Online MTTs

Flatting on the BU vs donk leads -we can call our backdoor draws (both straight draws and FD) [but DO NO OVERFLOAT] -> only if we think our opponent is bluffing at a high frequency + their bet is small (1/3) -IF WE THINK WE'LL BE RAISING OUR SETS, WE SHOULD ALSO RAISE WITH SOME BLUFFS (on dry boards) => need to include some raising range with our sets (when stacks are deep) [we should use our bottom pairs (good blockers) and turn it into a bluff] -USE HANDS THAT BLOCK OUR OPPONENT'S VALUE RANGE -when we hit 2nd pair on the turn and villain still bets into us (bigger) and on a dry board -> we can overfold THE BIGGER OUR OPPONENT BET, THE LESS FREQUENCY WE SHOULD RAISE ALWAYS GO STRAIGHT FOR VALUE (it doesn't matter against weak opponents) - do not go for fancy checks-> just go for value (unless vs good regs) - if villain is never bluffing: we can overfold (or go very big for value) - vs bad regs and recs we want to play EXPLOITATIVE -> just pla...

On the river, Villain is putting 9000 into the pot of 8300, we have to call 50% of our betting range on the river: we decided that we're folding our busted draws (both open enders and gut shots). However, that still was not enough-> we still need to find 30 more combos to fold. I decided that we should be folding some of our Qx hands to balance our range... -> the best Qx we should fold are the ones that block his bluffs (KTs, JTs) therefore we're folding our QJo and QTo which brings us to 50%. We should just always fold our Q6o preflop this deep though, as that is way too light.

[GO BACK TO PRACTICAL HANDS AND DO ANALYSES]  Against big cbet sizing on relatively dry boards -we may choose to turn our bottom pair into a bluff (only against non-donkeys) Cbet vs Check Back + Sizings 1) Position -we have to consider the position on which the villain is playing from (and his range) ->the tighter the villain's flatting range = the less we cbet Lowest cbet frequency: UTG vs UTG+1 Highest cbet frequency: UTG vs BB [we have the highest range advantage] [however, it is also dependant on the board texture] *The higher our equity advantage, the higher our cbet frequency* -we can use PioSolver: but do not follow GTO blindly! 2) Board Texture and Position -the more connected the board to villain's range, the less we have to cbet -the more capped villain's range is, the more we can cbet and also the higher we can size it up (eg. BU vs BB and flop is AK8) -here villain is always 3betting TT+ where their range is capped -> villain only have...

MP1 raise Hero (SB) 3Bet MP1 calls Flop: [773]ss Hero cbet half pot MP1 calls Turn: [7] Hero bets 1/3 (sizing for river all-in) MP1 calls River: [A] Hero all-in for 1/2 pot MP1 calls Range Analysis: Hero's betting range on the river Here, we assume that hero would give up his broad ay hands on the turn after villain calls the half pot bet on the flop. We also assume that hero will check his A high hands on the turn to pot control as we already have some showdown value AQ are the candidates for bluffing as we need to find some bluff in this spot to balance our value range [on the turn] Hero's range consist of only value on the river Villain's calling range on the river: If villain knows that hero cannot be bluffing in this spot, villain should fold 100% of their range. However, if we assume that hero will triple barrel with broadway hands: [KTs,KJs,KQs,QTs,QJs,JTs] -now hero has 24 combos of bluff: to 61 value combos ...

Hero raise from HJ [KTs] BU and BB calls Flop: [K62]ss BB checks Hero cbet 1/2 BB calls Turn: [6h] BB checks Hero checks River: [Ad] BB leads for 2/3 Hero calls Range analysis: Villain's range on flop and turn: As hero checks the turn, villain's turn range the flop range is exactly the same. It consists of mainly top pairs, second pair, third pair and FD We assume that since the board is wet, villain would be fast playing his sets and two pairs on the flop, thus removing that value part from villain's range Villain's range on the river: Villain's range on the river is very polarized: trips and busted FD His value range consists of: 30 combos His bluffing range consist of: 45 combos Villain is betting 2/3, this means his value to bluff ratio must be 66:33 Here it is 30:45 therefore we should always call 100% However, the assumption that villain will shove every missed FD is invalid. Most of the population are not bluffing...

Hero raise UTG+2 BB calls Flop: [T75]rb Hero bet 1/3 BB calls Turn [5c] backdoor FD BB checks Hero bet 1/3 BB calls River [8c] backdoor completes BB donk all-in for 2/3 Range Analysis: Considering the fact that villain calls twice and donk bet the river -we can assume he does not have any bluff in his range... -> there is no possible bluffs that would take this line therefore we can comfortably fold 100% of our bluff catchers and only call with the best value hands. His range consists of only flushes, trips and boats... We should fold our AA here as he cannot be bluffing in this spot [LOOK FOR SPOTS WHERE VILLAIN HAS NO BLUFFING RANGE AT ALL]

UTG+1 raises hero calls HJ [KJo] BU, SB and BB calls Flop: [KT3]rb UTG1 bet 1/4 hero calls all fold Turn: [5c] (backdoor FD) UTG1 bet half pot hero calls River: [9h] UTG1 bet 2/3 hero calls Range analysis: Villain's range on the flop: Here as he bets 1/4, we assume that his range consists of many middle type hands that want project [Tx] as well as underpairs] Villain's range on the turn: Here villain is representing a very strong range, as villain bets into 3 people on the flop. His only bluffs are OESD which is 4 combos of [QJs] His value range consists of top pairs, 2 pairs and sets: 44 combos vs this range we should be only be defending 9% of our range-> we are folding 91% of our range in this scenario. This means we are folding all of our hands except the nuts and two pairs. Even top pair we have to fold.  Villain's range on the river: Since river completes his only bluff [QJs], villain now has a 100% value range, meaning ...

River Call Analysis Scenario 1: UTG2 raise 2.5x, Hero calls (HJ), BU and SB calls Flop [8d2d9s] UTG2 bet 1/3 herocalls (87s), BU calls Turn: 2s UTG2 bet1/4, hero calls, BU calls River Jc UTG2 bet 1/8, hero calls UTG+2 range when betting the river Mostly A high FD heavy and 2nd pairs [remove 98s] If villain bets 2/3 pot, we need to defend 66% of the combos we come to the river with. Assuming that we're folding our A high FD and K high, we still need to fold 2 more combos: I decided that we should fold 50% of the worse 8x hands in our range: which is 87s [98s will be a raise on the river, as well as J9s]

Always take into account the previous actions from preflop to the river Just roughly knowing: "Preflop: he is calling with broadway heavy, medium/small pairs and medium Ax suited hands" "Flop: he is continuing with [top pair] [middle pair] [FD] "Now we know his range on the turn is …" Discount hands -> from preflop position and action (limp, flat, 3bet) -> from flop action/bet sizing "Define villain's range roughly" Learn to count combos and ranges -> do it everyday -> use Equilab to define ranges and count combos Which hands are at the bottom of our betting/checking range -decide which hands to give up according to that Always think about what hands are in our range? -we donk the flop, bet turn: what hands can we have? -> given that information, where is our hand in that range? -> make decision based on that [GTO] -> on a very dry board, we may not have many natural bluffs therefore we need to find enou...

We want to bluff catch on turn and river when pot is SMALL Always think of poker from preflop to river as a funnel: We only defend stronger hands moving from flop to river When to cbet OOP? -when we have the highest range advantage ->the more our opponent is capped or the wider they're flatting -> (capped such as BU flat vs CO open) -SB vs BB = 70%-90% cbet frequency MP vs HJ/CO flat -both ranges are relatively strong therefore we have to cbet tighter -we only choose to bet the overpairs, our strongest bluffs and (some) middle pair with backdoor draws [we may want to check our AK hand to pot control and protect our equity vs a raise- this will keep the pot small so we can see 5 cards] The deeper we are, the bigger we want to bet on the flop *but always think about what parts in villain's range we want to attack* General rule for Check/calling -hands with showdown value -draws where we do not want to build a big pot -protect your hand/equity from getti...

Never stick blindly to GTO-> if we know our opponent is deviating from the optimal play we should ALWAYS look to exploit it We use GTO when we have no info on our opponent -> find a way to be unexploitable GTO is a FALLBACK strategy (default strategy) Always define your value range first, before defining your bluffing range GTO is very good for learning the game and the fundamentals -knowing how your range is designed when playing against an unknown is very beneficial -facing a certain bet size we can figure out how many % of hands we need to defend -we can figure out how many % villain is bluffing in certain spots

Target of Game Theory -to maximally exploit our opponent (maximize our own EV and minimize EV of our opponent) GTO- Nash Equilibrium -when two players try to maximize their own EVs, the strategies will eventually settle in balanced scenario: Nash-equilibrium -> here neither player can unilaterally deviate from his strategy to increase his EV GTO- Principle of Indifference -where we leave no room for our opponent to exploit us -> 2 scenarios: 1) optimal bluff frequency 2) optimal defense frequencies Optimal Bluff Frequency -on the river, when we have a range that consists of value hands and bluffs, and our opponent has a bluff catcher, we want to keep our value-to-bluff at the ratio where our opponent has no option to control his EV-> any option he chooses (fold/call) has the same result for him over the long-run. * the EV for opponent when he folds is 0 How do we calculate this frequency? -optimal bluffing frequency can be derived from the betsize and the o...

OUTS -unseen cards in the deck that can improve our hand. eg. AKs on JT3 -> we can hit A,K or Qs to make top pair+ therefore we have 10 outs Calculating Equity based on Outs - 10 outs on the flop => 47 cards remaining in the deck What is our Equity? -to improve on the next street: 10/47 = 21% -to improve by the river: 2*(10/47) = 42% [USE 2-4-RULE] - 2 cards to come = outs x 4 - 1 card to come = outs x 2 ODDS -odds = ratio (eg. 3:1) - probabilities as odds = unfav:fav -odds into percentages: right side divided by both sides eg. 3:1 = 1/4 = 25% Comparing Pot odds and needed equity -odds show the ratio between the current size of the pot and the bet to be made -> eg. pot sized bet give us odds of 2:1 Pot = $100, V bets $100 =? we call $100 to win $200 so odds = 2:1 = Equity needed is 33% Scenario: NFD with  Overs on TURN (TBC) Pot: $60, Effective stacks: $470 Hero: AhKh on [9h8s3d][2h] Hero bet $45, villain raise $110, we shove all-in Villain's r...

Scenario: Cbet on Flop -Hero raise BTN to 2.5x, BB calls FLOP: [Ah9d3d] Hero Cbet half pot -> What is our value to bluff ratio? Villain needs to call 2.5BB to win 7.5BB = 3:1 odds OUR VALUE-TO-BLUFF-RATIO has to be 3:1 (25% bluff and 75% value range) therefore, we bet bigger when we have many bluffs in our range Scenario: Hero has 2:1 Value to bluff ratio: Turn: Pot=$60, Hero bet $60 and villain calls River: Pot= $180, Hero bet $180, villain calls What is the EV of Villain calling down two streets? EV(call turn/river) = EV(Villain calling and loses) + EV(Villain calling and win) EV(total) = (2/3*-(60+180)) + (1/3*(60+60+180)) = -160+ 100 = -$60 Impact on Defense if the call of our EV is 0 = we call/fold 50% on the river as this is the optimal calling frequency... if villain has 2:1 bluffing ratio and our pot odds is also 2:1 Scenario: Hero has 3 combos of AKs on flop of [QJT] Hero bets $25 into $50 and continues to bet half pot until the river -how ma...

Expected Value (EV) -the profit of an outcome weighted by its probability eg. 20% chance to win $100 then our EV is 20% x $100 = $20 Simple EV Calculation eg. Coinflip for $1 Heads = 50% = Net profit = $1 Tails = 50% = Profit = -$1 EV(total) = P(A)xEV(A) + P(B)xEV(B) EV(total) =(0.5x$1)+(0.5x-$1)= 0 Poker Scenario: $100 in the pot, Villain bets $100 on the river -> we need to call $100 to win $200 -> we estimate to have 38% equity against the betting range of villain (from calculating bluff/value ratio) therefore: EV(call) = (0.38*$200) + (1-0.38)*(-$100) = +$14 (we should always call) Scenario: Semibluff flop with nut flush draw Pot: $100, Villain bets $75, we shove $450 We estimate to have 55% fold equity; against his calling-range we got 20% equity. What's our EV? EV(total)= P(Vf)* $175 + P(Vc) *-$450+ P(Vc)*550 =(0.55*175) + (0.45*(0.8*-450)+(0.45*0.2*550) = -16.25