Lesson 6 Flashcards
What are the characteristics of the in-position play?
It’s more straightforward, and less slowplaying: The urgency to bet is higher than oop, check/raising is off the table.
What are hybrid bets?
Betting hands that don’t seem to have one clear purpose, eg not pure value nor pure bluffs.
How do I play vs capped ranges?
From Clarke’s theorem, I can use my largest big sizes from my toolkit.
What are the reasons for range-bet?
For example on QT4r, HJ vs BB:
- Villian will lead the turn very infrequently in theory, reducing the ev of checking good hands
- I get fold equity which is higher than the pot odds norm
- Denying equity becomes more attractive when there’s less to gain from checking with the idea to bluff catch (Like QJ making a random K7 fold when he did have the K outs).
What questions do I ask to learn the range geography on the turn in position, for B150 for example?
- What is the bottom of my value range which bets? (usually it is indifferent between checking and betting)
- Which tiers of bluffs are being used? (favorability)
- What’s the threshold for betting? eg strongest hands that we start bluffing
as HJ vs BB SRP,
flop comes QT4r X/B33/C
turn 6, X it’s on HJ,
1.what sizing does HJ use on the turn?
2.Why does he often bet with A6,K6,65 which are just third pair hands? Are those not middling hands which want to check? Use the betting sink analogy.
Sizing: HJ overbets the turn for 150.
Overbetting with A6,K6,65 can do the following:
- worse hands to call (KJ,4x) =a little element of value
- make better hands to fold (99,88,77 and some Tx) =some elements of bluff
- a lot of denial (=a lot of a little factor) =elements of denial
The bluff elements which is dominant and value elements are more important than the denail part, but it does add.
It’s a mixed bag of reasons, or a mixed betting plastic.
Explain the betting sink analogy
On the flop and turn, there are three taps that fill our container, value bet and denial. If they fill our container to the first line (“can bet”) we have a reason to think that betting and checking have the same ev, if they fill it up to the second line (must bet) then we have enough reason to think that betting has more ev than checking.
On the river, there can be only one tap (value, bluff) filling the bucket and there’s no denial since there are no more cards to come.
Why is denial/protection, not a major reason (or a major tap in the betting sink analogy) by itself to warrant a bet?
Assuming I have a good hand, if I’m successfully “protecting” my hand (and I’m not always going to successfully protect), I switch from winning most of the pot (thanks to the high equity of my hand) to winning all of it.
Contrast it to bluffing where I win a little from the pot to all of the pot when it achieves its aim.
Or value betting, which captures a lot of ev as well when it achieves its aim.
What are reasons that terrible hands (76s HJ vs BB, KJJ2) can bluff, and sometimes HAVE TO bluff?
a terrible hand has dreadful (=near 0) ev whatever it does. If i check or bet, i still have Q8. It’s not better to bet with QT than it is with Q8. either way QT has more EV.
- If I underbluff by not betting air, I will incentivize good players to fold all their bluff catchers (K6 for example).
- If villain under-defends - it becomes better to bet than to check
HJ vs BB, KJJ2, C/B33/C X to HJ holding 76s on the turn,
In general (not for this hand )what are the reasons NOT to bluff? Which of those reasons apply to this hand?
- I have too much SDV to bluff
- I am in an unfavorable world
- I can’t bluff if I think my opponent won’t fold a lot
None of those reasons apply: This hand has very little SDV, I am in a favorable world, and from a theoretical point of view, I get about pot odds norm when I bluff here.
HJ vs BB, KJJ2, C/B33/C X to HJ
why is 76 a tier 5 and 98 T8 are tier 7 (always bluff vs never bluff)
98/T8 are blocking a lot of the fold range of villian like TT,88,T9, maybe QT is indifferent, Q9s, so I have less fold equity.
What is the “better hands” fallacy?
“So in this spot we have better hands to bluff” -
- You need to compare the EV of checking and bluffing, not the ev of current hand to another hand that I don’t have
- We might want to bluff EVERY HAND lacking in SDV in a favorable world.
you have better hands, but not better hands TO BLUFF. Most bluffs are optional, and no hand gains EV from bluffing.
HJ vs BB SRP
flop A85hhc X/B33/C
Turn Ts X/B150C
Which river card is better for HJ?
2d or Jh?
Jh is better! Yes, the Jh completes the flush, so it’s bad for HJ’s value range, but HJ should be bluffing as well on the turn, and Jh helps his bluff range a lot(!). While Jh re-polarises BB’s range,so we will use B75 for the Jh river and all-in overbet for the 2d river, the equity and ev of HJ is higher at the river at the Jh(!).
HW for lecture 6
Predict and compare the strategy of PFR on different runouts, especially double and triple barrel nodes on different river cards
