---

Poker Video: No Limit Hold'Em by RapidEvolution (Micro/Small Stakes)

Time Link to 00:42:26

One leak I've experienced when 3betting SC'ers from OOP is overvaluing 1 pair hands; even if it's top pair. On a board like 952 with 98s or 742tt with 78s (no fD) are we bet/folding? Is ther eany reason NOT to bet a flop like Q72 with 78 (due to our SD value) when OOP in a 3bet pot? My concern would be the only hands that will let us get to SD would be 88-JJ, so we mine as well bet and possibly barrel some turns (turn our pair into a bluff) rather than check and give up. Any advice on the situation where you spike a single medium strength pair OOP after 3betting? (obv villain dependent, but lets say vs a common TAG).

Also:
I assume to make 3betting SC'ers OOP profitable, we are typically playing aggressively on the flop with a strong draw (FD/OESD on rainbow boards) in this situation. but what about situations where we hit an OESD on a tt or mono board (no BDFD) or a FD on a multi-BW board (KJ4tt with 65s with FD)? Basically, can you think of a situation where we are better off ch/C a draw in a 3bet pot OOP with a SC?
Barreling the turn is situation dependent, and perhaps you'll get to this later.

Time Link to 01:03:44

Could you explain using board texture to set up a 3 BARREL bluff wherein it would be theoretically "incorrect" to fire only 2 barrels? Typically, we are firing the 2nd barrel when the turn card improves our range and "scares" villain's range, and not firing when the card hits his and/or misses ours. However, I know there exists an exception to this rule where we CAN 2 barrel these "bad" cards as long as we fire a 3rd barrel on certain rivers. I can't seem to wrap my head around when this is appropriate, however. The best I can come up with is targeting draws and medium pairs on a board like 976r or J95tt when the turn is a blank. It makes no sense to fire a second barrel on the blank if our villain tends to call 2x with draws/combo draws or single pairs, but if we fire 3 barrels on the right cards, he can't take the heat with his one pair (or Ah/Kh) hand.

Is this right, or am I missing something? It seems this would be a 4th reason to bet (to set up dead money on the river) just as we cbet the flop to pick up dead money on the turn vs players who peel flop cbets too wide.

8:23
What about the fact that if you raise 3xBB preflop and you get one caller your SPR is about 13 on the flop if you both are 100bb deep. Does this mean you should be opening for more or less then 3xBB preflop?

Happy B-Day! : )

Are you going to cover when to bet the river with a missed draw? How about getting thin value as well?

One leak I've experienced when 3betting SC'ers from OOP is overvaluing 1 pair hands; even if it's top pair. On a board like 952 with 98s or 742tt with 78s (no fD) are we bet/folding? Is ther eany reason NOT to bet a flop like Q72 with 78 (due to our SD value) when OOP in a 3bet pot? My concern would be the only hands that will let us get to SD would be 88-JJ, so we mine as well bet and possibly barrel some turns (turn our pair into a bluff) rather than check and give up. Any advice on the situation where you spike a single medium strength pair OOP after 3betting? (obv villain dependent, but lets say vs a common TAG).

Also:
I assume to make 3betting SC'ers OOP profitable, we are typically playing aggressively on the flop with a strong draw (FD/OESD on rainbow boards) in this situation. but what about situations where we hit an OESD on a tt or mono board (no BDFD) or a FD on a multi-BW board (KJ4tt with 65s with FD)? Basically, can you think of a situation where we are better off ch/C a draw in a 3bet pot OOP with a SC?
Barreling the turn is situation dependent, and perhaps you'll get to this later.

Some really good questions here! In the first case, remember that we're 3betting hands like this as a bluff, mainly because we expect to get folds often enough to make 3betting profitable. If the villain calls us, presumably, he has a strong hand. We should be aware of what his 4betting range is in this spot and be able to narrow his range to something specific. (For example, 88-JJ/AQ/maybe AJ-KQ). We can then look at stats like fold to cbet (and obviously see how our equity shapes up against his range on specific board textures) to decide whether we want to continue at all, fire one, or empty the clip. (There will be very few spots in which I just fire two, because at that point, the pot is almost too large not to just shove into to try and take down). Situations where we flop equity can be particularly murky and to be honest, when we start getting this specific, reads become VERY important. One TAG will call a 3bet IP and be 100% incapable of not stacking off on a 52827 board...another will peel one and fold the turn and another will peel two and fold to a 1/2 pot river shove. For the most part, I won't try a 3barrel bluff in a 3bet pot on a low board unless I've seen the villain do something like call two and fold the river (obviously in a spot where I want him to call). Make notes when these things happen and you'll find good villains to barrel (and yes, I would advocate turning small one-pair hands into a bluff on the river because for the most part, their range for calling two beats has you beaten).

With 78s, I'd usually cbet on that board (especially with a bdfd) if I feel like my fold equity is high enough. My overall cbet% is on the low side, so I think I get a bit more credit when I cbet in 3bet pots. Results may vary, of course. I really hate to c/c in 3bet pots as the aggressor because we usually turn our hand face-up and put money into the pot in a spot where our opponent can easily push us off.

Could you explain using board texture to set up a 3 BARREL bluff wherein it would be theoretically "incorrect" to fire only 2 barrels? Typically, we are firing the 2nd barrel when the turn card improves our range and "scares" villain's range, and not firing when the card hits his and/or misses ours. However, I know there exists an exception to this rule where we CAN 2 barrel these "bad" cards as long as we fire a 3rd barrel on certain rivers. I can't seem to wrap my head around when this is appropriate, however. The best I can come up with is targeting draws and medium pairs on a board like 976r or J95tt when the turn is a blank. It makes no sense to fire a second barrel on the blank if our villain tends to call 2x with draws/combo draws or single pairs, but if we fire 3 barrels on the right cards, he can't take the heat with his one pair (or Ah/Kh) hand.

Is this right, or am I missing something? It seems this would be a 4th reason to bet (to set up dead money on the river) just as we cbet the flop to pick up dead money on the turn vs players who peel flop cbets too wide.

This is a fairly advanced concept in my opinion and I think it will be extremely easy to misapply (especially in micro stakes where fold equity is much lower). Also, it is EXTREMELY villain dependent and requires a solid read that our opponent is capable of calling two streets and then folding to a river bet. For the most part, people aren't calling two lightly unless there's a ton of history or an obvious draw. In the latter case, barreling a dry turn on a drawy board with the intent of firing a blank river can be profitable, but we need to be aware that our opponent plays draws passively, will fold (rather than bluff-raise) when he misses the river, and is unlikely to call three with some random TP/MP hand. Also, we should know that getting called down lightly in this spot won't induce tilt and mess up the rest of our session.

8:23
What about the fact that if you raise 3xBB preflop and you get one caller your SPR is about 13 on the flop if you both are 100bb deep. Does this mean you should be opening for more or less then 3xBB preflop?

Setting up a good SPR for your hand type is definitely a consideration when considering preflop raise sizing, but sometimes, the sacrifices we'd have to make in order to give ourselves a comfortable SPR to stack off just aren't worth it. Yes, opening for 3-4 bbs will usually put us in a spot where the SPR is awkward for our hand if we have AK/AQ/TT+, but that's assuming that we're thinking that we should always stack off with an overpair or TP hand. This simply isn't the case. Being cognizant of SPR allows us to make commitment decisions postflop. If we have AA and get called preflop and the flop is T 5 2 rainbow, we don't have to plan to get all-in vs every opponent (and we probably shouldn't). What we should be doing is putting our opponent on a range, figuring out what kinds of hands he'll be willing stack off with, and act accordingly. Against someone whose stack-off range will be T9/TJ/AT/JJ/QQ/KK/TT/55/22 (which we have 75% equity against) I'm happy to stack off. Against a nit who's stacking off with TT/55/22 only, I'm going to be VERY cautious if he calls the flop and raises the turn. Note that if the SPR was 4 or 3 as opposed to 13, the main question wouldn't be "Do I want to get all in?" it'd be "How the **** can I get all the money in hurr?"

Preflop raise-sizing (in my opinion) should be dictated by the strength of your range, and the table dynamic. The stronger your range, the larger your sizing should be (for value). If you have a wide range (either because you're at a nitty table and expect to take it down a TON) or because you like having lots of maneuvering room postflop, you'll want to raise less. At a table that's very passive preflop and very fit/fold postflop, you may want to size larger preflop and smaller postflop. Lots of adjustments can be made, and if we're making them for the right reasons, our winrate will increase.

As per your second set of questions, I'll try and look at some spots (I'll probably be requesting some HHs for review in our last episode) but as always, there are some general questions you should be asking yourself.

If you're going for thin value, ask yourself if your opponent has anything worse that can call, figure out what those hands could be, and size accordingly. If you blast the pot hoping to get called by something weak, chances are, you're burning money.

If you're thinking about bluffing the river with a missed draw, it helps to know what kinds of hands your opponent can call a preflop raise and two postflop bets with that will suddenly want to fold the river. Barring that, someone whose call flop cbet is 60, whose turn call cbet is 70, and whose went to sd is 18%, is a good person to bluff with your missed draw.

Thanks

So if I hit my hand after a 3 bet preflop then I should be looking to stack off unless the board is really bad? This is something I'm having trouble with understanding. I know it has to do with equity and odds.

I have some hands I can send that I made thin value bets on.

Excellent-thanks for the replies. Look forward to the rest of the season!

Really useful series, thank you.

I have a quick question related to cbetting at micro/small stakes.

The prevailing wisdom seems to be that you should be cbetting 70% of flops or you'll be missng loads of value. You seem to suggest people are cbetting too much and people are adjusting by calling lighter.

Is a more circumspect approach to cbetting the flop a more profitable approach in your view?

Really useful series, thank you.

I have a quick question related to cbetting at micro/small stakes.

The prevailing wisdom seems to be that you should be cbetting 70% of flops or you'll be missng loads of value. You seem to suggest people are cbetting too much and people are adjusting by calling lighter.

Is a more circumspect approach to cbetting the flop a more profitable approach in your view?

70% seems pretty high to me. At micro your most likely spots to get a call are preflop and on the flop. I would base your c-bets off of: stats (fold to c-bet), the board, and hand ranges. You can also look at your c-bet success.

70% seems pretty high to me. At micro your most likely spots to get a call are preflop and on the flop. I would base your c-bets off of: stats (fold to c-bet), the board, and hand ranges. You can also look at your c-bet success.

This thread suggests 70% flop cbet is common.

http://www.deucescracked.com/forums/26-Full-Ring-No-Limit/topics/7199-Cbet-Success-Analysis

Poker Student: Remember that our opponent's range for calling is going to be fairly strong (otherwise we wouldn't be 3bet-bluffing him, right?). You need to know your villain and what his range (and plan for that range) will be should be call your 3bet. If your opponent can't fold any overpair postflop in a 3b pot (and doesn't float at all), then we want to slow down with our TP hands after making a continuation bet. While cbetting 78 on Q73 probably won't get us any value from worse, we may have some thin bluff equity vs a hand like 99/TT and we don't put ourselves in a spot where our opponent can push us off of a better hand. If we're never worried about our opponent bluffing when we check to him, then we can look at our raw equity vs his calling range (in which case, our 78 still shapes up pretty poorly).

Zend: When I started playing, I used to not only pay attention to stats, but I would try my best to achieve stats that seemed to be shared amongst a lot of players. Whether it be from poker forum mantra or just some player that I really liked. The problem I ran into was that I wasn't thinking how the stats got there in the first place so I wasn't thinking about spots that were good or bad to open, fold, cbet, barrel...anything. I think Poker Student did a great job of pointing out the kinds of factors you should be considering when cbetting. If we sat at tables where people folded a whole much to cbets, and we got great board textures, our overall cbet SHOULD be a lot higher than if we were playing against calling stations and continuously got board textures where people don't fold (like Th 8s 7s).