Each action you take in poker can be broken down into three types: betting or raising, checking or calling, and folding. Think of each of these actions as tools in your toolbox. For each situation, one tool is best. This means that we should strive to use each tool in our disposal to win. Players who don't use one of their tools or overuse one of their tools are making a mistake by playing in a way that is exploitable. That means we should use the tools in our toolbox in such a way so that we exploit the general tendencies of our opponents. When we sit down at a table we should bet, call, and fold an optimal amount until we figure out what our opponents are up to.
There are six types of players who are exploitable. They deviate from unexploitable play by using one of the tools in their toolbox too much or too little.
- Overusing betting
- Overusing calling
- Overusing folding
- Underusing betting
- Underusing calling
- Underusing folding
For example, if a player is overusing calling, they're not betting enough and not folding enough. To exploit that mistake, we must bet more and fold more. This is because that player is only betting very good hands and loves to just call with medium strength hands. This means that to exploit a player who overuses calling, we must underuse calling.
But when we play this strategy that underuses calling, we should keep in mind that we are playing an exploitable strategy. Someone who underuses calling is susceptible to abuse by players who stick around in pots and try to take them away. In other words, players that underuse folding. But if those same players tried to use the same strategy against those who underuse betting they'd run into great difficulties.
If you use this line of thinking, you can work out WHY playing LAG is not such a great idea at the lower stakes. The majority of the players either underuse betting or overuse calling. The strategy against people who underuse betting is to overuse folding, and the strategy against those who overuse calling is to underuse calling. In other words, fold a lot when passive people bet into you and valuebet thinly against calling stations.
Use this line of thinking when thinking about ranges. Against players who overuse betting, a.k.a. maniacs, you must underuse folding. This means that your calling range extends further than before. Hands that used to be folds against reasonable villains suddenly become mandatory calls. Against some TAGs that have forgotten about the call button, it is not that great to bet your medium strength hands. The betting tool is not the tool for the job, because they will never pay you off with worse. Your valuebetting range should shrink, but your calling range should extend. In other words, the way you build your ranges for each is dependent on the playstyles of our opponents. This is why when posting hand histories you need "reads" because your opponent's playstyle could make playing a weak hand for a raise better, while the same hand is a fold against another villain, and a call against a third one. The only thing you can learn by posting hand histories without reads is whether the hand you posted is to be played the same way irregardless of reads. Of course, the very top of your nut hands should be played the same way against any opponent. But those are not the interesting hands. The interesting hands are the hands that can be played two or three different ways depending on reads. Those are the hands where you pull out the correct tools to shape your range against the common tendencies of the villain.
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