Notes: The Coaching Tree #1

The Coaching Tree #1
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25NL

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** 99 UTG

- Hero raises, button flats
- Flop: QJ7tt - Hero...?

((ME: I'm likely to c-bet here, though I'm not bouncing off of the walls about it. Villain is loose-passive, so he has a lot of hands in his range that we're beating here - lower pairs, weak aces, suited trash - and we're unlikely to be raised. Many of these hands will pay us off for a street, and if not we certainly don't want them hanging around for some free equity. If we get raised on the c-bet, my cards are in the muck instantly. If we get called, we proceed carefully on the turn - barreling any low brick.))

Varying your raise size by position is something to consider - 4x UTG to 2.5-3x on the button. People at these limits are less likely to give you credit at the lower limits, and the bigger the pot is preflop the less your disadvantage when OOP. Also, we're getting more value when our opponent's make more mistakes by calling too loosely.

Our general assumption against players at this level, our assumption is loose-passive.

There are a lot of draws we're ahead of now, but our equity is about 50% against them. We're likely to get called by any 7, J, Q , spade draw, straight draw and this guy is unlikely to ever bluff us - when he's unlikely to bluff us, it's bad to give him free cards. Betting here is the play of choice - we can pick up the dead money when he's missed, and a lot of his range is missing. If we get any significant heat, we're gone.

Going into C/C mode against loose-passive players is generally bad, because loose-passive players don't bluff. They may bet very weak hands, but they don't bluff.

When a flush draw misses against a loose-passive, don't check if you're strong! Bet out and hope to get called. If you have a bluff catcher, check and call a small bet.

** Raise any 2 cards in the BB against a SB limp until given a reason not to. In most cases, they'll simply fold preflop or C/F the flop.

** Flex your bet size depending upon the situation. You can increase your bet sizes when you have a strong hand on the flop and not have it be too noticable. In a spot where your bet size doesn't really matter (short stacks that are easy to get in by the river), shrink your bet slightly.

** TPNK with a trash hand (72 on 743) OOP - don't get involved. Reverse implied odds will chew us up. Also, we're unlikely to be ahead if we get to the river.

** Pot management

Preflop - CO limps, Hero raises in BB w/ A9s
Flop - KJx mono, we have flush. Hero leads out for pot, Villain folds.

We're leading here in the hopes that Villain has the ability to call us. By doing so, we're getting money in the pot early, which makes it easier for us to get money in the pot later while we're still light years ahead.

People will call much more frequently on these flops than you would think.

Not betting the turn often enough is one of the biggest leaks.

** Why is A8o a bad hand to steal with?

Our postflop equity isn't going to be good. Suited hands are often good because we can get the flush draw, allowing us to continue to be aggressive. Remember the early chapters in BW's book.

What kind of mistakes are our opponents going to make? They call too often.

If we have tight players behind us, we want hands that have the potential to hit a lot of equity - suited connectors, suited gappers, even face-trash suited. If we have loose players behind us, we want hands that can hit good top pair hands and get paid by worse.

Be aware of who you're playing against. Choose the type of hands that will play well against them.

** When someone overbets the pot at low limits, don't expect a bluff. (Except preflop)

** 3-betting from the blinds

Preflop - Button raises, Hero 3-bets from the SB w/ ATo, button calls
Flop - T43 - Hero...?

This isn't the best of spots to 3-bet becuase we're getting called a lot by this Villain and our hand isn't particularly strong. It's unclear what we're trying to do here - bluff or value bet against his range.

We're going to have a difficult time getting called by worse here - we can expect to see a lot of hands that flip against us (99/KQ) and hands that do well against us (AJ/AQ).

We shouldn't be reraising here preflop due to the stack sizes - we have bad reverse implied odds. On this flop, C/C is the best option. If we do bet, there's no need to make a big bet here as the board is very dry.

** Playing deep stacked

- Preflop - Hero (KQs) opens UTG, SB calls, BB squeezes, Hero...?

Hero should call here as the effective stacks are 400xBB. We have a hand that can hit monsters, so our implied odds are outstanding.

COOLERS DO NOT JUST HAPPEN - when deep, call raises and reraises with hands that can hit flops hard and be good most of the time. Suited connectors, Axs, pairs.

Always know what you're playing a hand for - this varies depending upon your opponent. Against an aggressive player, you play drawing hands for the big flops that get you all in. Against a passive player, you play them for the big flops AND for the steal opportunities.