Thinking in ranges is something that I've tried to develop.
Let's say that my opponent is really really tight and plays only top 5% of his hands. My job is to understand what that 5% looks like so I can be prepared when the cards come to the table.

The problem is that there doesn't seem to be a consensus of the content of that top 5% (or any other percentage). Different calculators give different results.

The following are created with default settings.

GTO+ rounds 5% to 5.43% and gives:
AA-99,AKs-AQs,KQs,AKo-AQo

FlopzillaPro rounds 5% to 5.13% and gives:
AA-77,AKs-ATs,KQs

And Calcpark gives:
AA-88,AKs-AQs,AKo

So similar but still different. And since people use different programs to view ranges their own ideas of the 5% is of course different.

What would be the golden rule how to approach this if I wanted to learn by heart what 5,10,15, etc. percentage ranges would look like?

Originally Posted by Nafor

Thinking in ranges is something that I've tried to develop.
Let's say that my opponent is really really tight and plays only top 5% of his hands. My job is to understand what that 5% looks like so I can be prepared when the cards come to the table.

The problem is that there doesn't seem to be a consensus of the content of that top 5% (or any other percentage). Different calculators give different results.

The following are created with default settings.

GTO+ rounds 5% to 5.43% and gives:
AA-99,AKs-AQs,KQs,AKo-AQo

FlopzillaPro rounds 5% to 5.13% and gives:
AA-77,AKs-ATs,KQs

And Calcpark gives:
AA-88,AKs-AQs,AKo

So similar but still different. And since people use different programs to view ranges their own ideas of the 5% is of course different.

What would be the golden rule how to approach this if I wanted to learn by heart what 5,10,15, etc. percentage ranges would look like?

Hey mate!

Great question, and I can understand the frustration.

and just like all the calcs show different results for top 5%, many players will choose a different top 5% of hands as well.

The important thing is seeing which hands show up in all the top 5% list (AQs, AK, 99+) and knowing that for sure those will be in all the player ranges.

As for the other hands that are on the borders, that will be player dependent which they choose and from watching the hands they show down you will learn if they prefer more suited hands or more pairs etc.

Don't worry on getting it 'perfect', it will never be perfect in poker since there is unknown information. Embrace the uncertainty, try to get close to the right answer, and the more you do that you will build your confidence.

So yes, look which hands are in all ranges and put those in your reads, and then postflop know that... he could have a few more pairs, or a few more suited hands, and from the way he's playing postflop you will be able to figure that out little by little.

Hope that helps, cheers!

Hey Evan,
I love your Saturday tourney, great addition to the line up!
The check raise is a powerful move, and its easy when you've got the goods, but in what situations would you consider using it as a bluff?
Thanks!!!

Your videos helped me out a lot to strengthen my game!

Thank you

Hey Evan,
You talked about maybe doing a weekly study session on youtube. Running hands through icmizer, etc. I think it's a great idea! Is anything scheduled yet? Will definitely tune in whenever I can.
Cheers,
Amanda
PS You singing isn't bad, but don't give up your day job yet!

Originally Posted by Amanda A

Hey Evan,
I love your Saturday tourney, great addition to the line up!
The check raise is a powerful move, and its easy when you've got the goods, but in what situations would you consider using it as a bluff?
Thanks!!!

Hey Amanda,

Another great question, you're just full of them!

Check raising as a bluff is best used in situations where
a) your opponent will be c-betting at a high frequency (i.e wide + weak range)
b) you can conceivably have a strong hand
c) you have a hand with some equity or nut making potential
b*) you have a good image

So a player like yourself who generally maintains a squeaky clean image will be able to get away with more check raise bluffs because you know, people just assume you always have it

An example of a situation where it works fairly well is big blind vs button on: K64r

The button player will usually cbet close to 100% of their range... but what is the minimum hand they will call a check raise with? For many players it's a king of better... which means they are folding a ton of the time to a check raise

If you have a good image, or your opponent is just really tight when facing raises you can pull off this play a lot. But against someone who is savvy and will know you don't have a lot of value hands other than K6s K4s 46s 44 66 (because you probably 3bet KK, AK, AA etc. preflop) they might not give up so easily.

This is also why defending the big blind with a wider range will actually give you a chance to make more plays postflop.

if you wanted to add in bluffs, gutshots are good candidates, maybe hands like bottom pair (hands that have outs now, but will unlikely be the best hand at showdown when your opponent sees all 5 cards).

Other good boards to make the play on are ones that smash the BB range like 764 FD or something, where you can have all the middle cards and if say they raised MP they don't.

But opponent is key! If they can't fold 1 pair, the play won't work as much, if you are shallow stacked they're more likely to just cry pot odds and go with the hand...

so, having some stack depth behind helps, having an opponent who doesn't like to face big bets without TPTK+, and having a situation where they are unlikely to have a piece are all things that can be working in your favor.

The other appealing time to do it is when a draw completes and you have the nut blocker of that suit, so the Ad when a 3rd diamond hits. that way you have 2 things working for you

#1 You know they can't have the nuts (and facing a big enough bet some players will fold anything that's not the nuts)
#2 You will have outs when called because you can't be drawing dead.

Those are a couple of examples that come to mind off the top of my head.

Hope you find them helpful and that this starts to open your mind about the kind of board types, situations, and player types you might want to try the play against.

The thing to avoid is check raising with a hand that you'd be happen to check/call down with to a showdown, and having to fold if if they raise you back.

So that's why you often check raise your really strong hands, and your hands that are kinda weak but feel too strong to fold (gutshots, bottom pairs, etc.) and call with the other stuff.

I'll make sure to include a section on this in the book as it's a very fun topic!

Originally Posted by Amanda A

Hey Evan,
You talked about maybe doing a weekly study session on youtube. Running hands through icmizer, etc. I think it's a great idea! Is anything scheduled yet? Will definitely tune in whenever I can.
Cheers,
Amanda
PS You singing isn't bad, but don't give up your day job yet!

hahahahaha, I'll take your advice and stick with the poker/coaching/motivational speaking stuff

singing is something i've always enjoyed but I didn't put a ton of time into training/refining it, and my audio equipment isn't the best. so it's much more so for the lols.

Nothing in stone yet, but if I were to do this it would most likely be thursday evenings... you know... for 'theory thursday'

I will wait until February to start though, too much stuff going on with getting prepared for Venom, figuring out the marketing plan for Who Wants to be a Millionaire league next month and finishing up the furnishing of my house.

Think I made the last amazon order today, so by feb everything should be in order and I should have the mental room to add one more day to my work week

Originally Posted by Nounounou

Your videos helped me out a lot to strengthen my game!

Thank you

You're welcome mate!

Seems like an appropriate time to announce a little challenge / CC charity plan.

When I reach the following milestones on Youtube I will schedule private Freerolls!

80k Subscribers --> $800 Private Freeroll
85k Subscribers --> $850 Private Freeroll
90k Subscribers --> $900 Private Freeroll
95k Subscribers --> $950 Private Freeroll

All events will be posted on ACR as we try and get promoted to Team Pro!
And all members of the CC community will be invited, I'll make special posts as they unlock.

Currently we are sitting at 77272 Subscribers
Click here to help us reach the goal! --> http://gripsed.com/sub

Originally Posted by Evan Jarvis

Hey Amanda,

Another great question, you're just full of them!

Check raising as a bluff is best used in situations where
a) your opponent will be c-betting at a high frequency (i.e wide + weak range)
b) you can conceivably have a strong hand
c) you have a hand with some equity or nut making potential
b*) you have a good image

So a player like yourself who generally maintains a squeaky clean image will be able to get away with more check raise bluffs because you know, people just assume you always have it

An example of a situation where it works fairly well is big blind vs button on: K64r

The button player will usually cbet close to 100% of their range... but what is the minimum hand they will call a check raise with? For many players it's a king of better... which means they are folding a ton of the time to a check raise

If you have a good image, or your opponent is just really tight when facing raises you can pull off this play a lot. But against someone who is savvy and will know you don't have a lot of value hands other than K6s K4s 46s 44 66 (because you probably 3bet KK, AK, AA etc. preflop) they might not give up so easily.

This is also why defending the big blind with a wider range will actually give you a chance to make more plays postflop.

if you wanted to add in bluffs, gutshots are good candidates, maybe hands like bottom pair (hands that have outs now, but will unlikely be the best hand at showdown when your opponent sees all 5 cards).

Other good boards to make the play on are ones that smash the BB range like 764 FD or something, where you can have all the middle cards and if say they raised MP they don't.

But opponent is key! If they can't fold 1 pair, the play won't work as much, if you are shallow stacked they're more likely to just cry pot odds and go with the hand...

so, having some stack depth behind helps, having an opponent who doesn't like to face big bets without TPTK+, and having a situation where they are unlikely to have a piece are all things that can be working in your favor.

The other appealing time to do it is when a draw completes and you have the nut blocker of that suit, so the Ad when a 3rd diamond hits. that way you have 2 things working for you

#1 You know they can't have the nuts (and facing a big enough bet some players will fold anything that's not the nuts)
#2 You will have outs when called because you can't be drawing dead.

Those are a couple of examples that come to mind off the top of my head.

Hope you find them helpful and that this starts to open your mind about the kind of board types, situations, and player types you might want to try the play against.

The thing to avoid is check raising with a hand that you'd be happen to check/call down with to a showdown, and having to fold if if they raise you back.

So that's why you often check raise your really strong hands, and your hands that are kinda weak but feel too strong to fold (gutshots, bottom pairs, etc.) and call with the other stuff.

I'll make sure to include a section on this in the book as it's a very fun topic!

Wow!!!! Thank you for this very excellent answer. You have a way of putting things that makes complex topics seem easy. I could listen to someone for hours and still not get it like I feel I get it after reading your post. Thanks for your help! Awesome! I will definitely try adding some more check raising to my game. Can’t wait! See u on the tables 😎 Will I have it or not? Ha ha.
I can’t wait to read your book!!!! Gl with it! Hope it is a best seller. Just hope the people who buy it aren’t at my table 😊

Thanks Amanda!!!

I've been playing $2 zoom games to some success, the player field as a whole seems to 3bet at quite a high frequency from the blinds against button and CO raises so it seems only logical to develop a 4bet bluff range.
Can you give any tips or where I might look further to study this.
I was contemplating using some offsuit brodayway hands to bluff with as they have good blockers.
Any help much appreciated.

Hi Evan

what would you prefer...AK utg, or JT sooted on the button..??..and why..??

Thanks a lot for being here.

Originally Posted by Amanda A

Wow!!!! Thank you for this very excellent answer. You have a way of putting things that makes complex topics seem easy.

einstein once said that "a genius makes complex things sound simple so that people can understand and become more enlightened, whereas clever people make simple things sound complex so other people think they are clever."..or words to that effect.

How would you play small poker pairs 22 33 44 55 66 from UTG?

Originally Posted by Jarud

I've been playing $2 zoom games to some success, the player field as a whole seems to 3bet at quite a high frequency from the blinds against button and CO raises so it seems only logical to develop a 4bet bluff range.
Can you give any tips or where I might look further to study this.
I was contemplating using some offsuit brodayway hands to bluff with as they have good blockers.
Any help much appreciated.

Hey Jarud, great question and you are on the right path with your solution.

The best hands to 4-bet bluff will be those with one of the following
1) Ace blocker, to decrease AK AA frequency
2) Broadway blockers, particularly KJ, KT, QJ, QT (since KQ plays fine as a call) or Kxs
3) Low suited connectors, they don't have blockers but they are underdogs preflop and if you are getting A, K, Q, J high to fold you are getting a nice gain

When you are shallowers #1 and #2 are the priority whereas when you are deeper yo can mix in option #3, and also Face Rag suited hands are ok to use as 4-bet bluffs when deep.

The other option you can use it to open a tighter range preflop so that yo can easily defend versus the 3-bets with lots of calls. As long as it's not your primary strategy the other players won't expect this since your hud stats will look on the normal reg side.

That way yo are playing back at the 3-bets at a higher frequency and thus the light 3-betting they are implementing will not be doing as well against you as it otherwise would.

Remember you can also call the 3-bet with plenty of suited hands and make semi bluffs postflop on low boards or middling boards which won't be connecting with their broadway heavy range.

Hope that helps and that you see a nice boost to your winrate as a result of it. (Just know that this type of strategy will also be bringing on more variance!!)

Good luck & Happy stackin brother!

Originally Posted by xpvictor1

How would you play small poker pairs 22 33 44 55 66 from UTG?

In most online games I would just fold these hands

In a live game where the players are apt to overplay 1 pair hands postflop I like to raise small with these hands (3x instead of 4x/5x like many hands do in live games)

In aggressive live games where there is a lot of 3-betting then I will try to limp in with these hands. If I can see the flop for a single raise I'm in, but if it gets isolated and 3-bet I will typically just fold having invested one big blind.

It's good to know that just because you have a pair doesn't necessarily mean it's a playable hand. These hands are marginal in many games and are often best just folded. (In tournaments where stacks are shallower these hands are almost always folds from early position).

Originally Posted by monkey23

Hi Evan

what would you prefer...AK utg, or JT sooted on the button..??..and why..??

Thanks a lot for being here.

Hey Monkey

This depends on a couple of things...

If we are playing <100 Big Blinds I will take AK utg (especially if it's a 6-max game)

If we are playing >150 Big Blinds I will take JTs on the button

I expect to make more money on the button that I do from being out of position with an offsuit hand raising into a full table.

If it was AKs then I probably take that hand because it's such a monster.

But having JTs on the button, position guaranteed is a pretty dreamy scenario. Great flopability, playability, and full control by sitting behind the money chip (the button)

The one thing you didnt include in the question though is... what is the action ahead of me? Is it folded to me on the button (in which case I always take the certainty of having a playable hand on the button) or are we facing a raise (in which case it depends again on stack depths and who is raising)

Fun question tho, thanks for getting my mind thinking

Originally Posted by Evan Jarvis

Hey Monkey

This depends on a couple of things...

If we are playing <100 Big Blinds I will take AK utg (especially if it's a 6-max game)

If we are playing >150 Big Blinds I will take JTs on the button

I expect to make more money on the button that I do from being out of position with an offsuit hand raising into a full table.

If it was AKs then I probably take that hand because it's such a monster.

But having JTs on the button, position guaranteed is a pretty dreamy scenario. Great flopability, playability, and full control by sitting behind the money chip (the button)

The one thing you didnt include in the question though is... what is the action ahead of me? Is it folded to me on the button (in which case I always take the certainty of having a playable hand on the button) or are we facing a raise (in which case it depends again on stack depths and who is raising)

Fun question tho, thanks for getting my mind thinking

Thanks very much for your quick reply Evan

everything you say makes perfect sense to me....like property is all about location location location...poker is often very much about position position position.

My question was just a general one, but you were of course right to raise the question of the action prior to the action getting round to the JTs on the button.

I play mostly 9 handed and mtts..so...say utg leads out with AKo ( and why not for this example )...mid pos 3-bets with a range of say 99+, ATs+, or flats with suited broadway or any pp or suited Ace in their range, then JT s would of course play very differently than if the hand had just been folded to the button.

The style of the players involving themselves in the hand would also have an influence...if the 3 bettor was a nit, who only 3bets with JJ+ / AKs, then one needs to react differently than if they were loose with a wider 3-betting range.

Every hand is uniquely situational.

Thanks again for your reply...glad i got your grey matter engaged

Hey Evan,
I may have messed up this hand against you and wanted to get your advice so I don't do it again I don't think you showed your hand on the stream. I guess it doesn't matter too much what you had, though of course Id love to know. You put me in a tough spot and I'm wondering if I could have played this differently and put you in a tough spot instead, ha ha.
CardsChat Poker Hands Converter
So I defend pre flop in bb with A10s against your co raise. That's ok I think, although I guess 3betting is a possibility? But I think it's ok?
Flop gives me nut flush draw with a pair on the board.
Should I have donk bet here?
I check you c-bet 1/3 and I think about a check raise. The reason I didn't is cause I thought if you shove on me I get blown off a lot of equity. My thought was that my hand is too good to check raise, and then have to fold, is that fair? So I call.
Turn gives me an extra gut shot. Again maybe I should lead out here? Not sure. I check and you bet pot ahhhhh, damn! Not making it easy on me So I need 33% to justify a call. I have 9 outs with the flush draw and any K but I can't count the Ks twice so that's another 3 outs. Maybe my A is an out - you probably have a Q or J or bluff, but you could have an 8 so maybe I count 2 instead of 3 outs there and discount my A outs a bit? So I have say 14 outs in total and one card to come so 14 by 2 is 28%, not quite enough to call. The alternative is to shove here and put max pressure back on you. Maybe that was the move? Instead I fold, but it felt kind of weak, like I should have played this differently, just not sure how.
I'd love to get your advice and see if I'm making mistakes in my thinking so I can learn from them. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Originally Posted by Amanda A

Hey Evan,
I may have messed up this hand against you and wanted to get your advice so I don't do it again I don't think you showed your hand on the stream. I guess it doesn't matter too much what you had, though of course Id love to know. You put me in a tough spot and I'm wondering if I could have played this differently and put you in a tough spot instead, ha ha.
CardsChat Poker Hands Converter
So I defend pre flop in bb with A10s against your co raise. That's ok I think, although I guess 3betting is a possibility? But I think it's ok?
Flop gives me nut flush draw with a pair on the board.
Should I have donk bet here?
I check you c-bet 1/3 and I think about a check raise. The reason I didn't is cause I thought if you shove on me I get blown off a lot of equity. My thought was that my hand is too good to check raise, and then have to fold, is that fair? So I call.
Turn gives me an extra gut shot. Again maybe I should lead out here? Not sure. I check and you bet pot ahhhhh, damn! Not making it easy on me So I need 33% to justify a call. I have 9 outs with the flush draw and any K but I can't count the Ks twice so that's another 3 outs. Maybe my A is an out - you probably have a Q or J or bluff, but you could have an 8 so maybe I count 2 instead of 3 outs there and discount my A outs a bit? So I have say 14 outs in total and one card to come so 14 by 2 is 28%, not quite enough to call. The alternative is to shove here and put max pressure back on you. Maybe that was the move? Instead I fold, but it felt kind of weak, like I should have played this differently, just not sure how.
I'd love to get your advice and see if I'm making mistakes in my thinking so I can learn from them. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Hey Amanda,

fun hand here and some great questions.

With ATss you are correct that yo can flat the big blind (keep in my worse aces and worse suited hands) or 3-bet (get lots of fold equity preflop and uncap your range so that i'm forced to play more defensively).

On the flop you can definitely mix as well. Given that it's a board I'm actually going to miss a fair bit check raising seems pretty reasonable. It's one of those hard to hit paired boards that we previously discussed is a great XR bluff candidate, and, the hands I'll continue with you have

a) in bad shape - if I have T9 or a flush draw I'm calling
b) high implied odds - if I have an 8 i can't fold and if you hit you'll get paid
c) can't take the head - if I have a jack I'll fold to future barrels

On the turn I don't think you can fold. You have so many outs and the price is right.

Yes if I have a boat you aren't drawing live, but that's not going to be very often.
I think I would be calling here again in your shoes and calling on good rivers.

I can easily be bluffing here with a lot of worse draws, and I may keep bluffing on a King which means extra implied odds for yo.

I'm not sure what I actually had, but vs my range you are definitely getting the right price to continue. As played I would call, but I probably would prefer a check raise on the flop.

Hope that helps!

Hi Evan,


Fun for you!!!!!! ha ha

Thanks so much for your awesome and very detailed reply (as always). I knew I messed up this hand! I hated the way I played it and was really mad with myself ! LOL

I think that thinking about outs and pot odds can lead me to overfold in some situations. Instead I should be thinking about your range which in the CO is quite wide, and my equity versus your range. Is that a better way to think about it?

Thinking about outs and pot odds can lead me astray as that kind of thinking assumes you have a hand and I need to make mine to win, but I may not have to make my hand to win the hand. As you say, you may be on a worse flush draw, so A high might even be good at showdown, or with an aggressive play on the flop or flop and turn I might be able to get you to fold a J and presumably any pair under JJ.

2 Quick follow up Q's -

1/ As the hand was played what size would you need to bet on the turn to say I should fold? What if you bet 1.5 pot or 2 times pot or move all in on the turn? I guess I can look to flopzilla to help me out here and see my equity vs your range on that board and then compare that to the pot odds I'm getting, is that right?

2/ You say "I think I would be calling here again in your shoes and calling on good rivers."
Let's say I call the turn and I don't hit my flush or straight or A on the river, then it's a fold? To what size bet? Should I call a 1/3 bet with A high or just fold? How do I work this out? Is this just a matter of how often do I think you are bluffing with a worse hand and compare that to the pot odds I'm bring offered?

Sorry if I ask too many questions!

Thanks so much!!!!!

Cheers,

Amanda

Hi Evan,
Happy Friday!
I watched your flopzilla video again. It's awesome. I watched it a while ago so I needed a refresh and it help reinforce everything we've been taking about with the check raise!
It prompted me to upgrade to flopzilla pro which is really cool and the upgrade is free which is so nice!
So anyway I think I answered my first Q. I gave you a 34% opening range from the cut off. Then I'm going to assume you bet your entire range when I check the flop on a paired board that is hard to hit. Is that fair? I call and you bet pot on the turn. I don't think you would do this with your entire range, would you? I give you 2 pair or better and flush draws and open ended straight draws. Does that sound about right? So against that range my hand has 45% equity and you are betting pot so I only need 33% so it's definitely a call. Even if I add in top pair to your range on the turn, I still have 41% Hopefully I'm doing this right
Thanks so much for your help!!!!
Cheers,
Amanda

Hi Evan,


So much fun last night playing poker with you and everyone and listening to your awesome stream! Thanks for playing the $3.30 cardschat tourney with us!

Really sorry I am monopolizing this great thread, but you are so generous with your answers I can't help it Don't worry, I'm not going to post every hand from the cardschat tourney I won last night and ask your advice. LOL!

I will post my favorite hand from the tourney ha ha. As you said, lucky girl, bad beat for you. CardsChat Poker Hands Converter

I'm trying to answer the Q you asked - did I get the right price?

So here's my homework -
You open from the button and I put you on a range of about 50% I defend from the big blind, I think that's fine with A6o, it's doing pretty well against your range. Flopzilla says I have 50% equity.

I flop the nut flush draw, pretty nice and flopzilla says my equity goes up to 60% on the flop, but that's against your entire range. You bet 1/3 pot and I need around 20% to continue. I guess here it gets a little tricky cause I have to think about what part of your range are you c-betting with here? It could be 100%. You're in position and with a bit of pressure I could easily fold the bb on a monotone flop if I didn't catch a piece, fair assumption?

Then turn is 9 diamonds and my equity drops to 41% according to Flopzilla. The pot is 1426 and you bet 606 and I need 23% (says HM3) to continue, so yes I have a call. But if I start messing with your range on the turn and say well you would only make that bet with a flush or 2nd nut flush draw (because you would probably want to protect other hands, sets 2 pair top pair etc) and bet the flop, then my equity is only 31%, but it's still a call. Does all this sound right to you? I'm not sure if I'm making mistakes.

I'm pretty new to using Flopzilla but I want to start using it more.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

PS The only way it's not a call is if I put you on a made flush only, then I only have 15% Could you be betting the turn here with a K high flush draw or some hand worse than a flush? If not, then I shouldn't have called. I promise I will stop posting to your thread for a while now, lol!

Evan when you are in the bubble of the ft how do you usually play your hands? more aggressive, more passive?

Hi Evan,
Hope you are staying safe and healthy.
Can you tell me what you think about holdem indicator as a HUD? I've been using it for years. How does it compare to holdem manager or other HUD's? Should I make a change? I have been playing at BOL for the past couple of years.
Thanks in advance,
Gary

Originally Posted by Amanda A

Hi Evan,


Fun for you!!!!!! ha ha

Thanks so much for your awesome and very detailed reply (as always). I knew I messed up this hand! I hated the way I played it and was really mad with myself ! LOL

I think that thinking about outs and pot odds can lead me to overfold in some situations. Instead I should be thinking about your range which in the CO is quite wide, and my equity versus your range. Is that a better way to think about it?

Thinking about outs and pot odds can lead me astray as that kind of thinking assumes you have a hand and I need to make mine to win, but I may not have to make my hand to win the hand. As you say, you may be on a worse flush draw, so A high might even be good at showdown, or with an aggressive play on the flop or flop and turn I might be able to get you to fold a J and presumably any pair under JJ.

2 Quick follow up Q's -

1/ As the hand was played what size would you need to bet on the turn to say I should fold? What if you bet 1.5 pot or 2 times pot or move all in on the turn? I guess I can look to flopzilla to help me out here and see my equity vs your range on that board and then compare that to the pot odds I'm getting, is that right?

2/ You say "I think I would be calling here again in your shoes and calling on good rivers."
Let's say I call the turn and I don't hit my flush or straight or A on the river, then it's a fold? To what size bet? Should I call a 1/3 bet with A high or just fold? How do I work this out? Is this just a matter of how often do I think you are bluffing with a worse hand and compare that to the pot odds I'm bring offered?

Sorry if I ask too many questions!

Thanks so much!!!!!

Cheers,

Amanda

You got it right Amanada, thinking in terms of pot odds only is assuming we NEED to make our hand to win the pot. And its important to give your opponents some bluffs and semi bluffs in their range too rather than just made hands.

What you are talking about in Flopzilla is a great way to figure that out, you can also punch the range into equilab and get the % equity of your hand. Whichever program is easier for you to use.

And yes, generally I'd just be folding the river unimproved.

If you want to bluff catch, yep that's the formula...

Odds Offered vs Frequency of winning

If i bet half pot you are getting 3:1 on a call, need to show a winner 25% of the
So, pick a range for me to bet and see if AT LEAST 25% of the hands are bluffs

and if they are you can call, and if they aren't then it's a fold

Or you know... you can throw the math out the window and use that female intuition of yours to decide if my timing is indicative of a made hand or if i'm just on a steal

I never did much of the river combo crunching stuff... but i'll probably be a much better player when I do!

Originally Posted by I LOVE BENE

Hi Evan,
Hope you are staying safe and healthy.
Can you tell me what you think about holdem indicator as a HUD? I've been using it for years. How does it compare to holdem manager or other HUD's? Should I make a change? I have been playing at BOL for the past couple of years.
Thanks in advance,
Gary

Hey Gary,

Hold'em Indicator is a fine HUD but it is quite basic.
The stats that it shows are very limited compared to pokertracker and holdem manager

Here's a video to show you some examples of what's possible

You Tube

If you are going to use PT or HM at BOL I believe you need to buy the card catcher from http://acepokersolutions.com to be able to import the hands.

If you're only playing a couple of tables though, indicator will probably give yo the info you need. sometimes upgrading to something more advanced can be overwhelming... so ask yourself whether or not you think you'll make use of the extra stats.

Hope that helps!

Originally Posted by spectralwave

Evan when you are in the bubble of the ft how do you usually play your hands? more aggressive, more passive?

Hey Mate!

This is dependent on so many factors... stack size... opponent stack size... average stack size... min payout... max payout... etc.

Here's a clip from a webinar I did that I hope you'll find helpful

You Tube

Main thing is, if yo have chips you'd love to make use of the bubble and build up your chip stack without needing to showdown hands much, but this isn't always possible and depends if anyone else on the table is trying to make mones on the bubble

Originally Posted by Amanda A

Hi Evan,


So much fun last night playing poker with you and everyone and listening to your awesome stream! Thanks for playing the $3.30 cardschat tourney with us!

Really sorry I am monopolizing this great thread, but you are so generous with your answers I can't help it Don't worry, I'm not going to post every hand from the cardschat tourney I won last night and ask your advice. LOL!

I will post my favorite hand from the tourney ha ha. As you said, lucky girl, bad beat for you. CardsChat Poker Hands Converter

I'm trying to answer the Q you asked - did I get the right price?

So here's my homework -
You open from the button and I put you on a range of about 50% I defend from the big blind, I think that's fine with A6o, it's doing pretty well against your range. Flopzilla says I have 50% equity.

I flop the nut flush draw, pretty nice and flopzilla says my equity goes up to 60% on the flop, but that's against your entire range. You bet 1/3 pot and I need around 20% to continue. I guess here it gets a little tricky cause I have to think about what part of your range are you c-betting with here? It could be 100%. You're in position and with a bit of pressure I could easily fold the bb on a monotone flop if I didn't catch a piece, fair assumption?

Then turn is 9 diamonds and my equity drops to 41% according to Flopzilla. The pot is 1426 and you bet 606 and I need 23% (says HM3) to continue, so yes I have a call. But if I start messing with your range on the turn and say well you would only make that bet with a flush or 2nd nut flush draw (because you would probably want to protect other hands, sets 2 pair top pair etc) and bet the flop, then my equity is only 31%, but it's still a call. Does all this sound right to you? I'm not sure if I'm making mistakes.

I'm pretty new to using Flopzilla but I want to start using it more.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

You've got it figured out and you're doing a great job.

Congrats on the win, I'm super happy you took down our fav sunday game!

Price wise you were good, even if i'm only betting flushes and sets you only needed to make like 400 chips additional on the river to reach the odds, and you got more than that.


Because it's hard to get exact ranges here is the best way to go about it

#1 Make a super tight example, where I only bet the bets hands... check your odds

#2 Make a super loose example, where I bet tons of bluffs... check your odds

If it falls somewhere in between, it's probably fine right?

That's what apestyles and assasinato taught me. Learn from the extremes, and if in the most extreme case you've got a winning play, then anything in between that is surely still profitable.

Hope that makes sense

Hi Evan,

I read in an other thread, where you posted generally about session winnings, how one session can balance, compensate for months.

I'd like to ask 2 questions:
1., How do you deal with the 'months', when you do not get that 1 really good tourney, session result for long weeks? (I play tourneys with average 400-500 hundred players mostly on micro limit, sometimes low, so it is obviously less time for me, but I still always run out from patiance earlier or later before the next one coming...)

2., Not connected to the above. In FT, high pay jump bubble, what situations you can/ I should fold mid, low pairs, if my stack is between 10-15BB and I sit in mid positions in 8,9 max tourneys, no action front of me? (I face way too often, at least I think too often, that I go allin with these pairs and get calls with Ax, often with any Kx, or J10 and similar hands, and I am out. If someone has a higher pair in their hand, it is okay, part of the game, I can live with that. However, these calls one of the most annoying things, not the calls, the relegation against them, even I forced to go allin, at least steal the blinds, because of the blinds going up... Oh and often the opponents do not have much higher stack, like 2-3-4+ times higher than mine, that they'd have the odds for calling. Much harder to accept it as part of the game, probably there are situations when I should fold, but it is hard to select.)

Thanks for the answer!
Further good luck!

Hi Evan, Thank you very much for your time. I really appreciate it. I'm sure you are very busy. I have been watching you for a few years and I really like you. You are good at teaching and easy to understand. Take care of yourself and good luck. Let me know if there is ever anything I can do for you (-;
Gary

Originally Posted by Evan Jarvis

Hey Gary,

Hold'em Indicator is a fine HUD but it is quite basic.
The stats that it shows are very limited compared to pokertracker and holdem manager

Here's a video to show you some examples of what's possible
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__XMsZQ4HBU

If you are going to use PT or HM at BOL I believe you need to buy the card catcher from http://acepokersolutions.com to be able to import the hands.

If you're only playing a couple of tables though, indicator will probably give yo the info you need. sometimes upgrading to something more advanced can be overwhelming... so ask yourself whether or not you think you'll make use of the extra stats.

Hope that helps!

Great advice Evan! I love the idea of putting my opponent on different ranges at the extremes to get a better feel of where I am with my odds. Thank you so much!!!!!

G Dawg why do you always have pocket Aces?

Got into a huge argument which should not have been a big deal. I had a pair of jacks and my opponent hit a straight. He went all in on the river I said “how much” for whatever reason I didn’t speak loud enough I guess but he and another player heard me say “I’m in” now I didn’t put any chips in to call his all in and he flipped his cards. Am I wrong for not wanting to give him the owed chips? I didn’t call his all in but they thought I did. Who is wrong here

What's your opinion on pre flop JJ or pre flop J high card ? Do you like calling raises with it and also where do you feel comfortable playing it?

Originally Posted by 19honu62

G Dawg why do you always have pocket Aces?

I just figure... why not right? If I can have one hand and one hand only... I'm gonna take aces

Originally Posted by livyst123

What's your opinion on pre flop JJ or pre flop J high card ? Do you like calling raises with it and also where do you feel comfortable playing it?

Hey Mate,

The hands we play preflop are very situational.

Jacks is a hand I'm always happy to open, and usually happy to 3-bet another players open with.

When faced with a 3-bet I'm usually playing the hand but depending on who is 3-betting and how deep stacks are it will affect it.

Here's the best video I've made on preflop play, I hope you'll find some value in it and learn to think about hands in categories and situations rather than just as a single hand

You Tube

Cheers!

Originally Posted by Briandemott

Got into a huge argument which should not have been a big deal. I had a pair of jacks and my opponent hit a straight. He went all in on the river I said “how much” for whatever reason I didn’t speak loud enough I guess but he and another player heard me say “I’m in” now I didn’t put any chips in to call his all in and he flipped his cards. Am I wrong for not wanting to give him the owed chips? I didn’t call his all in but they thought I did. Who is wrong here

If you didn't say 'call' or 'all in' then you don't owe anything.

Verbal is what's binding at the poker table, and you just asked for a count.

That's his fault for exposing his hand early and not listening closely enough, so no... you don't owe him and you get to make your decision still.

This happened in a big game with Brynn Kenney and Andrew Robl where Brynn thought he heard andrew say call and exposed his hand early... it's on the player to pay attention and listen closely (or get confirmation from the leader first) before getting acting prematurely.

You Tube

Originally Posted by Adi8877

Hi Evan,

I read in an other thread, where you posted generally about session winnings, how one session can balance, compensate for months.

I'd like to ask 2 questions:
1., How do you deal with the 'months', when you do not get that 1 really good tourney, session result for long weeks? (I play tourneys with average 400-500 hundred players mostly on micro limit, sometimes low, so it is obviously less time for me, but I still always run out from patiance earlier or later before the next one coming...)

2., Not connected to the above. In FT, high pay jump bubble, what situations you can/ I should fold mid, low pairs, if my stack is between 10-15BB and I sit in mid positions in 8,9 max tourneys, no action front of me? (I face way too often, at least I think too often, that I go allin with these pairs and get calls with Ax, often with any Kx, or J10 and similar hands, and I am out. If someone has a higher pair in their hand, it is okay, part of the game, I can live with that. However, these calls one of the most annoying things, not the calls, the relegation against them, even I forced to go allin, at least steal the blinds, because of the blinds going up... Oh and often the opponents do not have much higher stack, like 2-3-4+ times higher than mine, that they'd have the odds for calling. Much harder to accept it as part of the game, probably there are situations when I should fold, but it is hard to select.)

Thanks for the answer!
Further good luck!

Hi Adi,

Let me begin by saying that I never played poker tournaments full time as my exclusive source of income. The pain and uncertainty of waiting between scores would simply be too much for someone of my personality to handle (and I'm quite patient!)

When I was playing poker full time it was 90-95% cash games and the rest of the time tournaments. That was I was able to make a consistent income, and still have the fun of playing tournaments with that chance for the occasional big score.

When I took the time to focus on MTTs I was running a business on the side and had good money coming in from investments as well. That way I could survive between the scores (which always seemed to come when I needed them) and took some pressure off.

So for question 1 it's a matter of... if you really 'NEED' the scores, then you may be better off doing some work on the side to ensure you are financially stable and then you can withstand the waiting period between the wins more easily. It also makes it easier to just focus on playing well, and making that your main thing... by doing that and focusing there the scores will come in due time but you won't experience the same frustration of waiting for 'when'


For number 2 it sounds like what you're looking for is a more complete strategy of when to play what types of hands. Given how deep this topic goes I'd recommend one of the training programs to nail this part down (they have great tools and resources

For Ranges specifically I really like Range Trainer Pro (see review video below)

You Tube

And for deeper MTT strategy at a reasonable price I'm a big fan of Learn Pro Poker

You Tube

Finally for a free option check out my 30-day MTT Training Program which includes 6.5 hours of material! --> http://gripsed.com/pgms/mtt

Hope that helps mate!
Good luck on the tables!!!