... and Keep Moving FORWARD.

15% open from utg might look like this:
22+, A9s+, KJs+, QJs, JTs, ATo+, KJo+, QJo

I always thought that 15% is not much, but now I guess it kinda is ... Cause I try not to open from utg w/KJo, QJo, ATo ... Like to add more s-c there, like +76s. And still my range here, which i always thought is maybe too wide it represents just 13% !:
22+, ATs+, KJs+, QJs, JTs, T9s, 98s, 87s, 76s, AJo+, KQo

So utg open like 22%, might look like this:
22+, A2s+, K9s+, QTs+, J9s+, T9s, 98s, 87s, 76s, ATo+, KTo+, QTo+, JTo

Fish who plays 40% of hands might look like this:
22+, A2s+, K2s+, Q4s+, J7s+, T7s+, 97s+, 87s, A3o+, K7o+, Q8o+, J8o+, T8o+

Rock who plays 9% of hands might look like this:
66+, AJs+, KQs, AJo+, KQo

3% 3bet might look like this:
JJ+, AKs, AKo

27% 3bet might look like this:
55+, A2s+, K5s+, Q8s+, J8s+, T8s+, 98s, A7o+, K9o+, Q9o+, JTo

Btn wide steal for 65% might look like this:
22+, A2s+, K2s+, Q2s+, J3s+, T5s+, 95s+, 85s+, 75s+, 64s+, 53s+, 43s, A2o+, K4o+, Q6o+, J7o+, T6o+, 95o+, 85o+, 75o+, 65o

My CO steal stands for 41%:
22+, A2s+, K7s+, Q7s+, J8s+, T7s+, 98s, 87s, 76s, 65s, A2o+, K7o+, Q8o+, J8o+, T9o, 98o, 87o

Btn steal for 33% might look like this:
22+, A2s+, K8s+, Q8s+, J9s+, T9s, 98s, 87s, 76s, A5o+, K9o+, Q9o+, J9o+, T9o, 98o, 87o

• The goal: to make educated guesses what holdings an opponent may have. ["guesstimates"]
• Pot equity - share of the total pot.
• Fold equity - % of the time you win the pot without showdown.
• EV (expected value) - the average win or loss on a specific hand.
• Equity should be the first thing you think about before you decide to check, raise, or fold.
• Fold equity formula - how often an opponent has to fold in order to make a bet or a push +EV:
  0 = XP + (1 - X) (-LV + WH)
  x - breakeven folding frequency
  p - current size of the pot
  L - maximum loss
  w - maximum gain
  v - villain's equity
  h - hero's equity
• 1326 possible hand combinations. [52*51=2652 divided by 2, cause A:d A:h and A:h A:d are the same]
• Number of hand combinations PREFLOP=169. [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,T,J,K,Q,A=13, cause suits doesn't matter, so 13*13]
• There's a HUGE divide between what people actually do and what they should do - otherwise poker wouldn't be as profitable.
• When facing a c/r on a relatively dry RAINBOW board where a GOOD open-ender is not possible, it is more likely villain is c/r'ing with GS's and overcards. In these situations a re-bluff (3bet) is VERY PROFITABLE.

• The most obvious reason why low to mid-stakes players are worse than high stakes players is that they can't read hands as well. Therefore they are less aggressive and don't fight as much for pots.
• Limped pots are the easiest in the world. No one fights for them, no one cares. Next time you're in a limped pot, just bet and fold facing any aggression.
• If they call flop w/whatever they like to peel, 85% turn bet is still very profitable.
• On a Kxx, Qxx, Jxx, even Axx dryish boards they rarely have good TP, for this reason it is really easy to take the pot from them, even on the turn w/scarecard.
• Don't try to steal very wet and coordinated limped pots like Q:c 6:s 8:s , 9:c T:s J:s , K:s 8:c Q:s . However, if we have some pot equity on wet flop, we can bet - J:h T:d on Q:c 6:s 8:s or even 2:s 3:s .
• Generally, majority of the players should treat JJ like 99 and give both the same value.
• Bet MORE TURNS !!! Especially w/SD's, FD's, TP's, overpairs - do NOT check back. [of course very heavily opponent dependent - not vs. CT's obviously]. If you DO have FD, you can hit it on the river JUST nine out of 47 times, so if you CHECK BACK TURN this is like saying you WANT to LOSE those 38 out of 47 times !!
• The idea behind balancing is to make yourself a tougher player so people can't accurately put you on a hand, BUT ! what's the point of balancing when your opponents choose to ignore it ? In short - up to $3/6 against almost anyone, JUST PLAY.
• WHY people like to play SO MUCH out of position when not forced to !!? Poker is a game where you make most money by avoiding difficult spots with marginal hands. You don't get penalized for folding pre-flop. So JUST FOLD !

• Don't expect people to fold overpairs.
• The reason we make moves is because we think our opponent's range is weak, not because we think it is strong and hope he makes a heroic fold when we represent a stronger range.
• Value back-door draws more ! It's better to pick up a draw on the turn than to have a crappy pair with at best 5 outs which might not even be clean.
• Consider at ALL TIMES during a hand - your equity against a STANDARD hand range, do you have any if you get called ?
  For Ex. You hold 55 on 9TT. Although your hand might very well be good here, your hand's equity is horrendous vs a standard range of 9x, Tx, QJ, 87, AK, AQ, AJ. Conversely, if you hold KJ here, your equity is decent vs any hand and you're rarely drawing dead.
• Against those who will never fold preflop, figure out what amount they are willing to put in with rags, by increasing your preflop raise to 5x,6x,8x etc. until they fold. Then raise almost to this amount with your premiums, and be prepared to win a big pot.
• Players don't bluff the river enough because they think they'll get called even though villain's calling frequency is so low. Hint: start bluffing more rivers.
• Hint: You don't bluff enough. You don't re-raise preflop enough - or you do but usually give up after betting the flop. Try shoving the turn with gutshots and/or overcards once in a while and see how that goes.

PRE-FLOP:

       Equity     Win     Tie
MP2    81.94%  81.71%   0.23% { AA }
MP3    18.06%  17.83%   0.23% { KK }


       Equity     Win     Tie
MP2    87.86%  87.23%   0.63% { AA }
MP3    12.14%  11.51%   0.63% { AKs }


       Equity     Win     Tie
MP2    80.45%  80.27%   0.18% { AA }
MP3    19.55%  19.37%   0.18% { 66 }

Pocket 6's runs best from all PP's vs aces

       Equity     Win     Tie
MP2    77.50%  77.29%   0.21% { AA }
MP3    22.50%  22.29%   0.21% { 65s }

Respectively, from suited-connectors, 65s runs best vs aces didn't know that always thought it is JTs when in reality JTs vs AA is 21.16%. Of course % difference is VERY small, but still, an interesting NEW fact for me

       Equity     Win     Tie
MP2    65.89%  65.48%   0.41% { KK }
MP3    34.11%  33.70%   0.41% { AKs }

Wow, somehow I didn't know that AKs has NEARLY 35% equity vs kings ... not bad AT ALL.

POST-FLOP:

Board: K♦T♥9♥
       Equity     Win     Tie
MP2     7.07%   7.07%   0.00% { A:hK:s }
MP3    92.93%  92.93%   0.00% { 9:d9:s }

TPTK+BDFD+BDSD vs bottom set = almost dead.

Board: K♦T♥9♥
       Equity     Win     Tie
MP2    30.61%  30.61%   0.00% { A:hK:s }
MP3    69.39%  69.39%   0.00% { T9o }

TPTK+BDFD+BDSD vs bottom two = kinda not that bad afterall

Board: K♦T♥9♥
       Equity     Win     Tie
MP2    30.04%  29.64%   0.40% { A:hK:s }
MP3    69.96%  69.56%   0.40% { K9o }

vs top&bottom ones = almost the same as previous, BUT !

Board: K♦T♥9♥
       Equity     Win     Tie
MP2    18.98%  18.73%   0.25% { A:hK:s }
MP3    81.02%  80.77%   0.25% { KTo }

... was very surprised why vs TOP two there's such a HUGE difference ?


Board: K♦T♥9♥
       Equity     Win     Tie
MP2    37.93%  37.84%   0.10% { A:hK:s }
MP3    62.07%  61.97%   0.10% { TT-99, KTs-K9s, QJs, J8s, T9s, Kd8d, Ks8s, Kc8c, Qh8h, Kd7d, Ks7s, Kc7c, Qh7h, Jh7h, 8h7h, Kd6d, Ks6s, Kc6c, Qh6h, 8h6h, 7h6h, Kd5d, Ks5s, Kc5c, Qh5h, 6h5h, Kd4d, Ks4s, Kc4c, KTo-K9o, QJo, T9o, 87o }

So overall, if we were in sb vs bb scenario with this AK and get raised oop on this flop, most proooobably we are NOT liking our hand anymore

• Exploitable strategy might not be a terrible idea at all vs weak players who do not adjust. 1) Over-betting with the nuts, and not just on the river; 2) DONKING when drawing out of position to set our own price for it.
• Against opponents who 3bet the bottom {ex. 22-55, 65, 8T} and the top {ex. JJ+, AQ+} of their range, it is very profitable to 4bet them.
• Most players have a hard time playing hands such as {99, TT, KQ, KJ, AJ} from the blinds vs CO or BTN steals. This is because they try to solve the hand preflop - although they KNOW the late position opener steals a lot, they are afraid to 3bet with the aforementioned hands because they don't want to see a 4bet and fold. BUT you won't get 4bet THAT often - the CO and BTN WILL fold a LOT. So start 3betting more aggressively - you'll be a better player for it. And if you DO get 4bet a lot from particular player, start shoving 99+, AK
• Whether to call or 3bet preflop depends on the villain - if he likes to fold, we 3bet him EVERY chance we get, no matter our holdings. And the same goes if they DO CALL a LOT, but also FOLDS a LOT to your c-bets.
• If you sit down at a game and don't know what type of opponent villain is, go ahead and 3bet him. Then you'll know.
• Vs those who like to both call pref and postflop - Calling Stations - 3bet broadway cards, and either don't give up on turn when you don't have a good hand - (semi)bluff more, OR check (/call) next time you have a strong hand.
• Vs those who 3bet YOU constantly out of the blinds or whenever he's in position, especially those dumb loose aggressive players - just FOLD preflop. Just WAIT for QQ+, AK to play back, and happily call off their AQ or 99 5bet-shove, cause they'll usually think that you might have noticed their wide re-steals and just got fed up and playing back with somewhat weakish range.
• OR you should consider turning KQ into a bluff and stat 4betting more. With card removals, there are only 24 instead of 34 combinations of QQ+, AK, meaning there are 30% fewer hands villain will stack off with.
• OR 4bet ONLY w/TT+, AK, and ! NEVER call their 3bets, even w/AA, KK in position. When you do this, opponent might think that you are getting out of line with you 4betting frequency, and incorrectly add bluffs into your 4bet range. Plus, overtime regulars will hesitate to 3bet you, because you never call and always seem to 4bet them. As a result, they will start calling your late position steals w/KJ+, AT+, s-c's. And now THIS makes them easier to play against, cause you have both initiative, and position, with lots of money behind.

• Funnel principle - ranges get smaller street by street.
• Average ranges that you assign your opponents preflop are the foundation for your postflop hand reading.
• Ex. you assign your opponent average calling range preflop, and on the particular flop you divide it into villain's probable calling, folding and raising ranges, and depending on his actual action - ex. CALL - you can remove his flop raising and folding ranges, and what is left is the villain's range that he arrives with on turn. And you do the same then for turn, and river.

• Flatting from the blinds with QQ+ or AK is something players don't do enough, with the intention to either check-raise the flop {ex. w/AK, AA on K:s 3:d 7:c , when opponent has very hard time folding something like KT-KQ, since you rep mostly bluffs, cause AK and AA are NOT in your flatting range preflop} or donk 3 streets for greater value {ex. w/AK, AQ on A:h 3:s 9:d Q:c 2:h , when opponent has hard time folding something like A:s T:s , hoping you rep weak ace}.
• When poker players get confused - they CALL.

• How do we take advantage of the players that c-bets [and makes a mistake] almost every time they raised preflop ? Vs one who usually checks back turn, you should check/call a lot of your range (pairs, gs+overs, BDFD+overs) and lead river. Vs more aggressive who tends to follow up with turn bets and even river bets, you should be more inclined to c/r flop with bluffs, semi-bluffs, and for value.
• When defending from blinds, on low drawy flops, such as 5:c 6:c T:s , 2:s 4:s 9:c , 7:s 9:c T:c , we should consider check-folding, because hands that peel these flops aren't going to fold on turn, usually having a pair+draw and don't mind continuing.
• Cards that pair the board are the worst to continue bluffing.
• When you open from the MP or CO, it is to your advantage to have an image where the players in position believe you. To create this image, consider NOT c-betting BUT check-folding a few flops after your preflop opening is called. You don't want the person to your left playing in your pots or floating you - you want those OUT OF POSITION to play against you. Plus, remember - it's OK not to win every pot.
• Vs those who c-bets a LOT, c/c on a lot of dry flops and A/K/Q flops. Turn will likely go check-check, and once this happens - BET the river.
• It is great to defend from blinds and c/c low flops with hands such as AK-AT/KQ-KJ, cause we have decent equity and often even the best hand, and also we get a bet when a A/K/Q lands and we make a pair because villain is likely going to bet at those cards. BUT if you play vs aggro oppnt who will be firing at least 2-barrels - just c/fold if you miss. HOWEVER!, when you DO hit strong hand vs him, do NOT c/r !! Check-call ALL THE WAY.
• One should often float Axx flops, even better when there's flush or straight draw possible - majority of players will auto-c-bet Axx flops, and c/fold on turn when called.
• Vs. regs who have a narrow UTG open, consider floating 22Q, 33K, and 55A - look for flops that can hit your preflop calling range but rarely give those tight regulars a strong hand. They will inevitably bet on these broadway flops, but will c/fold on the turn.
• When players CHECK - most of the time is to check-fold.
• Pay attention to players who will often bet, bet, and check-fold the river.
• A cheap showdown is never available when you play against a GOOD player.
• If you called flop and turn barrels [IP] and the river is a fourth flush card, and villain CHECKS!, please fire the river ! even if you have a small pair. You will take down the pot an unbelievable percentage of the time. And same goes vs fishy players, cause they DO fold more than they should on a four-flush board.

• How often do we find ourselves check-calling the flop and/or the turn only to see an ace on the river and hate life? Since there are 48 combinations of AK/AQ/AJ/AT, villain will have a pair of aces a fair amount of the time. So what should we do:
  - c/r ANY river if the turn is an ace and it goes check-check
  - c/r an ace on the river if the turn goes check-check
  - c/r our draws if we check/call the flop and see an ace on the turn
  - same goes if IN POSITION: bluff-raise a turn or river ace, if your opponent bets it.

• We should RIVER c/r opponents who often value bet thin or bluff a lot.
• Easiest situation to recognize and to BIG c/r RIVER is when you check/call A/K/Q flop and turns goes check-check.
• The best boards for river c/r are those that don't have straight or flush draws on the flop.
• It's also important to be able to represent a wide range of hands [at least 10 combos] when you c/r the river, cause people will talk themselves into calling if you can rep just nuts [esp. less than 5 combos] or air.
• If you don't check the river to c/r some of the times with the flush after turn goes check-check, you SHOULD.
• Nice line to take: the preflop raiser checks back the flop and raises a turn bet - the majority of the time we don't have anything strong when we lead on that turn and it's hard for us to continue.
• Best turn cards to raise are those that gives the illusion of making you two pair, so def the ace, or a middle cards like {7,8,9}. And how often we should fire the river if we get called ? - A LOT ! Villain most likely has a strong hand but not great, and wants to check-reevaluate the river, SO he WILL FOLD most of the time if he doesn't improve.
• One suggestion is if there is a particular reg who you have a lot of trouble with, go over all the hands you have seen him play and see what moves he makes that give you hard time, analyze them and add the good ones to your own game.

• Range protection is the passive play of certain combinations of your premium hands.
• Range protection is useful to avoid defined and capped ranges, so your opponent cannot read you that well, and that you also are able to have more value hands in your range on ex. low number rainbow flops like 7:h4:c3:d.
• One way to apply range protection, is to "split up" your premium hands. For ex. before your session, determine a suit and split combinations in a 1:1 ratio. Meaning that you should CALL all KK combinations which contain a K:d and 4bet the others.
• When wider ranges are in play, range protection becomes less important.
• Your steal-EV tells you how much money you need to win with a hand after an open raise to play profitably.
• Formula:
  StealEV=FE * blinds + (1 - FE) * (- open raise size)
• The worse your steal-EV is, the better you need to know how you are going to win money postflop.
• However the better you steal-EV is, you still need to remember that the ranges that your opponents are defending with are much tighter than usual, therefore - stronger, so if you DO get called, it is PERFECTLY FINE to check/FOLD a big parts of your range, cause you no longer need to win that many hands postflop, rather just wait for a profitable situation.

• A line lots of bad players execute that gets a lot of folds is the min-raise. So why not to add it in your arsenal ?
• The best boards to do it on are Axx and Kxx. On these flops villain can't do much unless he has an ace or a king. And to prevent RE-bluffing, just balance your min-raising range with trash less than 20% of the time, and you'll show profit in the long run. Cause you are risking just 1 to win 1.5, thus you only need to succeed about 40% of the time to break even.
• It also makes you a tougher player to play against, therefore people will be more reluctant to c-bet or barrel vs you.
• The best opponents to use it against, are those that does something "too much", for ex. you should min-raise turn vs villain that has high double barrel rate, or the one who c-bets too much (75%+).
• Donk bets are great at extracting value and to use as cheap bluffs. They also put players on tilt. And most important of all - they help us to define our opponent's hand range.
• We should donk bet into passive players [extract value] or nitty regulars [cheap bluffs] who play 10+ tables and like to fold to avoid a difficult decision.
• We wouldn't donk into an aggressive player without a strong hand, cause they like to raise and follow through with their bluffs. While with strong hand facing this kind of opponent we should NOT c/r, but rather c/c the flop, and DONK TURN, cause it extracts value from their marginal hands that they might check behind on the turn hoping to see free showdown, and also creates an opportunity for them to go crazy - remember, nothing tilts an aggressive opponent more than c/c, c/c, c/c OR donk, donk, donk.
• We would also donk into players who have a tendency to check back a lot of flops while stealing pref versus blinds. This is because our calling range from blinds is tighter than his steal from late position, and you do not want him to get a free card.
• Flops that are good for donk bets are the ones that make villain think they might get a 3bet if they raise our donk bet, such as 4:s 6:d 8:d .
• Another great situation to donk, even against aggressive opponents, is on the river when it completes a draw outside of the one we were actually drawing to - we c/c turn w/FD but straight draw completes on the river.