Ch 2 Mathematics

Question 1

What two categories do reverse implied odds situations normally fall into?

Answer 1

1. You have a strong hand that you erroneously believe is the best hand, and as a result you will lose the maximum. In this case, you have misread the strength of your hand and are unlikely to improve to the winning hand.
2. You have a weak hand that you believe to be the best right now but with which you’ll win only the minimum if it holds up.*
   * Often the best solution in the above hand and instances like it is simply to check the flop and fold if you are bet into before you have any real money invested. If you did choose to play this hand, you would have been forced to play it passively, and passive poker is losing poker. Let your opponents win the little pots; your goal is to bust them or double through them, and that is not going to happen with a hand such as this. You simply cannot expect to get paid off by a hand that you can beat.

Question 2

Situations in which it is correct to give an opponent a free card have both of what characteristics?

Answer 2

1. The pot is small at the moment. If the pot isn’t small, then you would normally wish to win it immediately.
2. The equity you allow your opponent to keep by not betting to drive him out is smaller in relation to the amount you figure to earn in future bets, usually because he has an opportunity to make a hand with reverse implied odds.