Fold equity and EV

So i've been reading as much material as possible and have got my head round pot odds and implied odds i.e. when it's profitable to play draws etc but i got a bit lost when i started reading about fold equity and +EV. This will sound very simplistic but just want to make sure i'm starting to think along the right kind of lines.

Fold equity is a way of changing your EV from negative to positive by evaluating that an opponent will fold a significant portion of their range to your raise dependant on board texture and on their past post flop stats etc?

I've been messing around with poker stove and inputting some vpip/pfr stats to come up with general ranges. How do you go about evaluating what makes a +EV move against these kind of ranges? Of course taking the board and opponents patterns into account.

Just trying to get my head around all this new information. I've gone down to playing 2 tables just to try and put stuff into practice and think about what i'm actually doing properly.

it's basically always EV+ if your range is stronger than your opponents range in a given spot

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TheLongGrind

it's basically always EV+ if your range is stronger than your opponents range in a given spot

---

This is true, but the OP goes outside this context.

When we take FE into account, our EV combines our hand strength vs the opponent's range with the likelihood that they will fold to action. As an artificial example, if we know an opponent will only play AA after you open, it's basically +EV to open any two. Over 99.5% of the time, they will fold and we'll win the blinds. the rest of the time, we'll be roughly a 4:1 dog. But overall, opening will still be profitable because all the small wins more than balance out the few losses even though the avg loss is larger than the avg win. .

I kind of understand, i think it's just a case of thinking about it and applying these principles during play til they sink in. So as an example if i'm facing a bet on the flop and i have higher equity than villains general range it's always plus EV to make the call? Obviously taking other factors into consideration.

Would i be correct in saying that FE is very useful for bluffs/semi-bluffs? For example raising a bet on the flop or turn if you can put your opponent on say top pair on a draw heavy board. I'm guessing that figuring out how much of their range and what types of hands an opponent will fold to action is purely based on observation and their stats and is just a skill that develops over time?

Thanks for the advice, slowly starting to improve on my ABC style, going to take a ton of studying though.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jippo88

I kind of understand, i think it's just a case of thinking about it and applying these principles during play til they sink in. So as an example if i'm facing a bet on the flop and i have higher equity than villains general range it's always plus EV to make the call? Obviously taking other factors into consideration.

Would i be correct in saying that FE is very useful for bluffs/semi-bluffs? For example raising a bet on the flop or turn if you can put your opponent on say top pair on a draw heavy board. I'm guessing that figuring out how much of their range and what types of hands an opponent will fold to action is purely based on observation and their stats and is just a skill that develops over time?

Thanks for the advice, slowly starting to improve on my ABC style, going to take a ton of studying though.

---

Your best bet would be to post specific hands from your play then ask questions about how ur equity or fold equity applies in these situations. It can be the simplest hand possible just until you get the concept.

vpip/pfr stats should not be punched into stove and assumed that pct = villain's actual range.

Tried posting but apparently need 10+ posts so i'm gonna have to spam this thread for a couple posts lol.

Oh i definitely understand that the ranges given are very generalised. I just find it helps putting them on hands easier when they make tricky plays.