they will all call a 4.5 big blind raise with almost any two cards but will play very straightforwardly versus a 6 big blind raise, then raising to 6 big blinds becomes a powerful play that will frequently steal the pot whereas a 4.5 big blind raise will result in you playing a multi-way pot with a marginal hand. If you raise to 6 big blinds and only the honest cutoff calls, you should make a 6 big blind continuation bet on almost every flop. This will steal the pot often enough to show an immediate profit versus this type of player because he will usually play the flop in an honest, straightforward manner. While it is nice when your opponents are oblivious to your raise sizes and will react as you expect them to, your better opponents will be cognizant of what you
are doing and will eventually figure out that you raise large with your junky hands and small with your best hands. Against this type of opponent, stick with a pot sized raise with your entire raising range. That said, most players who are vigilant enough to catch on to the fact that you vary your raise sizes against honest limpers are not limpers in the first place, and if they are, they are not honest. When combating limpers, you always want to think about what you are trying to accomplish, as well as how your opponent will react. Let’s now take a look at some adjustments you should make from various positions when facing one limper. I understand that quite often, multiple people will limp before the action gets to you. Adjustments to multiple limpers will be discussed later, but understand that many of the topics discussed here broadly apply to that situation as well. When You are in Early Position
When you are in early position and are facing an early position limper, you should usually proceed with caution. This is because most players who limp from early position are aware that it is probable that someone yet to act will raise. This means that the limper should have a range of hands that can withstand a raise. Also, if you decide to raise, you have to worry about everyone else at the table either calling or 3-betting. I am apprehensive to present a chart outlining how to play against an early position limper because your range should change wildly based on the specific table dynamic, but if an honest limper limps from second position and you are in third position at a 10-handed table, you should use this strategy ( Diagram 34 ).
Diagram 34
Notice that the raising range does not include any junky hands because you have to worry about everyone else at the table waking up with a strong hand. You want to minimize the number of weak hands you play from out of position. The easiest way to do this is to simply fold them from early position. The calling range contains primarily hands that have a lot of potential to improve to premium holdings after the flop. You do not want to limp with hands that have large reverse implied odds such as A-8o and K-10o. From early
positon, you are best off folding these hands. If you are confident that you will get raised by someone yet to act if you limp behind, you should tighten up your limping range. This is because you will either have to fold when you face a large raise or call and play from out of position when you face a small raise. If you expect to get raised, you should consider adding A-A and K-K to your limping range so the players yet to act cannot blindly raise and put you in a difficult spot. You should use this strategy if you expect to get raised a decent amount of the time ( Diagram 35 ).
Diagram 35
When You are in Middle Position
Just because you are in an improved position does not necessarily mean that you should raise with a wider range. For example, if your opponent only limps with decently strong hands that he will never fold to a reasonable raise, such as 7-7, A-10s, and K-Qo, you should only raise with your best hands that stand to get value from your opponent’s strong limping range. You should use this strategy against a tight limper ( Diagram 36 ).
Diagram 36
This limping range includes many hands that flop well, plus a few strong Broadway hands. The goal in this situation is to flop a premium post-flop hand that can extract maximum value from your opponent’s strong range. If your opponent is limping all sorts of trash, you can raise widely. Be careful to not get too out of line because you still have to worry about the players yet to act. If an honest limper who plays a wide range including hands like A-2o, K-7s, and 7-6o limps from early position and you are in middle position, you should use this strategy ( Diagram 37 ). This raising range is incredibly wide, but it is tailored to exploit the limper’s mistake of limping with far too many hands. As for the limping range, it is quite weak and not necessary to have in this situation, especially if you think the players yet to act will react straightforwardly if you instead raise with the limping range. If they will play back versus your raise from time to time, perhaps it makes sense to limp with some of the weak pocket pairs, weak suited Aces, and marginal suited connectors.
Diagram 37
Notice that this limping range is different to the previous ones in that it includes some reverse implied odds hands that you typically want to avoid. The reason these hands are included is because your opponent is limping with such trash that these hands will often have your opponent outkicked when you both make top pair. While K-9o is horrible against players who do not play K-8, it is great against those who play K-2. That said, this limping range is obviously weak and opens the door for someone yet to act to raise profitably with a wide
range. If your limp will frequently get raised, it is best to just fold. When You are in Late Position
It is important to keep in mind that most limpers’ ranges get weaker as they enter the pot from later positions. This is because they raise with a wider range in later position. A weak, honest hijack limper who raises whenever he thinks he has a decent hand may use this strategy ( Diagram 38 ).
Diagram 38
When this type of player limps, you should raise with a wide range in order to try to play a heads-up pot in position. If the players yet to act are also weak, you can make the incredibly exploitative play of raising large with this range ( Diagram 39 ).
Diagram 39
This range is about as wide as you can possibly raise in a profitable manner. While you could raise with almost any two cards versus a weak limper, you should not apply aggression every single time because your opponents will eventually catch on and adjust. That said, if you are against someone who will
either limp/fold to your pre-flop raise or limp/call and then fold to a flop continuation bet 50% of the time or more, playing in this manner will print money. As always though, if your opponent’s range is strong because he simply does not raise often before the flop, do not feel inclined to attack him. You should use this strategy against this type of player ( Diagram 40 ).
Diagram 40
You may notice that it is generally suggested that you raise all pairs 8-8 and
higher. It is actually fine to limp with 10-10, 9-9, and 8-8 if you think that if you raise, multiple players will call. This is because multi-way, medium pairs will rarely be the best hand after the flop unless you flop a set, meaning you will lose the pot a large portion of the time. Especially in small stakes games where you expect four or more opponents to see the flop, there isn’t much reason to push tiny pre-flop edges, assuming you play well after the flop. When you flop an underpair, you can somewhat easily get out of the way if anyone shows significant interest. When you flop a set, you will still be able to play a huge pot because most opponents will be oblivious to the fact that you are jamming chips into the pot. As your opponents become better (and less willing to pay off large turn and river bets) you should be more inclined to raise with these hands because you need to grow the pot before the flop in order to play a large pot when you make a set. As you are hopefully starting to see, limping ranges change based on your position, the limper’s range, and how you expect the limper to react. Do not think that you can blindly follow a chart, or even a set of charts, and easily profit. Always think about what you want to happen, and play in a manner that gives you the best chance of achieving that result. When You are in the Small Blind
In all the previous examples, if you raised the limper and got called, you would be in position, at least against the initial limper. From the small blind (and big blind), you will be out of position. This should drastically alter your strategy. In general, you should be more inclined to limp behind from the small blind and see a cheap flop with most of your range because, if the initial limper calls your raise, he will have position on you, which is awful. While I could write an entire book on position, position is powerful because it allows you to act last on all betting rounds. This gives you information about your opponent’s range, because he has to act before you do, and also allows you to put in an additional bet whenever you want, because if your opponent bets, you can raise and if he checks, you can bet. This should lead you to try to play large pots in position and small pots out of position. An easy way to keep the pot small from out of position is to simply limp behind with a wide range. When facing an honest limper from early or middle position, you should tend to use this strategy from the small blind ( Diagram 41 ).
Diagram 41
You should raise with your absolute best hands to 1 big blind more than the size of the pot. You can limp with this decently wide range because of your excellent pot odds (5:1 versus one limper with no antes in play), assuming you think the big blind will frequently check. If you expect both the limper and the big blind to play poorly, you can limp with an even wider range. In addition to raising over one limper from the small blind with your best hands, you should also raise when you expect the big blind to frequently raise if
you limp while playing straightforwardly if you raise. The reason for this is that if you limp, you are essentially throwing away .5 big blinds a decent portion of the time, whereas if you raise, you avoid that situation. You should raise with a few more value hands, including some of the Broadway hands and suited Aces, and fold some of the junky hands that cannot realistically call a raise, such as the unky suited hands and offsuit connectors. That said, if you frequently expect the big blind to raise and he, in fact, does raise, you should be somewhat sticky with all of your hands that have potential because the big blind’s range should be quite wide. Do not think that just because you limp with a junky hand you can easily fold it to any amount of aggression. Quite often limp/calling pre-flop and then check/calling a flop continuation bet with any equity at all is a powerful, difficult-to-exploit strategy. When You are in the Big Blind
As from the small blind, raising versus one limper with a wide range is often not a good idea. It is completely free to see the flop and checking keeps your range wide. It is important that you play in a manner that keeps your opponents guessing. The easiest way to do this is to keep your range wide. The easiest way to keep your range wide is to play all of your playable hands in the same manner. While you should certainly raise the most premium hands for value, perhaps checking with A-10o and K-Js is not such a bad idea. That said, if you expect the limper to be weak and fold to a sizable pre-flop raise, it makes sense to attack him with a wide range because you will steal the pot before the flop a large amount of the time. It usually makes sense to raise large with the junky portion of your range (opting to check hands that have postflop equity and raise small with your premium hands). If you think the initial limper (and small blind, if he limped as well) will fold almost every time to a raise, you should consider using this strategy ( Diagram 42 ).
Diagram 42
Raising with this range of absolute junk is about as exploitative as you can get. If the limper will frequently call a raise to 5 or 6 big blinds, consider making it 8 or 10 big blinds. If the amount of blinds your opponents will call is not too high, you can raise large knowing that you will steal the pot before the flop almost every time. Being able to steal the pot pre-flop with your worst hands makes these normally unprofitable hands profitable. If you wanted to develop a more balanced raising strategy from the big blind
(because you think the initial limper plays well, sometimes calling and sometimes folding), you could raise with this range ( Diagram 43 ).
Diagram 43
Notice that your raising range contains 37.7% value hands and 62.3% bluffs. Many amateurs think a “balanced” range contains 50% value hands and 50% bluffs. This is not the case. When stacks are deep before the flop, you should have more bluffs than value bets in your range and by the river, you should have
more value bets than bluffs. This will be discussed more throughout the text. In general, before the flop, you want to have roughly 33% value hands and 67% bluffs. This is because when your opponent applies pressure, you can respond by folding all your junk and playing a gigantic pot with your premium hands. When he calls, your junk will often improve to the best hand. For a thorough discussion on game theory optimal strategies, check out the incredibly in-depth series Expert Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em by Will Tipton. I want to make it clear that you should rarely raise with your junk from the big blind. It takes an especially weak initial limper for you to be able to profitably get out of line. You should usually be happy to check and see a free flop with the majority of your range. Most weak limpers will adjust and start raising with their playable hands if you consistently raise their limps. This will deny you the opportunity to see free flops in the future because your opponents will be less inclined to limp. Preserving the ability to see free flops with a wide range from the big blind should often be your main concern, not stealing a tiny pot here and there. When everyone folds to the small blind and he limps, it is important to formulate a plan of attack that is not simply checking and seeing a free flop. If you think that the limper will fold most of his range to a 4 big blind raise, then you should raise every time you have a hand that will fare poorly after the flop. You could even develop a strategy such that you raise to 2.5 or 3 big blinds with your best hands and to 4 or 5 big blinds with your worst hands, assuming that will lead to the result you want. That said, checking and seeing a cheap flop is often a fine result. If your opponent is content to limp from out of position, you should play in a manner that keeps him limping with a wide range.
Fewer than 18 Big Blinds As the effective stack gets shorter, you have to adjust your strategy because if you raise pre-flop and then continuation bet the flop, you will be all-in or nearly all-in. This means that you should strengthen your ranges, especially in tournaments where one failed bluff could send you home. At this stack depth, you have two strong plays at your disposal. You can either go all-in before the flop or you can make a pot sized raise and then go all-in on the flop. As your stack gets shorter, you should be more inclined to go all-in preflop, especially if your post-flop bet will not have much fold equity. Fold equity refers to the amount of equity you expect to gain due to your opponent folding. Your fold equity is equal to the likelihood that your opponent folds times the amount you win when he folds. This topic will be discussed extensively throughout this book. For example, with an 18 big blind stack, if you are on the button and want to raise with J-J over a middle position limp, you can raise to 5 big blinds and then go all-in for a roughly pot sized bet on safe flops (as you will see in the Post-flop section, you should usually check when the board contains an overcard). You also have the option to bet 4 big blinds on the flop and then go all-in on the turn, which is a fine, and perhaps optimal, play. Alternatively, with a 10 big blind stack, if you raise to 5 big blinds before the flop, your 5 big blind flop all-in will have relatively little fold equity. While that is fine with a premium hand like J-J, as your hand’s strength diminishes (such as when you have A-5s or K-10o), you will often rely on fold equity to show a profit. For this reason, with a short stack, going all-in before the flop with your entire playable range is often ideal. That said, if you want to use a simpler strategy, you can push all-in with all your playable hands once you have fewer than 18 big blinds. However, a simple strategy is often less profitable than a more complicated one. While you will leave some money on the table, you will be difficult to play against and will sidestep the traumatizing situation (at least to amateurs) of putting in half your stack and then having to fold. When You are in Early Position
When facing an honest limper from early position and you are also in early position, you should play somewhat cautiously. This is because you have to take
into account everyone else yet to act. If UTG limps and you have 7-7 UTG+1 with 18 big blinds, you are in a dicey situation. Going all-in risks too many chips to win too few and raising to 4.5 big blinds will result in you seeing a flop with what will usually be an underpair. You could limp, but if someone raises, you will again be in a tricky spot. For this reason, you should be quite selective with the hands you elect to play from early position. From early position when one honest limper acts before you, you should tend to raise to 4 big blinds with your raising range when you have more than 12 big blinds while pushing all-in if you have fewer than 12 big blinds ( Diagram 44 ).
Diagram 44
If you think you will frequently get raised or if your stack is below 10 big blinds, you should fold many of the weakest hands in your limping range. Do not feel obligated to limp with marginal hands like Q-10s just because they are traditionally thought to be strong. These hands play quite poorly when facing a pre-flop raise. When You are in Middle Position
As when deep stacked, always take the initial limper’s strategy into account. If he has a tight range, you should raise with your best hands and limp with your implied odds hands, even though your implied odds are drastically decreased due to your short stack. If the limper has a wide range that he will fold to an all-in, perhaps you should go all-in with this range ( Diagram 45 ).
Diagram 45
Pushing with this range is a bit wide for 18 big blinds, but perfectly fine for 15 big blinds, assuming you are in the hijack or lojack. This strategy is very different from the one that most amateurs employ of limping and hoping to flop well. By going all-in, you will frequently steal the pot before the flop (as much as 80% of the time) and when you get called, you will have about 40% equity, on average. You can use the formula from earlier to determine how wide you can push in this spot. Let’s suppose you are in the hijack seat and want to know if you can push 10-
8s for 11 big blinds over a somewhat weak limper who you think will fold to your all-in 80% of the time. When he calls, you expect him to have a marginal range of small pairs, weak A-x, and some marginal Broadway hands (remember, most players raise their best hands, so those are not in their limping ranges). Let’s also assume that one of the four players yet to act will call your all-in 20% of the time and when that happens, you will be against a premium range of big pairs and premium big cards. Your equation would be: Profit = (% opponents fold) × (amount you steal) + (% limper calls) × (equity in all-in pot) + (%someone yet to act calls) × (equity in all-in pot) Profit = 0.6 × 2.5 + 0.2 × (0.41 × 23.5 -11) + 0.2 × (0.31 × 22.5 -11) = 1.5 - .273 - .805 = .422 big blinds profit The first part of this equation is your fold equity and the second and third parts are your equity when your opponents do not fold. Assuming the estimations as to how often you will get called are correct (perhaps the players yet to act will call more often), you can profitably push all-in in this situation. I strongly suggest you run lots of simulations away from the table to figure out when you should and should not push all-in with your stack. If you master preflop short stacked play, you will have a huge edge over the rest of the player pool. Notice that the main factor when determining if an all-in will be profitable is how often you get called. So, what factors determine how often you get called? The limper’s calling frequency The number of players yet to act If the initial limper will call your all-in 40% of the time or more, you should go all-in only when you expect to have his calling range beat. If he will fold most of the time (because he raises with all of his best hands), then you can shove very wide because you then only have to worry about the players yet to act waking up with premium holdings. If there are very few players yet to act, you should go all-in with a wide range because few (or no) players can surprise you with a premium hand. If you happen to have a deeper stack of 18 big blinds, you can still go all-in (figure out if it is profitable using the above formula), but you can also raise to 4
big blinds and then continuation bet the flop, assuming a 4 big blind raise will make the limper fold some portion of the time and when he calls, he will play honestly versus a flop continuation bet. Suppose a weak, honest limper who limps with a wide range of junk including K-2s, Q-9o, and 6-5o limps from the lojack seat and you are in the hijack. While this may look like a great spot to pounce, you have to be aware of the remaining players yet to act. Especially in live poker, if you get the vibe that someone yet to act likes their holding, you should play tightly. If, based on tells, you think they are all going to fold, or if you think most of them are going to fold, you can raise to 4 big blinds with this wide range ( Diagram 46 ).
Diagram 46
This range is about as wide as you can possibly raise, but it is usually ideal versus someone who is a total pushover. Obviously you would prefer that he folds before the flop, but if only the limper calls, you should make a 4 big blind continuation bet on most flops, especially when you fail to connect with the board, assuming you think he will fold to the 4 big blind bet more than 33% of the time, which will almost always be the case. If he calls, you have to be prepared to go all-in on some turns, especially when made hands on the flop get much worse (usually when an overcard or a card that completes an obvious draw arrives). Remember how I stated that simply pushing pre-flop is easier? Learning when to push based on a simple equation is not too difficult. Understanding when you should pass on making a continuation bet, when you should bet the flop and then give up on the turn, and when you should bet the flop and then bluff all-in on the turn is much more difficult. That said, many tricky post-flop situations will be examined throughout the text to ensure you have a solid understanding of post-flop poker. When You are in Late Position
Playing from late position is similar to playing in middle positon except the limper’s range may be wider and there will be fewer players yet to act. This should lead you to go all-in with a wider range. Imagine a weak, honest limper comes in from the cutoff and you are on the button. The small blind clearly doesn’t like his hand and is watching football on the television. The big blind has not looked at his cards. What range should you go all-in with for 18 big blinds if you are confident that the initial limper will essentially never call your all-in because you know that he raises with his strong hands and only limps with a range of junk that he will fold to an all-in? In this situation, you are only concerned with the big blind, who has not looked at his hand. Let’s assume that he will call your all-in with the top 15% of hands. Remember, you know that the limper is folding. This will often not be the case in the real world, but when pushing for 18 big blinds, most people will not be too inclined to gamble for that many chips with hands like 3-3 and A-8o. Let’s see if you can profitably go all-in with 7-2o: Profit = 0.85 × 2.5 + .15(0.22 × 37.5 - 18) = 2.125 – 1.463 = .662 big blinds profit
This situation clearly illustrates the power of having a large amount of fold equity. Tinker with the percentage of time that you will get called to see when you should stop pushing with any two cards. As long as you will rarely get called, you can push incredibly wide. If you are playing in a game where you will frequently get called, you should tighten up because most of your profit will have to come from getting your stack in with more equity than your opponent, not from making them fold too often. For example, suppose you are in the same situation, except this time, you think both of the blinds are folding because they looked at their hands and then failed to put a chip protector on them (as both of these specific players do every time they have strong hands), and you think that the limper will call your all-in every time. Let’s give him this range ( Diagram 47 ).
Diagram 47
Since you want to profit from this situation (not just break even), let’s assume you want to profit at least .1 big blind. You want to figure out how much equity you need to have when you get called in order to justify pushing. This is how you solve for this situation: 0.1 = 0 × (2.5) + 1 × (equity you need × 37.5) – 18 (multiply the first part by 0 and the second by 1) .1 = equity you need × 37.5 – 18
(add 18 to both sides)
18.1 = equity you need × 37.5 (divide both sides by 37.5) 18.1/37.5 = equity you need (solve for 18.1/37.5) 48.3% = equity you need So, which hands have 48.3% equity versus your opponent’s calling range? You can run each individual hand versus this range to see which have more than the required amount of equity, or you can use the nifty “Hand Range Calculator” feature in Equilab ( Diagram 48 ).
Diagram 48
This shows which hands will have more than 48.3% equity versus the limper’s calling range. So, you can profitably go all-in with this range ( Diagram 49 ).
Diagram 49
Most of the time you will not know that the players in the blinds are folding. To account for this, you should lop off the bottom few hands and push with roughly this range ( Diagram 50 ).
Diagram 50
This range is starting to get a bit too tight for my taste. While you can make this profitable play of pushing your 18 big blind stack with this range, perhaps a better play is to raise to 4 big blinds with the following, somewhat wide range with the intention of making your opponent fold most of his junky hands to a flop continuation bet ( Diagram 51 ).
Diagram 51
Of course, if your opponent is a calling station and will never fold any portion of his range, you should simply play tight and get maximum value when you have your opponent crushed. Do not think that blind aggression is the only way to win. Many players experience success at the smallest stakes by simply playing tight and getting full value from the players who refuse to fold any sort of marginal hand. When You are in the Small Blind
With a short stack from the small blind when facing a limper, you have to figure out if your main priority should be seeing a cheap flop getting 5:1 odds or more, or if you should try to steal the pot before the flop. If you think an all-in has a lot of fold equity (either because your opponent has a weak, wide limping range that will usually fold to an all-in or because you have an abnormally tight image) you should consider going all-in with a wide range. Use the equation from the previous section to determine which hands you can profitably push. If you do not think that you have much pre-flop fold equity, if you want to play a post-flop strategy because you think your opponents play poorly postflop, or if you want to keep your risk of losing your stack low, the 5:1 pot odds offered should entice you to call with a wide range. If an honest limper who has a reasonable range limps and everyone else folds to you, you should use this strategy from the small blind, assuming the big blind is not going to mindlessly attack the limpers ( Diagram 52 ).
Diagram 52
This limping range contains all hands that have the least bit of potential, as well as some junky hands that can make top pair. When you limp with reverse implied odds hands like K-5o and J-7o, you must play well after the flop in order to show a profit. If you are not well versed in post-flop play, you should fold the reverse implied odds hands. Do not think that you have to raise the limper every time you have a hand that should be “ahead”. Notice that hands like A-2o are often ahead of a wide, honest
limper, but if you raise and are called, you will have to play from out of position with a hand that will usually, at best, make top pair, bottom kicker. You have to become comfortable with jockeying for small pots out of position. For example, if only an honest limper enters the pot from middle position and you think he will frequently call if you raise or go all-in, if you have a 15 big blind effective stack, feel free to limp with A-3o from the small blind. Let’s assume the big blind checks. The flop comes A♥-7♣-2♦. This is an excellent spot to check, looking to check/call. Many amateurs make an overly aggressive play in this spot, either leading or check/raising all-in. When you lead or check/raise all-in, most players will only continue when you are crushed. However, if you check/call, you keep the bettor in the pot with all the hands that you beat. If you want to succeed at no-limit hold’em, you must learn to keep your opponents in the pot when you have them crushed, not force them to correctly fold. In this situation, if you check/called the flop, you should check/call on many turns. If your opponent then decided to put you all-in on the river, you should probably make a snug fold, unless you know he is prone to 3-barrel with a wide range of junk, or if he thought that your check/calls indicated a weak made hand that would fold to significant aggression. While this strategy will occasionally result in you getting bluffed, most of the time it will let you win a somewhat cheap showdown with your marginal made hand. Remember, strive to play big pots with your premium hands and small pots with your marginal hands. If you limp with this somewhat wide range and the big blind raises to 5 big blinds, assuming you think his range is not abnormally strong, you should go allin for your 15 big blind stack with 7-7, 6-6, A-Qo, A-Jo, A-10s, K-Qo, and K-Js, and fold everything else. It is important that you do not play your range such that you fold 100% of it to aggression, unless that aggression is from someone who is clearly way too tight. If you think that the big blind is raising with a wide range and will call if you go all-in most of the time due to his excellent pot odds, you should consider calling with some of the best big cards and suited connectors, hoping to flop well. Even then, you have to be tight. When you limp getting 5:1 and then have to fold most of your range to a sizable raise, it isn’t too big of a deal. When You are in the Big Blind
When it is completely free to see the flop, you should usually see the flop.
Again, the main times you should raise are when you have a premium hand or when the limpers are overly weak and you expect to have a lot of fold equity. In general though, simply check and see a flop. If you find yourself in a situation where you are confident the limper is weak and will fold to a raise to 4 big blinds or an all-in, you should be willing to pull the trigger. If you can push all-in and steal the pot 80% of the time or more (remember, most players raise their best hands, meaning their limps are weak), you will make a huge amount of profit in the long run. For example, suppose an honest limper limps from the button and the small blind, a player known to play straightforwardly, limps as well. If you think that both players will fold to a 15 big blind all-in almost every time, pushing all-in will win you almost the entire pot, in terms of equity. Even if you get called 25% of the time, you will still turn a huge profit because you are not completely dead when you get called.
Combating a Tricky Limper Playing against honest limpers is fairly simple because their limp indicates a range that does not contain premium hands. When a range does not contain premium hands, it usually cannot withstand much pressure. Tricky limpers make things difficult for you by limping with a range that contains some portion of premium hands. It is up to you to determine the composition of your specific tricky limper’s range. Somewhat snug tricky limpers use this strategy ( Diagram 53 ).
Diagram 53
Notice the limping range contains all of the best hands plus a smattering of hands that many players think are too weak to raise. This is a relatively difficult range to exploit because it contains some hands that will fold to significant aggression but others that will never fold. Others may limp with this wider strategy ( Diagram 54 ).
Diagram 54
This range contains all sorts of junk and should be attacked almost as you should attack an honest limper. Some players will limp even wider than this, with almost all suited or connected hands. These players simply cannot profitably defend their limping ranges, even if they add in a few more premium hands. Tighter players (especially from early position) may use this strategy ( Diagram 55 ).
Diagram 55
If a limper’s range is as strong as this one, it should not be attacked at all. If someone almost never limps and they suddenly limp, it is almost always with one of these hands, or perhaps A-xs. Do not think that just because someone limps that their range must be weak. Some players take this strategy to the extreme and only limp their best hands. In games where players will fold to a raise but will blindly attack limps, limping with your best hands could be the optimal strategy.
More than 18 Big Blinds Tricky limpers often employ the obviously straightforward tactic of limp/3betting their best hands. This is great for the raiser because he can fold all hands that are not getting the right pot odds to call, and call with all hands that have excellent implied odds and are getting the right price. For example, with 100 big blind stacks, a tricky limper limps from early position and you raise 9-9 to 5 big blinds from the cutoff. If the tricky limper 3bets to 10 big blinds, you can call 5 big blinds more to try to win the limp/3bettor’s 100 big blind stack. If he 3-bets to 25 big blinds instead (this is what some amateurs do), you can easily fold because you are not getting the correct implied odds to call. In general, when you have a small pair (and hope to flop a set), you need to get about 10:1 implied odds. With a suited connector or suited Ace, you need to get about 20:1 implied odds. To calculate your implied odds, you compare the total amount you can win, which is the pot plus your opponent’s entire stack, to the amount you have to call. So, with 100 big blind stacks when you raise to 5 big blinds and your opponent limp/3-bets to 10 blinds, you are getting 106.5:5 implied odds (amount you can win:amount you have to call), which translates to about 21:1. When your opponent 3-bets to 25 big blinds, you are getting 106.5:20, which is 5.3:1, meaning you should fold almost every time to this play. While it may sound like limp/3-betting to 25 big blinds is a great strategy, it is actually a significant losing play because you have A-A and K-K in your raising range, costing the limper his entire stack when you wake up with one of those hands. It is important that you pay attention to how often tricky limpers limp/3-bet. If a player does it once in an eight-hour session, it is safe to assume it is being done with a nut hand, perhaps exactly A-A (some players only limp with A-A!). If your opponent does it twice in an eight-hour session, you can assume it is also with a strong range. If you raise one of these limpers with a strong hand, like AQ or J-J, and are 3-bet or pushed on, it is often wise to fold, assuming you are against a better hand. If you have K-K, Q-Q, or A-K, you have to be incredibly confident that your opponent’s range is exactly A-A or K-K before folding. As a general rule, try to not put yourself in situations where you have to fold big hands. This means that if you raise with these hands, it is usually not with the intention of folding to additional aggression. If you think you will frequently get
limp/3-bet and have to fold your premium hand, limp behind instead. There is no rule that says you must raise every time you have a premium hand. Always think ahead about what is likely to happen and play accordingly. That said, if something happens 1 in 30 times, you should not worry too much about that spot because it will rarely occur. Most of the time, when you raise a limper with J-J, the limper will call with a range that you crush and will only 3-bet with the nuts. If your opponent limp/3-bets multiple times in an eight-hour session, it is usually with a wider range containing some bluffs such as A-xs, suited connectors, and small pairs. This strategy makes logical sense because typically, you want to play aggressively with a polarized range. A polarized range contains your best and worst hands. Think back to a common tricky limper’s strategy ( Diagram 56 ).
Diagram 56
Some tricky limpers will limp/call with 10-10, A-Qs, and some portion of their suited connectors and small pairs. Notice that the offsuit Broadway hands and A-xs do not fit too well into an out of position limp/calling range. For that reason, some players add them to their limp/3-betting range (along with A-A, KK, Q-Q, and A-K). In general, polarized ranges are difficult to play against because you have no way of knowing if you are against the nuts or a bluff. Once in a $300 buy-in tournament, by paying attention, it was clear to me that
my opponent liked to limp/3-bet with a wide range from early position. Eventually, this player limped from early position, I raised to 4.5 big blinds with 9-9, and he pushed all-in for 50 big blinds. I happily called and beat A-3s. My opponent proceeded to berate me, telling me that players only limp/3-bet from early position with A-A. Clearly he is delusional because he had A-3s and had limp/pushed numerous times over the course of the session. While most limp/3bettors have premium ranges, some get well out of line and try to exploit their opponents every time they have the opportunity, making it easy for their observant opponents to adjust and exploit them. When combating tricky limpers, strive to figure out what percentage of their limping range is nut hands. An honest limper with a 0% nut range is essentially the same as a tricky limper with a 2% nut range. If the tricky limper has a 25% nut range or more, they should usually be left alone. To figure out how often they have the nuts, divide their percentage of nut hands by the total number of hands in their limping range. In Diagram 56 , A-A, K-K, Q-Q, J-J, A-K, and AQs make up 3.3% of hands. The entire range contains 14.6% of hands. 3.3/14.6 = 22% of hands, so it can be attacked, although not too liberally.
Fewer than 18 Big Blinds As stacks get shorter, you should be less inclined to make large all-ins over tricky limpers because they will call a larger portion of the time compared to honest limpers, meaning you have less fold equity. Remember that most of your profit when pushing with a wide range comes from making your opponent fold. If your opponent will not fold, you should not push with a wide range. You should play against tricky limpers as you would when you are against an honest limper who will rarely fold to an all-in. Experiment with raising less than all-in over tricky limpers when you have 15 big blinds or more and see how they react. If they fold all their non-premium hands and 3-bet all-in with their nut hands, you can make a raise to 4 big blinds with a wide range and then fold if they push. If this cheap bluff succeeds a decent amount of the time, it will show a large profit over time. When you attack a tricky limper and they play back at you, it is wise to play cautiously unless you have a reason not to. Do not make the amateur mistake of assuming that all limpers must be weak, regardless of their actions after they limp.
When Facing Multiple Limpers More than 18 Big Blinds As more limpers enter the pot, your main concern should be the strength of the first limper’s range. Remember, against honest limpers, you can liberally attack, but against some tricky limpers, you should be cautious. For the most part, all limpers besides the first usually have a weak range of hands that they think are not strong enough to raise. If an honest limper comes in from middle position, subsequent limpers usually have a range that looks something like this ( Diagram 57 ).
Diagram 57
Some players limp an even wider range including any hand that they think has the least bit of post-flop potential. For that reason, these players can be somewhat ignored when deciding whether you should limp behind or raise, either for value or as a bluff. With your hands that flop well, assuming you do not expect someone yet to act to raise, you should limp behind as suggested versus one limper. As you get in later position, you should limp with a wider range because you will get raised less often and you will have more information about your opponents’ ranges
after the flop. For example, if an honest limper limped from early position and two players called from UTG+1 and UTG+2, assuming you do not think you have much fold equity, from the lojack, you should use roughly this strategy ( Diagram 58 ).
Diagram 58
If you were instead on the button, you should use this strategy ( Diagram 59 ).
Diagram 59
While these ranges may appear to be similar, the button range contains almost twice as many hands as the lojack range. This is mainly due to being less likely to be raised before the flop and having more information after the flop. When you limp with a junky hand like A-6 from the button, it is important to understand that you will often have to play a flopped top pair cautiously. For example, when four people limp and you limp with A-6 on the button, if the flop comes A-J-7, someone makes a pot sized bet and someone else calls, you should
easily fold. Learning to get away from reverse implied odds situations quickly will save you a large amount of money in the long run. Conversely, if everyone checks to you, you should make a 50% pot bet on the flop and, if one player calls, continue making somewhat small bets for value on the turn and possibly the river. Sometimes top pair is junk and other times it is the effective nuts (a hand that is not the nuts, but is strong enough to be played as if it is the nuts). Notice that the above range contains a decently strong set of value raising hands. With these hands, you should usually make a pot or slightly less than pot sized raise to extract value from inferior hands. As the initial limper becomes trickier, you should raise with a tighter range, putting the bottom portion of this range (8-8, A-Jo, A-10s, K-Js, Q-Js) into your limping range. As you are in earlier position, you should also put these hands into your limping range. For example, suppose three players limp and you have Q-Q in the cutoff with a 50 big blind effective stack. This is a great spot to raise to about 8 big blinds for value. If your opponents will frequently fold to an 8 big blind raise, make it less, perhaps 5 or 6 big blinds. With your best hands, your main concern should be getting value, not making your opponents fold inferior hands. Suppose instead that three players limp and you have 9-9 on the button. This is an excellent spot to raise to 6.5 big blinds. Notice if you raise to 10 big blinds, you will usually steal the pot, but when you get action, you will be against a strong range that 9-9 fares marginally against. In some games, lots of limpers will call, perhaps all of them. Some amateurs think this is a horrible situation, but if their ranges contain many non-nut hands (as they certainly will), 9-9 will be in great shape ( Diagram 60 ).
Diagram 60
Equilab shows that against five somewhat standard limp/calling ranges, 9-9 will win 24% of the time. Many amateurs can’t stomach the fact that they will lose 76% of the time (assuming the pot checked down) with their strong hand. They would rather give away the potential to win a large pot in exchange for winning a small pot most of the time. Think about the math for a second. When you raise to 12 big blinds and steal the pot, you win 6.5 big blinds most of the time. This caps your equity at 6.5 big blinds. Don’t forget about the times when you raise to 12 big blinds and either stack off versus a limp/3-bet or make a snug fold before the flop. When you raise to 6.5 big blinds and everyone calls, you own 24% equity in a 39 big blind pot, which is .24 × 39 = 9.36 big blinds – 6.5 big blinds you put in, which is 2.86 big blinds profit. While this number is far less than the profit from immediately stealing the pot (assuming you actually steal it 100% of the time), you will almost certainly be able to extract at least one additional bet of value after the flop when you clearly have the best hand, bumping up the equity of a 6.5 big blind raise significantly, perhaps to 8 big blinds or more, on average. Most amateurs despise the fact that they will lose the pot a decent amount of the time. They would rather win a tiny amount most of the time and suffer gigantic losses occasionally than jockey for medium-sized pots where they have a sizable edge. In order to succeed at poker, you must become comfortable fighting for pots after the flop. If you find yourself winning lots of tiny pots and occasionally losing gigantic ones with the best hands in your range, you are doing something wrong. With all the remaining garbage hands in your pre-flop range, you should usually fold. You may find that it is profitable to raise as a bluff if you have an abnormally large amount of fold equity. Most of these junky hands are simply not strong enough to see a flop, even at the low price of 1 big blind. While many of your opponents will limp with K-8o and Q-5s, you should be disciplined and fold. Perhaps you could limp some of the worse suited gappers (10-6s, 8-5s) if you were confident that you would see a flop for 1 big blind almost every time. While it is obvious that you should raise your best hands for value, you should consider raising with some of your worst hands from time to time as a bluff. In general, the best hands to turn into bluffs are those that are almost, but not quite, good enough to call with. Of course, if your opponents will always call if you raise, there is no point in bluffing. Suppose an honest limper (or a tricky limper with a small nut range) limps
from early position and three other players limp from middle and late position. You are on the button with a 50 big blind effective stack with a hand that is not quite good enough to call, such as K-7o, 8-4s, or 7-6o. This is an excellent situation to make a slightly larger than pot sized raise with a wide range if you think that sizing will induce all or most of the limpers to fold. In this situation, a pot sized raise would be 3(1) + 3 + 1.5 = 7.5 big blinds. Notice that if you make it 6 big blinds, many players will call, but if you make it 10 big blinds, you will usually steal the pot. If you are playing against a bunch of calling stations who will call any reasonable raise size after they limp, you should adjust by raising only with your premium hands. Also notice that some players will recognize and adjust to this exploitative strategy of raising large with bluffs and small with premium hands, but many small stakes players will be oblivious. If someone catches on, adjust by either reversing your tendencies against that specific player by raising small with your bluffs and large with your nut hands, or by using the same bet size with both your nuts and bluffs. From the small blind, you should be more inclined to call (rather than raise) with an extremely wide range when facing limpers due to being out of position and due to your increased pot odds. When facing multiple limpers, it is safe to use this strategy from the small blind, assuming you do not think the big blind will raise too often ( Diagram 61 ).
Diagram 61
In preparation for my previous primer Strategies for Beating Small Stakes Poker Cash Games, I played a lot of live $1/$2 no-limit. In one hand with 100 big blind effective stacks, an honest limper limped UTG and six players (everyone) called. Family pot! I was in the small blind with J-3o. While I would love to limp from the small blind with an incredibly wide range getting 17-to-1 pot odds, I think J-3o is still too weak. (If you do limp with J-3o, understand that you are looking to flop two-pair or better before investing significant money in a
nine-way pot.) So, I raised to 15 big blinds. Everyone scoffed at me as they angrily folded, giving me a nice pot with relatively little risk. While you should not attempt this play every time you have the opportunity, if you have a tight image and you think a large raise will steal the pot a decent amount of the time, give it a try. All hands in the folding range are potential candidates, although it is best if you use hands that are on the cusp of playability. If you raise with a junky hand like J-3o or 8-4s and multiple players call, you should usually check/fold after the flop unless you improve to top pair or better. If only one player calls, it is usually right to make a 12 – 20 big blind continuation bet, depending on how you expect the caller to react. While I have generally found that raises from the blinds get the most credit, this play can be executed from any position when facing multiple limpers. Just be sure you accurately assess your fold equity! When determining whether you should get out of line with a junky hand, it is ideal to have some sort of read that the initial limper plans to fold. Having a tight image (meaning your opponents assume your aggressive actions indicate strength) is a plus. If your opponents think you are a maniac, do not expect these exploitative raises to succeed too often. If I had a premium hand (instead of J-3o) that I wanted to get value from, I would have raised smaller in this specific game. I would tend to make it about 9 big blinds with my premium hands and limp all my other playable hands. You should use a similar strategy of raising with your best hands plus a few sporadic unky hands and checking with everything else from the big blind. Up until now, limpers beyond the first have been assumed to be completely honest. You will occasionally run into a situation where the subsequent limpers are tricky. If you think it is probable that one of the limpers will limp/3-bet, you should be more inclined to limp behind with your hands that are not strong enough to continue if 3-bet. In general though, you will find that almost all players raise limpers with their best hands and call with their marginal hands. If someone limps, you have a premium hand, and you know that someone yet to act loves to raise the limpers, you should strongly consider limping with your premium hands. In another example from the $1/$2 game I played, a weak limper limped from UTG+1 with an 80 big blind effective stack, I called from middle position with A♥-A♦, another player limped, and then a maniacal kid raised from the button to 10 big blinds. Everyone folded around to me. At this point, I think that both calling and 3-betting to about 23 big blinds are acceptable plays. This time, I decided to call because I thought this specific maniac would fold all of his junk if I showed extreme aggression. The other limper folded. The
flop came J♠-6♣-3♦. I checked, he bet 20 big blinds, and I called. The turn was the (J♠-6♣-3♦)-Q♠. I checked, he pushed all-in for 50 big blinds and I happily called. He showed A♣-4♦ for an insane bluff, probably thinking that, at best, I had a Jack and would fold to an all-in. While I could have easily been crushed by a set or Q-J, by thinking ahead and playing A-A in a tricky manner, I doubled up, whereas if I simply raised the initial weak limper before the flop, the maniac would have almost certainly folded, resulting in me stealing a tiny pre-flop pot. Always make a point to think ahead about what is likely to happen and adjust accordingly.
Fewer than 18 Big Blinds When you face multiple limpers with a short stack, you will find that stealing the pot before the flop with most of your non-premium hands becomes a more profitable play than limping and hoping to flop well due to your lack of implied odds. For example, with 100 big blind stacks, limping behind multiple limpers with A-3s is a great play because when you make a premium hand, you can potentially get 100-to-1 on the amount you invested before the flop. But with 18 big blinds, you can only get 18-to-1, which is a much lower potential return. When you steal the pot before the flop by raising with a 100 big blind stack, you increase your stack by less than 10% whereas when you have an 18 big blind stack, you increase it by 30% or more. This should lead you to actively look for situations to abuse the limpers when you have a short stack. As always, you should assess the limpers’ ranges and determine how much fold equity you have. It is important to note that many limpers will fold hands like 4-4 to a large pre-flop raise when the stacks are deep but will feel obligated to call when facing a short stack’s all-in. For this reason, you may not have as much fold equity as you think. For example, if the initial limper only limps with small pairs, decent suited Aces, and decent suited big cards, and you know he will call an 18 big blind allin with almost all of that range, you should only push for value. Of course, it could still be fine to push hands like A-8s and 5-5 when multiple players limp behind because when you get called, you will only need to win 40% of the time based on the pot odds. It should be restated that these plays work in both cash games and tournaments. Many players fail to adjust their strategies when playing against short stacks in cash games. Do not think that you should limp along with all sorts of trash just because everyone else is limping. One of the easiest games in the world to beat is one where the stacks are short and your opponents limp with wide ranges that will fold frequently to an all-in. By playing somewhat tightly and stealing more than your fair share of limped pots, you will win a ton of equity.
When You Limp Behind and Someone Raises When you limp behind the initial limper and someone else raises, your strategy depends almost entirely on how large the raise is and how the other limpers react because these factors determine your pot odds. For example, if you limp behind with 3-3 and someone raises to 5 big blinds, unless you are short stacked (in which case you should not have limped in the first place), you will usually be getting the correct implied odds to call. If instead the raiser makes it 10 big blinds, unless you have about 80 big blinds or more and multiple other players call, you should fold. As more players see the flop, you should be more inclined to call with hands that can flop flushes and sets. Suppose someone limps and you limp behind with two players yet to act. If someone yet to act then raises to a reasonable amount, perhaps fewer than 6 big blinds, when playing with more than 50 big blind stacks, you should use this strategy ( Diagram 62 ).
Diagram 62
Notice that the raising hands are no longer in your range because you would have initially raised with them. It is not necessary to have any pre-flop bluffs raises in your range when getting excellent pot odds. Perhaps raising with a wide range makes sense if you think you have a lot of fold equity. Once you get raised, folding the offsuit hands at the bottom of your range plus your weakest suited hands is ideal, unless the raiser gives you incredibly good
pot odds, perhaps when he raises to only 3 big blinds. If you get the vibe that the raiser has an incredibly strong range, perhaps only premium pairs and A-K, you should only call when you are getting the correct implied odds. Do not think that you have to defend with the range in Diagram 62 ust because most of those hands normally flop well. When you are against only the effective nuts, be sure you are getting adequate implied odds to outdraw the nuts. If you happened to limp behind with a premium range, expecting someone yet to act to raise, you should usually 3-bet to roughly 2.4 times the raise. This will entice the raiser to call with a wide range that your premium range crushes. You should not continue slow playing if you limp behind with a premium hand and face a raise unless you are confident your opponent will overvalue strong hands or be willing to run a large multi-street bluff. While it is nice to have incredibly disguised hands in your range, it is usually best to get lots of money in the pot before the flop when you have a sizable edge. You may occasionally find yourself in a situation where you limp behind and face a raise from a maniacal raiser who you think has an overly wide range. Suppose someone limps from early positon and you limp behind with 9-9 or A2s. A few more players limp and then a maniac raises to 12 big blinds out of his 50 big blind effective stack. If everyone folds to you, or even if the initial limper calls, you should strongly consider going all-in if you think both players will fold a decent amount of the time, or if you think the maniac will call off with some inferior hands. Notice that even when you get called, you will have a decent amount of equity with 9-9 or A-2s. This play works best when you have between 4 and 7 times the raise. This is a high variance play, but if you pick your spots intelligently, you will steal a sizable pot with little risk of actually getting called. Before moving forward, keep in mind that many amateur players play incredibly “in the box”. They never think that a hand you limp behind with because it is not strong enough to raise may be strong enough to go all-in when facing a raiser (because the limper’s range is likely strong and the raiser’s range is much too wide). Always think about your opponents’ ranges and how to counteract them. If the main player you are against has a wide range that he will fold to significant aggression, feel free to apply significant aggression. Just be sure to keep all ranges involved in mind. In the previous example, if the initial limper who called the 12 big blind raise only has premium hands in his range, going all-in with a wide range is a sure way to lose a lot of money because, even
though you may have a lot of fold equity versus the raiser, you do not have much fold equity versus the initial limper.
PRE-FLOP STRATEGY: WHEN FACING A RAISER This section deals with the situation where the action folds to someone, they raise, and then the action folds to you. When most small stakes players raise before the flop, it is because they like their hand and they want to play a large pot with it. Notice that each specific player will raise with a different range of hands that they perceive to be strong. For example, some players will only raise the absolute best hands, while others will raise with any two cards, especially from late position. It is up to you to figure out how to adjust to each specific opponent. While there is an enormously large number of starting hand range and position configurations, this section will address how to combat players who raise with roughly the optimal range of hands, too few hands, too many hands, and way too many hands. Adapting to players who will usually fold to aggression, as well as those who will rarely fold to aggression, with also be discussed. The effective stack size should also alter your range. For example, when someone raises from middle position and you have J♠-10♠ on the button with a 100 big blind stack, the correct play is often to call, but with a 15 big blind stack, you should go all-in. For this reason, this chapter is broken into when you have more than 50 big blinds (when you can splash around liberally due to large postflop implied odds), when you have between 25 and 50 big blinds (when you can still splash around, but not as often), when you have between 13 and 25 big blinds (when you should usually go all-in or fold when someone raises in front of you), and when you have fewer than 13 big blinds (when you have lost all fold equity once someone raises in front of you). This is a large section. Do not become discouraged with the fact that it is indepth and may take you a long time to completely understand. If you master these fundamentals, you will be well on your way to mastering pre-flop poker.
Take your time and think through all of the situations presented to make sure you understand them. This chapter assumes that your opponent raised to the “standard” amount of 3 big blinds when stacks are greater than 50 big blinds, 2.5 big blinds when stacks are between 13 big blinds and 50 big blinds, and 2 big blinds when stacks are smaller than 13 big blinds. I completely understand that many players will raise to a different amount. Some players min-raise all their playable hands (especially in tournaments) and others will raise to 7 big blinds or more (in the softest cash games). As the raise size you face increases, you should play tighter due to your decreased pot odds. To illustrate this point, if someone min-raises to 2 big blinds and you are in the big blind, you should defend with a wide range due to your 3:1 pot odds. If they instead raise to 18 big blinds, you should fold almost everything. Combating large raise sizes will be discussed throughout the text, but for now, understand that you should play much tighter when facing a 6 big blind raise compared to a 2 big blind raise. The easiest way to combat players who make huge raises is to play a tight range and invest money when you have what is likely the best hand. Also, keep in mind as you progress through this book that you can play more hands when the raiser is from late position (because players raise with a wider range from late position) and when you are in late position (because there are fewer players yet to act). When you are in early position, it is tough to go wrong by playing a straightforward, tight, aggressive strategy. As long as you are constantly thinking about your opponent’s range and how your range lines up with it, it is unlikely you will make too large an error.
More than 50 Big Blinds With a deep stack, implied odds hands (small pairs, suited Aces, and suited connectors) have a large amount of value because when they improve to a premium post-flop hand, they will usually be the nuts or the effective nuts. Hands that have large reverse implied odds (offsuit Broadway hands and offsuit connectors) should be played cautiously, assuming you decide to play them in the first place. When playing deep stacked, hands usually progress in one of four ways: There is a pre-flop raise and either one or multiple callers. In general, the pot will be very small in relation to the remaining stacks. For example, the pot will contain 7.5 big blinds with 97 big blinds remaining in the stacks (assuming everyone started with 100 big blinds). There is a pre-flop raise, a 3-bet, and a call. When this happens, the pot will be relatively large compared to the stacks. For example, the pot will contain 20 big blinds and there will be 90 big blinds remaining in the stacks. There is a pre-flop raise, a 3-bet, a 4-bet, and a call. This will result in a 50 big blind pot with 75 big blind stacks remaining. There is a pre-flop raise, a 3-bet, a 4-bet, and a 5-bet all-in, resulting in all the money going into the pot going to the flop. This almost never occurs in small stakes games unless both players have premium hands. As more money goes into the pot before the flop, you usually want to have a stronger range that relies less on implied odds. This should lead you to play similar hands in your range in different ways, depending on the pot size you prefer to have. Keep this in mind as you move forward and learn how to combat various player types.
Combating an Optimal Raiser In order to know when to get out of line in order to exploit your opponent’s mistakes, you must first understand how to play against someone who makes relatively few mistakes. This section assumes that the initial raiser raises when folded to with the same range of hands that you learned to raise with in the “When Everyone Folds to You” section. When Raised from Early Position
Most fundamentally sound players (who do not have a limping range) will raise with roughly this range from early position ( Diagram 63 ).
Diagram 63
Of course, some players raise a bit wider (including a few more Broadway hands and suited connectors) and others raise tighter, folding the small pairs and suited Aces. It is up to you to figure out the opening range of each specific opponent. Facing an Early Position Raise: You Are in Early Position
When you are also in early position facing a range that should be strong, you should play conservatively. Because the initial raiser’s range is quite strong, he
will rarely fold to aggression. This means you should usually not have a 3betting range at all. You should use this strategy ( Diagram 64 ).
Diagram 64
As stack sizes diminish, I fold the weaker suited Aces and suited connectors because they rely heavily on implied odds. Also, if you are confident that someone yet to act will 3-bet, you should fold all the hands that cannot withstand a 3-bet. Having a 0% 3-betting range accomplishes a few things. First, it disguises your range. If you call with both A-A and 8-7s, your opponents will have a
difficult time narrowing your range, which will result in them making mistakes. It also allows you to call with a wider range (including small pairs and suited connecters) because you are protected by having a few nut hands in your range. This means that players yet to act cannot liberally squeeze (3-bet over a raise and a call). Especially when your range should contain very few combinations of hands (as it should in this situation), it is often wise to play all of them in the same manner to keep your opponents guessing. If you wanted to develop a 3-betting strategy, it should probably be something like this ( Diagram 65 ).
Diagram 65
Facing an Early Position Raise: You Are in Middle Position
From middle position, you can widen your range a bit to include a few more suited connectors ( Diagram 66 ).
Diagram 66
The purpose of adding a few more suited hands is to give you a bit more board coverage, allowing you to steal a few more pots after the flop that do not belong to you. As when you are in early position, the bottom of this range can be folded if you expect to get 3-bet a decent amount of the time. Facing an Early Position Raise: You Are in Late Position
From late position, you can widen your range a bit more ( Diagram 67 ).
Diagram 67
This range is about as wide as it can possibly be to profitably call an early position raise from a competent player. Even then, hands like A-10o, K-Jo, and Q-Jo can reasonably be folded. The same goes for the weakest suited hands in this range. That said, as long as you navigate tricky post-flop situations intelligently, you can justify seeing a flop with these often-dominated hands. Facing an Early Position Raise: You Are in the Small Blind
From the small blind, you are getting a slightly better price to call, but you have
to play from out of position. Especially against a strong range, it usually makes sense to play snugly from the small blind due to your poor position. Without position, it simply does not make sense to get involved against a strong range. I usually call with roughly this range ( Diagram 68 ).
Diagram 68
You should notice that this is the same range you call with from middle position. Hopefully you are starting to see the trend that you need a decently strong starting hand to voluntarily enter the pot against a strong pre-flop raising range.
Facing an Early Position Raise: You Are in the Big Blind
From the big blind, you can defend with a few more hands because you are closing the action and you are getting reasonable pot odds. When facing a 3 big blind raise, you will be getting roughly 2:1 or better pot odds (depending on the ante size). This should lead you to defend with this range ( Diagram 69 ).
Diagram 69
Notice that this range does not contain the offsuit A-x hands. This is because these are so severely dominated by a strong early position raising range that you
cannot justify seeing the flop from out of position. Always think ahead about what is likely to happen and tailor your range accordingly. For example, suppose you face an early position raise to 3 big blinds, you call from the big blind with A-6 and the flop comes A-J-5. If you check/call or check/raise the flop and any additional money goes in the pot, you will usually be crushed by an Ace with a bigger kicker. On the other hand, check/folding would be way too tight. You can avoid this difficult spot by simply folding before the flop. Do not think that just because you are closing the action and you have an Ace that you have to see the flop. When Raised from Middle Position
This is roughly what a competent player will raise with from middle position ( Diagram 70 ).
Diagram 70
As your opponent’s range widens, you can play a wider range of hands. While having a 0% 3-bet range when facing an early position raiser is a great strategy, it is necessary to start 3-betting against middle position raisers. 3-betting allows you to take control of the pot and force your opponent to fold many hands that have equity. Facing a Middle Position Raise: You Are in Middle Position
From middle position, you should use this range ( Diagram 71 ).
Diagram 71
The calling range contains many hands with large implied odds. It does not contain the best hands because those are strong enough to 3-bet and get called by worse hands. It also does not contain too many marginal implied odds hands or offsuit Broadway hands because those are not strong enough to call. Those hands have to rely on fold equity to be played profitably. Your 3-betting range contains the best value hands plus a few sporadic bluffs
that are not quite strong enough to call. Some players are surprised to see hands like A-10o and K-Jo in a 3-betting range because they think they are strong enough to call. While calling with these hands is an option, you will find that applying pressure and making your opponent fold incorrectly either before or after the flop is ideal. You should usually 3-bet to about 3 times your opponent’s raise (9 big blinds when he raises to 3 big blinds, 12 big blinds when he raises to 4 big blinds, etc.). When you 3-bet with this range and get called by the pre-flop raiser, you should be prepared to make a 50% pot continuation bet on most flops, especially when you expect your opponent to play straightforwardly. Post-flop play will thoroughly be discussed later, but know that the plan is not to play in a blatantly straightforward manner on the flop. Facing a Middle Position Raise: You Are in Late Position
When facing a competent middle position raiser, you should essentially act as if you were in middle position. Perhaps you should add a few more suited connected hands to your calling range, but in general, you should still not get too out of line because your opponent’s pre-flop raising range is not so wide that you can blindly attack it. This is one of the major benefits of raising with the ranges I initially suggested. They are difficult for opponents to exploit! Facing a Middle Position Raise: You Are in the Small Blind
From the small blind, an often overlooked component of the situation is how you expect the big blind to play. If he plays poorly and will call every time you call, you should continue with a different range compared to when he will either squeeze or fold. In general, assuming the big blind is a competent player and you do not mind if he folds his marginal hands, you should use roughly the same strategy that was suggested you use from middle position. As from late position, you can call with a few more suited connectors if you want. When 3-betting from out of position, you should 3-bet to about 4 times your opponent’s raise (to 1,200 over a 300 raise). The purpose of the larger 3-bet size is to discourage the initial raiser from calling. However, you should generally have a strong range, so you don’t mind getting extra money in the pot. If the player in the big blind is bad in a passive way, you can call with a much wider range because you will rarely get 3-bet, which is always a concern from the small blind. You should use this strategy ( Diagram 72 ).
Diagram 72
Just because you think that you will usually get to see a flop, you should not get carried away with calling with hands like A-4o, K-5s, and 7-5s. You still have to play out of position against at least one strong range, which essentially forces you to play only reasonable hands. You will notice that this strategy is in stark contrast to how many small stakes players play. Throughout their entire poker careers, they happily call with a wide range. They do not realize they are bleeding off a portion of a big blind on average every time they are in this
situation, which occurs quite often. If you wanted to add some 3-bets into your range, you should usually use suited connectors that are not quite good enough to call. The suited connectors are preferable to the offsuit Aces because you will often be called and have to play after the flop. When you are likely to be called, having post-flop playability is preferable to having a blocker. Facing a Middle Position Raise: You Are in the Big Blind
In the big blind, facing a middle position raiser, you can defend with a slightly wider range compared to when facing an early position raiser because the middle position raiser’s range should be a bit weaker. That said, you should not get carried away. You should use this strategy ( Diagram 73 ).
Diagram 73
This 3-betting range is starting to get a bit sketchy due to its lack of suited hands, but it is still acceptable. Notice that the majority of the bluffs are offsuit Broadway hands. It is perfectly fine to call with these hands as well, perhaps electing to 3-bet the A-x offsuit hands or additional weak suited hands. Hands like 9-9, 8-8, and the worst suited connectors fit well in both calling and 3betting ranges. If your opponent raises smaller than 3 or 3.5 big blinds, you
should defend with a much wider range, due to your increased pot odds. More on this in a bit. When Raised from Late Position
This is roughly the range that a strong, competent player will raise from late position ( Diagram 74 ).
Diagram 74
As stated before, this range will change based on the players yet to act. For example, if the initial raiser thinks you or one of the other remaining players will
3-bet often, you should assume that he is opening with a tighter range that can better defend against a 3-bet. If he expects to win the blinds most of the time, you should expect his range to be considerably wider. Facing a Late Position Raise: You Are in Late Position
This is one of the few times where you should apply immense pressure because most players’ opening ranges from late position are way too wide. This is the strategy you should use ( Diagram 75 ).
Diagram 75
As the great Shannon Shorr says, “Now we are playing no-limit!” This 3betting range includes a wider range of value hands than before, as well as numerous bluffs. This range is the first one presented that uses A-x for its blocker value. Remember, when you have an Ace in your hand, your opponent has A-A 50% less frequently and unpaired hands like A-K 25% less frequently. Please understand fully that you are 3-betting A-x for its blocker potential, not because A-x is a strong value hand. If you 3-bet with these hands and get 4-bet, you should fold. In most situations when you get 4-bet, you should also fold the suited bluffs unless you are getting excellent pot odds to call. Be aware that if you 3-bet with all A-x hands every single time, your strong opponents will adjust by calling or 4-betting with most of their range, putting you in a terrible spot. If you find your opponent calling with a wide range of decently strong high card hands, you should fold the weak A-x hands and instead either 3-bet with more low suited connectors (that fall below your opponent’s calling range) or with fewer bluffs in general. Suppose at $1/$2, a competent player raises to $7 out of his $200 stack from the cutoff and you 3-bet from the button to $20 with 10♠-8♠. If your opponent calls, make a $20 continuation bet on most flops, especially when you flop a strong hand or a draw. If instead your opponent 4-bets to $60 before the flop, you should fold. It is perfectly fine to 3-bet hands that have a decent amount of equity with the intention of folding to a 4-bet. If your opponent instead 4-bets to $45, assuming you do not think his range is entirely nut hands (some players only 4-bet small with A-A and K-K), you should call and try to flop a pair or a draw. When you get out of line by 3-betting with a wide range, sometimes you will find yourself in dicey spots. While it is fun to get a bit out of line and 3-bet with a wide range, if the players in the blinds are particularly weak, you should call with many of the suited hands that are currently placed in the 3-bet bluffing range. This is because you can expect bad players in the blinds to make egregious errors such that you can afford to pass up the tiny bit of profit that comes from 3-betting these hands. Suppose a competent player raises to 300 at 50/100 with 7,500 effective stacks and you have 2-2, A♥-9♣, or 10♠-8♠ on the button. While you could certainly 3bet with all of these hands, calling becomes the right play if the players in the blinds are particularly bad. Both of the blinds call. The flop comes A♥-7♠-2♠. Everyone checks to the
pre-flop raiser, who bets 600 into the 1,200 pot. This is an excellent situation to call with 2-2, A♥-9♣, and 10♠-8♠. Since this flop should be quite good for the pre-flop raiser when he bets into three opponents, you want to keep the pot under control when you have a hand that can easily be dominated, such as A-9. With your draws, you want to call because your opponent will never fold an Ace to a raise and when he does fold to a flop raise, it is because he has a marginal hand that he will usually check/fold on the turn. With your sets, you want to call to give the players in the blinds the chance to make a huge blunder by calling when they are way behind, and also to disguise the strength of your hand. It is important to realize that even against a strong opponent, your pre-flop play is not cut and dried. Sometimes you should 3-bet with a wide range and other times you should try to flop well in position. Poker remains profitable because it is a difficult game. If you study more than your opponents and strive to apply what you learn, you will make better plays than your opponents, which will allow you to win money in the long run. Facing a Late Position Raise: You are in the Small Blind
From the small blind, your play is again dependent on the player in the big blind. In general, you should utilize the same strategy as from the button, depending on who is in the big blind. If you want to see a flop with the player in the big blind, you should call with a wide range. If you want to get the pot heads up either because the player in the big blind doesn’t make too many errors or because the initial raiser is weak, you should use this aggressive strategy ( Diagram 76 ).
Diagram 76
The 3-betting range contains many hands that could reasonably fit in a calling range, such as A-10s and K-Jo because one of your goals is to make the big blind fold. This should lead you to put as many hands in your 3-betting range as possible. You could actually put all of the calling hands into the 3-betting range, forming a solid linear range. Linear ranges are especially useful when you
expect to get called a decent amount of the time. From out of position, you should expect the initial raiser to call with a wider range than normal due to being in position. To give him an extra incentive to fold, you can 3-bet a bit larger, to 4 times his initial raise (to $16 over a $4 raise). It is worth mentioning that this range is a bit too wide when you expect the pre-flop raiser to call and see a flop a large portion of the time. If you lack preflop fold equity, you should fold many of the A-x hands and weak suited connectors. If you consistently 3-bet with a range this wide and your opponents become aware of your strategy, they can call with a wide range having both a range advantage and position. Facing a Late Position Raise: You are in the Big Blind
Closing the action from the big blind, you should be inclined to see a somewhat cheap flop. You should tend to use this strategy ( Diagram 77 ).
Diagram 77
Always keep in mind that as the raiser’s range widens and your pot odds increase, you should defend (either by calling or 3-betting) more often. Always try to figure out how your opponent will respond to your aggression. If you notice that he folds most of the time when you 3-bet, you should 3-bet with a wider range that includes a many more bluffs, such as K-8o, 10-6s, and 7-6o. If he calls every time, you should widen the value portion of your range to include
additional value hands and stop 3-betting with junky hands like 10-8o that rely on fold equity to show a profit. When Raised from the Small Blind: You are in the Big Blind
Take a moment to recall the 100% limping strategy I outlined when discussing how to play from the small blind when the action folds to you and there is a competent player in the big blind. If your opponent uses this strategy, he should never raise. However, many players do not use the 100% limping strategy and instead opt to either raise all of their playable hands or raise their best hands and limp their mediocre hands. The raise size your opponent chooses is particularly important in blind versus blind situations. For example, when your opponent raises to 4 big blinds, he will immediately profit if he steals the pot more than 70% of the time, which is a great result for him and a horrible result for you. You can solve for how often a total steal needs to work by taking the amount being risked and dividing it by the amount that can be won plus the amount being risked, so 3.5/(3.5 + 1.5) = 70%. Of course, when your opponent gets called, he will have some equity, meaning you must defend much wider than 30% of hands. Notice that the raise size is only 3.5 big blinds, not 4 big blinds, because the .5 big blinds he has in the pot from the small blind already belongs to the pot. So, it doesn’t count toward his raise amount. If the small blind raises to 2 big blinds, he is risking 1.5 big blinds to win a total pot of 3 big blinds. So, if he steals the pot more than 50% of the time, he will immediately profit. This means you have to defend with an incredibly wide range, perhaps 80% of hands or more, to keep your opponent from blindly running you over (because even when you call, he will have some equity). This range includes all but the absolute worst unsuited hands. 80% is a lot! Most small stakes players are uncomfortable defending with a range this wide, but if you want to properly combat someone who is min-raising with a wide range, this is what you must do. Remember, you should defend less often as your opponent raises to a larger amount. When determining how to separate your 80% continuing range into 3-betting and calling ranges, strive to figure out how your opponent is likely to respond. If he will call almost every time, you should 3-bet with a linear range of strong hands that usually have your opponent’s calling range dominated ( Diagram 78 ).
Diagram 78
The lesser value hands are strong hands that should be in excellent shape versus your opponent’s calling range but should be folded if 4-bet because then, they are often dominated. If instead, your opponent will either 4-bet or fold, you should 3-bet with a polarized range ( Diagram 79 ).
Diagram 79
Feel free to widen or tighten each part of this range depending on how often your opponent 4-bets. Just keep in mind that you want to be 3-betting with your best hands and worst hands when you expect your opponent to frequently 4-bet and rarely call. This implies hands like A♠-4♠ and Q♥-10♣ should almost never be 3-bet unless you are 3-betting with an incredibly wide value range. It does not matter exactly how you defend from the big blind against a small
blind raiser as long as you do not fold too often. I generally play in a sticky manner, calling with a wide range pre-flop and then calling down with a wide range of made hands after the flop. This strategy generates success in small stakes games because many players will raise pre-flop, continuation bet the flop, and then play straightforwardly on the turn and river, allowing me to steal many pots. Experiment with varying levels of aggression to determine what works best against the opponents in your specific game.
Combating an Overly Tight Raiser This section discusses how to combat players who raise with far too few hands and then play somewhat straightforwardly after the flop. Believe it or not, some players only raise with the absolute best hands, regardless of their position. This usually occurs when they limp a wide range of marginal hands and only raise the nuts, or when they simply only play the nuts. When someone raises using the following incredibly tight range, how should you adjust? ( Diagram 80 ).
Diagram 80
As always, it depends on your chip stack, the players yet to act, and how much you expect to get paid on the flop, turn, and river if you improve to a hand that is better than an overpair. Your calling range should widen as the effective stack gets deeper, the players yet to act 3-bet less often, and the raiser will blindly pay you off post-flop. With all these factors in your favor (100 big blind or larger effective stacks, smart opponents who do not 3-bet nits, and a raiser who can’t fold A-A post-flop), you can use roughly this strategy ( Diagram 81 ).
Diagram 81
This is about as wide as you should defend against someone who is only raising with the nuts. As your opponent’s raise size gets larger, you should continue less often. This range is generally acceptable when facing a 4 big blind or smaller pre-flop raise from late position with 80 or more big blind stacks. From early positions, you should ditch A-Jo, K-Qo, and the weaker suited connectors. Notice that A-A and K-K are the only hands in the 3-betting range versus an overly tight raiser. This is because most overly tight raisers are incapable of folding a hand like J-J even though it is obvious to everyone at the table that they have a strong hand. Clearly if you know your opponent has a strong hand, and he knows that you know he has a strong hand, he should be inclined to fold the bottom of his range, which includes J-J. There is no point trying to bluff these players because they will not fold. They didn’t wait hours for their premium hand just to fold it! If the tight player makes a larger raise, to 5 or 6 big blinds (assuming 80 or more big blind stacks), you should use this range from late position ( Diagram 82 ).
Diagram 82
You should strongly consider folding A-9s – A-2s if you do not expect to be able to play well after the flop unless you flop a flush or flush draw. Suppose an overly tight player raises from middle position to $12 out of his 100 big blind stack at $1/$2 and you have A-2s on the button. Again, both calling and folding are fine plays when facing a large raise. You decide to call. The flop comes A♥-7♥-4♠. Your opponent bets $20. This is where knowing how to play top pair, bad kicker versus a tight player
becomes incredibly important. You should almost certainly call the flop unless you are somehow convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that your opponent has you crushed. You call. The turn is the (A♥-7♥-4♠)-J♦. Your opponent bets $40 into the $67 pot. At this point, you should usually fold. If your tight opponent decided to run a bluff, he wins the pot. That said, some tight players will play K-K and Q-Q in this manner because they are not great at poker. Against these players, you should be inclined to call down. If you had A-K or a set in this situation, you should call on the flop, turn, and river. By playing these hands in a passive manner, you make it incredibly costly for your opponent to blindly blast off with his whole range. When you have a premium hand, the last thing you want to do is raise, inducing your opponent to make a snug fold with A-Q or Q-Q. If your tight opponent makes exorbitantly large pre-flop raises, perhaps to 10 big blinds, you should react by playing in an incredibly tight manner ( Diagram 83 ).
Diagram 83
When facing a gigantic raise, your implied odds diminish significantly. This means that you can only play a range that has a large amount of equity versus your opponent’s range. Playing in this snug manner is the exact opposite of what many amateurs do. They instead call with all sorts of stuff, trying to flop well. Their loose play gives the overly tight player a small amount of equity each time they call. This is why some players in small stakes games can get away with playing this tightly.
The way you exploit tight players who almost always show you a premium hand is by never paying them off. Most tight players simply have strong hands when they raise and then bet all three streets. There is no fancy play involved. When they have a hand they deem to be strong, they put a lot of money in the pot. When they don’t, they check/fold. Some of these players’ flop bets indicate extreme strength. In the example above, where you had A-2s on A-7-4, it could be right to fold to some specific players’ flop bets because they only bet the flop if they have at least top pair, top kicker. If you find yourself calling these players down with top pair, second kicker (or worse) and losing large sums, you are making huge blunders. If your opponent always has strong hands, don’t pay him off.
Combating a Loose Raiser This section discusses how to combat players who raise with too many hands and will then play somewhat passively when you apply pressure. Maniacs, who will not be fazed by your aggression, will be covered in).. It is not uncommon for many overly loose small stakes players to raise with this range from middle position ( Diagram 84 ).
Diagram 84
Many players raising with a range this wide win at small stakes games because their opponents play too tightly, allowing them to steal way more than their fair share of the blinds and small post-flop pots. The way to exploit this range is either to 3-bet relentlessly or to call with a wide range pre-flop and then look to make aggressive plays after the flop. Recall how it was suggested that you combat a competent player who raises with a wide range from late position when you are also in late position. You should play against this type of player in a similar manner, except assume this player is raising with a wide range from most positions. Be aware that some of these players actually play quite tightly from early position and only get marginally out of line from middle and late position. Suppose one of these loose raisers makes it $15 out of his $500 effective stack at $2/$5 and you are on the button. This is an excellent spot to use this strategy ( Diagram 85 ).
Diagram 85
By 3-betting with a wide range, you will force most players who open too loosely to fold too often before the flop, allowing you to immediately profit with a wide range. If your opponent calls, he will often fold too often after the flop. The term “3-bet as a bluff” is a bit misleading against this type of player and means if you get 4-bet to a normal amount, you should fold. If you think your opponent will only 4-bet with his absolute best hands, you should perhaps fold
hands as strong as A-Q and J-J. That said, some loose players will play intelligently against a wide 3-bettor. Against these more seasoned players, you should consider calling with a wide range and seeing how your opponent responds after the flop. You should experiment with this range from late position when facing one of these loose raisers who fights back against 3-bets ( Diagram 86 ).
Diagram 86
With this range, you are 3-betting your best hands and no bluffs, looking to play large pre-flop pots with your premium hands and see a flop with your other playable hands. The plan after the flop is to try to steal the pot in various ways on boards that should be good for your range and bad for your opponent’s range. This implies raising sometimes and floating (calling with the intention of stealing the pot on the turn or river) on others. Of course, if your opponent is a calling station after the flop, you should try to make good hands and then pile the money in. The main takeaway from this section is that to combat someone who plays too loosely, you apply pressure if they will fold, and if they will call, try to play big pots when you have them in bad shape and small pots when you do not. You do not need to do anything too fancy.
Combating a Maniacal Raiser This section discusses how to combat players who raise with too many hands and will then play in an aggressive manner after the flop. Maniacs come in many varieties, but most enjoy applying pressure in a mindless way, at least until it becomes obvious that they are against a strong hand. So, all you have to do to beat these players is to get a strong hand and then not make your hand’s strength obvious. The main mistake many amateurs make against maniacs is that they play their premium hands in an obviously strong way. For example, the tight amateur raises with A-A, the maniac 3-bets, and they 4-bet. Most of the time, the maniac will fold unless he is the worst player ever because everyone knows to fold all but the best hands when a tight player 4-bets. Instead, you should just call the 3bet and play in a passive, trapping manner post-flop. If a maniac raises and you wake up with a premium hand, assess how the maniac will respond if you 3-bet. If he will fold, assuming that in order for you to 3-bet you must have a premium hand, you should call instead. If you have a generally loose, aggressive image and the maniac will not view your 3-betting range as overly strong, you should 3-bet with your premium hands exactly as you would do with your bluffs, although you probably want to take many of the bluffing hands out of your range if your opponent will not fold too often. Given competent maniacs will often fold to your pre-flop 3-bets and post-flop aggression because they view them as obviously strong, you should consider turning a wide range of hands (primarily those containing blockers) into bluffs. For example, if your opponent will open with an incredibly wide range and then fold almost all of it to a 3-bet, you should experiment with this strategy ( Diagram 87 ).
Diagram 87
Notice that this range has you calling with all of your premium hands, strong hands, and suited connectors that should have excellent implied odds. It 3-bets with your non-strong Aces due to their blocker value, some weak Broadway hands, also for their blocker value, and a few junky suited connectors, just in case your opponent decides to see a flop. Even if someone is normally a maniac, if they view you as weak, tight, and straightforward, you can apply aggression and steal more than your fair share of the pots. Just be sure that you do not get
too out of line because most maniacs are quick to adjust if they think they are being pushed around. Maniacs enjoy pushing people around, not being pushed around. You will occasionally run into a maniac who simply does not care what you do. Their only goal is to try to make you fold with blind aggression. Against these players, it is often best to play your premium hands in an aggressive manner and be happy getting the money in. While you should be happy getting in only A-A and perhaps K-K against a tight player, against a blatant maniac, you can reasonably get 100 big blinds all-in before the flop with A-A – 8-8, AK, A-Q, and A-Js. This range may seem a bit tight, but you have to realize that against the most maniacal maniacs, you should just call with many of your strong hands that flop well, such as K-Qo and J-10s, to try to make a pair. Once you have a strong post-flop hand, you can proceed to get the money in.
When Your Opponent Will Fold to Aggression You should always be on the lookout for players who will fold too often to blind aggression. While you should not play like a mindless maniac, there are times to apply maximum pressure, especially when it becomes clear that your opponent has a marginal hand that will fold to multiple bets. The most common situation where this comes up is when you are playing against a player who raises large (to 5 big blinds or more) with their best hands and small (3 big blinds or so) with their marginal hands. When these players make a small raise, they are telling you loud and clear that they have a marginal hand. Many of these players will be inclined to fold their marginal hands to significant aggression before the flop or after the flop, assuming they do not improve to a premium hand. Note that players can show weakness in many ways; their bet sizing, their mannerisms, what they say, how they breathe. Using tells to maximize your profits will be discussed toward the end of this book. To combat these players, 3-bet with a wide range when they indicate weakness. It is difficult to nail down a clearly defined range because sometimes your read will be strong and other times it will only be an inclination. As your position improves, you should be more willing to attack. Compared to maniacs, who often catch on to your over-aggression, these players take longer to catch on because they are not aware that people abuse them by playing aggressively. They instead think they are making good folds with their marginal hands. As long as you do not get too out of line, you will be able to abuse these players indefinitely.
When Your Opponent Will Not Fold to Aggression We have all had the pleasure of playing against players who simply do not fold. These players call raises with what seems like any two cards and then call down with any gutshot straight draw or Ace-high after the flop. Calling stations give many amateurs fits because they continually try to bluff them. In reality, you should adjust your ranges to contain primarily value bets, and then value bet them to death. Instead of 3-betting with a polarized range (as you should do against a competent player), use this linear range ( Diagram 88 ).
Diagram 88
By 3-betting with your best hands and calling with your marginal hands, you maximize value when your opponent is dominated and keep the pot small when you are trying to improve to a strong hand. If you miss on the flop, you can easily fold if your opponent bets. If you make a premium hand you can raise. If you make a marginal made hand, you can call. When almost all of your profit comes from value betting, start with a stronger range than your opponent and
then put money in the pot when you have them in horrible shape.
Between 25 and 50 Big Blinds As effective stacks get shorter, your pre-flop strategy when facing a raiser should subtly change. In general, hands that rely on implied odds lose value and hands that make decent top pairs gain value.
Combating an Optimal Raiser In this area as in all others, you should develop a strategy that is fundamentally sound against strong opponents and then learn how to deviate from it when playing against opponents who are less skilled. It is important that you think ahead about how the betting will likely play out. Once stacks get down to 25 big blinds, when facing a 2.5 big blind raise, you could push all-in for 10 times your opponent’s raise, but that is a bit large. Instead, you should either call or 3-bet to about 7 big blinds (2.8 times your opponent’s raise). It is certainly possible to put in 7 out of your 25 big blinds with the intention of folding to an all-in. As stacks get a bit deeper, the play of 3betting with the intention of folding to an all-in becomes more palatable because the 3-bet is a smaller percentage of your stack. Once you 3-bet, your opponent will usually be in a situation where he has to risk a large portion or all of his stack to continue. This is in stark contrast to 100 big blind poker where your opponent can call a 3-bet to 9 big blinds and still have 91 big blinds remaining in his stack. With 30 big blind stacks, if your opponent calls an 8 big blind 3-bet, he will only have 22 big blinds remaining. This leads to a shift in hand values, making hands that do not rely on implied odds (primarily big pairs and big cards) more powerful. When Raised from Early Position
As when deep stacked, the assumption is that your opponent is raising with a tight range of strong hands. This should lead you to play in a cautious manner because the only real way to beat a strong range is to play even stronger hands or hands that are getting the correct implied odds. Most strong players will raise with this range from early position ( Diagram 89 ).
Diagram 89
This range is a bit tighter than the range you are raising from early position with a deep stack due to a decrease in implied odds for the drawing hands. As stacks get shorter, you should shift your range towards hands that can make strong top pairs. This range is quite strong and difficult for your opponents to exploit. When Raised from Early Position: You Are in Early Position
When raised from early position by a strong player and you are also in early
position, you should call with this snug range ( Diagram 90 ).
Diagram 90
I suggest that you have a 0% 3-betting range. By calling with your best hands, you protect your range, allowing you to call with a few more speculative hands, such as 4-4 and J-10s. Suited Aces and a few small pairs have been dropped because they thrive on huge implied odds, which you do not have. That said, you still want a few implied odds hands in your range (the remaining small pairs) so that you have some semblance of board coverage, meaning you can conceivably have the effective nuts on all flops. Keeping A-A and K-K in your calling range
also helps strengthen your post-flop ranges. When Raised from Early Position: You Are in Middle Position
From middle position, I still suggest having only a calling range and no 3-betting range. You can widen your calling range a bit, but you should not get too carried away with calling with marginal suited connectors and offsuit Broadway hands ( Diagram 91 ).
Diagram 91
A-5s – A-2s are included in this range, but you can certainly fold them if you
feel so inclined. The weak A-5s – A-2s have been included instead of A-8s – A6s due to their potential to improve to a straight. That said, they are speculative hands that you should only call with if you are confident in your post-flop skills. When Raised from Early Position: You Are in Late Position
From late position, you should call with the same range that was suggested when deeper stacked ( Diagram 92 ).
Diagram 92
If you feel like tightening up a bit, you can fold the weak offsuit Broadway
hands. If your opponent’s range is very tight, you should certainly fold them because they are often dominated. If you want to play a bit looser, you can splash around with a few more suited gappers. Just be sure that you do not widen your range by including hands that tend to be severely dominated, such as A-8o and K-10o. When Raised from Early Position: You Are in the Small Blind
As stacks get shorter, it is important that you continue play a conservative style from the small blind. This is because you will have the worst position at the table and the big blind will frequently call. While it may seem overly tight, you should continue with this range ( Diagram 93 ).
Diagram 93
When Raised from Early Position: You Are in the Big Blind
From the big blind closing the action, you can splash around a bit more, especially if your opponent raised to 2.5 big blinds (or even smaller). If there are antes in play, you can call with an even wider range. This should be your range when facing a 2.5 big blind raise with no antes ( Diagram 94 ).
Diagram 94
You should notice that this range is wider than the range presented for defending when deeper stacked. That is because you are getting a better price on defending. When calling a 3 big blind raise, you have to put in 2 more big blinds to win a total pot of 6.5 big blinds (after you call), meaning you need to realize 30.7% (2/6.5) equity in the pot to justify continuing. Now that you are facing a smaller raise to 2.5 big blinds, you have to realize 27.3% (1.5/5.5) equity. This means that you should defend with a slightly wider range. If there was a 10% ante in play, adding roughly .9 big blinds into the pot, you would need to realize
only 23.4% equity, forcing you to defend even wider. One concept that you must not forget is that if the initial raiser only enters the pot with premium hands, not including 5-5, A-10s, K-Qo, and J-10s, you should defend with a much tighter range. It is tough to realize 27% equity against a range of only premium hands. When Raised from Middle Position
Most strong opponents will raise with roughly this range from middle position ( Diagram 95 ).
Diagram 95
This range contains a few more decently playable hands compared to the early position raising range. Some strong players will use a slightly different range, ditching the suited Aces, adding the weak Broadway hands, or adding additional suited connectors. When Raised from Middle Position: You Are in Middle Position
As when deep stacked, from middle position you can start to 3-bet with a polarized range. That said, you should not get too out of line because your opponent’s raising range is still quite strong. Use this strategy ( Diagram 96 ).
Diagram 96
This is roughly the same range you should play when deep stacked. You are still deep enough to splash around in position, especially if you do not think someone will squeeze. As you expect to get squeezed less often by someone yet to act, you can call with a wider range of drawing hands. If you feel frisky, you can turn some of the marginal A-xs into 3-bet bluffs.
When Raised from Middle Position: You Are in Late Position
From late position, you should splash around a little bit more, but you should not get carried away. It is worth mentioning that against some strong opponents who will call your 3-bets with a wide range, looking to outplay you post-flop, you should 3-bet with a more linear range ( Diagram 97 ).
Diagram 97
Again, the term “3-bet as a bluff” is used a bit loosely, as this range also includes some hands that are 3-bet for lesser value. By 3-betting with decent value hands such as A-10s and K-Qo, you make it much more costly for your opponent to call your 3-bet with hands like A-9s and K-Js that stand to be dominated. As your opponent calls your 3-bet more often, you should shift your 3-betting range toward value hands. When Raised from Middle Position: You Are in the Small Blind
I am starting to sound like a broken record, but from the small blind, the play of the big blind is incredibly relevant. If he is a weak player who will rarely 3-bet and will play poorly post-flop, you should continue with this range ( Diagram 98 ).
Diagram 98
You can justify calling with all sorts of marginal hands because you can count on the big blind to commit post-flop errors. If instead, the big blind is a world-class player, you should use this strategy ( Diagram 99 ).
Diagram 99
In fact, you could conceivably 3-bet your entire playable range from the small blind if you think the big blind will play well and the initial raiser will fold too often to your 3-bets. Just remember to use a somewhat large 3-bet sizing of about 3.5 to 4 times your opponent’s raise, so at $1/$2 if he makes it $5, 3-bet to about $18 from out of position.
When Raised from Middle Position: You Are in the Big Blind
From the big blind, given you are closing the action, you should defend with a somewhat wide range due to excellent pot odds. You should actually defend with a slightly wider range due to your opponent’s wider range. You should almost never make snug folds with hands like K-3s or 9-8o when facing a range that contains more than only the absolute best hands. One way strong players profit is by making their opponents fold too often from the blinds. When Raised from Late Position
From late position, the optimal strategy depends on what you think about the raiser’s range. Let’s assume he raises with the following reasonable range, but many players will open with an entirely different range ( Diagram 100 ).
Diagram 100
This range is probably a bit too loose, but perfectly acceptable if you expect the opponents to fold too often to aggression. When Raised from Late Position: You Are in Late Position
Another perfect time to attack. As stacks get shorter, you can 3-bet an amount that puts your opponent in an all-in or fold situation. For example, if you 3-bet over a 2.5 big blind raise to 8 big blinds, your opponent will be in a difficult spot. He can fold (good for you), call (fine enough for you), or 4-bet/go all-in
(good for you if you structure your range correctly). Here is a strong range that will create problems for your opponent ( Diagram 101 ).
Diagram 101
This may seem hyper-aggressive, but notice that of the 15.7% 3-betting range, 5.1% of it is nut hands that you can happily get all-in. This means that when your opponent risks his entire stack, you will be able to call about 33% of the time. If you think that your opponent will be somewhat risk averse (as many strong players are because they think they can pick on players who fold to the
least bit of aggression) you can widen your 3-betting range to include many of the A-x offsuit hands. This will add too many bluffs into your range to remain game theory optimal, but it is a powerful strategy that forces your opponent to take high variance lines. When Raised from Late Position: You Are in the Small Blind
From the small blind, it is safe to play as if you were on the button, 3-betting with a polarized range and calling with your hands that flop well. Again, be sure to take the big blind’s tendencies into account. If you think your opponent will often call your 3-bet due to his positional advantage, it makes sense to use a linear 3-betting range instead. When Raised from Late Position: You Are in the Big Blind
From the big blind, if your opponent will often call a 3-bet, you should develop a linear range, primarily (or entirely) 3-betting for value. If he will fold, unless he has a strong hand, you should 3-bet with a polarized range containing a few more bluffs than it should, at least until he adjusts. It is important to understand that if you 3-bet with a linear range because you expect your opponent to call your 3-bet too often, and your opponent goes all-in, you should fold the middle and bottom portions of your range. Suppose this type of player raises to 2.75 big blinds out of his 40 big blind effective stack from the cutoff and you 3-bet to 10 big blinds from the big blind with this range ( Diagram 102 ).
Diagram 102
Note that there are a few connectors in the “3-bet for lesser value” range that would be better classified as bluffs. If your opponent then goes all-in for 40 big blinds, you must have the discipline to fold some of the hands in your value 3betting range like A-10o, A-7s, and 5-5, even though you are getting decent pot odds. This range has you folding out 71% of your 3-betting range to an all-in, which is often a bit too high, but remember, you were 3-betting wide as a way to
exploit your specific opponent. Your exploitative plays will not work every time. Your opponent is going to push all-in every time with his premium hands, which will happen about 10% of the time, assuming he is opening with 50% of hands. He may also bluff sometimes. As long as you are confident with your read that your opponent will usually call too wide and then play too tightly after the flop, 3-betting in this manner should show a nice profit in the long run. When Raised from the Small Blind: When You Are in the Big Blind
When facing a raiser from the small blind, as long as you don’t fold too often, it is tough to go wrong. Similar to when deep stacked, many strategies are viable, depending on how you expect your opponent to react. Against most strong players, you should tend to call with a wide range and see the flop in position. By not 3-betting with your best hands, you can widen your calling range because it is protected by the presence of the nut hands. Having a strong, well-protected calling range will make you nearly impossible to blindly run over, as long as you play well after the flop.
Combating a Tight Raiser As when deep stacked, when the initial raiser is tight, you should play a snug strategy. There is no point in trying to bluff someone who has an overly strong range because they will not fold. Instead, 3-bet with your best hands and call with hands that are getting the right price to outdraw your opponent. Keep in mind that as stacks diminish, implied odds hands lose their value. For example, you can continue with this range when playing 50 big blinds deep when facing a 2.5 big blind raise ( Diagram 103 ).
Diagram 103
But as your stack decreases to 25 big blinds, assuming you think your opponent will call with most of his raising range if you push all-in, you should continue with this range ( Diagram 104 ).
Diagram 104
The suited Aces and suited connectors rely so heavily on implied odds that, if you will not be able to steal the pot from your opponent too often after the flop,
your equity will almost entirely come from making the best hand. It is tough to make the best hand against a premium pre-flop range, which should induce you to fold many of the implied odds hands. It is difficult to cleanly define when you should tighten up and stop playing the implied odds hands, but in general, when you are getting less than 15:1 implied odds (as you are when facing a 2.5 big blind raise with 25 big blind effective stacks), you should tighten up. From the blinds, depending on pot odds, you should defend with a wider, but still conservative range, opting to fold many of the normally playable hands that are likely to be dominated versus a tight raiser. Here is a range you can call with from the big blind. ( Diagram 105 ). While this range is much too tight to defend against a normal or loose raiser, it is perfectly acceptable when you are against a player whose main concern is playing premium hands. In fact, you could even play a bit tighter, ditching some of the A-x offsuit hands if you are convinced that you are up against an extremely tight range.
Diagram 105
Combating a Loose Raiser As when deeper stacked, you should attack loose raisers by aggressively taking advantage of your position. If your stack is on the larger side, closer to 50 big blinds, a powerful strategy is to 3-bet to 2.5 times your opponent’s pre-flop raise in position or 3.5 times from out of position, and then make a 40% pot continuation bet. This will force your opponent to put a large amount of his stack at risk or fold. Even if your range is a bit too tilted toward bluffs, this will work out well for you. Suppose a loose player raises to 2.5 big blinds out of his 45 big blind stack from the hijack. You decide to use this strategy from the button ( Diagram 106 ).
Diagram 106
Since your entire 3-betting range is 17.8%, you will have a value hand 24% of the time when you 3-bet (4.2/17.8 = 24%). This is usually an ideal ratio against someone who will fold too often, either before or after the flop. If your opponent calls your 3-bet to 7 big blinds, you should make a 7 big blind continuation bet on the flop the majority of the time. This play risks a total of 14 big blinds out of your 45 big blind effective stack, but it will work a huge amount of the time.
When it fails, you should not worry too much because you know you are protected by having a premium hand that can happily get all-in 25% of the time.
Combating a Maniacal Raiser When playing against a maniac, you should continue to trap, looking to flop reasonable hands like top pair with the intention of calling down. If you want to maximize your equity against most competent maniacs, you must become comfortable with getting outdrawn some portion of the time. I know it is not fun for your A-A to lose to 8-4o, but on average, you will crush these players by keeping their ranges wide.
When Your Opponent Will Fold to Aggression Continue applying pressure to opponents who will fold to aggression, whether they are initially maniacal or not. Just be sure you do not mindlessly blast off your stack when your opponents pass the point in the pot where you think they will play straightforwardly. Suppose someone raises and you call with J♥-10♥ on the button with a 35 big blind stack. The flop comes 9♠-7♥-4♦. Your opponent bets 50% pot. If you raise this type of opponent with the idea that he will fold unless he has top pair or better, when he calls, you should give up unless you improve to a hand that can beat top pair. You can confidently raise in this spot understanding that when your opponent calls (which will not be too often) he has a strong hand that will not fold to additional aggression.
When Your Opponent Will Not Fold to Aggression In the previous example where you flop overcards, a gutshot straight draw, and a backdoor flush draw, if you were instead facing someone who will not fold to aggression, you should call the flop, looking to see what develops on the turn. Against players who will not fold, you should play in an aggressive manner primarily when you have a strong value hand, not when you have a semi-bluff. You should play aggressively with your best hands before the flop against players who will not fold to aggression, perhaps using this strategy from the small blind when facing a raise from this type of player from the cutoff ( Diagram 107 ).
Diagram 107
The line between value, lesser value, and semi-bluff is quite blurred. The “3bet for value” range can somewhat confidently get all-in versus an aggressive player, although this range should be adjusted according to your exact opponent, depending on how aggressively he plays when 3-bet. It is perfectly fine to 3-bet a normally strong hand, like 8-8 or A-10s, with the intention of folding to a 3-bet if you think that your opponent will only 3-bet with a range that has you dominated. 3-betting with a wide range from the small blind is a strong play
when you can assume your opponent will call with numerous hands that your range dominates, such as A-3o and 10-9o. Do not miss out on the extreme value that calling stations are happy to give you.
Between 13 and 25 Big Blinds As your stack decreases to fewer than 25 big blinds, when someone raises in front of you, you lose much of your post-flop playability. In fact, most of the time, going all-in or folding are your only viable options due to your lack of post-flop implied odds. Your strong pre-flop hands are content to get all-in before the flop and your drawing hands that normally rely on implied odds now depend on pre-flop fold equity to be played profitably. Suppose someone raises to 3 big blinds out of his 15 big blind effective stack and you find 3-3 on the button. Many amateur players call in this spot, hoping to flop a set. The problem with calling is they are not getting anywhere near the requisite 10:1 implied odds necessary to try to flop a set. Since they are not getting the correct implied odds to call, they should play their hand in a different manner. If they think that the initial raiser will fold to an all-in some portion of the time, giving them a decent amount of fold equity, they should go all-in. If they think that they have relatively little fold equity, they should fold because 33 fares poorly against a reasonable calling range. Keep this in mind as you move forward. This section will be broken down into two parts, when you can still call and see a flop and when you should go all-in or fold. Your opponent’s tendencies are still vitally important, but what you are primarily concerned with are your opponent’s raising range and the range with which he will call your all-in. As your opponent folds a larger percentage of his range, you should be willing to push all-in with a wider range due to your increased pre-flop fold equity. Be aware that pushing all-in with a short stack will often leave you broke. For example, if the pre-flop raiser will call your all-in 30% of the time, and if you only win 40% of the time when you get called, you will go broke 12% of the time when you push all-in (.3 × .4 = 12%). Hopefully this fact makes it clear that you should strive to not find yourself with a short stack (at least in tournaments). That said, sometimes you find yourself in this dire situation and when you do, you need to know how to maximize the value of your short stack. Also, keep in mind that the players yet to act who have not even looked at their cards are a relevant factor. Each player yet to act will wake up with a premium hand about 6% of the time. To figure out how often two players will call you, you take the percentage that one player will fold (94%) and multiply it by the percentage that the other player will fold (94%). For example, if there are
six players yet to act, the equation would be .94 × .94 × .94 × .94 × .94 × .94 = 69%, which means the players yet to act will fold 69% of the time, meaning someone yet to act will call about 31% of the time. This is rough math, but it is close enough. Many pushes that would normally be profitable from late position against a loose raiser become unprofitable when many players are yet to act. For example, if a push normally wins 1 big blind when you are in the big blind versus the small blind, but there are six players yet to act, pushing is unprofitable because you will lose 1.86 big blinds on average to the players yet to act. Note that most ranges will have about 35% equity versus a premium range. .31 × (.35 × 40 – 20) = 1.86 big blind loss. So, if the push normally wins 1 big blind heads-up, it will now lose .86 big blinds with six unknown hands yet to act. To figure out if a push is profitable, the full rough equation is: Profit = (%raiser folds) × (pot) + (%raiser calls) × (equity in pot when called – amount put in pot) + (%someone yet to act calls) × (equity in pot – amount put in pot). This equation is “rough” because sometimes multiple players will call, but that will rarely be the case. You can get as precise as you’d like, but this equation works well enough without becoming unwieldy.
When You Should Call The main time you should call a raise when you have a short stack is when you are getting the correct implied odds to see the flop or when you are closing the action from the big blind. Pretty much the only time you will be getting the correct pot odds to call and see a flop with a stack shorter than 25 big blinds is when someone raises and multiple players call (or when there are multiple limpers). For example, assume you have 4-4 on the button with a 22 big blind stack. If an early position raiser makes it 2.5 big blinds and four players call, you should certainly call to see if you flop a set. This is because you are getting 5:1 immediate pot odds, plus you can usually count on someone doubling you up if you flop a set. Even then though, this call is close. If you think that you have a decent amount of pre-flop fold equity, pushing all-in could easily be the best play, but in general, you should proceed cautiously against an early position raiser. In this situation, if you thought you lacked fold equity, this should be your strategy ( Diagram 108 ).
Diagram 108
Both your pushing and calling range in this spot are quite strong, but that is fine given that calling risks about 10% of your stack. When you get short and face a range that should be strong, you should proceed quite cautiously. Even in this range, calling with 9-9 and A-Qo may be ideal. Do not fall into the trap of thinking that you must go all-in simply because your hand is normally strong. The other time you should call is when you are in the big blind closing the action getting decent pot odds. This is because you cannot get 3-bet off your
equity and you often have to put in only 1 or 1.5 big blinds to win a pot of 6 big blinds or more (assuming there are antes in play). If a somewhat normal player who you think will call your 15 big blind all-in raised to 2.5 big blinds from middle position at 100/200 with a 25 ante, you should use this range from the big blind ( Diagram 109 ).
Diagram 109
If the pre-flop raiser is loose, you should adjust by either defending with a
wider range or by pushing all-in with a wider range of value hands and bluffing hands, depending on whether or not you think you have much pre-flop fold equity. After the flop, if you make any sort of pair or draw, you should usually look to check/push all-in. Short stacked post-flop play will be discussed later in the Post-flop section.
When You Should Go All-in or Fold When you lack implied odds and are not closing the action in the big blind, you should usually go all-in or fold. If you do not think you have much fold equity, if you do not have a push for value, you should usually fold. It is fine to play a shallow stack in a straightforward manner if you will frequently get called. To be clear, you will almost always be going all-in or folding (not calling) when someone raises before the action gets to you once you dip down to 25 big blinds. If you often call, you are almost certainly making significant errors that will make it difficult for you to win at poker in the long run.
Combating a Tight Raiser When a tight player raises in front of you, you should fold all but your best hands. Be keenly aware of when you have implied odds, as you will usually realize your full implied odds when you make a premium hand against tight players because they have premium ranges that will be unable to fold after the flop. Against a tight player, you should often be inclined to call with hands like 2-2 on the button when barely getting 10:1 implied odds, whereas you should usually fold against a competent loose opponent. If your opponent’s range is primarily premium hands, just play snugly. If you are on the button facing a middle position raise from a tight player with 15 big blind effective stacks, this should be your range ( Diagram 110 ).
Diagram 110
Against the absolute tightest super-nits, you should probably only get all-in with A-A, K-K, Q-Q, J-J, and A-K. By playing so tightly you are essentially saying that you think your opponent is opening so few hands that you never have to play back at him. If you are confident in your assessment of your opponent, playing incredibly tightly is a great adjustment, but if your read is wrong, playing too tightly will let your opponent run you over. That said, many players in small stakes games play way too tightly because they want to “know” they are getting their money in with a strong hand. Don’t give action to super-nits.
Combating a Loose Raiser If someone opens a bit too loosely, you should combat them by pushing a bit too wide, assuming they will not adjust their calling range. Suppose your opponent raises to 2.5 big blinds from middle position with this range ( Diagram 111 ).
Diagram 111
You are in the big blind with a 15 big blind effective stack. While you could
call and defend with a wide range, notice that you can profitably push all-in with any two cards: Profit = .734 × (4) + .266 × (.32 × 30.5 – 15) = 2.936 – 1.39 = 1.54 big blinds profit. In order for your opponent to defend this range properly, he has to instead use this strategy ( Diagram 112 ).
Diagram 112
Of course, this assumes you are pushing any two cards. If you push a tighter range, your opponent should fold more often. As you can see though, if someone opens too wide and does not call off properly, you can easily run them over by pushing with a wide range.
Combating a Maniacal Raiser You should combat maniacs similarly to someone who raises too often, but you should assume that maniacs have even wider, easier to exploit ranges than players who are only a little too loose. Some maniacs raise with as wide a range as any two cards, especially from late position. Against these players, you can push incredibly widely (legitimately as widely as any two cards), assuming they will not call off wide. Some maniacs will be willing to call off with a wide range (because they want to gamble), while others will call somewhat tightly (because they assume their opponents must have a strong hand to push all-in). It is up to you to figure out your specific maniac’s tendencies and adjust accordingly.
Fewer than 13 Big Blinds When stacks dip about as low as possible and you are facing a raise, you will either have to go all-in or fold before the flop. The one exception to this rule is when you are in the big blind closing the action. Then, you can defend the big blind as previously outlined when you have between 13 and 25 big blinds. It is important to understand that as your stack diminishes, your fold equity decreases. This means that you have to assume your all-in will get called a large portion of the time. With a 13 big blind stack facing a 2.5 big blind raise, you may have a bit of fold equity, but with a 5 big blind stack, you certainly have none. This means that you have to be a bit more confident that you are getting your stack in ahead versus your opponent’s range with 5 big blinds as distinct from to 13 big blinds. However, as your stack decreases, you will be getting better pot odds due to the blinds (and antes) making up a larger portion of the pot. For example, when you get all-in and double up with 5 big blinds, you actually end up with 11.5 to 12.5 big blinds, which is up to a 150% increase to your stack. When you have 13 big blinds, you will end up with, at most, 28.5 big blinds, which is a 120% increase. Always be on the lookout for when you are getting the right price to call off, even if you are “behind”. Suppose you have 10♠-8♦ in the big blind with a 5 big blind stack and the small blind goes all-in. Unless your opponent is incredibly tight, this is an easy call because you will usually win 40% of the time or more. You have 38% equity versus the tightest 5 big blind pushing range you will likely encounter. T8o 22+,A2s+,K2s+,Q6s+,J7s+,T7s+,97s+,87s, 76s,65s,A2o+,K2o+,Q9o+,J9o+,T9o
38.03%
61.97%
While 38% is below the required 40% dictated by the pot odds, 38% is essentially the worst case scenario. If your opponent is pushing with any two cards, you have 50% equity, making folding a blunder. So, when facing the 5 big blind all-in, you need to win 40% of the time to break even (4/10 = 40%), which you usually will. It is close, but due to your pot odds, you can profitably call off. If instead, you had 10 big blinds in the big
blind and faced a small blind all-in, you have an easy fold because you need to win 45% of the time (9/20 = 45%), which you usually will not, unless your opponent is pushing nearly 100% of hands. As you get shorter, your pot odds will often suggest getting all-in with a marginal hand. That said, don’t take this concept too far. For example, if a generally tight player raises to 3 big blinds from early position, someone else calls, and you have 5 big blinds on the button with A-9o, you should usually fold because you are almost certainly dominated by one of your two opponents. However, if you have 9-8s, you should probably hop in. Tinkering with a poker equity calculator will help you to better understand these situations.
When Your Opponent Will Fold to Aggression You will occasionally run into players who will fold to an all-in from a short stack, thinking that the short stack simply must have a strong hand in order to go all-in. These players usually play snugly themselves when they put in their entire stacks and assume that everyone else must play in the same manner. Knowing when to exploit these players by pushing all-in with a wide range is difficult, but if you can steal their raise plus the blinds every once in a while, you will add a huge amount of profit to your win rate. The best time to push with a wide range over their raise is when you expect their range to be the widest and when they expect you to be the tightest. Some of these players (who are usually not too good at poker) will raise with the same range from all positions. Their opening range may look something like this from all positions ( Diagram 113 ).
Diagram 113
Notice that this player will fold to an all-in 51% of the time. This means that you need to have relatively little equity when called due to your somewhat high pre-flop fold equity, allowing you to push with this range from the button for 10 big blinds ( Diagram 114 ).
Diagram 114
When Facing a Short Stack All-in As stacks diminish, it is quite common for players to open-push with their entire playable range. When facing these all-ins, it is important that you work hard away from the table to develop profitable calling ranges. As always, be sure to account for the players yet to act, understanding that they will each call both yours and the initial pusher’s all-in about 6% of the time. It is mandatory that you play around with an equity calculator in order to determine which hands you can profitably call with if your opponent goes all-in. Do not think that you simply have to have more than 50% equity versus the pusher’s range. You must take the pot odds into account, and if you are in a tournament, you also have to account for the payout implications (more on this later). For example, when someone goes all-in for 7 big blinds and there are no antes in play, if you are in the big blind, you need to win 41.3% of the time to break even (6/14.5 = 41.3%). Remember, you only have to call 6 big blinds more because your big blind is already in the pot. If there is a 15% ante in play at an 8handed table, you only need to win 38% of the time (6/15.7 = 38%). It isn’t too difficult to find a wide calling range that will win at least 38% of the time versus most normal pushing ranges. Notice that calling an all-in is quite similar to the situation where your opponent makes a sizable pre-flop raise and have no fold equity. If, in the example from the previous section, you thought your opponent would call off with his entire pre-flop raising range instead of folding about half of it, you should only go all-in with this range ( Diagram 115 ).
Diagram 115
As you can see, when you lack fold equity, you should play snugly. When you have fold equity, you can push with a wider range. While pushing with 10.1% of hands with no fold equity compared to 14.3% of hands with fold equity may not seem like a big jump, it represents playing 41% more hands. Let’s assume you are in the big blind with a 10 big blind stack and instead of raising with a traditionally strong range, your opponent raises to 3 big blinds with this range from the button ( Diagram 116 ).
Diagram 116
Given you have no fold equity, it is essentially as if the button pushed all-in and it is up to you to decide if you should call off your 10 big blind stack. Calling could be an option with some portion of your range if your opponent made a min-raise (due to the excellent pot odds), but when facing a 3 big blind raise, you should usually go all-in or fold, especially if you may have some unforeseen fold equity. Given you basically need to have 44% equity to get all-in (assuming there are no antes in play), you should use this range (that has 43% equity versus your opponent’s range) ( Diagram 117 ).
Diagram 117
If you are playing a cash game, you should be content to call off with any hand that is the least bit profitable. In a tournament, you should fold the bottom portion of your range because survival matters. In general, you should look to take lower variance lines in tournaments and also ensure that when you play large pots, you are getting your money in with a meaningful edge. In a tournament, depending on payout implications, you should instead call off with roughly this range ( Diagram 118 ).
Diagram 118
This range is quite a bit tighter than the “+Chip EV” range, but these are the types of adjustments you must make when losing your stack is detrimental. Chip EV refers to winning chips (which is your goal in cash games) and Dollar EV refers to winning dollars (which is your goal in tournaments, where winning chips does not proportionally relate to winning dollars). As you approach the money bubble, you should call even tighter, especially if you can easily fold a few hands and get in the money. That being said, do not take the concept of survival too far. Some players only call off for their entire stack in tournaments
with their absolute best hands. While they usually get their money in good, they blind off so long that when they double up, they still have only a tiny stack. I really want to hammer home the fact that when a competent player who pushes with roughly the optimal ranges goes all-in from early position, you should play very tightly. For example, if you are in third position facing an UTG 10 big blind all-in with no antes in play, you should call with 9-9+, A-Ko, and A-Qs. That is it. This is because the initial pusher should have a strong range and you have to worry about everyone yet to act. If you were instead in the big blind, you should call off with 8-8+, A-Js+ and A-Qo. While this may seem like an equally tight range, remember that it is actually 30% wider. If instead UTG pushed for 5 big blinds and you are in third position, you should call with 6-6+, A-10s+, A-Jo+, and K-Qs. From the big blind, you should call with this wide range ( Diagram 119 ).
Diagram 119
As you can see, having players yet to act who have random hands forces you to call off snugly from early position. I strongly suggest you play around with a poker equity calculator to determine which hands have the proper pot odds to call the all-in of a short stack. Equilab features a neat “Hand Range Calculator” that tells you which hands you should call with by inputting a range for your opponent and how much equity you need, based on the pot odds. Just be sure to call a bit tighter for each player yet to act, and also a bit tighter in tournaments.
PRE-FLOP STRATEGY: OTHER SITUATIONS When Facing Limpers and a Raiser When one or more players limp and then someone raises before the action gets to you, it is again up to you to figure out your opponents’ ranges. Hopefully you are starting to see that when your opponents’ ranges are strong, you should proceed with caution and when they are weak, you can get a bit out of line.
More than 50 Big Blinds Thinking back to the When Facing Limpers section, if the limpers are honest, you should essentially ignore them because they usually have marginal ranges. If the limpers (especially the initial one) are tricky, you should proceed with caution. After you have assessed the limpers’ strategies, take a look at the raiser’s strategy. Some players will attack limpers with a wide range whereas others will raise with a tight range, instead opting to limp with all non-premium hands. If the raiser is tight, you should proceed with caution and if he has a wide range, you should consider attacking. When the raiser has a tight range or when the limpers are tricky, you should tend to call with most of your playable hands because you could easily be against premium ranges. If two tricky limpers limped and a tight player raised from the hijack to 6 big blinds, you should use this range on the button with a 75 big blind stack ( Diagram 120 ).
Diagram 120
Your 3-bet size in this situation should be to about 17 big blinds. Notice that you have no 3-bet bluffs in this spot. This is because you expect to be against decently strong ranges that will not fold to aggression. If the raiser made it smaller, perhaps to 3 big blinds, you should call with many more implied odds hands, although you should still fold the other offsuit hands. You should likely play a similar range from most positions because the main factor in this situation is the strength of your opponents’ ranges, which demands that you play a strong
range. If you got the vibe that one of the limpers may be planning to limp/3-bet, you should instead use this strategy ( Diagram 121 ).
Diagram 121
Just because you think a limper may be planning to limp/3-bet does not mean he will 3-bet every time. To account for your lack of a solid read (which you will rarely have), this strategy calls with many hands that cannot withstand a limp/3bet. This is fine because you are protected by the presence of the nut hands in your calling range. You do not want to 3-bet with your best hands over the limps and the raise because that may induce the limpers to proceed cautiously instead
of recklessly with hands like J-J or A-K. If instead of having a tight range, the raiser has a wide range, you should determine how you expect him to respond to a 3-bet. If you think he will call a 3-bet with a wide range, hoping to flop well, you should use this linear strategy ( Diagram 122 ).
Diagram 122
This strategy is particularly poor if the remaining players yet to act will attack the fact that your calling range is comprised of only marginal hands, but that is fine if the initial raiser will call their 3-bets a large portion of the time (his wide calling range essentially protects you). In general, most players in small stakes games do not blindly apply aggression before the flop when they sense only a small amount of weakness. If you think the raiser will usually fold or 4-bet when faced with a 3-bet, you should use this polarized strategy ( Diagram 123 ).
Diagram 123
Really, your strategy should not change much at all when facing only a raiser as compared to facing limpers plus a raiser if the limpers are not too creative. The main difference will be the fact that the pre-flop raise size will be larger, decreasing the size of the remaining stacks.
Between 25 and 50 Big Blinds When facing a pre-flop raise to roughly 6 big blinds over limpers, this stack size becomes difficult to play because drawing hands will often not be getting the correct implied odds to call. This is similar to when you had between 13 and 25 big blinds facing only a 3 big blind raise. Notice how 25 big blinds is roughly 4 times the opponent’s 6 big blind raise over the limpers and 13 big blinds is roughly 4 times an initial 3 big blind raise. When the proportions are the same (as they are in this situation), you should use the same strategy, assuming the ranges are the same. In general, you should play a bit tighter to account for the fact that the raiser elected to raise the limpers instead of limping behind. You should also take the limpers’ strategies into account. Just be aware that implied odds hands drastically decrease in value. For example, if a few players limp, a somewhat active player raises to 6 big blinds, and you have a 35 big blind stack with 3-3, A♠-2♠, or 8♥-7♥, you should simply fold if you do not think you have enough fold equity to justify pushing all-in (use the all-in fold equity formula from earlier). This scenario also applies even if there are no limpers. Always be sure to take your implied odds into account when calling with drawing hands. This common mistake costs many amateurs a huge amount of equity in the long run.
Fewer than 25 Big Blinds When facing a 6 big blind raise over limpers with a 25 big blind stack, you usually will have relatively little fold equity because the raiser will be getting excellent pot odds to call your push. This should lead you to play as suggested in the section titled Fewer Than 13 Big Blinds in Chapter Four.
When Facing a Raiser and Multiple Callers A common situation you will face in small stakes games occurs when someone raises and someone else calls before the action gets to you. As when facing a raise over multiple limpers, your main concern is the pre-flop raiser’s range because he is the only player who has actually shown aggression. The callers usually have ranges similar to competent limpers because they just called (rather than 3-betting). This takes premium hands out of their ranges, unless they are tricky and capable of calling behind with premium hands. For this reason, you should primarily focus on the initial raiser’s range and adjust your strategy accordingly. As always, be sure to take your position into account. You should be quite snug when facing an UTG raiser and a UTG+1 caller. If you are in the small blind versus a cutoff raiser and a button caller, you should usually 3-bet quite wide. When in the big blind, you should usually call with most of your playable hands because you are closing the action and getting excellent pot odds. By 3betting you forego the opportunity to capture excellent pot odds, and you open the door for someone to 4-bet.
More than 50 Big Blinds With somewhat deep stacks, you have many viable options at your disposal. When in late position facing a competent raiser who you think plays well, plus a generic caller, you should use this strategy from the cutoff and button ( Diagram 124 ).
Diagram 124
You are 3-betting with many of your best hands and some junky hands that are not quite strong enough to call. Notice that this 3-betting range also gives you a decent amount of board coverage, making you difficult to play against after the flop. Your calling range contains all hands that normally want to see the flop. Most amateurs use a totally different strategy. They 3-bet their best hands and call with everything else they deem to be playable. This turns their range face-up in an obvious manner, making them easy to play against. You should always strive to be difficult to play against because that will lead to your opponents making costly errors. If instead of facing a competent raiser and caller, you think they are particularly weak, you can often steal the pot before the flop by making a pot sized 3-bet with a wide range. For example, if a loose, but weak player (who you think will fold to 3-bets most of the time) raises from middle position and the cutoff calls, you should consider using this strategy when you are on the button ( Diagram 125 ).
Diagram 125
Clearly this strategy is much too loose against strong players, but if you expect to have a huge amount of pre-flop fold equity, you should 3-bet with a wide range. If you get 4-bet, you should simply fold all of your junk unless you are getting 3:1 pot odds or better, and even then, you should fold most of the offsuit hands and the weak suited hands. If instead, you thought the initial raiser would call your 3-bet with his wide
opening range and then play straightforwardly after the flop, you should use this strategy ( Diagram 126 ).
Diagram 126
When playing a linear range, the line between value hands and lesser value hands is often blurred, so they have all been lumped together in this image. Having a few hands in your 3-bet bluffing range still has merit, even if you
expect to get called, because this type of opponent will frequently fold to a flop continuation bet. If you 3-bet pre-flop and both opponents call, you should usually elect to play somewhat straightforwardly after the flop. From the small blind, you should use a similar strategy to when you are in late position, but from the big blind, you should call with a wide range. Against competent opponents, assuming you are facing a “normal” 3 big blind raise, you should use this strategy ( Diagram 127 ).
Diagram 127
Against players who will call your slightly larger than pot sized 3-bet most of the time, it is ideal to only 3-bet for value, taking all the bluffs out of your range. There is no point bluffing if your opponents will make the mistake of calling too wide both pre-flop and post-flop. When the raiser is from an earlier position, you should tighten up significantly, mainly because the early position raiser should have a stronger range ( Diagram 128 ).
Diagram 128
You are 3-betting tighter for value, which should lead you to 3-bet bluff with a tighter range. That said, you may want to 3-bet with even fewer bluffs than indicated if you think the initial raiser is particularly strong. You could also tighten up the calling range by ditching most of the unsuited hands and junky suited hands. As always, you should play snugly from early position.
Between 25 and 50 Big Blinds As your stack decreases (or your opponent’s pre-flop raise size increases) your hands that rely on implied odds lose value. However, even with a stack as short as 25 big blinds, you can realistically call a 3 big blind raise with most of your implied odds hands. You should use roughly the same ranges as if you had a deep stack, although you should ditch some of the weaker suited hands, such as 10-7s and 4-3s. The main thing to keep in mind is that you need to get at least 9:1 implied odds with small pairs (a 3 big blind raise plus a 3 blind call, plus 22 more big blinds in the stacks satisfies this) and 15:1 or more with marginal suited Aces and suited connectors. So, with a 25 big blind stack facing a 3 big blind raise and a caller, you should call with small pairs but not with the suited hands. If you face a 4 big blind raise and a caller with 25 big blind stacks, you cannot call with any of the drawing hands, assuming you are only calling to try to flop the nuts (sometimes you will find spots to steal the pot after the flop). If you face a 2 big blind raise and a caller with 25 big blind stacks, you can call with most of the drawing hands. As stacks get deeper, you can continue to widen your range by adding in additional drawing hands.
Fewer than 25 Big Blinds Once your stack dips below 25 big blinds, or roughly 8 times the pre-flop raise, you should look to go all-in or fold, unless you are closing the action in the big blind. This is because your implied odds hands lack post-flop playability. Suppose someone raises to 3 big blinds, someone calls, and you find 2-2 in the small blind (or any other position besides the big blind) with a 15 big blind effective stack. This is either an all-in or fold, depending on how much fold equity you think you have. Calling would be acceptable in the big blind because you are getting about 10:1 implied odds (you have to put in 2 big blinds to win up to 19 big blinds). As always, the pre-flop raiser’s raising and calling range versus your all-in is your main concern, but it is important to also assess how often the callers will call your all-in as well. Even if the initial raiser has absolute junk, by the time the action gets back to the caller, if you push for 15 big blinds, he has to call 12 big blinds to win a pot that will be 34 or so big blinds, meaning he only needs to win 35% of the time to break even. Most reasonable hands have at least 35% equity versus all but the tightest ranges, so you should expect to get called a large portion of the time. This should lead you to primarily push for value. For example, if a normal player raised to 2.5 big blinds out of your 15 big blind effective stack from middle position, and a standard player in the cutoff called, you should use this strategy on the button ( Diagram 129 ).
Diagram 129
Be sure to shift to a slightly tighter or looser strategy based on how often you expect to get called and the range you expect to get called by.
When Facing a Raise and a 3-bet When someone raises and someone else 3-bets before the action gets to you, you should proceed with an extremely tight range unless both the raiser and 3-bettor are loose and aggressive. The initial raiser’s range should be reasonably strong and the 3-bettor’s range should be very strong. The most extreme example is when a competent player raises from first position and another competent player 3-bets from second position. Notice that both players’ ranges should be incredibly strong (although I actually suggest never 3-betting a competent UTG raiser). So, which hands are strong enough to play, either by 4-betting or calling versus two premium ranges? Assuming you are not incredibly deep stacked and not getting correct implied odds to draw with a pair, you should only continue with A-A, K-K, Q-Q, and A-K. Take a look at how much equity J-J has versus two premium ranges. JJ
33.15%
66+,ATs+,KJs+,QJs,JTs,T9s,98s,87s,AJo+,KQo
24.56%
TT+,AQs+,AKo
42.29%
Of course, the initial raiser will fold the bottom portion of his range, meaning that when he continues against your 4-bet, he will have a premium range, and if you call, he will have a hand that is getting the correct implied odds to call. Take a look at how J-J fares when you get all-in. JJ
36.56%
JJ+,AKs,AKo
63.44%
Playing for all the money with 36.5% equity is not where you want to be. Sure, you will make your opponents fold some portion of the time, but most of the time, you will get action from hands that crush you. Do not fall into the awful habit of thinking that you “must” go broke every time you have a traditionally strong hand. Remember, the factor that determines your hand’s strength is the ranges you are against. If you are against only premium hands, you need an extremely strong hand to enter the pot. You may be thinking that if you only 4-bet with the nuts that your opponents
can exploit you by folding every time. While that is true, remember you are laying them excellent pot odds to call before the flop by 4-betting to 23 big blinds. If your opponents fold hands like 10-10 and J-10s, they are folding hands that are getting roughly the right price to call. You may be wondering why I advocate 4-betting A-K and getting all-in with it, since A-K actually doesn’t fare so well versus a premium all-in range. AKs
45.68%
TT+,AQs+,AKo
54.32%
The problem with folding once you put in 23 out of your 75 big blind stack is that you only need to win 34% of the time to break even. Against an extremely strong range of only J-J+ and A-K, your A-Ko will win 40% of the time. When you only need to win 34% of the time and you will win 40% of the time, you cannot justify folding unless you are on the bubble of a tournament. The only other time you should consider folding A-Ko is when you are against the supernit range of Q-Q+ and A-Ks. As you are hopefully starting to see, you need a premium hand to fight against one or more premium ranges. That said, all players are not this tight, so you shouldn’t be looking to fold hands like J-J and A-K too often.
More than 50 Big Blinds Overvaluing their traditionally strong hands in situations that are not quite as extreme as the previous one is a significant leak that plagues many amateurs. Suppose someone raises to 3 big blinds from early position and a decently tight player 3-bets to 10 big blinds out of his 75 big blind effective stack. On the button, when facing a raise and 3-bet, many amateurs elect to call with hands like 9-9 and A-Qs, hoping to flop well. This is a huge mistake because against most strong 3-betting ranges, these hands have about 40% equity. 99+,AJs+,AQo+
61.58%
99
38.42%
99+,AJs+,AQo+
59.35%
AQs
40.65%
Instead of calling, you should simply fold these hands unless you think they fit nicely into a 4-bet bluffing range. If you think you have some fold equity, or you think that if you 4-bet to 2.3 times the 3-bet, the 3-bettor will call and then check-fold when he misses on the flop, you should use this strategy ( Diagram 130 ).
Diagram 130
However, the vast majority of players you encounter in small stakes games will only 3-bet with premium hands. If a reasonable player raises to 3 big blinds and another reasonable player 3-bets to 10 big blinds, you should usually only continue with Q-Q+ and A-K. Against the absolute tightest players, you should consider folding A-K, but that is often an error because A-K has two strong blockers, essentially turning it into a “bluff” that still has a lot of equity if the money goes in.
Fewer than 50 Big Blinds As your stack gets shorter, you start to lose pre-flop fold equity. 3-betting to 23 big blinds with the intention of folding to a large all-in loses its viability. When this happens, you have to play snugly and wait until you are a favorite versus your opponents’ strong ranges. The way your stack decreases in proportion to the raise and 3-bet is similar to what happens when facing other aggressive actions, such as when there are a few limpers then a raise to 6 big blinds before the action gets to you. You must have discipline and only get your stack in when you expect to be a favorite. Unlike other situations where you are going all-in with a short stack, you are always getting poor pot odds when facing a raise and 3-bet because the dead money from the blinds and antes is quite small compared to the large amount of chips you have to put in the pot (the 3-bet is not dead because that player will actually call some portion of the time). This is another incentive to play snugly. If someone raises to 3 big blinds and someone else 3-bets to 10 big blinds, when you have a 25 big blind stack and think your opponents are playing reasonable ranges, you should usually get all-in with only J-J+, A-Qs+, and AKo. If you think you have a bit more fold equity, you can push a bit wider with additional hands that should have equity when called, such as decent pairs and premium big cards. Beyond that, you should play cautiously and wait for situations where you are not up against premium ranges.
When You Raise and Face a 3-bet Especially if you raise with a wide range, you will find that players start to 3-bet you some portion of the time. When this happens, you should immediately start thinking about your opponent’s range and how you should continue. This is the opposite of what most small stakes players do. They call the 3-bet and hope to flop well. By avoiding situations where you are likely to have large reverse implied odds, you will sidestep situations where many players go broke. I want to make it perfectly clear that when you raise and get 3-bet, unless your opponent is on the aggressive side, folding most of your range that is not getting the proper implied odds to call is often ideal. Do not feel inclined to call and see what develops with all sorts of junk.
More than 60 Big Blinds If your opponent is 3-betting tightly, your strategy is simple. Call when you are getting the proper implied odds and fold when you are not. You should use this strategy if you raised from middle position to 3 big blinds with 75 big blind stacks and faced a 3-bet to 10 big blinds from a tight player on the button ( Diagram 131 ).
Diagram 131
You are proceeding quite cautiously. This is because you expect to be against only strong hands. A-Jo and K-Qo are often dominated versus a strong range. Do not feel like you have to call and see a flop, which is what most amateurs do. When you flop top pair with A-J or K-Q and a lot of money goes in the pot, you will usually be crushed. With your 4-betting hands, you should make it about 2.3 times your opponent’s 3-bet unless the stacks are more than 100 big blinds deep, at which point you should make it closer to 2.7 times your opponent’s 3-bet. One thing that should stick out like a sore thumb about this range is that you have no 4-bet bluffs. This implies that this is an exploitative strategy based on the fact that you expect the 3-bettor to have a premium range that he will rarely fold. If you expect the 3-bettor to fold more often to a 4-bet, you should add a few 4-bet bluffs to your range. If you instead raised from middle position with the same range and faced a wide 3-bettor, you should use this strategy ( Diagram 132 ).
Diagram 132
Due to the 3-bettor’s range being weaker, this range now includes numerous 4-bet bluffing hands. In addition, the calling range has been widened to include a few more big card hands that are now less likely to be dominated. The bluffing hands all have strong blockers. This implies that you expect your opponent to either fold or go all-in when facing your 4-bet. If instead, you expect to be called
a large portion of the time and you want to have a bluffing range (which may or may not be the case), it would be with additional strong value hands, like A-Qo and A-Js, and suited connectors.
Between 35 and 60 Big Blinds With this stack size, when you raise to 3 big blinds and face a 3-bet to 10 big blinds, if you want to 4-bet, you should usually go all-in because if you 4-bet to a lesser amount and your opponent goes all-in, you cannot fold due to your excellent pot odds. If you raised to 2.5 big blinds out of your 50 big blind stack from middle position and a strong, competent player who has some bluffs in his range 3-bets to 7.5 big blinds from the button, you should tend to use this strategy ( Diagram 133 ).
Diagram 133
This range has you folding to the 3-bet only 48% of the time, which means that you are defending a decent amount of the time, which is a good thing. If your range was much wider (because you open raised with too many hands) you will have a difficult time defending often enough to prevent your opponent from running you over with blind aggression. Also, notice that your calling range is
quite strong and contains many drawing hands that are getting roughly the right implied odds to call. Your all-in range is also strong, comprised of the best hands plus the best blocker hands. While these hands will often have somewhat poor equity when you get called (pretty much all non-premium hands have poor equity when you push all-in for 50 big blinds and get called), they will fare well enough. Also, calling them “bluffs” may be a bit misleading because they have a large amount of equity when they are not dominated and occasionally you can get called by a worse hand, like A-Jo. As stated in the previous section, you should adjust this range based on your opponent’s perceived 3-betting strategy. If he is overly tight, you should go all-in with your premium hands, call with hands getting the correct pot odds to call, and fold everything else. If he is a maniac, you should push with a much wider range when you expect to have fold equity and call with a wider range when you do not expect to have fold equity.
Fewer than 35 Big Blinds Once you get down to about 35 big blinds, or 3.5 times your opponent’s 3-bet, you lose most of your fold equity. If your opponent will continue to fold to your all-in despite getting great pot odds, you should push aggressively. If your opponent will call almost all the time, you should only get in when you have a decent amount of equity. Against a reasonable player who has some bluffs in his range, you should still push somewhat tightly, perhaps with 77+, A-10+, K-Js+, K-Qo, depending on how wide you expect his calling range to be. Notice that hands like A-Jo and 8-8 fare well enough if your opponent is calling off wide enough. That said, if your opponent is 3-betting with only a strong range and will call off every time, you need a premium hand to be willing to hop in. If someone’s 3-betting range is 1010+, A-Q+, and a few bluffs that will fold to your all-in, you need roughly J-J+ and A-K+ to get in.
When Facing a Raise, 3-bet and 4-bet When someone raises, someone else 3-bets, and then someone else 4-bets before the action gets to you, you should fold all but the strongest premium hands. This is because you are almost certainly against at least one premium range. Except under the most maniacal circumstances, you should only consider calling off/pushing all-in with J-J+ and A-K, and even then, usually only A-A and K-K should be played. Given this situation almost never occurs in small stakes games, if you only get in with A-A and K-K, you will rarely be making a meaningful error. You will likely never see a 5-bet or 6-bet in small stakes games, but when you do, it is safe to assume you are either against exactly the nuts or someone who is out of his mind.
When Facing an All-in Every day I am emailed a question along the lines of “Should I have called the all-in with my hand?” Playing when facing an all-in has already been addressed a decent amount so far, but I want to make it as clear as possible that these situations are simple math problems. All you have to do is figure out your opponent’s range and then see how your hand fares versus it. In order to have a rough idea of how your hand fares against a range, you have to spend some time practicing with Equilab or another hand range calculator. If you do not practice, do not expect to know rough winning percentages like the back of your hand. In order to succeed at anything that is difficult, you must study and practice. Keep in mind that as more money goes in the pot, ranges usually get stronger. In tournaments, especially as you approach the money bubble, you should strive to only get all-in when you have a decent edge. I typically assume that I need to win a small percentage more than the pot odds dictate in most normal situations. So, if the pot odds say I need to win 39% of the time, I will call with hands that have 43% equity. While you may feel like your most aggressive opponents are running you over, you will conserve your stack and get your money in better in the long run in exchange for giving up a few small pots. If there is someone yet to act behind you when you are facing an all-in, you have to factor in how often that player will call the all-in. Unless you have a strong reason to believe that someone yet to act has a premium hand, you should assume they are folding. Occasionally in small stakes games, you will raise from early position with a hand like 9-9, three players will call, and then a loose player will go all-in from late position for 25 big blinds. This is a situation where you can easily call the all-in. Sometimes a player yet to act will call behind with a marginal hand like A-J or 8-8, but that is fine, as you are in decent shape against that range.
When Facing Large Pre-flop Raises Before moving to the Post-flop chapter, I want to again touch on the situation where someone raises large before the action gets to you. In many small stakes games, someone will raise to 8 big blinds out of his 40 big blind stack, four players will call (usually with junky ranges) and the action will be on you. You should almost certainly go all-in or fold with your entire playable range based on whether or not you think you have fold equity. Calling is out of the question because you are not getting the correct implied odds with many hands, and your strong hands would prefer to win the 33.5 big blind pot immediately. Against players who raise large with their premium hands and limp their marginally playable hands, you should play tightly when they raise and aggressively when they limp. Some other players will raise large with their entire range. These players are particularly susceptible to an all-in bluff because, usually, they will not defend their range properly. For example, if one of these players makes it 8 big blinds out of his 50 big blind effective stack from the button when the action folds to him and you are in the small blind, you should use this incredibly exploitative strategy if you think you have a lot of fold equity ( Diagram 134 ).
Diagram 134
Take a moment to do some math to confirm that this play is profitable. You will find that you can actually shove wider than this range if your opponent is raising with almost any two cards from the button and is only calling your all-in with decently strong hands.
POST-FLOP STRATEGY: INTRODUCTION Most amateurs approach the flop by looking at their hand, comparing it to the board, and then betting when they like their hand and checking when they don’t. This is a surefire way to lose at poker. If you want to play at a high level, you should know what your range looks like and also have an idea of what your opponent’s range looks like. From there, you should be able to compare them to determine whose range should be strongest on each type of board texture. This will not come naturally and requires a lot of study away from the table, but if you made it this far in this book, I am confident you will find time to devote to developing your post-flop skills. While we could go incredibly deep discussing how to play your range on all board textures, opting to bet each specific combination of hands in your range a different percentage of the time (as many GTO programs suggest) I am instead going to present a strategy that is reasonably simple to follow as well as effective, plus the publisher cannot print a 3,000-page book. The entire purpose of this strategy is to situate your range such that any action you take does not automatically indicate strength or weakness. When you bet, you do not want to only have premium hands in your range because your opponents can fold their marginal made hands and junk while continuing with their premium made hands and draws. You certainly do not want your checks to indicate weakness because your opponents will be able to steal the pot every time you check. In order to be difficult to play against, you should strive to balance your range, having strong and weak hands in both your betting and checking ranges.
Bet Sizing Choosing the proper bet size is something many small stakes players struggle with. Most of the players you will encounter bet large when they are trying to “protect” their hand and small with their marginal hands. Essentially any time you clearly split your ranges, whether by betting with your strong hands and checking your weak hands, or by betting large with your strong hands and small with your weak hands, you are giving away valuable information. For this reason, you should use the same bet size in similar situations against competent opponents. This does not mean you have to use the same bet size every time on the flop. In general, as the board becomes more coordinated, you should bet larger and when the board is uncoordinated, you should bet smaller. This is because equities tend to not change too much on the turn and river on dry (uncoordinated) boards, but they change a lot on wet (coordinated) boards. Also, as the pot size increases in proportion to your stack, you should bet smaller. This is because any bet in proportion to the pot will force your opponent to risk a significant chunk of his stack when the pot is large. In general, a “small” bet is about 30% of the size of the pot and a “large” bet is about 75% of the size of the pot. Adjusting your bet size based on your opponent’s tendencies will be discussed throughout this chapter. Keep in mind that playing a strategy that is difficult to read versus strong players is ideal, but if your opponent is oblivious to what you are doing, you should vary your bet sizes dramatically to induce the action you desire.
POST-FLOP STRATEGY: AS THE PRE-FLOP AGGRESSOR This section deals with when you are the pre-flop aggressor, meaning you were the last aggressive person before the flop. If someone raised, you 3-bet and he called, you are the aggressor. If you raised, someone called, someone else 3bet, and you called, you are the caller.
Four Types of Hands On the flop, you will have one of four hand categories. Premium made hands Marginal made hands Draws Junk As the hand progresses from the flop, to the turn, and finally to the river, hands will move between these four hand types. Draws are the most obvious example of this. On the flop, draws have a decent amount of equity, but if you fail to improve by the river, they will have little to no showdown value. Sometimes premium made hands, such as A-J on a J-9-5 board, become marginal made hands when the turn brings a King. Occasionally junk, such as 22 on a 9-8-7 board becomes a premium made hand when the turn gives you a set. Some hands fall into two categories, such as Ace-high with the nut flush draw (marginal made hand and draw) or a pair plus an open-ended straight draw (premium made hand or marginal made hand, depending on the pair, and a draw). As a rough guideline, if you have a premium made hand, you should play it accordingly. As your made hand gets weaker, the presence of a draw becomes an overriding factor. This concept will become clearer as you study the upcoming examples.
Premium Made Hands Your premium made hands should be played aggressively because you want to play a big pot with them. The main way you get to play a big pot in No-Limit Hold’em is to bet. It is important to understand that a “premium hand” does not simply mean any hand that is better than middle pair. Sometimes top pair with a weak kicker is a premium hand and other times it is junk. Broadly, this range is comprised of top pair with a decent kicker and all better made hands. For example, Q-8 on Q-7-5 when you raise from the button and the big blind calls is often strong enough to bet all three streets for value. However, when you raise from the button and the big blind calls, if it comes Q-J-10, it is usually only good if one or two post-flop bets go into the pot. As another example, if you raise with A-A and four players call, you can somewhat confidently bet all three streets on K-7-2 but not on 9♦-8♦-7♠. This is not to say that you should not bet with A-A on most flops, but that often you should not value bet all three streets. Your strategy with your premium made hands is to bet all three streets. Since premium made hands are essentially the best hands you can have, they will either stay strong or get worse, usually when an overcard comes to your top pair/overpair or when an obvious draw completes. When that happens, premium made hands get downgraded to marginal made hands and should be played accordingly.
Marginal Made Hands Marginal made hands are made hands that are usually good if a little bit of money goes in the pot, but not if significant money goes in the pot. This range is usually comprised of hands between bottom pair and top pair with a marginal kicker, although occasionally strong Ace-highs fall into this category. The easiest way to ensure the pot does not get large is to check. If you raise with Q-J from middle positon and the button, a loose, aggressive player calls, you should almost always check on K-J-5 or A-Q-4. If you bet, most competent opponents will fold most made hands that are worse than yours, or call and then play intelligently on the turn and river. This means that if you bet and get called, you are often against top pair, which you lose to. Your aggressive opponent may even decide to raise, forcing you to either fold or play a large pot with middle pair (which is not ideal). A much better strategy is to check, looking to call if your opponent bets. Many amateurs are uncomfortable checking their decent made hands because they are afraid of getting outdrawn. While playing in a cautious manner will result in losing some pots you would otherwise win if you bet, the hands that outdraw you are usually drawing thin. The main benefit of checking your marginal made hands is you force your opponent to stay in the pot with a wide range that you crush. Take a look at how Q-J on K-J-5 fares against a normal button calling range when you bet and your opponent calls:
QJo
48.46%
QQ-TT,55,ATs,A5s,KJs-K9s,Q9s+, J8s+,AJo-ATo,KTo+,QTo+,JTo 51.54%
You have 48% equity when you bet and get called, meaning that even with this decently strong hand, when you bet and get called by all reasonable hands your opponent could have (including a few gutshot straight draws that some players fold) you are slightly behind. Now compare this to the situation when you check:
QJo
68.82%
QQ-22,ATs-A2s,KJs-K9s,Q9s+,J8s+,T8s+, 97s+,86s+,76s,65s,AJo ATo,KTo+,QTo+,JTo
31.18%
That is much better! By checking and forcing your opponent to stay in with a wide range, you are in great shape. That doesn’t necessarily mean you will win the pot every time, but whenever the alternative is to put money in marginally, you should opt to control the size of the pot and keep your hand ahead of your opponent’s range. Your plan with your marginal made hands is to check on the flop and see what develops. If the turn is a safe card that should not help your opponent too often, your best marginal made hands, such as top pair with a bad kicker, become premium made hands that you can bet for value on the turn and river. If the turn is a bad card for you, such as one that completes most of the draws, your weak marginal made hands, such as bottom pair, become junk and your decent marginal made hands should be played cautiously.
Draws Draws vary in strength from incredibly strong to junk. For example, K♥-Q♥ on a J♥-10♥-4♦ board (strong flush draw, straight draw, and overcards) has 65% equity versus A-J whereas 8♠-7♠ on the same board (gutshot straight draw) has 20% equity versus A-J. It should be clear that hands that have such a huge equity discrepancy should be approached differently, just as an over pair should be played differently than bottom pair. For that reason, this section is broken down into strong draws, marginal draws, and weak draws. Always be cognizant of how many outs you have. Many players incorrectly think that a straight draw plus a flush draw has 17 outs, whereas, in reality, it has 15. They mistakenly count twice the straight cards that also bring in the flush. So, instead of nine flush outs and eight straight outs, you have nine flush outs and six straight outs (because the other two make a flush). Also, be aware that you can complete your draw and still lose. Many amateurs make the costly mistake of piling in their money with a marginal flush or a weak straight even after their opponent shows significant interest in the pot. On the flop, if you have a marginal flush draw and face extreme aggression, you must realize that your opponents’ ranges certainly include hands you are drawing nearly dead against, such as better flush draws. Be aware that not all outs provide the same amount of value. For example, if the board is 9♠-8♠-2♦ and you have K♠-3♠, when you are against top pair, you have nine flush outs and perhaps three top pair outs. Sometimes a turned or rivered King will give you the best hand and other times it will not (mainly when you are against K-K, K-9, K-8 or K-2). While the King should certainly be counted as an out, it is important to understand that the flush improves your hand to a premium made hand, whereas the King improves it to either a premium made hand or a marginal made hand, depending on the action. As an over-simplified rule, to figure out how often your draw will complete with two cards to come (which is important when figuring out if you are getting the correct pot odds to call), you can take the number of outs you have and multiply that number by 4. This will give you your rough percentage of completing your draw if you get to see both the turn and river. To figure out roughly how often you will improve with one card to come, multiply your number of outs by 2. Using this rule, if you have a weak flush draw (9 outs) versus top pair, you can
find your equity with one card to come: 9(2) = 18% equity. Using an equity calculator, you see this number is slightly off the actual answer of 19%, but it is close. To see how often your draw will arrive with two cards to come, multiply 9(4) = 36% equity, which is slightly off the correct number of 37%. The above paragraph assumed you were against top pair. In reality, you will never know you are against exactly top pair. Most of the time, when you are getting roughly break-even pot odds versus top pair, you should fold your junky draws because your opponent’s range also contains better draws and premium made hands that have you crushed. Suppose you have 4♠-3♠ and are facing an all-in on a J♠-10♠-6♥ flop getting 2:1 pot odds, meaning you need to win 33% of the time. Against a reasonable range containing all premium made hands, K-Q, and reasonable flush draws, you only have 32% equity: JJ-TT,66,AJs,KJs,QJs,JTs,As9s,Ks9s,As8s,9s8s,As7s, 8s7s,As6s,As5s,As4s,As3s,As2s,AJo,KJo,QJo,JTo QJo
67.82 32.18
While you have the requisite 36% equity versus the top pairs, you are further behind two pairs and sets, and you are crushed by the better flush draws, meaning you should fold. Do not make the mistake of “putting your opponent on top pair” and playing accordingly. Always be sure to take your opponent’s full range into account, not only the ideal situation, or the situation you “think” you are in. Remember, your opponent has a range, not one specific hand. For the most part, your plan with your draws is to bet with the intention of betting again on most turns, especially if the board changes (making your opponent’s premium and marginal made hands worse). If you happen to have a draw that has a large amount of showdown value, checking behind on the flop may be ideal. If your draw relies on fold equity, betting is mandatory if you think you have fold equity, but be willing to check it if you have reason to believe your opponent will rarely fold. Strong Draws
Strong draws are draws with 12 or more outs to the effective nuts. While your best draws always have a significant amount of equity, it is important to understand that they vary in strength and should be played accordingly. For
example, A♥-K♥ on J♥-10♥-3♠ is a marginal made hand that can easily win at showdown if it does not improve (Your best Ace-highs usually fall in the marginal made hand range.), whereas 9♥-8♥ cannot win at showdown. As your showdown value decreases, you have to rely more heavily on fold equity, although that is not always the case. For example, an early position player raises and only you call from the button with J♥-10♥. The flop comes A♥-K♥-4♦. Your opponent makes a continuation bet. At this point, you do not have much fold equity because this board should be excellent for your opponent’s range, as most early position raisers play primarily big pairs and strong big cards. A raise will make your opponent fold all hands worse than a King, but you will almost certainly be able to win the pot from those hands on the turn by betting when your opponent checks. Calling allows you to keep the pot small when you are not a huge favorite, and allows you to continue keeping the pot small if you do not improve on the turn. If instead you had 6♥-5♥ on a 9♥-8♥-2♦ board, you should strongly consider raising because this board is not good for most pre-flop raisers’ ranges, meaning you have some amount of fold equity. In general, middle card boards are better for the caller than the raiser because most players raise with all big cards and only some middle cards. When someone calls, they often have many combinations of middle cards in their range and fewer combinations of big cards (because they 3-bet some of them). This means that the pre-flop caller should have more middle cards in his range than the pre-flop raiser. Also, note that the pre-flop raiser should have more big cards than the pre-flop caller, making boards containing big cards better for the preflop raiser. With your best draws, it is vitally important that you do not play them in a manner that leads to you having to fold. It is quite common for amateurs to raise a continuation bet with a hand like Q♥-10♥ on 9♥-8♥-4♠ and then fold when their opponent goes all-in. If you think that your flop raise may get pushed on a decent amount of the time, call instead. Even if you do raise and get pushed on, you should usually call due to the fact that premium draws win about 50% of the time against ranges that are not incredibly tight (remember, you don’t want to raise against tight ranges because they won’t fold) and you will only need to win 40% of the time or so based on the pot odds. Marginal Draws
Marginal draws have 8 or 9 outs to the effective nuts. These are your unexciting
open-ended straight draws and flush draws. They often have overcards that may or may not add additional equity. These hands are usually strong enough to bet and call a reasonable raise due to their large implied odds, but if you bet perhaps 4 big blinds on the flop and your opponent raises to 29 big blinds, you should fold the majority of the time. Compared to strong draws, marginal draws have to rely heavily on implied odds because they are behind all made hands. This should lead you to bet these hands every time on the flop unless you are confident you have no fold equity or you think your opponent is going to check/raise to an amount that will force you to fold. Junky Draws
Junky draws are draws with fewer than 8 outs to the effective nuts. The most common junky draw is a gutshot straight draw. Even gutshots vary in value, from decently strong to completely unplayable. For example, J-10 on 8-7-3 is quite strong due to the presence of overcards that can improve to top pair, but 54 on the same board is total junk because it only has 4 outs, and when you hit, you still lose to the most obvious draw, 10-9.
Junk Your junk range extends from the nut low to hands as strong as bottom pair, depending on the board’s texture. For example, 4-2 is a marginal made hand on 7♠-6♥-4♦ but is quite weak on 7♠-6♠-4♠. As another example, 5-5 is a marginal made hand that can withstand a bet on 9-8-7, but not on A-K-Q. Alternatively, King-high can fall in the marginal made hand range or the junk range. For example, K-9 can often call a flop bet on Q-J-3 (it is essentially a junky draw) but not on 6-5-4. For this reason, the top of your junk range is often difficult to nail down. To find the top of your junk range, take a look at your marginal made hands and ask yourself which of those are not good enough to call a flop bet. The hands you plan to fold to a flop bet are the top of your junk range. Your plan with your junk is to check with the intention of folding to a bet on the later streets. If you happen to find yourself on the turn or river and think your opponent’s range is particularly weak, feel free to bet your junk as a bluff. On the river, if you want to remain balanced, you need to bet with all of your premium made hands and some of your junk hands. You will learn how to balance your river betting range in the upcoming examples.
Summary Now that you know the categories your hands can fall in, you need to figure out which hands you plan to bet and which hands you plan to check. You should bet with: Premium made hands (You can confidently bet with these hands on all three streets.) Draws (These hands are strong enough to bet on the flop and turn because they have the potential to become the nuts. On the river, they either will be the nuts or junk. On the river, assuming you want to have some bluffs in your range, busted draws fit perfectly. By betting with all of these hands, your opponents will have no clue if you have a strong made hand or a draw, putting them in difficult situations.) You should check with: Marginal made hands (Your marginal top pairs that you check can easily withstand a turn and river bet from your opponent. Your middle pairs can withstand a turn bet and occasionally a river bet. Your bottom pairs can usually withstand a turn bet. All of these hands have the potential to become premium made hands by improving to trips or two pair.) Junk (This range can be folded when facing a bet unless it improves to a premium or marginal made hand.) By checking with these hands, your opponents will not know if your checks indicate strength or weakness, putting them in difficult situations. Notice that this strategy makes it unclear to your opponents where you stand. This will lead them to make significant mistakes, which is excellent for you. This strategy will work well versus unknown opponents. Adjusting to specific opponents will be discussed shortly.
Heads-Up In Position as the Pre-flop Aggressor When playing heads-up, you should play exactly as outlined above. You must keep track of the stack to pot ratio so you do not put too much money in with marginal draws, and also so that you do not put your opponent in a situation where he will only continue with decently strong hands that have your range in bad shape. A common mistake many amateurs make is to bet so large that their opponents only call when they are ahead. They raise with a hand like K-10, get one caller, and then continuation bet 1.5 times or 2 times the pot on K♥-J♥-4♠. If their opponent calls, it is usually with a range that contains premium made hands better than K-10 and premium draws, which are flipping against top pair. By betting smaller, perhaps 50% pot, the opponent can stay in with numerous inferior hands, such as all middle pairs and junky draws. The main time that you will be heads-up in position as the pre-flop aggressor is when you raise and someone calls from the blinds. Also, someone can limp, you raise, and then only the limper (or one of the blinds) calls. This is the most ideal situation for you because you are in position with what will usually be a stronger starting range than your opponent. Let’s go through a few hand examples to get you accustomed to thinking about how to play your entire range, not just your individual hand. Suppose you raise pre-flop from middle position and only the big blind, a generally straightforward, but decent player calls. The following range is what you should raise with when the action folds to you as outlined in the Pre-flop section. The flop comes J♥-10♠-4♦. If your opponent checks, you should use this strategy when facing a competent opponent ( Diagram 135 ).
Diagram 135
Let’s take a look at each part of your range to confirm you have put each hand in a category that makes sense: Your premium made hands are all at least decent top pairs. These hands can quite confidently bet three times for value. Notice that K-Js is in the premium made hands while Q-Js in the marginal made hands. This is because you want to
have some top pairs in your marginal made range that can check behind on the flop and then call down on the turn and river. Your draws are all open-ended straight draws plus the weak gutshot straight draws. The worst gutshots are included in your draw range because if they were not, there would be too few draws in your range. When you have very few obvious draws, you have to look for additional drawing hands to add in. You could also add in the backdoor Ace-high flush draws if you felt so inclined. The reason A-K and A-Q are not included in this range is because they are strong enough to call a turn bet and still have the potential to win at the showdown if it checks down. As a bit of an over-simplification, you want to look at the proportion of your draws to premium made hands and try to make it somewhat close to 2:1. If you cannot because your range is too strong (as yours should be when you raise from middle position and get a flop that connects well with your range) you should bet small because your range is tilted towards value hands. When you have a larger proportion of draws in your range, you should bet larger. In this situation, continuation betting with a much wider range (moving some of your marginal made hands and junk to your drawing range) is not such a bad strategy because you will have a difficult time surpassing a 2:1 proportion between draws and premium made hands. Your marginal made hands are some top pairs, all middle pairs, and some weaker pairs. The general strategy with this range is to call a turn bet with all top and middle pairs, and usually to fold 9-9 and worse pocket pairs. You should often call a turn bet with A-4s because it has five outs going to the river, whereas the pocket pairs only have two outs. If your opponent checked on the turn, you should then bet all top pairs and your strong middle pairs (they move from the marginal made hand range to the premium made hand range). You should check behind with weak middle pairs and bottom pairs, often with the intention of calling if your opponent bets the river. Your junk is all unpaired hands. As I stated earlier, the backdoor flush draws can possibly be added to the draw range, but checking is fine, as it allows you to turn additional equity a decent amount of the time. Notice that by using this strategy, when you bet the flop, your opponent can’t do much to take advantage of your range and when you check, your opponent can’t blindly barrel you because you plan to call down with reasonable made hands quite often. Using this strategy, you will often find that you are continuation betting nowhere near 100% of the time, as many small stakes
players do. By checking behind on the flop with some hands that you can easily call down with, you will take many amateurs out of their comfort zones. The main different between this strategy and the strategy of a straightforward amateur is that the latter tend to check with some of their draws and bet with most of their marginal made hands. When they get action with their marginal made hands, they have no clue where they stand, meaning they are playing a sizable pot with a hand that doesn’t have an equity advantage. Let’s take a look at what your strategy should like if the flop is 6♥-5♠-2♦ instead of J♠-10♥-4♦ ( Diagram 136 ).
Diagram 136
Q♣-10♣, J♣-10♣, J♣-9♣, 10♣-9♣, and 10♣-8♣ have been added to the junk range. Your premium made hands are all overpairs and better. You can bet these hands three times and be reasonably confident you have the best hand. Your draws are the obvious strong straight draws, including A-4s and A-3s
due to their overcard. Also selected are the suited high card hands that lack showdown value that have backdoor flush draws, notated by the small S (spades), H (hearts), and D (diamonds) in the corners. Hands without a backdoor flush draw should be placed in the junk range. If you bet with a backdoor flush draw on the flop and do not improve to either top pair or a draw on the turn, you should tend to give up (moving the hand to your junk range). The marginal made hands are all made hands worse than an overpair, and Ace-high. You should immediately notice that there are a bunch of Ace-highs in this range, which may be a bit of a problem, assuming you call turn bets frequently but then fold to river bets. Some the weak Ace-highs could just as easily been included in the junk range, as you will fold them on all bad turns, making the range a bit more balanced. Let’s investigate what happens when the turn is the (6♥-5♣-2♦)-J♣ to ensure you are not folding your marginal made hands too often when your opponent bets. You should continue with this range if your competent opponent bets about 67% pot on the turn after the flop checks through ( Diagram 137 ).
Diagram 137
This range has you calling with all pairs and all hands that contain two overcards. If the turn brought a backdoor flush draw, you should call with the draws as well. You should not have much of a turn raising range in this situation because there are essentially no premium hands in your range. While A-J is close to a premium hand, it is often best to play conservatively in order to keep your calling range strong so you can adequately defend it on the river. You should notice that, even though J♣-10♣ and J♣-9♣ are selected (they did
not have backdoor flush draws and were not bet on the flop), they are not in your range because the J♣ is on the board. The FloatTheTurn Range Analyzer takes this into account and these hands are not included in the marginal made hand count. It is important that you structure your range such that your opponent does not immediately profit by betting the turn. If you fold more than the price he is laying himself with his bet, he immediately profits. While this logic does not apply when you are getting out of line to exploit your opponents, it certainly does against someone who is trying to balance their ranges intelligently. A bluff is immediately profitable if opponent continues less often than the bet divided by the bet plus the size of the pot. If you bet the size of the pot, you immediately profit if you steal the pot at least 1/(1 + 1) = 50% of the time. If you bet 67% pot, you immediately profit if you steal the pot at least .67/(.67 + 1) = 40% of the time. If you bet 50% pot, you immediately profit if you steal the pot at least .5/(.5 + 1) = 33% of the time. If you bet 33% pot, you immediately profit if you steal the pot at least .33/(.33 + 1) = 25% of the time. If you bet 25% pot, you immediately profit if you steal the pot at least .25/(.25 + 1) = 20% of the time. If you bet 150% pot, you immediately profit if you steal the pot at least 1.5/(1.5 + 1) = 60% of the time. If you bet 200% pot, you immediately profit if you steal the pot at least 2/(2 + 1) = 67% of the time. Really let these numbers sink in because they are vitally important to your understanding of poker. When your opponent bets 50% pot, which is often what will happen in most games, if you fold more than 33% of your range, your opponent can blindly bet and immediately profit. If you fold to a 200% pot bet more than 33% of the time (most players do), your opponent can blindly run you over. So, it is not only your hand’s strength that determines your range, but also the price you are being laid. Returning to the previous example, if your opponent bet 25% pot, you have to defend with at least 80% of your range, which you currently are not. This forces you to adjust your range to include many more calling hands. If your opponent
bet 67% pot or more, this defending range is sufficient. If your opponent made an abnormally large bet of more than the size of the pot, you can justify folding some of your weaker marginal made hands. Back to the question at hand, your opponent bet 67% pot on the turn and you called. The river is the (6♥-5♣-2♦-J♣)-9♥. Your opponent makes a 67% pot bet. You should continue with roughly this strategy ( Diagram 138 ).
Diagram 138
Based on your opponent’s bet size, you need to call with at least 60% of your range so he does not have a blindly profitable bet with his bluffs. As it is, you are calling with 52.7% of hands, which is less than 60%. However, that is not a problem because clearly your opponent is not only betting as a bluff. He will have a value hand that beats your marginal made hands quite often. Your opponent gets to profit with his bluffs when he also has value hands in his range. In addition to calling at least a minimum amount of the time, you also want to ensure you have the proper equity versus your opponent’s river betting range. Based on pot odds, you need to win .67/(.67 + .67 + 1) = 29% of the time. This is why it is important that you arrive at the river with hands that have a decent amount of equity, and not a pile of hands that have a difficult time winning at the showdown. Of course, all of this goes out the window if your opponent only bets the river with the nuts, which is what many amateurs do. In fact, when you check behind on the flop, some amateurs only bet at that point with their premium made hands. You should use a different strategy against these opponents, folding many of your marginal hands on the turn. When you fold more than you “should”, you are exploiting your opponent’s tight betting tendencies. So far, this sections assumes you have been trying to play in an unexploitable manner. Now let’s take a look at how many players intuitively set up their turn range after betting the flop in the same situation as above when the turn is the (6♥-5♠-2♦)-J♣ ( Diagram 139 ).
Diagram 139
The J♣ is a particularly rough card in many players’ eyes because their backdoor draws failed to turn additional equity (unless they turned a pair). They are not comfortable betting with their marginal draws, resulting in their betting range being almost entirely for value. By not betting their gutshot straight draws (I even left A-4s and A-3s in the betting range to be generous) and overcards,
they are left with a junk range that contains a few too many hands. To fix this range, you need to remove some hands from the premium made range, add some hands to the draw range, and add some hands to the marginal made range. This should lead you to check some of your premium made hands (moving them to your marginal made range) and bet with any draw that has the least bit of merit whatsoever, such as the gutshot straight draws and Q-10s (it has an overcard to the Jack, which isn’t too likely for your opponent to have). By making these adjustments, you weaken your incredibly strong premium range (which is fine because it is naturally strong) and strengthen the other parts of your range ( Diagram 140 ).
Diagram 140
I understand that this type of thought process may seem incredibly advanced and unpractical to implement at the table. As you spend more and more time thinking about situations away from the table, you will start to see these concepts more clearly. When you find a situation where you are almost entirely strong or weak, you should work hard to better balance your range.
With this better balanced range, your opponent cannot blindly bluff on the river because your range is protected by the presence of numerous decent made hands. Let’s take a look at what happens when you check behind on the turn, the river is the same (6♥-5♠-2♦-J♣)-9♥, and your opponent bets ( Diagram 141 ).
Diagram 141
The 9♥ is an especially interesting river because it connects well with many of your junk hands. This strengthens your range much more than a low card would because all of the turn junk hands would still be junk, whereas now they are marginal made hands. One interesting point about the river 9 is that it improves 9-9 to a set and J-9s to top two pair. These hands are certainly strong enough to raise for value against all but the tightest opponents. You may be thinking that your opponent will only call a raise if they have the straight, but if that is the case, you should raise the river literally every time because they will rarely have a straight (assuming they bet the river with a reasonable value range). Since you are striving to be balanced, if you are going to have some value raising hands on the river, you need to have some bluffing hands. In this situation, there are only two candidates, 10-8s and 7-7 (7-7 may also fit in the bottom of the calling range if you think your opponent bluffs too often on the river). It may seem odd to call with 8-8 but fold 7-7, but you need to have a folding range so your opponent doesn’t think that your entire river range is calling. It is fine to fold the bottom portion of your range to a river bet, as long as you are not folding too often such that your opponent can immediately profit with a bluff. As you will see in just a second, you only need to pick two combinations of hands to bluff with, so one of these hands will be folded and the other will be bluffed. It doesn’t matter which in this situation. You usually want to bluff with hands that have blockers to the strong hands your opponent could have. In this situation, both 7-7 and 10-8s have blockers to the straight. 7-7 has more blockers than 10-8s, but it also has more showdown value (assuming you plan to call with it). It is important to note that your strong hands vary in strength, but neither is the nuts. 9-9 is incredibly strong, but it may still lose. This should lead you to make a “normal” river raise to about 2.5 or 3 times your opponent’s bet. If you had the actual nuts in your range, you should consider a gigantic all-in river raise. Up until this point, you made a pre-flop raise (to 3 big blinds), a flop bet (of 4.5 big blinds), checked behind on the turn, and your opponent bet the river (for 9 big blinds). Assuming you started with 100 big blind effective stacks, you have 83.5 more big blinds. After your opponent bets the river, you should raise to about 27 big blinds with your river raising range. Let’s take a second to mathematically look at this situation. Your opponent has to call 18 more big blinds into a pot that will be 69.5 big blinds after he calls.
This means he needs to win 25.8% of the time to break even (18/69.5 = 25.8%). You can actually determine how often he will win by selecting the number of bluffing hands in your range. Using this bet size, you want to have 3 value hands for every 1 bluff in your range. You make your opponent indifferent to calling by setting your bluffing frequency to equal the pot odds your opponent is being laid. Here, he needs to win 25.8% of the time, so you should bluff with as close to 25.8% of hands as possible, assuming you are trying to play in a balanced manner. With practice, it is not too difficult to count the number of possible value raising hands in your range. This situation is simple because there are only 5. Once you see the pot odds your opponent will be getting, you want to set up your range so you have an amount of bluffs in your range equal to the percentage of time that your opponent needs to call. So, if your opponent will be getting 3:1 pot odds, you need to have 25% bluffs in your range. If he is getting 2:1, you need to have 33% bluffs in your range, etc. Once you know this, if you have 5 combinations of value hands, you can add in a few combinations of bluffs to give you the correct ratio. As you can see, no matter your raise size, if you are trying to remain balanced, you should always have more value hands in your range than bluffs. When you raise the river in this situation and get pushed on (which is the situation most amateurs fear), you are in a tough spot, but if you ask yourself honestly how often that happens, you will see that it almost never occurs. If you want to be balanced, you should call based on the pot odds your opponent gives you. To make things simple, call off with 9-9 and fold J-9. If your opponent is a tight player who only bet/3-bets the river with the straight, fold everything.
Adjustments Everything previously discussed assumes your opponent is a strong player who makes very few mistakes. Fortunately for you, very few players in small stakes games will play well enough that you should be concerned with balancing your range. So, while you should generally stick with the guidelines of how to play the four hand types, there is certainly room for deviation. Let’s take a look at how you should play the first situation from the Post-flop section versus the three most common player types you will encounter in small stakes games: weak players, calling stations, and maniacs. Against a Weak Player
A weak player is classified as someone who plays in a straightforward manner, raising when he has a premium hand, calling when he has a marginal hand or draw, and folding when he has junk. These players are by far the easiest to play against because you often know exactly where they stand. The main adjustment you should make against these players is to continuation bet with all hands that have little to no showdown value in addition to your normal continuation betting range. This is because you will steal the pot about 60% of the time with a continuation bet, making a blind bet profitable on most boards that are not incredibly coordinated. This is often the main adjustment you should make in small stakes games because many amateurs call with wide ranges before the flop and then play straightforwardly once they realize they have marginal or junky holdings. You should shy away from continuation betting with your marginal made hands because when you get called, you will usually be up against a decently strong range that has most marginal made hands beat. You are still best off checking behind with your marginal made hands to see what develops. Let’s figure out how you should play the first situation presented in this section against a weak player. You raised pre-flop from middle position and only the big blind, this time a weak player, called. The flop comes J♥-10♠-4♦. If your opponent checks, you should use this strategy against a weak opponent ( Diagram 142 ).
Diagram 142
This is the same range as before, but now you are betting with your junky hands. You could have easily moved the strongest marginal made hands (Q-Js, 10-10, etc.) to the premium made range, but checking those is still fine. You may think that you want to check behind with your premium hands in order to get
action, but it is usually wise to keep your betting range as strong as possible, even against weak players, so you can occasionally withstand pressure when they happen to check/raise. It is important that you figure out your opponent’s range when he continues beyond the flop. Most weak players will continue in this manner on J♥-10♠-4♦ after checking ( Diagram 143 ).
Diagram 143
In this case, the premium pre-flop hands missing from your opponent’s range are 3-bet before the flop, meaning they are not in the range your opponent sees the flop with in this manner. Most weak players only check/raise with hands better than top pair with a decent kicker, and sometimes premium draws. K-Q and 9-8 would normally fall in a flop check/raising range, but most weak players will timidly call. If you get check/raised by a weak player in this situation, you need an extremely strong hand to continue, perhaps K-J and better. When you call a check/raise with K-J, you should have some idea how your opponent will proceed on the turn. Many weak players will split their turn range, betting K-J and better and checking Q-J and worse. If that is the case, you should then fold K-J to a turn bet and value bet if checked to. If your opponent will bet the turn with all top pairs, then K-J becomes a reluctant call down. Always be sure to think about how your opponent plays on each street, because K-J is quite strong against some weak players but absolute junk against others. It should be clear that if you are folding all hands worse than K-J to a check/raise then you are folding a large portion of your range. Against a normal player, this would be a huge mistake, but against a weak player, it is perfectly fine because almost all hands are crushed by his check/raising range. This concept of betting for value on all three streets with the intention of folding if raised is a powerful tactic in small stakes games that should not be underestimated. Most players simply play in a face-up manner, making your decisions easy. When they have premium hands, they raise. So, if they raise and you can’t beat premium hands, you should fold. Most of the weak player’s check/calling range consists entirely of marginal made hands. It is up to you to decide how your opponent will play this range on the turn. Some players will fold their entire flop check/calling range to a turn bet, some will call the turn bet and then fold to a river bet, and some will call on the turn and river. In my experience, most weak players will release hands worse than top pair if you fire all three streets. This should lead you to experiment with bluffing on the turn and river against these weak players. Be aware that some weak players elect to check/call with hands as strong as K-J with the intention of check/calling down. This should make you a bit more cautious when it comes to barreling off your stack against them. It is worth mentioning that some players will only play in a weak manner when facing large bets. When bluffing these players, you should bet larger than normal. When you bet large and get called, you should assume you are up
against a strong hand and should give up on your bluff. Most weak players can only withstand so much pressure. If they pass their threshold, you should assume they have a strong hand and give up. Another adjustment you can make is to bet a bit smaller with your value hands because many of these players will call with a much wider range when they feel priced in and do not feel as if their entire stack will eventually be at risk. When you have a decent, but non-nut value hand, the best way to maximize your value is to play in a manner that keeps your opponent in with worse value hands that you beat while still extracting value. Obviously, these tactics are extremely exploitable, but if you assessed your opponent’s tendencies correctly, he will be oblivious to or will not know how to counteract your adjustments. Against a Calling Station
A calling station is someone who calls way too often. Calling stations come in a few varieties, but almost all of them like to see the river. Think back to the previous example where you raised pre-flop from middle position and only the big blind called. The flop came J♥-10♠-4♦. If your opponent checks, you should use this strategy versus a calling station ( Diagram 144 ).
Diagram 144
You are now betting for value with many marginal made hands. This is because calling stations will call with numerous hands that are crushed by your marginal made hands that were not strong enough to bet against competent players. You should not fear getting check/raised because calling stations tend to be passive, not aggressive. This allows you to value bet quite thin with the
intention of betting again on the turn with most of your marginal made hands. Notice that A-Q has moved to the junk range. This doesn’t necessarily mean you should fold it to a turn bet, but it is too weak to value bet and too risky to semi-bluff on this board. You may be wondering why your draws (K-Q and 9-8) are in your betting range given you will probably get called. It is because when you improve to make a straight (or top pair), you want to get paid as much as possible. While you are often behind when your bet gets called, when you make a straight, you will get paid nicely. It does not make sense to bet the junky gutshots because they don’t have much equity when called. To confirm you are in decent shape when you bet this range, including your marginal made hands, run your entire range in Equilab versus your opponent’s entire check/calling range: 44+,AKs,AJs-ATs,A4s,KTs+,QTs+, J9s+,T8s+,98s,AKo,AJo-ATo,KQo 67.70 99-55,33-22,ATs-A2s,KTs-K9s,Q8s+,J9s-J7s,T7s+,97s+, 87s,ATo A2o,KTo-K9o,Q8o+,J9o-J8o,T7o+,97o+,87o
32.30
Your range is in great shape versus your opponent’s, mainly because he is sticking around with all Ace-high hands and better, plus all gutshots and better. Even if your opponent folds the Ace-high hands, you still have 62% equity, which is more than enough to justify a value bet. It is important that you size your bets in a manner that does not induce the calling station to adjust his tendencies. Some calling stations will call down with Ace-high regardless of your bet size, but most will only call if they feel it isn’t “too expensive”. This should lead you to make a normal continuation bet on the flop and then a slightly smaller than normal bet on the turn, perhaps between 33% and 50% pot. This is the exact opposite of what many amateurs do. They bet large, trying to make the calling station fold. If you bet large, you will have a difficult time extracting value. You would much rather your opponent make the error of sticking around with all sorts of junk as opposed to folding correctly to a large bet. If you bet the flop and get called, many calling stations will use the following strategy on the turn after checking and facing a bet ( Diagram 145 ).
Diagram 145
Notice I did not input a turn card. Spend some time thinking about how you would play on various turns and also about how you expect your calling station opponent to play. Try to figure out which turns are good for your range and which are bad. Believe it or not, the turn card doesn’t really matter because your opponent’s range is so incredibly wide and your range contains a ton of decent made hands. Even when an Ace comes, your opponent only has 32% equity with his entire
range, mainly because the gutshots are drawing thin. When a high card like a Queen comes, improving most of the gutshots, all your opponent’s Ace-high hands are drawing nearly dead, keeping his range’s equity low. In my experience, when your opponent’s Ace-high hands fail to improve on the turn, most calling stations are prone to fold them to a bet, decreasing you to “only” 64% equity when you bet and get called, which is still great. If your opponent folds his gutshot draws to a turn bet, that’s when you should start checking behind with your weakest made hands, such as 5-5 and A-4. As always, it is up to you to decide how wide your opponent will call. Most calling stations will call with a wide range on only the flop and turn, but then play snugly on the river unless they improve to what they perceive to be a strong hand. Against these players, you should value bet wide on the flop and turn, but then tightly on the river. Against the widest calling stations, do not be afraid to value bet three streets, perhaps as wide as any pair. Just be sure you choose bet sizes that your opponent can realistically call. I want to point out again the power of value betting with the intention of folding if raised. Just as when facing a weak player, calling stations rarely apply aggression unless they have what they think is a premium hand. While some of these players may overvalue hands like top pair with a junky kicker, most of the time when they raise you will be shown at least top pair with a strong kicker, and often a better hand. Do not fall into the habit of value betting thinly only to pay your opponent off when he decides to put his stack in. If you bet a hand as strong as top pair with a strong kicker and get raised on the turn, and you aren’t folding against passive players, you are making serious blunders. Against a Maniac
A maniac is classified as someone who will apply pressure whenever given the opportunity. You beat maniacs by rarely folding your decently strong hands while making your range appear weak. One of the biggest leaks amateurs have is they call a flop check/raise from a maniac, call a turn bet, and then fold to a river bet, believing that the maniac simply must have a strong hand to fire all three streets. This is exactly what maniacs want because they win an additional flop and turn bet. To make things even worse, many amateurs raise and reraise the flop with their best hands, capping their flop bet/calling range at top pair, at best. When a maniac applies significant aggression, the last thing you want to do is apply additional pressure, tipping him off to the fact that you have a strong hand. Like most types of players, maniacs come in a few varieties. The first will
only apply pressure when you show weakness. These players actually do quite well because, when the average player checks, it is usually with the intention of folding if someone bets (remember back to how weak players play). You combat these competent maniacs by treating them like strong players, although if you check behind with a marginal made hand (as I suggest you do), you should be more inclined to call them down when facing turn and river bets. This is because this type of maniac will view your flop check behind as weak and will attack. Unless the board runs out incredibly scary, you should buckle up and call down. Think back to the previous example where you raised pre-flop from middle position and only the big blind called. The flop came J♥-10♠-4♦. If your opponent checks, you should use this strategy versus a maniac ( Diagram 146 ).
Diagram 146
When you check behind, even if the turn is quite scary, such as an overcard, you should still tend to call with most of your flop checking back range, besides only 7-7, 6-6, and 5-5. Unless the river is another overcard, you should call again with the entire range besides 9-9, 8-8, and A-4. This essentially has you calling down with all middle pairs and better, which is a big portion of your made hand
range. Be careful that you do not mistake a strong player for a maniac. Many of the best players in small stakes games attack checks, assuming they indicate weakness. If your incorrectly-assessed strong opponent catches on to the fact that you plan to call down with most of your marginal made hands, he will adjust and value bet more intelligently versus you, causing your junky middle pairs to become significant losers. The second type of maniac will apply pressure in somewhat common spots, like check/raising the flop, as well as when you show weakness. Most of these players assume that their opponents will continuation bet too often (which is usually the case). They learned that if they raise or check/raise the flop, they steal the pot a large portion of the time. Against these players, you should again use the same strategy listed above because when you bet and get raised, you can withstand significant pressure with your premium made hands and draws. Again, your plan should be to call down quite liberally. The third type of maniac will relentlessly apply aggression whenever given the opportunity. Many of these players have a bad case of fancy play syndrome and will attempt huge bluffs whenever they think they can make you fold. These players are some of the biggest losers in the game and for that reason, they don’t last too long. If your opponent will mindlessly apply aggression, you should only bet with hands that withstand significant pressure ( Diagram 147 ).
Diagram 147
Eventually, even the most maniacal players will catch on to this blatantly straightforward strategy of only betting with your premium made hands. This should lead you to adjust back to betting with your draws as well. Against some wild players, hands such as K-10 (middle pair, second kicker) may become strong enough to include in your premium made hand range, especially if you
think your opponent will check/raise the flop with any two cards. If you continuation bet on J-10-4 with a premium hand, such as 4-4, A-A, or K-J, or a marginal made hand such as J-9 or K-10, and a blatant maniac check/raises, you should go into call down mode. Do not 3-bet to “find out where you stand” or to “protect your hand”. You profit against maniacs by giving them every opportunity to bluff. If he happens to have you beat, he is getting paid off. Getting stacked in set up situations is a part of the game that you must accept. When playing against overly aggressive players who are willing to put large amounts of money into the pot with junky hands, you are going to experience large swings to your bankroll. In somewhat maniacal online games, it is not uncommon to swing 500 big blinds or more each session. This would be like winning or losing $1,000 in a day-long $1/$2 session. If you are not comfortable with this, poker may not be for you. That said, keep in mind that most maniacs don’t last too long and are eventually relegated to the rail, which should lead you to accept this variance in exchange for winning as much equity from them as possible. Maniacs give amateur players a lot of trouble because the amateurs fail to properly assess the maniacs’ tendencies. Some “maniacs” will apply relentless aggression against some players while playing straightforwardly versus others. You have to figure out how the maniac perceives you. If he thinks you will fold lots of hands to aggression on the flop but that you have a strong hand when you stick around to the turn, you can expect the maniac’s turn and river betting ranges to be quite strong. If he thinks you are a typical amateur who caps his range by 3-betting the flop with his premium hands and will eventually fold all marginal made hands by the river, expect his range to be wide. Always keep in mind what your range and image looks like to your opponent. Failing to take into consideration your image and the adjustments your opponents will make leads to the demise of many small stakes players.
As Stacks Diminish Your strategy should change subtly as stack sizes diminish in proportion to the pot. In general though, using the same strategies as previously outlined will serve you well. This is because when you are somewhat balanced, you will always be difficult to exploit, and when you are out of line, you are intelligently making adjustments that take advantage of your opponents’ flaws. Stacks are short in proportion to the pot going to the flop for one of two main reasons: either the stacks started shallow or a lot of money went into the pot before the flop. These situations are quite different because when stacks start shallow, ranges are not necessarily strong, but when there is a pre-flop 3-bet or 4-bet, ranges get much stronger, shifting the value of post-flop hands. With Shallow Pre-flop Stacks
If the stacks started shallow, which will either be the case in a tournament as the blinds increase or when playing cash games where many players buy in for 20 big blinds, you will often find yourself all-in before the flop. If you are playing well, you will usually be all-in before the flop after someone raises or when numerous players limp (because of the necessity of fold equity to make nonpremium hands profitable). The other common situation is when you raise and one player calls. You should continue using the same general strategy as stated earlier, betting with your premium hands and draws while checking with your marginal made hands and junk. It may be tempting to bet with your marginal made hands for protection, but you have to understand that if you bet and your opponent sticks around, you are usually in marginal shape, whereas if you check behind, your marginal hands are in decent shape. Let’s suppose you raise to 2 big blinds out of your 20 big blind stack from the cutoff and only a strong player in the big blind calls. The flop comes J♠-7♣-6♦. Your opponent checks. You should use this strategy ( Diagram 148 ).
Diagram 148
Notice this range is nicely balanced, with both betting and checking ranges being reasonably strong. You could add a few more Jacks, such as Q-J, to your marginal made range if you want to strengthen your checking range further as the value range is quite strong because there aren’t too many possible draws. You could also widen your draw range by turning some of the suited junk that
has backdoor flush potential, such as K♠-Q♠ and Q♣-9♣, into semi-bluffs. If your opponent check/raises your 2.5 big blind flop bet (usually all-in), you can easily call off with all of your premium hands, which will be about 56% of your betting range (14.9/(14.9 + 11.6). This will work out well for you unless your opponent is only check/raising with overpairs, which will usually not be the case. If your opponent check/raises small (to 6 big blinds), you should call with your premium hands (in order to keep your opponent in the pot with his marginal hands and bluffs), and draws (due to your excellent pot odds). If your opponent pushes the turn, you should call with all your premium hands and only call with your draws if you are getting the right price (which will usually not be the case with 20 big blind starting stacks). If your opponent checks the turn, you should usually go all-in with your entire range, which will be nicely balanced because it contains a mix of premium made hands and draws. If your opponent check/calls your 2.5 big blind flop bet, you should continue betting with most of your flop betting range, including the draws. Notice that there aren’t very many bad cards for your premium hands on the turn besides overcards to top pair. If an Ace, King, or Queen comes on the turn and it doesn’t improve your hand, you should usually check behind on the turn, planning to call a river bet. You will occasionally be beat, but due to the pot odds, you will only need to have the best hand about 33% of the time. This, of course, assumes your opponent is a strong player who is capable of bluffing. If you are against a super nit, feel free to fold because even your decent hands will not win 33% of the time. If you check behind on the flop with your marginal hands and junk, your plan should be to call down with your strong marginal hands, such as top pair or middle pair, call only the turn with the other marginal hands, and fold your junk. This will put your opponent in a difficult spot on the river, where your range will look like this ( Diagram 149 ).
Diagram 149
Notice that this isn’t exactly accurate because by the river, some of your marginal made hands will improve to premium made hands, and some of your unk will improve to premium made hands and marginal made hands that can call a river bet, giving you a few more calling hands. It is important to understand that when facing a bet from a strong player who has optimally developed polarized betting ranges on the river, you should win as often as the pot odds you are being laid. For example, your opponent bets the
size of the pot. If his range is 67% value hands and 33% bluffs, you will win 33% of the time. This should lead you to call with 33% of your range. By checking behind with many of the marginal made hands on the flop, you give yourself easy river decisions because quite often, at least 33% of your range will be hands that can reasonably call a turn and river. Notice that if your opponent steals the pots with his bluffs more than 50% of the time when he bluffs, he will show an immediate profit, but you will only win when you call 33% of the time. By using a polarized strategy, your opponent can profitably bluff on the river and there is nothing you can do about it because if you call more than 33% of the time, your opponent gets paid off too often with his value hands. When you make a “light” call down with a hand like 8-6 on J-8-7-3-K, it is important to understand that you will lose a large portion of the time, but that is fine because you will be getting excellent pot odds. If you need to win 25% of the time based on the pot odds, and you stand to win 30% of the time with your unky middle pair, you should happily call. Many amateur players lose a ton of money because they only call on the river when they are confident they have the best hand. If you find that you only call on the river against players who are capable of bluffing when you almost certainly have the best hand, you are making a mistake. Against the three common player types, you should use the same adjustments previously suggested when deep stacked. Against players who will attack on the turn and river, if you check behind on the flop, you should be much more inclined to check behind on the flop with your made hands because, if your opponent bets the turn and river, it will be enough to put you all-in (doubling you up). While this strategy will result in you getting outdrawn some small portion of the time, with hands that are not too susceptible to free turn cards, you should strongly consider checking behind. For example, suppose you raise with a 20 big blind stack and one of these players who will attack passivity calls from the big blind. If the flop comes 7-63, you should usually check behind with A-A, but bet with any 7. This is because A-A only has to worry about pairs turning into two pair or trips whereas a 7 has to worry about any unpaired hand improving to a larger pair if a random overcard arrives. If instead the board was K-8-5, both A-A and any King can check behind because the only bad turn for a King is an Ace. Also, be aware of players who vastly overvalue the idea of not going broke without a premium hand. Some players will simply never put their entire stack at
risk unless they know they have the best hand. Against these players, you should be much more inclined to make a big fold when they push all-in. For example, you raise from middle position and the big blind calls. The flop comes K-Q-6. You check behind with K-3 or A-Q on the flop. The turn is a 4, your opponent bets, and you call. If you do not improve on the river and this type of player pushes all-in, you should usually make a snug fold. If your opponent was a normal player instead, you have an easy call. It is important that you assess the types of players who play in your specific game. If you find that you are crushed every time you check back the flop with top or middle pair, and then call down on the turn and river, perhaps it makes sense to call down tighter. If you have the best hand a large portion of the time when you call down, you should check back a few more made hands (in order to induce more bluffs). While having a nice, predefined strategy is ideal, you must be capable of adjusting to whatever your opponents throw at you. In 3-bet Pots
3-bet pots are different than single raised pots because the pre-flop 3-bet forces the bottom of most players’ ranges to fold. That said, it is often difficult to nail down pre-flop 3-betting ranges from strong players because you can never know if they are 3-betting with a polarized range or a linear range. If you pay attention to the types of hands the 3-bettor shows down, you will start to get a better idea of his range. If he shows down 7-7, A-10o, and Q-Js in 3-bet pots, his 3-betting range is linear. If he shows down A-3o, 9-7s, and 8-5s, his 3-betting range is polarized. Knowing this will help you decide how to play on various boards. To make things more difficult, some players will 3-bet linearly in some spots and polarized in others. The pre-flop caller’s range is often much easier to nail down because it usually includes hands that the caller thinks are strong enough to call but not strong enough to 4-bet, which is often a range containing non-premium pairs, non-premium Broadway hands, suited Aces, and suited connectors. Of course, some players defend with a much wider range (perhaps as wide as their entire raising range) while others will use only a 4-bet or fold strategy. Let’s take a look at an example that will paint a clearer picture of how you should play versus competent opposition in 3-bet pots. At $1/$2, a competent player raises to $6 out of his $200 effective stack from middle position and you 3-bet to $18 from the button using this strategy ( Diagram 150 ).
Diagram 150
Your opponent calls. The flop comes A♥-K♣-5♦. Your opponent checks. This is how you should proceed on the flop ( Diagram 151 ).
Diagram 151
Q♠-9♠, J♠-9♠, and 7♠-6♠ have been added to the junk range. Q-Q – 10-10 are essentially junk on A-K-x, although you should occasionally call a turn bet if you get the vibe that your opponent will frequently attack when you check behind on the flop. That said, do not feel you must call down every time you have a strong pre-flop hand. It is perfectly acceptable to get out of the
way when you lose to most of your opponent’s turn betting range, even if your hand started off strong before the flop. There is a bit of merit to slow playing A-A and K-K, but given your opponent could easily have the gutshot straight draws and will only invest significant money if he improves to a straight, you should usually bet. Since your premium made hands are all quite strong, and you have relatively few bluffs in your range, if you bet, you should choose a small size, perhaps $15 into the $39 pot. Let’s take a look at your opponent’s range and how he should respond to your bet ( Diagram 152 ).
Diagram 152
As you can see, the pre-flop caller has a lot of problems on this board. When the board contains an Ace and a King, it almost always favors the pre-flop 3bettor. The 3-bettor is said to have a “range advantage”. When you have a range advantage, you can bet small because your opponent should usually be in awful shape.
Looking at the caller’s range, he only has bottom set in his premium range. Given his entire range is weak, this should lead him to call with his premium hands, but if he wanted to raise with bottom set, he should also raise a few combinations of draws, probably J-10s with the backdoor flush draw because QJs and Q-10s have a bit more showdown value. That said, you should just check/call with all of your continuing range in this spot. Let’s suppose the pre-flop caller calls your $15 flop bet and the turn is the (A♥-K♣-5♦)-3♥. The pot is $69 with $167 remaining in the stacks. The caller checks. You should now use this strategy ( Diagram 153 ).
Diagram 153
A-Q could certainly fit in the premium made hand range, especially since it beats almost all of the caller’s marginal made hands. Since there are a few busted draws that have relatively little equity that you would like to give up with, you want to have some marginal made hands in your turn checking range. If you decide to bet with A-Q, you should probably bet with your entire range so your
entire turn checking range isn’t giving up on the river. You should usually bet about $26 into the $69 pot because you have such a huge range advantage. The turn certainly didn’t help the pre-flop caller. His range now looks like this ( Diagram 154 ).
Diagram 154
Things are starting to look bleak for the caller. Notice that his calling range loses to all your value bets. Ideally, he would like some of his calling range to beat some of your value bets. The caller could certainly raise with his sets and a few combinations of his busted straight draws if he feels like it. You bet $26 on the turn and your opponent calls. The river is the (A ♥-K♣-5♦3♥)-7♠ and your opponent checks. You should go all-in for $141 into the $121 pot with all the remaining hands in your range ( Diagram 155 ).
Diagram 155
Notice that Hero has nut hands slightly more often than bluffs. When this is the case, as long as Hero does not have more bluffs than value bets, he should bet as much as possible. If Hero uses this exact strategy, the opponent should actually call every time because he only needs to win 35% of the time. In reality, he will win 44.4% of the time (when Hero is bluffing with missed draws). However, you will find very few players who call down with middle pair in this spot. If Hero wanted to be balanced, he should adjust his bluffing frequency such that his opponent will win 35% of the time (the exact price he is being laid). This is accomplished by only bluffing with 9 out of the 12 combinations of Q-Jo. One wrench that strong players will throw in this nice, clean, easy to implement plan for you is that they will actually win sometimes when you go all-in with your premium hands, namely when you have A-K and they have bottom set. By not raising with bottom set on the flop or turn, your opponent makes the math much more difficult for you because your premium range now contains hands that will win every time, as well as hands that will only win some of the time. Luckily for you, most people raise with sets on the flop, making life easy. When facing the $141 bet into the $121 pot, your opponent needs to win 35% of the time, based on his pot odds (141/(141+141+121) = 35%). So, if he knows you developed your river betting range optimally to include 65% strong value hands and 35% bluffs, he should call with 35% of his range ( Diagram 156 ).
Diagram 156
This range has your opponent calling 40% of the time, with 5-5 and A-Jo. If he wants to be completely balanced, he should call with only 6 out of the 9 total combinations of A-J. Many players who play well and work hard on their games make the mistake of calling with their A-J hands either every time or never. This is a mistake because if you call with all of them, you are calling with 40% of hands (a few
too many) and if you call with none of them, you are calling with 10% of hands (way too few). While you can certainly make game-time decisions, you should consider finding a method for randomly determining when you should call and when you should fold. Perhaps the easiest way to do this is to view a clock as a pie graph. If you need to call 25% of the time, when you look at the clock, if the second hand is between 1 and 15, you call. If it is between 16 and 60, you fold. If you need to call with 66% of your range, if it is between 1 and 40 you call, and between 41 and 60 you fold. Really though, this is well beyond the scope of the skills necessary to beat small stakes games. Again, all of this assumes your opponent plays great. The vast majority of players have large holes in their games for you to exploit. Against weak players, if they stick around versus your continuation bet beyond the flop, you should assume they have strong hands. If you don’t have a hand that beats their strong range, you should proceed with caution. Against calling stations, you should continue value betting relentlessly. Against maniacs, you should check behind with the intention of calling down with all made hands. In 4-bet Pots
4-bet pots are similar to 3-bet pots except both players usually have strong ranges compared to 3-bet pots, where one player often has a somewhat marginal range. That said, the same range analysis that applies to 3-bet pots applies to 4bet pots. Suppose you raise to 500 at 100/200 with 15,000 effective stacks from middle position, a strong player 3-bets to 1,600 from the big blind, and you 4-bet to 3,800 with this strategy ( Diagram 157 ).
Diagram 157
This 4-betting range includes all your premium hands, a few high card blocker hands, and a few suited Aces. This range makes sense versus a competent opponent. Of course, if your opponent is a super nit who only 3-bets with the nuts, you should elect to 4-bet only A-A and K-K, and call with your hands that are getting the proper implied odds.
Your strong opponent calls. His range when responding to your 4-bet may look like this ( Diagram 158 ).
Diagram 158
It is difficult to nail down a great range to continue with from out of position when facing a 4-bet because you will often have a difficult time proceeding after
the flop. Notice that your opponent is getting tricky with his premium pairs. This is mainly to strengthen his calling range going to the flop, making him more difficult to play against. If he 5-bets all-in with A-A and K-K, his calling range gets much weaker, and he has to add in a few more combinations of bluffs (of which there aren’t many great candidates) to remain balanced. The only 4-bet bluff is A-10o due to its blocker potential. So, you 4-bet and your opponent calls. The flop comes 8♠-7♠-3♦. Your opponent checks. At this point, it is important to realize that your opponent should actually have a range advantage, mainly because you were 3-betting preflop a bit too wide. Here is how you should proceed on the flop ( Diagram 159 ).
Diagram 159
Note A♠-K♠ and A♠-Q♠ have been added to the draw range, while A♣-5♣, A♥-5♥, A♣-4♣, and A♥-4♥ have been added to the junk range. Your range is difficult to play because there are very few strong made hands in it. In order to add a few more drawing hands to the draw range (so you don’t have so many junk hands), K-Jo has been added, although Q-Jo could take its
place. Both hands have relatively little showdown value while having overcards to your opponent’s check/calling range. You bet 3,400 into the 7,700 pot with 11,200 remaining in the stacks. Your opponent’s range after calling your pre-flop 4-bet and then checking the flop should look like this ( Diagram 160 ).
Diagram 160
Note A♥-Q♥ and A♣-Q♣ have been added to the junk range. While it would be nice to be able to check/raise all-in with A-A, K-K, and A♠Q♠, that play makes your check/calling range incredibly marginal. For that reason, you should check/call with all hands you want to continue with. Alternatively, check/raising all-in with one combination of K-K (because it is more susceptible to being outdrawn than A-A) and A♠-Q♠ would also be fine. You could fold A♦-Q♦ to a larger bet, but when facing a small bet, check-calling with strong overcards with a backdoor flush draw is mandatory unless your opponent is tight. Take a look at how miserable your opponent has made it for you by having AA and K-K in his check/calling range:
QQ+,AsKs,AsQs,As5s,As4s,KJo 48.58% KK+,JJ-99,AsQs
51.42%
Despite your reasonably strong 4-betting range, you only have 48% equity. Take a look at what happens if he instead 5-bet all-in with A-A and K-K before the flop, removing them from his calling range:
QQ+,AsKs,AsQs,As5s,As4s,KJo 61.45% JJ-99,AsQs
38.55%
The absence of A-A and K-K skyrockets your equity up to 61%. Playing against strong, thinking players is tough! Let’s suppose your opponent calls your turn bet, bringing the pot to 14,500 and remaining stacks to 7,800. The turn is the (8♠-7♠-3♦)-5♣. The 5♣ is a total blank, as it does not significantly improve either player’s range. Your opponent checks. At this point, going all-in is the only bet size that has merit. This is how many amateurs intuitively approach this situation ( Diagram 161 ).
Diagram 161
Note A♦-5♦ and A♦-4♦ have been added to the junk range. The problem with this range is that there are no marginal made hands, making the checking range very weak. Perhaps A♦-5♦ counts as a marginal made hand, but it will have a difficult time winning at the showdown versus your opponent’s range. So, you should look to add a few premium made hands to your checking
range. A-A is perfect to check in this situation because it needs less protection than K-K and Q-Q. While it may appear that you are somewhat balanced in this situation if you go all-in with your entire range (given it is 50% premium made hands and 50% semi-bluffs/bluffs), pushing is not a good play because your opponent is getting excellent pot odds to call. When facing your all-in, your opponent needs to win 26% of the time, based on the pot odds. Running each of your opponent’s possible holdings through Equilab against your turn betting range, you will find that the selected hands have 26% equity ( Diagram 162 ).
Diagram 162
Note A♦-Q♦ has been moved to the fold range. You may be surprised to see that 9-9 is a call while J-J and 10-10 are folds, but it is because 9-9 picked up a gutshot straight draw. Notice again that if A-A and K-K were not in this range, your opponent would only be calling with 9-9 and A♠-Q♠, which is far from ideal. Without A-A and K-K, he can only call with 7 combinations of hands out of 19 combinations in his range, and the calling hands are barely profitable.
I imagine that you may be getting overwhelmed by the in-depth nature of this range analysis. Do not expect this type of thing to be easy for you to apply at the table. I (and most other pros) have spent countless hours studying various situations away from the table so that when we find ourselves in a tricky spot, we either know the optimal answer already or can spend a few moments figuring it out on the fly. If you have no experience thinking in this way, you have to take the first step by practicing whenever you have the opportunity. If you expect to think about poker for 30 minutes and suddenly start crushing your games, you are probably fooling yourself. As when dealing with 3-bet pots, always be sure to adjust to your opponents’ tendencies. In the previous example, if your opponent was a maniac who attacks whenever he senses weakness, you should check behind on the flop with all overpairs with the intention of calling down on essentially all turns and river. If you thought he would fold too often to a continuation bet, you should bet the flop with all your junk. If you thought he would call every time, you should only value bet.
When Bet Into Being bet into occurs when you were the aggressor before the flop, and the preflop caller bets into you on the flop. This is sometimes referred to as a “donk bet”. Leading is a difficult strategy to balance because it inherently takes some hands out of your checking range. For that reason, if you are going to add leading into your arsenal, it should be as an exploitative play. When facing tough opponents, I can’t remember the last time I led into the pre-flop raiser. Checking and seeing what develops is almost always the right play when your opponent plays well. Most players in small stakes games are completely unbalanced, leading with exactly one of the following three types of hands: Marginal made hands Premium made hands Draws Marginal Made Hands
The majority of your opponents who lead are trying to “find out where they stand”. They assume that if their opponent raises their flop lead they must be up against strong hand. Against this type of player, with your non-premium hands, you should make a hefty flop raise, perhaps up to 3.5 times their bet. This will result in you stealing the pot a large portion of the time. You should call with your premium hands, inducing the bettor to think he has the best hand, allowing you to extract additional value on the turn (where you should often continue just calling) and the river. This simple strategy gets the best of both worlds. You win the pot immediately with your marginal and junky hands, and you get to play a large pot in position with your premium hands. What a dream scenario! Some players will lead with their marginal made hands, call a flop raise, and then either check/fold the turn, or check/call the turn and then check/fold the river. These players are even more profitable to play against than players who fold immediately on the flop because they give you an extra turn and/or river bet before assuming you must have the nuts. As long as you are willing to fire all three bullets, you will win the pot whenever the leader fails to improve to at least two-pair. Some players (calling stations) will lead on the flop, call a raise, and then call
on the turn and river. Your strategy versus these players is to raise with your strong hands with which you can confidently play a large pot, call with your marginal hands and draws, and fold your junk. When someone is prone to call down, almost all of your raising should be for value. If the stacks are short, you have to figure out if your opponent will call if you push all-in. For example, if someone leads into you in a 5 big blind pot for 4 big blinds out of his remaining 20 big blind stack and he will fold all of his hands worse than an overpair, if you go all-in, you should go all-in with all your nonpremium hands. However, if he will call with all top pairs and middle pairs (which should be most of his range), you should only push for value. It is up to you to figure out how your opponent will respond, and then adjust accordingly. Premium Made Hands
Some tight players only lead with their premium made hands. They do this because they are willing to give up an extreme amount of value in exchange for not getting outdrawn by hands that are drawing thin. It is quite common for a tight player to call the big blind with 3-3 and then lead into the pre-flop raiser with a pot-sized bet (or larger) on A-J-3, fearing being outdrawn by the gutshot straight draws. Your strategy against these players is to raise with your absolute best hands (overpairs are often too weak), call with your draws that are getting the correct implied odds, and fold everything else. Suppose you raise to $6 from middle position at $1/$2 and one of these players defends the big blind. The flop comes K-J-6. Your opponent bets $13 into the $13 pot. In this situation, you should tend to call down with K-Q and fold all worse made hands. Perhaps you can justify calling the flop with all top pairs, but even then, that is dicey. You should also call with Q-10 due to its huge implied odds. All other hands should be folded. If your opponent shows up with at least two pair every time, you should adjust even further by folding all made hands worse than two pair and decent draws. This may seem insanely tight, but your opponent’s leading range is purely premium made hands. Hopefully you are aware by now that if your opponent only has the nuts, you should fold almost everything. That said, do not be too quick to label someone as this type of leader. If your opponent leads with both premium made hands and marginal made hands, folding top pair would be criminal. The same is true if he leads with premium made hands and draws. Maybe your opponent is tricky, such that sometimes he
leads with his nut hands and other times he leads with total air. While it is nice to be able to confidently make huge folds, do not let your ego trick you into thinking that you have a perfect read on your opponents. You have to learn to accept that often you do not know what you think you know. This is why you should call down with K-Q on K-J-6, even though you lose to essentially all premium hands. Draws
The final player type leads with their draws. It is important to figure out if these players will continue betting the turn when they miss or if they will use an honest strategy of betting their strong hands and checking their missed draws. You also have to figure out if your opponent will 3-bet the flop if you raise, thinking that they should be trying to get all-in with their draws to maximize fold equity. Against someone who will bet the flop and then keep barreling whether or not they hit, it is often wise to call down with your premium made hands, marginal made hands, and draws. This will induce your opponent to continue bluffing on the turn and also ensure your draws do not get priced out by a potential 3-bet. Of course, if your opponent will fold most of his draws to a flop raise, you should instead raise with all your non-premium hands. Notice that protecting your premium hands should not be your main concern. While there may be merit in raising for value if your opponent will call a flop raise with a wide range of draws, it is a bad result if he folds to a raise because you miss the opportunity to extract a turn bet. When your opponent is drawing somewhat thin (to fewer than 9 outs), be content to let him draw if he will bet whether or not he hits. Sometimes you will win and sometimes you will lose, but more often than not, the chips will be pushed your direction. Even if you know your opponent will bet with all his missed draws, there are still situations where you should fold by the river. For example, suppose you raise pre-flop at 500/1,000-100 to 2,300 out of your 60,000 stack with A♦-A♥. Only the big blind (one of these players) calls. The flop comes J♠-10♠-5♥. Your opponent leads for 3,500 and you call. I do not advocate raising at this point unless you are certain that your opponent has exactly a draw. If that is the case, you should make a sizable raise to about 14,000 because most draws on this board have a lot of equity. Keep in mind that if your opponent ever has J-J, 1010, 5-5, or J-10 in his range, raising gets your stack in drawing thin. The turn is the (J♠-10♠-5♥)-8♦. Your opponent bets 10,000 and you call. The
same logic on the flop applies on the turn. If the river is any King, Queen, 9, or 7, you should strongly consider folding if your opponent makes a sizable bet. If the river is a spade, completing the obvious flush draw, you should also consider making a big fold. If the river is not one of these cards, you have an easy call. When the river is excellent for your opponent’s range (and most of that range beats you), you should be fine with folding. Against players who bet the flop with all of their draws and then go into either check/fold or check/call mode on the turn if they miss, you should call the flop with a wide range (ideally when you have at least a little equity) and then steal the pot on the turn. Calling the flop with the intention of picking up the pot on various turns or when your opponent shows weakness is referred to as “floating”. If this type of player continues betting on the turn, you can safely release your hand. If he checks, you should bet the turn and river. If you find that your opponent shows up with hands other than busted draws when taking this line, be quick to change your strategy. Some rare players only lead with junk, but they are easy to play against. Simply raise when you want to win the pot immediately and call when you want to keep them in the pot with a wide range.
Bet Sizing I would be remiss if I did not mention that many players in small stakes games turn their hands face-up with their bet sizing. Some players will lead small (50% pot) with their marginal made hands and large (100% pot) with their premium hands. These players are doing everything in their power to tell you exactly what they have. Some of these players even want you to know that you should not mess with them when they bet large because they don’t want to get outdrawn. Pay attention to each specific player’s bet sizing tells. If you can’t remember them, get a notebook and write them down, or keep a note file in your phone listing the betting patterns of your regular opponents. It is vitally important that you do not let betting tells creep into your game. You should adjust your bet size based on your range’s strength and the board’s texture, not your specific hand’s strength. By keeping your hand’s strength concealed, you will be difficult to exploit.
Multi-Way In Position as the Pre-flop Aggressor As the pot becomes more multi-way, you should start to play your range a bit more honestly, especially when you are getting out of line and making wide exploitative continuation bets. This is because it is somewhat likely that one of the other players has a decent hand. While the frequency with which each player hits the flop depends on their range and the board, each player will connect roughly 40% of the time, with at least a pair or draw. The following assumes each player will hit the flop 40% of the time: If you are against one player, he will connect 40% of the time. If you are against two players, at least one of them will connect 64% of the time. If you are against three players, at least one of them will connect 78% of the time. If you are against four players, at least one of them will connect 87% of the time. As you can see, it is difficult for everyone to have nothing when lots of people see the flop. If the flop comes J♥-10♥-9♥, your opponents will hit significantly more often compared to J♥-6♣-2♠. This means you can get away with continuation betting with a wider range as a bluff on dry boards compared to coordinated boards. For this reason, it is important that you pay attention to how many players you are up against.
Three-Handed Three-handed pots play somewhat similarly to heads-up pots. Make sure to pay attention to whether your opponents are in position or out of position versus you. You can be in position versus both players (when you raise and both blinds call), versus one player (when you raise, a late position player calls, and a blind calls), or versus no players (when you raise and two players in position call). These situations play somewhat differently, but in general, you should approach them as you approach heads-up pots. One of the key benefits of playing the previously outlined post-flop strategy is that it is difficult to exploit. By keeping your ranges strong, you will not have too many difficulties. Suppose you raise to $15 out of your $500 stack at $2/$5 from the button and both the blinds call. You think they play reasonably well. The flop comes J♥-7♣-4♦. If your opponents check, you should use this strategy ( Diagram 163 ).
Diagram 163
You should consider betting some hands that have backdoor flush draws, such as K♥-10♥ and Q♣-9♣, which takes a few junk hands out of your range, making you a bit more balanced. You should also consider betting all top pairs and even some middle pairs versus two opponents who you think will respond straightforwardly.
The value of protecting your hand goes up a bit as more players see the flop because everyone who does not already have a made hand usually has 10% equity or more versus your decent made hands. If you are against five players who each have 10% equity, all of whom will only put money in the pot on the turn or river when they improve to beat you, you should prefer to win the pot immediately. You could certainly elect to have a wider flop betting range, including hands such as 5-4s and 4-3s, betting them essentially as semi-bluffs. When you bet and get called, you are usually in marginal shape, and when you pick up the pot, that is fine because your opponents certainly had equity. Be careful to not take this concept of protection too far (as most amateurs do). You should certainly not bet with hands like 3-3 and A-6 in this spot, thinking that you are extracting value. On a board this dry (yes, this is a reasonably dry board despite the few possible straight draws), you should consider betting with a much wider range, perhaps as wide as any two cards. If your opponents will each continue 38% of the time, meaning at least one will continue 61% of the time, you will show a nice profit if you bet 35% pot because your bluffs only need to succeed 26% of the time. You will steal the pot 39% of the time and you only need to steal it 26% of the time to break-even. That said, if you analyze your opponents’ ranges, you will find that even on this board, you will rarely pick up the pot 39% of the time. Here is the range you should call with from the small blind when facing a button raise ( Diagram 164 ).
Diagram 164
The small blind’s range is incredibly tight because he elects to 3-bet with most of his playable hands. If your opponent is a typical loose, passive player with a much wider range, this analysis goes out the window. Notice that using this strategy, the small blind is either check/calling or check/raising 53% of the time, which is quite often. You should tend to check/raise with your premium made
hands and draws (including the two unselected backdoor flush draw combinations), call with your marginal made hands, and fold the rest. Calling with the draws is also acceptable, especially when facing a small bet. It should be clear that the draws in the small blind’s range are not too strong (gutshot straight draws) but they should be played aggressively for balance purposes if he wants to also play A-J aggressively. Notice that if the button bets pot with his entire range, he will be burning money because he needs to steal the pot 50% of the time in order to profit and he won’t even do that versus only the small blind. This is why you cannot blindly continuation bet using a large bet size with a wide range versus competent opponents. The big blind’s range looks something like this ( Diagram 165 ).
Diagram 165
The big blind’s range cannot defend as well as the small blind’s range because it is wider and the board is generally uncoordinated. That said, he can still easily defend about 42% of the time without getting out of line at all, even if he folds all his backdoor flush draws. You should usually check/fold some of the worst draws, such as 8♠-6♠ and 9♣-8♦ 9♣-8♦, because this range has a few too many draws
compared to premium made hands (assuming you want to check/raise all of them, including the marginal K-J). Check/calling with some of these junky draws is fine if you are getting excellent pot odds. If the flop checks through, you should proceed as you would heads-up on the turn if one player bets and the other folds. If one player checks and the other bets, you should generally assume that the checker has a weak range because most players tend to bet their strong hands on the turn after the flop checks through. If they check to you again on the turn, recognize that many of your marginal made hands, such as middle pair, improve to a premium made hand and should be bet both for value and protection. You should usually not check behind on both the flop and turn with top or middle pair because there is often value to be had and protecting marginal made hands isn’t the worst outcome. If you bet the flop and see the turn heads-up, you should proceed as you would versus one player, although usually the caller’s range will be a touch stronger because the pot was multi-way. This will often result in you checking behind on the turn with some of your top pairs that got a bit worse, which is a fine strategy. As the pot becomes more multi-way, do not fall into the habit of thinking that you must bet all three streets with top pair. Most of the time, checking one of the three streets is ideal. If you bet the flop and both players call, you should usually give up unless you have a premium hand or premium draw that can continue betting on the turn. When you are facing two reasonably strong ranges, there isn’t much you can do to exploit them. Should you bet the flop and both players call, if the turn was the innocuous (J♥ (J♥-7♣-4♦ -7♣-4♦)-2♦ )-2♦, you should use this strategy ( Diagram 166 ).
Diagram 166
You should continue betting with your best made hands, perhaps A-J and better, plus some draws. Notice that if you bet all your straight draws, you will have too many bluffs in your range, and the draws in your range (other than 65s) don’t have much equity. Also, you have less fold equity when multi-way, so you should be less inclined to semi-bluff with junky draws. You should check
your marginal made hands that aren’t in great shape versus the opponents’ calling ranges, although betting hands as weak as J-10 could certainly be ideal against players who are calling stations, or against players who will call your flop bet with all sorts of junk but then fold to a turn bet. If instead, the turn was the scarier (J♥ (J♥-7♣-4♦ -7♣-4♦)-K♦ )-K♦, you should use this strategy ( Diagram 167 ). Your draw range includes the four combinations of gutshot straight plus flush draws. This range is fairly self-explanatory and fits well with your overall strategy. If you check behind on the turn with a marginal made hand and face a river bet, you should call most of the time.
Diagram 167
If you bet the turn and get raised, you should only continue with your two pairs and better made hands, as well as your gutshot straight plus flush draws (assuming you have the right price). This implies you are folding A-A on the turn if check/raised, which may seem quite tight, but if you think of the hands that most competent players raise the turn with, they are mostly premium made
hands that beat A-A, and strong draws. Even hands like J-7 for middle two pair may be too weak to call check/raises from some players. If you bet the turn and get a caller, you should use a balanced strategy on the river, betting with your premium made hands and some of your busted draws, as described previously when betting the river. In this situation, given you will have more premium made hands compared to draws (you have 29 premium made hands and only eight bluffs, some of which will get there), you should bet small on the river due to your range advantage. Against strong opponents, as your premium made range becomes a large portion of your betting range you should tend to bet small. As always, the previous analysis assumes your opponents play well. If you find yourself at the river with a premium made hand versus an opponent you are confident has a strong hand you beat like A-J on J-7-4-2-9, and you know he will never fold to any bet, you should bet large. If you know he will never fold, you should give up with all your busted draws. Many amateur players justify awful river bluffs saying “betting is the only way I could win the pot”. While that may be true, giving up on a medium-sized pot is much better than attempting a sizable bluff that will fail a large portion of the time. If your opponents in this three-handed situation were both calling stations, you should adjust by only betting your strong and marginal made hands as well as premium draws and checking behind with your marginal draws and junk. Remember, the main point in betting marginal draws is to generate fold equity. If your opponents will not fold, there is no point in betting. If your opponents were instead overly weak and tight, perhaps folding hands as strong as middle pair to a flop bet, you should bet the flop with any two cards because both players will fold often enough to make a blind continuation bet profitable. If they were maniacs, you should play as described above, betting with a strong range that is difficult to exploit. Most of the time, you will not be against two players who use the same strategy. When that is the case, you should adjust based on the player you expect to stick around most often. If one player is weak and the other is a calling station, the calling station is your main concern because he is unlikely to fold to a flop bet. If you know one of your opponents loves to check/raise the flop, you should bet as if you are going to get check/raised.
Four to Ten-handed As more players see the flop, you should play more straightforwardly because it is more likely that someone flopped a strong hand. You should also be more inclined to assume that your opponents have strong hands when they apply immense pressure. Value betting with the intention of folding if raised is one of your most profitable plays in this situation. Suppose you raise from early position and the cutoff, button, small blind, and big blind all call. The flop comes K♥ K♥-8♣-6♦ -8♣-6♦. You should use this strategy versus a generic table of small stakes players ( Diagram 168 ).
Diagram 168
The 10 combinations of unpaired suited hands without backdoor nut or gutshot straight flush draws are in the junk range. The backdoor flush draws are being bet due to the lack of other natural draws. You should check your made hands worse than top pair and all your junk. It is fine that you have a lot of junk in this situation because in reality, you only need
to realize your equity in this pot 20% of the time (due to five players seeing the flop) and this current range has you sticking around 60% of the time. Given this continuing range is somewhat wide, it is fine to give up with some of the marginal Ace-high backdoor flush draws. I hope you immediately see a problem with this range if you are trying to be balanced. When you check/call, you always have worse than top pair. This is a huge problem, so if you were playing against good players, you should add K-Q and K-Js into your marginal made hand range, and perhaps even add a premium hand like top set to your checking range to really strengthen it. That said, playing in this manner is not necessary versus “honest” small stakes players. If you bet with K-Q on the flop and get raised or check/raised by someone who generally plays in an honest manner, perhaps raising mostly with premium top pairs and better made hands, you should fold. Especially when your opponents will call your pre-flop raise with a wide range and then play honestly, you must be aware that K-8, K-6, and 8-6 are well within their ranges. Many amateurs can’t believe it when their opponents show up with these “weak” hands, despite the fact that the hallmark of many small stakes games is frequent multi-way pots. Here is how most small stakes players will respond to a flop bet in this situation ( Diagram 169 ).
Diagram 169
Notice that K-Q does quite poorly against the premium made raising range. To make matters worse, most amateurs don’t raise with their draws. Against this raising range, K-Q only has 38% equity, despite dominating K-J.
KQo
37.91%
88,66,KJs+,K8s,K6s,86s,KJo+,K8o,K6o 62.09%
Even A-K only has 47% equity. If your opponent does not raise K-Q and K-J, A-K plummets to 16% equity. If your opponent only raises with two-pair and better plus all combinations of 10-9 and 7-5s, A-K only has 46% equity, again putting it in a difficult spot. Many amateurs take this as a reason not to bet with K-Q on the flop. But look at the hands that the opponent check/calls with. Against that range, K-Q has 82% equity. So, when you bet and get raised, you can confidently fold, and when you get called, you can rest assured that you have your opponent’s range crushed. This same logic applies to essentially all pots (both heads-up and multi-way) against straightforward players who frequent small stakes games. If your opponent only raises with premium hands, don’t be afraid to get out of the way when they show extreme aggression. If you bet the flop with a hand like top pair and four opponents call, you should often continue betting on the turn, both for value and protection. Always be aware of the passive players who call with premium made hands because they do not know how to accurately assess their value. This should lead you to check/call or even check/fold to a river bet with hands as strong as top pair if you know your opponents are passive. Suppose you raise with K-10 and five players call. The flop comes K-9-6, giving you top pair. You bet 50% pot and three players call. The turn is the (K-96)-3. You bet and only a weak, straightforward player on the button calls. The river is the (K-9-6-3)-J. If you check and your opponent makes a substantial bet, perhaps 65% pot or more, you should strongly consider folding because most weak, straightforward players only bet the river when they are confident they have the best hand. If your opponent had a weak King, he would probably be content to check behind, hoping to win at a cheap showdown. Notice that betting the river for value with your top pair, marginal kicker also doesn’t have much merit because many weak players will fold worse top pairs after facing bets on all three streets. Of course, if your opponent was instead a competent player or an overly aggressive player, check/calling the river would be ideal. While that example was from out of position, it illustrates one of the reasons
you really want to play pots from in position. If your opponent was in the big blind instead of on the button, he would have check/called your flop bet, check/called your turn bet, and then checked on the river. You can then check behind (assuming you do not think your King is strong enough to bet for value) and never face a difficult river decision. This illustrates one more benefit of playing somewhat snugly before the flop from early position.
When Bet Into Most players tend to use similar leading strategies in heads-up and multi-way pots. For that reason, the logic from the previous When Bet Into section applies here as well. I have generally found that players tend to not lead with their marginal made hands quite as often when facing multiple opponents, but that may not be the case in your games. One concern in multi-way pots is that you cannot attack leads as often if there are other players yet to act. Suppose you raise from early position and four players, including the blinds, call. The flop comes J-7-6 and the big blind leads for the size of the pot. While your strategy may be to blindly raise this player if the pot was heads-up, with three players yet to act, it is somewhat likely that one of the remaining players has a playable hand. This should result in you folding the bottom portion of your range and continuing primarily with your value hands. Alternatively, if someone leads into multiple players and everyone folds to you and you are closing the action, you can proceed as if the pot was heads-up. Keep in mind that most players are not too keen on betting into four or more opponents with a junky range, so you should usually proceed with caution. Do not feel like you must mindlessly attack every time someone leads, especially when they lead into multiple reasonable ranges.
Heads-Up Out of Position as the Pre-flop Aggressor As I am sure you are well aware of by now, position is vitally important in nolimit hold’em. However, you will not always have position, so you need to know how to play well from out of position. The main way you will be out of position as the pre-flop aggressor is when you raise and someone yet to act who has position on you calls.
Four Types of Hands In general, you should play the four types of hands, premium made hands, marginal made hands, draws, and junk, in roughly the same manner as when you were in position. However, there are a few exceptions. Premium Made Hands
While you can certainly bet your premium made hands, you should often include some of them in your checking range to make your marginal made hand range stronger. For example, if you always bet with your top pair and better made hands and check/call with your made hands worse than top pair, you will have a difficult time check/calling down on all three streets, resulting in you folding much of your check/calling range by the river. To counteract this, you should check with some hands that can easily check/call down on all three streets, namely some of your premium made hands. However, you should still bet with the majority of your premium made hands for value. Marginal Made Hands
Your strong marginal made hands that can somewhat easily withstand pressure should usually be checked. Your weakest marginal made hands, such as bottom pair, should often be bet as a semi-bluff. This is because if you check/call, almost every turn card is bad for you, and if you face an additional bet, you will be in a difficult spot. By betting, you get to see the turn with initiative, allowing you to keep betting if you improve or if the turn provides an excellent bluffing opportunity. Draws
For the most part, you should bet with your draws because they rely on fold equity to be profitable. You should usually bet with any sort of draw at all, as long as your opponent will not call essentially every time. The main time to check with a draw is when it also has a pair or a strong Ace-high that can conceivably win unimproved at the showdown. Even then, I still bet many of these hands because it is ideal for the pot to be large when you either improve to the nuts or pick up the pot on a later betting round. You should also consider whether or not you want to have a check/raising range. Some players opt to either bet or check/call with their entire range, which
is fine versus strong players. When facing opponents who will blindly bet any two cards if you check to them, check/raising will have a huge amount of fold equity, making it a potent weapon against those opponents. Some of the best hands to put in a check/raising range are draws because you don’t mind if you get to see a free turn when it checks through, and when you check/raise, you often have significant fold equity. That said, I do not make check/raising a big part of my strategy because it is quite difficult to balance, as it inherently takes many premium made hands out of both my betting and check/calling range, drastically weakening those ranges. As you take additional lines, it thins out your other ranges. For this reason, I prefer to have as few lines as possible, in this case, either betting or check/calling. Junk
Your junk should be bet a bit more often, given you will not be able to realistically check/call with it. For example, you raise with Q-J and someone yet to act calls. The flop comes 9-7-3. If you check and face a bet, you have to fold. If you had position, you could check behind and improve to top pair or a straight draw a decent amount of the time. Since you do not have position, you should look for a better way to play these hands, which is often to continuation bet. If you continuation bet and get raised, you can easily fold and if you get called, you then get to see the turn with initiative, allowing you to continue barreling when you improve to top pair, pick up a draw, or get a nice bluff card.
Heads-Up Out of Position as the Pre-flop Aggressor – Hand Example You raise from middle position to 3 big blinds out of your 100 big blind effective stack and only the button, a generally strong, thinking player, calls. The flop comes A♥-K♠-4♦. Here is how you should play your range ( Diagram 170 ).
Diagram 170
Your betting range contains your strong made hands and gutshot straight draws. You could also bet many of the backdoor flush draws, assuming you did not think your opponent had a wide range of lots of A-x in his pre-flop calling range. You should also consider checking A-A if you think your opponent will aggressively attack weakness. You should not check K-K and 4-4 because it is too likely your opponent has an Ace that will willingly call three bets. Notice that when you have A-A, you have blockers to your opponent also having an Ace, whereas you do not when you have K-K or 4-4. It is difficult to know when you should check/call or check/fold with an underpair. You will often have to make a game-time decision with Q-Q – 5-5. If your opponent bets and you get the vibe he is getting out of line, you should check/call. If you think he has a strong hand, you should check/fold. Notice the check/calling range also has many Aces that can easily withstand three bets, meaning you are not check/folding most of your flop check/calling range to an additional bet. Let’s suppose you bet 4 big blinds on the flop and your opponent calls. The turn is the (A♥-K♠-4♦)-7♣. You should use this strategy ( Diagram 171 ).
Diagram 171
10-9s and 9-8s are in the image to represent backdoor flush draws that bet the flop and failed to turn equity. If they were not in your range, you would have very little junk on the turn and should opt to check your gutshot straight draws. That adjustment would make your premium made range too strong, which should lead you to check some of your premium made hands.
You should consider tinkering with how you play the top pair combinations, depending on how you expect your opponent to react. If you think he will check most of the time if you check, but will call with any one pair hand if you bet, betting A-10s is certainly correct. If you think he will frequently raise if you bet the turn, checking your marginal Aces is correct because having to call a turn raise and then a river all-in with a marginal top pair is far from ideal (assuming your opponent is not absolutely crazy). Suppose you check the turn and your opponent bets. As you can see, your continuing range is A-Q, A-J, and A-10s. This leads to a problem on the river in that you now have no junky made hands that can easily fold to a river bet. This implies that your entire turn check/calling range is check/calling the river. If your opponent knows that he has no fold equity on the river, he can play perfectly. If balance is the only thing you care about, you should check/fold the river with some of these made hands, based on the size of your opponent’s bet. This perhaps demonstrates a flaw in the initially proposed flop strategy. Think for a second and see if you can figure out how to remedy the problem. The easiest way to solve this issue is to have hands like A-2s and K-10s in your flop betting range and your turn check/calling range, essentially betting these hands for thin value on the flop and check/calling them on the turn. This allows you to have both a check/folding and a check/calling range on the river.
Adjustments Balancing your range is quite difficult. Fortunately for you, in the real world, balance is not so mandatory because your opponents will play nowhere near perfectly. I strongly suggest that you get out of line to maximally exploit your opponents’ mistakes. Against a Weak Player
In the previous example against a weak player who will respond to a bet in a straightforward manner, you should use this strategy ( Diagram 172 ).
Diagram 172
The main adjustment against a weak player is to bet with your junk due to its fold equity. Just to be sure that your opponent will fold often enough to justify betting with a wide range of junk. Let’s take a look at the range he will usually get to the flop with when he calls a pre-flop raise from the button ( Diagram 173 ).
Diagram 173
This range assumes your weak opponent will always continue with the gutshot straight draws, which is an optimistic assumption. I always suggest you look at the worst-case scenario first. In this situation, he will fold 29% of the time. This means that if you make a bet of 40% pot (this bluff size needs to succeed 28% of the time), you will show an immediate profit with all of your hands that have 0% equity versus your opponent’s calling range. Clearly many hands in your betting range have equity versus your opponent’s calling range, so you can actually bet a
larger amount to ensure he folds more often. Some of these players will make life easy for you by raising with their top pairs, severely weakening their flop calling range. If the range that your weak opponent gets to the turn with is all middle pairs and worse made hands, you should be inclined to 3-barrel. Against a Calling Station
It is important that you not only assess if your opponent will call flop bets with a wide range, but also if he will bet with a wide range if you check. Perhaps the most difficult players to combat from out of position are those who will call flop bets with a decently wide range, while also applying small amounts of pressure if you check. These players get to the turn and river with disguised ranges, making it difficult for you to narrow their ranges. Fortunately for you, most of your opponents in small stakes games will call the flop with a wide range if you bet, but will only bet their premium made hands and some of their marginal made hands if you check. Against this type of player in the previous situation, you should use this strategy ( Diagram 174 ).
Diagram 174
The ranges have been adjusted to make it more clear which hands you should play in each way. You should either check/call or check/fold Q-Q versus these players because, if you bet and get called, even though your opponent has a wide calling range, you are not in great shape (depending on exactly how wide the calling range is), plus you will have a difficult time navigating the turn and river.
So, value bet all your hands better than Q-Q and check everything else. Your plan with Q-Q and worse made hands is to check down, sometimes calling one bet over the course of the three streets. Perhaps you should bet with the gutshots that also have backdoor flush draws, but really, those hands are fine being check/folded if your opponent will only bet with middle pair and better on the flop after you check. This strategy may seem overly simplistic, but it is ideal against blatant calling stations. Against a Maniac
When facing a maniac, you should always try to figure out what you can do to induce him to go crazy and bluff off his stack. Against players who will assume you have a strong hand when you continuation bet (thinking that you would have to be crazy to try to bluff a maniac), you should check with your made hands and bet with your draws and junk. Against most sophisticated maniacs who will apply aggression intelligently, such as on boards that should be bad for your range, you should play as if you are against a strong player. Let’s suppose you are against a maniac who will apply aggression any time you show weakness. You raise to 3 big blinds out of your 75 big blind stack from the cutoff and the maniac calls from the button. The flop comes K♠-Q♠-8♦. You should use this strategy ( Diagram 175 ).
Diagram 175
Note that the 14 flush draw combinations have been added to the draw range. Clearly this strategy is extremely exploitable, but against this specific type of player, it will work amazingly well. You should consider adding some of your absolute junk that has no showdown value at all, such as 4♥-3♥, into your checking range, just to reinforce in the maniac’s mind that you will check/fold
sometimes. You don’t want the maniac to think that you are a calling station because he will stop trying to bluff you so often. Let’s suppose you check with a made hand and call your opponent’s 4 big blind bet. Because your opponent’s betting range is so incredibly wide, you should not check/raise with your premium made hands, even though there are numerous draws available. While you will occasionally get outdrawn, your main priority is keeping the maniac in with a wide range that you crush. The turn is the (K♠-Q♠-8♦)-5♠. You should check and then use this strategy if your opponent bets ( Diagram 176 ).
Diagram 176
Many amateur players seize up and become afraid when an obvious draw comes in. They assume they must be beat and check/call only with their absolute best hands. Instead, you should check-call with many of your marginal pairs, especially when they have excellent equity if they improve to two pair. The selected range has you folding 22.6% of the time, which would be too infrequently against a normal player, but is fine against a maniac.
One concern you may want to address, especially as you play against stronger competition, is that at this point, you have no flushes in your range, while your opponent has some. This allows him to put you in a difficult spot by making a gigantic river bet with a wide, balanced range. If you want to add flushes into your turn range, check/call with the Ace-high flush draws on the flop instead of betting. Ace-high flush draws are excellent to check/call because Ace-high will occasionally win unimproved at the showdown, and when you make the nut flush, you can withstand any amount of pressure. Let’s suppose you check/call your opponent’s 10 big blind turn bet. If the river does not bring a 4-flush, you should usually check/fold with all made hands Q10 and worse, which will be about 33% of your range. If the river brings a 4flush, you should check/call with any flush and perhaps some sets, two pairs, and top pairs, assuming you think your opponent will bet with all his strong flushes and many of his non-flush hands. When the river brings a 4-flush, using some rough math, you will find that each player will have one of the suit required to make a flush about 40% of the time. If your opponent bets the size of the pot on the river, if he steals the pot more than half of the time, he will show an immediate profit. So, you have to defend at least half of the time, but you will only have a flush 40% of the time (actually, less often because you have no turned flushes in your range). This means that you have to defend with more than just flushes if you don’t want to be pushed around. As your opponent bets the river with a wider range of bluffs, you must defend with a wider range. If you have the nut flush on the river, check/raising is usually your best course of action. It is up to you to decide whether or not you want to check/raise bluff for balance purposes with some hands that are not quite strong enough to call. It doesn’t matter which hands you elect to check/raise bluff as long as they are not strong enough to check/call. If you had to pick some specific hands, you should shy away from those containing cards that your opponent would reasonably turn into a bluff. For example, J-10, J-9, and 10-9 are all hands that your opponent may feel inclined to bluff on all three streets. So, if you have a Jack, 10, or 9, it is less likely that your opponent has one of those hands. This should lead you to check/raise bluff less often when you have a Jack, 10 or 9 because there are fewer combinations of J-10, J-9 and 10-9 in your opponent’s range.
As Stacks Diminish Even as stacks diminish, you should use a similar strategy as previously outlined. While this may lead to difficult situations when you find yourself with a marginal made hand on the turn check/calling off your stack, the outlined strategy is usually best. With Shallow Pre-flop Stacks
Suppose you raise from the cutoff to 2.3 big blinds out of your 20 big blind stack and only the button, a decently strong player, calls. The flop comes 6♥-5♣-3♦. You should use this strategy ( Diagram 177 ).
Diagram 177
Here 15 overcards without backdoor flush draws have been added to the junk range. In this situation, you should consider adding some of your best hands, such as A-A and 6-6, into your checking range in order to make it a bit stronger and less susceptible to folding to triple barrels. Betting with a few more bluffs like
overcards that do not have showdown value or backdoor flush draws, such as Q10 and 10-8, may make sense against weak opponents. It is important to realize that this range is check/calling with many Ace-high combinations. This will often lead to difficult turn situations, but that should not be too big of a problem if you diligently study these situations away from the table. Let’s suppose you check, your opponent bets 4 big blinds, and you call. The turn is the (6♥-5♣-3♦)-J♣. You should check and then use this strategy if your opponent bets 6 big blinds ( Diagram 178 ).
Diagram 178
This strategy has you folding 38% of hands, which may be too high if your opponent uses a small bet size. This range is somewhat weak, so you should consider strengthening it by adding A-A, 6-6, and 5-5. If instead your opponent checks behind on the turn, you should use this strategy if the river is the (6♥-5♣-3♦-J♣)-K♦ ( Diagram 179 ).
Diagram 179
Since the turn and river both brought overcards that your opponent could easily have, it does not make sense to bet with your low pairs, constricting your river value betting range. Notice that the worst hands in your range are Ace-high hands and the best hands are A-K and A-J, for top or middle pair. At this point, the pot is about 7 big blinds and you have 17.5 big blinds remaining in your stack. You should tend to make a sizable bet, perhaps 1.5 times the size of the pot, or 10 big blinds, with A-K, A-J, and A-7. This will lead to you having a 3:2 ratio of value bets to bluffs, which works out well, given your large bet size. Alternatively, you could use a small 1/3 pot size bet with only A-K and A-J, plus a few combinations of bluffs. Notice that you cannot realistically add many more bluffs to your range unless you want to value bet with some of your middle pairs, which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, especially given that some of the hands you would be turning into bluffs (Ace-high) have some showdown value. If you are up against someone who you think will fold to a large river bet with all of his pairs worse than Jacks, feel free to bluff large with all your Ace-highs. Let’s suppose you check and your opponent makes a sizable pot-sized bet. You should use this strategy ( Diagram 180 ).
Diagram 180
This looks quite bad for you because your check/calling range is capped at middle pairs. Given your opponent knows this, this will lead many to bluff too often or value bet too thinly, which should lead you to call with more than 33% of your range. While the selected 51.6% calling range may be too high, it is often where I start when I know my range is clearly capped at marginal hands. From there, I adjust closer to an “optimal” calling frequency as I learn more about my opponent.
It is important to understand that your check/calling range is actually the top of your range when you play the pot in this manner. When you check/call the flop, the turn checks through, and then you check the river, you will usually have a somewhat weak range like this if you value bet the river with your best hands. Should you play in this manner and find yourself giving up when your opponent bets the river a large amount of the time, if your opponent plays well he will run you over. If in your games you get to see a free showdown with these hands and they win a decent amount of the time, check/folding the river is probably fine because your opponents are not bluffing nearly enough. Be aware of this concept as you move up because being able to freely check down with marginal made hands is something you will enjoy less and less often. In 3-bet Pots
There are two ways to be out of position as the pre-flop aggressor in a 3-bet pot. The first is for you to limp, someone yet to act to raises, and you then 3-bet. There can be additional limpers or callers in the equation. For the most part, you will only do this with a premium range as an exploitative strategy when the players yet to act attack limpers with a wide range and will then call your 3-bet with a wide range of junk that you have crushed. A typical range to limp and then 3-bet over a raise will be incredibly strong, perhaps only A-A, and maybe A-A – J-J and A-K. Either way, you will have a premium range going to the flop that you can happily bet for value on all three streets. When you make this play with A-A, you should usually bet small on the flop, perhaps 30% pot, because your range (only premium hands) has your opponent’s range crushed. This is the opposite of what many amateurs do. They instead bet the size of the pot, or worse, go all-in, allowing their opponent to play perfectly. When your range has your opponent’s range crushed, your goal is to maximize value, not help your opponent play well. It is quite common in small stakes games to have your opponent “on the hook” (both in “normal” pots and abnormal limp/3-bet pots). This occurs when you know you have the nuts and your opponent is either oblivious to your range’s strength or simply doesn’t care because he thinks his hand is unfoldable. When that is the case, play your hand in whatever manner gets the most money in the pot without giving your opponent the chance to fold. Anything out of the ordinary may make your opponent realize he is in trouble, inducing him get out of harm’s way. For example, if you limp/3-bet with A-A to 12 big blinds before the flop and
then go all-in for your remaining 88 big blinds on the flop, that will cause even the most dense opponent to consider folding strong hands like Q-Q, whereas if you bet 15 big blinds on the flop, 25 big blinds on the turn, and then the rest of your stack on the river, he will pay you off every time. When you have someone set up, don’t give him the chance to get away. The second way you can be out of position as the pre-flop raiser in a 3-bet pot is for someone to raise, you 3-bet from one of the blinds, and the raiser calls. This is an interesting situation because ranges can vary from incredibly tight to overly wide. First, you want to figure out your opponent’s range. If his pre-flop raising range is tight (because he raised from early position or because he uses an overall tight strategy), your out of position 3-betting range should have an advantage over his range, which means it will also be tight. This implies that on most flops, you will continue to have a range advantage because the board cards aren’t too relevant when both players have strong ranges. That said, you should continue to play as outlined above. With your premium made hands and draws, you should bet, and with your marginal made hands and unk, you should check. However, if you have a significant range advantage over your opponent and there are few natural draws in your range, you should consider making a small flop bet with your entire range. Suppose a weak, tight player raises from early position and you 3-bet from the big blind with a range of A-A, K-K, Q-Q, and A-K. Your opponent calls. The flop comes 9♣-6♥-3♠. You should usually bet about 40% pot with your entire range. You have 18 combinations of premium made hands (big pairs) and 16 combinations of “draws” (A-K). If you check A-K, thinking it is a marginal made hand or junk, you also have to check some of your premium made hands, which usually isn’t ideal, given they are certainly strong enough to bet three streets for value. So, you should bet with your entire range, treating A-K as a draw. If your opponent raises, you can continue with your overpairs, and if he calls, you should usually bet again on the turn with your entire range because if you only bet your overpairs, you have no draws, allowing your opponent to easily fold. On the river, you should usually ditch some of your unimproved A-K hands such that you can put your opponent in a breakeven spot based on your bet size. If he will be getting 2:1 pot odds, you want to have 67% value hands and 33% bluffs, so you can bet with all 18 value combinations and 9 combinations of A-K. If you play an aggressive strategy, you will often find yourself in a situation
where a late position player raises and you 3-bet with a wide range, either from the small blind or big blind. Especially if the big blind plays well, you should usually 3-bet most or all of your playable hands from the small blind. This will lead to you having a decently wide range once you get to the flop. Suppose a loose, aggressive player raises to 3 big blinds out of his 100 big blind stack from the button and you 3-bet with this overly wide range from the small blind ( Diagram 181 ).
Diagram 181
Your opponent calls. The flop comes Q♠-J♣-7♦. You should use this strategy ( Diagram 182 ).
Diagram 182
Note that 7 suited Ace-high hands without backdoor flush draws have been added to the junk range. This is a rough spot for you, mainly because your pre-flop 3-betting range is too wide. Notice that if it did not contain all A-x offsuit hands, it would have an acceptable 22.8% junk range, whereas here, it has 38.2% junk, which is too high. This is not a great board to continuation bet with your entire range because it should connect well with your opponent’s range. Since your junk range is currently so wide, you should make a point to strengthen your check/calling range by adding in as many top pair hands as possible without making your premium made range too weak. This situation is interesting because your range is simply too weak to defend. Perhaps it makes sense to make an exploitative play of check/raising with a wide range, hoping to induce your opponent to bet with a wide range and then fold most of his hands worse than top pair in response to your check-raise. If you think your opponent will fold most of his range if you 3-barrel all-in by the river, that play may make sense. It is important to realize that when you get out of line and 3-bet too wide, you need to have a plan in place that allows you to continue profitably after the flop. While the wide 3-bet pre-flop may be immediately profitable, you should work hard to find ways to not get slaughtered whenever your opponent sees the flop. Having a 38.2% check/folding range is simply not acceptable against strong opponents because when you check and your opponent bets, you are folding 54% of the time to a bet, which is much too often. Especially when you think you will see a flop when you 3-bet from out of position, it is important that you arrive to the flop with a reasonable range. If you find that your loose out of position 3-bets consistently get called, you should raise larger to increase fold equity or narrow your 3-betting range to a strong linear range that can play well after the flop. While this section may make 3-betting with a wide range from out of position look like a losing strategy, it is not as bad as it may appear. I purposely picked a tough example where your opponent should rarely fold to a flop continuation bet. If the board was less coordinated, continuation betting with your entire range for about 40% pot will show an immediate profit against most opponents. It can still be profitable to 3-bet with a wide range knowing that there are some flops (all high card or middle card boards) where you have to give up with most of your range. If you have to check/fold a decent portion of your range 30% of the time (when the flop is good for your opponent’s range), that is fine if you can immediately profit the other 70% of the time.
In 4-bet Pots
You can find yourself in a 4-bet pot as the aggressor from out of position when you raise, someone 3-bets from in position, you 4-bet, and they call. In this situation, you can have a few different range configurations, depending on the strategy you are using against your specific opponent. If your opponent is overly tight, you should have only the nuts, perhaps exactly A-A and K-K. You can simply bet these hands on all three streets for value. Against the most weak, tight players, if you have K-K and the flop comes A-x-x, it is often wise to check (or bet tiny) on the flop to see what develops. If you know your opponent will only bet the flop with an Ace, you can check/fold. While this may seem weak, if you are drawing to two outs you should fold most of the time. If the flop checks through, you should usually check again on the turn and then consider value betting small on the river to try to get called by underpairs. It is possible to find yourself out of position in a 4-bet pot with a wide range when trying to exploit a wide 3-bettor. When you raise to 3 big blinds out of your 100 big blind effective stack from early position and your loose, aggressive opponent 3-bets on the button to 8 big blinds, you can 4-bet to 25 big blinds using this strategy ( Diagram 183 ).
Diagram 183
You elect to 4-bet with this wide range because you think your opponent is 3betting too often and will usually fold if you 4-bet. This time your opponent calls. If the flop comes 8♥-6♣-5♦. you should use this strategy ( Diagram 184 ).
Diagram 184
A♠-K♠ has been added to the marginal made range. The remaining A-x of spades without a pair have been added to the junk range. Since your flop betting range is quite wide due to the presence of lots of premium made hands and backdoor flush draws, you should consider continuation betting with nearly all of your range for about 35% pot, especially
if you think your opponent’s range is mostly marginal overpairs and unpaired big cards. Even this small bet will put your opponent in a difficult spot because you will be able to go all-in on the turn with a large portion of your range, or check and be well protected. It is worth pointing out that when you are getting out of line and exploiting your opponent, you know your actual range but your opponent only has ideas about what you are doing. You have an “actual range”, which is your actual range, and a “perceived range”, which is what your opponent thinks you have. In this example, he may think your 4-betting range is only A-A – J-J and A-K. Alternatively, he may think you are 4-betting with all sorts of junk that is not even in your pre-flop raising range. If you can figure out what your opponent thinks of your strategies, you will be better able to navigate spots that give fits to less skilled players. In this example, if your opponent thinks you are blatantly bonkers and he plans to get all-in with hands as weak as Ace-high, you should simply bet most of your pairs for value and check everything else. If he will only call a flop bet with 9-9 and better made hands, you should bet with 100% of your range. Whatever you do, do not fall into the trap of thinking that once you develop what you think is a fundamentally sound strategy that you should never deviate from it. The way you crush most opponents is by getting out of line any time there is significant money on the line and you think adjusting will give you a larger edge than playing in a fundamentally sound manner.
Multi-Way Out of Position as the Pre-flop Aggressor As more players gain position on you, you should generally play in a more straightforward manner. This is not only because someone yet to act is likely to have a decent hand, but because each player yet to act also has the ability to put you in a difficult spot with most of your range by simply raising or calling. While it is no fun to check/fold after raising before the flop, it is often the best play when you flop poorly in a multi-way pot.
Three-Handed Suppose you raise from early position to 3 big blinds out of your 100 big blind stack and two somewhat loose players call from the cutoff and button. The flop comes J♥-9♠-8♦. You should use this strategy ( Diagram 185 ).
Diagram 185
A♣-K♣ has been added to the junk range. While this is giving up with 54.5% of hands, that is fine because the board is bad for your range, great for your opponents’ ranges, and you lack position. It may seem a bit snug to check hands as strong as top pair, but when your opponents are calling your pre-flop raise with lots of middle cards, you want to do everything in your power to not get blown off your decently strong but nonpremium hands. Also, you really don’t want to bet all that often on boards this coordinated because you have very few nut hands in your range and your opponents have all the nut hands in their ranges. In fact, you could easily justify checking with your entire range because many of your premium made hands would be in a tough spot if you bet and get raised. If you elect to bet all of your Jacks, your marginal made hand range gets weaker, which is not what you want to happen because when you check, it is with the intention to fold to any bet most of the time. So, you have to protect your checking range by including some decently strong made hands, such as AJs and K-Js. Notice that the only obvious hand to include in your draw range is A-10s. Since this is way too few combinations, you should look to add A-K with a backdoor flush draw, A-Qs and K-Qs. It does not make sense to bet 10-10 and 10-9s because they are decently strong marginal made hands that can easily check/call at least two bets. You could consider betting with A-x with backdoor flush draws, but you will find those hands don’t turn additional equity often enough to justify betting multi-way. While you may think that the underpairs are worth check/calling, they are actually in awful shape versus two reasonable ranges. Even though 7-7 has a gutshot straight draw, it is to the dummy end of the straight, meaning when it improves it can still lose to a better straight. Also the underpair is rarely good. Do not fall prey to thinking that you have to stick around until the turn any time you have a pair. Underpairs are particularly weak because they only have two outs to improve. Let’s suppose you make a 6 big blind continuation bet and only one player calls. The turn is the (J♥-9♠-8♦)-4♣. You should use this strategy ( Diagram 186 ).
Diagram 186
This is a very nice spot to continue barreling with your whole range because the board did not change. While it may feel a bit dirty to keep betting A-Ks, AQs and K-Qs, if you want to be somewhat balanced, it is mandatory that you include these hands in your range because if you don’t, most of your range will be nut hands (meaning your opponent can easily fold to your turn bet). Of
course, if your opponent is a calling station who will always call the turn and river with all his made hands after calling your flop bet, bluffing with your draws makes no sense. Let’s suppose instead that the turn is the (J♥-9♠-8♦)-A♣. You should use this strategy ( Diagram 187 ).
Diagram 187
Notice now that many of your draws improved to top pair and some of your overpairs got a bit worse. This should lead you to develop a checking range, including all hands with which you cannot confidently bet the turn and river. Some players may be surprised to see 9-8s (two pair) in the checking range. This is because if you bet the turn and river and your opponent sticks around, you are often beat by a better two pair, whereas if you add it to your checking range, you make it nearly impossible to get pushed around on the river. A-Ks and A-Qs are also in the checking range for this reason. If you only check with K-K and Q-Q, your checking range is quite weak and susceptible to a turn and river barrels. With this strategy, you can easily check/call the turn with all marginal made hands and then check/call the river with all hands besides K-K and Q-Q. Also, notice K-Qs still sitting in the betting range. This is because you do not want your entire turn betting range to be nut hands. If you were up against a calling station, you should usually give up with your bluffs, but against competent players, it is nice to have some bluffs in your range. As played, K-Qs is the only bluffing hand in your range, so you should usually bet with it.
Four to Ten-Handed As even more players see the flop, you should play even more straightforwardly. Suppose you raise from middle position to $6 at $1/$2 and the lojack, hijack, cutoff, button, small blind, and big blind call. The flop comes K♥-9♣-5♦. You should use this strategy ( Diagram 188 ).
Diagram 188
Many players opt to always bet their top pairs, but this makes your checking range incredibly weak. Betting all top pairs and better made hands makes Q-Q the best hand you can have in your checking range, which cannot realistically withstand three bets. In addition, as the pot becomes more and more multi-way, you should shy away from betting your junky draws, which should constrict your value betting range. In this spot, Q-Js and Q-10s should almost always be bet, but you should only consider betting 8-7s, 7-6s, and 6-5s when you think your bet will induce folds and when you have a backdoor flush draw. Do not get carried away with thinking hands like 6-6 and A-Q are strong enough to play multi-way after the flop when you fail to improve. It is too likely that one of your many opponents has a better made hand that you are drawing thin against. It is worth pointing out that when you are considering bluffing with a draw or unk that has a bit of equity, you should pay attention to how the players yet to act look (assuming you are playing live poker). It is quite common in small stakes games for players to “zone out” when they are no longer interested in the pot. Zoned out players often watch TV, talk with their neighbors, or play on their phone. If you know your opponent has this tendency, when he does not zone out it implies he likes his hand and will not fold to aggression. By picking up on and exploiting this tendency, compared to your unobservant opponents, you will be able to steal a few extra pots and save a few continuation bets that were destined to fail. It is mandatory that you make somewhat snug folds when out of position versus multiple players. I once played a hand in a live tournament where I raised to 3 big blinds out of my 100 big blind stack with A♦-A♣ from early position. Six players called. The flop came 8♥-7♥-6♣. I got the vibe that a player yet to act liked his hand (he perked up a bit when the flop arrived). I checked, he bet about the size of the pot and someone else called. The action folded around to me and I folded. As it turns out, both players had sets. Do not think that you have to play just because your hand is normally strong enough to continue. Always compare it to the ranges you are up against.
POST-FLOP STRATEGY: AS THE PRE-FLOP CALLER When you call before the flop, your range contains relatively few premium pre-flop hands and lots of marginal holdings. This will often leave you with a less than stellar post-flop range. As the pre-flop caller, it is vital that you do not play too tightly on the flop, which is exactly what many amateurs do. They call pre-flop with a wide range, hoping to flop well, and then fold to a continuation bet whenever they fail to solidly connect with the board. This leads to them folding to continuation bets about 60% of the time, allowing their opponents to continuation bet profitably with 100% of their range. This is the exact opposite of what you want to do. You must work hard to develop ranges that are not easily exploitable by blind aggression.
Heads-Up In Position as the Pre-flop Caller This situation occurs when you call someone’s raise in position, or when you raise, someone 3-bets, and you call. As always, this section assumes you are playing against a competent opponent who plays well. On the flop, your opponent will either bet or check. When your opponent bets, you should call with most of your continuing range unless you have a reason to apply pressure. Raising often has merit, but if you are trying to be balanced, it is often easier to balance a calling and folding range as opposed to a raising, calling, and folding range. Keep in mind that the main time to raise is when you have a lot of premium hands in your range and your opponent should have very few. When you raise, you typically want to have your best hands and your draws that are not strong enough to call a bet. When facing a bet, this section assumes you are facing a “normal” bet of roughly 65% pot. If your opponent bets larger (as many small stakes players do), you should tighten up a bit. If your opponent bets smaller, perhaps 2 big blind into a 6 big blind pot, you should continue wider.
Four Types of Hands Premium Made Hands: When Your Opponent Bets
With your premium made hands, which will usually be two pair and better, you would ideally like to raise to about three times your opponent’s continuation bet in order to build a large pot. For your raising range to contain not only premium hands, you must be sure to include some semi-bluffs. On boards like K♥-8♣-2♦, it is often difficult to raise with hands like 8-8 because you have very few natural semi-bluffs in your range. This should lead you to just call with your premium made hands. If instead, the board was K♥-8♣-7♣, you should raise because you realistically have all the draws in your range as well. Always keep this concept in mind as you develop your ranges. Premium Made Hands: When Your Opponent Checks
If your opponent plays well, when he declines to continuation bet, it is usually with a marginal made hand or junk. If your opponent has junk, the most you will be able to win is a turn and river bet, assuming he decides to bluff, which will often not happen when he has a low pocket pair or Ace-high. This should lead you to focus your attention on getting value from the marginal made hands, such as top pair with a bad kicker or middle pair. In order to extract value from these hands, you should bet on all three streets. Be sure you do not size your bets such that your opponent can make a big fold. Suppose your opponent raises to 2.5 big blinds out of his 100 big blind stack, you call on the button, and your opponent checks to you on a J♥-7♥-6♣ board. If you have a premium hand, perhaps K-J or better, it is ideal to bet about 3 big blinds on the flop, 6 big blinds on the turn, and 12 big blinds on the river. This will give your opponent decent pot odds to call on all three streets with all his worse made hands. If you instead bet 6 big blinds on the flop, 18 big blinds on the turn, and 54 big blinds on the river, the vast majority of players will fold almost all worse hands, meaning that when you get called, you will usually be beat. Especially in small stakes games, sizing your bets such that your opponent can call with a worse hand is vitally important. Marginal Made Hands: When Your Opponent Bets
When facing a bet with your marginal made hands, which will usually be all your one pair hands, besides the worst underpairs, you should call and see what
develops on the turn. This will allow you to easily call again on the turn with lots of top and middle pairs, ensuring you are not too easy to push around. Marginal Made Hands: When Your Opponent Checks
It is important to understand that hand values change a bit when your opponent shows weakness. For example, if you have Q-J on J-8-7 and face a bet, calling is the only play that has any merit against most players. However, if your opponent checks, you should often bet for value and protection. This essentially means that when your opponent bets, Q-J is a marginal made hand and when he checks, it is a premium made hand. If you have 9-7 instead, you should call when facing a bet, but you should check behind if you are checked to because it is difficult to get action from many worse hands. In general, as your opponent weakens his range by checking, you should be more inclined to bet with your hands that can extract value from worse made hands. With your hands that are primarily betting for protection (meaning you are hoping to make a hand fold that has about 25% equity), you should often reconsider unless you know for a fact that your opponent will only put money in on the turn and river if he improves to beat you. For example, with 9-7 on J-8-7, if the flop checks through, and your opponent will be inclined to bluff on the turn, or if he will check/call a turn and river bet with hands like 5-5, you should certainly check behind on the flop. However, if he is not inclined to bluff and will not put another penny in the pot with 5-5, you should go ahead and bet to pick up the pot because when your opponent improves to a set, you lose the pot, and when your hand stays best, you win no additional money. Draws: When Your Opponent Bets
When facing a bet, first you have to decide if your draw is strong enough to call. In general, if you have eight or more outs to a premium hand (open-ended straight or flush draw), calling is perfectly acceptable. The same is usually true if you have 10 outs to a strong hand (gutshot plus overcards). These draws do not need to rely on fold equity to be profitable because they are usually getting the correct immediate plus implied odds to call. That said, if you want to have a large raising range because your premium value range is large or you think your opponent will fold too often, these hands are fine raising hands because they have a lot of equity when called and they don’t mind having fold equity. Your weaker draws are more difficult to play. Sometimes calling with a hand
like 9-7 on J-8-2 is perfectly fine and other times it is awful, depending on your opponent’s range. If you think your opponent has primarily premium hands and will make a gigantic turn bet every time, you should call (assuming you are not facing a large flop bet) and hope to get lucky. 10% of the time you will improve to the effective nuts and your opponent will lose his entire stack to you. If your opponent will play intelligently on the turn, recognizing that a 10 is excellent for your range, calling is not such a great idea because you will rarely realize your full potential implied odds. If you think your opponent will instead play in a straightforward manner on the turn, calling a flop bet and then seeing what develops on the turn is ideal. Playing your hand in this manner is referred to as “floating”. Your plan is to bet the turn if your opponent checks and fold if you don’t improve and he continues betting. Occasionally you may decide to raise your opponent’s turn bet if you sense weakness, but that is often a bit optimistic, especially since most small stakes players tend to have strong ranges when they bet both the flop and turn. It is worth noting that you can float with draws as weak as overcards with a backdoor flush draw, especially if you think your opponent will act in a straightforward manner on the turn. If you know your opponent has a flaw in his strategy on the turn, try to get there and see what develops. If you think your opponent will play in an intelligent manner on the turn, you are usually better off raising or folding with your weak draws. This works well in a balanced range because these hands require fold equity, which raising obtains. It also gets somewhat clean information about your opponent’s range because most players do not call flop raises without decently strong hands. So, raise the flop and if your opponent calls, proceed with caution unless you improve to a premium hand or the board changes in a meaningful way. Draws: When Your Opponent Checks
When your opponent checks, you should almost always bet with your draws. This is because most draws do not mind picking up the pot immediately. The main time you should consider checking is when your draw has a pair, such as 87 on 10-9-7. This is because if you bet and get called, you are often in marginal shape whereas when it checks through, you are usually in fantastic shape. You would much rather play a small pot with a lot of equity than a large pot with marginal equity. Junk: When Your Opponent Bets
You should fold when you have a junk hand and your opponent bets. It is important to realize that the junk range fluctuates wildly. Sometimes bottom pair is junk, such as 7♣-4♣ on 10♥-9♥-7♥, and other times it is a solid marginal made hand, such as on J-5-4. The same goes for Ace-high. Sometimes hands like A-10 can easily call on the flop and other times they should be folded. Always strive to figure out how your opponent’s range connects with the board and adjust accordingly. In general, as your opponent’s range becomes stronger and the board becomes more coordinated, you need a stronger hand to continue. Junk: When Your Opponent Checks
It is often difficult to know how to proceed with junk when your opponent checks. If your junk has a reasonable amount of showdown value, such as A-9 on 6-5-4, you should usually check behind and be content to see the showdown. If it has little to no showdown value, such as 8-7 on J-4-2, you should consider betting, especially if you think you can make your opponent fold most of his range by 3-barreling. That said, a great ploy in small stakes games is to simply bet whenever your straightforward opponents check. If their checking range is capped at marginal made hands (because they do not balance their range), you can run them over (assuming they are not calling stations).
Heads-Up In Position as the Pre-flop Caller – Hand Example Suppose a strong player raises to 3 big blinds out of his 75 big blind stack from middle position with the same range that you raise with, and you elect to use this strategy on the button ( Diagram 189 ).
Diagram 189
This is a solid strategy that will result in you having a decent amount of board coverage on the flop. The flop comes J♥-8♣-6♠ and your opponent bets 65% pot. You should continue with this strategy ( Diagram 190 ).
Diagram 190
The nine suited hands without backdoor flush draws or straight draws have
been added to the junk range. Folding only the absolute worst hands has you defending 68.5% of the time, which is a nice number. Many amateurs fold all the backdoor draws, resulting in them folding too often. This is a situation where you should call with your entire playable range. It may seem a bit odd to include hands as strong as A-J in the marginal made hand range, but if you raise A-J on the flop and get significant action, you are rarely way ahead of your opponent’s range. If you want to develop a raising range, it makes the most sense to raise with the sets plus Q-10s and 10-9s, including all bottom as those hands have little showdown value. Let’s suppose your opponent bets 4 big blinds into the 7.5 big blind pot and you call. The turn is the (J♥-8♣-6♠)-9♦. Your opponent checks (as he will often do because this turn card should be great for your range). Here is the strategy you should use ( Diagram 191 ).
Diagram 191
Once your opponent checks the turn, your decent top pairs improve from marginal made hands to premium hands that can bet turn and river. You could also bet Q-Js and J-10s, but doing so weakens your marginal made hand range, which will result in you having to fold to a river bet too often. You should certainly bet all of your draws on the turn, including the weakest
ones like A-Q and K-Q, often with the intention of betting again on the river, mainly because you have so many premium made hands in your range. If you get the vibe that your opponent is not in the folding mood, feel free to check behind with your gutshots and hope to improve. Suppose you bet 11 big blinds on the turn and your opponent calls. The river is the (J♥-8♣-6♠-9♦)-10♠. If your opponent checks, many players would use this strategy ( Diagram 192 ).
Diagram 192
In this situation, given your premium made hands are the effective nuts, you should try to add as many bluffs to your range as possible, and then use a large river bet size. This allows you to profitably make a large bet with many bluffs, allowing you to profit with more hands. The current range only includes 4 combinations of bluffs. This is a problem if you want to be anywhere near balanced, so you should add some of the marginal made hands that are unlikely to win at the showdown to your bluffing range, primarily A-10s and K-10s. That is only 6 additional combinations, bringing the bluffing range to a total of 10 hands. The next worst hand is K-Js, so add that in as well. You should also consider adding in A-Js and A-Jo, making your value betting range 55% of your total betting range. You should then go all-in for your remaining 57 big blinds into the 37.5 big blind pot. If you think your opponent will fold all hands worse than a straight, you should consider adding 9-8s as well. If you think your opponent will call too often, you should remove some of your bluffs, such as AJ. In many small stakes games, you should primarily use gigantic overbets as an exploitative play. A powerful strategy versus weak players who have capped ranges is to bet large or go all-in with your bluffs while betting smaller with your nut hands. This gives you the best of both worlds, extracting value with your nuts and stealing the pot with your bluffs. Some of your opponents may elect to lead on the river when the obvious draw arrives. Most amateurs make this play as either only a bluff or only for value. If you pay attention, you will often be able to make incredibly loose hero-calls or super snug hero-folds. There is no point in paying off the guy who only leads with the nuts, and you should call with many one pair hands versus players who only lead with bluffs.
Adjustments All the above analysis assumed your opponent plays well. As always, you should adjust to your opponent’s tendencies if you want to maximize your profits. Compared to when you are the pre-flop raiser, you actually have additional information about your opponent’s range because he either bet or checked the flop. This allows you to get even more out of line to further exploit your opponent. Against a Weak Player
These players typically continuation bet premium made hands and check everything else. When they bet, you should fold unless you also have a premium made hand or are getting the right price to draw. When they check, you should often be willing to fire all three streets, assuming your opponent will fold almost his entire range by the river. It’s that simple. The way you beat these players is by essentially never paying them off for more than a flop bet, and by stealing every pot when it becomes clear they don’t like their hand. A weak, straightforward player raises from middle position with the same range that you raise with and you use this button strategy ( Diagram 193 ).
Diagram 193
Take note of the adjustments in this range compared to the previous button range when facing a strong opponent. The flop comes Q♥-J♣-5♦ and your opponent bets 75% pot. You should use this strategy ( Diagram 194 ).
Diagram 194
This range may appear too tight initially, but remember, you are adjusting to take advantage of this weak player by not paying him off. Against the absolute tightest players, if your opponent bets somewhat large, you should be fine folding some of your middle pairs and A-5s. If your opponent is only betting top pair and better, you should play incredibly tight.
Many weak, tight players continuation bet the flop with a wide range but then play very straightforwardly on the turn and river. Against these players, you should float with a wide range, including all bottom pairs and better made hands, gutshot straight draws, and backdoor flush draws. Since these players only give honest information once they arrive at the turn, you should make a point to get to the turn. When your opponent continues betting, you should then make tight, exploitative folds, and when he checks, you should bet with 100% of your range. If you find that your opponent frequently calls your turn plus river bets, you should rethink your strategy against this opponent because your read is clearly not accurate. Against a Calling Station
Calling stations are difficult to exploit when they continuation bet unless they are willing to call flop raises with an incredibly wide range, including any draw and Ace-high. If they will call raises with a wide range, you can crush them. Suppose a calling station raises to 3 big blinds out of his 80 big blind effective stack from middle position and you call on the button. The flop comes J♥-10♣-7♦. If the calling station bets 4 big blinds, you should use this strategy ( Diagram 195 ).
Diagram 195
This is what many amateurs blindly do versus other amateurs. They raise to about 3 times their opponent’s bet with top pair and better, call with their marginal made hands and draws, and fold their junk. While this strategy is quite poor against competent opponents, it is an excellent strategy against someone who will call your flop raises much too wide.
If you raise the flop and your opponent 3-bets, you should proceed with caution, probably only continuing with A-J and better. This is because most calling stations act in a passive manner once they are raised. If your opponent calls your flop raise, you can continue betting for value on the turn with most of your premium made hands (top pair and better). If you have a marginal made hand and your opponent keeps betting on the turn, you should usually ditch all hands worse than 8-8, and then fold perhaps your entire marginal made hand range on the river to a third barrel. This is because most calling stations only bet all three streets when they are convinced they have the best hand. Again, this is often how amateurs play versus each other (folding their entire range on the river), but if your opponent will rarely bluff or overvalue worse made hands, folding most of your range is an excellent exploitative strategy. If your opponent checks on the turn, tend to value bet middle pair and better, and try to see a cheap showdown with everything else. It is important to understand that hands that are normally not strong enough to raise the flop go up in value when facing someone who will call a raise with a wide range. If you only raise with your normally-premium hands versus calling stations, you are leaving money on the table. If your opponent checks to you on the flop, you should use the same range as above, except you should bet about 65% pot with all premium made hands, marginal made hands, and draws. This will result in you extracting value from marginal made hands, Ace-high, weak pairs, and weak draws. If your opponent calls your flop bet, you should bet about 50% pot on the turn with middle pair and better made hands. You should not bet the turn with draws because at that point, you are putting money in poorly (unless you assume you have some fold equity on the turn or river). If your opponent will call a 50% pot turn bet with a wide range and an 85% pot turn bet with almost no hands, you should bet 50% pot with your made hands and 85% pot with your bluffs. If you bet the turn with middle pair and better made hands and your opponent calls, you should continue betting the river for an amount that you think your opponent can realistically call with worse made hands most of the time. Against a Maniac
Many amateurs understand they will miss the flop about 65% of the time, but they fail to recognize that their opponent will also miss that often. This means that if your opponent is continuation betting too often, as many players do, you can either raise or float the flop with a wide range, stealing the pot whenever
your opponent doesn’t have a strong hand. Maniacs are the prime target for these plays because they often bet whenever they have the opportunity. Suppose someone who is a bit too aggressive raises from middle position and you call on the button. The flop comes K♠-7♣-4♦. This is a spot where many players make a 65% pot continuation bet with nearly 100% of their range. Clearly, they will not have a strong hand very often and, even when they do, they may not be able to withstand significant pressure. This is an excellent spot to call the flop with any sort of equity and then bet the turn and river if your opponent checks, or raise if your opponent continues betting. When you raise the flop, you are usually risking about 12 big blinds to win a pot of 12 big blinds, meaning if your bluff works more than 50% of the time, you immediately profit. Take a look at a typical wide continuation betting range and see how wide your opponent has to defend to not be immediately exploited ( Diagram 196 ).
Diagram 196
The first thing to note is this range has the opponent betting 100% of the time, which is often not realistic. Some players who are not so maniacal/robotic check their absolute junk while other more competent players check their marginal made hands and junk. That said, if your opponent bets with 100% of hands, he will have top pair or a better made hand, or a draw only 23% of the time. If he
defends against your flop raise with all hands better than A-4 (bottom pair, top kicker), you will roughly break even on your total bluffs (which assumes you have no equity when you get called). In my experience, most players do not defend against flop raises with bottom pair, and if they do, they often play in the worst possible way, 3-betting with their premium made hands and calling with their marginal made hands. This allows you to blindly barrel the turn because you know the best hand they can have is Q-Q (an underpair). Stronger players will call with all of their premium made hands and marginal made hands, which makes things more difficult for you. This example clearly illustrates the major weakness of continuation betting too wide. If you find yourself against a wide continuation bettor, feel free to punish him, especially on somewhat dry boards and boards that should be good for your range and bad for his. Against slightly more maniacal players who will pile their stacks in with an extremely wide range if you call, you should usually call their flop bets with all premium and marginal made hands with the intention of calling down unless the board becomes incredibly scary. If your opponent will fold most of his range if you show aggression, you should play in the manner that leads to the result you want, raising with your junk and draws while calling with your made hands. Against absolutely crazy players who will blindly pile their stacks in regardless of your action, feel free to raise with your best hands and get the money in immediately. You should call with your draws and marginal made hands, and fold your junk. This strategy ensures you play a large pot with your premium hands and a manageable pot with your marginal hands and draws. In my experience, almost no one is oblivious to the fact that flop raises usually indicate strength. I essentially never assume my opponents will play in this manner, which leads me to call with all my made hands.
As Stacks Diminish As stacks diminish, you should consider raising (often all-in) with some of your premium and marginal made hands that would like to have protection. If you are raising with made hands for value, you should usually raise with your draws as well. That said, if your range does not need protection, calling is usually best, especially if your opponent will view your call as weak and continue betting too often on the turn. With Shallow Pre-flop Stacks
Suppose a strong player raises to 2 big blinds out of his 30 big blind effective stack from middle position and you call on the button. The flop comes Q♥-10♣-7♦ and your opponent bets 2 big blinds into the 6 big blind pot. You should use this strategy ( Diagram 197 ).
Diagram 197
I also think calling with premium made hands and draws makes perfect sense in this situation, given they do not need much protection because whatever your opponent has is drawing thin versus your premium made hands and K-Js has a lot of equity, plus you would really like to continue with A-J (meaning you want to strengthen your calling range). You could also add A-J into your raising range,
but you would have to compensate by adding top pairs to your raising range, further weakening your calling range. You decide to call with your entire continuing range. The turn is the (Q♥-10♣-7♦)-4♠. If your opponent bets 4 big blinds into the 10 big blind pot, you should use this strategy ( Diagram 198 ).
Diagram 198
When the turn is a complete blank, your range should not change too often. Notice that if you fold only A-J to a turn bet, you are getting close to folding too often due to your opponent’s small bet size. So, you have to stick around with the rest of your range. While raising the turn with your premium hands and draws is a fine play, calling is my preferable strategy. You can, then, reasonably fold some of your middle pairs to a river bet and also you won’t automatically get your money in bad with K-Js (given your opponent’s turn betting range should be strong on this board). Take a moment to try to figure out your opponent’s strategy up until this point. Thinking about what your opponent is betting with on the turn will help you see why raising with K-Js may not be such a great idea. You decide to call with your entire continuing range. The river is the (Q♥-10♣-7♦-4♠)-5♥. If your opponent bets 8 big blinds into the 18 big blind pot, you should use this strategy ( Diagram 199 ).
Diagram 199
The first thing to notice is that some of the middle pairs move from the marginal made hand range to the junk range. This is fine, as you always want to have a folding range, which varies depending on your opponent’s bet size. This is an excellent spot to call a bit wider than the pot odds dictate because many of your made hands block the obvious value betting made hands your opponent should have, plus many of the draws missed. If you think your opponent is
playing optimally, you should only call as often as your pot odds dictate. Also notice that there are no bluffs in this range, which is a problem given you can realistically expect to have some fold equity when you go all-in for 19 or more big blinds. You should consider using K-10s or J-10s as a bluff in this spot (as opposed to the more obvious K-Js) because they both have a blocker to middle set and two pair, reducing the number of combinations of those hands in your opponent’s range. K-10s is the best candidate because it also blocks K-K. However, if your opponent will simply never fold a Queen or better to an all-in, bluffing with your middle pairs is silly. If instead, your opponent checked on the river, you should use this strategy ( Diagram 200 ).
Diagram 200
This is an interesting situation for a few reasons. First, you have very few natural bluffs (only 4 combinations of K-Js). If you want to bet all your premium made hands and bluffs in the same manner, you should use a small bet, perhaps 5 big blinds into the 18 big blind pot, because most of your betting range beats your opponent’s calling range. Do the math on your own to confirm this sizing works well for K-Js, given the size of your value range.
Since you have some nut hands and some strong, but non-nut, hands in your premium made hand range, you may elect to split your range in a different manner, using this strategy ( Diagram 201 ).
Diagram 201
If you want to finely tune this range, you should go all-in with 3 combinations
of K-Js and bet 4 big blinds with 1 combination of it, so you have at least one bluff in your marginal made value betting range. This will also make your all-in range more balanced. Notice that some of your marginal made value bets will lose when you get called, but that is fine because you will almost certainly have the best hand when you get called more than 50% of the time. This strategy would be completely different if your opponent instead made a large flop bet (as many amateurs do) of 6 big blinds into the 6 big blind pot. In that case should use this strategy ( Diagram 202 ).
Diagram 202
This range has you folding a bit too often, but that is usually fine, given that most players who make sizable post-flop bets have strong ranges. If you thought your opponent’s range was incredibly wide (either because he started with a wide range, he continuation bets most of the time, or he bets smaller with his premium made hands), you should consider adding A-J into your flop raising
range. When faced with a pot sized bet in this situation, you should often go allin when you decide to raise because, if you make it 15 big blinds and your opponent goes all-in, you are priced in to call. However, if your opponent will view a 15 big blind raise as a stronger play than an all-in, raising to 15 big blinds becomes ideal (assuming you want to have fold equity). If instead your opponent (who plays well) checks on Q♥-10♣-7♦, you should use this strategy ( Diagram 203 ).
Diagram 203
You can either bet or check with A-J, depending on what you think of your opponent’s continuing range. If you think he mostly has unpaired high cards that will call a small flop bet of about 3 big blinds into the 6 big blind pot, you should consider betting your middle pairs for value. Hopefully you are starting to see that your strategy depends almost entirely on how your opponent will react. There is no set-in-stone method that ignores your opponent and produces a large amount of profit. You have to constantly think about how your opponent will react and adjust accordingly if you want to win as much as possible. In 3-bet Pots
3-bet pots occur when you raise, your opponent 3-bets from out of position, and you call. Most of the time, you will face a continuation bet in these situations, although the best players (as well as the most passive) will occasionally check. When your opponent checks on dry boards, it is often with a marginal made hand that plans to call at least two bets. Running large, multi-street bluffs in this situation is risky, but if you find that your specific opponent folds by the river most of the time, barreling off is a great strategy. When your opponent checks on coordinated boards, it is usually with a marginal made hand that will fold by the river, or junk. Bluffing is a great tactic in this spot because most players relinquish middle pair and worse hands to three barrels by the river. When your opponent continuation bets, you have to figure out how wide his betting range is. If your opponent’s 3-betting range is somewhat wide and he will continuation bet 100% of the time, you have to stick around with essentially every hand that has any equity at all, which makes many amateurs uncomfortable. For example, you raise to 3 big blinds out of your 100 big blind stack and a loose, aggressive player 3-bets to 9 big blinds from the small blind. You call. The flop comes A♥-J♣-7♦ and your opponent bets 9 big blinds into the 18.5 big blind pot. You should use this strategy ( Diagram 204 ).
Diagram 204
Since the pre-flop 3-bettor’s range should be at least somewhat strong and you have relatively few combinations of premium made hands, you should not play your draws too aggressively. Also, your draws will have a low amount of equity when called, given they are gutshots. This should lead you to call with your entire continuing range. You should often fold the 5 combinations of gutshots
that do not have backdoor flush draws. It is unfortunate that you have to call the flop with all sorts of marginal made hands, but that is what you must do to avoid being run over by a blind continuation bet. Especially if your opponent’s range is wide, calling the flop with most of your pairs is mandatory. You may be surprised to see that I advocate folding pocket pairs worse than middle pair, but when they are behind, they are drawing thin and when they are ahead, your opponent usually has a decent amount of equity. Perhaps you could call the flop with 10-10, 9-9, and 88, but that is not necessary unless your opponent’s range is incredibly wide. You decide to call. The turn is the (A♥-J♣-7♦)-8♠. If your opponent bets 20 big blinds into the 36.5 big blind pot, you should use this strategy ( Diagram 205 ).
Diagram 205
Calling is again suggested with your entire playable range. If you want to have a raising range, your premium made hands and draws would fit nicely into that category, given there is now a nice ratio of premium made hands to draws. Folding Q-J but calling with J-10 and J-9 may appear odd, but that is because J10 and J-9 have a gutshot. If you think about any reasonable betting range, the
odds that your kicker with middle pair matters is quite small because most people do not bet hands like Q-J and J-10 for value on both the flop and turn on this board. So, you should call with your marginal made hands that have the most equity. If instead your opponent checks when the turn is the (A♥-J♣-7♦)-8♠, you should use this strategy ( Diagram 206 ).
Diagram 206
At this point, I hope this range is fairly self-explanatory. You should bet about 50% pot with your betting range. A-10 may be strong enough to bet, but if you bet with it, you have no Aces in your checking range, which will lead to difficult river situations. 7-6s is being bet as a semi-bluff because the drawing range would be quite small otherwise, and 7-6s is unlikely to be the best hand when you get to the showdown, but it still has a decent amount of equity on the turn. If you think your opponent is such a calling station that he will check/call the turn with hands like K-Q, perhaps betting the turn with 7-6s and then checking behind on the river has merit, but most of the time, you should use this bottom pair as a river bluff, assuming you are trying to remain balanced. I cannot stress enough that you should constantly adjust to your opponent’s tendencies. If your opponent is somewhat tight and straightforward on the turn, when he bets, you should fold all your marginal made hands. If he is a maniac, you should happily call down with most of your made hands. In 4-bet Pots
You can find yourself in a 4-bet pot as the pre-flop caller in position when someone raises, you 3-bet from in position, they 4-bet, and you call. At this point, your range could be all over the place, depending on what you think about your opponent and the size of the 4-bet. If you think he is wild, call with many hands in position (assuming he did not make a huge 4-bet), and if he is tight, you should only have premium hands that are ahead of your opponent’s range and drawing hands that are getting the correct implied odds. On the flop, you should continue to play as previously discussed. It is vitally important that you have a clear picture of your opponent’s range in these situations because any misstep could cost you your entire stack. For the most part, in small stakes games, when someone 4-bets before the flop, they have an extremely strong range. You should play tightly against the common 4-betting range of A-A, K-K, Q-Q, and A-K. Do not think that you should splash around with suited connectors and small pairs unless your opponent 4-bet to about 2.2 times you 3-bet or less, which will usually not be the case, given that most amateurs 4-bet huge with their strong hands for “protection”. In general, when you get 4-bet the prudent play is to fold and move to the next hand.
Multi-Way In Position as the Pre-flop Caller This situation can occur in many ways, such as when someone raises and you call and then someone else calls, or someone raises, someone else calls, and you call, or when someone limps, someone raises, you call, and then the limpers either call or fold. In general, you should approach these situations similarly to other multi-way post-flop situations.
Three-Handed When three-handed and facing a bet from the pre-flop raiser, you should continue as you normally would in a heads-up pot, except you should be a bit tighter when there is another player yet to act. This usually involves folding bottom pairs and bluffing a bit less often. If the pot is heads-up because the other caller was between you and the preflop raiser, you should play as if the pot is heads-up (because it now is), keeping in mind that the pre-flop raiser’s continuation betting range should be a bit tighter than normal because he was betting into two opponents instead of one. When the pre-flop raiser checks and then the player between you and the preflop raiser bets, you should often assume the pre-flop raiser has mostly weak hands in his range and that the bettor has a reasonable range. That said, some players will relentlessly attack once the pre-flop raiser checks, so be sure to exploit those players by raising or floating. In general though, when the first preflop caller bets, they usually have a reasonable range, similar to when the preflop raiser bets, except the pre-flop caller’s range often does not include premium pre-flop hands. When both players check to you, the pot is often ripe for stealing by making a 65% pot sized bet. If both checkers are not in the blinds, it is safe to assume that they are both capped at marginal made hands. This should lead you to bet with a wide range, including much of your junk, with the intention of barreling all three streets. Of course, if you get called down by top pair, you should adjust your strategy. In my experience, when both players check to you, you will steal the pot with a continuation bet far more than 50% of the time, making the bet immediately profitable. If the other caller is yet to act but clearly not continuing due to his mannerisms, you should consider betting with a wide range as well. It is important that you understand the difference between when a check comes from the blinds and when it does not. A flop check from the blinds usually does not narrow their range at all because most players do not have a leading range. This means when he checks, he is giving away no information. So, you should be a bit less inclined to blindly attack when a checker is in the blind because he still has all his strong hands in his range. This is much different than when the check is between you and the pre-flop raiser, where the caller’s check indicates a non-premium hand. While it is usually fine to attack when there is a player in the blinds, just be aware you are essentially making a bet into
one wide range and one range that is somewhat capped. While you should not blindly attack every time when checked to unless you have obvious physical tells indicating weakness, the best time to attack is when you have hands that cannot withstand a turn bet but have a reasonable amount of equity, primarily with marginal draws and overcards. Suppose a generally straightforward player raises to 3 big blinds out of his 100 big blind stack, a splashy player calls from middle position, and you call from the cutoff. The flop comes 8♥-7♣-4♦. Both players check to you. You should use this strategy ( Diagram 207 ).
Diagram 207
Clearly this betting range is much too wide to be balanced, but it is a great strategy against players who play straightforwardly on the flop. Betting with 100% of your range in this spot may be ideal, mainly because your marginal made hands don’t mind picking up the pot immediately, given that both your
opponents’ hands have some number of outs to improve to a better hand. If instead the flop was K♥-J♣-9♦ and your opponents checked to you, you should use this strategy ( Diagram 208 ).
Diagram 208
The main junk hands you should bet in this spot are Ace-high with backdoor flush draws and the smallest pairs. The medium pairs are checked because they do not need quite as much protection as the smallest pairs. The intention with all of this range is to continue barreling on the turn and river, assuming you think the check/caller will only call down with decent top pairs and better made hands (which should be a small portion of his range). If you happen to get two callers, it is usually prudent to concede the pot. This board is a bit riskier to blindly triple barrel because it is somewhat easy for your opponents to check with top pair or middle pair with the intention of calling down. For that reason, you should shy away from betting with your entire range. If you make a bet when checked to with a wide range and you get check/raised, it is often wise to get out of the way unless you have a strong premium made hand (some premium made hands in the above ranges are not strong enough to continue versus a check/raise), you have a draw that is getting the right price to continue, or your opponent is a maniac. In general, most players only check/raise with their best hands and premium draws. Given it is difficult to be in great shape against that range, unless you have a premium made hand or a draw that is getting the proper implied odds, you should get out of the way.
Four to Ten-Handed As more players see the flop, you should play in a more straightforward manner. Similarly to when playing three-handed, if everyone checks to you and you are in position, you can often steal the pot with a 65% pot sized bet. The ideal time to attempt this play is when everyone checks to you in a manner that makes it somewhat obvious they have no intention of putting additional money in the pot. You will likely find that when playing multi-way, players who are not interested in the pot make it obvious because they are confident they are not winning. You can also make this play when you are not in position, especially if you know that the players yet to act are not interested in the pot, or if they only continue with their best hands in the face of a sizable bet. This will allow you to steal pots from time to time when no one is interested. That said, you do not have to make too many fancy plays in multi-way pots. A good way to think about these situations is to realize that you only have to win the pot a bit more than one divided by the number of players in the pot to show a profit. For example, if seven players see the flop, you only have to win it a little more than 1 in 7 times to show a profit. This means you can give up a large portion of the time and do perfectly fine. However, if it is clear that no one wants the pot, do not be afraid to reach out and take it.
Heads-Up Out of Position as the Pre-flop Caller This situation occurs when someone raises and you call from one of the blinds. This is exactly where you do not want to be, but is often where you will find yourself if you defend your blinds with a wide range. In general, you should check to the pre-flop raiser with all of your range and see what develops. There are times to lead into the pre-flop raiser, which will be addressed at the end of this section, but for now, assume you are checking with 100% of your range.
Four Types of Hands As always, it is important to categorize your hands and figure out how to play your entire range in an intelligent manner against a competent player. Premium Made Hands: When Your Opponent Bets
When you check and your opponent bets, your premium made hands should either be check/called or check/raised, depending on how the rest of your range pans out. As you have more draws in your range that cannot profitably check/call (gutshots, overcards plus backdoor flush draws, etc.), you should develop a check/raising range. If most of your draws are strong flush draws and strong straight draws that do not require fold equity, check/calling is reasonable. Premium Made Hands: When Your Opponent Checks
When the flop checks through, you should almost always bet the turn for value unless you are confident your opponent will only call the turn and river with a tight range of decently strong marginal made hands. If your opponent is going to fold to a turn bet (because his flop checking range is mostly junk), you should consider checking to give your opponent a chance to bluff. If the turn checks through as well, you should almost always value bet the river. While it feels sweet to get a river check/raise in, the odds that your opponent will bet the river after checking both the flop and turn are quite small, and if he does bet the river, he will rarely call your check/raise unless you have an overly aggressive dynamic with each other. Marginal Made Hands: When Your Opponent Bets
As usual, you marginal made hands should be check/called. You must be careful that your marginal made hand range does not consist entirely of middle pairs and worse made hands. To avoid this, you should check/call with some hands that could reasonably fit into your premium made hand range, such as top pair with a decent kicker. Marginal Made Hands: When Your Opponent Checks
When the flop checks through, you should adjust your range accordingly, betting most of your top pairs and strong middle pairs while continuing to check with your weaker marginal made hands. Be sure that your turn checking range does
not become so weak that it cannot withstand turn and river bets. Draws: When Your Opponent Bets
When facing a bet, you should figure out if your draw is strong enough to check/call. You should ask yourself “If my opponent bets again on the turn, can I realistically stick around, either by check/calling or check/raising?” If you cannot stick around, you should check/raise on the flop, assuming a check/raise produces a decent amount of fold equity. While floating the flop when in position with draws is often a great play, floating from out of position loses much of its appeal. The problem with the out of position float is that, if you check/call the flop and the turn checks through, your opponent can easily structure his range to include many made hands that can happily call your river bet. If you improve to the nuts when you float out of position, you will have a difficult time playing a large pot because you have to check/raise at some point, sounding the warning bells to your opponent. If you decide to check/call the flop and lead the turn, many players become suspicious and will call down with a wide range. Draws: When Your Opponent Checks
When the flop checks through, you should usually bet the turn with all of your draws (as well as all of your premium made hands). This will nicely balance your range and make you difficult to play against. If your opponent raises your turn bet, that is fine because you are protected by having numerous premium made hands in your range. If your opponent calls, you can continue betting on the river with most of your range, assuming there are not too many busted draws. Be aware that if you have too many busted draws, you should either value bet with a few more made hands or check with your draws that can conceivably win at the showdown. Summary
As you can see, not a whole lot changes among the previous three flop scenarios. That said, realize in this situation that you have the worst of both worlds: you lack position and initiative. Because of this, you should try to limit the size of the pot so you are not maximally exploited by your opponent, who will be able to make much better decisions than you due to his positional advantage. Do not make the amateur blunder of check/raising with top pair on the flop for “protection” and to “find out where you stand”. This is a huge mistake that will
keep you stuck in small stakes games for years to come.
Heads-Up Out of Position as the Pre-flop Caller – Hand Example Suppose a strong player raises from the lojack to 2.5 big blinds and only you defend in the big blind. The flop comes K♥-J♣-10♦. You check and your opponent bets 3.5 big blinds into the 5.5 big blind pot. You should use this strategy ( Diagram 209 ).
Diagram 209
8 combinations of A-x of spades have been added to the junk range. This is a rough spot for you, which will usually be the case when you are the pre-flop caller from out of position and the flop brings three big cards. You will usually be forced to defend with some really weak hands or check/fold more than your fair share of the time, making this a nice spot for your opponent to bet with a wide range. Due to the strength of your opponent’s range on this board, you should not have much of a raising range. As your opponent continuation bets with a wider range, there may be a hint of merit in check/raising your premium made hands plus Q-8s and some of the A-xs that have backdoor flush draws. Note that 9-8 and the other weak straight draws are being folded because they are to the dummy end and when they improve, they can easily be crushed by a better straight. If the flop contained two cards of the same suit, you should usually call with your flush draws due to the strength of your opponent’s range. If your opponent makes a sizable turn bet, you should be content to check/fold your weak flush draws. Instead suppose the flop came 8♥-7♣-4♦, you check and your opponent bets 3.5 big blinds. You should use this strategy ( Diagram 210 ).
Diagram 210
Now 10 combinations of suited overcards without backdoor flush draws have been added to the junk range. Notice now that many overcards with backdoor draws can conceivably be check/raised as semi-bluffs. While your check/raising range likely has too many bluffs as it currently sits, that is fine, given your opponent should not connect too
well with the flop. In fact, you may opt to add many more hands to your checkraising range, including some of your strong marginal made hands and additional overcard combinations. As the range sits, you are not check/raising your top pairs. This is because when you check/raise and get called, you are often in a marginal situation with a hand that will usually be a marginal made hand by the river. While it is nice to protect your decent one pairs versus various overcards, it is not worth the risk of being on the losing side of a gigantic pot when your opponent has a better made hand. Your entire check/calling range is nicely protected such that you can call down an acceptable amount of the time. Especially when playing against strong players, you must be keenly aware of the strength of your check/calling range. Suppose you check/raised to 10 big blinds and your opponent called. The turn is the (8♥-7♣-4♦)-Q♥. You should use this strategy ( Diagram 211 ).
Diagram 211
Here six combinations of overcards with flush draws have been added to the draw range. This range still contains a few too many draws. If you want to further balance your range, perhaps A-6s and A-5s should be checked, as well as a few more combinations of your gutshots. The one issue this range currently has is that if
you check more draws, your checking range becomes very tilted toward junk. If you get the vibe that your opponent will blindly bet with his entire range if you check, you may want to check/raise all-in with all your flush draws and made hands, although that leaves your gutshots shivering out in the cold. While both your betting and checking range are a bit weak (due to your wide flop check/raising range), it is close to being balanced as it currently sits. If you bet and your opponent raises all-in, you are forced to fold your flush draws, which is a real bummer. If you think your opponent will frequently raise all-in with any made hand (because he is trying to price out the draws), you should certainly add your flush draws to your check/calling range, or develop a check/raising range.
Adjustments Against a Weak Player
If your opponent will only continuation bet the flop with his best hands, when he bets, you should fold all of your made hands that stand to be behind his betting range and all your draws that are not getting the right price to continue. Suppose a weak player raises to 3.5 big blinds from middle position out of his 100 big blind stack and you call from the big blind. The flop comes J♥-8♣-7♦. You check and the weak player bets 6 big blinds. You should use this strategy ( Diagram 212 ).
Diagram 212
Clearly this strategy would be much too tight against most players, but it is great against a tight player who only bets when he thinks he has a strong hand. While your weakest marginal made hands are often behind at the moment, they all have at least some potential to improve on the turn. You should consider folding A-8s and A-7s if you think your opponent’s range is particularly strong
because when you improve to two pair, you could easily be behind A-A, A-J, or A-10. 7-6s and 6-5s are being folded mainly because they can improve to what appears to be a strong hand that is still crushed. Always be quick to ditch hands that are likely behind at the moment that can still be behind if they improve. While a 9 is a great card for 6-5, it is quite possible for your opponent to have a 10 in his range, resulting in you losing a large pot. Remember, the easiest way you exploit a tight player is to fold when you are not getting the right price to continue. If your opponent checks behind on the flop, you should use this strategy the (J♥-8♣-7♦)-2♠ turn ( Diagram 213 ).
Diagram 213
When weak players check behind on the flop, it is usually with the intention of giving up to a turn bet or calling a turn bet, then giving up on the river. This should lead you to bet about 65% pot with all your premium made hands, draws, and junk. You should also consider betting with your marginal made hands if you get the vibe that your opponent has a hand like Q-10 that you would not
mind protecting against. If instead, the turn was the (J♥-8♣-7♦)-K♠, you should use this strategy ( Diagram 214 ).
Diagram 214
The King is a particularly bad turn for you because it should connect well with
your opponent’s flop check behind range. For that reason, you should proceed more cautiously compared to when the turn is safe. You should not bet your junk at this point unless you have the read that your opponent was planning to fold. You should usually bet with your double gutshot and open-ended straight draws because check/calling makes it difficult to extract a significant amount of value on the river, as you either must lead or check and hope your opponent bets. Weak players might be the easiest players to play against because their actions clearly dictate their hand’s strength. All you have to do is listen. Against a Calling Station
The easiest way to exploit calling stations from out of position is by check/raising with your strong hands that can realistically get called by worse hands. It is often difficult to nail down a calling station’s range to call check/raises. Some will call with their entire flop betting range, including hands as weak as gutshot straight draws and Ace-high, whereas others will only call with top pair and better. When playing from in position as the caller, you should often implement a blatantly straightforward strategy of check/raising with top pair and better made hands, check/calling with your other marginal made hands and draws, and folding everything else. Compared to being in position as the caller, it is more important to get the flop check/raise in because, if you check/call from out of position, you give the calling station the opportunity to check behind on the turn, ensuring the pot does not continue to grow, making it difficult for you to extract value. When you want to play a big pot (when you have a premium hand) against someone who will rarely fold to aggression, you should check/raise almost every time. Once you check/raise the flop, you should continue betting the turn and river unless the board runs out horribly for you, such as when a 4-flush or 4-straight arrives and you don’t have it. Do not be afraid to continue betting with a check/raised top pair on the flop that turns into middle pair by the river, unless an Ace comes (because many calling stations can’t fold Ace-high). If you check/raise top pair and your opponent decides to 3-bet, take a moment to analyze his range. If he will 3-bet with all top pairs and better made hands, you can usually be content to play a large pot with top pair, top kicker and better made hands. If he will only 3-bet with sets and better (electing to call with everything else), you should fold all but your absolute best hands. Make a point to use bet sizes that induce your specific calling station to stick
around with an overly loose range. That last thing you want to do when you have a calling station on the hook is to bet too large and watch him swim away. Against a Maniac
Playing from out of position without the initiative versus a maniac is relatively easy compared to the other player types. You simply check/call to the river with all your made hands and draws that are getting the correct price. There is no point in raising competent maniacs with your premium made hands because they will fold, so to keep them betting, check/call. While this tactic may seem obvious, most maniacs will not catch on because the vast majority of small stakes players check/call the flop and then fold to a turn bet or check/call the flop and turn and then fold to a river bet. These players cap their range by check/raising with their premium made hands on the flop, leaving them ripe for exploiting on the turn and river. As long as you don’t weaken your check/calling range by check/raising with your best hands, check/calling will pay dividends. That said, you must be willing to fold some portion of your check/calling range on each street, even to a maniac. Suppose a maniac raises to 3 big blinds out of his 100 big blind effective stack from the cutoff and you call in the big blind. You check the 6♣-5♥-3♠ flop and the maniac bets 4 big blinds into the 7.5 big blind pot. You should use this strategy ( Diagram 215 ).
Diagram 215
12 suited overcards without backdoor flush draws have been added to the junk range. This range includes all overcards that also have backdoor flush draws because, if you fold them, you are folding too often. I know it feels dicey check/calling versus a maniac with 10-high but keep in mind that they win by making their
opponents fold too often. So, you cannot fold too often. That said, check/raising with many of your worst draws could certainly be better than check/calling if you expect to have some fold equity. One interesting thing about your check/calling range is that an Ace and King are both excellent cards for you, which normally isn’t the case when facing a pre-flop raiser as the caller. So, you cannot fold too often. That said, check/raising with many of your worst draws could certainly be better than check/calling if you expect to have some fold equity. You call your opponent’s 4 big blind bet. The turn is the (6♣-5♥-3♠)-9♠. You check and your opponent bets 10 big blinds into the 15.5 big blind pot. You should use this strategy ( Diagram 216 ).
Diagram 216
11 backdoor flush draws have been added to the draw range. Many players think that it is a mistake to check/call from out of position with a draw that is not getting the right immediate pot odds, but that is not the case against a maniac. If the river is a spade, you can almost certainly count on the maniac betting to try to represent the backdoor flush. Against maniacs, you are
usually getting the correct implied odds (because they will attack scary rivers) whereas you may not be versus the other player types (because they will check behind on scary rivers). You check/call and the river is the (6♣-5♥-3♠-9♠)-Q♣. Your opponent bets 22 big blinds into the 35.5 big blind pot. You should use this strategy ( Diagram 217 ).
Diagram 217
This is a difficult spot because you are folding 30% of your range, but that is probably acceptable, given your opponent’s bet size. If he bet smaller, you should call with a few more hands, mainly A-3 and 2-2. Whatever you do, do not fall into the trap of folding most of your marginal made hands, fearing the maniac must have you beat. Sometimes he will, but losing a pot is not the end of the world. Especially against maniacs, even if you play well, you will find yourself on the losing end a decent amount of the time. You may think that you should raise with many of your decent made hands, but you should usually just call with all hands worse than top two pair because your opponent would certainly play all his premium made hands by betting all three streets. If you know he will call a river check/raise with a wide range of perhaps top pair and better, then you should adjust by check/raising most of your two pairs. If he will only call with two pair and better, you should be much more selective. Even maniacs wake up with premium hands sometimes! If you check/raise with top two pair and better and see that your opponent folds almost every time, perhaps you have found a great spot to raise the river as a bluff. The best hands to bluff with are already selected, due to their straight blockers. You can check/raise with the other 12 combinations of A-7 if you want to significantly widen your bluffing range. This hand illustrated one of the tougher spots you will be in, when you don’t have many obvious marginal made hands, forcing you to make calls that many players perceive to be heroic. When the flop comes with one or more big cards, you will usually be in an easier spot where you can check/call down with lots of top and middle pairs. It is important to realize that many players are maniacs pre-flop and on the flop, but then play straightforwardly on the turn and river. Some only play straightforwardly on the river. If your specific opponent clearly bets the flop and turn with a wide range but always seems to have a premium hand when he bets the river, his river betting range may contain only premium hands, which means you should call the river as if he were a weak, straightforward player.
Leading It is somewhat common in small stakes games to see players bet into the pre-flop raiser. This play is difficult to balance because any hand you lead is no longer in your checking range. If you want to be balanced, you need to lead with some combination of the four types of hands, which doesn’t accomplish much besides making your overall strategy more difficult to implement. When you decide to lead as an exploitive play, you need to have a clear idea of how your opponent will react. If you are betting simply because you have a decent hand and don’t want the flop to check through, you are usually making a mistake. If Your Opponent will Play Straightforwardly
If your opponent will play straightforwardly versus a lead, raising with his premium made hands, calling with his marginal made hands and draws, and folding everything else, you may be able to profitably lead with all your bluffs that you would otherwise check/fold. Especially on boards that are somewhat dry, if the pre-flop raiser requires at least a pair to continue versus your lead, you will often show an immediate profit. Suppose a somewhat loose but straightforward player raises to 3 big blinds from middle position out of his 75 big blind stack and you call in the big blind. The flop comes 7♥-4♣-2♦. If your opponent will play honestly versus a lead, you should use this strategy ( Diagram 218 ).
Diagram 218
While many of the Ace-high hands would normally fall into the marginal made hand range, given you are rarely thrilled to check/call with these hands, turning them into semi-bluffs has a lot of merit. Notice that all of the junk range in this situation has at least some equity, which will usually be the case on flops containing all low cards. Even if your lead gets called, you have a decent chance
to improve to top pair or a stronger draw on the turn. You should use this strategy because you expect your opponent to react in this way ( Diagram 219 ).
Diagram 219
Given this player will have what he considers junk 69% of the time, a pot
sized lead will show an immediate profit. A pot sized lead needs to work 50% of the time and in this case, it will succeed 69% of the time. To make this situation even better, when your opponent calls, your leading range has a decent amount of equity. Even better, you can continue barreling on the turn when your opponent calls because most of his marginal hands will become weaker as the board becomes scarier. Some of the weakest players will call your lead with hands like 7-6s, then fold to additional turn and river aggression. Other players may elect to call with a wider range on the flop, including strong overcards like A-K, but will fold to turn and river aggression. By leading versus these players, you take many of your junky hands that would normally be check/folded (all unpaired hands worse than Ace-high), and play them in a profitable manner. Even if your opponent will defend versus your lead 60% of the time, you should still consider leading because you will turn additional equity or steal the pot on the turn or river some portion of the time. That said, if your opponent starts calling the flop with a wide range and then doesn’t fold any made hand by the river, you should adjust, often removing leading from your strategy. Clearly this situation is extreme. If you want to lead occasionally without tipping your opponent off to the fact that you are blatantly stealing from him, lead with hands that are not quite good enough to check/call or check/raise. This will often be hands that do not have much showdown value but still have some equity, such as overcards plus backdoor draws, and marginal gutshot straight draws. This is a great range to lead with because when you get raised, you can easily fold, and when you get called, you will improve to a hand that you can confidently continue betting with a decent amount of the time. If Your Opponent will Play Aggressively
Some opponents will attack whenever they are bet into, thinking the lead must be primarily with marginal made hands, draws, and junk. Against these players, you should consider leading with your premium made hands and some of your best marginal made hands because your opponent will frequently raise, bloating the pot when you have a significant range advantage. It is important that you then just call your opponent’s raise in a way that makes him think you have, at best, a marginal made hand. This will induce him to continue betting on the turn and river in order to “ensure” you fold your entire range. Of course, your plan is to call down, or check/raise the river with your nut hands. Suppose one of these players raises to 3 big blinds out of his 100 big blind
stack from middle position and you defend the big blind. You should use this strategy on a K♠-J♥-8♣ flop ( Diagram 220 ).
Diagram 220
The plan is to lead for about 65% of the pot with K-Q and better made hands and then call down once your opponent raises. If he just calls instead, you should
continue betting the turn for whatever amount your opponent will view as weak, which, in my experience, has been about 40% pot. At that point, your opponent may opt to raise, which you would again plan to call down. Suppose you lead the flop for 4 big blinds into the 6.5 big blind pot, your opponent raises to 16 big blinds, and you call. The turn is the (K♠-J♥-8♣)-4♣. You check, your opponent bets 20 big blinds, and you call. The river is the (K♠J♥-8♣-4♣)-9♠. You check and your opponent bets 30 big blinds. You have to decide if you should check/raise all-in for about 30 big blinds more with 8-8 and K-J (K-Q is obviously a check/call). It should be clear to most opponents that when you take the lead/call, check/call, check/raise all-in line, that you clearly have a premium hand. So, you have to figure out the range with which your opponent will call 30 big blinds more. The worst players will be annoyed that they got outplayed and splash the remaining 30 big blinds in with middle pair and better made hands. Against these players, you should check/raise with 8-8 and K-J. The best players will correctly assess your range and only call with K-J and better. Against these players, you should only check/raise with 8-8, and even then, you should strongly consider just check/calling with it. If the river was instead the (K♠-J♥-8♣-4♣)-2♦, you should probably check/raise K-J and better versus both players, although even on safe runouts, K-J could be a call versus the best players because they will mainly call when you are beat. Do not assume that just because you slowplayed, your hand is automatically strong enough to check/raise the river.
As Stacks Diminish With Shallow Pre-flop Stacks
With a short stack, assuming you did not push all-in pre-flop, you should often look to check/push all-in on the flop with many of your playable hands, assuming your range contains a reasonable combination of draws. Suppose a competent player raises to 2.5 big blinds out of his 25 big blind stack from middle position and you call from the big blind. If you check and your opponent bets 4 big blinds on a J♥-8♣-6♦ flop, you should use this strategy ( Diagram 221 ).
Diagram 221
This is a surprisingly difficult spot, with you folding a high 42% of the time to a flop bet. Notice if you play a wider range, you will fold even more often. You may want to strengthen your calling range by adding more top pairs to it. It may feel quite risky to check/raise all-in with your gutshot straight draws, but it is often the best play, especially when you want to check/raise your best hands.
You may elect to check/raise all-in with your Ace-high backdoor flush draws. It is also acceptable to check/push all-in with all your marginal made hands, although calling is certainly fine. The reason to check/push all-in with the marginal made hands is because, if you check/call, you will be in a difficult spot if you face a turn bet. Also, most of the marginal made hands are susceptible to being outdrawn on various turns. By check/raising, you usually force your opponent to play well (most players will call with middle pair and better), but in exchange, you get a large amount of protection. In general, as your stack size decreases, making your opponent fold hands that have 30% equity is an excellent result. Notice that if this board contained slightly larger cards, you would have many more hands that could confidently continue. If it was lower, your Ace-high hands would improve to marginal made hands. On this board (and Q-7-5, Q-8-6, K-86, etc.), you have to be careful to not fold too often, especially if you do not have lots of marginal connectors in your range. One of the easiest ways to grind up a stack when you are short is to simply raise to 2.5 big blinds and then make a 2.5 big blind continuation bet on most flops. You will find that many of your opponents do not defend nearly often enough to make a blind continuation bet unprofitable. In 3-bet Pots
This situation occurs when you raise, someone 3-bets from in position, and you call. While you may think this situation is similar to when you are short stacked, it is actually very different because both players’ ranges should be much stronger. Suppose you raise to 3 big blinds out of your 75 big blind effective stack from middle position and a somewhat snug player 3-bets from the button to 9 big blinds. You call. The flop comes J♥-8♦-6♣. If you check and your opponent bets 10 big blinds, you should use this strategy ( Diagram 222 ).
Diagram 222
Notice that on the same board as the previous example (where you were having difficulty defending often enough), you can now easily defend often enough. This is because you don’t have lots of random A-x and big cards in your range that failed to connect with the board. Also notice that you have essentially no draws in your range besides 10-9s.
This should lead you to play your premium made hands and your marginal made hands in the same manner, strengthening your calling range. If you wanted to raise with your draws while remaining balanced, you could check/raise with 6-6 and 10-9s. Suppose you check, your opponent bets 10 big blinds, and you call. The turn is the (J♥-8♦-6♣)-A♠. You should check, and then use this strategy if your opponent bets 17 big blinds ( Diagram 223 ).
Diagram 223
You should again use the same strategy of check/calling your entire continuing range, although check/raising 6-6 and 10-9s still has some merit. On the river, you should check/call or check/raise with your premium hands, depending on their strength, and fold middle pair and worse. If the turn checked through, on the river you should value bet with all top pairs and better made hands, 10-9 (whether or not it improved to a straight), and a few junk hands, such as 8-7s and 7-7, to balance your range so your opponent cannot easily fold all hands worse than an Ace. In 4-bet Pots
This situation occurs when someone raises, you 3-bet from the blinds, the preflop raiser 4-bets, and you call. This is exactly where you do not want to be without a premium hand, so when you find yourself in this spot, it will often be with a strong range. Suppose a loose, aggressive player raises to 3 big blinds out of his 100 big blind stack, you 3-bet to 11 big blinds from the small blind, he 4-bets to 27 big blinds, and you call. The flop comes K♥-Q♣-4♦. You should check, and then use this strategy if your opponent bets 25 big blinds ( Diagram 224 ).
Diagram 224
A♠-J♠ has been added to the junk range. Hopefully you are starting to notice that strong ranges rarely flop draws. In this situation, you should check/call with your entire continuing range. If you get the vibe that your opponent’s range is incredibly strong, you can fold A♥-J♥, A♣-J♣, and A♦-J♦. Even against a loose player, you should not check/call with
your underpairs because it is too likely that they are either beat at the moment or will get outdrawn by the river. The reasoning for check/calling instead of check/raising with your premium hands is that you do not want to allow your opponent to easily fold his junk to a check/raise. You should always check the turn and if your opponent goes all-in, you should call with all hands in your range besides A-Q (notice A-Q is the bottom of your flop check/calling range) and A-Js. If the turn checked through, on the river you should strongly consider checking your entire range besides K-K, Q-Q, and unimproved A-Js. A-Q is a bit too weak to bet for value and you want to give your opponent every possible opportunity to bluff with a hand like 8-7s or overvalue K-J.
Multi-Way Out of Position as the Pre-flop Caller This situation occurs when someone raises, someone else calls, and then you call from the blinds. It can also take place when you limp, someone raises, someone calls, and then you call, or when a few players limp, you limp, someone raises, and then you all call. As you will see, when out of position as the pre-flop caller, you will do a lot of check/folding.
Three-Handed As in other multi-way situations, when you don’t have anything, it is probable that another player does. That said, even from out of position, you can still get a bit out of line. The main time to attempt a bluff is when the pre-flop raiser is known to continuation bet too often. Suppose a loose, aggressive player who continuation bets too often raises to 3 big blinds out of his 100 big blind effective stack from middle positon, the button calls, and you call from the big blind. The flop comes 8♣-7♥-4♦. You check, the initial raiser bets 6 big blinds, and the button folds. You should strongly consider check/raising with all your draws (and premium made hands), including those as weak as overcards with backdoor flush draws. If the board instead contained a flush draw, you should certainly check/raise with your straight draws and flush draws. If you check/raise with this wide range on the flop, you will find that the turn often makes your junky draw stronger, and when it doesn’t, it can still make the board scarier, allowing you to continue bluffing. For example, if you check/raise with J-10 on 8♥-7♥-4♦, if the turn is a Heart, 6, or 5, you should continue bluffing because the board became much scarier. You should also keep betting when you improve to a straight or top pair. If you instead have K♥-4♥, you should continue betting when the turn is a Heart, King, Jack, Ten, 9, 8, 6, or 5. By betting when you improve to an effective nut hand and also when you miss your draw, you will usually have a well-balanced range that is difficult to play against. While attempting this play is often best when the pot becomes heads-up (when the caller is in between you and the pre-flop raiser), it also can work when there is a player yet to act. This is because when facing a flop bet and check/raise, the player yet to act will usually only continue with incredibly strong hands, perhaps only overpairs and better. This means that you will rarely have to worry about the caller. If the pre-flop caller sticks around notwithstanding your check/raise, you should proceed with the utmost caution. Of course, if you are playing live and get the vibe that the pre-flop caller likes his hand (or if the continuation bettor likes his hand), you should pass on these spots. Do not think you are required to take every opportunity you are presented. Four to Ten-Handed
As more players see the flop, you should be inclined to play more
straightforwardly. That said, do not fall into the habit of overplaying marginal made hands. Suppose someone raises to 2.5 big blinds out of his 100 big blind stack, four players call, and you call in the big blind. The flop comes J♥ J ♥-8♣-7♦ -8♣-7♦. You should not lead with many hands in this situation. You check, someone bets, and someone else calls. You should proceed with this strategy ( Diagram 225 ).
Diagram 225
This may appear quite snug, but this strategy will keep you out of trouble, which is often your main concern in multi-way pots from out of position. You should fold hands as strong as middle pair unless the bet you are facing is small because you are often dominated and when you aren’t, you have a decent chance to get outdrawn. You should also fold hands like J-6s, assuming it was in your wide big blind defending range. Notice that you are check/calling with all your marginal made hands, which is something many amateurs do not do in this spot. They think their only option is to check/raise hands like K-J for protection, thinking that if they check/call, they will certainly be outdrawn. Instead, raising ensures they play a large pot when they are crushed, which is the exact opposite of what you want. Hopefully you noticed that the check/raising range is weighted toward premium made hands. This is because when you check/raise multi-way, you will usually get at least one caller. If you think you have more fold equity, feel free to check/raise with more draws such as Q-10 and Q-9, especially if you have a backdoor flush draw. If you think the check/raise will always get called, you should probably opt to check/call (or check/fold) 6-5.
VARIOU ARIOUS S TECH TECHNICAL NICAL SKILLS SKILLS This section is a smattering of ideas that you must master if you want to succeed in small stakes games. Many of these topics have been touched on already, but there is value in spending a bit more time reinforcing them. Hopefully you are already aware of many of these concepts, but if you are not, be sure to soak them up like a sponge.
Do Not Make Large Bets It is quite common to see amateurs raise to 3.5 big blinds out of their 100 big blind effective stack before the flop, get three callers, and then bet 20 big blinds on the flop. This is almost always done with an overpair for “protection”. They think that if they bet large, they cannot get outdrawn unless their opponents are willing to pay a hefty price. They fail to realize that if their opponents fold everything besides two pair and better, they are essentially risking 3.5 big blinds before the flop to win 100 after the flop. The idea of betting large for protection with your strong hands is completely flawed because when your opponents fold, they are drawing thin and when they don’t, you are in either awful shape versus a premium made hand or in marginal shape versus a premium draw. It is mandatory that you do not give your opponents large implied odds by playing in this manner. Instead, bet about 65% pot or less in most situations. As a default, if you bet 65% pot on coordinated boards and 40% pot on uncoordinated boards, you will rarely make a substantial error. While there are certainly times to vary your bet size, most of the time you should stick to these reasonable sizes. That said, there are a few times when making a large bet has merit. From a game theory optimal point of view, on the river, you can nicely balance your range by betting with a range that is 50% nut hands and 50% bluffs, betting essentially an infinite amount. For example, if the pot is $5 and you bet $100, your opponent needs to win 48.7% of the time to break even. So, you can make this gigantic bet of 20 times the pot with a range that is 51.3% nut hands and 48.7% bluffs, and your opponent will have a break-even situation. If your opponent calls too often, you will get paid more than you should with your nut hands, and if he folds too often, you steal the pot more than you should with your bluffs. This is what is happening when you witness the best players in the world making large bets on the river. They understand that their range contains nut hands and balance that range by adding as many bluffs into their range as possible to balance it. That said, be careful to not let your frequencies get out of line. If you bluff more than the pot odds your opponent is being laid in these situations, observant opponents will start calling with a wide range knowing that they will win about 60% of the time in a situation where they only need to win 50% of the time.
You can also use large bets (perhaps up to three times the size of the pot) on the turn when your range is polarized to nut hands and draws. This usually occurs on draw-heavy boards, but it can also occur when you have only a few draws in your range. By betting large with both your nut hands and your draws, your opponent is again in a break-even spot for a ton of money. When making a gigantic bet on the turn, you can actually have more bluffs in your range than value bets because your bluffs will win some portion of the time when you get called. Another time you can use large bets is when you know how your specific opponent will react when facing a large bet. Many times while grinding at $5/$10 no-limit, I would find myself on the river with the nuts versus a player who I was confident had a premium hand. This often occurs when the flush completes, you have the nut flush, and your opponent becomes visibly excited. If stacks are $900 and there is $300 in the pot, if you know your opponent will never fold a flush to any bet, the only bet that makes sense is to go all-in. The opposite situation also arises, when you know your opponent will fold to a large bet. This occurs on the turn and river when an obvious draw comes in and your opponent clearly has a marginal made hand that he will fold to a large bet. Do not be afraid to fire out a substantial bet of pot or more primarily as a bluff versus these players. Another spot where you should make large bets comes up pre-flop when you have A-A and a tight player 3-bets or 4-bets you. If you know your opponent’s range is A-A, K-K, Q-Q, and A-K, you might as well get all-in for your entire stack because your tight opponent is not planning to fold. There is no point in making a small reraise because your opponent may call and then make a big fold after the flop.
Combating the Gigantic Overbet Whenever some amateurs bet, they bet huge, between 80% and 250% pot. Some players use this sizing when playing a tight style and others use it when playing a maniacal style. Keep in mind that, as the bets get larger in proportion to the pot, you need to defend less often. Against tight players, you should fold most of the time. These players often have such strong ranges that you cannot do anything to exploit them besides make snug folds. If someone rarely puts money in the pot and when they do they cut off your implied odds, you can only continue with the absolute best hands. For example, if one of these players raises to $14 at $1/$2 and you have 9-9 with a $150 effective stack, even though you are barely getting the right implied odds to call, you should fold and avoid the high variance situation. You should also fold A-Q and perhaps even A-K if you think your opponent will not pay you off when you make top pair if he has Q-Q. Just play snugly and let these players win the blinds once every three orbits. Against someone who raises large with a maniacal range, you should make a point to figure out if they will fold to aggression. If he will raise to 7 big blinds before the flop and then fold to a 19 big blind 3-bet, you should 3-bet a ton because the players yet to act will almost certainly get out of the way and the maniac will not be able to properly defend his range. If he will call your 3-bet and then check/fold on the flop when he misses, that is also excellent for you. When you find someone who has way too much junk in his range, do not be afraid to get out of line and exploit him. Some players will play normally on the flop but will then blast the turn when they have a hand they perceive to be strong. You should make a point to see the flop with a wide range of hands that have implied odds versus these players because you are risking 3 big blinds before the flop to potentially win a 10 big blind flop bet and a 30 big blind turn bet. That said, do not inappropriately pay off these players with marginal made hands after the flop. Their strategy wins in small stakes games because their opponents are not capable of folding one pair.
Combating the Tiny Underbet When facing someone who makes tiny bets of 30% pot or less on a regular basis, you have to be sure not to fold too often. This is because if your opponent steals the pot with any frequency, he will show an immediate profit. Suppose one of these players who plays a normal distribution of cards raises to 3 big blinds from middle position and you call in the big blind. The flop comes 8♠-4♣-2♦ 8♠-4♣-2♦. You check and your opponent bets 1.5 big blinds into the 6 big blind pot. You You should use this strategy ( Diagram 226 ).
Diagram 226
Nine suited overcards without backdoor flush draws are played the same way as their unsuited counterparts. Notice that if you fold more than 20% of the time, your opponent will immediately profit, so you should defend with at least 80% of your range, assuming you want to be unexploitable, which may or may not be the case.
With many of the non-Ace-high overcard hands, both check/calling and check/raising are fine options. When someone bets tiny, you are often getting an excellent price to see the turn. When you are getting the proper price, check/calling is often better than check/raising. The main time you want to check/raise with your draws is when you are not getting the right price to draw, which you are when facing a tiny bet. That said, you really need to raise with your premium made hands to extract value and cut off your opponent’s ability to see a cheap turn, so you want to keep some bluffs in your range. Against players who bet small, being unbalanced is often ideal because they will either fold all their junk to the first sign of aggression or they are calling stations. By now, you should know the adjustments required against each type of player. Whether you play aggressively or not, what is more important is that you do not fold too often when facing a tiny bet.
Identifying and Exploiting Bet Sizing Tells If you pay attention, you will find that most of your opponents in small stakes games have egregious bet sizing tells. Some players bet large with their premium hands while others bet tiny. Others will bet tiny with their marginal made hands or draws. Some will bet large with exactly J-J before the flop. Some will raise in increments of 7 when they have 7-7. The possibilities are limitless. Once you figure out what your opponent’s bet sizes mean, you can narrow your opponent’s range accordingly. While it is difficult to definitively narrow your opponent’s range with no reads, you can be much more precise if you are confident in your reads. For example, if you know someone bets pot with his draws and 67% pot with his made hands, when the flop comes 7♣-6♣-3♦ 7♣-6♣-3 ♦ and your opponent bets pot, you should assume he has mostly draws. This should lead you to call and play intelligently on the turn. You can also raise if you think your opponent will play poorly in response. With your junky hands, you can either fold or float with the intention of making an aggressive play on safe turns or rivers. If instead you think his pot bet means his range is nut-heavy, you should fold your marginal made hands and call with your draws (there is no point raising if you have no fold equity). You should raise with your premium hands (sets and better) with the intention of getting all-in because your opponent will be unlikely to fold the hands he perceives to be strong. Despite the fact that many amateurs have significant bet sizing tells, you will rarely be able to capitalize on them because you will not play with most players long enough to develop reliable reads. You should start by playing a fundamentally sound strategy and then adjust once you identify your opponents’ errors. One of the most costly mistake you can make is to adjust to a tendency that you think exists, but actually doesn’t.
Combating Horrible Opponents Initially I was not going to write about this, but when I asked my followers on Twitter and Facebook to list things they wanted me to discuss in this book, quite a few asked “How do you play against players who are completely clueless and who can show up with any two cards?” In general, if you do not know how to play against someone, whether they are good or bad, you should start with a fundamentally sound strategy and then adjust from there. Once you figure out your opponent is horrible, you should quantify what he does that you can exploit. From there, you should adjust accordingly. In general, most players who are new to the game exhibit a few extremely exploitable tendencies. They limp with a wide range before the flop and then call raises with either most of their pre-flop range or almost none of it. This should lead you to raise them with a wide range to see how they will react, and then adjust from there. They call after the flop way too often with any sort of hand they think is decent, which could mean any gutshot or King-high. You should treat these players as calling stations. Some horrible players min-bet with their entire betting range because they do not realize betting other sizes is allowed. This will result in you getting excellent pot odds after the flop. When habitual min-bettors all of a sudden use large bets, they almost always have an effective nut hand. While it is difficult to say exactly what a specific total novice will do incorrectly, if you adjust according to the mistakes you see your opponent make, you will show a nice profit. Do not fall into the trap of thinking “They play any two cards before the flop, so they can show up with anything. How can I beat that?” While many novices will play a wide range, if you frequently value bet with the intention of folding if raised, you will show a nice profit against these (and many other) players.
Betting with the Intention of Folding if Raised Perhaps the most valuable play against straightforward players is betting with the intention of folding if you get raised. This is because many straightforward players check/raise with their best hands, check/call with their marginal hands and draws, and check/fold their junk. Suppose you raise from middle position to 2.5 big blinds out of your 50 big blind stack and only the big blind, a straightforward player, calls. The flop comes K♥-J♣-6♦ -J♣-6♦ and your opponent checks. You should often bet 3 big blinds with your entire range. Your opponent will continue in this manner ( Diagram 227 ).
Diagram 227
Notice that your opponent will fold 54.5% of his range and your bluffs only need to succeed 33% of the time for you to immediately profit. Continuation betting in this spot with your entire range will print money. That range also has your opponent check/raising his top pairs and better made hands, which is exactly what many amateurs do.
Suppose your opponent calls. The turn is the (K♥-J♣-6♦)-7♣ and your opponent checks. You should bet about 50% pot with your entire range, expecting your opponent to continue in this manner ( Diagram 228 ).
Diagram 228
On this somewhat innocuous turn, your opponent will probably only
check/call with middle pair (and better) and draws. By check/raising top pairs on the flop, your opponent cripples his check/calling range. Once again, you need to steal the pot about 33% of the time and you will steal it 41.5% of the time, printing some more equity. Notice again that your opponent will check/raise when he improves to a set or two pair, further weakening his river range. The river is the (K♥-J♣-6♦-7♣)-A♥ and your opponent checks. You should make one more bet of about 50% pot with your entire range, expecting your opponent to proceed with this strategy ( Diagram 229 ).
Diagram 229
You may think the river Ace is quite bad for you because your opponent’s obvious straight draws came in, but in reality, all cards are fine enough for you on the river besides exactly a Jack (because the majority of your opponent’s range is middle pair). In this spot, you need to steal the pot 33% of the time and you will steal it a hefty 62.9% of the time. This example clearly displays the downfall of playing in a straightforward manner against someone who is competent and capable of analyzing ranges. Of course, your opponent could decide to be balanced by calling with some of his middle pairs on the river, but that is not a great solution to this problem because he gave you two nice streets of fold equity on the flop and turn (where you generate equity due to your opponent folding too often). If your straightforward opponent raises at any point throughout this hand, you can easily fold all but your best hands. In fact, you should look to fold hands as strong as K-Q on the flop, which may feel tight, but is often ideal versus these players. While continuation betting with your entire range is a losing proposition against strong opponents, it is an excellent play against straightforward players because they make it obvious where you stand. In my previous tournament and cash game books, I suggested continuation betting quite often because the majority of players demonstrated this straightforward tendency. In my book BLUFFS, an entire chapter was devoted to this concept. When you encounter a player who makes it as clear as day where you stand, bet with a wide range with the intention of barreling when called and folding when raised. It is worth pointing out that your opponent could have made this situation much tougher on you by simply check/calling with his top pairs and raising with his draws. Even if he made only one of these adjustments, this situation would have been tougher. That is why you cannot blindly continuation bet against generic, unknown opponents. However, once you develop a better read, adjusting to this strategy against the right players is incredibly profitable.
Facing a Bet After the Obvious Draw Completes Many amateurs dread being in the situation where the obvious draw completes and their opponent leads into them. In reality, this situation isn’t too difficult because it is incredibly player dependent. For the most part, when the obvious draw completes and small stakes players lead, they consistently either have what they are representing or they don’t. Against those who consistently have it, fold unless you also have it. Against those who consistently lead when they don’t have it, raise with your nut hands, call with your decently strong and marginal made hands, and raise with your bluffs. Unfortunately, accurately knowing how your opponents play does not happen too often in reality. Even against your tight opponents who you think play in a straightforward manner, you should occasionally look them up when you have hands near the top of your range (assuming you have relatively few nut hands) in order to “keep them honest”. If you find that your tight opponent simply always has the completed draw he is representing, you should adjust by folding almost everything when bet into when the obvious draw arrives. (As an aside, when you river a marginal flush and someone who you think only leads when he improves to a premium hand leads into you, you should just call. Do not think that you must raise the river just because you improved. Instead, figure out if your opponent will call a raise more than 50% of the time with a worse hand.) When a completely unknown player leads into you for the first time, it is usually a good idea to assume he has what he is representing. However, most players are not completely unknown. It is important that you pay attention when you are not involved in the pot. If you see someone habitually lead when the turn or river completes the obvious draw, it is safe to assume that player is leading with more hands than only the nuts. If you see someone play in a generally tight and straightforward manner over the course of a few hours and then lead when the draw comes in, that player usually has a premium hand. While you will often have a sample size of zero when someone leads into you for the first time, you will have some idea of how they approach poker. Assuming you have no reads, or you are aware that your opponent leads with some value hands and some bluffs, take some time to determine how many combinations of each are in his range.
Suppose you raise to 3 big blinds out of your 75 big blind stack with A♥-K♥ and only a loose, capable player calls from the big blind. The flop comes A♣-7♠-6♠. Your opponent checks, you bet 4.5 big blinds, and he calls. The turn is the (A♣-7♠-6♠)-2♦. Your opponent checks, you bet 10 big blinds, and he calls. The river is the (A♣-7♠-6♠-2♦)-Q♠ Your opponent bets 30 big blinds into the 33.5 big blind pot. Should you call or fold? The first thing you should ask yourself is if your opponent will turn any hands besides busted draws into bluffs. If so, that widens his bluffing range. Will your opponent lead with 8♦-6♦, thinking that it is rarely good when the river checks through? Does he even have 8♦-6♦ in his pre-flop range? Will he lead with a hand like A-Q for value? If so, that widens his value range. Most small stakes players are not capable of turning marginal made hands into bluffs, but many are capable of betting when they do not know what to do. If your opponent is bad in an unpredictable manner, it is usually best to call until you have better information about his tendencies. If he plays in a more competent manner, only leading the river with flushes and busted open-ended straight draws, his range looks like this ( Diagram 230 ).
Diagram 230
Three combinations of 9-8s have been added to the busted straight draw range. If your opponent is leading with all busted straight draws (not counting 5-4, which is not in many players’ ranges), he will have a flush about 50% of the time and a busted straight draw the other 50% of the time. This means that against this opponent, you have an easy call with top pair (and all other pairs) when your opponent bets 30 big blinds into the 35.5 big blind pot because you only need to
win 31% of the time to break even. Even if your opponent had many more potential flushes in his range, he will not get up to the requisite 32 combinations of flushes to make you fold. At least in this spot, since your opponent is unbalanced due to bluffing with too many busted straight draw combinations, you have an easy call. If your opponent instead bluffed with only 7 or 8 combinations of busted straight draws, you would be in a break-even situation, making you indifferent between calling and folding. If he bluffed with 6 or fewer combinations, you would have an easy fold. If the river was instead either the 10♠ or 5♠, you would have an easy fold because both obvious draws got there. Even against someone aggressive, when all the draws arrive, you should make a snug fold with your marginal made hands due to the lack of bluffs in your opponent’s range.
Facing a Bet When the Obvious Draw Misses This will not happen to you nearly as often compared to when the obvious draw comes in. This play is usually made with either a premium made hand that your opponent slowplayed on the flop and turn and doesn’t want to risk the river checking behind or with a busted draw. For the most part, tight, straightforward players usually show up with premium made hands while loose, aggressive players often show up with busted draws. Knowing this, you should act accordingly. If you have relatively little information about your opponent, you should call with a wide range of marginal made hands the first time to see what your opponent has. In my experience, most players show up with busted draws, thinking the overly simplistic thought: “the only way I can win is to bet.” You will occasionally find players who lead for 30% to 60% pot as a “blocking bet”, thinking that if they check and you bet, they will be in a difficult spot, whereas if they lead, you are in a difficult spot. In reality, these players make life easy on you. You can call with your marginal made hands that stand to be better than your opponent’s blocking bet range and raise small with your strong hands. Deciding how to play your junk is where this situations gets interesting. If you think your opponent will fold his entire blocking bet range to a raise, you should raise all your junk. This will allow you to show a huge profit with your entire range, which is a dream scenario. If instead, you think he will call most of the time, simply fold your junk, maximizing value from your premium hands. (As an aside, a fun play I make against players who I know will attack blocking bets is to make bets they perceive to be blocking bets with my premium and marginal made hands, knowing my opponent will raise with all his junk. This extracts significant value from my opponent’s junk range, whereas if I check, he may simply check behind. Instead, I bet 35% pot, he raises to about three times my bet, and I happily call.)
When Min-raised Another tricky situation you may find yourself in is when you continuation bet the flop and get min-raised. As always, it is important to assess your opponent’s range in order to determine how you should proceed. Against players who minraise with only the nuts, you should fold unless you are getting the proper pot odds plus implied odds to draw. Some maniacs will check/min-raise the flop incredibly wide. Against these players, you have to buckle up and prepare to call to the river with any sort of marginal made hand. While post-flop min-raising ranges vary quite a bit, in my experience, most amateurs min-raise the flop with top pair and better made hands and min-raise the turn and river with the effective nuts. Given these ranges are similar but different, they should be approached differently.
When Min-raised on the Flop When min-raised on the flop, you are getting great pot odds. Suppose you raise to 3 big blinds out of your 100 big blind effective stack from middle position and only the big blind calls. The flop comes 7♣-5♣-2♠. Your opponent checks, you continuation bet 4 big blinds with your entire pre-flop raising range (which may or may not be the optimal play), and your opponent check/min-raises to 8 big blinds. At this point, you have to call 4 more big blinds into a pot that will be 22.5, meaning you only need 18% equity to break even. So, you have to figure out which hands in your continuation betting range have at least 18% equity versus your opponent’s check/min-raising range. Let’s assume he check/min-raises the flop with 7-7, 5-5, 2-2, 7-5, as well as all overpairs and top pairs that are in a reasonable big blind defending range. You should defend with an incredibly large portion of your range. You can use Equilab’s “Hand Range Calculator” feature to show which hands have at least 18% equity against your opponent’s min-raising range. In this case, you should continue with essentially every hand that obviously has some equity plus any hand that has a reasonable backdoor flush draw ( Diagram 231 ).
Diagram 231
Here 77 combinations of hands without backdoor flush draws have been added to the folding range. Notice that if your preflop range was much wider, your defending range would also be wider, containing many hands with overcards and backdoor draws, such as Q♠-8♠ and Q♣-8♣. What this illustrates is that if you have any equity at all, as little as a backdoor flush draw with two overcards, you have to continue, even if you know the worst hand in your opponent’s range is top pair. However, you have to proceed with a
bit of caution because some amount of the time when you improve to top pair, you will still be crushed by a premium made hand, meaning you occasionally have large reverse implied odds. To make matters worse, your opponent will be unlikely to pay you off for too much when he has a marginal top pair and an overcard comes. That said, you are in position, so calling with this wide range can’t be too bad. It is worth noting that 6-6, 4-4, and 3-3 do not have at least 18% equity because they are drawing nearly dead against your opponent’s range due to having only two outs to improve. The other marginal made hands and draws can stick around because they have more equity, despite being “worse” hands at the moment. Against players who simply cannot fold top pair, you should 3-bet the flop with your best hands with the intention of getting all-in. If your opponent will instead fold all his marginal made hands and only get all-in with his best hands, you should be more cautious, opting to call with all your continuing range in order to keep your opponent’s range wide. If you were out of position, you should compensate by defending a bit tighter, perhaps adjusting your defending range to assume you need 24% equity. Here are hands in your preflop raising range with at least 24% equity ( Diagram 232 ).
Diagram 232
52 combinations of hands primarily without flush draws have been added to the folding range. Notice this range does not include many marginal made hands that are likely still behind if they improve, such as 8-7. Once you call the flop min-raise, proceed with caution when your opponent continues betting the turn because he either has a premium made hand or a decently strong marginal made hand. Some players will only bet with hands better than top pair on the turn (looking to check/call down with their pair of 7s),
while others will bet their entire range. Fortunately, most of the time your opponent will bet large on the turn, pricing you out with the majority of your junk. If your opponent decides to bet tiny, perhaps 6 big blinds into the 22.5 big blind pot, you again have to continue with a wide range if you think your opponent is betting the turn with his entire flop raising range. For example, if the turn is (7♣-5♣-2♠)-J♦ and you face a 6 big blind bet from in position, you should continue with this range, assuming you called the flop min-raise thinking you needed 18% equity to continue ( Diagram 233 ).
Diagram 233
57 combinations of hands (mostly suited hands without flush draws) have been added to the folding range. Many marginal made hands should be folded because they do not have enough equity to continue drawing. You should realize that if you continue with this range, you are implying that your opponent is unbalanced because you are folding way too often to this tiny turn bet to remain balanced. That is fine though, because you know that your opponent only has premium and decently strong made hands in his range. You can repeat this process on the river, calling when you are getting the right price and folding when you are not. When your opponent’s range contains more hands than only the nuts (even if it is quite strong), you should stick around quite wide when getting great pot odds. If you find that your opponents fold too often to a min-raise, consider adding that play to your arsenal.
When Min-raised on the Turn or River Suppose you are in a similar situation to the previous one where you raise to 3 big blinds and the big blind calls. The flop comes (7♣-5♣-2♠). Your opponent checks, you bet 4 big blinds with your entire range and your opponent calls. The turn is the (7♣-5♣-2♠)-J♦. Your opponent checks, you bet 8 big blinds with your entire range, and your opponent check/min-raises to 16 big blinds. Again, you need to win 18% of the time to continue. This time though, your opponent’s range is only the effective nuts, J-J, 7-7, 5-5, and 7-5s. Now, you can only continue with this range ( Diagram 234 ).
Diagram 234
25 combinations of hands without flush draws have been added to the folding range. Well that isn’t fun! Despite your excellent pot odds, you can only continue with premium made hands and premium draws. When you are against an incredibly strong range, even though you are getting great pot odds, you should fold almost all made hands and even some of your draws. If the river does not complete the flush and your opponent bets such that you
again need to win 18% of the time, you should only call with your sets. If he bets 150% pot (as many amateurs do with their best hands), you should even fold bottom set. With hands as strong as top pair top kicker, when your opponent’s range has you crushed, you must make a disciplined fold. By min-raising the turn with only the effective nuts, your opponent allows you to make incredibly snug, exploitative folds.
Playing on Paired Boards In my experience, many small stakes players do not defend often enough against any type of aggression when the board is paired. On somewhat dry paired boards, such as J♥-J♦-5♣ or 7♣-2♦-2♠, you should experiment with continuation betting with your entire range and/or raising your opponent’s continuation bet. This is because if your opponent is not calling with Ace-high, he is usually folding too often, allowing your bluffs to immediately profit. As the paired board becomes more coordinated or connects better with your opponent’s range, such as A♥-A♣-J♣ or J♠-J♥-9♥, you should proceed with a bit more caution. When someone raises you on a paired board, it is important to assess their strategy. Most strong players will raise with a balanced range containing full houses, trips, draws, and a few bluffs. This range is quite difficult to defend against. You should usually call with your entire continuing range, which will often be all pairs and better, draws, and some Ace-highs. You should then fold the bottom of your made hand range on each subsequent street based on your opponent’s bet size. You should not raise and get all-in with your trips on the flop because that weakens your calling range and lets your opponent fold his bluffs. When a weak, straightforward player or passive calling station raises on a paired board, it is safe to assume they have trips, allowing you to get off the hook with most of your range. With your premium trips, it is usually best to get all-in immediately. With your weak trips, you should usually call down. While you lose to all better trips (which could be your opponent’s entire range), you have a blocker, making it unlikely that your opponent has trips. Some weak, straightforward players or calling stations will surprise you by raising their pocket pairs and bottom pairs. Weak trips is a good hand to call down with to keep them honest. When a maniac raises on a paired board, you should go into call down mode with the majority of your marginal made hand range. While you should fold on the turn and river against strong players in relation to their bet size, against maniacs, you should call down most of the time with any sort of made hand, perhaps electing to fold Ace-high by the river. Just be aware that some maniacs will raise the flop with a wide range but then play straightforwardly on both the turn and river, or only the river. To a lesser extent, the concept of attacking boards that are difficult to connect
with also applies to extremely dry boards, such as 9♣-5♠-2♦. When it is difficult for your opponent to have anything, if he will fold the majority of his range to aggression, feel free to get out of line and exploit your opponent’s range imbalance.
Leading When the Middle or Bottom Card Pairs In general, it is best to lead when the board is good for your range and bad for your opponent’s range. Taking this concept a bit further, when the turn pairs the middle or bottom card of the flop, you should consider leading against competent players who use the strategy of checking behind on the flop with middle and bottom pairs (as I suggest you do). Notice that you will always check/call the flop with middle and bottom pair, meaning those hands are well within your range. So, when the middle or bottom card pairs, you can lead with all your trips as well as all your hands that are not strong enough to check/call or check/raise, which will primarily be your marginal draws and unpaired high cards. Suppose a competent player raises to 2.5 big blinds out of his 40 big blind stack and you defend in the big blind. The flop comes J♣-7♠-6♦. You check, your opponent bets 4 big blinds and you call. The turn is the 6♥. This is an excellent spot to lead for about 5 big blinds with all your trips as well as all your straight draws and unpaired high cards that failed to improve to a backdoor flush draw. The small bet size is ideal because it will keep your opponent in with a wide range going to the river. If your opponent calls, you can then go all-in on the river for 28.5 big blinds into the 23 big blind pot with a range that is 64% value bets and 36% bluffs, putting your opponent in a miserable, break-even at best, situation. If you think your opponent will fold too often by the river when you make this play, you should widen your bluffing range. This will allow you steal the pot more often on the river. You may want to only play your bluffs in this manner, inducing folds with your bluffs while playing your trips in a different way that can get action. If your opponent is a calling station, there is no point in making this play as a bluff. It is worth pointing out that some players will fold the majority of their range to the turn lead, despite its small size. This means that if they make it to the river, it is usually with a decently strong range that plans to call a bet. If you know your opponent’s range is primarily strong made hands that will not fold to any amount of aggression, there is no point in bluffing beyond the turn. However, I have found that when you bet small on the turn, most players stick around with a wide range including many hands that will fold to to a large river bet.
Combating Tiny Stacks in Cash Games The most frustrating players for many amateurs to play against are those who buy in for a small amount with the intention of leaving the game as soon as they double up. You must understand that all players are free to leave the game whenever they want. There is nothing unethical or rude about it. Some amateurs perceive it to be rude because they think that if you lose money to someone, they should have a chance to win it back. You do, next time you play with them, and even if you will never see them again, it doesn’t matter. In general, most players who buy in short play a somewhat tight strategy. This is actually a decent strategy in most small stakes games because most players are more than happy to splash around before the flop with a wide range and then either fold to the short stack’s all-in or reluctantly call off, citing pot odds. A common occurrence at $1/$2 is for someone to raise to $8 out of their $200 stack, two more players call, and then a tight min-buyer goes all-in for $60. When the action folds back to the pre-flop raiser, he has to put in $52 more to win a pot that will be $139, meaning he needs to win 38% of the time to break even. If the short stack is only pushing 9% of hands, 7-7+, A-10s+, A-Jo+, KJs+, K-Qo+, and Q-Js, the initial raiser should call off with 10% of hands, 2-2+, A-9s+, A-Jo+, and K-Qs. Many players will not call the all-in wide enough, usually folding the small pairs and A-10s. This results in the short stack stealing a tiny bit of equity each time he makes this play. If the pre-flop caller calls off too often, he will be investing money slightly bad, giving the short stack too much equity in the pot. In reality, he should call a bit tighter than the 10% range suggested because of the two callers yet to act, but in games where the callers always have non-premium hands, they can effectively be ignored. You should spend some time studying the math that governs short stack situations. If you fully understand when to call and fold when a short stack goes all-in, you will be able to make profitable decisions, making you less concerned about players who buy in for the minimum. If you expect the short stacks to go all-in with a reasonable range when you raise, you should tighten up your raising range so you can defend against the allin an appropriate amount of the time. You do not want to find yourself in a situation where your opponent can push with an incredibly wide range and show an immediate profit. You may encounter other short stackers who will call $8 pre-flop raises with
their $60 stack, hoping to flop well. These players are some of the biggest losers in the game, despite buying in short, because they hemorrhage money by calling off too much of their stack with marginal hands before the flop. They lose the pot way more often than they win it, losing their $8 a large amount of the time. You should happily welcome these players to the table. It is important that you not let little things bother you (such as your opponent quitting as soon as he doubles up). Instead, become stoic and immune to the actions of the other players. If someone is annoying, put on headphones. If the dealer is awful, be patient and kind. Another dealer will be there soon. If the cocktail waitress spills a soda on your head, remain calm, clean yourself off, make light of the situation, and continue playing great poker. If you get stressed out about every little thing that happens, you will lack focus at the table. If someone slights you, realize that it is only a slight because you take it as a slight. Do not take the actions of others personally.
Adjusting Between Tournaments and Cash Games While there are many subtle differences between tournaments and cash games, there is only one main difference: In tournaments, chips lost are worth more than chips won. This concept should lead you to make the following strategic adjustments when playing in tournaments:
Value Bet Less Often in Large Pots As the pot grows and your entire stack becomes at risk, you should be less inclined to make thin value bets. For example, if you raise to 2.5 big blinds out of your 40 big blind effective stack with A-Q from middle position and the big blind calls, you bet A-8-7 and your opponent calls, you bet the (A-8-7)-2 and your opponent calls, and then your opponent checks to you on an (A-8-7-2)-5 river, you should consider checking behind. This is a situation where value betting is almost always correct in cash games, but in tournaments, you will be risking a large portion of your stack, and if your value bet fails, you will lose the potential to make additional profitable plays in the future due to your decreased stack size. Conserving your stack when you happen to be beat is worth more than the small amount of value you extract by making a substantial river value bet. When you make this somewhat thin value bet with a decent one pair hand, if your opponent plays well, your 10 big blind (or more) value bet may only return .5 big blinds profit, on average. This is because often your opponent will fold, and when he calls or raises, you will lose some portion of the time. If you had to choose between having 60 big blinds 55% of the time and 20 big blinds 45% of the time, or 50 big blinds 58% of the time and 30 big blinds 42% of the time, you would much prefer the second situation. This is because a 60 big blind stack and a 50 big blind stack play roughly the same but there is a large difference between a 30 big blind stack and a 20 big blind stack. Avoiding variance for little or no reward is a key skill you must develop if you want to succeed at poker tournaments.
Call Off Less Often Another way you can minimize variance is to call off when facing an all-in or large bet only when you expect to have a reasonable edge. This does not mean that you should actively avoid “coin flip” situations, as many amateurs do. They are unwilling to get all-in when they think they have 50% equity, which would a fine strategy if they were getting 1:1 odds, but most of the time, they are getting 1.3:1 odds or better, meaning they only need to win 44% of the time to profit. If you need to win 44% of the time and you will win 50% of the time, you should usually be willing to take that gamble. A common situation many amateurs find themselves in is where someone raises to 3 big blinds, the amateur 3-bets to 9 big blinds with A-K or J-J, and their opponent then pushes all-in for 50 big blinds. The amateurs are torn as to what they should do because they assume they are “flipping”. In both these situations, they have a clear call because they are usually flipping, sometimes they dominate their opponent, and occasionally they are dominated. Even if their opponent is tight, they will have roughly 46% equity, making a call mandatory, given the pot odds. If you consistently fold in these spots, you will bleed off chips on the occasions when your opponents happen to be out of line and when they aren’t out of line, you pass up on a break even or barely profitable spot. The problem with the thought process of actively avoiding flips is that you do not know when your opponents are out of line. Many amateurs love to tell themselves that they know what their opponents are doing, but in reality, they do not. Unless you have a spot-on read, you should call in these flipping situations because you need to win 44% of the time and you will win at least 46% of the time (many times, you will win more than 50% of the time). You must understand that busting out early from a tournament is a risk you must accept if you want to succeed. I completely understand that it is not fun to drive to the casino, play for a while, and then bust in the first few levels, but that is part of the game. Your goal should always be to maximize your expectation, which means making the best play possible, whether or not it sends you to the rail some portion of the time. That said, there are a few times when you should avoid flips, assuming they are actually flips. I quantify a “flip” as a situation where you need to win a percentage of the time roughly equal to your pot odds. If you need to win 40% of the time and you are getting 1.5:1, if you expect to have an edge in the event,
you should often fold. You always want to have some edge when calling off because if you lose, you forego all future profitable situations. However, if you have 43% equity getting 1.5:1, you should usually call off. The main time you should fold when getting an overlay (such as when you will win 43% of the time getting 1.5:1) is when you are near a payout jump. This is because if you avoid risking your stack, you have a high likelihood of moving up the payout ladder. While these small payout jumps may not seem significant, they add up to a large amount in the long run. Moving up the payouts is especially important at and near the final table. I strongly suggest you download an ICM (Independent Chip Model) training program, such as ICMizer, and work with it until you fully understand when you should push all-in and when you should fold based on everyone’s’ stack size and the payout structure. I discuss this concept extensively in Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker Volume 1 and Excelling at No-Limit Hold’em, so I will not delve into it deeply here. As a brief summary, you can open push or raise with a wide range when there are short stacks at the table and you are nowhere near risking going broke. If you have a medium stack, you should usually play snugly until the short stacks go broke. If you have a big stack, you should apply immense pressure to the medium stacks. If you are a short stack, you should be aggressively trying to double up by pushing all-in with a wide range (not calling off with a wide range), assuming there is no one significantly shorter than you. By playing in accordance with ICM, you will maximize your equity when various payout structures muddle normally-simple situations. Remember, if you want to succeed, you must study poker away from the table. If you do not study, do not expect to experience success.
Push Around Players Who Will Not Want to Call Off While you should be less inclined to call off when your opponent pushes all-in, you should look to apply that pressure to your opponents. If you have a large or medium stack, look to apply aggression by stealing the blinds and 3-betting players who will fold too often. It is quite common to find players who raise with a wide range before the flop but then fold to a 3-bet, fearing they are up against a premium pair. Their fear gets the best of them, allowing you to run them over. Suppose you are up against someone who thinks he is supposed to raise a decent amount from late position but is unwilling to play a large pot without a strong hand. This player’s tendency is magnified as the money bubble approaches. With 102 players remaining and 99 players getting paid, this player raises to 2 big blinds out of his 35 big blind effective stack from the cutoff. If you are on the button, small blind, or big blind, you should consider 3-betting (to 5.5 big blinds from the button and 6.5 big blinds from the blinds) with a wide range. If your opponent calls, you should then make a 40% pot continuation bet on the flop. The combination of a pre-flop 3-bet plus a flop continuation bet will steal the pot a large portion of the time. If each bet will steal the pot 60% of the time, you will steal the pot about 85% of the time, resulting in you winning a small or medium pot 85% of the time and losing 13 big blinds 15% of the time. This is an extremely profitable situation for you, even if your hand has 0% equity, which will rarely be the case. If you find your opponent calling the 5.5 or 6.5 big blind 3-bet size most of the time, consider making your bet a bit larger to maximize fold equity. Some players will correctly realize that you are 3-betting with a wide range and will adjust by 4-betting all-in with a wide range. Against those players, you are better off 3-betting with your value hands that can happily get all-in, and calling with your marginal hands and then playing aggressively after the flop. As you approach the money bubble or any significant payout jump, this situation becomes magnified such that normally loose, aggressive players will fold to even the smallest amount of aggression, especially if you have a snug image. If your opponents assume that you are only willing to be aggressive with your best hands, you should constantly look for situations to get out of line and abuse your image and your opponent’s range imbalance.
Short Stack Play Many small stakes players view tournaments as a crapshoot once the average stack dips below 15 big blinds, but that is not the case. The vast majority of small stakes players make such egregious errors with their short stacks that if you play fundamentally sound poker, you will have a significant win rate. That win rate may be only 3 big blinds per 100 hands, but when 3 big blinds is equal to an entire starting stack, that is a very solid win rate. In general, when there are no payout jumps on the horizon, play as previously described when discussing short stack play. Some amateurs think that getting down to a short stack is a disaster, but in reality, if the average stack is 15 big blinds, having 15 big blinds (or even 7 big blinds) is perfectly acceptable. While you are at risk of going broke at any moment, so is everyone else. That is the game you are playing. Do not think that you must have 50 big blinds in order to feel comfortable. When the blinds rise quickly (as they do in many small stakes events), expect to play short stacked. If you don’t know how to play your short stack in a profitable manner, expect to lose. Some players will make significant adjustments when going from a deep stack to a short stack, and they may play differently if they have a “large” short stack of 30 big blinds compared to a “tiny” short stack of 7 big blinds. Some players are willing to splash around quite a bit if they think they are not at risk of going broke, such as when they have a 30 big blind stack, but when down to 7 big blinds, they will only put their chips in the pot with the nuts. Others do the exact opposite, playing maniacally when tiny to try to regain a “playable” stack and playing tightly when large, hoping to get their stack in with a large amount of equity. If is up to you to determine each player’s strategy and adjust accordingly. When you find yourself at a final table (where all places get paid) with a shallow stack, it is often wise to play somewhat tightly, assuming you are not the shortest stack by a wide margin. This is because your goal is to win the most equity possible, not to win the tournament. If you can play tightly and go from 9th place to 5th place with a 30% of average stack, that will show a higher return than gambling hard to try to win because that will usually bust you in 8th or 9th place. If you are the shortest stack by a wide margin and your opponents are not playing maniacally (meaning they will be unlikely to bust before you), you should be more inclined to gamble to try to chip up.
If you find yourself at a final table where everyone is short stacked, understand that, if you play well, if all stacks are equal, you may win the tournament 1 in 8 times, whereas everyone else will win 1 in 11 times. You will still experience a huge amount of variance, but you will win in the long run. Do not beat yourself up every time you fail to bring home the title. Understand that even if you are great, you will only win a bit more than your fair share. Many amateurs expect to win every time, which leads to endless disappointment. Instead, study diligently, play your best, and be content with your performance, win or lose.
Pay Attention to the Payout Structure When playing tournaments, you should be keenly aware of the payout structure. Most tournaments now feature a fairly consistent payout structure with no significant jumps, but there are some exceptions. The main situation you should be aware of is the money bubble. In most tournaments, 15% of the field will get back at least 1.5 buy-ins. So, the difference between bubbling and not bubbling is at least 1.5 buy-ins. Once you get in the money though, the payout jumps are often quite small. For example, 99th place may pay 1.5 buy-ins but 81st place may pay only 1.6 buy-ins. When this is the case (as it often is when more than 18 players are paid) getting in the money is a main concern, especially when you have a short or medium stack approaching the bubble. If only 10% of the field gets paid, this concept is magnified because getting in the money is then worth 2 buy-ins or more, creating an even larger jump. Another time you occasionally see abnormally large payout jumps is when you are on the final table bubble. While it is not a small stakes tournament, the World Series of Poker Main Event is the most obvious, high-profile example of this.
The payouts from 36th place to 10th place all seem reasonable, increasing a
bit more each jump, but from 10th to 9th place, there is a 35 buy-in payout jump. You would expect the next payout jump to be larger than 35 buy-ins (as it would be in a normal tournament), but it is instead only 10 buy-ins. The next jump is only 15 buy-ins, and the next is only 21 buy-ins. To find a jump larger than 35 buy-ins, you have to look between 5th and 6th place. So, in this tournament, if you are down to 10 or 11 players, making the final table is vitally important, not ust because you get to sit at the WSOP final table, but because you win 35 buyins. When you see drastic payout jumps in comparison to the other payout umps, it is usually wise to tighten up if you are a middle or short stack. If you are a large or middle stack, you can push around the players who are shorter than you because while they are at risk of going broke, you are not. It may sound foreign to discuss payout jumps in terms of buy-ins, but if you manage your bankroll properly (more on that in the Bankroll section), you will stop thinking in terms of dollars. You must fully understand that your poker bankroll should not be viewed as cash you can spend whenever you want, but instead as a tool that you must utilize to its maximum potential. If you spend your tournament (or cash game) winnings on things (removing money from your bankroll) you will have a nearly impossible time moving up from small stakes games.
Making Deals Unless you are getting more than your fair share of the prize pool, I am strongly against making deals in small stakes tournaments. The main reason is because the money you are playing for is rarely life-changing. This should lead you to play purely to gain experience. If you have any aspirations of moving up at all (see Ed Miller’s chapter in Excelling at No-Limit Hold’em for a detailed guide on moving up and staying there), you must learn to play short-handed in highpressure situations. If you make a deal every time, you will lack the experience playing short-handed in high-pressure situations that is required to succeed in larger buy-in games. If you are going to chop, always try to make a deal that accounts for your edge, which you will hopefully have after studying and implementing the strategies detailed throughout this book. You should use an ICM calculator (such as ICMizer) to figure out how much each stack is worth, and then ask for a bit more. Suppose you have 1,000 chips and your opponents have 3,000, 2,000, and 1,000. The payouts are $500, $325, $200, and $100. Here is how much each stack is worth:
Payouts
Stacks Results
1st: $500 3,000 $360.71 2nd: $325 2,000 $309.64 3rd: $200 1,000 $227.32 4th: $100 1,000 $227.32
Since a fair deal would have you getting $227.32, if you think you are significantly better than your opponents, you should perhaps demand $250. If you don’t get it, play the tournament out. While you will often go home with less than $250 (because odds are you will take 3rd or 4th place due to your small stack), you will have made a more profitable decision than taking the break-even deal. In many of the smallest stakes tournaments, most players will be open to making a deal where everyone chops up the money evenly, perhaps with the chip
leader getting a little more money and the trophy. This often happens when there are 9 players left, although it occasionally happens shorter-handed. If you are discussing an even deal and you have fewer than 1/9th of the chips, you should be happy to take the chop. If you have 1/9th of the chips or more, you should not chop. It is as simple as that. Some players justify giving their opponents good deals thinking “If I give him a good deal now, he will give me a good deal in the future”. In addition to giving up valuable experience, you may never be in a similar spot again, and you are giving up equity first. Also, sticking with the payout structure that you agreed to when you signed up for the event doesn’t cost you anything. Don’t forget that everyone agreed to the payout structure when they entered the event. There are a few tricks your opponents may attempt in effort to get an edge on you. Some players may try to alter the payouts, suggesting that you don’t have to gamble for so much. I have never understood this logic, because don’t people play poker to gamble? Anyway, suppose the players have 10,000, 2,000 and 1,000 chips. If the payouts are $1,000, $500, and $250, the players may agree to change them to $800, $600, and $350. This may seem fair because there is still $1,750 in the prize pool, but take a look at what happens to each player’s equity when you make this change:
Payouts
Stacks Results
1st: $1,000 10,000 $877.91 2nd: $500 2,000 $496.79 3rd: $250 1,000 $375.29 Payouts
Stacks Results
1st: $800
10,000 $747.14
2nd: $600 2,000 $550.64 3rd: $350 1,000 $452.21
By making this adjustment, the big stack loses $130.77 in equity, giving it to the other players. This is a huge disaster for him. Adjusting the payout structure to make it flatter benefits the short stacks. Making the structure more top heavy (which I have only seen happen once in my career), favors the big stacks.
Some players assume that a “chip chop” is the fair way to split the prize pool. A chip chop is different from an ICM chop in that you count the number of chips you have, divide it by the prize pool, and see how much of the prize pool you own. In the previous example, using the chip chop method, the big stack has 10,000 out of the 13,000 chips, meaning he owns 77% of the $1,750 prize pool, which is $1,346. Clearly that is silly because 1st place is only $1,000. Chip chops heavily favor the big stacks. I want to reiterate that if you cannot get a better than break-even deal, you should not chop, unless the chop guarantees you a significantly larger bankroll, allowing you to comfortably play much larger stakes. It is vital to your success as a poker player that you spend as much time as possible playing in high-risk short-handed situations so that you are prepared to play well when you are fortunate enough to find yourself playing for life-changing money. While many small stakes players are happy to chop and “lock up a win”, no strong player will chop with a small stakes player who has few major tournament results. Instead of hoping for a strong player to throw you a bone, practice, plan ahead, and come prepared.
Adjustments Between Live and Online Many small stakes players think live and online poker are drastically different games. Some even think that online poker is rigged (it is not). While there are a few differences, online and live poker are not too different, just as cash games and tournaments aren’t too different when played with comparable stack sizes. You are still playing your range versus your opponent’s range. One major difference between live and online poker is that at the same buy-in level, online is significantly tougher than live. This is primarily because online, you play many more hands per hour, which separates the winners from the losers at a much faster rate. The pace of play forces you to develop a fundamentally sound strategy, or perish. This is why almost every single super-high stakes poker player in the world either started online or plays online currently. If you want to get good at poker, start playing tiny stakes online and grind your way up to $2/$4 or $100 buy-in tournaments. If you can beat those games for a reasonable amount, you are, without a doubt, a strong poker player. Since online is tougher, it implies that you will have a smaller edge over your opponents. This means you will have larger swings (in terms of big blinds or tournament buy-ins) compared to live. For example, despite being a significant winner in tournaments, my biggest live tournament downswing has been 80 buyins, while my biggest online downswing has been 150 buy-ins. These numbers are par for the course. If you are not willing and prepared to go on downswings of this magnitude, tournaments may not be for you. In cash games, my worst live downswing has been 3,000 big blinds, while my worst online downswing has been 8,000 big blinds. I have probably been lucky in cash games, as many of my peers have experienced much larger downswings. Having a smaller edge leads to larger swings. In live tournaments, the best players have a 100% return on investment or more, whereas online, it is only 30%. In live cash games, the best players win 25 big blinds per 100 hands whereas online, they win 5 per 100 hands. While the edge online is smaller, the ability to play hands at a much faster rate due to the lack of shuffling and a time bank, plus the capacity to play multiple tables at a time, allows online grinders the potential to make consistent money. Even if you have a large win rate, if you only play a few hours per day in a live casino, it will take forever for you to reach the “long run”, leading to swings that feel significant, but in reality, are not. You win some amount of money per
hand you are dealt (this applies to both cash games and tournaments), so it is in your best interest to play as many hands as possible. Play diligently, but do not play slowly. Live, you will usually play between 20 and 40 hands per hour whereas online, if you play 4 tables at a time (which is the minimum most online grinders play), you will get in 240 hands per hour. This means that online players see as many hands in one hour as a live player sees in a day. While the online player may not be focusing on each hand as intensely as the live player, the sheer volume of hands an online player sees leads to their skill level increasing at a much faster rate compared to live players. This ability to play much faster also lets online players emerge from their downswings faster than live players. If you play live poker and think that online players are worse than live players, you are fooling yourself. The same goes for thinking that players who win in higher stakes games than you are worse than you. Do not think that the lack of a bankroll is the only reason you are not crushing the big games. Growing a bankroll from small stakes games should be a somewhat quick process, as you will see in the Bankroll section. If you can’t beat small stakes games, you are drawing dead in high stakes games. If you can’t beat $1/$2 live, you certainly cannot beat $1/$2 (or probably $.25/$.50) online. One final difference between the two venues is that you have no physical tells to rely on when playing online. It is possible to completely lack the fundamentals but still be a winning live player by heavily relying on physical tells to sway decisions. In fact, many of the best players from the preMoneymaker era didn’t even know how to calculate pot odds. Instead, they could look at their opponent, make a read about their level of strength, and be right more often than they were wrong. As the player pool’s strength has increased, many of these players have fallen by the wayside due to their complete lack of a fundamentally sound strategy. Do not fool yourself into thinking that you can beat live poker using only a read-based approach. Guessing about your opponent’s range is vastly inferior to intelligently analyzing it.
Playing in Games with Abnormal Structures While most games will feature a small blind that is half the size of the big blind, some games have different structures for various reasons. The most common abnormal structure small stakes players will encounter is when the small blind is equal to the big blind, such as $1/$1, $2/$2, or $5/$5. These games play exactly as normal no-limit hold’em games except the small blind is getting slightly better odds to call pre-flop raises, which should rarely sway your decision too much because the small blind’s increased pot odds are dwarfed by the positional disadvantage. I suppose if someone raises with a wide range to 4 big blinds and you are in the small blind, calling becomes slightly better, but even then, you are usually best off 3-betting or folding. The other main difference that arises is when everyone folds around to the small blind. The small blind’s options are now limited to checking and raising. You should utilize the same strategy in the pre-flop chapter except all your folding hands become checking hands. With your limping hands, instead check. So really, there isn’t much of a difference. If you are in the big blind and the small blind checks, if you know he normally raises with his best hands, you should consider raising with a wide range because many players only check when they plan to check/fold or check/call and then play straightforwardly after the flop. Another common structure is when the small blind is 33% or 67% of the big blind, such as $1/$3 or $2/$3. The only thing worth noting here is that when there is a limped pot, you are getting slightly better odds at $2/$3 compared to $1/$3. So, you should call with more hands at $2/$3 compared to $1/$3. Also, blind versus blind you will be getting different odds, which should lead you to play looser at $2/$3 and tighter at $1/$3. The final structure worth mentioning is when there is a third blind, which is the case at $1/$2/$5 or $2/$5/$10. The player to the left of the third blind goes first. This really makes playing from the small (first) blind detrimental and makes playing from the middle blind worse as well. So, these two positions should tighten up significantly. If the action folds to the small blind, who limps, the middle blind limps, and you are in the biggest blind, you should consider raising with a wide range, assuming the other blinds would raise with their best hands. When you will be in position on all three streets, you can abuse your opponents if they do not intelligently balance their limping range. If the out of
position blinds frequently raise, you can call from the biggest blind in position and go from there. The $1/$2/$5 structure is quite similar to when there is a straddle. A straddle is a voluntary blind bet placed by the player in first position, who is usually someone looking to gamble. The straddle is usually “live”, meaning the straddler has the option to raise before the flop, which would not be the case if he made a blind raise to $5. A common play many overly aggressive amateurs make is to straddle and then raise with a wide range if there are a bunch of limpers, or if there is a raise and a few callers. You can often see this play coming from a mile away and adjust to take advantage of it. One other straddle you may encounter is the Mississippi straddle, which is a straddle from the button that forces the small blind to go first before the flop, the big blind goes second, and then UTG goes third. This severely limits the playability of hands from the small and big blind, which should often be folded because even though they are getting decent pot odds, they will be out of position and will often face a raise by someone yet to act. If the blinds elect to raise, they have to contend with all the unseen hands at the table. The right strategy in this situation is to play tightly. While I am wholeheartedly against a normal straddle, there is certainly a place for making a Mississippi straddle if the stacks are somewhat deep, perhaps 150 big blinds or more. Any time you are in an abnormal situation, ask yourself what has changed. Most of the time, the tweak is tiny, which means your adjustment should also be somewhat small. Do not think that $1/$3 is a drastically different game than $2/$3. In reality, they might as well be the same game.
Playing in Overly Wild Games Unless you have played in an “overly wild” game, you will have a difficult time imagining the action that occurs. Taking place primarily in private games, it is common to see 10 big blind pre-flop raises, a bunch of callers, a 3-bet to 50 big blinds, and then another cascade of callers, followed by all-in bets and multiple calls after the flop. It is as if the players do not care about the size of the blinds and instead focus on the amount of dollars being bet. If they are playing $1/$2 and they view $200 as “meaningless”, expect their $200 stacks to frequently be in the middle of the table. To beat games where most of the players are willing to call essentially any amount before the flop, when the action folds to you or if there are limpers in front of you, play a somewhat tight strategy where you raise to an amount that gets action with your best hands and fold everything else. Your raise sizing could range from 7 big blinds to 30 big blinds, depending on your opponents. Most players in these games are extreme calling stations, so you can get away with primarily betting for value after the flop. When someone raises in front of you, it is still important to assess your implied odds, but realize that they are usually larger than in normal games. This is because many players will see the flop, and most of them will pay off far too wide after the flop. Also, the stacks in these games tend to be quite deep, perhaps 1,000 big blinds or more, drastically increasing your implied odds. As the stacks become incredibly deep, the pre-flop raise size in terms of blinds becomes less relevant. Suppose someone raises to 10 big blinds out of his 1,000 big blinds from middle position and you are in the cutoff with any sort of drawing hand, such as 2-2, A-2s, K-9s, or 8-6s. You should play all of these hands if your opponent plays poorly after the flop, even though you are facing a “gigantic” pre-flop raise. Notice that, at most, you are getting 100:1 implied odds, plus you have position with a hand that can somewhat easily make the nuts. Both 3-betting and calling are fine options, depending on how you expect your opponent to react. If he will call a pre-flop 3-bet and then play straightforwardly after the flop, 3betting with your entire playable range is preferable to calling. If he will 4-bet or fight hard on the flop, calling is best. Be aware that hands that normally have great implied odds, such as 8-6s and 4-3s, lose a significant amount of value when the stacks become very deep. This
is because when you make a flush and are against a better flush, you stand to lose a huge amount. When you have a non-nut hand and your competent opponent is trying to get 1,000 big blinds in the pot, you must be disciplined and make prudent folds. You should still avoid playing the unsuited connectors, and especially avoid hands like A-6o and K-10o (and all other hands that often make top pair with a bad kicker). By avoiding these hands, you sidestep many difficult post-flop situations that cost your opponents a huge amount of equity. If you approach these games as suggested throughout this book, you will find that you play much tighter than your opponents. If your opponents (and the host of the home game) do not care how you play, simply play tightly. If the rake is high, you should also play snugly (rake will be discussed in a later section). That said, a major concern in many home games is your ability to continue playing in the future. If you become known as someone who only plays premium hands, odds are the host will not invite you back. This should lead you to splash around more than you normally would, primarily in position with suited hands that have decent implied odds. Aim to be the second or third tightest player at the table. It is also a good idea to consider showing your bluffs, win or lose, and never show your big folds. You want to be viewed as an action player who isn’t afraid to gamble. If the host of the game doesn’t think people enjoy playing with you, you will quickly be pushed out of action. Be sure to be friendly!
Tells While I have been a bit critical of tells throughout this book, they do serve a valuable purpose. Against competent players, they are valuable in swaying your marginal decisions one way or the other. For example, if you find yourself in a break-even spot on the river, and you get the vibe that your opponent is strong, you should play differently than if you think he is weak. Against the worst players (who you may be fortunate enough to encounter), tells can be extremely reliable. If you know your specific opponent always stands up and yells “woot woot” when he makes a flush, and he stands up and yells “woot woot” when a flush draw completes and he bets, well, you should fold, unless you can beat a flush. Tells this obvious don’t manifest too often in today’s games, but more subtle versions exist. In a recent $1,000 buy-in WSOP event, I witnessed a well-known recreational player bet his chips in one big pile when he was strong and in four small piles when he was weak. I observed this tendency a few times, and once I was reasonably confident of my read, I raised him the next time he bet in four small piles. He looked sad and folded. A while later when he fired a second barrel on the turn with his chips stacked in one big pile, I folded top pair, second kicker. I told him “nice hand” as I folded, and he turned up bottom set. If I wasn’t paying attention, I would have played both of these hands in a vastly inferior manner, costing me a huge amount of equity. When looking for tells, you want to look for deviations in your opponent’s normal behavior. This implies that you first must pay attention to your opponent’s normal behavior when he is involved in pots. You have to really pay attention to what your opponents are doing. If you are playing on your phone, reading a magazine, or watching TV, you are not focusing on your opponents’ tendencies and are leaving money on the table. Resolve to play better and break these costly habits. You want to find behavioral deviations that indicate something about the strength of your opponent’s hand. You only know if these deviations indicate something by correlating them to hands that are shown down. If someone yells “woot woot” every time a flush card arrives, and he yells and then bets, that doesn’t necessarily indicate strength or weakness. You need to see what he shows down a few times before putting significant money on the line based on your observations. He could yell every time he has a flush, every time he doesn’t
have a flush, every time, or randomly when he remembers that yelling is something he enjoys doing. Once you have pinpointed one of your opponent’s tells and he exhibits it during a hand with you, it removes some combinations of hands from his range. If your opponent yells “woot woot” every time he has a flush, and he doesn’t yell “woot woot” when a flush draw completes, he almost certainly does not have a flush, removing those hands from his range. If you know this particular opponent happens to fold his marginal made hands to a large bet when a flush arrives, you can make a large bet and steal the pot most of the time. Clearly this is quite powerful. Of course, he can still have decently strong hands like sets, but usually that will not be the case. Since you are able to crush your opponents when you pinpoint one of their tells, you should make a point to give off as few tells as possible. When you are involved in a pot do not make any unnecessary movements (such as playing with your cards or chips) and remain stoic. Do not make facial expressions when the board changes or you are bet into. Sit there calmly and be still. I also suggest you focus your gaze roughly near your opponent’s hands. This avoids eye contact (which may be a reliable tell) while keeping your opponent in your peripheral view. If your opponents give off tells and you don’t, you will be well ahead of the curve. While the subject of analyzing tells is incredibly deep (I highly suggest you study Zach Elwood’s chapter in Excelling at No-Limit Hold’em), here are some of the most common tells you will see in small stakes games:
Zoning Out When someone is clearly not interested in the pot, it usually means his range is incredibly weak. Suppose you raise and the button and big blind call. The flop comes and the big blind checks to you. As the action is on you, the player on the button turns to the player in the small blind and starts chatting about a football game that is on the TV. This usually indicates that he is not interested in this pot and will fold to a bet. Of course, some players will try to fool you by chatting when they have a strong hand, but if you see this happen once, you will not fall for it again. Also, you will hopefully have some idea whether the player you are trying to read is generally honest or tricky. You may also see the player on the button go from having a rigid poker face before the flop to a looser face once the flop arrives. This occurs when the flop is bad for the player on the button, giving you a good reason to bet. In this example, you still have to worry about the player in the big blind, so the pot isn’t completely free for you to steal. Even if you know one player is weak, you should still take the other players involved into consideration.
Paying Attention If someone goes from being somewhat natural before the flop to very rigid on the flop, it is usually a sign of strength. If your opponent is paying a lot of attention to what is going on when the action is not on him, it usually indicates that he is not folding. If the flop, turn, or river comes and a player perks up in his chair as if to say “That is a great card for me!”, you should proceed with caution.
Breathing Many amateurs are completely unaware of their breathing patterns. Breathing tells and other subconscious tells (such as pulse rate and blinking rate) are strong indicators of hand strength, but what they indicate varies wildly from person to person. For the most part, people get excited when they think they are going to win a large pot. When players are bluffing, they tend to hold their breath or breathe shallowly as if trying to disappear and go undetected. Some players react in the exact opposite way. It is up to you to figure out how each specific opponent reacts.
Eye Contact Some players will subconsciously alter when they look at you, depending on their hand strength. When bluffing, some will stare their opponents down as if trying to intimidate them into folding. Others will avoid all eye contact when bluffing, but be completely comfortable when value betting, as if they are not comfortable lying (bluffing) but are comfortable with telling the truth (value betting). Pay attention to where your opponent is looking and look for deviations that may indicate something about his range.
Acting as if Going to Bet or Call Especially in limit hold’em, it is common when the action is on you for your opponent to get his calling chips together in an obvious way as if to say “If you bet, I am calling”. This happens more in limit hold’em because you know how much is going to be bet ahead of time whereas in no-limit, you don’t know how much your opponent will bet. In general, when someone gets their calling chips ready in no-limit, it is usually an act, meaning they plan to fold if you make a reasonable bet. Some players will call a reasonable bet but will have second thoughts if you make a substantial bet (larger than the one they have gathered). You may also see players line up a bet when the action is on you, as if to say “If you check, I am going to bet”. It is difficult to say definitively what this means, but if you pay attention, you will quickly pinpoint whether or not your specific opponent plans to bet or check when you check to them.
Bet Timing Many players vary the speed at which they play based on their hand strength. Some players will play deliberately when they care about the pot, while acting nonchalantly when they don’t care about it. Others will instantly bet when they have a premium hand, hoping to look weak. Some do the opposite, betting fast to make you think they have an obviously strong hand. One spot where bet timing is somewhat consistent is when you bet and your opponent calls fairly quickly. This is because he knows he is not going to raise or fold. So, which hands do you know you are not raising or folding? For most amateurs, this indicates marginal made hands and occasionally draws. Knowing this, you can adjust your play on future streets based on your opponent’s narrowed range. For example, if you know he is a calling station and he instantly calls your flop bet, you know to only value bet on the turn and river because he has something that he isn’t folding. If instead, you know he will fold most of his marginal made hands on the turn to a large bet, you can make a sizable bet and steal the pot most of the time. It is important to understand that just because your opponent is giving off tells of weakness does not necessarily mean that he will fold to a bet. This is a common misconception that plagues many amateurs throughout their careers. Some players think they are weak when they don’t have the nuts. This results in them appearing weak most of the time despite actually having strong hands that they do not plan to fold.
Bet Sizing Bet sizing has been discussed extensively throughout this book, but it is worth mentioning again. For the most part, small stakes players who use various bet sizes (which is often a mistake) bet large when they have a hand they think is strong and smaller when they have a weaker hand. Some players do the opposite, betting tiny with their premium hands (for example, min-raising with A-A before the flop) and large with their bluffs (raising to 7 big blinds from the button when folded to).
ADDITIONAL TOPICS The following is a collection of ideas that mainly apply off the felt that you should constantly strive to master if you want to succeed at poker. While most of your small stakes opponents will be oblivious to many of these concepts, most middle and all high stakes players are keenly aware of them. If you work hard on your game both at and away from the table, you will have a long poker career in your future. If you simply show up at the table, play for a while, and then forget about poker once you go home, you will probably not make it.
Game Selection One of the most overlooked skills that most professionals have mastered is game selection. While it may sound cool to think that you can sit down in any game and be a winner, that is not the case for us mere mortals. Remember, you win at poker when your opponents make mistakes. If they do not make mistakes, you will either lose or break even in the long run.
Cash Games When selecting your cash game table, be sure to play against players who are worse than you. While you do not need to be the best player at the table, you want to be solidly in the top two or three players. In general, you will find that the softest tables tend to feature a lot of “gambling”. The average pots will be quite large, which is good for you because there really shouldn’t be too many large pots in no-limit hold’em. These tables will often feature players talking, drinking, and generally having a “fun” time. Look for tables that seem casual and relaxed, as if your opponents’ main concern is to have a good time, not to win money. Tables featuring a bunch of kids wearing sunglasses and headphones will rarely be too profitable. If no one is talking to each other and everyone is serious, you should look for a different game. If you find yourself in a loose, casual game, do not do anything that may lead the table to tighten up. For example, if no one (or only one or two players) is wearing sunglasses or headphones, do not wear sunglasses or headphones. Instead, have conversations with your opponents and enjoy your time at the table. Keep the game light and casual. Of course, when you are involved in a pot, you can be serious, but when you are not in a pot, do not treat your opponents in any way that may be deemed as mean, annoying, or unfriendly. If you find yourself in a serious game, it is usually a good idea to try to loosen the game up. You can do this by engaging in conversation with your opponents, making a few jokes, or getting a sporting event turned on (not for you to watch, but to distract your opponents). If lots of players are wearing sunglasses and listening to music, do the opposite, or maybe make a comment about how you understand why they feel the reason to hide (insulting their egos). Needle them a bit in a fun, jovial way. If all of this fails, or if you are against mostly serious pros, the best strategy may be to cover up and play a boring, serious game. Some games cannot be saved. When you arrive at the casino, immediately get on the waiting list to all the games you would like to play. If you become comfortable playing a range of stakes, this will often result in you getting a seat faster than if you only want to play one specific stake. For example, if you normally play $2/$5, when you show up, get on the $1/$2, $2/$5, and $5/$10 lists. If are called for $1/$2 or $5/$10, play those games until your $2/$5 seat becomes available. If you are in
$1/$2 or $5/$10 and the game is amazing, you should probably stay and play until that game losses its appeal. If you are called for a $5/$10 seat (which presumably you are not quite adequately bankrolled for) and the table looks tough, either give yourself a 1 buy-in loss limit or decline to take the seat. Do not feel inclined to play just because there is an open seat. If the game is tough, you don’t have to play. You should also let the floor man know that you are willing to start a new game if a few players show up. Especially in small stakes games, most players are not experienced playing short-handed and will make egregious errors on a regular basis. If you get to play three-handed for an hour each day against two or three players who are making significant errors, you will add a large chunk to your win rate. If the players who show up to start the game with you are great, you can decline to play and patiently wait to get your seat in the full game. Once you get in your seat, ask the floor person to put you on the table change list (assuming there is more than one table). If a seat opens up at another table and it looks better than your current seat, be quick to change tables. When I used to play $5/$10 at Bellagio, it was common for me to change tables three times in an eight-hour session. While you will rarely know if the seat at the other table is better than your current seat, you can pay attention and use your best judgement. If your table is great, don’t move. If your table is marginal and someone at the other table is donating his money as fast as possible, you should move, assuming you will have a decent seat. Similarly, also get on the seat change list, assuming there is such a thing at your casino. Some casinos rely on seniority, letting the player who has been at the table the longest have the first chance to take an empty seat, with the option then going to the player who has been there the second longest if the first declines, and so forth. Other casinos will give a seat change button, which indicates that you have the first option to an empty seat if it opens up. The whole goal of selecting your table and seat is to play with weak players. If everyone at your table is weak, that is perfect. If they are not, then you ideally want to get the optimal seat. In general, you want the biggest losers (often maniacs) on your right and tight players who play in an honest manner on your left. So, if the seat to the left of the maniac opens up, take it. When you change seats, do not make it obvious why you are changing seats. I often use the excuses of “I want to see the TV better”, “I can’t see the flop too well from my seat”, or something like that. Don’t say to the maniac “I think you are awful so I am going to get position on you.” If someone else who is entitled
to the seat takes it before you do, or even if you are entitled to it but somehow forget, do not make a scene. Remember, keep the game friendly! While your main goal is to get the overly aggressive players on your right, your secondary goal is to not lose too much money to the players on your left. In poker, chips flow to the left, so you want to do your best to plug the drain. Assuming there are not overly aggressive players at your table, but everyone has their own flaws (making the game profitable for you), you should strive to get position on the strong players, or at least not let them have position on you. This is the “a penny saved is a penny earned” concept. If you cannot win a ton from anyone, you want to ensure no one is winning a ton for you.
Tournaments While table selection is a much bigger part of being a cash game player than a tournament player, there are a few tricks you can have up your sleeve to give yourself the best chance of playing at soft tournament tables. The first is to understand how seats are assigned at your casino when players sign up to play. While some casinos choose seats completely random, most do not. Most small casinos only have a few open tables at a time, regardless of how many players they expect to have in the event. This means that if you sign up when the bad players sign up, odds are you will have a few more of them at your table than you normally would. This concept becomes incredibly important when playing events where lots of people satellite in. After a satellite is complete, all the winners (usually 10 or more) are escorted over to the cage to buy in. They are all seated within three or four tables. If you buy in right before or after them, odds are you will be seated at one of those tables, which will be softer than tables where everyone buys in with cash. Many professionals opt to buy in late, which makes the late registration tables much tougher than normal tables. While most casinos have figured out ways to remedy these problems, if yours has not, do not be afraid to take advantage of the system they have in place. If you happen to find yourself at a tough table in an otherwise soft tournament, if you know your table will break soon or if the day will end and you will be placed at a new table on the next day, you should tighten up and avoid any sort of high risk situation. This scenario recently happened to me in a $3,500 buy-in WPT event. At the end of day two, I had eight other strong pros at my table. The other 12 tables were incredibly soft, featuring almost no pros. So, I played tightly for three hours and treaded water. To be clear, I didn’t blind off, but I also didn’t attempt any significant bluffs. A few of the pros at my table were using the opposite strategy, going to war with each other. While you need to be capable of battling, you also need to know when to be a pacifist. This was the perfect time to sit back and wait for the redraw. Sure enough, on day three, I was blessed with a much softer table and I ended up making a deep run. Had I battled hard for those tough three hours on day two, I could have easily been sent to the rail. Finally, if you think an event will be tough, understand that you do not have to play it. Many players think they must play every large event that runs at their
local casino. These players usually want to prove to themselves and their peers that they can compete in the tough event, or they simply have a gambling problem. Every year at one of the World Poker Tour stops, there is a $10,000 buy-in main event, a bunch of $1,000 side events, and a $5,000 side event. The main event and the $1,000 events are always incredibly soft, but the $5,000 event attracts only the best players, making it either unprofitable or barely profitable for even the best players in the world (the rake is still 10%). After I made the mistake of playing it the first time it ran, I showed up to take a look at the field the next year and decided to skip it because it contained 40 pros and two weak players. I instead went downstairs and played in the softest $25/$50 game I have ever seen (because most of the pros were stroking their egos in tournament!). In general, as tournaments attract more players, they get softer. When casinos put large guarantees on tournaments, they attract more players (often enough to cover the guarantee). If a tournament has a lot of satellite qualifiers, that is also a reason to play because most satellite players lack the skills to succeed in tournaments with normal payouts (more on this later). If an event doesn’t have a guarantee and there are no satellite qualifiers, expect it to be somewhat small and tougher than normal. In small, somewhat tough events, even if you have an edge, it will often not be worth your time.
Bankroll Management Bankroll management could have easily been the first chapter in this book, because it is that important. If you constantly squander your bankroll either by playing in games you can’t beat or by losing or spending your money elsewhere, you will never progress beyond small stakes games. In order to play without going broke, you need to keep enough money set aside to handle the normal swings of the game. This is the opposite of what almost all small stakes players do. They get together a few buy-ins, go to the casino, and then play until they are broke or it is time to go home. This results in them usually having, at most, 10 buy-ins to their name, which is nowhere near an adequate bankroll. If you don’t keep an adequate bankroll, variance is almost certain to wipe you out. To be clear, your bankroll is the money you have set aside exclusively for poker. It is not money that you spend on bills, shoes, or food. If you treat your bankroll like an ATM, it will always be running low. Suppose there are two identical players who both play $1/$2 and want to move to $2/$4. Both players currently have $10,000 and need to get to $20,000 before moving to $2/$4. They both play 40 hours per week at their local casino and, on average, win 7 big blinds per hour, regardless of the game or buy-in level. One of the players withdraws $600 per month to pay his mortgage and the other player withdraws $200 to pay for gas to and from the casino, plus some noodles once per week. How much of an impact does this $400 per month difference between the two players have on their abilities to move up? It will take the player withdrawing $600 per month about a year to get to $2/$4 with a $20,000 bankroll. Doubling up and winning $10,000 in a year doesn’t sound too bad! However, the other player, who withdraws $200 per month, will have an incredible $46,800! By not withdrawing that extra $400 per month, the second player is able to move to $2/$4 much faster, doubling his win rate, allowing him to make $28 per hour instead of $14 per hour for six more months. This situation continues to compound over time, allowing the second player to continue moving up at a much faster rate than the first player. If you are willing to give up a little bit now, you will have significantly more later. Mastering delayed gratification will make life much more pleasant for you.
Cash Games There are a few factors that determine how many big blinds you should keep in your cash game bankroll, so I will make this simple by just listing the relevant information for you: If you win at 3 big blinds per 100 hands, you need 10,000 big blinds ($20,000 at $1/$2). If you win at 5 big blinds per 100 hands, you need 8,000 big blinds ($16,000 at $1/$2). If you win at 7 big blinds per 100 hands, you need 6,000 big blinds ($12,000 at $1/$2). If you win at 10 big blinds per 100 hands, you need 4,000 big blinds ($8,000 at $1/$2). If you win at 13 big blinds per 100 hands, you need 3,500 big blinds ($7,000 at $1/$2). If you win at 16 big blinds per 100 hands, you need 3,000 big blinds ($6,000 at $1/$2). If you win at 20 big blinds per 100 hands, you need 2,500 big blinds ($5,000 at $1/$2). If you win at 25 big blinds per 100 hands, you need 2,000 big blinds ($4,000 at $1/$2). Playing with these numbers will give you a 3% chance to go broke. If you are playing professionally, you will probably want that number to be lower, meaning you need to keep an even larger bankroll. If you are not a professional and you have a job, you can keep a smaller bankroll with the idea that if you lose it, you can always add to it with money from your paycheck. If you do not have a positive win rate, no amount of bankroll management can save you or make you profitable. If you play with a negative expectation, you will lose in the long run. These numbers may sound large to the uninitiated, but there is no way around it, they are what is required. You must understand that you do not have to play in a game just because it exists. If you are not bankrolled for $1/$2, play smaller. If there are no smaller games in your area, get a job and a paycheck. I hate to make it sound so cut and dried, but it really is. I tell you the brutal truth because I want you to succeed. In order to know how many big blinds you need in your bankroll, you need to
know how many big blinds you win per 100 hands. This means that you need to keep track of your win rate. Every time you play, keep track of how much you buy in for and how much you leave the table with. Also keep track of any other drains to your bankroll, such as the rake, dealer tips, drink tips (these three are easy because they come directly off the table), extra food costs, transportation costs, etc. If you had to buy a computer to play online, that is a significant cost. If you spend money on playing poker, it counts against your bankroll. There are numerous phone apps that can keep track of your results, which makes things easy. If you don’t have a cell phone, you can use a notebook and a pencil. Once you have kept track of your results for about 100 hours, you will have some idea of your win rate. As you play more, you will get a more accurate picture of this number. When you move up or if your game gets tougher for some reason (increased rake, the worst player in your area quits, your opponents get better, new parking fees, etc.), your win rate will decrease. This should lead you to reevaluate your required bankroll. You should also take note of how much variance you experience. Assuming equal win rates, if you play a loose, aggressive strategy, you will have larger swings than someone who plays a tight strategy. This should lead you to keep a larger bankroll. The above numbers assume you play normally, not too tight and not too lose. When you sit down to play, you should have some predetermined strategy in place outlining when you plan to leave the table. While there is no magical system that will ensure you win most of the time, you do not want to open yourself up to having gigantic losing sessions when all things conspire against you. For this reason, I suggest most small stakes players cap the amount they can lose during any individual session to three buy-ins, or 300 big blinds. If you play in a short stacked 20 big blind game, perhaps you should be fine with losing 120 big blinds. This stop loss is suggested because many small stakes players go on tilt after losing a few significant pots and can no longer think clearly. To further help ensure you don’t go off the deep end, don’t take money with you to the casino that you are not comfortable losing. It is not suggested that you stop when you are winning, assuming the game is good. Do not be content with “I won three buy-ins today and I am happy with that, so I am going to leave and lock up a win.” If your opponents are giving away money, assuming growing your bankroll is your goal, you should sit there and collect their money for as long as you are playing with a decent edge.
It is important to understand that cash games are actually one long session. The last hand of today is the first hand of tomorrow. Once you understand this, the thought of locking up a daily win will seem asinine to you. When I used to play $5/$10 on a regular basis, if I lost $4,500, I would quit for the day, whether or not I thought the game was good or bad. If my game was bad, I would play for about an hour to see if it improved. If it didn’t, I would quit. I would start my sessions at noon and quit at midnight, ensuring I never played when fatigued. The time of the day that I played was actually quite poor, because the average players gamble the hardest late at night/early in the morning. By playing from noon until midnight, I missed the most profitable hours of the day. However, my main goal was not growing my bankroll as fast as possible, it was to live an enjoyable life. I did not enjoy staying up until 6am. I liked waking up and living “normal” hours. I was willing to give up some amount of equity in exchange for being happier. Today, if growing my bankroll was the only thing that mattered, I would play from 8pm until the game breaks (usually at about 6am). In my experience, at the high and middle stakes, I win in about 55% of my sessions and lose in the other 45%. However, my wins are usually about twice the size of my losses. This is likely a function of game selection and session length. Most of my small stakes students win about 65% of the time and lose 35% of the time, with their wins and losses being roughly the same amount. Poker tracking apps will easily keep track of this information for you. Here is what a solid winning player’s cash game graph looks like over the long term ( Diagram 235 ).
Diagram 235
This graph has the player winning $58,422 over the course of 67,962 hands (23 days) at mostly $3/$6 and $5/$10 online. Playing this many hands live will take you about 2,000 hours, which is about one year of play at 40 hours per week. Notice this player essentially broke even for about 40,000 hands, which is over half of the time depicted on the graph. Could you continue playing your best if you broke even at live poker for six months? Most players could not. Of course, you will likely have a higher win rate live, but even then, it is quite possible to go on significant breakeven streaks. This player was quite fortunate in that his biggest downswing was only 20 buy-ins. Most players are not so lucky. As you can see though, if you have a positive win rate, you will continuously grow your bankroll over time from cash games. Many small stakes players drive themselves crazy trying to figure out how much to buy in for when they take a seat at the table. If you are better than your opponents, you want to buy in for enough to have the inferior players covered, which will often be the table maximum. Some players buy in shorter, but that is usually in attempt to compensate for being bad at deep-stacked poker or due to a short bankroll. If you want to succeed in the long run, you should strive to play all stack sizes well, not only a short or medium stack. That said, you should not sit with the maximum amount every time. If the
weak players are short stacked and you think the good players are better than you, or if the good players have position on you, you should buy in for only enough to have the weak players covered. Remember, you lose money to the players on your left, so if the bad players are on your right with 20 big blinds and a strong player is on your left with 100 big blinds, you should buy in for 20 big blinds to ensure you can win the bad players’ stacks while not opening yourself up to lose 100 big blinds to the strong player on your left. For what it’s worth, I buy in for the maximum about 95% of the time. Once your bankroll starts to grow, you should consider moving up in stakes. While there is no clearly-defined method for moving up, I generally suggest that you move up aggressively once you have played for a decent amount of time with a positive win rate. This is because $2/$5 is typically not much tougher than $1/$2. When moving up, it is important to understand what the players winning in the game you are moving to are doing to beat the bad players, because quite often, the “bad” players at the higher stakes would be slightly winning or breakeven at the lower stake. If you do not know how to exploit these players, you will likely be break-even, unless the games are populated with awful players. Sticking with the same bankroll requirements listed above, if you normally need a $6,000 bankroll to play $1/$2, you would assume that you need a $15,000 bankroll to play $2/$5. In reality, you need more than that because your win rate will be smaller due to the increased skill level of the opposition. That said, you do not need the full $15,000 before attempting to play $2/$5. If you get up to perhaps $9,000 in your bankroll, it may be a good idea to partition $2,000 of it as a 400 big blind shot at $2/$5. This will allow you to get experience playing a tougher game while also potentially growing your bankroll at a much faster rate. You should strive to pick your spots well, playing when the games are the absolute softest. It is perfectly fine to play $1/$2 during the tough times and $2/$5 during the soft times. For example, I typically play much larger during the WSOP because that is when the games are softest, due to lots of amateurs being in Vegas. In your local casino, it probably makes sense to play larger on weekend nights. When taking a shot, do not play “scared”. Simply play as you would in your normal game (of course, this assumes you are a winning player). If things go well, you can continue grinding $2/$5, and if you lose $2,000, you can move back to $1/$2 with your adequate $7,000 bankroll. Notice that taking shots in this manner does not risk a substantial portion of your bankroll. Many amateurs
butcher the concept of taking shots by putting half of their bankroll on the line. Do not do that. It is worth repeating: if you take a shot and it goes poorly, you must move down. Many players get the taste of the larger action and decide “I am a $2/$5 player.” They then play those stakes until they go broke, ending their careers or worse, turning them into perpetual degenerate gamblers. Moving up and taking shots is a calculated risk that may end in failure. If it does, you must be disciplined and move back to the smaller game that you can beat. If you are playing $1/$2 with your $6,000 bankroll and you lose down to perhaps $3,000, it may be ideal to move down to $.5/$1, replenishing your bankroll to 3,000 big blinds. Moving down in this way will drastically decrease your risk of ruin while also ensuring you do not continue playing in a game that is too tough for you. It will not maximize your potential win rate, but it is fine to sacrifice some upside in exchange for minimizing your risk of ruin when things are going poorly. By moving down and essentially doubling the number of big blinds you have in your bankroll, you will have a difficult time ever going broke. Before moving forward, I want to make it as clear as possible that you must follow these guidelines if you want to stay in action. You will experience bad runs throughout your career. When you do, if your bankroll is not adequate for your current game, you must be willing to move down. Many otherwise strong players have gone broke because they were too proud to move down and be seen in the smaller games. While I completely understand that it is not fun to grind smaller games than you are accustomed to, it is much better than the alternative of going broke. If you do not have discipline, you will have a difficult time succeeding unless you get incredibly lucky.
Tournaments Compared to cash games, tournaments have significantly more variance. This is because you will only cash about 15% of the time and you will have a meaningful score a tiny percent of the time. Here is what a solid winning tournament player’s graph looks like ( Diagram 236 ).
Diagram 236
Notice the jarring nature of this graph. The player is usually on a downswing but then has a large, sudden spike (when he has a big score). If you play tournaments, you will usually be down from your peak, which drives some players crazy. The player in this graph won about $8,700 over the course of 401 tournaments (30 days online) with an average buy-in of $38 (for a 55% return on investment). Depending on how many events you play in a day, it could take well over a year (or two) to play this many events in live poker. This player had a break even stretch that lasted 200 tournaments, which is more tournaments than most live players play in a year. This graph is actually quite tame. Many players experience significantly more variance, especially if they only play tournaments with large or tough fields. My journey in online tournaments has been somewhat similar to the above graph, with the line generally moving in the upward direction. I have been lucky to win 100 or more buy-ins in major events multiple times throughout my career
despite not playing all day, every day like most grinders. In live poker though, I have experienced significantly more swings. I lost about 60 buy-ins in my first year playing live tournaments, which amounted to about $250,000 out of my $350,000 bankroll. From there, I was fortunate to win about 300 (huge $10,000) buy-ins over the next year. After that, I continued winning at a small rate and then over the last few years, have roughly broken even. My biggest downswing has been $450,000 or so, or roughly 80 buy-ins. These numbers may seem staggering, but they are standard when playing relatively tough high stakes games. If I did not have my one amazing year, I would only be a small winner instead of a big one. It is important that you play in a manner that leads to winning tournaments because that is where a large chunk of your win rate comes from. There were a few terms mentioned earlier that may be new to you. First, your “average buy-in” is the amount you buy in for on average. In general, you should keep your buy-in amounts somewhat close. You could play 100 $20 buy-in events for an average buy-in of $20 or you could play 99 $10 events and 1 $1,000 event for an average buy-in of $20. Clearly playing one $1,000 event will drastically increase your variance, which should be avoided, assuming you don’t want to go broke. I am typically fine with a 5:1 spread, assuming the large buyin events are incredibly soft and are not played too often. This is how many professionals justify playing soft $1,500 buy-in WSOP events on a bankroll that is adequate for only $500 buy-in games. The second term is “return on investment” (ROI). This is how much you make on average in each tournament you play. This takes all fees into account. If you play 100 tournaments with an average buy-in of $115 and you cash for $15,000, you invested $11,500 and got back $15,000, meaning you won $3,500. You then divide that amount by your total investment to get your ROI, which is $3,500/$11,500 = 30%. Knowing this number will help you nail down how many buy-ins you need to have in order to maintain a low risk of ruin. Here are some rough guidelines to help you determine an adequate bankroll, assuming a 30% ROI. If If If If If
the average the average the average the average the average
field is field is field is field is field is
9 players, you need 24 buy-ins. 45 players, you need 69 buy-ins. 90 players, you need 103 buy-ins. 245 players, you need 154 buy-ins. 550 players, you need 219 buy-ins.
If the average field is 1,200 players, you need 289 buy-ins. If the average field is 2,600 players, you need 375 buy-ins. The size of the field (number of players in the event) is incredibly important when determining your bankroll requirements. In fact, it is quite common to have 125 buy-in downswings over 1,000 tournaments played in 1,200 player events. You must be prepared for these downswings so you are not devastated when they occur. It is also worth mentioning that over the course of 1,000 tournaments played with 1,200 player fields, if you have a 30% ROI, you will only win about 85% of the time. This means that if you play 1,000 tournaments with a 30% ROI, you will be down 15% of the time. If you instead have only a 5% ROI (as many amateurs do), you will only be up 54% of the time. However, if you have a 5% ROI and play 1,000 45 player tournaments, you will be up 72% of the time. If you have a 30% ROI and play 1,000 45 player tournaments, you will be up 100% of the time. Especially when you are in the bankroll-building phase of your poker career, focus on small-field tournaments where you have an obviously positive win rate. If you only play 2,500 person tournaments, expect incredibly large swings, almost exclusively in the downward direction. The rake is a huge detractor to your win rate. Many typical winning small stakes live players play 100 $65 buy-in tournaments ($50 goes to the prize pool and $15 goes to the rake) over the course of the year and cash for $7,000. They are thrilled with this result and think they have a solid win rate. In reality, they are only up $500 over 100 games for a paltry 8% ROI. If there was no rake (making the buy-in $50), they would instead have a substantial 40% ROI. Especially when starting out, strive to find tournaments that have a 13% rake or less. If your local casino doesn’t offer small stakes events with less than 13% rake, you are probably best off not giving them your business. Remember that ust because a game exists does not mean that you have to play. Similarly to cash games, you should move up when you are adequately bankrolled with the idea of taking shots at events that should be abnormally soft. Most tournaments become abnormally soft when there is an overlay (the casino adds money to the prize pool, either purposefully or by accident) or when there are lots of satellite qualifiers in the field. When in the process of moving up, be a bit more cautious with big shots, as they can quickly add a huge amount of variance to your results. Many amateurs make the mistake of grinding $150 buy-
in local events all year with the intention of taking their profits ($5,000 or so) to Vegas during the summer to try to get rich at the WSOP. While a few of these players get lucky, the vast majority go home with nothing. If your goal is to grind up a bankroll so that you are adequately bankrolled to play $1,500 tournaments, taking huge stabs at them is not the right way to go. You must be content to grind up your bankroll in a slow, disciplined manner. While tournaments provide an avenue to get rich quick, almost no one gets rich and stays rich from taking big shots. You should probably be a bit quicker to move down when playing tournaments compared to cash games, again due to the increased variance. When you dip about 20% below the required bankroll, it is wise to start lowering your average buy-in by mixing in smaller games where you have a larger win rate.
Satellite Tournaments Satellites are tournaments where some portion of the field (usually 10%) wins their way into a larger event (that usually has 10 times the buy-in of the satellite), and everyone else gets nothing. Since there are no payout jumps once you get in the money and the only payout jump is gigantic, you should drastically alter your play to ensure you get in the money once it becomes clear that is a realistic possibility. As an oversimplification, you should play normally in the early levels, and once you double or triple your stack, you should play more cautiously. For a thorough discussion on adjustments you should make in satellites, check out Bernard Lee’s chapter in Excelling at No-Limit Hold’em. While many amateurs think they should strive to satellite into major events, I think that is a horrible idea, assuming your goal is to constantly improve your poker skills and eventually grow your bankroll such that you do not have to rely on satellites to play large events. You will often hear the best professional discuss how they want to be sure they get to play with the satellite qualifiers in the main event. This is because they correctly understand that most strong satellite players use a strategy that is great for getting in the money but horrible at winning the tournament. This leads to the satellite qualifiers playing in an overly tight manner near the money bubble, allowing the professionals to easily push them around. It is important to understand that satellites and normal tournaments require different strategies and should be viewed as different games. If you approach both games with the same default strategy, you will lose in at least one of the two forms. Another problem with satellites is that your ROI is capped. In a normal tournament, if you win, it will usually be for 30 times your buy-in or more, but in satellites, the most you can win is 10 or 20 buy-ins, depending on the structure. This will lead to a lower average ROI because a large amount of a strong player’s edge comes from getting to the final table with a large stack and then crushing it. While you will experience significantly less variance in satellites, the lower ROI overrides all of this. In fact, it is generally thought that there is no edge to be had in the high stakes online satellites because the default strategy of getting some chips early and then being patient until you get in the money isn’t too difficult to master. If the skills required to win are both obvious and easily implementable, you should not expect to have much of an edge. The one time playing satellites makes financial sense is when the event you
are trying to win your way into is normally within your bankroll requirements and you planned to play the event anyway. For example, a few satellites often take place on the day before a WPT main event. These events often have buy-ins between $350 and $600, with the winners getting $3,500. If you are properly bankrolled for an average buy-in of $1,500, it could make sense to play both events. Just be sure you understand that the games are completely different and require drastically different strategies. Playing satellites to “warm up” for the main event is not an intelligent line of thought, just as you would not play limit hold’em to warm up for no-limit hold’em.
Re-entry Tournaments Over the last few years, a new form of tournament has popped on to the scene that allows you to re-enter if you bust during a predetermined number of levels. You should not approach these games much differently than you would approach normal tournaments. If you bust before the re-entry period ends, ask yourself if you would buy into a new tournament with the current blind structure. Suppose you play a $550 ($500 + $50 rake) event and bust after eight levels. If you opt to re-enter, you will have a 10,000 stack at 400/800 blinds, giving you a 12.5 big blind stack. Ask yourself what kind of an edge you will have in an event where you start with 12.5 big blinds. If you are honest with yourself (as you must be if you want to reach your full potential), you will know that your ROI is almost certainly less than 10%, and if it is more than 10%, it is perhaps 15% at best. This means that you will essentially break even by re-entering into this event, meaning you should skip it. While I understand that you didn’t go to the casino to skip events, if you care about your bankroll, you must be disciplined. Let’s suppose you instead bust four times in the first level by getting all-in before the flop with A-A. You have played well and done nothing wrong. You should again ask yourself if you should re-enter. This time, you will have a 10,000 stack at 50/100 blinds, giving you 100 big blinds. The two main questions you should ask in this spot are if you are on tilt (more on that in ).) and if you are still properly bankrolled for the event. If you are angry because you played great and got your money in good, then you should likely stop playing (clearly this is not a reason to be angry). If you are no longer properly bankrolled (as will often happen when taking shots in large buy-in soft events), you should also stop. You should not stop if you think “it is not your day”. Always be rational and logical with your thought process and make your decisions accordingly. If you have an edge worth trying to realize, you should re-enter. If you do not, you should not re-enter. Toward the end of the re-entry period, it is common to see the short stacks (and some medium and large stacks) playing incredibly wildly, hoping to either double up or bust so they can re-enter with a fresh stack. If your goal is to win the most money possible, playing in this manner is almost always a mistake. Most of the time, your stack will be quite short in terms of blinds when you reenter, meaning that if you have an edge, it will be minimal. Also, the “short”
stack you are considering gambling with will often be half of a starting stack or more. This means that if you voluntarily get your stack in poorly, you are mucking some of your current equity and re-buying with a neutral (or negative) ROI. That doesn’t make logical sense. The only time you should gamble near the end of the re-entry period is when you have about 33% of a starting stack or less with one level remaining in the reentry period, assuming you get 25 big blinds or more when you re-enter. This is because your equity with 33% of a starting stack is quite low and if you re-enter, you can still have a positive ROI. Also, it is tough to get it in too bad with a tiny stack because of the substantial amount of dead blinds and antes in the pot, meaning that getting in “bad” often isn’t too terrible because you will be getting 1.5:1 pot odds. That said, if you do not think you have a positive ROI re-entering with a 25 big blind stack, you should play normally. Make a point to identify the players who are actively trying to double up or go broke. Recognize that these players’ ranges are much wider than they should be and adjust accordingly. While it is prudent to ensure someone is making an error before getting extremely out of line to exploit it, with one level left in the reentry period, if you have the inkling that someone is trying to double or bust, don’t be afraid to get out of line to collect their donation. Some players will actually act in the opposite manner, becoming very tight, wanting to ensure they do not have to re-enter. While their logic is horribly flawed (because you are not forced to re-enter), you can get a bit out of line and push these players around.
Rake The rake is the unrecognized killer of almost all small stakes poker players. It is difficult to beat a 10% rake capped at 3 big blinds in cash games and a 20% rake in tournaments (which are common amounts in most small stakes games). If you can beat the rake, it is often for only a small amount. This is why I suggest that my students start off playing in games with a significantly beatable rake, assuming they can get a proper bankroll together. To illustrate this point, consider what happens when you play in a standard local $1/$2 game with a 10% rake capped at $4 or a $2/$5 game with the same rake. Assuming you win at the rate of 8 big blinds per hour before rake, you will win $16 per hour at $1/$2 and $40 per hour at $2/$5. However, you will pay about $10 rake per hour to play $1/$2, leaving you with $6 profit while paying about $14 rake per hour to play $2/$5, leaving you with $26 profit. $6 per hour is only 3 big blinds at $1/$2, whereas $26 is 5.2 big blinds per hour at $2/$5. By moving up and maintaining the same win rate, you give yourself a hefty raise, both in terms of dollars and big blinds per hour. If the only game available to you is $1/$2 with $4 or more rake per hand, you will have a tough time winning in the long run. This concept also applies to tournaments. Many small stakes tournaments with buy-ins of less than $500 have 20% rake and structures that lead to a low skill advantage, whereas larger buy-in events have 13% rake (or less) and structures that lead to a large skill advantage. If the only game available to you is a tournament with a poor structure and 30% rake, you will not win in the long run. While there is nothing you can do to minimize the rake you pay in tournaments because you pay it before you buy in, you can adjust your strategy in cash games in order to pay as little rake as possible. This is done by winning as few pots as possible. This may sound counterintuitive, but if you only win two pots per hour and you win on average 10 big blinds per hand, you will win 20 big blinds per hour minus the roughly 8 big blind rake, leaving you with a profit of 12 big blinds per hour. If you compare this to someone who wins 40 big blinds in the hour over the course of 15 pots, all of his profits and then some will be devoured by the rake. The easiest way to beat games with an exorbitant rake is to play tightly and only enter the pot when you have a premium hand. Do not fall into the trap of calling raises or limping with all sorts of junk, hoping to flop well. That is a surefire way to go broke.
If the rake the casino takes isn’t enough to hold you down, you also have to account for the other expenses you take on when you play poker. In live cash games, it is customary to tip the dealer when you win a pot. While I am all for tipping the dealers, you have to be realistic about it. If you win $10 per hour and you tip the dealers $5 per hour ($1 for each of the 5 pots you win), you cut the amount of money you take home in half. It is not practical to tip much at all in small stakes games if you want to win. As you move up (remember back to the $2/$5 example), you can start tipping $1 per hand. As you move up even higher, even a $3 tip per hand becomes practical. If you feel inclined to tip in small stakes games, I suggest you tip $1 only when you win a sizable pot, which will usually be about once per hour. In some places, it is customary for the winners of a tournament to tip the staff. Most casinos take 3% of the prize pool out for the dealers. If they do this, do not feel the least bit inclined to tip any additional amount. The same is true if your casino offers a “dealer add on” (it may have another name) where your $100 tournament buy-in gets you 10,000 chips and if you give the dealers $10 at the start of the event, you get some number (usually 5,000) of additional chips. This is a shady, essentially forced, way to induce the players to tip the dealers a significant chunk of the buy-in (9% in this example) on top of the other rake. If absolutely no money is taken out on top of a rake that is 10% or less (I haven’t experienced this in years), feel free to tip the dealers a few percent of your winnings. You should also account for the amount of money it costs you to actually travel to play poker. This is referred to as “travel rake”. If the rake the casino takes isn’t obvious, travel rake certainly isn’t. If you have to buy $20 worth of gas to drive to and from the casino, that amount should be accounted for because it is an expense you would not otherwise have. If you would normally make dinner at home at the cost of $5 but dinner at the casino costs $15, the $10 difference should be accounted for. If you travel multiple days to play, the cost of your lodging should be noted. It is common for small stakes players to profit a few thousand dollars per year but unknowingly be break-even or losing due to the travel rake. Speaking of going to the casino, make sure you plan ahead in order to maximize your comfort and minimize your expenses. This concept can be applied in many ways, such as showing up when you know there will be an open seat. If you show up to your casino and you have to wait two hours to get a seat, you have essentially wasted two hours with which you could have been doing
something productive. If you happen to find yourself in this situation and don’t want to go home, take an educational book to read or a podcast to listen to so your time is not squandered. I make a point to pack a backpack or bag whenever I go to play poker. My bag contains a bottle of water, trail mix bars, protein smoothie powder, green tea, a acket, headphones, sunglasses, a note pad, multiple pens, floss, and my iPad (for reading books). If you ever find yourself wishing you had something at the casino, resolve to solve your problem by bringing it with you. Some casinos and online poker sites offer various types of bonuses, which you can take advantage of to help alleviate the rake. Many small online sites offer “rakeback”, where you are given back some portion of the rake you pay each month. When I used to grind nine-handed tournaments during my first few years as a pro, I was winning roughly $20,000 per month from the games and getting $15,000 more from 33% rakeback. I was paying roughly $45,000 in rake per month by playing 3,000 $200 + $15 buy-in games. That $15 rake adds up! If you play on a site that offers rakeback and you are not getting it, you are making a costly mistake. Some of the larger sites have done away with rakeback and instead distribute frequent player points, which can be exchanged for various prizes, such as tournament buy-in tickets, gadgets, and cash. On the major sites, all the items have roughly the same value in terms of points, but on some sites, they give you a better deal if you exchange them for tournament buy-in tickets (because the casino keeps some of it as rake). Live casinos also offer various promotions, such as bad beat jackpots. A bad beat jackpot is a promotion where some additional amount of money is raked each hand and then given to the players who are involved in a pot where a premium hand, such as four of a kind, loses. Each casino sets its own stipulation to make the jackpot hit more or less often. In general, bad beat jackpots are a horrible deal for no-limit players, assuming they are in the same jackpot pool as limit players. This is because you see way fewer turns and rivers in no-limit compared to limit. Some shady casinos take an “administration fee” of 10% of whatever the jackpot hits for, so if the players paid in $10,000, only $9,000 is paid out. Some casinos even expect you to tip the floor person who physically pays out the money. If you have the option, do not play at tables that take additional rake that goes to the bad beat jackpot. Similar to bad beat jackpots, high hand jackpots pay out some amount of money to the person who makes the best hand throughout the entire poker room
during a set time period, usually every 30 minutes. Some casinos simply give away a predetermined amount (usually between $200 and $1,000) while others tack on an additional $1 rake while this promotion is running. If you have to pay in, try to avoid these games. If you find yourself in a jackpot game, you should not alter your play at all. You should naturally play all pairs (which can make four of a kind). Folding your weak suited connectors is still ideal (because you are rarely going to make a straight flush and when you do, you will almost never be against quads). Play your normal strategy and do not get illusions of grandeur. While you should not alter your play in jackpot games, many of your opponents will. They may be inclined to call pre-flop raises with any hand that could be part of the jackpot, hoping to strike gold. If you pay attention, you will see some players using extremely wide pre-flop ranges which often have to be folded by the turn and river. If you find someone who is a calling station before the flop but weak and straightforward after the flop, you are the one who has struck gold. Some casinos sporadically offer various other promotions. Some will “splash the pot” where they put $100 into random pots each hour, giving it to whoever happens to win. Others pay out some amount of money whenever pocket Aces get cracked. Many casinos will comp food and hotel rooms if you play long enough. Make a point to do everything you can to get money back from the casino, because every penny increases your bottom line. Some casinos offer their most loyal players the opportunity to be prop players. A prop player usually agrees to play a set number of hours each week during the off-peak hours in short-handed games. Essentially, prop players start games and keep games running. They usually do not get to pick which game they play and are shuttled from game to game by the floor man. This leads to them frequently playing in short-handed games, which may or may not be a bad thing, depending on who is in the game. In exchange for this, the player is paid an hourly rate, usually between $10 and $20 per hour. If you know you are going to play a ton of poker in the same casino during off-peak hours, look into becoming a prop player. If you get paid $10 per hour to play and play 30 hours per week, you get an extra $1,200 per month, which is a nice bump to any player’s win rate. Some casinos offer player loyalty bonuses in the form of entries into monthly invitational tournaments to players who play a predetermined number of hours each month. This often works out to roughly a $250 bonus each month in the form of a tournament buy-in, which is meaningful, but not too significant. Other
casinos essentially make all their tournaments into league games where the players with the best results at the end of the month or year are invited to an invitational tournament. If you find that you are not being invited to these events (because you don’t play enough), recognize that you are funding the players who get to play. Some casinos award tournament buy-in tickets to players for various reasons, such as winning high hand bonuses or playing a set number of hours. Some of these players do not want to or cannot play the tournament they have a ticket for and will look to sell it to someone else at a discount. If you can buy a $300 tournament buy-in ticket for $200, you immediately scooped up 50% ROI (minus the rake) because you are putting $200 into the prize pool, whereas everyone else is putting in $300. While it is ridiculous in my opinion that this black market ticket-selling industry exists, if your casino features it, do not be afraid to take advantage of it. Just be sure you are buying real tickets. If you want to take this to the extreme, if you know there is always a line of players buying into the $300 event on the day of the tournament but people are selling tickets they do not want a week in advance, it may be wise to buy up 10 tickets at $200 and then sell them for $290 to the players in line to buy in. That said, be careful to not get stuck with worthless tickets. As you can see, the concept of rake extends well beyond exactly what you pay the casino to play. You should strive to be acutely aware of where your money is going to and coming from. The rake is a consistent leak that many amateurs are oblivious to that relegates them to small stakes games for their entire poker playing careers.
Tilt Much has been written about tilt, so it will not be discussed too deeply here (see an extensive discussion on the even broader subject of poker mindset in my books with Dr. Tricia Cardner, Positive Poker and Peak Poker Performance). Tilt is a state of mental or emotional confusion, or frustration in which a player adopts a less than optimal strategy, usually resulting in the player becoming overly aggressive. Tilt usually manifests itself when someone loses a significant pot in a situation where they expected to win. To be clear, you are not “supposed” to win any poker hand. If you have A-A versus K-K, you are supposed to win 82% of the time. This implies that you are supposed to lose 18% of the time. If losing in this (or similar) situations causes you to get upset and alter your play to “try to win your money back”, you will have a tough time being a winning player in the long run. It is important to realize that once you lose money, it is no longer yours. You have to accept it and move to the next hand in a positive mindset. The way I see it, you simply have to be disciplined. The fact that you just lost a hand should not alter your decision on the next hand at all. That said, I understand it is often difficult to move beyond a significant loss, especially if you are new to the game and are not accustomed to the standard swings. It is not helped by the fact that most players in small stakes games act foolish after they lose, leading the onlookers to think that is how they are supposed to react. Just because your opponents lose their minds when they lose does not mean you have to. Instead, model your behavior after the best players in the world who do not care one way or the other whether they win or lose any individual hand. When I used to go on tilt after losing a big pot, I would tighten up, not wanting to lose additional money. This led to me being too tight and easy to push around. While this reaction to tilt is not nearly as costly as playing like a maniac, it is far from ideal and should be addressed. Some players go on tilt not from losing big pots, but from being card-dead. If they fold junky hands for 30 minutes or an hour, they get annoyed and think they “deserve” to win a pot. This leads them to raise with hands that are clearly not strong enough, which obviously leads to losses. Most of these players even realize their mistake after the fact, but fall back into the same habit every time they find themselves card-dead. Other players go on “happy tilt”, where they feel invincible after winning a
big pot. They dream of a big rush and winning everyone’s money over the next few hands. These players widen their ranges and end up with too many weak hands on the later streets. The funny thing about some superstitious small stakes players is they will see someone “on a rush” and actively stay out of their way because they are “running hot”. In reality, if their ranges are too wide, you should look to play against these players, not avoid them. It is normal for tournament players to experience large swings to their stack size due to the natural fluctuations of the game. When you go from 100 big blinds to 20 big blinds, you should resolve to continue playing your best. Instead, many players think “Twenty big blinds is nothing compared to the amount I just had. I am going to gamble!” This usually doesn’t work out too well. I am confident that one of the reasons I have had such a long and profitable tournament career is that I rarely give away my short stacks, as many others do on a regular basis. While it is not fun to robotically grind a short stack for hours on end, if you care about winning money, it must be done. Poker has a ton of variance that is unavoidable. As you move beyond a tight strategy and play a bit looser, you will experience even more variance. This demands that you have a strong mental game so you do not lose your cool when everything seems to conspire against you. You must clearly understand that you are not entitled to win. In fact, you are not even entitled to get playable hands. It is quite common to play for four hours and only get dealt one or two decently playable hands. This is not something to get angry about. When you get a premium hand, you are not entitled to win. Sometimes you will lose. It is part of the game. If you know something is part of the game, why should you get upset when it happens? If you have a tilt issue (as most small stakes players do), strive to eradicate it. There are many forms of tilt, most of which are addressed in the mindset chapters of Excelling at No-Limit Hold’em . Each type of tilt demands a different change in mindset, so they will not be addressed here, but in general, most small stakes players deal with entitlement issues and do not fully comprehend how variance works. If you have a tilt problem, do not ignore it. Strive to fix your leaks, whether they are on or off the felt, so you can continue to grow as a poker player. When you spot someone at your table who is on tilt, try to figure out when and how he is going to explode. Many players explode almost immediately. It is almost routine in small stakes cash games for someone to lose a large chunk of their stack and then be immediately all-in on the next hand, perhaps as early as
before the flop, with 100% of hands. When you see this happen, try to figure out if your opponent is putting on an act (pretending to be on tilt to induce action), and if he is not, be willing to get well out of line to collect the money he is trying his absolute best to give away. Suppose someone loses $200 out of his $250 stack and seems to be on tilt. Everyone folds to him in middle position and he pushes all-in for $50 at $1/$2. Everyone folds to you in the big blind. You should tend to call with this range ( Diagram 237 ).
Diagram 237
This range has a bit more than 50% equity against a 60% all-in range. This gives you a little bit of leeway in case your opponent is pushing tighter than you may perceive. If your opponent shows up with a strong hand, take note and remember to call him a bit tighter in the future. This same concept applies post-flop as well. In general, you should assume players on tilt become more aggressive, although it is often difficult to know how much more aggressive. Tilt can manifest itself as betting too wide for value, bluffing a bit too often with marginal draws, or playing completely bonkers. You should usually adjust to tilting opponents by playing against them as if they are maniacs or loose, aggressive players, which will result in you doing a lot of checking and calling. While I tend to not go out of my way to get players on tilt, I understand there is merit in doing it. You can take this concept as far as you’d like, but in general, I have found that creating a happy, party-like environment is more profitable than a hostile environment. That said, you can do a few subtle things that may annoy some of your opponents who have weak mental games. The most obvious thing you can do is show a player who is prone to tilt that they did something wrong. This often means showing a successful bluff to someone who may be prone to tilt. Some players will become so angry that either they made a mistake or that you “disrespected” them by running a bluff that they will go on tilt. When someone shows me a bluff, I either do not physically react, as if I didn’t see it, or I laugh at them because they clearly do not grasp my mental game prowess. I subtly turn their attempt to tilt me back on them, saying with my actions “I know you get tilted when someone shows you a bluff, but I don’t care. You are the worst.” Another thing you can do is slowroll your opponents. While I have never slowrolled anyone in my life, there is nothing inherently unethical about it. It is not written in any rule book that you must quickly table your winning hand to end the suspense for your opponent. Some players take it really far, knocking the table, saying “nice hand”, acting like they are going to muck, and then turning their winning hand face-up. You can also verbally berate your opponents, assuming you stay within the rules set by your casino. I have never berated anyone with the intention of getting them on tilt. For the most part, I think that most players who are capable of going on tilt will get there on their own. I am a big fan of berating players who talk to amateurs in a way that may dissuade them from playing again in the future, but that is not what I am referring to here.
While you can be a jerk at the poker table, you will probably find that you enjoy life much more if you are a good, kind person. If you enjoy being a horrible human, you have bigger problems that should be addressed. Just because a tactic exists does not mean that you have to use it. Don’t be a jerk.
CONCLUSION Congratulations on completing this book. I cannot express how proud of you I am that you have taken this significant step to improve your skills as a poker player. Mastering small stakes games is only the beginning of your journey. There is still a long way to go on your road to becoming a successful, significantly profitable poker player. As soon as you think you have the game figured out, your opponents will pass you by. As I am sure you know, I am the author of 12 other poker books, all of which have been the best-selling poker book at one point or another. I strongly suggest that you figure out the exact form of poker you want to master and pick up my books on those subjects. You can get the audiobook version of two of my books for free if you have never signed up for Audible at JLPoker.com/free. Check it out! I also offer exclusive 4-hour long webinars where I present on a specific topic (such as how to increase your aggression, the true value of top pair, and reviewing the key hands from my biggest wins), where the audience can interact and ask questions in real time. If you are serious about improving your game, get involved in these webinars. You can find the recordings of many of my past webinars at JLPoker.com/trainingvideos. I have been working hard to develop an in-depth poker training site at PokerCoaching.com. There, I post weekly hand quizzes where you play recreations of hands that I have played and are graded based on the decisions you make. I then let you know why I like or dislike the decisions you made. In addition to the interactive quizzes, I present a monthly homework webinar where I personally review the answers all my students submit and let them know if their thought process is flawed in any way. The students of PokerCoaching.com have made huge improvements to their game since I launched the site. If you are not part of it, you are missing out. I also offer a more private Inner Circle that features four monthly office hours where you can call in and ask me all your
questions live. I also present min-webinars on topics submitted by the Inner Circle members. You can check out a preview of the Inner Circle at JLPoker.com/innercirclepreview. I suggest you analyze your hands after each and every session you play. I record my live poker hands and make a point to review them before my next session. This allows me to focus on my mistakes so I do not repeat them. I outline how I take notes of my live hands at JLPoker.com/notes. You can use programs like HoldemManager to record and analyze your online hands. You can get HoldemManager at JLPoker.com/resources. From there, you should download and learn to work with various analytical poker tools. Equilab is a good free tool that is also easy to use. More advanced programs you may want to look into include Flopzilla, HoldemResourcesCalculator, CardRunnersEV, ICMizer, and PioSolver. I suggest you search these on YouTube to see if they are what you are looking for. If you haven’t already noticed, I also have an educational poker site at JLPoker.com. There I post weekly educational blogs and my podcast, Weekly Poker Hand. If you ever want to get in touch with me, I quickly reply to everyone who tweets at me on Twitter @JonathanLittle. You can also email me using the form at JLPoker.com/contact. You are now my student! I am happy to work hard for you as long as you continue to work hard to improve yourself. I wish you nothing but the best in both poker and life. When you see me on the felt, be sure to say hi!
BONUS VIDEO The #1 Mistake Cash Game Players Make Now that you have completed this book, I want to give you access to another resource to help you improve in cash games. I want to give you access to a webinar I taught where I reveal what I think is the #1 mistake cash game players make so you can avoid it in your own game.
To watch this 50-minute webinar, visit: http://jonathanlittlepoker.com/mistake/
BONUS VIDEO Five Tournament Concepts You MUST Master I also want to give you access to a 2-hour webinar I taught where I reveal 5 concepts you must master to win at poker tournaments.
Here are the five concepts I covered on this webinar. Relative Stack Size - I went over the concept of relative stack size. I showed how to play pocket aces with 100 BBs, 50 BBs, 25 BBs, and 12 BBs. Pot Control - I discussed the concept of pot control, when to use it, when NOT to use it, and why. I also showed example hands. Maximizing Fold Equity When Short - I discussed how to maximize fold equity when relatively short by pushing over initial raises, pushing with a wide range from late position when folded to, and when you should (and shouldn’t) push from early position. Staying Out of Trouble - I discussed when you should try to stay out of trouble, and when you need try to accumulate chips. I showed a hand
