Poker Video: Misc/Other by bellatrix (Micro/Small Stakes)

My oh my ... the math part is getting way out of my league.

I'm kind of surprised of one of the conclusions of this chapter. That optimal play in NL probably includes some kind of "preventive betting".
I may have missed something, but I believe that conventional wisdom states that in NL, we should bet either for value or as a bluff (+ occasionnaly to pick up the dead money when no one is interested in the pot and we have an ok but vulnerable hand). This would create another "good" reason to bet : the blocking bet.
This is rarely if ever talked about in the videos I have watched on NLTH on DC (of course, I probably watched less than 5% of the videos, there's so many of them).

This opens a new perspective for me. It suggests that I should try experimenting these smallish preemptive bets when OOP on the river vs agressive opponents that seem to bluff a lot. Right now, I revert to check/calling my bluffcatchers in these spots, but perhaps I should try making some preemptive bets with bluffcatchers (and some value-bets in the mix vs better agro players). It does seem strange, though, to bet with hands that will never be good when called.

Food for thoughts ...

This opens a new perspective for me. It suggests that I should try experimenting these smallish preemptive bets when OOP on the river vs agressive opponents that seem to bluff a lot. Right now, I revert to check/calling my bluffcatchers in these spots, but perhaps I should try making some preemptive bets with bluffcatchers (and some value-bets in the mix vs better agro players). It does seem strange, though, to bet with hands that will never be good when called.

Food for thoughts ...

Yes, I was a bit... not flabbergasted, but a bit surprised when I saw that betting small with a bluffcatcher can make sense in NLHE. As many of you know, I have a pretty pure Limit background, so this was never part of my arsenal. FWIW c/c with bluffcatchers is mostly for limit pots (especially because the pot is large in comparison to the bet).

I then started thinking about the blocking bet (just as you did), but the way it is explained in the videos it is often unbalanced. People are making the blocking bet very seldomly with the top part of their range, so opponent can react more easily. You gotta be sure that you are making the same bet with your nut hands, too and that is often less enticing. However, if you have a nice mix, betting with ~a third of your bluffcatchers, 70%ish of your nut hands (check to induce), and maybe 10% with nut low hands or find that perfect mix, the math is indicating that it is more profitable than doing the straightforward: "betting your good hands for value".

Yes, the bluffing frequency of opponent should be high. Not necessarily the bluff-raising frequency (that hovers in the 5-10% range optimal), but the bluff-betting (alpha being optimal). Thanfully/Unfortunately (?) from my play at low stakes NLHE (I don't play it much), opponent's ranges are very narrow and they don't bluff enough. Again, mostly against balanced, thinking opponents.

Anyway, just rambling... but yes, discussing the merits of comparing the preemptive bet to the blocking bet is definitely what I had in mind for this chapter...