Spoony Exercise 5: More Exploitation of Known Strategies
Previous Threads in the Series: Exercise 1 (link), Exercise 2 (link), Exercise 3 (link), Exercise 4 (link)
In Exercise 4, we looked at a handful of adjustments to make against common characteristics we'll see in opponents at micro stakes and small stakes. We also touched on the general process of considering our opponent's strategy and deciding how to play against it in general (ie: how we'll play our entire range) before figuring out what we should do with the specific hand we happen to have this time we're dealt cards, and the earlier exercises were to prepare you for this type of thinking.
Here's what we're getting at with all of this. Generally when you're playing poker, you'll see your hand and each time it's your turn to make a decision you try to make the best play you can based off of your hand and the information you're given. This is a logical thought process to follow, but there is another way. If instead you think about how you would like to play your range as a whole first, it makes certain types of decisions much easier, especially on the early streets. It also makes it easier to stick to an exploitive strategy that will force a constant edge over time.
Go into your database and find some hand where you raised pre-flop and only one opponent called, leaving you out of position. You would preferably have a lot of hands on this person (500+) and have a decent idea of what they were calling you down with, how often they raise c-bets, and things of that nature. Ignoring the pocket cards you held, describe the situation and your opponent, and describe your opponent's strategy on the flop against you in this situation. I don't mean so much breaking their range down (though that's fine if you want to do it), but just in general how you think they will play on that board given what you know about them as far as stats and notes go. With that in mind, describe your counter-strategy. That is, describe how you're going to play the flop to take advantage of what you know about their play, and why you're choosing to play your range in that way.
