GENERAL POKER STRATEGY

ARTICLES AND GUIDES

Tip #1: “When making a decision at the table, be
confident in that moment, but be open to analysis down
the road for the sake of improvement.”
Tip #2: “I would recommend actually playing poker
about twice as often as you study it. But make sure to
study.”
Tip #3: “When you’re on a hot streak in tournaments,
don’t change your bankroll management or study habits.
You have to study and hope to run good to keep it
going.”
Tip #4: “Pick one form of poker and get really good at
it. Don’t hop around and lose in a bunch of places.”
Tip #5: “It’s way better to stick it out and grind in a
great game than it is to put your head down and try to
get a small edge in a bad one.”
Tip #6: “When you have a strong hand, lean towards
fast playing, not trapping. By betting you build a pot
and make more money.”
Tip #7: “Don’t be a nit.”
Tip #8: “When betting the river, you want to clearly
know if it’s a value bet or a bluff. Otherwise, you
shouldn’t be betting.”
Tip #9: “The earlier the street, the more often you
should be bluffing because that’s when the equities run
closest.”
Tip #10: “It helps to think of early stage tournaments
like a cash game. Don’t worry about survival and focus
on playing solid poker.”
Choosing bet sizes is a tricky task in No Limit Hold’em.
There is no one ‘perfect’ bet size that can be used in all
spots. The optimal bet size will depend on a number of
factors, including preflop action, board texture, stack
depth and which player has a range advantage.
Rule #1: Use a small bet size (25-35% Pot) on dry,
static board textures
As well as functioning to get value, bets on the flop and
turn deny your opponents their equity when they fold.
On dry boards, however, equity denial is not very
important because most of your opponent’s hands will
have little equity against your value betting range.
When equity denial is not important, you are more
incentivized to use small bet sizes.
Another benefit of using a small size on dry boards is
that calling ranges are inelastic — the likelihood that
your opponent folds to a bet will be similar regardless of
size. Why risk betting large with your bluffs when you
can get the same result with a smaller size?
Finally, small bet sizes work well as an exploitative
adjustment against players that fold too often. This is
particularly true in live games and weak online
environments where many opponents often play a ‘fit or
fold’ post-flop style.
Here’s a hand played by an Upswing Lab member that
demonstrates this concept:
Online Cash 6-Handed. 100bb Effective Stacks.
Hero is dealt 6♦ 5♦ in the CO.
UTG folds. MP folds. Hero raises to 2.5bb. BTN folds.
SB folds. BB calls.
Flop (5.5bb): A♦ 8♠ 3♣
BB checks. Hero bets 1.8bb. BB folds.
Analysis from Doug
On a dry board like A♦ 8♠ 3♣, a small bet size (33% in
this example) makes the most sense. This is because our
range of value hands (88, 33, A8s, A3s, AK, AQ, AJ) is
unlikely to be outdrawn on the turn, so we aren’t
incentivized to drive out our opponent’s equity.
In the equity calculation below, we can see just how
little equity the BB’s range has versus our value betting
range:
The BB’s estimated range has just 11.32% equity.
And this chart shows how much equity each hand in the
BB’s range has versus our value betting range (does not
include our bluffs):
The overwhelming majority of the BB’s range poses
very little threat to our value bets.
Also, the BB’s calling range is likely to be inelastic in
this spot. Hands like KJo will usually be folded
regardless of the bet size because such combinations
have terrible playability over later streets and are
drawing nearly dead against our value hands.
Rule #2: Use a pretty large bet size (55-80% pot) on
wet, dynamic boards
When your value betting range is vulnerable to being
outdrawn, you should use a larger bet size. This strategy
has three notable benefits:
 Large bet sizes allow you to extract more value
and build a pot when you have a strong hand.
 Larger bets extract more value before the turn
or river has a chance to reduce your strong
hand to a bluff-catcher. For instance, almost
half of the deck is a bad card for 9♣ 9♦ on T♥
9♥ 5♠ 4♠.
 Large bet sizes generate more fold equity,
making your bluffs more effective.
This hand was played by John C. and analyzed by Doug
in the private Upswing Lab group:
Online Cash 6-Handed. 100bb Effective Stacks.
Hero is dealt A♣ A♥ on the BTN.
UTG raises to 3bb. MP calls. CO folds. Hero raises to
11bb. SB folds. BB folds. UTG calls. MP calls.
Flop (34.5bb): 2♠ 5♥ 3♠
UTG checks. MP checks. Hero bets 12bb. UTG calls.
MP calls.
Turn (70.5bb): 8♣
UTG checks. MP checks. Hero bets 22.32bb. UTG folds.
MP calls.
River (115.14bb): 6♥
MP checks. Hero…?
Analysis from Doug
This ~33% flop bet size is too small given the board
texture and the fact that we are multi-way. The board is
low, but it is not static – our opponents can have a
variety of flush draws and backdoor draws.
Our stack depth is another reason to large bet on this
flop. If we bet 22bb (65% pot-size bet) and get called by
one player, we will take a turn card with 78.5bb in the
pot and 67bb behind. This stack-to-pot ratio allows us to
comfortably shove on the turn (more on this in tip #3).
When we use a flop bet size that allows us to go all-in
on the turn, our bluffs will generate more fold equity
and our opponents won’t have a great price to draw.
Rule #3: Your stack-to-pot ratio should influence your
bet size
Your stack-to-pot ratio (SPR) is an important factor to
consider when choosing a bet size. You have to think
ahead, considering what the size of the pot will be on
later streets and how you intend to proceed with your
value hands and bluffs.
Staying fairly consistent with your bet sizing across the
flop, turn and river will ensure that each bet will
generate a good amount of fold equity. Many players
will bet too large on the flop and turn, and as a result
end up with a tiny bet left behind on the river. Bluffing
is extremely ineffective in such situations because tiny
river shoves generate little-to-no fold equity.
This example hand was played and submitted by
Upswing member Bogdan E.:
150 / 300 Live Tournament 9-Handed. 21,000 Effective
Stacks.
Hero is dealt Q♥ Q♦ on the BTN.
UTG calls. UTG+1 calls. LJ calls. HJ folds. CO folds.
Hero raises to 1,200. SB folds. BB calls. UTG+1 calls.
LJ calls.
Flop (5,250): 3♠ 6♣ 9♥
BB checks. UTG+1 checks. LJ checks. Hero bets 3,000.
BB folds. UTG+1 calls. LJ folds.
Turn (11,250): J♦
UTG+1 checks. Hero bets 7,000. UTG+1 raises to
15,000. Hero raises to 16,800 and is all-in. UTG+1
calls and shows 6d6h.
River (44,850): 5♣
Analysis from Doug
The first sizing error in this hand is the pre-flop raise —
somewhere between 1,800 and 2,000 chips would have
been better. With three limpers already in the pot, we
need to raise to a size that doesn’t give our opponents
such a good price to call. This is particularly true with
the hand we have, QQ, since high pocket pairs perform
better with a low SPR and when fewer players see the
flop.
Assuming we make it 1,800 and get the same number of
callers, the pot on the flop will be 7,650 with 19,200
behind. Considering our SPR, using a size of around
5,000 (~65% pot) on the flop sets us up nicely for a
shove on the turn — 14,200 into 17,650 assuming one
caller (~80% pot). This approach allows us to extract
maximum value with our strong hands whilst ensuring
we generate good fold equity with our bluffs.
The larger sizes Bogdan actually used on the flop and
turn will often times lead to an awkward spot on the
river. Had our opponent not check-raised on the turn,
we would have reached the river with less than a half-
pot size bet behind (~10,000 into ~25,000) which is not
good for our triple-barrel bluffs.
Rule #4: Use overbets when you have a nut advantage
Overbets work well on boards that favor your range
over your opponent’s range, particularly when only you
are able to have nutted hands.
An overbetting range should also be polarized — made
up of only strong hands and bluffs. Using such a large
size allows you to get the maximum with your value
hands, and push maximum fold equity with our bluffs.
The most effective overbet bluffs are usually hands that
block our opponent’s most likely strong hands that will
call. The best example of this is using the nut flush
blocker on a three-to-a-flush board — think A♦ K♠ on
Q♦ 8♦ 2♣ 6♦ 3♠.
This hand was played by Doug and self-analyzed in his
Overbet module in the Upswing Lab:
$100 / $200 Heads-Up. $59,416 Effective Stacks.
Doug is dealt 4♦ 2♦ in the BB.
BTN raises to $700. Doug calls.
Flop ($1,400): 5♠ A♥ Q♦
Doug checks. BTN bets $980. Doug calls.
Turn ($3,360): 3♣
Doug checks. BTN checks.
River ($3,360): 7♦
Doug checks. BTN bets $1,500. Doug raises to $10,800.
BTN calls and mucks A♠ 2♥.
Analysis from Doug
We can make some assumptions about the BTN’s range
once he checks the turn:
 The BTN does not have the turned nuts (42)
because that hand would almost certainly value
bet on the turn
 The BTN does not have the rivered nuts (64)
because a 6-high draw would almost certainly
semi-bluff on the turn
 The sets and two pairs in the BTN’s preflop
range (AA, QQ, 55, AQ, A5) are unlikely on
the river because he would either slow-play on
the flop or continue betting on the turn
Since our opponent is very unlikely to have a nutted
hand on this river, we can construct an overbetting
strategy. Here is how we will divvy up our value range:
 Overbet check-raise with our strongest hands
(64, 42, 55, 33)
Overbet check-raising here allows us to extract an extra
bet from our opponent’s bluffs, and get maximum value
when our opponent bets-calls with a value hand (like the
A2o here).
We also need to mix in some bluff check-raises here in
order to balance out our value bets. 54 is a perfect
candidate because it blocks set combos (55), two-pair
combos (A5, Q5, 53) and straight combos (42 and 64).
The size of our check-raise in this spot should always be
large (at least 2x pot) because we are representing a
polarized range.
 Overbet with the rest of our value hands (35,
A5, A3, A7, some Ax)
We can then overbet lead with our medium-to-strong
hands, which this prevents our opponent from freely
checking back on the river.
Understanding Small Bet Sizes
Small bets function very differently based on whether
we’re in or out of position.
Note this is different from many other concepts, such as
overbetting, since overbets function pretty much the
same way regardless of whether we’re in or out of
position.
But small bets do not, and that makes them a bit more
tricky. So, to best illustrate these concepts, we’re going
to go over one hand example where we’re out of
position in one and in position in the other.
(I’m intentionally not going to give you a hand in these
examples. That’s because I want you think you about
your entire range and not getting distracted with any
specific holding.)
Small Bets - Out Of Position
Let’s start with an example of betting small when out of
position
NL$200 6-max. 100BB Effective Stacks
Preflop ($3) Hero is dealt Xx Xx in the SB
folds to btn. Button raises to $4. Hero 3-bets to $15. bb
folds. Button calls.
Flop ($30)A♠ 9♣ 7♠
Hero bets $15. Button calls.
Turn ($60) J♠
Alright, so let’s pump the breaks for a moment and
summarize where we’re at.
We’re out of position in a 3-bet pot on a A♠ 9♣ 7♠ J♠
board, the pot is $60, and we’ve got $170 behind. We
can bet any amount between $0 and $170. That’s
because this game was created in America -- our
forefathers didn’t throw tea in an ocean to piss off the
British or win the Battle of Midway and stop the Empire
of Japan to be told we can’t bet whatever the hell we
want. So, it is your duty as a patriot to consider all bet
sizes in all situations.
(If you aren't from the United States... consider all bet
sizes anyway.)
Alright, now I want you to pause for a moment to
consider the difference between checking and betting $2
(the minimum) on the turn.
You'd probably check on this turn often, but never bet
$2, right? Since you’re constantly taking one line but
never taking the other, it’s worthwhile to pause and
think about the difference.
Well, the difference is…
not much. In fact, it’s almost nothing. That’s because
since we’re out of position, betting will not re-open up
the betting. In other words, if our opponent wants to put
a lot of money into the pot on the turn, he’s going to be
able to do that regardless of whether we check or bet
since he still gets to act no matter what we do.
So, the difference between checking (betting 0% of the
pot) and betting $2 (3% of the pot) is negligible. In fact,
when we’re out of position, I’d encourage you to look at
checking as the same thing as betting $0, since that
helps drive the point home that there is no fundamental
difference between checking and betting $2.
Let’s do one more quick exercise. Think back to our
example where the board is A♠ 9♣ 7♠ J♠ and we’re out
of position on the turn after having bet on the flop.
What hands can we have on the turn here where you’re
unsure of whether to bet or check? In other words, what
hands did you 3-bet pre-flop, bet on the A♠ 9♣ 7♠, and
are now unsure of what to do with on a J♠ turn? Pause
for a moment and think.
How about something like the A♦K♦ or A♣Q♠? I’ll be
the first person to admit, that I would readily 3-bet both
of these hands pre-flop and have continuation bet them
on the flop against an unknown player.
But things are more complicated on the J♠ turn, which
improves my opponent’s many flush draw and AJ
combinations. I’d probably be a bit lost, at least for a
moment.
Ok, so if you’re like most players, when you’re on this
turn you immediately think “Should I bet half-pot or
check here?” since betting half-pot is probably your
default line and how you were originally taught to play
poker. But if you can’t figure out which option is best,
why not try a one-quarter pot-sized bet instead?
In other words, if it seems close between betting 50% of
the pot on this turn or 0% (remember, a check is betting
0%), why not just bet somewhere in between? After all,
by betting small you’ll also keep your opponent’s
calling range wide, which is important when we have a
pretty good-but-not-stellar hand like top-pair top-kicker
here.
This concept is discussed in much more detail in No-
Limit Hold ’em for Advanced Players: Emphasis on
Tough Games, but hopefully you can start to see my
point here.
Betting very small when out of position — say 5% or
10% of the pot — isn’t really much different from
checking, but there will be times when betting 5%, 10%,
or 25% of the pot is better than checking (betting 0%).
Additionally, if you can’t decide if betting half-pot or
checking is best when out of position, it’s often best to
just bet somewhere in between (say 25%). Small bets
out of position are not only often theoretically correct,
but they can also be powerful exploitative tools.
Lastly, note small betting ranges can be balanced as
well (consisting of a variety of different types of hands
so they can’t easily be exploited), and while that’s
discussed in the book, that’s going to be beyond the
scope of this article.
Small Bets – In Position
Alright, let’s move on to betting small in position
NL$200 6-max. 100BB Effective Stacks
Preflop ($3) Hero is dealt Xx Xx on the button
folds to co. CO raises to $4. Hero 3-bets to $14. blinds
fold. CO calls.
Flop ($30) T♠ 6♣ 4♠
CO checks. Hero $15. CO calls.
Turn ($60) 9♣
CO checks.
First, what is the difference between betting $2 on this
turn and checking? In other words, is betting very small
and checking when in position fundamentally the same
thing, or are they different? Pause for a moment and
consider why.
Well, unlike when we were out of position, small bets in
position reopen up the betting. This is hugely
significant, and because of this we cannot view a check
and a $2 bet in position as fundamentally the same
thing.
Betting $2 allows our opponent to put as much money
as he wants into the pot, whereas checking ends the turn
action and brings the next card.
Whether or not we check or bet will have a huge effect
on villain’s range on the following street. For example,
imagine we have A♠ Q♥ on the T♠ 6♣ 4♠ 9♣ board and
decide to check. What is going to happen when the river
comes the 2♦?
Well, our opponent is going to know we can’t be strong,
because if we were, why would we have checked the
turn on such a dangerous board? Our opponent is going
to know our range is weak and capped, and because of
that he can make large bets with near impunity knowing
we’ll almost never -- if not literally never -- have
anything better than a bluff catcher.
This is unfortunate, but it’s often unavoidable.
Sometimes we’ll need to check on wet flops or turns,
and if we do happen to get a blank on the following
street, we’re pretty much screwed.
Now, let’s imagine that instead of checking with the A♠
Q♥ on the T♠ 6♣ 4♠ 9♣ board, we instead decide to use
a one-quarter or one-fifth pot-sized bet. Our opponent
calls and the river comes the 2♦. How different is both
our range and our opponent’s range on the river now
when compared to if we had checked?
Well, since we bet the turn, our range is no longer
capped. After all, we could have been betting some very
strong hands on the turn for a small amount hoping our
opponent would raise.
More importantly, how can our opponent be strong on
this river? We gave him the opportunity to check-raise
with his sets and straights on the turn, and instead he
chose to only call a small bet on an extremely wet
board. It’s rarely correct to slowplay such strong hands
when out of position on a board this wet, and since the
river didn’t improve any hands in his range we can
conclude our opponent isn’t strong.
So, that small turn bet resulted in our opponent having a Americas Cardroom, $0.25 / $0.50 6-Handed. $10.87
drastically different range on the river than he would Effective Stacks.
have if we had checked on the turn, since he now has
the nuts less often. And for this reason, it’s likely going Hero is dealt K♣ 9♦ in the big blind
to be very hard for him to call a large river bet.
UTG folds. MP raises to $1. CO folds. BTN folds. SB
Yet if we check behind in position on a wet board, it is folds. Hero calls.
our opponent who will get to make this quote if the next
Flop ($2.25): 8♥ T♠ 7♠
card comes blank, as now we’re the one who now can’t
be strong. Hero checks. MP checks.
So, while many moons ago I used to think betting small Turn ($2.25): 5♣
in position is unlikely to be correct, since it doesn’t
make the pot much bigger, doesn’t deny much Hero bets $2. MP calls.
immediate equity, and allows the opponent to check-
raise, I now have much more appreciation for the line. River ($6.25): 2♥

That’s because even if a small flop bet or turn bet won’t Hero bets $7.87. MP calls and shows K♦ 7♦.
deny much immediate equity (since opponents won’t
Theoretically this is a great overbet bluff spot for Fee.
often fold to bets of 15% or 25% of the pot in many
The board is heavily favors Fee’s range, he holds a
situations), small bets allow us to deny equity more
blocker to the nut straight (J9) and he doesn’t block the
aggressively on future streets since we’ll know our
missed spade flush draw.
opponent’s range is so wide and weak (and often
capped). But these reasons are basically irrelevant if his opponent
still won’t fold third-pair. The silver lining is that he
Give Small Bets a Chance
learned his opponent is a calling station, and so he could
If you’re currently a player who either bets around ½ ease up on bluffing as a counter strategy.
pot, 2/3 pot or checks, with maybe the occasional
Again, the broader lesson to be learned here is to pay
overbet thrown in, hopefully this article has shed some
close attention to how your opponents play, and in
light as to why the ability to bet small can be such a
particular take note of what they show down with when
powerful tool.
they call. Gathering information is key for making
certain adjustments against your opponents.

Of course, calling stations do fold sometimes, so mixing

in the occasional bluff in a especially prime spots is
fine. This has the added benefit of maintaining our
image as a potential bluffer, which makes it more likely
we get paid off when we’re value betting. (If we never
bluff, then we are the ones who become easy to exploit.)

2. Go for razor-thin value as often as possible

One of the most effective adjustments to make against

calling stations is to bet for value in spots that would be
too thin against most players. If you’re paying attention,
1. Drastically reduce your bluffing frequency
you’ll notice that thin-value spot arise quite often—take
This is perhaps an obvious adjustment to make, but it’s advantage!
too important not to emphasize: Do very little bluffing
Here’s a good example from Ryan, again at
versus calling stations. Many players learn this lesson
$0.25/$0.50:
the hard way, though it can be easily avoided.
Americas Cardroom $0.25 / $0.50 6-Handed. $22.77
Put simply, if you notice that an opponent is making
Effective Stacks.
absurdly wide calls, then bluffing them will probably be
in vain. Hero is in the CO with J♦ J♣
Fee played a hand at the $0.25/$0.50 tables that UTG folds. Villain (MP) raises to $1. Hero raises to $3.
illustrates this point: BTN folds. SB folds. BB folds. MP calls.
Flop ($6.75): 2♠ 5♥ 6♣
Villain checks. Hero bets $2.14. Villain calls.
Turn ($11.03): 6♦
Villain checks. Hero checks.
River ($11.03): 5♦
Villain bets $3.49. Hero raises to $17.63. Villain calls
and mucks A♠ Q♦.
This hand demonstrates why you should think twice
before making an “easy call” (or “easy check”) versus a
calling station.
On the river, a conservative player might just call
Villain’s bet fearing that a raise will only get called by
better. However, Fee suspects more value to be had
considering Villain’s range:
Villain will rarely have 6-x or 5-x since he called a 3-
bet pre-flop
With hands as strong as QQ–AA, Villain would likely
have been shoved all-in either pre-flop or on the flop
Villain’s range is mostly hands with some showdown
value, like Ace-high or 77-TT
Combine these range considerations with a player pool
that’s practically allergic to folding, and you’ve got a
recipe for a razor-thin value raise that will be called by
worse often.
3. Size Up On Your Bets
Calling stations tend to have inelastic calling ranges.
This means that in many spots they will call a bet
regardless of how big or small it is.
We can exploit this tendency by using larger sizes with
our value bets. Savvy players would pick up on sizing
tells like this over time, but weaker players will rarely
give it a second thought.
This final hand demonstrates how important it is to go
for max value when it’s there for the taking:
Americas Cardroom $0.25 / $0.50 5-Handed. $50
Effective Stacks.
Hero is in the BB with A♥ A♠
MP folds. CO folds. BTN folds. Villain (SB) raises to
$1.50. Hero raises to $4.50. Villain calls.
Flop ($9): 8♦ T♣ J♦
Villain checks. Hero checks.
Turn ($9): 6♠
Villain checks. Hero bets $7. SB calls.
River ($23): 4♣
Villain checks. Hero bets $38.50. Villain calls and
mucks Q♦ T♦.
Once Villain checks for a second time on the turn, and
then flats our delayed c-bet, we can heavily discount
two-pair+ from his range. Given how connected the
board is, we’d expect those hands to be played as leads
or check-raises on the turn.
When the river bricks, we are confident we have the
best hand and so we size up to exploit Villain’s
tendency to over-call. The fact that the opponent calls
almost a 2x pot bet on the river with second-pair,
despite blocking our most likely bluffs, is proof of just
how punishable calling stations are.
There’s also something to be said for the polarized
nature of larger bet sizes. When an overbet is used, we
are signaling to our opponent that we have either a very
strong hand or complete air. As a result, players will
still call down with marginal bluff-catchers.
Since we are going to be value-heavy versus calling
stations, using larger bet sizes in polarized situations
will be very effective.
To recap, make these adjustments to crush calling
stations:
 Tone down your bluffing frequency
 Go for thin value as often as possible
 Use large bet sizes with strong hands to exploit
their tendency to over-call
Your strategy from the blinds will have a huge impact
on your winnings.
It’s an indisputable fact that you will lose in the long-
term from the blinds. After all, you are forced to commit
money to the pot regardless of the hand you’re dealt.
When you add in the blinds’ positional disadvantage
and account for the rake, it’s no wonder that even the
strongest players cannot turn a profit from the blinds
over an adequate sample of hands.
Consequently, your strategy from the blinds needs to
capitalize on edges — even marginal ones — wherever
you can find them in order to minimize losses.
If you make the following 4 strategic adjustments, you
will improve your play the blinds and boost your overall
win-rate.
#1: Steal more frequently from the small blind
play too passively and/or poorly, you’ll end up burning
more money than if you had just folded pre-flop.
This isn’t to say you should fight relentlessly to win
every pot, but you need to pair your pre-flop adjustment
with assertive post-flop play. You can’t expect to win
more money by simply defending more often from the
big blind.
Let’s look at an example to get a better idea of how
much wider your calling range from the big blind can be
compared with other positions. Suppose the player in
the LoJack open-raises to 2.5BB with this range:

By open-raising a wider range of hands, you can steal

dead money in the pot more frequently. This is, without
question, the simplest way to mitigate losses from the
small blind.

Stealing at a high percentage exploits a widespread

tendency among players to over-fold their big blind. In
taking down the pot pre-flop, you not only steal the big
blind’s 1BB, but also the 0.5BB you committed from
the small blind.

When attempting to steal from the small blind, it’s

usually best to use a larger raise size than from other
positions. Otherwise, you give your opponent too good
of a price on a call—something you need to prevent
given that you are out of position with a relatively wide
opening range.

A proper raise size is approximately 3BB. Any smaller

and the big blind has incentive to call.

Stealing is even more profitable when antes are in play.

Depending upon the size of the ante, anywhere from
1bb to 1.5bb is added to the pot, which almost doubles
its size.
It is important to note that stealing wide is an
exploitative strategy, and so you must change your
game plan if the player in the big blind correctly adjusts.
If it turns out that they are aggressive — 3-betting
frequently and/or taking pots from you post-flop — you
need to reduce your steal attempts and save them for a
less savvy opponent.
If the action folded to you on the button, you would
need to call 2.5BB to play for a pot of 6.5BB if the
blinds fold. This comes out to ~38% equity needed to
profitably call (2.5/6.5). You also have to play slightly
tighter to account for the times one of the blinds
squeezes.
A good continuing range from considering these factors
would be:

#2: Defend your Big Blind More Often

As mentioned above, many players fold too often from

the big blind. Don’t be one of those players.

Given the price you get on a call, you can defend a

fairly wide range of hands from the big blind — hands
with less equity than you’d need when calling from
other positions. However, you also need to be prepared
to fight for pots in favorable post-flop situations. If you

Compare this to a good continuing range if the action
folded to you in the big blind, where you need just 27%
equity to justify a call (1.5/5.5) and are closing the
action:
That 11 percentage point difference in required equity
allows you to play nearly twice as many hands from the
big blind (26.7%) than you could from the button
(15.8%).
By looking at the equity distribution matrix below—a
chart that shows how much equity each hand in a range
has versus another range—you can see that even the
weakest hands in this big blind calling range are well
above the 27% threshold we calculated above:
86s is the weakest hand in this BB calling range, but it
still has 10% more equity than is required to profitably
call. Having this equity cushion, so to speak, serves as
compensation for the equity we will fail to realize when
playing out of position post-flop against a range that is
stronger than ours.
#3: Avoid Donk-Betting from the Blinds
Donk-betting — when the pre-flop caller leads into the
pre-flop aggressor — is a strategy that many weaker
players use when they’ve connected with the board in
some way and want to bet their hand for value and/or
protection.
There are a couple of big problems with donk-betting:
Problem 1: The pre-flop caller has a range disadvantage
and donk-betting makes it worse
The pre-flop caller’s range does not contain the
strongest hands (AA, KK, QQ, AK, etc) because they
would have 3-bet pre-flop with them. The aggressor’s
range contains all of these hands.
In other words, when a player donk-bets they are betting
with a weaker range into a stronger one—not a good
idea.
That said, there are some board textures where the pre-
flop caller can have more nutted combos than the pre-
flop aggressor. For example:
200NL 6-Max Cash Game. 100bb Effective Stacks.
Hero is dealt Xx Xx in the BB
LJ raises to 2.5bb. 4 folds. Hero calls.
Flop (5.5bb) T♠ 8♦ 6♣
Consider the LJ open-raise and BB calling ranges from
earlier. On this T-8-6 flop, Hero has more nutted
combos in his range than his opponent in the LJ.
In particular, Hero has 4 combos of the nut straight with
97s, along with 4 two-pair combos (2 combos of T8s
and 2 combos of 68s with removal from the board),
while none of these hands are in the LJ’s open-raising
range. Moreover, even though the LJ has top set combos
in his range while we do not (3 combos of TT), it is fair
to say that we have a nut advantage on this board.
Having a nut advantage does not justify donk-betting,
however, because a nut advantage does not translate to
an overall range advantage in terms of equity. As the
below simulation shows (circled in green), the LJ is still
a slight favorite on this board texture despite having
fewer nutted combos:
4.33% of the LJ’s range is two pair or better (circled in
blue). 6.06% of BB’s range is two pair or better (circled
in red).
Since these nutted combos make up such a small
fraction of your entire range in the BB, you do not have
an overall range advantage. So, while it may at first
seem like donk-betting on this board is acceptable given
how many nutted hands are in our range, it is ultimately
unjustifiable when you consider the total equities of
both ranges.
Problem 2: Donk-betting is nearly impossible to balance
effectively
A consequence of leading out with value hands is that
your checking range becomes weaker. Trying to balance
multiple ranges when out of position is very difficult
and likely to be executed incorrectly.
By checking all of your value hands instead, you ensure
that your checking range is adequately protected, and
prevent your opponent from exploitatively applying
pressure when you check to them.
However, one downside to this is that your checking
range can become too strong on certain board textures,
which may allow an opponent to exploit you by rarely
betting on the flop. To mitigate this problem, you can
use an over-betting strategy on favorable runouts across
multiple streets.
Another reason to check your entire range instead of
donk-betting is to give as little information to your
opponent(s) as possible. When out of position, you are
at an informational disadvantage; the players acting
behind you can gain knowledge about your range based
on your actions and act accordingly. If you donk-bet,
your range narrows as it now contains value hands and a
proportionate number of bluffs. By checking, you don’t
disclose any information about the strength of your
range.
#4: Check-Raise Aggressively When Possible
A well-structured check-raising range will help you win
more pots and avoid playing too passively post-flop.
Check-raising has a couple notable advantages over
check-calling:
Check-raising forces folds from bluffs and marginal
hands, and punishes your opponent if they are c-betting
with too wide of a range.
Check-raising forces the majority of your opponent’s
value-bet range to be played as bluff-catchers.
The latter is because your check-raising range will
include some value hands that are ahead of your
opponent’s own value-betting range. If you then select
bluffs that can outdraw your opponent’s bluff-catchers
on later streets, your range plays very effectively.
The most important thing to note about check-raising is
that it should be done on board textures where you can
have a sufficient number of strong value hands. This in
turn allows you to include enough bluffs to balance out
your range and to check-raise aggressively.
Check-raising is particularly effective on boards where
there are a variety of possible turn cards which will kill
our action, or when our opponent’s flop-betting range
contains many bluffs that can outdraw us on later
streets.
Learn How to Check-Raise Like a High Stakes
Juggernaut here.
Wrap-Up
 We’ve covered a lot here, so let’s recap the 4
key adjustments to improve your play from the
blinds:
 Steal as much as you can from the SB to
exploit players that over-fold from the BB
  Defend your BB more frequently, as you will
be getting the pot odds to do so
 Avoid donk-betting from the blinds
 Check-raise aggressively on board textures that
are favor your range
As you may have noticed, you are three times more
likely to be dealt an offsuit hand than it’s suited
counterpart. This is what makes suited hands so
valuable.
Flushes are very hard to make and even harder to beat.
Starting out with a suited hand gives you a great
chance to a hand that’s tough to beat that can win a
big pot.

(Additionally, suited hands realize their equity better

than offsuit hands because of their ability to flop flush
draws.)

High stakes poker players have a secret weapon.

If used properly, this secret weapon will:

 Force more folds when you are bluffing.

 Induce more calls when you are value
betting.
 Make your hero calls correct more often.

So, what is the secret weapon that high stakes pros

take advantage of nearly every hand?

It’s hand combinations– A.K.A. blockers and the

removal effects that come along with having certain
cards in your hand.

Most of you have heard this term before, but likely in

the context of pre-flop. In this article, we’ll examine
how considering blockers post-flop can actually make
our plays find success more often. To do this, we’ll
take a look at a few example hands.

Let’s start with the basics to make sure we’re all on At the bottom left of the matrix screen you can check
the same page. the box which reads “Display # of combos”. Once a
hand is highlighted, the number of combinations of
Starting Hand Combinations that particular hand is displayed in the same box.

There are 52 cards in a deck, 13 of each suit, and 4 of

each rank. This means there are:

 16 possible hand combinations of every

unpaired hand.
 12 hand combinations of each unpaired
offsuit hand.
 4 hand combinations of each suited hand
 6 possible combinations of each pocket pair.
The number of total hand combinations in the range is
displayed under the slider bar as both a fraction and a
percentage. In this case, the range contains 74
combinations, or 5.58% of all hands.

There are 1326 total combinations of all hands that Post-Flop Hand Combinations
can be dealt pre-flop, from Aces to 3-2 offsuit.
This same trick can be used post-flop as well.
I’m going to keep the same range, but this time I’ll
add a flop and check the box for “Display card
removal.”
Now that we’ve added a flop of A-T-5, the total
number of hand combinations has fallen to 59, or
5.02% of hands.
Why is this important? Let’s demonstrate with some
examples.
Let’s say a player named Rafi has called pre-flop with
the following range.
The flop comes T 3 2.
Let’s take a look at Rafi’s range after the flop is dealt:
Rafi’s range on a flop of T32 two diamonds.
We can see an updated version of Rafi’s range,
including the combos of each hand.
Now, let’s look closer at the removal effects of the
cards on this flop.
Combinatorics of Top Pair
When one of the cards you need to make a certain
hand is on the board, making that hand is less likely.
This is why making top pair is an unlikely proposition
for many ranges.
On this board, Rafi has 15 combos of top pair, but 36
combos of no pair at all. This means that 29% of his
unpaired hands have now hit top pair.
Using this method can help you make better decisions
by narrowing down your opponent’s range.
Combinatorics of Flush Draws
Rafi’s range will have a diamond flush draw with 9
combos of the 93 hands that make it to this flop.
Since the T is a diamond this range will make a flush
draw a bit less often than otherwise. If the two lower
cards were diamonds, there would be an extra 5
combinations of flush draws (AT-T9) bringing the
total to 14 combinations. That’s roughly 15% of
hands, a 50% increase!
Certain diamond turn cards can drastically cut Rafi’s
possible combinations of flushes.
If the turn was the J, this range would have 5
combinations of flushes in a range containing 89
hands, or about 6% flushes. This is because four of
Rafi’s flush draws from the flop contained the J.
If the turn was the 4, Rafi’s chance of having a flush Let’s take a look at a hand I recently played during a
would rise to 10% (9 of 90 hands), which is nearly a session recorded for The Poker Lab (bet sizings
2x increase from the J! irrelevant):

Watch out for flush cards with dramatic range impacts 50NL on America’s Card Room, 100BB Effective
like the J above, and try to take advantage of the Stacks
situation when they hit the felt.
Hero is on the button with
Combinatorics of Sets
XX
One reason sets are so valuable is because of how
unlikely they are to occur. folds to btn. Hero raises. BB calls.

The 3 and 2 are on the flop, which means that Rafi’s Flop A – T – 7
range has made a set with two of his pre-flop hands
BB checks. Hero bets. BB calls.
(33 and 22). With one of each card on the flop, the
number of combinations for 33 and 22 are cut in half Turn 2
(from 6 combinations to 3).
BB checks. We Bet. BB calls.
Knowing how hard it is to have a set in a situation is
very useful when you have top pair against someone River 2
who is representing a set.
BB checks – which hands should Hero bet with?
In this instance, say Rafi raises the flop vs our c-bet
with the above range. If the only hands he would raise To answer this question, we need to have a rough idea
for value are 33 and 22, but he would also mix in of the button’s RFI range and the BB’s calling range.
some bluffs with 44, his range contains 50% value-
Using Poker Ranger (an advanced hand matrix
bets and 50% bluffs.
program for evaluating ranges), we’ll take a closer
If we c-bet $75 into $100 and they raise to $225, we look at what these ranges look like and how they
would need 27% equity to call based on our pot odds. should affect our own strategy going forward:
Let’s calculate our equity with an overpair (JJ) against
Rafi’s estimated raise range of 44, 33 and 22.

Our overpair has 49.17% equity here. That’s enough

to make this a very clear flop call.

Now, let’s talk about how to use hand combinations to

your advantage when bluffing.

Using Blockers to Construct River Bluffing Ranges

Effectively using blockers is a very powerful tool

when selecting hands to use as bluffs, pre-flop and
post-flop.
If we select hands with the right blockers, we can
lower the likelihood our opponent will continue.
44.19% button open raising range.
On this board, which runs out AT722, deciding which
hands we can value bet for three streets from the
button is relatively easy (AJ or better). These strong
value hands are displayed in dark green and total 98
combinations.
However, in order to make ourselves more difficult to
play against, we need to ensure that we also balance
our bet-range with a number of bluff combinations. (If
we don’t bluff, our opponent can easily exploit us by
folding all but their strongest hands to our bets.)

By balancing our range with both value hands and

bluffs, we limit our opponent’s ability to exploit us
and we become much tougher to play against.

We can use blockers to identify our most effective

bluffing hands on the river. To do that, we first need to
estimate our opponent’s range:

44.19% button opening range with good river bluffing

hands highlighted in pink.

These hands are effective choices for us to bluff with

for a couple of reasons:

These hands block a number of our opponent’s Ax top

pair combinations that will definitely call multiple
streets.

For instance, if we choose to bluff with J9, there are

ten fewer combinations of AJ and A9 in our
opponent’s range.

These hands perform well as bluffs because of their

Estimated 41.5% BB call range vs button open
ability to make very strong holdings by the river.
If we choose to bluff with hands that block those
J9, J8 and 98 are all able to turn the nuts on A-T-7
which our opponent will check/call, we can actually
whilst still blocking hands in our opponent’s calling
increase the success rate of our bluff.
range.
Hands which are good to use as a bluff in this scenario
Range Balancing to the Exact Combo
are highlighted in pink below:
While not always necessary, we can also use
combinatorics to make sure our range is well-balanced
and unexploitable.

In the above example, let’s say we bet the full size of

the pot on the river (with both our value hands and
bluffs), which means our opponent is being offered 2-
to-1 pot odds. That means our range needs to consist
of two value combos for every one bluff in order to
remain unexploitable.

Given that our value range consists of 98

combinations, our bluffing range should consist of 49
combinations in order to be perfectly balanced in this
spot (approximating is fine).
The bluffs highlighted in pink above total 52
combinations, which means we will have to give up
with exactly 3 of them to remain balanced.
Remember, in practice, remaining perfectly balanced
is usually not necessary (especially at low stakes).
Using blockers to construct your bluffing ranges is the
best way to ensure that your bluffs will be as
successful as possible.
Remember, if your hand blocks a number of
combinations in your opponent’s calling range and has
little showdown value, it is probably a good hand to
include in your bluffing range.
Combinatorics Wrap-Up
As you just learned, hand combinations play an
enormous role in poker strategy and it’s pretty clear
why pros use them almost every hand.
On the most fundamental level, they conjoin with
ranges and math to make up solid, winning poker
strategy.
Thinking through each hand and carefully considering
the hand combinations of your opponent will make the
right decision in tough spots more clear.
Step 1: Pick a game type and stick to it
Specialization is key to mastering any subject.
Consider these players who have made it to the top by
specializing in one game type:
Phil Hellmuth: Focused on playing live MTTs; most
WSOP bracelets of all-time; achieved long-term
success despite playing an unconventional style.
Doug Polk: Focused exclusively on Heads-Up No
Limit for a number of years; went from the micros to
being regarded as the best high stakes HUNL player in
the world.
OtB_RedBaron: Became the most feared player online
by focusing on 6-max cash games; has been the most
profitable player in that game type for a number of
years.
Each of these players devoted time and effort to single
game type over a long period of time. Sure, you may
see them occasionally splashing around in different
games, but it is important to remember that they
earned the right to do so and that they never lost focus
on their chosen format.
For the rest of us, playing games without a clear edge
is something we simply can’t afford to do—we can’t
afford to risk our bankroll, and we can’t afford to
waste time on a game type we don’t intend to
specialize in.
So, pick a game type and stick to it. And don’t be
afraid to move down in stakes and play your way up.
Everyone who has found long-term success has made
that journey.
Step 2: Identify and isolate your problems
Before you can solve a problem with your game you
need to identify what it is, and an in-depth analysis
will almost certainly reveal more than one. In order to
do an in-depth analysis of your game, you will need a
good sized sample of your own hands to study.
You can start by putting in some hands online at any
stakes with tracking software enabled (make sure your
chosen site is compatible with tracking software).
After you’ve gathered a healthy sample, go through
your database and identify spots where your win-rate
is bad.
Study the situations you faced carefully, both pre- and
post-flop. Find spots where you weren’t certain about
what to do. Ask yourself questions like:
Should I have worked in a bluff, there?
Should I have folded?
Did I play that hand well despite the result?
When looking at your stats, is there an area that stands
out as particularly bad? If so, look more closely at that
area to find out what mistake(s) you are making, and
why you’re making them.
Finally, be honest with yourself about why you might
be losing. You’ll never move your poker career
forward without the courage to face problems with
your game.
Step 3: Improve your weaknesses
Once you’ve identified problems with your game it’s Find the best games. Research where to find the best
time to find ways to fix them. Here are some games. Find out where the rake is lowest for your
suggestions: chosen game type. Determine whether you will be
playing against good, average, or weak players, and
 Get coaching how tight or loose these players are playing. Usually,
the looser the game the better it is, no matter the skill
Finding coaching is one of the best and most effective
level of the players. Use all the information you can
ways to improve. A competent coach will have seen
get, especially against familiar opponents. Games
the same problems in other players’ games, and will
filled with recreational players who are playing for fun
be able to show you the best ways solve them. Note
will usually be the best. If you know most of the
that coaching can be very expensive, however,
players in a game are better than you, don’t hesitate to
especially if it’s one-on-one from a well-known
move to another game.
instructor.
Know your limits. Only play when you feel mentally
 Find a training site
prepared. Playing tired, or with other things on your
Training sites are a great option, as they offer all sorts mind can cause you to make mistakes. Have the
ability to step away from the game when you’re
of resources to help you become a winning player—
having trouble staying focused.
and usually at a price far cheaper than a one-on-one
coach.
These 4 Steps + Hard Work = Win at Poker
If you are a small- or mid-stakes player, one of the Becoming a winning player takes dedication and a lot
best resources out there is the Upswing Poker Lab.
of hard work. But with a plan and the right resources
The Lab offers numerous hand charts for live, online,
winning consistently is an achievable goal. To recap,
and tournament play, with pre-flop ranges included.
here are the four steps to get you started in the in the
Additionally, there are tons of videos and learning
right direction.
modules created by top players, covering specific
formats.  Pick a game type and stick to it
 Identify and isolate your problems
 Copy better players
 Improve your weaknesses
Imitating players who are better than you can instantly  Execute
improve your game. Winning players like Parker
“tonkaaaap” Talbot stream almost daily, and many
more post valuable content to YouTube and elsewhere
(see: Doug Polk for NL, JNandez for PLO).

It has never been easier to see how professionals play

the game. Copying what they do, taking notes, and
using some of their same hands and bet sizing’s is a
great and efficient way to improve your game.

Step 4: Execute

The final step is to put your game to the test.

Play well. Remember: you’re always working on your
game. Concentrate on playing well, and pay special
attention to spots where you previously made
mistakes. Implement your new strategies and stick to
them.
Know your ranges. Know the hands you are going to
play in each position. If necessary, keep your ranges in
front of you when playing online, or on your phone or
printed on paper if you’re playing live—it’s crucial to
remember what to do with certain hands in certain
spots.
Calculating Pot Odds
It’s impossible to take a theoretically sound approach
to No Limit Hold’em without knowing how to work
with pot odds.
If you’ve ever seen a video of me playing, you know
how regularly I use these calculations to inform my
decisions (pretty much every hand).
To work out our pot odds, we must divide the amount
of money we are risking (by calling or betting) by the
total amount we can win (including the amount we
risk). Expressed as a formula:
 Bet Size at Risk
Total Pot We Can Win
The answer will be expressed as a decimal which can
be multiplied by 100 to express it as a percentage. For
example:
Live $2/$5 in a Casino, Heads Up to the River
Hero has 9♠ 8♠
River (Pot: $80) K♦ 8♣ 3♦ 3♠ 2♠
Hero checks, Villain bets $40
Villain bets half pot on the river putting us to a
decision with middle pair. Let’s go back to that
formula and plug the numbers in.
Bet Size at Risk($40)
Total Pot We Can Win
(Pot($80) +
Villain’s Bet($40) +
Our Call of Villain’s Bet($40))
That comes out to 0.25, or 25% expressed as a
percentage.
In order for calling 98s on the river to be profitable,
we need to be ahead at least 25% of the time.
This is where range software like Poker Equilab
comes into play, which is used to estimate Villain’s
range and calculate our hand’s equity against that
range (see: Q3 of this article for further explanation on
using range software).
Using the same method, we can also work out the
frequency at which our bluffs must get through to
show a profit.
For example: We bluff on the river with a pot-sized
bet of $80, meaning we are risking $80 to win the $80
in the pot. The calculation is slightly more simple as
the bettor because we can only win 2 bets, the pot and
our at risk bet:
Bet Size at Risk($80)
Pot($80) + Bet Size at Risk($80)
That’s 50% expressed as a percentage, meaning our
bluff must get through half of the time to show a
profit.
Calculating pot odds will make difficult decisions
much clearer at the table and with a little practice,
anyone can become a whiz at them in no time.
Understanding Equity and Hand Play-Ability
Another important idea addressed in Applications is
the relationship between the equity of a hand and its
play-ability and profitability.
It is crucial to realize that one hand is not simply
‘better’ than another because it has more equity.
Sometimes, a hand with less ‘raw’ equity may actually
be preferable.
I’ll refer to a simple example Janda gives to evidence
this point:
100NL 6-Max Online, 100 BB Effective Stacks
Hero is dealt X X on the Button
utg folds, HiJack raises to $2.50, folds to hero
Let’s compare two hands, A9o and 98s, and decide
which would be preferable to call here on the button.
Here is each hand’s equity vs a standard HiJack
opening range:
A9o has 45% equity vs HiJack compared to just 39%
for 98s
But again, sometimes the ‘raw’ equity doesn’t tell the
whole story. Despite it’s 7% disadvantage, 98s is still
a much better hand to call in this spot for a number of
reasons:
 A9o will frequently be behind the many
stronger Ax combos in our opponent’s value
range and will have few outs to improve to a
strong hand by the river.
 A9o will likely be behind villain’s calling
range over three streets, meaning that it only
fares well against our opponent’s check-
folding range.
 98s will rarely be dominated
 98s has more ways of making a strong hand
by the river.
Though 98s will often be behind our opponent’s
value-betting range on the flop, it can easily draw to
flushes and straights. Also, if we flop a pair, 98s’ five
pair outs are much cleaner than those of A9o.
Because of this, you can also use such hands as semi-
bluffs (as pre-flop 3-bets or flop raises) that will still
play well against your opponent if called.
This next concept from Janda’s book is much more
complex and only some of the best players execute it
perfectly.
GTO Range Balancing To Make Our Opponent
Indifferent
One of the main focuses in Applications is the
construction of balanced ranges paired with balanced
bet sizes.
A balanced range is one that contains the correct ratio
of value hands to bluffs in order to make your
opponent’s actions indifferent.
The pot odds calculation from above is a key first step
in this process. By calculating our opponent’s pot
odds, we can match our bet sizing with the
corresponding ratio of value hands to bluffs. For
example:
400NL 6-Max Online, Heads Up to the River
Hero has X X in position
River (Pot: $80) 9♦ 8♦ 4♠ 3♠ Q♠
Villain checks, Hero bets $80
The first step is to consider the pot odds Villain is
being laid. In this case, he has to call $80 to win a total
pot of $240, which comes out to 0.33, or 33%
expressed as a percentage.
For this to be a winning call, Villain’s hand must be
good at least one-third of the time. So, in order to
make Villain indifferent to calling this river bet, we
must balance our range with two value bets for every
one bluff. Confused? Let me explain further.
Imagine Villain has a marginal hand like A8 here,
which loses to all of our value bets, but beats all of our
bluffs. If Villain calls against our perfectly balanced
range, we’ll show down a bluff 33% of the time and a
value bet the other 66% of the time. Villain can not
exploit us by over-folding or over-calling his marginal
hands.
Keeping our ranges balanced is very important against
strong exploitative opponents, as doing so will make
our strategy very difficult to exploit.
Card Removal and Blocking Effects
The concepts of card removal and blocking are also
dealt with by Janda.
Card removal is the process of eliminating
combinations from our opponent’s range based upon
known cards (either on the board or in our hand). For
example:
Imagine a flop of K♠ 8♦ 3♣
Let’s say the Villain in the hand opened from UTG in
6-max, meaning his open range looks something like
this:
6-Max UTG opening range from the free Upswing
Preflop Charts. The tiny number at the bottom of each
square is the number of pre-flop combinations of that
hand in the red highlighted range.
Now, let’s figure out how many combinations of top
pair are in the Villain’s range. Remember, the King of
spades is already on the flop:
 There are 9 possible combinations of each
offsuit Kx on the flop. That’s 27 total
combinations of offsuit top pairs between
AKo, KQo and KJo.
 There are just 3 possible combinations of
each suited Kx on this flop. That’s 12 total
combinations of suited top pairs between
AKs, KQs, KJs and KTs.
That comes out to 39 total combinations of top pair in
Villain’s range.
But what happens to that number when we have a
King ourselves? This time, let’s say we were on the
Button and called Villain’s pre-flop raise with K♦ Q♦
 There are now just 6 possible combinations
of each offsuit Kx on the flop. That’s 18 total
combinations of offsuit top pairs.
 The number of possible combinations of each
suited Kx hand drops to 2. That’s a total of
just 8 combinations of suited top pairs.
With 2 Kings dead, Villain has 26 total combinations
of top pair on this flop. That’s 33% fewer combos of
top pair in his range when we have a King ourselves.
However, removal effects are often most useful when
considering which hands to bluff with on the river.

Bluffing with Blockers

Ranges are narrower on the river than they are on the

flop, meaning that blocking your opponent’s potential
value hands has more significance.

Let’s say we bet pot on the river, meaning our

opponent has to call 50% of the time to prevent us
from exploiting him. Villain reaches the river with 80
hand combinations and thus should be check-calling
with 40 of them.

If we choose to bluff the river with a hand that blocks

6 of Villain’s check-calling combinations, that lowers
his calling frequency to just 45.9% of the time. This
means that we will win the pot 4.1% more frequently
thanks to having carefully selected bluffs with
removal effects.

Knowing which hands block Villain’s most likely

calling hands is a crucial aspect of bluffing efficiently,
particularly on the river.

On the Road to Perfect GTO

It will always be impossible for any human being to

play a perfect GTO strategy. Even so, an in-depth
understanding of game theory is a crucial asset for any
poker player aspiring to move up and play the highest
stakes.

I would say it is definitely worth investing in Janda’s

Applications of No-Limit Hold ‘em to gain a better
understanding of the theoretical side of poker.

Because most of the ideas in the book are underpinned

by fundamental mathematics and game theory, readers
will learn a timeless strategy that is tough to play
against and even tougher to exploit.

Whether you read it from cover to cover or use it as a

reference for theoretical poker concepts, Janda’s work
is the most definitive and useful poker training book
around.
PRE-FLOP POKER STRATEGY

Preflop Mistake #1: Limping
Open limping is when a player just calls the big blind
pre-flop, and is the first player to enter the pot. This is
a very bad strategy to use for a number of reasons.
 You can’t win the pot pre-flop by open
limping.
Unlike raising, open limping is a passive action that
does not give you an immediate opportunity to win the
pot. There is already dead money in the pot from the
small blind and big blind, but by calling you make no
attempt to claim it for yourself.
 Open limping makes your opponents’ lives
easy.
Open limping puts the players behind you into a very
good spot. With an extra big blind in the pot, they are
incentivized to at least call (or worse, raise) and play a
pot in position against your weaker range.
As the number of players in the pot increases, your
hand’s equity to win the pot decreases. This is
obviously not a situation you want to be in.
On top of this, your limps will likely face aggression
from players acting after you, who either want to
exploit your perceived weak range or extract value
with a hand that they would have raised with anyway.
Even if you attempt to balance your limping range to
counter this by including strong hands, those hands
will have a lower expected value as a result. Rather,
you want to squeeze as much value as possible from
your strong holdings pre-flop, whereas electing to
open limp strong hands for the sake of balance will
usually end up backfiring.
Note, however, that limping behind may sometimes be
justified. It is acceptable to limp behind another player
who has limped when you have a hand that is too
weak to raise but too strong to fold. Given that you are
incentivized to call, it is worth taking the opportunity
to limp behind with hands that play well in multiway
pots, and which are capable of making big hands post-
flop.
Preflop Mistake #2: Lacking Positional Awareness
The second pre-flop mistake I often see players make
is failing to consider the relationship between position
and range. Your position in a hand should influence
the range of hands that you are willing to play.
The more players to act behind you, the tighter your
range should be. This is because the likelihood of
coming up against a strong hand increases with the
number of players left to act. Also, you are more
likely to play a hand out of position when opening
from early positions, making it more difficult to profit
with marginal hands.
If you open too wide from early positions, you will not
be able to profitably defend your range and can be
easily exploited. Instead, your range should widen as
you move closer to the button. Late position players
also have the benefit of positional advantage against
the blinds, who most often call late position opens.
Preflop Mistake #3: Playing Too Passively Against
Raises
Playing too passively against opens by just calling and
rarely 3-betting may be the biggest and most common
mistake I see in low stakes games.
It is hard to believe how frequently players flat opens
with strong hands as opposed to 3-betting. Whether it
be to trap an opponent, or a fear of playing large pots,
choosing not to 3-bet your stronger holdings is a
mistake for several reasons.
 Flatting opens leaves value on the table
By 3-betting opening raises with strong hands, you
will extract more value from your opponents by
increasing the size of the pot early in the hand.
 3-betting prevents hands from going multi-
way
As demonstrated in the Aces example above, the
equity of strong hands sharply decreases when there
are multiple players in a hand. By 3-betting your
strong hands, you are often able to isolate the original
raiser and see a flop heads-up.
Consequently, the equity of your hand is preserved,
and you increase the likelihood of having the best
hand at showdown. Take AKo/AKs for example:
AK has 30.41% equity vs 3 players
In a multi-way pot with four players, AK has only a
30% chance of winning at showdown. But what about
a heads-up pot?
AK’s equity rises to nearly 60% with the other two
players out of the way.
Against just one player, AK is a solid favorite with
60% equity versus a player who raised and called a 3-
bet from MP2. This illustrates the benefit of isolating
opening raisers with 3-bets, and why passively calling
pre-flop is problematic.
There are a couple things to be aware of when 3-
betting pre-flop. First, it is important to make sure
your 3-betting range is comprised of more than just
value hands. 3-betting only strong hands is
predictable, and will make you easy to beat by
allowing opponents to fold all but their strongest
hands to you. By adding some bluffs to your 3-betting
range (using hands with good equity versus your
opponent’s calling range), you make it difficult for
your opponents to counter your strategy.
Second, be sure to keep in mind the relationship
between position and strength of range when 3-
betting; be wary of how strong your opponents’ ranges
are, and determine whether you can 3-bet for value
against them.
Flatting opens with a wide range can sometimes be
reasonable from later positions, especially from the
button. More on that in Mistake #7 below.
Preflop Mistake #4: Playing Too Tight in the Big
Blind
Many players do not call enough from the big blind, in
particular versus opens from the small blind.
Given that you are last to act pre-flop, and will often
be offered very good pot odds to take a flop, you can
play much looser from the big blind than from other
positions. Let’s look at a specific case:
$5/$10 Cash Game, $1,000 Effective Stacks
Hero is in the Big Blind
folds to sb, Small Blind raises to $25, Hero ???
Against this 2.5x open, we are getting 2.3-to-1 on a
call, which translates to about 30% raw equity needed
to continue. Considering that we’ll also have a
positional advantage against the small blind, we can
(and should) defend the big blind at a high frequency.
Preflop Mistake #5: Raising Too Wide (or Too
Narrow) of a Range on the Button
The button is an highly valuable position in poker.
You are guaranteed to act last post-flop from the
button, which gives you an informational advantage
over your opponents. You are also able to put pressure
on the blinds when action is folded to you, and can
often steal dead money in the pot. However, many
players tend to either raise too many hands on the
button, or to not raise enough.
Given that modern poker strategy prescribes
aggressive pre-flop play from the blinds, raising too
many hands on the button can cause you to be
exploitatively 3-bet by players in blinds. A leak such
as this one can slowly but continuously damage your
win rate, so be cautious to not over-raise from the
button. (Note: This is more of a problem when playing
online, as live players are typically less aggressive
from the blinds.)
Conversely, some players are too tight from the
button. Because of the positional advantage you have
on the button, as well as the opportunity to take any
dead money that’s in the pot, both opening from the
button or 3-betting an original raiser are generally
very effective. Failing to capitalize on these
circumstances will certainly hurt your win rate.
An optimal percentage of hands to raise from the
button is probably between 40% and 70%, depending
on the tendencies of the players in the blinds. The
looser and more likely to 3-bet the blinds are, the
tighter you should open. If the blinds are nits
unwilling to play pots, ramp up the aggression and
steal that dead money!
Preflop Mistake #6: Playing Too Tight from the
Small Blind When the Action Folds to You
When it folds to you in the small blind you should
often be raising. Many players fail to do this because
of the unfavorable post-flop position the small blind is
in. However, there are two main reasons why raising
from the small blind is a valuable strategy:
 You have a good chance of stealing the dead
money in the pot(1.5BB), and by using a
small opening size (approximately 2.25-
2.5BB) you can attempt it for a cheap price.
And you can do this at a high frequency until
the big blind starts to aggressively 3-bet you.
Live players will especially benefit from this
 strategy due to how tightly live players
generally play.
 You decrease the likelihood that you will
have to play a hand out of position, which
would put you at an informational
disadvantage.
Many players choose to either limp some hands or
play very tight in small blind versus big blind
confrontations. These can be reasonable adjustments
against some opponents, but raising often is a more
effective baseline strategy.
Preflop Mistake #7: Not Flatting Often Enough on
the Button
Many players also have a tendency to fold the button
too frequently. Because of the value of acting last
post-flop, you can justify taking a flop with a wide
range of hands when given the right price.
This is especially relevant to live poker, as live players
generally do not play so aggressively from the blinds.
Preflop Mistake #8: Regularly Flatting Opens from
the Small Blind
Playing too passively in the small blind is a very easy
mistake to make. While it might seem reasonable to
just call from the small blind because of improved pot
odds, making it a habit is bad for a couple reasons:
 You commit yourself to playing out of
position versus an opponent with a stronger
perceived range.
 The big blind can exploit a small blind caller
by squeezing, as the small blind’s range
appears ‘capped’ to medium strength hands.
The player in the small blind should want to 3-bet
their entire value range to build a pot and isolate the
pre-flop raiser. By calling, they are basically
announcing that they have weak/medium strength
holdings. For this reason, you should try to avoid
calling in the small blind in most instances, and
choose instead to 3-bet when appropriate.
When constructing your small blind 3-bet range, be
sure to include some lighter hands (like suited
connectors) to prevent the big blind from
exploitatively folding their medium-strength holdings
to your 3-bets. Employing this aggressive strategy has
several benefits:
 3-betting puts a lot of pressure on the pre-
flop raiser, particularly if they opened from
late position with a wide range of hands that
will be difficult to defend against 3-bets.
 Having a well-constructed 3-bet range from
the blinds will discourage your opponents
from going for steals against you.
 3-betting discourages the big blind from
seeing a cheap flop, which would lower the
equity of your holdings.
Preflop Mistake #9: Overvaluing Offsuit Broadway
Hands
As Tony G once famously told a player that he had
just knocked out of a tournament, “If you read my
poker strategy, I tell everyone, ‘never overplay king-
jack.’” Of course, he also said a few other less-
appropriate things.
While that is a drastic oversimplification, Tony has a
point. Players often overvalue weak, offsuit broadway
holdings. This is especially dangerous from middle
positions, where players raising before you can be
expected to have a tighter range, and therefore
stronger broadway holdings than you.
If you play too many offsuit broadways, you’ll often
watch the dealer push a chunk of your stack away
from you as a result of having an outkicked top pair.
For this reason, it is better to play a hand like 98s over
KJo in these situations; suited connectors will rarely
be dominated, and can make nutted hands capable of
winning big pots.
Preflop Mistake #10: Calling Extremely Large 3-
Bets
This problem is more prominent in live games, where
large opening sizes lead to excessively large 3-bets
that get as big as 18–20BB (compared with the 10–
12BB seen online). Calling in these spots may also be
an ego-related problem that happens when a player
does not want to be perceived as weak at the table.
Against huge 3-bets, you are getting terrible pot odds
to call. Check out the pot odds calculation against a
standard 10BB 3-bet after we opened to 3BB:
We have to call 7BB more to win our raise (3BB) +
their 3-bet (10BB) + dead blinds (1.5BB), which
comes out to 32.6% equity needed.
Now let’s look at the same calculation against an
18BB 3-bet:
We have to call 15BB more to win our raise (3BB) +
their 3-bet (18BB) + dead blinds (1.5BB), which
comes out to 40% equity needed.
That’s nearly 8% more equity needed to continue.
Couple that with the fact that most live players 3-bet
with only their strongest hands and it becomes clear
why calling in these spots is so troublesome.
A good strategy to use against excessively large 3-bets
is to fold all but your very strong hands, and 4-bet
only your strongest hands.
Also, if you observe a player making the mistake of
calling large 3-bets too often, you should consider
exploiting that player by implementing the large 3-bet
into your game.
Preflop Mistake #11: Having No Plan
All of the above mistakes culminate in the mistake of
having only a loosely constructed plan for the hand, or
having no clear idea of what to do pre-flop at all. The
first step to playing winning poker is to work out pre-
flop strategy ahead of time. Before heading into your
next session, make sure you have an answer for these
pre-flop questions:
 What hands will you open-raise when it is
folded to you from each position?
 What hands will you raise? Limp?
 With what range of hands will you continue
when a player in front of you raises?
 Once you open-raise, how will you respond
to 3-bets from each position?
Most players don’t have great answers to these
questions. So, thinking about potential weaknesses in
your pre-flop strategy and working them out ahead of
time will give you a leg-up on the competition.
Preflop Mistake #12: Making a Play for the Sake of
“Mixing it up”
Arbitrarily ‘mixing up’ your play is an even worse
pre-flop mistake than having no plan at all. I see many
players do this and often get punished later in the hand
for their silly pre-flop decisions.
Granted, adjustments are important. We strive to
remain balanced while occasionally varying our game
to exploit our opponents’ tendencies. But we make
adjustments with a purpose. We never call with [AA]
pre-flop, for example, just to mix up our play. Sure,
you will probably deceive players who didn’t expect
you to just flat Aces pre-flop, but that doesn’t make
the play any good.
What it comes down to is the math. Even though you
may trick some players, you aren’t making up for the
value you would extract by simply 3-betting. In the
long run, you make so much money by re-raising
[AA] pre-flop that it is nearly impossible to recoup
that value through deception of flatting.
If we decide to mix up our play, it will be because we
have considered the options presented to us. We
should never make a play just for the sake of doing
weird stuff.
Recapping the 12 Common Preflop Pitfalls
To reiterate, it is important to make sure that your pre-
flop game is free from mistakes, as having a solid
strategy at the beginning of the hand will set you up
for more favorable opportunities post-flop. Below is a
quick reminder of all 12 pre-flop mistakes we just
discussed and how to resolve them:
 Limping– Avoid open-limping and raise
instead!
 Lacking positional awareness– Always
consider the ways in which your opponent’s
position impacts their range.
 Playing too passively against raises– Develop
a well thought out 3-bet range, and be careful
not to flat too many opens.
 Playing too tight in the big blind– Take
advantage of great pot odds and see a flop—
you just might hit it!
 Raising too wide (or not enough) on the
button– Aim to open between 40% and 70%
of hands depending on the tendencies of the
players in the blinds.
 Playing too tight from the small blind when
the action folds to you– Raise a fair number
of hands and steal that dead money.
 Not flatting often enough from the button–
Take advantage of your position and call with
a wide but playable range.
 Regularly flatting opens from the small
blind– Punish openers, deny the big blind a
cheap flop, and prevent squeezes by 3-betting
most of your continue range from the small
blind.
 Overvaluing offsuit broadway hands–
Approach hands like KJo and QJo with
caution. Consider how likely it is that you are
dominated before continuing.
 Calling excessively large 3-bets– Fold all but
your strong hands, and 4-bet with only your
strongest hands.
 Having no plan– Think through your pre-flop
strategy before your sessions.
 Arbitrarily mixing it up – Always have a
have a specific purpose for each play.

Tip #1: If you are facing a 3-bet and have a
premium hand, lean towards 4-betting and not
trapping
When you have a strong hand in No Limit Hold’em —
post-flop or pre-flop — you generally want to fast-
play instead of slow-playing in an attempt to trap your
opponents. There are many situations where slow-
playing premium hands is correct, but fast-playing
builds a bigger pot and allows you to extract more
value.
Consequently, when facing a 3-bet with a premium
pocket pair you should 4-bet a high percentage of the
time. Your absolute best hands will do the most
damage when there is a smaller stack-to-pot ratio,
which will also help make your decisions on future
streets much easier.
By 4-betting you not only get more money in the pot
when your hand is way ahead, but you also isolate
your opponent.
Tip #2: 4-bet wider when out of position in order to
mitigate your positional disadvantage
Putting in a light 4-bet can be scary, and it takes some
getting used to if you haven’t done it much before.
That said, 4-betting wide when out of position will
help you overcome this fear and your positional
disadvantage because:
 The hand will be easier to play post-flop
because the stack-to-pot ratio will be lower
 You will get more comfortable with 4-bet
pots by playing more of them
Keep in mind that a wide 4-betting range should
contain both value bets and bluffs; failing to include
both in your range will leave you exploitable on many
runouts in bloated 4-bet pots.
Tip #3: Be ready to 4-bet against tough, aggressive
competition
4-betting as a bluff is complex, but in tougher games it
will become an integral part of your survival.
The optimal 4-betting strategy depends heavily on
your opponents’ tendencies. When facing a 3-bet from
a tight opponent who you know is not getting out of
line, for instance, you should 4-bet bluff very
infrequently.
On the other hand, ramping up your 4-bet frequency
against aggressive 3-bettors will put them in tough
spots because they simply don’t have enough good
hands to continue. You should also look to call more
often against these aggressive 3-bettors.
Putting aggressive opponents to the test with 4-bets
also may earn you more respect from the table. Your
aggressive opponent(s) might think twice before
attempting a light 3-bet against you again.
No one likes getting run over. With players now 3-
betting more than ever, you have to be ready to fight
back by 4-betting. Show them you won’t be pushed
around.
Tip #4: Choose your 4-bets carefully, not
arbitrarily
One of the biggest mistakes players make when they
start 4-bet bluffing is to do so arbitrarily, with random
cards, and without much forethought. This is just
asking for trouble.
Choose your hands carefully when 4-betting as a
bluff; don’t do so arbitrarily or because it feels right in
the moment.
Suited aces tend to work very well as 4-bet bluffs,
particularly suited wheel aces (A2, A3, A4, A5),
which are ideal for 3 reasons:
1. Card removal
Having an ace in your hand lowers the odds that your
opponent has two of his most likely premium hands:
pocket aces and ace king.
2. Good equity against a calling range
Suited wheel aces will almost always have a at least
35% equity against your opponent’s 4-bet calling
range.
3. Solid playability when called
Having the ability to flop straight draws, top pair, and
nut flush draws makes it easy for you to continue on a
multitude of boards. An added bonus is that your
opponent often won’t know to be scared on some
boards that smash your hand. (Your opponent will
have a hard time putting you on trips when the flop
falls 6-2-2.)
Other types of hands that tick off two or more of these
boxes, and thus work well as 4-bets, include:
 Suited connectors that are barely not strong
enough to call
 Offsuit broadway hands that block multiple
premium holdings, such as AJo or KQo
 4-bet with a wider range when out of position
because it mitigates your positional
disadvantage
 Be ready to 4-bet light against tough
competition
 Choose your 4-bet hands carefully based on
their equity and blockers
 Play really tight against the over-sized 3-bets
commonly seen at live tables

(Be careful with the latter. It’s easy to end up over-

bluffing by including too many combos of offsuit
hands.)

Choosing your 4-bet bluffs carefully will help you

avoid playing bloated pots with trash hands. Plus, you
can be more confident that your 4-bet bluffs are close
to optimal, no matter the results.

Tip #5: Play really tight against excessively large 3-

bets

A good strategy to use against excessively large 3-bets

— common in the live poker scene — is to fold all but
your very strong hands, and 4-bet only your strongest
hands. In case you’ve never faced one of these 3-bets,
they usually happen like this:
Live $2/$5. $600 Effective Stacks
Hero is dealt J♠ 9♠ in the HJ
folds to hj. Hero raises to $20. CO 3-bets to $120. 3
folds.
When facing large 3-bets, calling is rarely the best
option because of the terrible price to call. (We are
getting ~1.5 to 1 against this $120 3-bet and need 40%
equity to call.) Moreover, recall that live players tend
to only 3-bet their very best hands, which makes
calling an even less attractive option.
Why you need to 3-bet more often?
 3-betting makes your opponent’s decisions
more difficult
Many players start out 3-betting with only premium
hands. We’re talking QQ+, maybe JJ and AK if
they’re in an ambitious mood. Such a strategy is far
too conservative.
If you only 3-bet JJ or better, you become easy to play
against. Your opponents can confidentially fold all but
their strongest hands against your 3-bets, preventing
you from extracting value with your monsters.
Including a number of non-premium hands in your 3-
betting range makes you much more difficult to play
against.

So, the only way to counter excessively large 3-bets is  You can isolate weak players by 3-betting
by 4-betting the absolute top of your range and folding
When you 3-bet after a weak player raises preflop,
the rest. You’ll usually fold, of course, but when you
you force players behind to fold that may have played
do 4-bet the stack-to-pot ratio will be low and you will
for a single raise. Additionally, it forces the weak
be isolated against your opponent with (probably) the
player to make a decision they are likely unprepared
best hand—the perfect situation to get in as much
for due to their lack of experience.
money as possible.
Unless the opener happens to hold a premium hand,
The Main Points they’re going to be up a creek without a paddle.
To sum up, making sure that you are playing 4-bet
 3-betting reduces the average number of
situations correctly is going to be crucial to your
players in the pot
success as a poker player. Here are the 5 tips we’ve
covered: As more players enter the pot, the equity of your range
decreases. Take a look at AK’s equity vs one, two and
 Lean towards 4-betting, not trapping, with
three random poker hands:
your premium hands when facing a 3-bet
A 3-bet will usually force some players out before the
flop, making it more likely that you will win the hand.
 3-betting gives you a chance to pick up the
pot preflop
Calling an open-raise gives you no chance to pick up
the pot preflop, but 3-betting does.
Types of 3-betting ranges
There are two primary ways to construct 3-betting
ranges:
 Merged ranges usually consist of premium
hands, strong hands and hands with great
playability–no bluffs
 Polarized ranges usually consist of premium
hands and bluffs
Let’s take a closer look at each of these.
When should you merge your 3-bet range?
Here are a few situations that warrant a merged 3-
betting range:
 The open-raiser is a strong player that will
give you trouble postflop
 You are in a position/situation that is not
favorable for calling ranges–like the small
blind
 The open-raiser or player(s) behind are
calling stations
Let’s say a strong player named Doug opens to 2.5BB
from middle position and you’re in the cutoff. You
want to avoid tough postflop spots with weak hands
against Doug, so you decide to use a merged 3-betting
strategy like this:
Note: You can call some of the strongest grey hands if
you think it’s unlikely your weak calling range will be
exploited
If you 3-bet with only strong and/or playable hands,
you will hit the flop more often and Doug will have a
tough time pushing you around.
Raising to around 3 times the open-raise is good when
using a merged 3-betting strategy in position. When
out of position, use a size around 3.5-to-4 times the
open-raise. (These general rules assume 100BB
stacks.)
When should you polarize your 3-bet range?
Polarized 3-bet ranges consist of the hands at the top
and bottom of our continuing range. Here are a couple
very common situations that warrant a polarized 3-
betting range:
 The open-raiser folds more than half of the
time to 3-bets
 You have a large number of hands that play
better as calls rather than 3-bets
Imagine you are in the big blind facing a button open-
raise to 3BB. You can profitably call with a relatively
wide range of middling hands given your great pot
odds–calling 2BB to win 4.5BB–like this:

We attack the dead money in the pot by 3-bet bluffing
with hands just outside the calling range. Additionally,
these hands help balance out our value 3-bets.
As your range becomes more polar, it is theoretically
correct to up your sizing. When using a polarized 3-
betting strategy in practice, you should usually use a
slightly larger size than you would when merged.
What factors call for adjustments?
Always be ready to adjust your 3-betting strategy
based on your opponents’ tendencies. Consider:
 How often your opponent folds
Against a player who often folds to 3-bets, mix in
more 3-bet bluffs with weak hands. Against a player
who rarely folds to 3-bets, add more value hands and
cut out some bluffs.
 The open-raiser’s postflop aggression
tendencies
If the opener plays weakly postflop, you can exploit
them by 3-bet bluffing and c-betting the flop at a high
frequency. Conversely, you should cut down on 3-bet
bluffing against players with fierce postflop skills.
 The tendencies of the players behind
Remember to glance at the players to your left before
deciding how to react to an open-raise. The more
likely you are to get squeezed, the narrower your
calling range should be.
3-betting examples
Vs a Weak Regular
200NL 6-Max. $200 Effective Stacks.
Hero is in the big blind with 6♥ 4♥
folds to co. CO raises to $5. 2 folds. Hero…
The player in the cutoff is a weak regular that we have
played with before. Our stats on him show that he
open-raises at a standard frequency, but folds to 3-bets
at a somewhat high frequency–55%.
6♥4♥ fits neatly into our polarized 3-bet range and,
given the likelihood that they will fold, we can
comfortably 3-bet to around $20.
It’s not a big deal if the cutoff calls; we’ll still have a
good chance to win the pot with a very playable suited
connector.
Vs A Loose Opener
200NL 6-Max. $200 Effective Stacks.
Hero is in the cutoff with A♠ Q♠
UTG raises to $6. 2 folds. Hero…
The player UTG has been raising almost every hand,
and continues that trend here.
The range charts from The Upswing Lab indicate that
we can either 3-bet or call with A♠Q♠ against a UTG
open in 6-max. In this case, the clear choice is to 3-bet
for value.
Think of the three possible outcomes when we 3-bet:
 UTG folds and we win the $9 pot
 UTG calls and we have position against a
seemingly weak range
 We face a 4-bet from UTG and we can
profitably call
None of these are bad situations for us when we have
a strong hand like A♠Q♠. We either win the pot or get
to play a big one in position against a loose player.
Vs A Late Position Open
500NL 6-Max. $500 Effective Stacks.
Hero is on the button with J♠ 8♠
CO raises to $12.50. Hero…
Our value range is relatively wide here as hands like
AJs, JTs and TT are slam dunk value 3-bets from
these loose positions.
We need to 3-bet a bunch of bluffs to balance this Below is the SB opening range recommended in The
value range. A suited two-gapper like J♠8♠ is a great Poker Lab (44.19% of hands):
candidate because it is too weak to call, but plays well
postflop.

Intro to Squeezing

The idea of a squeeze play is meant to take advantage

of the great pot odds you are getting when facing a
raise and 1 or more calls.

Squeezes aim to accomplish similar goals to standard

3-bets, but larger sizes are required to keep reduce the
chances that the pot goes multiway.

In general, if you are squeezing against a raise and one

call, you will want to raise to about 4 times the
original bet. Against a raiser and two callers you will
want to squeeze closer to 5 times. When out of
position, add one more bet.

These sizing shortcuts are not carved in stone. You

will certainly want to change your sizing based on
your opponents tendencies and range. If you have AA
against a group of calling stations, for example, you
can size even larger.
Small Blind open-raise range as recommended by The
Poker Lab(44.19% of hands)
This range is a reasonable baseline strategy when
open-raising from the small blind, but it’s important to
adjust it as you learn more about your opponent. For
example:

 If the BB is an aggressive player with a high

3-bet frequency, tighten your range
 When a super-tight player is in the BB, open-
raise with an even wider range

You want to lean towards a larger open-raise size

Small Blind Step 1. Steal Steal Steal
When the action folds around to you in the small
blind, you only have to beat one player to win the
dead money in the pot. This is an opportunity worth
taking advantage of as often as possible.
Many players, especially less experienced ones, have a
tendency to over-fold from the big blind against steal
attempts. Open-raising with a relatively wide range
from the small blind is an effective way to exploit that.
How wide can this range be? Well, in The Poker Lab,
we recommend open-raising a slightly wider range
from the small blind than the button (anywhere
between 40% and 50% of hands is a good starting
point). This may seem high considering the perils of
small blind play, but the incentive to steal the dead
money in the pot justifies a relatively wide opening
range most of the time.
(around 3x-4x) in SB vs BB situations. Using a
smaller size gives the player in the big blind an
extremely good price on a call, which is far from ideal
when out of position. By using a larger size, the big
blind player is expected to defend fewer hands which
will in turn make your steal attempts more successful.
Just as you adjust your raise range from the small
blind, you can also adjust your raise size if you’ve
been given a reason to do so. For example: If the
player to your left has an alarmingly high fold to steal
frequency, you can try a smaller open-raise size.
Small Blind Step 2. Don’t Defend Your Small Blind
Like It’s Your Big Blind
That 0.5 BB you put in the pot may slightly improve
your pot odds, but that doesn’t mean that you should
always honor this commitment to the pot.
(In fact, you should almost always avoid calling from
the small blind when facing a raise. More on that in
step 3.)
Let’s run through a pre-flop example to illustrate why
you shouldn’t go out of your way to defend your 0.5
BB.
6-Max Cash. 100BB Effective Stacks
Hero is in the SB with:
J♥ 7♥
UTG raises to 3BB. MP calls. CO calls. btn folds.
Hero…?
Hero must call 2.5BB more to win the 10.5BB in the
pot, which comes out to 23.07% equity needed to
profitably call(see: how to calculate pot odds).
23.07% equity may not seem like much, but in order
for a hand to realize its equity, it must reach
showdown. There are a few reasons why J♥7♥ will do
a poor job realizing its equity from the small blind:
 We won’t reach the river often in a 4-way pot
We are forced to play very tight when out of position
in multi-way pots (see: multi-way pots article). Even if
we catch a decent flop, like K♠-7♦–2♥, we will often
have to fold when facing aggression and players
behind.
 J♥7♥ is easily dominated and has marginal
playability
Our hand is dominated by the many stronger Jx
combos in the range of the UTG raiser and subsequent
callers. The straight possibilities of our hand are
limited, not-nutted and unlikely to be a factor.
 The threat of a big blind squeeze looms
When we choose to flat rather than 3-bet from the
small blind, our range is capped– it cannot contain the
strongest hands. A good player in the big blind may
realize this and squeeze a wide range, forcing us to
fold our equity without seeing a flop.
Step 3. 3-Bet Your Entire Continue Range
The inherent positional disadvantage of the player in
the small blind is a catalyst for difficult post-flop
spots. However, we can mitigate this disadvantage by
using a 3-bet or fold strategy from the small blind
when facing a raise.
3-betting provides the small blind a chance to win the
pot without seeing a flop, and reduces the average
number of players in the hand.
Our 3-betting range from the small blind needs to be
tight, as continuing with only strong hands drastically
minimizes the difficulty of playing out of position.
Trying to play a wide range of hands with such a
positional disadvantage is a recipe for losing sessions.
Despite our disadvantageous position, it is still
important to balance our small blind 3-betting range
with bluffs(albeit relatively strong bluffs). If we 3-bet
strictly value, our opponents can easily exploit us by
over-folding against our 3-bets.
The optimal 3-betting range depends on the position
of the original raiser. Here is a reasonable 3-betting
range to use from the small blind facing a cutoff raise:
SB Range Vs Cutoff open in online cash from The
Poker Lab(12.97%-17.95% of hands)
There are a few things worth discussing here.
 We choose 3-bet bluffs that improve our
board coverage
Take notice of the hands that make up our 3-bet
bluffing range. These include suited Ax, suited
connectors, suited gappers and pocket pairs.
3-betting with a wide array of hands improves our
board coverage so we can have strong hands on a
variety of textures. If our range lacks wide board
coverage, our opponent(s) can exploit us by turning up
the aggression on boards that don’t connect with our
range.
  We use a mixed strategy with some hands
The hands highlighted in pink are right on the
borderline– they are either the bottom of our 3-bet
range or the top of our fold range. The best option
with these hands depends on the original raiser’s
tendencies.
If the cutoff is a weak player with a high fold to 3-bet
percentage, lean towards 3-betting the pink hands in
order to pick up more pots. Against a formidable
cutoff with aggressive stats, lean towards folding the
pink hands to strengthen your range.
 The position of the open-raiser matter a lot
The earlier the position of the original raiser, the
tighter your 3-betting range should be.
Versus a UTG raise in a 9-handed game, The Poker
Lab recommends 3-betting just 2.56% of all hands,
five times fewer hands than the Vs Cutoff range
above. On the other end of the spectrum, versus a
button raise you can 3-bet up to 21.27% of hands from
the small blind.
3b. You Can Flat Some Hands in Tournaments
Flat call ranges from the small blind are more viable
in tournaments for two reasons: antes and relatively
small standard open-raises. Consider the difference in
pot odds when facing a standard raise in cash games
and tournaments:
 In a 9-handed cash game, the standard open-
raise size is usually around 3x BBs. When
facing a 3x raise, the player in the small blind
needs ~36% equity to profitably call.
 In tournaments, the standard open-raise size
is usually 2.5x BBs or less. When facing a
2.5x raise with antes in the pot, the player in
the small blind needs just 28.5% equity to
profitably call.
With such great pot odds being offered to us, we can
often times get away with having a flat range from the
small blind in tournaments, especially when the big
blind is a weak player unlikely to 3-bet.
Small blind flatting ranges are most viable with deeper
stacks (50bb+), as you are able to better realize the
equity of your implied odds. You can still get away
with some flatting some hands when shorter, but as
your stack approaches 20BB you should revert back to
3-bet or fold.
4. Keep Your Eye on the Player in the Big Blind
Have you ever had a really good, aggressive player
sitting on your left? It is an absolute nightmare,
especially for blind vs blind play. Their constant
flatting, floating and 3-betting makes it tough to play
anything but the strongest of hands.
By contrast, if you’ve had the pleasure of playing
blind vs blind vs a nit, you know how great it feels to
confidentially and consistently steal their blind every
orbit.
You need to be mindful of tendencies like these for
every player, particularly the one on your left, and
adjust your strategy to counter them.
If you’ve got an aggressive player in the big blind who
is defending by 3-betting and 4-betting at a high
frequency, narrow all of your ranges to avoid bleeding
chips in marginal spots. If there’s an extremely tight
player to your left, widen all of your ranges and win as
many pots as possible.
5. Don’t Lead Out (aka Donk-Bet)
Don’t donk-bet from the small blind. Ever. (Even in a
limped pot.)
It simply does not make sense from a range
perspective. When a player flats an open(or over-
limps), their range is instantly perceived as being
weaker than the player who opened the pot. The caller
would have 3-bet(or raised) with a strong hand if they
had one, meaning that these can be eliminated from
their range when they elect to flat.
Donk-bets are usually done by weaker players(hence
the name) for value or protection when they have
connected with the board in some way. Due to their
range disadvantage, they would be much better off
checking in order to protect the rest of their hands.
Checking your entire range from the small blind is the
only way to effectively balance your checking range.
This is crucial because it prevents your opponents
from profitably over-bluffing when you check to
them.
6. Have a Blind vs Blind Strategy In Mind
Blind vs blind play is both dynamic and complex. This
is because of the dead money already committed to the
pot by both players, which incentivizes wider ranges.
There are two different approaches that can be taken
from the small blind, both of which can be successful
when executed properly. Decide which strategy you
feel most confident using and go from there:
 Raise or fold
The first is a simple raise or fold strategy from the
small blind. This strategy has two notable benefits:
simplicity and a relatively high chance of winning the
pot pre-flop.
Because less experienced players have a tendency to
over-fold their big blind to a raise, this raise/fold
strategy can be an effective one at lower limits.
 Mixed strategy
A mixed small blind strategy is much more
complicated, with a range of limp/folds, limp/calls,
limp/raises, raises and folds. Effectively balancing is
very difficult with so many ranges to manage, and it
can even become difficult to navigate certain post-flop
spots.
A mixed strategy is most effective against players that
incorrectly respond to limps in various ways. The
obvious downside is that by limping, you allow the
player in the big blind to realize equity for free by
checking.
6b. Tailor Your Strategy For Tournament Play
In tournaments, the presence of antes can make
limping a more viable strategy due to the excellent
price you are getting on a call.
(The small blind’s equity needed to limp in
tournaments is usually around 20%. It’s 33% in ante-
less cash games.)
With a deep stack and a somewhat balanced limping
range, you can afford to defend your limps at a correct
frequency whilst still having options post-flop. Be
careful limping with a short stack, however, as it’s
usually better to just shove or fold to maximize your
fold equity (see: How to Master Short-Stacked Small
Blind Play in Blind vs Blind Battles).
Small Blind Wrap-Up
With so many unique factors to consider, it’s no
wonder the small blind is the most difficult position to
play from in No Limit Hold’em. Remember:
 Steal the blinds as often as possible
 Don’t go nuts defending your small blind
 3-bet with your entire continue range(maybe
flat some in tournaments)
 Keep an eye on the big blind’s tendencies
 Don’t donk-bet
 Sort out your blind vs blind strategy ahead of
time
It is impossible to win in the long run from the small
blind, so don’t beat yourself up over that big red
number in PokerTracker. Just stay mindful of these 6-
steps to keep that big red number from getting bigger.
3-betting pre-flop is a powerful move in No Limit.
Let’s stop for a moment and consider some of the
benefits of 3-betting:
 3-betting gives the aggressor a chance to win
the pot without seeing a flop, taking
advantage of the dead money already in the
middle.
 A pre-flop 3-bet is an effective way to isolate
weak opponents and limit the number of
players that see a flop.
 3-betting inflates the pot, which is
particularly useful when the aggressor is
holding strong hands.
Due to it’s effectiveness, 3-betting becomes more
frequent as stakes get higher and competition gets
tougher.
It is incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to reach a
high level of poker without knowing how to react to
pre-flop 3-bets.
In this article, I’ll explain the most important things to
consider when facing a 3-bet and break down the
strategic differences between playing these spots in
and out of position.
Prefer watching to reading? Click here to watch the
video version.
Factors to Consider When Facing a 3-Bet
There are many factors to consider when facing a 3-
bet, but three rise above the rest in terms of
importance:
 The tendencies of the 3-bettor.
 The size of the raise.
 How well our hand realizes it’s equity.
Considering the 3-Bettor’s Tendencies
Poker is a game of exploitation and adjustment, which
is why paying attention to the tendencies of our
opponents is crucial.
This concept is particularly important when facing
pre-flop 3-bets. Let’s consider two extreme player
types and discuss the appropriate adjustment when
facing a 3-bet from each:
 The NIT is very tight and usually aggressive
with only the strongest of hands.
$5.50
= .31 or 31%
($12 + $5.50)
We must call $5.50 to compete for a post-flop pot of
$17.50. This means that our hand must have
approximately 31% raw equity or more against our
opponent’s range to justify a call.
The larger the 3-bet size, the worse our pot odds will
be and the more equity our hand will need to
profitably make the call.

When facing a 3-bet from The NIT, we can
exploitatively fold all but the very top of our range.
We can continue to make big folds pre-flop with
confidence until The NIT adjusts by incorporating
bluffs into their 3-bet range.
 The LAGTARD is a loose and aggressive
player that 3-bets at a very high frequency.
Next, we need to use a program such as Poker Equilab
to calculate our hand’s equity against the 3-bettor’s
range (which we will have to estimate).
For the sake of simplicity, I’ll use the default pre-flop
ranges found in The Poker Lab.

When The LAGTARD 3-bets us, we can

exploitatively continue with a wider range containing
both more 4-bets and calls (more on this shortly). It’s
important to focus and take meticulous notes on such
opponents in order to fully exploit their overly-
aggressive style.

Considering the Size of the 3-Bet

Theoretically, the size of the raise is the most

important factor to consider when facing a 3-bet as it
determines the pot odds we are being offered.

Once we know our pot odds, we can calculate the

minimum amount of equity needed to profitably call
against our opponent’s range.

Calculating pot odds is simple: divide the bet size by

the total size of the pot, plus the bet size again. HiJack opening range (red = raise, pink = raise or
Written as a formula, it would be: fold) as recommended by The Poker Lab.

Bet size
(Current Pot Size + Bet size)

Multiply the result by 100 to express it as a

percentage, which is the raw equity needed to call. For
example:

$0.50/$1.00 on PokerStars, $100 Effective Stacks

Hero is dealt X X in the HiJack

folds to hj, Hero raises to $2.50, Cutoff 3-bets to $8,

btn & blinds fold

We must call $5.50 and the current pot is $12. Let’s

plug the numbers into the formula:

Cutoff range vs HiJack open (red = raise, orange =
raise or call, pink = raise or fold, green = call) as
recommended by The Poker Lab
By inputting these ranges into Equilab, we can work
out the equity of our range versus that of our opponent
and compare it with the raw equity required to
profitably call the 3-bet (remember, 31%) in this spot.
HiJack’s entire opening range has 42.4% against the
Cutoff’s 3-bet range.
In accordance with The Poker Lab ranges, the
calculations show that the HiJack’s opening range will
have 42.4% raw equity versus the Cutoff’s 3-betting
range.
If raw equity was all that mattered when facing 3-bets,
the HiJack could defend their entire opening range
versus the $8 3-bet from the Cutoff.
Raw equity tells us how often each hand (or range)
would win if they were all-in against each other, but
that isn’t how poker works. If and when the HiJack
calls the 3-bet, there will be post-flop poker to play.
That’s where realized equity comes in.
Considering Raw Equity Versus Realized Equity
The relationship between the raw equity of a hand and
its profitability in practice is not a linear one.
There are some hands that have a strong correlation
between their raw equity and realized equity, but there
are a far greater number of hands that either under- or
over-realize their raw equity in practice.
To illustrate this point, let’s compare the equities of 22
and AKo:
22 is a small 52.66%/47.34% favorite over AKo
22 is a 52.7% favorite over AKo. However, despite 22
having the higher amount of raw equity versus AKo –
a hand that will frequently be 3-bet – its realized
equity is far lower.
In order for a hand to realize it’s equity, it must reach
showdown. 22 will rarely get to showdown against an
opponent whose post-flop betting frequencies are
correct.
Hands that realize their equity poorly should usually
hit the muck when facing 3-bets.
Low pocket pairs are the most obvious hands that
suffer from poor equity realization. Other examples
will be discussed later, but as a general guideline:
 Suited hands realize their equity better than
off-suit hands.
 The more connected a hand is, the more
equity it realizes.
I’ll dive a little deeper into equity realization towards
the end of the article.
Now, let’s talk about the differences between facing a
3-bet in position and out of position.
Facing a 3-Bet In Position
Having position on your opponents is extremely
valuable. Though it is difficult to quantify exactly how
valuable it is, a quick look at a large sample size of
hands using tracking software will clearly display this
point.
If we filter our results by money won/position, we’ll
notice that we become more profitable as we get
closer to the Button.
The later the position, the more profitable it is.
Acting last post-flop means we will have the max-
amount of information available to us when making
our decisions. Our hands do a better job realizing their
equity when in position as a result.
When facing a 3-bet in position, we can justifiably call
with a wider range of hands to account for our
positional advantage. For example:
$1/$2 6-Max on PokerStars
Hero is dealt X X on the Button
folds to hero, Hero raises to $5, sb folds, Big Blind 3-
bets to $18
We have to call $13 more to win a total pot of $24,
which comes out to 35.1% raw equity needed.
This time, I used the ranges from The Poker Lab to
estimate a 44% Button opening range and a 12.37%
Big Blind Vs Button 3-bet range.
The minimum 44% button opening
recommended by The Poker Lab
A 12.37% 3-bet range from the big blind when facing
a button open.
So, how should we react to this 3-bet as the player on
the button with each specific hand? Let’s start with the
calls:
AA-JJ: Though it should not be done often, it can be
correct to slow-play the very strongest hands when
facing a 3-bet from the Big Blind.
This will be more prevalent at low stakes for a couple
of reasons:
 It is uncommon for players at low stakes to
flat 4-bets out of position (as facing
challenging post-flop situations are often
avoided by newcomers).
 Players at low stakes usually have a very low
5-bet frequency.
With the right flop, flatting these premium holdings
can allow us to extract a ton of value from the hands
in our opponent’s 3-betting range that would have
range folded to a 4-bet.
TT-66: Middling to high pocket pairs play most
effectively as flats versus a 3-bet in position.
On low boards that do not connect heavily with the
Big Blind’s 3-bet range, we can comfortably call
down when facing continuation bets and barrels.
Also, given our positional advantage, we will more
easily be able to get to showdown on seemingly scary
boards with middling hands (like 77 or 66).
Strong broadways: Connected and suited broadway
combinations (AJ, KQ, KJ, etc) will do well as calls
versus 3-bets in position. There is a strong correlation
between these hands’ raw equity and realized equity,
and it’s fairly obvious why.
Take KQs for example. It is able to make the nuts
(straights and flushes) on boards that will connect with
our opponent’s range and we will be able to get value
as a result.
Hands like these will often serve as effective semi-
bluffs on a variety of board textures, which is aided by
our positional advantage.
Suited connectors (and one-gappers): Suited
connectors like 76s, 87s, 98s and T9s do a fantastic
job realizing their equity, as do suited one-gappers like
J9s, T8s, etc.
T9s, 98s, 87s and 76s have approximately 41% raw
equity versus a big blind 3-betting range, 6% over the
35.1% raw equity required to profitably call. Given
that they will realize all, if not more, of their equity,
suited connectors definitely should be a part of our
flatting range.
There’s a number of reasons why suited connectors
realize their equity so well:
 Suited connectors are rarely dominated when
facing a 3-bet
 Like the strong suited broadways, suited
connectors often make for very effective
semi-bluffs after the flop.
 Suited connectors are able to make very
strong hands relatively easily.
There are other hands that sorta fit into this category
that make good calls as well, such as A5s, Q9s or K9s.
55-22: Low pocket pairs realize their equity quite
poorly and should usually look to fold against 3-bets
unless the sizing is small or the opponent is weak.
Low pairs do a good job demonstrating the nuanced
relationship between raw equity and realized equity;
despite 22-55 having over 48% against the big blind’s
3-betting range, it will be hard – even with position –
to realize it.
Offsuit hands with big gaps: Hands such as A6o-
A9o, K2o-K8o, Q2o-Q7o and J2o-J6o should rarely
be used to defend against a 3-bet.
Despite such combinations having a high amount of
raw equity, the frequency at which they are dominated
makes them very difficult to play.
They have little-to-no potential to make nutted hands,
are difficult to use as bluffs and cannot be confidently
value bet without two pair or better.
4-Betting When Facing a 3-Bet In Position
Now that we know which hands play well as calls, the
next step is to consider which hands play well as 4-
bets.
4-betting in position puts the 3-bettor in a very tricky
spot and increases the likelihood of them making a
mistake.
AA-JJ: Though occasionally flatting these hands can
be good, it is best to 4-bet them the vast majority of
the time.
These premium pocket pairs play best when there is a
small stack-to-pot-ratio and isolated opponents, and 4-
betting them will cultivate both of these conditions.
AKs, AKo: Ace-Kang is one of the strongest hands in
Hold‘em and should be 4-bet with 100% frequency in
the above Button vs Big Blind example.
By 4-betting this AK, we accomplish one of three
things:
 We fold out equity from worse hands at the
lower end of the 3-bettor’s range.
 We extract value when the 3-bettor calls the
4-bet with weaker hands.
 We face a 5-bet all-in and get to make a
profitable call off with AK.
Consider these alongside our positional advantage and
it becomes clear why AK is a favorable hand to 4-bet
with.
AQs, AQo, TT-99: These near-premium hands should
be 4-bet with some frequency against players with a
high 3-bet percentage.
Mixing in more thin value-bets like these allow us to
bluff more often as well, which punishes the 3-bettor
for their over-aggressiveness.
Working Some Bluffs Into Our 4-Bet Range
Now, we have to balance our 4-betting range by
adding in some bluffs.
A perfectly balanced range is unexploitable and makes
the opposing player indifferent between their options.
It’s impossible for a human (and even most
computers) to remain perfectly balanced in poker, but
at least considering balance will close off
opportunities for our opponent’s to exploit us.
Let’s consider the weaknesses of having an off-
balanced 4-betting range:
  If our 4-betting range is too value-heavy, our
opponent can exploit us by folding all but
their strongest hands when facing 4-bet.
 Conversely, if our 4-betting range contains
too many bluffs, our opponent can exploit us
by slow-playing their big hands and
relentlessly 5-bet bluffing.

But which specific hands should we use as 4-bet

bluffs? I’m going to quote a section from my article
There’s Big Money in 4-Bet & 5-Bet Pots to answer
that question.

You want to 4-bet bluff with hands that are just barely
not strong enough to call the 3-bet.

The best hands to use as 4-bet bluffs are suited Aces,

particularly suited wheel Ax (like A2 and A3). These
hands are great choices for three reasons: A 26.1% cutoff opening range.

1. Card removal. When we hold an Ace in our hand it

becomes less likely that our opponent holds Aces or
Ace-King.

2. Good equity against a calling range. Suited Ax will

almost always have at least 35% equity against a 4-
bet calling range.

3. Solid playability. Suited wheel Ax hands have the

ability to flop straight draws, pairs and of course the
nut flush draw. This makes it fairly easy to continue
on a multitude of boards.

But 4-bet bluffing just suited Ax hands will make us

predictable and greatly limit our board coverage post-
flop. Thus it’s usually best to add a few more hands
into out 4-bet range that meet the parameters above,
such as:
A 7.7% button 3-bet range when facing an open from
 Suited connectors (or gappers) with great
the cutoff.
playability, like 54s or 75s
 Offsuit broadway hands, like ATo, that block When out of position, we have to be much more
multiple premium hands. careful when selecting hands for our 3-bet flatting
range, which should be narrower than our flatting
Facing a 3-Bet Out of Position
range when in position.
Being out of position sucks.
This means calling with fewer suited connectors,
Having to act first and with less information results in suited gappers and offsuit broadway hands.
our hands realizing less equity.
As always, be ready to adjust these ranges based on
In the following section, we’ll use ranges from The the 3-bet sizing and 3-bettor’s tendencies.
Poker Lab to estimate a Cutoff opening range and the
4-Betting Out of Position
countering Button 3-bet range to see how we should
construct our own ranges. A major strategic difference between facing a 3-bet in
position and out of position is the utility of the 4-bet.

Because the value of position is reduced when stack-

to-pot ratios are smaller, we can consider 4-betting a
wider range when out of position in order to mitigate
our positional disadvantage.

When doing this, it is important to use hands that play

well in situations where stack-to-pot ratios are small.
Mid-to-high pocket pairs are the most obvious
example of this.

Hands like JJ and TT often play best as flats when

facing a 3-bet in position, but 4-betting becomes a lot
more attractive when out of position (especially
against a loose opponent).

As for other hands, use the same perimeters we used

when facing a 4-bet in position, but tighten them up a
little to account for our positional disadvantage.

Remember to construct a range that is balanced with

both value bets and bluffs that maintain their equity
well (such as A5s-A2s, 76s).

Make ’em Think Twice Before 3-Betting

Knowing how to appropriately react to 3-bets is a

crucial aspect of poker. Without a well constructed,
well-balanced continue range, our opponents can
make our lives very difficult by 3-betting relentlessly
against our opens.

Remember the three most important things to consider

when facing a 3-bet:

 The tendencies of the 3-bettor.

 The size of the raise.
 Our hand’s ability to realize its equity.

Facing 3-bets is a complex aspect of poker that leads

to many marginal situations without clear cut
solutions.

That said, the ability to turn a marginal spot into a

profitable one is what separates a good poker player
from a great one.
GENERAL POKER STRATEGY

ARTICLES AND GUIDES