Week 3 updates

I continue to study and make notes. This is the new stuff I’ve learned since the last update.

Still not played Poker, instead concentrating on my studies.

I have now downloaded the Hand2Note poker tracker. I think I have also incorporated the BPC hud but will need to double check that.

The Golden Formula(Pre-flop)

This is the only way to play poker, we need to %winning > % of total pot invested. 

An example is - we are facing a $50 river bet and there’s $100 in the pot already. So we need to be correct 25% of the time (1 in 4) to make this a winning call. We may know we are beat 75%, but the call is still the correct play. This needs to be drilled into the mind because it’s such an important lesson.

$100 in the pot already + Villain $50 & our $50 = $200. Our call bet of $50 is then divided by the pot to give us the pot odds 1 in 4 which is 25%.

Break even threshold means - Required % to win on a bluff.

We make a $50 bet on the river (bluffing) into a pot of $100. Therefore we need the bluff to work, 33% of the time to be a break even play.

$50 bet + $100 in the middle already = $150. Divide that $150 by $50 and it’s 3, which is a third and so it’s 33%.

Vulnerability  (Basic Toolbox)

Assuming a hand is ahead, the likelihood with which it will be outdrawn.

What makes a hand vulnerable - 

Possibility of over-cards, Possibility of a straight completing, Possibility of a flush completing. 

Strategy to combat vulnerability-strong hands MUST be protected.

Non vulnerable hands can be checked.

Pot Growth 

Understanding optimum pot size. When do we want to play a big pot & when do we want to play a small pot.

We play big pots when we are capable of making the nuts & Mid strength hands or weak hands we want to play smaller pots.

When we flop very strong hands, we need to try and build pots. If we check to the river with our monster and there’s nothing in the pot, it’s going to be extremely rare to get stacks in anyway, so it’s best to try and build a pot. This means no checking sets after you’ve been the aggressor pre-flop.......

Aggressor in Position

Continuation Betting flop HU in Position

C betting in position & C betting out of position are so wide of each other it’s like Black and White.

C betting in position, you are looking at around the 65% of the time is considered the norm.

What to C Bet - 

Top Pair Top Kicker, all vulnerable pairs (except low pairs on big card boards), drawing close to the nuts (play our strong drawing hands aggressively) & decent backdoor draws like strong straights and flushes. 

Even if we miss playing our draws, we can still turn our hand into a bluff at the end.

What to check -

Our non vulnerable pairs, Dominated direct draws & dominated backdoor draws and all our trash.

Following on from the above, the next lesson was practical, so showing hands pre flop and then C Betting in position holding gunshot draws and so we bet at least two streets and possibly three streets if we have a read. So it’s not just having the cards, it’s the same concept for us holding nut draw hands to. (This is very important to remember)

(Just to add, these plays are based on us using our two cards and not one card.)

Also worth noting is, we have to be careful when holding a non nut draw or 2 card flush on the board, in these instances we need to pot control, so checking is fine.

Another thing worth noting, when we flop a low middle pair, we should be protecting our hand, but don’t go overboard. 

We do not C Bet if there’s 3 cards to a straight on the flop. It hits our opponents range especially if the straight is a high card one. 

C Betting in position HU Webinar

There’s only two reasons why we bet on the flop.

1. For value
2. To Bluff.

We do not bet for protection!

Things to consider when we bet.

1. Hand Strength
2. Opponent Type
3. Board Texture
4. Position 
5. Stack sizes
6. Stack to Pot Ratio 

Most of the time we know this automatically.

Boards to avoid Bluff C Betting are super wet boards like 8 9 10 or 3 card flush boards and one gap straight boards like 7 9 10. (Lower straight cards can be C Bet sometimes because it’s unlikely the Villain holds low cards)

Board textures to C Bet Regs with Fold2FlopCBets of 50% & Higher.

Super dry boards - hands like 338 or 559 rainbow.

Semi Dry Boards - hands like  862 or 973 rainbow. (Again, the higher the cards the more careful we need to be aware of Villains range).

Overall, we need a sample size of at least 300 hands to make this play as a bluff & in position.

We need to make the bet 50% pot & we need to be correct 33% of the time to be a profitable play.

Remember this is only for HU pots in position!

C Betting Turn In Position

What - C Betting Turn In Position 

Why - Do not C Bet Flop Without a Plan

How - Using existent Knowledge (Vulnerability & Pot Growth)

What to C Bet on Flop - Value Hands Worth 3 Streets Top Pair Top Kicker + 

(We continue to bet on the Turn Providing we still have Top Pair Top Kicker)

All Vulnerable Pairs - All Vulnerable Pairs (Vulnerable Top Pairs, weaker Pairs if draw misses) We Carry on Betting when draws miss on the Turn

Direct Draws - Close to the Nuts (We should still continue to Build the Pot with a Turn Bet if we missed)

What To Check on the Turn - 

Non Vulnerable Pairs (Call River with the best Pairs)

Weaker Draws - Dominated, One Card Gut-shots Etc)

Trash - Including Weaker Pairs when Draws Complete

(Never fold to a River Probe Bet when we hold second Top Pair.)

In the example videos - a mistake which is common (including me) is when we bet the flop with our strong hands like a set, but on the turn either a 3 card straight hits or the flush gets there and most of us check. This is a mistake. We need to keep betting. We don’t know they’ve hit the flush or straight and giving away a free card is a huge mistake.

When we hit 2nd or 3rd pair on the flop we need to bet to protect our hand, we need to bet again when the turn misses draws like straight and flush draws. We look to get to showdown on the river by checking. We still have showdown value v busted draws.

On paired flops when holding nut draws, we need to bet at least 2 streets and depending on the river check back some Ace highs.

Even when we brick the flop and we try and represent the high card on the flop, we need to check back turns that do nothing for our hand. If our opponents check the river we could fire about 70% pot to take a chance. Mainly player dependant if they are a calling station or not.

Double barrelling Turn draws HU IP