Lab 2.o - Check-Raise [Tim J]

 what is the objective of a x/r? what hand classes it punishes?

• denies EV to all the marginal hands that bet and then face a raise.

theory dynamics / mechanics:

- if we remove x/r, IP starts to stab all his marginal hands for the perfect sizing for each hand, then can check behind and navigate to the perfect pot size

Lab 2.o - Exploit - Playing vs Wide Cold Callers

 we get 3bet less, but also get to steal less, so our RFI range doesn't change much

we open in CO, BU rec calls:

Q93dd

CO wants to check a lot on this board. 

BU should be checking back over 1/2 of their draws and pair - but recs are going to over-stab

Exploit: solver now starts checking 100% as CO vs BU over-stab

CO response once BU stabs:

• bc the stab is equity driven, weak hands / draws are just pure folding (weak GS,)
• x/r wide for value - TPTK+ (likely gets overcalled)

BU check back range is weaker than it should be:

• CO Qx + starts bombing turn B140, and bluff a lot (even hands like low overcards K4s)
• CO bets a lot - bet what your hand wants - e.g. B33 w 88

https://members.upswingpoker.com/lesson/?co=ctcfhd&pl=pwkkdv&le=lpfgyx

Lab 2.o - Exploit - IP 3betting | PF charts BB v BU, BB v RFI, SB v 3b, BB v UTG 2x, BB v UTG 2,5x

BB v BU [ 3b range same as from SB (need use same sizing ] (50nl rake)

vs 2.5x open - defending 40% vs 40% bu range open

vs 2x open - defending 60% vs 40% bu range open

v UTG 2x  *

• 54o+, JTo +
• Q4s+, J7s+, T6s+,
• 32s, 42s+, 52s+, 63s+, 95s+
• A5o; A8o; A9o+

v UTG 2,5x (Δ 2x) *

• K2s+, K7s+
• Q5s+, Q9s+
• 96s, T7s, J8s +
• small SCs + 1gappers only
• ATo, KJo, QJo +, AJo+, KQo+

* GG R&C in bold

BB v SB RFI - MDA exploit [Tombos21]

* all the different groups / hand classes have a different purpose vs our opponent's strategy

Exploit Adjustments - how to leverage specific hand-classes:

(1) opp dsn't 4bet enough: we get to start 3betting aggressively with linear range - all the merged value, BWs, SCs

(2) folds too much - can 3bet all the mergy trashy hands as in the pic above (A2o,..)

bonus: if you build your strat using the hand classes above, you're pretty much undetectable - bc all the hands are mixed in the overall strat anyway

this BvB equilibrium generalises to other spots really well (!):

BU facing CO open:

vs fish with: low fold, low 4bet, high call - how do we play the hand classes:

• thick value - always 3b
• merged value - always 3b
• polar bluffs - fold

= go 3b or fold, completely linear

vs reg who plays 4b/fold 

= 3bet polar (hands happy to call the 4bet or fold), call merged value (merged value 3bet - the EV goes close to 0 when we get 4bet)

playing small pots vs check range

having 43 or A3, K3 on  Q73 makes a difference:

- 43 wants to stab for protection, whereas A3, K3 prefers to check back as it dominates his check-range - if K rolls off on turn we will dominate his Ax, Kx

Lab 2.0 request - Uri's approach to studying [re-read]

 https://discord.com/channels/1169741710465703976/1420184151666987129/1421061253073469462

[also check out this vid he did for gtowiz]

Uri fires up solver and shows practical most effective way to "study"

Absolute fire, the post discussion too (see below the screenshot)

• be more (spot) structure oriented - think of the things more structurally (rather than looking at freq.)
• hone in on principles that govern huge shifts in strategy
• range v range interactions
• look at the EQ buckets (!)
• solver giving up w the worst hands
• wants to bet the most with TT-KK
• traps with weaker trips
• mixture of defence & offence.. is one of them more important vs my opponent?
• let's say he's passive -> don't need to bet my AK medium hands (he'll let me see the river), and should bet all my value hands aggressively
• if he's aggro then we want the opposite
• bad card / good card - just look at how the Equity number changes (!)

Structures... ev buckets is just one way to visualize it

but i'm more in the camp of - this is a very aggro card for me, i'm gonna look to bluff these handtypes, and then look and see if that is actually what happens

or i'm out of position in a very polar spot, i'm gonna have almost no slowplays and mostly giveup when i check, randomise low amount of slowplays and checkfold with my air

... each node in poker has a shape .. so i'm very focused on the type of node and the shape of it:

• flush comes in what happens?
• straight comes in what happens?
• board pairs what happens?

and the answer is not in frequencies of flushdraws barreling but more big-picture general: "barrel these handtypes, switch this one for that one, up frequency, lower sizing" etc.

specific example - questions to ask yourself:

BU v BB, cbet flop, turn middle card pairs:

what's my value range, what sizing I want to use?

what are my bluffs 

opponent - weakest hand he's calling

any slowplays?

3bet / 4bet pots - framework - structured thought process

 3 high-level board archetypes:

splitting the range on the turn - sets as a baseline to throw in the 'Checks' bucket for protection/babysitting

obv exploit (level 1) adjustments: if opponent is passive -> no traps, go full aggro

4bet pots 

similar, but is really about A, K, Q high boards - lower cards like T doesn't matter as much as in 3bet pots

"AK / KK effect" governs everything:

• navigating AK & KK on A-high board
• or navigating AK & KK on 9-high board

- baby sitting KK on A-high board - often AA (and some AK) will go in the same line as KK

- baby sitting AK on 9-high board - often AA will go in the same line as AK

-> in theory. not necessarily in practice vs weak passive opponent who will underbluff - we can just bet our AA, AK, check back KK

Bomb / Splash Pots

 Uri:

1/2 game , $20 splash pot

1. A splash pot is like a big ante, in this case it sounds like it's 10bb or more ante
2. the strat in this should be to limp extremely wide - think 40-50% of hands from UTG
3. and then everyone limps behind wide
4. 
   
if you're going to raise, probably go something similar to the splash pot+blinds size as your go-to raise from late positions - so say raise button cutoff to 24$


5. from earlier positions you can go smaller, even as small as 8$, because a lot of the guys behind you have to fear getting squeezed

shortcuts:

turn the game in your mind into a bigger blind game (and translate stack depth accordingly)

• with 10bb ($20) dead money in the middle - the game has become a 5/10 game (rather than 1/2)

and so every one is effectively 10bb deep (!)

• that is why now if everyone limps to the BB, he can start shoving 33+

practical exloit adjustments:

• pool tends to be too tight:
• you can limp or open way wider
• presumably call tighter vs agg than the charts suggests?

1. video:
2. https://discord.com/channels/1169741710465703976/1415786934474903623/1416468678366724097