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

Great video!

Time Link to 00:39:07

Hey WoT-fantastic vid, man. On the left side at this point you have a very standard ch to SD with A4o on K5262. When we check behind this flop and villain checks the turn, what's the worst hand you're throwing in a delayed cbet for value? What about on the river if we check behind the turn? Are you ever checking behind the flop and betting the turn as a bluff? What tendencies or hands/turn cards are you looking for to do this?

I tend to check to get to SD too often and find I'm missing spots to win hands W/O SD as a result (often resulting in something like this, where we get out kicked). Any advice for opening up my valuebetting and bluffing ranges after checking back flops?

Thanks

I think maybe JK3A should show AAFreely where the fold button is....but great video.

Time Link to 00:12:46

Hey Will.
The KQ call on table 2.
2.5:1 does not seem to be enough to make this call.

I can see villain playing Tx, AhX, 2 pair, flush and straights, maybe hands like 9h9.

I plugged a few different ranges into stove and it's hard for your KhQc to have 22% equity. I was surprised with the nonchalance you made the call with!!;-)

I would have folded this turn. Am I way off?

Theres nothing more innocent and precious in life than a new born baby, congrats on the addition to your family wilt

Hey WoT-fantastic vid, man. On the left side at this point you have a very standard ch to SD with A4o on K5262. When we check behind this flop and villain checks the turn, what's the worst hand you're throwing in a delayed cbet for value? What about on the river if we check behind the turn? Are you ever checking behind the flop and betting the turn as a bluff? What tendencies or hands/turn cards are you looking for to do this?

I tend to check to get to SD too often and find I'm missing spots to win hands W/O SD as a result (often resulting in something like this, where we get out kicked). Any advice for opening up my valuebetting and bluffing ranges after checking back flops?

Thanks

Very good questions on a seemingly standard spot. As always the answer depends but let me give you some things it depends on.

First, yes I am definitely delay cbetting air on board textures such as these a good amount...but of course we have to be careful who we're doing it against. You'll want to do this against good players who realize what you represent when you check behind K62r and bet a blank turn. If they are calling you down for 2 streets with bottom pair or A high when you do this then you need to re-evaluate how they hand read cbets and checks on various board textures.

You'll also want to make sure to check that bet vs missed cbet stat and make sure you aren't just letting them bluff you by checking behind air (and therefore playing your flop chk behind range as more face up/showdown value hands). As far as the worst hands I'd delay cbet for value, usually it will be bottom or middle pair if i check those behind, but also something like AJ or AT (depending on their 3bet range pf and board texture) I'll value bet/protect with those hands on the turn. Of course depending on board texture, I might value bet something like AT on the flop, especially if I have shown them that the standard is to check down A high.

One thing I told my friend "the doctor" (you might have seen him appear in some of my vids) is that if you feel the need to have a more balanced delay cbet range, choose hands to do it with that have little to no equity on the flop when called. For example, 23o on J 9s 7s where the profitability of a cbet itself is probably zero or worse. Vs better players though, you might be better off delay cbetting 23o on K66r since they will put you on A high a lot and for them to bluff the turn they must also bluff the river (and sometimes even then it wont work), so they just resign themselves to c/f'ing the turn on most cards.

Hopefully that gives you some stuff to think about. Lemme know if i need to elaborate.

WoT

Hey Will.
The KQ call on table 2.
2.5:1 does not seem to be enough to make this call.

I can see villain playing Tx, AhX, 2 pair, flush and straights, maybe hands like 9h9.

I plugged a few different ranges into stove and it's hard for your KhQc to have 22% equity. I was surprised with the nonchalance you made the call with!!;-)

I would have folded this turn. Am I way off?

Good question. It probably is a bit closer than I had thought, however keep in mind a good amount of the time he should be raising the flop with his flush draws and hands like Tx + heart I'm expecting him to flat the turn with a lot...so when we get it in I think we're going to see bare Tx a lot. The only 2pair that should be in there is 56, and assuming he's only defending 56s that's just 3 combos.

Another thing, in my defense, is that if you're going to bet/fold your draw there, a different line is probably best (like c/c or crai). Also you might see some other ppl in videos decide to just size their bet bigger to commit themselves...which basically means they just artificially bloat the pot and then call it off, which mathematically isn't doing anything for them except letting their opponent play better. If I can just decide ahead of time that getting it in there is going to be close to neutral EV or slightly -EV (when we get it in) yet set up stacks to make a very +EV river situation when he flats, then I think it's just worth it to go ahead and mentally commit myself (instead of artificially by betting bigger).

Hope that makes sense. I think the most important thing to take away from this is if you have a hand that likely has a lot of equity but a bet is going to make you want to bet/fold, consider a different line. It could be the case that bet/fold is still the best play, but usually another way is better.

Go ahead and post your PS range though and we can discuss in more detail. You could be right though vs him it could be a losing play to bet/call there...I just didn't think so in game and possibly could have considered it more, so thanks for bringing it to our attention here.

WoT

Theres nothing more innocent and precious in life than a new born baby, congrats on the addition to your family wilt

Thanks man. It's been super exciting and little grant has been a good motivator for me to put in a lot of hours at the tables!

Time Link to 00:05:22

How often would you check/call with QJ in this spot? [Left]

...Hopefully that gives you some stuff to think about. Lemme know if i need to elaborate.

WoT

Really fantastic answer, as expected. It makes a ton of sense to create a delayed cbet range in such a way that can both represent hands that are likely to induce mistakes from your specific villain, but that don't miss a lot of value or opportunity to collect dead money on the flop.

Just to make sure I understand this correctly: When facing villains who bet after a missed cbet too often to be honestly vbetting, we should AVOID planning a delayed cbet with air (since we will rarely get the chance) and instead plan to check behind the flop vs these opponents with SD-bound hands that we can continue with OTT after his bet (which depends on board texture and villain's range). If we feel we may be getting exploited and need to better balance our range, begin checking behind air hands on the flop with no equity on flops that will not get many better hands to fold anyway and plan to throw in a delayed cbet when they check the turn as a bluff.

Could we also try adjusting by bluff-raising these turn-bet-happy villains? choosing the right spots would obv depend on what level they are on, and we should certainly not do this vs a real donk who can't fold anything (since they sometimes thin vbet the turn without realizing it). Is there ever a time where we check back the flop and raise a turn bet vs a good player (basically repping a slowplay, correct?)

Really fantastic answer, as expected. It makes a ton of sense to create a delayed cbet range in such a way that can both represent hands that are likely to induce mistakes from your specific villain, but that don't miss a lot of value or opportunity to collect dead money on the flop.

Just to make sure I understand this correctly: When facing villains who bet after a missed cbet too often to be honestly vbetting, we should AVOID planning a delayed cbet with air (since we will rarely get the chance) and instead plan to check behind the flop vs these opponents with SD-bound hands that we can continue with OTT after his bet (which depends on board texture and villain's range). If we feel we may be getting exploited and need to better balance our range, begin checking behind air hands on the flop with no equity on flops that will not get many better hands to fold anyway and plan to throw in a delayed cbet when they check the turn as a bluff.

Could we also try adjusting by bluff-raising these turn-bet-happy villains? choosing the right spots would obv depend on what level they are on, and we should certainly not do this vs a real donk who can't fold anything (since they sometimes thin vbet the turn without realizing it). Is there ever a time where we check back the flop and raise a turn bet vs a good player (basically repping a slowplay, correct?)

Yes you've basically got it in those first 2 paragraphs.

To answer your question in the 3rd paragraph, in general i do not advocate (nor do I employ) much of a check behind/raise the turn range. I think people are very often extremely unbalanced in this line, either by being way too draw heavy or by being too value heavy. It becomes easy to tell who is who based on what sort of hands they are cbetting. Do you see them cbetting bottom pair or do they check it? Do they always cbet air? Those are the questions you have to know when you see someone check behind K46r turn 4 bringing a backdoor flushdraw and you bet into them and get raised. Think about which types of opponents we might want to rep value against here. Also think about whether or not it matters if we are unbalanced in this spot vs each opponent? Also think about what sort of bet size you want to make to give yourself a good price on the bluff. Lots of stuff to consider!

I would recommend checking behind flops and raising turns vs good players only after you've set up a cbetting range/dynamic AND can assume they are aware of it AND you think you can stay one step ahead/can predict their response. That's a big assumption even for a lot of mid stakes players (and some high stakes players too). Instead, we should probably focus on the check behind/raise turn vs the guys who play way too loose out of position and have a very high bet vs missed cbet stat (like 65+). Those 2 things combined will usually indicate someone who a) has a lot of air and b) is willing to bluff it in bad spots. We need both things since we aren't going to rep very much most of the time we do this, so they have to either be the type that has so much air that they can't do anything about it most of the time OR they simply are unaware of hand reading in this spot.

Hope that helps
WoT

edit: one last bonus consideration. if we start employing a check behind flop/raise turn dynamic vs another good player, think about what the implications might be to our check behind flop/call turn range!

Time Link to 00:18:43

As agressive you have been pf, what is your plan on the turn if called. If you get raised on the flop you propably just fold? btw, what is your oppinion about min raising the flop w/ air, if you are the villain?

As agressive you have been pf, what is your plan on the turn if called. If you get raised on the flop you propably just fold? btw, what is your oppinion about min raising the flop w/ air, if you are the villain?

turn i'd be c/c'ing a lot and making tough river decisions given how much i had been 3betting and cbetting and it felt like we were at the time in the match where he would be getting fed up (he failed the 4bet, and many times when someone fails an aggro re-steal action they look for another way to resteal, like floating or bluff raising).

I think him minraising the flop with air vs a lot of players is ok, but vs good players I feel like it's tough to balance with enough value hands on this board. I'm not sure if you've seen my other hu vids but I've shown spots where floating oop vs flop raises in this type of situation can be good, and also 3betting the flop with air/semibluffs vs that action. So like everything in HU, you have to pick your spots vs your opponents. Against guys who aren't thinking much or aren't willing to go with their reads, you could implement a strategy that relies on a good amount of minraising the flop in spots like this, but I'd be careful about doing it with a very unbalanced range vs good players.

If I got raised on this flop, I'd call the flop and make tough decisions on the turn, probably folding to further action as it's very tough for him to keep bluffing when I bet/call an A high board (no one folds top pair and I'm not sure if I had shown down any cbets with underpairs in 3b pots yet, so he might incorrectly polarize my flop cbetting range).

Hope that makes sense
WoT