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You want it to be simple, but it's not.
You want to boil poker down to a set of rules you follow to win monies. That's not going to work above the micros, and wont be ideal then. You can't treat all villains like they have the same strengths and weaknesses. You wouldn't dream of it if you were sitting face to face with 8 very different looking and acting people.
They're people. They're different.
There's no correct way to play against the SB. There's the correct way to play against this SB.
You put this villain on a range, and you speculate how you earn the most or lose the least against this villain, taking various lines.
There's no correct way to bet the villain on a dry flop. There's only how to best play against this villain on a dry flop.
Whether or not to C-bet is a function of how villain responds to a C-bet and whether we want our hand against their current range or their range after we C-bet and they call or raise.
In order to do this, we practice with EV calcs and guessing ranges for various villains, then choose which of those we've practiced with is closest to this situation, and we roll with that.
Look, I'm about to dump a lot, here. I don't want you to feel overwhelmed, but ... it's overwhelming. Sorry 'bout that.
The sheer number of questions that you're not asking is overwhelming, let alone the hours and hours of study that answering them implies.
I'm just going to inject questions into the following as a way of illustrating (is that the right word?) to you how it just can't be simple. It will never be simple.
Not for you, nor for any of the villains, either.
You don't have to be perfect at this, not even close. You just have to be better than them at it.
***
Originally Posted by DonkeyBets
lets say we have T9s, we are on BU and raise to 6bb
How many people were in the hand to start with?
What was the action before you?
How deep is your stack?
How deep is the SB's stack?
How deep is the BB's stack?
Briefly, how would you characterize these villains' blind defense? Tight? Too tight? Loose? Too loose?
What is your range to make this bet against these villains playing in the blinds?
Why did you raise to 6 bb?
What might be the pros and cons of betting 5- bb or 7+ bb against these villains in the blinds?
Originally Posted by DonkeyBets
sb calls
Given your prior answers, what is sb's range?
If you had bet more or less than 6bb, would the sb call with the same range?
What if you min-raised - same range or different for SB to call with?
Does that invite the BB into the pot? Do you want that?
What if you bet much more like 12bb? What would they call with, then?
20bb?
cold shove?
Which bet size from you gives you the most equity going to the flop?
What if SB raises?
Do they have bet-sizing tells?
What is their range?
What is your range's response to various raise sizes from SB?
Originally Posted by DonkeyBets
and the board comes 2d,6c,Th
Wait...
What did the BB do? call or fold?
If they called, what is their range?
If they had raised, what would be their range?
What is your response (with your range, not your hand) when BB raises?
How does your range change to different raise sizes from the BB?
Originally Posted by DonkeyBets
and the board comes 2d,6c,Th
Pick your favorite range / scenario from above.
How much is in the pot, now?
What is your equity on this board against this villain's range, given this betting line?
Originally Posted by DonkeyBets
We most likely have the best hand against a villain who is looser than average but we dont know if we can bet for value because they might not have much to call
Similar questions as above. Given all the options of moves you can make now, which of them gives you the most equity?
What was Villain's action before it was your turn to decide whether or not to C-bet?
Did they bet into you? How much?
What does that mean about their range, now?
Did they check it?
What does that mean about their range, now? Is it capped?
If you check behind, villain's range does not change. Make a note of your equity if you leave villain's range alone.
If you min-raise, and villain calls, what does that do to his range?
If he raises back, what is his range?
If you raise 1/4 PSB, same questions.
1/2 PSB?
3/4 PSB?
full PSB?
overbet?
open shove?
***
Originally Posted by DonkeyBets
but we dont want a high card to come on the turn and let him take the pot away.
Why not?
Did we forget to calculate that in our equity calcs on the prior street?
If so, that's where the error lies, not in folding that % of times we calculated we would fold while still making the most +EV line.
We fold sometimes on later streets after we bet. We have more information now than we did then. We already calculated that a future fold under certain conditions was part of our best line.
If every other action is -EV, it's always 0 EV to fold. Sometimes the best decision is to lose none.
Originally Posted by DonkeyBets
So how do we know when to bet and when not too if we don't know that theyve hit or not,
We're not playing against their hand. We're never playing against their hand.
They don't even have "a" hand from our perspective. They have a range of possible hands, with varying probabilities, given their history and this hand's betting line.
We're playing against their range.
No, we're not even doing that, really.
We're playing against our (flawed) perception of their range.
That's the most we can do, and we'll not feel bad for failing to do more.
Originally Posted by DonkeyBets
we dont want to keep letting villains see free cards and have chance to catch better pairs but we also want to keep weaker hands in the pot and call
We can't do one without the other.
It's a matter of your equity if they fold now (100% * the value of the pot), vs your equity if they see another card.
Sometimes it goes up, sometimes it goes down. Bet to maximize the ups and get away from the downs and you're all good.
You don't know what their cards are. You only know that they would do the same thing with any of XYZ hands, and that those will not all happen with the same frequency.
Sometimes because of math. There's only 4 ways to make AKs, but 12 ways to make AKo. Only 6 ways to make AA. Fewer on all those when we see one of those cards not in their hand.
Sometimes because they're fickle. They "mix it up" by sometimes playing some hands and other times not.
***
Everyone loves a wall of text, right?
*sigh*
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