Pot Equity - Definition

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Dion

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Hi guys, I'm watcing a very interesting video by Andrew - BalugaWhale, where he mentions pot equity as a key concept in bluffing. As far as I understood, and whatever I could find online about, its something to do with extra outs and semi-bluffing. While pot odds tell you when to call, pot equity tells you when to bet.
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(If they say so)

Would you, more experienced members, explain what exactly pot equity is, and give a few examples.

Thanks!
 
okeedokalee

okeedokalee

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Brilliant, thanks for the link, rounder.
 
thepokerkid123

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I'm approaching this without the slightest clue what's going on.


Pot equity doesn't dictate when you should bluff. If you have enough pot equity, you should (usually) value bet.
If you don't, you need enough pot equity + fold equity + implied odds - reverse implied odds to justify a semi-bluff (what is enough depends on your bet sizing).

I'm curious what BalugaWhale said; if you just misunderstood him or he was explaining something I'm not aware of.
 
slycbnew

slycbnew

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I've watched several of BW's videos. He makes the point that bluffing with little to no equity - pure air bluffs - isn't a big part of his game plan. He's looking for pot equity in order to run a semibluff, and particularly for equity that improves on the turn so he can continue his semibluff (i.e., a flopped straight draw that picks up flush outs on the turn). This isn't to say that bluffing board texture against a specific opponent hand range is something you shouldn't do, but it's not necessarily a primary tool.

So, pokerkid, you're right on the money.
 
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Dion

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I'm approaching this without the slightest clue what's going on.


Pot equity doesn't dictate when you should bluff. If you have enough pot equity, you should (usually) value bet.
If you don't, you need enough pot equity + fold equity + implied odds - reverse implied odds to justify a semi-bluff (what is enough depends on your bet sizing).

I'm curious what BalugaWhale said; if you just misunderstood him or he was explaining something I'm not aware of.
He basicly said that you either bet for value, which is your no.1 priority, or bluff, where you use your pot equity & folding equity to make your decision. (This is "Coaching Kristy Ep.1" video) I was kinda confused and wanted some more opinions on that topic. In general, if you're against an agressive player you need more pot equity to shove than if youre against a passive player. Also if there's a huge bet on the river, and you know that the villain is bad agressive, than you should consider that bet more of a bluff, rather than a value bet, as opposed to a bet from a bad passive player. But how in the world can you tell what's villain's folding % at any particular spot??!!! And how do you add the folding equity into the equation? Thanks in advance guys!
 
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Stu_Ungar

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Also if there's a huge bet on the river, and you know that the villain is bad agressive, than you should consider that bet a bluff, rather than a value bet, as opposed to a bet from a bad passive player.

Yes and no

A thinking player would bet all his good hands and bet all his missed hands as a bluff. A bad thinking player would have a ratio with way too many bluffs to value.

However micro players often tend to merge their High value and medium hands (hands with decent SD equity but not enough to bet)

What that means is that they can have a high river bet frequency but not be pure bluffing all that often, instead they are over valuing any made hand.

What that means is that against some players "bluff catching" is near impossible. However "light calling" which is subtlety different to bluff catching works really well.
 
thepokerkid123

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But how in the world can you tell what's villain's folding % at any particular spot??!!!


What % of villain's range can't continue after your bet?
 
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Dion

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What that means is that against some players "bluff catching" is near impossible. However "light calling" which is subtlety different to bluff catching works really well.

Ok, what do you consider light calling? Doy you have a threshold, say TP Any Kicker or do you need some history with any particular villain? Whats the line between a leak and profitable light calling? You reply threw me into serious thinking :)
 
Stu_Ungar

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Ok, what do you consider light calling? Doy you have a threshold, say TP Any Kicker or do you need some history with any particular villain?

It depends, there is no set rule as it depends on the range the villian is betting.

The difference is that the range you are up against is predomantly medium hands + strong hands rather than strong hands + air

So hands like bottom pair are of more value against a nuts + air range than a nuts + medium range
 
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Dion

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It depends, there is no set rule as it depends on the range the villian is betting.

The difference is that the range you are up against is predomantly medium hands + strong hands rather than strong hands + air

So hands like bottom pair are of more value against a nuts + air range than a nuts + medium range

Thanks, makes a lot of sense to me...
 
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