Afforded Information and Basic Math

Question 1

Polarized/poled

Answer 1

• Only strong or weak
• The nuts or nothing

Question 2

Merged/condensed

Answer 2

• A range of primarily middle-strength hands
• eg KQ or 99

Question 3

Capped/uncapped

Answer 3

• describes whether or not a range contains nut hands
• eg 654 board: BB may have all possible suited and unsuited combos of 87, while we only have 87s as preflop aggressor
• We are capped, and BB is uncapped

Question 4

Bounded/unbounded

Answer 4

• Describes whether or not the range contains air hands

Question 5

Linear/randomized

Answer 5

• Describes the structure of a player’s hand selection, calculated or constructed vs random
• Helps identify opponents who have studied GTO or are exploitative
• Most players are exploitative - allow biases to drive decisions
• When people look like they’re doing things randomly, they are

Question 6

GTO/Nash/unexploitable

Answer 6

• a strategy with no inherent weaknesses

Question 7

Exploitative/exploitable

Answer 7

• non-GTO, either targeting or exemplifying a weakness

Question 8

Value bet

Answer 8

EV comes from high pot equity

Question 9

Bluff

Answer 9

• A bet whose EV comes from high fold equity
• Equity is our guiding light e.g. checkraising an OESFD vs a gutshot - high equity vs low equity hands

Question 10

Expected Value (EV)

Answer 10

• Long-term profit/loss, expressed as +/-EV
• The foundation of all profit
• the reason poker is a skill game

Question 11

Equity vs EV

Answer 11

• Equity: share of the current pot that our hand/range will win on average
• If over 10,000 tournaments, your ROI is 100%, you expect to make your buyin + 1 buyin back (EV)
• Our goal is to utilize equity effectively to generate EV
• We want an unfair share of equity via aggression
• Equity is valuable if we see the river
• EV is valuable based on line taken

Question 12

How is EV Calculated?

Answer 12

Question 13

EV in a broader context

Answer 13

Question 14

Direct Pot Odds

Answer 14

• Simplest form
• Villain bets $30 into a $50 pot, making $80
• Our odds are $80 to $30, or 2.66:1: 27%
• We need 27% equity to break even

Question 15

Bluff Odds

Answer 15

• Opposite of direct odds
• How often bet needs to work to win the pot
• Player bets $30 into $50
• $50-to-$30, or 1.66:1 - 37.5%
• Bluff needs to work 37.5% to break even
• GTO players pride themselves on not overfolding (but may end up overcalling)

Question 16

Implied odds

Answer 16

• Hard to quantify
• Chips we expect to win in the future
• Maximized vs players who can’t make big folds
• Villain’s range must be strong for us to expect them to put more chips in
• Decreases as stacks get shorter
• Less important in modern game, because runners play much wider ranges

Question 17

Reverse Implied Odds

Answer 17

• Chips we may lose on future streets
• Relevant in deep stacks with strong but not-nut hands
• eg: weak flush draws, low end of the straight, top pair on middle/low board vs EP open
• The hand can call on every single river, but it’s not the best hand on all rivers, and that’s problematic

Question 18

What is GTO play?

Answer 18

• The correct ‘unbeatable’ strategy
• Constrained by reasonable calculation parameters
• Generates a situation where both players are ‘exploiting each other’
• In rock-paper-scissors, GTO is to throw each 1/3 of time randomly. If the other player deviates, GTO will win.
• Nash Eqb used by solvers
• Unexploitable, but in reality, exploits present themselves

Question 19

Auto-Profit Threshold (APT)

Answer 19

• Bet/(Pot+Bet)
• Bet $100 into $200 on river = 33%
• If villain folds to our bet more than 33%, betting is +EV
• If checking is 0 EV and betting >0, then betting>checking

Question 20

Minimum Defense Frequency (MDF)

Answer 20

• We don’t want villain’s bets to auto-print money
• We must defend our range to prevent APT
• But can’t defend too much
• MDF = 100% - APT
• Pot/(Pot+Bet)
• Villain bets $100 into $200
• $200/($100+$200) = 2/3
• If we defend <67%, villain auto-profits

Question 21

Manipulating Opponents with APT

Answer 21

• We have nut low on river, so check = 0 EV
• We think villain folds to 50% pot bet 50% of time
• Thus, betting > checking
• Small bets force villains to call a lot, even with weak range
• Large bets can expose their weaknesses in picking good bluff-cathcers (This is ME!)