Notes: +EVolution of poker #4

+EVolution of a Poker Player #4

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Preflop part 2

- Assessing the current situation
- Preflop hand analysis

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** The Current Situation **

Considerations

- Opponent's range

* Is he tight or loose?
* Does he make this play with high cards? Suited connectors? Pairs?

- Look left

* Always consider the types of players still act. Are they likely to squeeze - 3-bet - cold 4-bet - call behind?

* Can I get more fish involved by taking a specific line?

- Go out of your way to get bad players involved

- Hand type v Situation type

* Is our hand a good multiway hand?
* Does it need position?
* Will it play well in a reraised pot? A big pot against multiple players?
* Does it fit well with the effective stack sizes?

** What is the stack to pot ratio (Effective depth)

* This tells us the number of bets left in the pot
* Top pair type hands prefer smaller S/P ratios
* Implied odds hands prefer higher S/P ratios

* Examples -

$7.50 stacks, $10 pot = 1 bet
$30 stacks, $10 pot = 2 bets (bet $7.50 called = $22.50 stacks, $25 pot)
$75 stacks, $10 pot = 3 bets ($67.50 in $25 pot after one bet, $17.50 bet called = $50 pot with $50 stacks)

* Play Example

KcQh on KhJc9d flop

$7.50 w/ $10 pot - easy all in
$30 w/ $10 pot - bet $7.50 and call a shove. If called, all in on most turns
$75 w/ $10 pot - bet $7.50, if oppt raises you have $67.50 left - can you go all in here? If you bet flop and turn and you're called twice, are you ever ahead on the river?

- Do we need to tighten up or loosen up?

* Fish already in the pot - loosen up, we can expect to win more postflop
* Fish in the blinds - loosen up, they tend to play more often, calling with a wide range of hands
* Passive or tight players behind you (especially the button) - loosen up, you're more likely to have position or at least won't have a dangerous player there
* 3-bettors/Squeezers/LAGs still to act - tighten up, as you can't stand action with weaker hands
* Aggressive players still to act - tighten up, particularly if they have position on you

** Situation comparison - Examples using 43s

Example one - Hero is CO, Button is 43/23 and aggressive, making this a very unfavorable situation. This Villain will see a lot of flops and force us to make a hand.

Example two - Hero is CO, Button is 24/21, SB is 15/15, BB is 45/0 and passive. With a fish and a tight player behind us, our hand is very playable. We can expect to see flops with the fishy BB frequently, and steal when he chooses to fold on a reasonably regular basis.

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** Opening the pot **

- Rarely open limp

- 4x UTG, 3.5x MP, 3x CO, 2.5x Button

- Look left

- UTG: Pairs, bigger suited broadway, AK-AJ, KQ, bigger suited connectors
- MP: + Axs, more suited connectors, more broadway
- CO: + most suited connectors, suited gappers, any two broadway, better suited cards (K8s)
- Button: + Top 40-45% hands
- SB: somewhere between CO/Button range

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** After limpers **

- Play more hands against loose/bad limpers

- TAGs rarely limp

- Rarely limp w/ 50xBB+ stack limpers. Sometimes you will need to overlimp v small stacks to control the pot.

- Raise about 5xBB after one limper, add .5-1xBB for each extra limper

- Raise less v one short stacked limper - Stack/Pot ratios

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** Against a raise **

- Callling raises

* Who else has entered the pot? Are there limpers? Callers?

* Look left!

* Do we have position? This is very powerful against a raise.

* Relative position - Can we trap extra bets? Do we get to see how other people are reacting to the bettors flop action?

* Rarely call from the SB except in multiway pots. You have terrible position.

* Gap concept and NLHE - You don't want to play weak hands against raises

- Three betting

* Usually 3-bet 3x in position, pot+1xBB out of position

* With deep stacks (150xBB+), three bet more in position to cut down on the S/P ratio and less when out of position because there is more money behind with which Villain can outplay you

* How often will Villain call vs all-in/fold

Good players when out of position will typically 4-bet or fold

Ex: QJo is weak if Villain calls, but strong if he's going to play all-in/fold as our decision is easy

* Which weaker hands can we 3-bet with?

The strongest hands that you can't otherwise call with (Ex: K8s)

* Squeezing

Puts people in all-in/fold positions most of the time
People are often suspicious of the move

* Big cards play well in 3-bet pots (small S/P ratio, floppability)

Your situation is clear on the flop

* Domination

When Villain is likely to call, it is best not to have QJ-type hands that are likley to be dominated

* AJs, KQs, KJs are versatile. You have high card value and some draws available. They can be used to 3-bet or call, depending on the situation.

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Facing a 3-bet

- Calling

* Who 3-bet you?

Bad player? Tighten up unless you have a read that he does this a lot. Bad players don't 3-bet often.

Aggressive player? Open up more.

* Did you raise originally?

If you didn't, you need a big hand to get involved.

* Position - you can call more often against 3-bets from the blinds

Opponents c-bet less when OOP = You have more of a chance to pick up pots

You get to see what your opponent does first

You can control the size of the pot

* There will be a smaller S/P ratio when you call

Think in terms of preflop equity and floppability

Ideally, you want to do this with big, suited cards

- 4-betting

* Usually, you do this with your strong hands to get more money in preflop (AA-QQ, AK)

* Try to 4-bet to <30% of the original stacks - less if this is a squeeze spot

>30% commits you to the pot.

* Bluffing and rebluffing

* When not to 4-bet AK

Against a tight 3-bettor
Against an UTG raiser
Sometimes, it is ok to call or even fold to a 3-bet

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** AA-QQ **

- Strong Multiway or HU
- The money in preflop, the better, especially all in
- Try to avoid high S/P ratio on the flop
- When do we flat call?

* Likely squeezer behind us
* Letting the fish into the pot


** JJ-TT **

- Similar to AA-QQ
- Less effective multiway
- Less effective on the turn/river - easier for others to make better than a one pair hand by that point
- Worst case scenario - seeing a flop 4-way
- Don't 3-bet these hands w/o a clear plan

Tend to 3-bet them OOP to lower the S/P ratio

- Usually call vs 3-bet
- When do we not call 3-bets? - Against players who are 3-betting aggressively. 4-bet in this spot

** 99-88 **

- HU or multiway, 3-4 way pot is less favorable
- Aim for a very low or very high S/P ratio
- You can 3-bet to get the pot HU or to punish loose raisers
- Can go any direction against a 3-bet.

Fold OOP or against extremely tight 3-bettors
Call IP
4-bet against aggro monkeys

** 77-66 **

- Frequently playable even against a raise, but don't overplay them
- Generally fold vs 3-bets

** 55-22 **

- Very little inherent showdown value unless you hit your set
- Use discretion in calling raises

Multiway
In position
Deep stacks
Bad players

- 3-betting - these make good hands for expanding your 3-bet range when you can't call
- Fold vs most 3-bets

** AK **

- AKs >>> AKo
- Excellent preflop equity, you can get a lot of money in preflop to reduce the P/S ratio
- You have blockers when getting all in preflop
- Does best against a small number of Villains - HU or 3-way
- Plays best with the lead

You don't want to call for 6 outs that might not be good
If you bet and get called, you still get to see the turn
You can't take down the pot by calling

** AQo **

- Similar to AK, but significantly worse due to the possibility of domination
- Plays poorly multiway
- Usually worth 3-betting

Plays well with the lead
A/Q blockers
AK usually 4-bets, meaning there is less postflop domination possibilities

** AQs/AJs/KQs and other suited broadway **

- These are very strong hands preflop
- Excellent HU (high cards) or multiway (big flushes, nut straights), deep stacks or shallow.
- ATs/KJs are the next tier down
- QJs/JTs not as strong, but better multiway due to combo draw possibilities
- KTs/QTs are the weakest of the suited broadway
- Good for 3-betting and calling, depending on the situation at the table
- Against a 3-bet, usually call AQs/AJs/KQs

** Offsuit broadway **

- Best raised to get HU or to steal blinds
- Nowhere near as strong as suited broadway in multiway hands
- Positionally dependant
- Better with short stacks, small S/P ratios
- AJo/KQo can call raises in position, occassionally 3-bet
- ATo/KJo generally don't call raises, can 3-bet

** Suited connectors/gappers **

- J9s > 65s - High card value is worth more than a slight gap
- Metagame benefits - Playing these hands means you can potentially hit any flop. You can't always be put on big cards when you raise.
- You miss a lot of flops, and often flop a mediocre holding
- Often tough decisions - position is critical
- Your hand develops on the turn/river, so better with the betting lead
- A lot of the value on these hands comes from combo draws

** Suited Aces **

- Much, much, much stronger than offsuit
- Good both HU and multiway
- Cooler potential - making a huge hand when Villain is slightly worse - play very well with very deep stacks
- A9s-A8s are good against raises
- A7s-A6s are weak due to the lack of top pair ability and straight ability
- A5-A2s are stronger than they seem due to wheel potential

** Offsuit aces and other trash **

- Most of these are useful only for stealing and restealing
- Axo is trash except HU or with very small S/P ratios
- Kxo and Qxo are even worse
- Kxs/Qxs are steal hands, better than Axo
- Offsuit connectors are trash (98o)