[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
money preflop could outweigh the advantage of taking initiative.
Reraising is good if the button will call with hands like A`&Te&. If
so, you can reraise for value.
Next take into account stack-to-pot considerations. If you call, will
the stack-to-pot ratio be low enough for you to be comfortable
SPECIFIC PREFLOP DECISIONS 187
committing with top pair on most flops? Also think about what you ll
do if you miss the flop. Will you bet?
All things considered, if your opponent is solid and also views you
as solid, reraising to about $21 is probably the best play. You ll often
win 4.5bb uncontested. If called by only the button, you ll have a $44
pot with $179 behind, for an SPR of 4. That s a good stack-to-pot
ratio for committing with top pair, semibluffing, or sometimes firing a
continuation bet if you miss completely.
Reraising also balances your range so that you have more than just
big pocket pairs when you 3-bet. It s also a good play if your
opponent will call with hands like 4e&4f& looking to flop a set, and
then fold on a flop like Je&8f&6`&.
What if your opponent 4-bets when you reraise? You are facing a
commitment decision, so you should think carefully about your
opponent s 4-betting range. You are getting an overlay of 1.25 to 1
to get all-in, so it becomes a math problem. If your opponent will
make this move with only aces or kings, you have about 18 percent
equity, not nearly enough. Even if his range is aces, kings, queens,
jacks, tens, and ace-king, your equity (about 40 percent) is still not
enough. For you to want to get all-in, his range must include unpaired
hands other than ace-king. If that s not the case, you should fold to a
big 4-bet.
In a typical button-versus-blinds scenario, 3- and 4-bet ranges tend
to be wide. You can typically expect your opponents to 4-bet with
unpaired hands weaker than ace-king. Therefore, getting all-in preflop
with ace-king is the standard play.
Consider the tendencies of the player in the big blind. If he s an
aggressive player who likes to squeeze, you might call the button s
opening raise with the plan of letting the big blind 3-bet, and then
reraising or pushing. If the big blind is a loose calling-station, you
have more incentive to 3-bet for value.
One final point. Suppose the button open-raised two-thirds of his
hands rather than one-third. In this case you should 3-bet far more
often out of the blinds. Reraising is the easiest way to punish loose
button raises.
188 SMALL STAKES NO-LIMIT HOLD EM
Ace-Queen Under The Gun
Stacks are $200. You raise to $7 under the gun with Ae&Qe&.
Everyone folds to the small blind, who reraises to $23. He is a tight
regular who plays 14 percent of his hands and raises about 7 percent.
You aren t sure how often he 3-bets. What should you do?
Here a player who raises only 7 percent of his hands is 3-betting
you, despite the fact that you opened under the gun. His range is
extremely narrow and likely is AA-QQ.
You have weak showdown equity and weak steal equity in this
situation. Fold.
Adjusting To A Short Stack
You are dealt 6f&5f& in the small blind. The player on the button is a
solid 22/20 regular, and both of you have $200 stacks. He opens light
in late position, and he generally tightens up to a reraise. Your plan in
this hand is to 3-bet if he opens.
The first two players fold, and the cutoff makes it $7 to go. He is a
tight player with a $75 stack. He plays about 13 percent of his hands,
and raises about 7 percent of his hands. The button folds, and the
action is on you. What should you do?
You should change your plan, and fold.
You are up against a completely different range and a completely
different stack size than originally anticipated. You need to adjust
accordingly.
The button would open a wide range and then fold a significant
part of it to a 3-bet. Reraising him with 65s would be profitable
because you d often win the pot outright. And if called, you d usually
still have some fold equity on the flop.
The cutoff, on the other hand, is opening a much tighter range.
Your odds of winning the pot with a 3-bet are significantly less than
they would be against the button. Plus, now your opponent has less
than 35bb left in his stack. You don t have implied odds to call. And
SPECIFIC PREFLOP DECISIONS 189
if you reraise and he calls, he would only have about a pot sized bet
left, so he is probably not folding at any point.
When your opponent has a short stack, so do you.
Putting It Together
You ve now read about all the main skills necessary to beat an online
$1 $2 6-max game. You can steal the blinds and play position. You
can profile your opponents and target their weaknesses. You can
deploy an aggressive, but smart, barreling strategy to steal pots and
balance your value betting. You can plan your betting lines to extract
the most value from your good hands. You can hold your own in the
preflop 3-bet/4-bet/5-bet game. You can make unorthodox plays
designed to isolate and exploit bad players. You can adjust your
strategy correctly to handle aggressive opponents. And you can
balance competing factors to make sharp preflop decisions.
Let s put everything together and play some $1 $2 6-max. To
work through each of these examples you ll have to use several of the
skills you ve learned. If you can choose the right concepts to use in
the right situations, you ll be well on your way to becoming a small
stakes no-limit hold em master.
Hand 1
You are in a mostly tight 6-handed $200 max buy-in $1 $2 game.
One loose, bad player is at the table. He has run up a big stack by
getting very lucky. He is passive, a classic calling station with stats of
55/4. The player to your right is a solid 27/23 pro, and the other three
players are tight and unimaginative. You believe a perceptive
opponent would view you as solid.
PUTTING IT TOGETHER 191
Here is the lineup:
SB: Very tight ($95)
BB: Loose and bad ($900)
UTG: Tight and unimaginative ($200)
MP: Very tight ($150)
CO: Solid pro ($300)
BTN: You ($390)
The under the gun and middle position players fold, and the solid pro
opens in the cutoff for $7. You look down at 9e&7e&. What should you
do?
Many options are viable here. Folding is okay because your
opponent plays well and your implied odds for making a hand are
poor. Your implied odds are poor because your solid opponent is
opening with a wide range. If you hit a big hand, you won t often get
a big payoff.
Reraising is a decent option. Your opponent often won t have a
hand that can call a 3-bet. His range is wide, and he would be out of
position. You re also both fairly deep, so he s unlikely to play a
marginal hand in a reraised pot. If you 3-bet, your main goal is to win
immediately. If you get called, you are happy to have position, but
you can t be thrilled about the lower stack-to-pot ratio that comes
with the 3-bet and call. In general, the lower SPR makes it harder to
steal postflop.
Calling has its advantages as well. You can t win immediately, but
by keeping the preflop pot smaller, you can apply more stack leverage
postflop. Your opponent will have a tougher time committing, which
makes it easier to steal postflop.
Before you call, however, consider the players in the blinds. If you
just call, you ll be vulnerable to a squeeze reraise from one of them.
Fortunately, in this case both blind players are unimaginative, and you
can expect them to play fit-or-fold postflop. Also, you want the loose, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl aikidobyd.xlx.pl
money preflop could outweigh the advantage of taking initiative.
Reraising is good if the button will call with hands like A`&Te&. If
so, you can reraise for value.
Next take into account stack-to-pot considerations. If you call, will
the stack-to-pot ratio be low enough for you to be comfortable
SPECIFIC PREFLOP DECISIONS 187
committing with top pair on most flops? Also think about what you ll
do if you miss the flop. Will you bet?
All things considered, if your opponent is solid and also views you
as solid, reraising to about $21 is probably the best play. You ll often
win 4.5bb uncontested. If called by only the button, you ll have a $44
pot with $179 behind, for an SPR of 4. That s a good stack-to-pot
ratio for committing with top pair, semibluffing, or sometimes firing a
continuation bet if you miss completely.
Reraising also balances your range so that you have more than just
big pocket pairs when you 3-bet. It s also a good play if your
opponent will call with hands like 4e&4f& looking to flop a set, and
then fold on a flop like Je&8f&6`&.
What if your opponent 4-bets when you reraise? You are facing a
commitment decision, so you should think carefully about your
opponent s 4-betting range. You are getting an overlay of 1.25 to 1
to get all-in, so it becomes a math problem. If your opponent will
make this move with only aces or kings, you have about 18 percent
equity, not nearly enough. Even if his range is aces, kings, queens,
jacks, tens, and ace-king, your equity (about 40 percent) is still not
enough. For you to want to get all-in, his range must include unpaired
hands other than ace-king. If that s not the case, you should fold to a
big 4-bet.
In a typical button-versus-blinds scenario, 3- and 4-bet ranges tend
to be wide. You can typically expect your opponents to 4-bet with
unpaired hands weaker than ace-king. Therefore, getting all-in preflop
with ace-king is the standard play.
Consider the tendencies of the player in the big blind. If he s an
aggressive player who likes to squeeze, you might call the button s
opening raise with the plan of letting the big blind 3-bet, and then
reraising or pushing. If the big blind is a loose calling-station, you
have more incentive to 3-bet for value.
One final point. Suppose the button open-raised two-thirds of his
hands rather than one-third. In this case you should 3-bet far more
often out of the blinds. Reraising is the easiest way to punish loose
button raises.
188 SMALL STAKES NO-LIMIT HOLD EM
Ace-Queen Under The Gun
Stacks are $200. You raise to $7 under the gun with Ae&Qe&.
Everyone folds to the small blind, who reraises to $23. He is a tight
regular who plays 14 percent of his hands and raises about 7 percent.
You aren t sure how often he 3-bets. What should you do?
Here a player who raises only 7 percent of his hands is 3-betting
you, despite the fact that you opened under the gun. His range is
extremely narrow and likely is AA-QQ.
You have weak showdown equity and weak steal equity in this
situation. Fold.
Adjusting To A Short Stack
You are dealt 6f&5f& in the small blind. The player on the button is a
solid 22/20 regular, and both of you have $200 stacks. He opens light
in late position, and he generally tightens up to a reraise. Your plan in
this hand is to 3-bet if he opens.
The first two players fold, and the cutoff makes it $7 to go. He is a
tight player with a $75 stack. He plays about 13 percent of his hands,
and raises about 7 percent of his hands. The button folds, and the
action is on you. What should you do?
You should change your plan, and fold.
You are up against a completely different range and a completely
different stack size than originally anticipated. You need to adjust
accordingly.
The button would open a wide range and then fold a significant
part of it to a 3-bet. Reraising him with 65s would be profitable
because you d often win the pot outright. And if called, you d usually
still have some fold equity on the flop.
The cutoff, on the other hand, is opening a much tighter range.
Your odds of winning the pot with a 3-bet are significantly less than
they would be against the button. Plus, now your opponent has less
than 35bb left in his stack. You don t have implied odds to call. And
SPECIFIC PREFLOP DECISIONS 189
if you reraise and he calls, he would only have about a pot sized bet
left, so he is probably not folding at any point.
When your opponent has a short stack, so do you.
Putting It Together
You ve now read about all the main skills necessary to beat an online
$1 $2 6-max game. You can steal the blinds and play position. You
can profile your opponents and target their weaknesses. You can
deploy an aggressive, but smart, barreling strategy to steal pots and
balance your value betting. You can plan your betting lines to extract
the most value from your good hands. You can hold your own in the
preflop 3-bet/4-bet/5-bet game. You can make unorthodox plays
designed to isolate and exploit bad players. You can adjust your
strategy correctly to handle aggressive opponents. And you can
balance competing factors to make sharp preflop decisions.
Let s put everything together and play some $1 $2 6-max. To
work through each of these examples you ll have to use several of the
skills you ve learned. If you can choose the right concepts to use in
the right situations, you ll be well on your way to becoming a small
stakes no-limit hold em master.
Hand 1
You are in a mostly tight 6-handed $200 max buy-in $1 $2 game.
One loose, bad player is at the table. He has run up a big stack by
getting very lucky. He is passive, a classic calling station with stats of
55/4. The player to your right is a solid 27/23 pro, and the other three
players are tight and unimaginative. You believe a perceptive
opponent would view you as solid.
PUTTING IT TOGETHER 191
Here is the lineup:
SB: Very tight ($95)
BB: Loose and bad ($900)
UTG: Tight and unimaginative ($200)
MP: Very tight ($150)
CO: Solid pro ($300)
BTN: You ($390)
The under the gun and middle position players fold, and the solid pro
opens in the cutoff for $7. You look down at 9e&7e&. What should you
do?
Many options are viable here. Folding is okay because your
opponent plays well and your implied odds for making a hand are
poor. Your implied odds are poor because your solid opponent is
opening with a wide range. If you hit a big hand, you won t often get
a big payoff.
Reraising is a decent option. Your opponent often won t have a
hand that can call a 3-bet. His range is wide, and he would be out of
position. You re also both fairly deep, so he s unlikely to play a
marginal hand in a reraised pot. If you 3-bet, your main goal is to win
immediately. If you get called, you are happy to have position, but
you can t be thrilled about the lower stack-to-pot ratio that comes
with the 3-bet and call. In general, the lower SPR makes it harder to
steal postflop.
Calling has its advantages as well. You can t win immediately, but
by keeping the preflop pot smaller, you can apply more stack leverage
postflop. Your opponent will have a tougher time committing, which
makes it easier to steal postflop.
Before you call, however, consider the players in the blinds. If you
just call, you ll be vulnerable to a squeeze reraise from one of them.
Fortunately, in this case both blind players are unimaginative, and you
can expect them to play fit-or-fold postflop. Also, you want the loose, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]