Leakfinder: SSNL by MDoranD

Ax hands are good for 3-betting IP vs. TAGs and NITs. The reason is because TAGs and NITs will most likely 4-bet hands like AK and to a lesser extent AQ and fold weaker Ax which effectively makes any Ax the same in strength as far as kickers are concerned. With the initiative and added value of having blockers, Ax hands are great hands to add into your 3-bet range.

When you first sit down at a table, it is better to be aggressive than passive. People will generally give you more credit when they have no information. Once they get some hands, you can adjust.

Avoid raising donkbets without a valid reason, "because donks are weak" is not good enough. You are playing a guessing game and in most cases, it is better just to call or fold. Example: Hero raises K7o OTB and fishy looking BB calls. Flop comes AA4r and fish donks less than half pot. Hero? Folding is perfectly fine without reads. Unless Hero knows that the BB has a high donkbet % or has seen at showdown the type of hands the BB donks, raising here is nothing but guess work and most will not be profitable. Our game should revolve around us using all relevant information available and eliminate guessing. 

Always scan your tables for easily identifiable targets. If you don't see any, its time to shop for a new one.

MDoranD advocates taking lines that take away as much guessing as possible when we are in spots where we don't have reads. Example: A tight 16/11 MP (over small sample) opens to 2.5x and we call in the SB with 88 and the 17/13 BB also comes along. The flop comes K56r and MDoranD likes a donk here. Reason is because we don't know much about the MP's frequency when it comes to c-bet and double barrel. If we intend to put anymore money in the pot, we should take a line that reduces to number of uncertain variables. Our hand needs some protection and is strong enough to get some value. One other factor that makes this a profitable donk is that we don't expect the villain to adjust particularly well.

We should almost always be 3-betting a fish with JJ. Even against fish that have tighter PFR % like 43/14 or 32/10, a 3-bet is very profitable. Their PFR might be tight but they will not adjust their 3-bet calling range. 3-betting allows us to get more money in while we're ahead and win more when the fish makes a mistake post-flop. Another reason we want to 3-bet is to get the pot HU. We do not want to call a fish's PFR and then have the pot go multi-way with JJ.

One problem I have with my game is knowing when to isolate when OOP. This is something I'll have to work on, but there is one spot in the video that shed some light on the topic. 27/11 player limps in MP and it folds to Hero in SB with 66 and a 14/8 BB left to act. This is a good spot to iso-raise. It would be better if MP is a LPF of 43/10 but a 27/11 is good enough. We want to iso here to force the tight BB out of the pot instead of giving him a chance to see the flop with any two cards. Our 66 won't win post-flop in a three way pot very often without initiative. A iso-raise here will force out the BB and put the LPF in an uncomfortable position which will allow us to take it down pre-flop or post-flop with a c-bet.

I have always been unsure of what to do with AQ when a nit opens but MDoranD gave some pretty valid reasons to 3-bet. Even nits open up their range to some degree OTB. We won't end up dominating him when he calls or 4-bets but it is still very profitable because of how often he will fold pre-flop or post-flop when he calls to setmine and misses. Nits will most likely 4-bet hands that dominate us like AK, QQ+ and fold almost everything else. The profitability of calling to keep in dominated hands is insignificant because we will be playing OOP without the initiative.

Bet bigger when you are ahead of your opponent's range for value! Don't default to smaller bet sizes because you are scared to inflate the pot. Example: Hero has 6d6h in MP and opens. CO (44/28) calls and the flop comes 3h3d5d. What should our c-bet size be? Against this seemingly loose and somewhat aggressive player on a board where we expect to have the best hand a large percentage of the time, we should bet big. The CO can have a number of FD's, overcards and pocket pairs that will peel our flop c-bet. The pot is 7bbs, Hero should bet about 6bbs here and double barrel a number of turn cards that do not change the board texture too much.

Teaching Tommy: Episode 1

These are just some of the notes I jotted down while watching the video although there is a lot of very good stuff. This episode is definitely worth a re-watch when I go on a downer and need solid advice.

• Fish in the blinds means you can play a very wide range of hands even if the players behind you are loose. Until those loose players give you reason to tighten up, isolate and abuse the fish.

• Threads13 says that A3s is a good enough hand to call IP OTB vs a 21/17 CO open. I often just fold there, is that a leak? If these is a fish in the blinds, then calling is definitely profitable although I often fold all the same. Need someone to enlighten me on this matter. 25:00 A3s OTB, table 2.

• It is better to call with AK from the blinds then to 3-bet if our opponent's fv3b is high. Both plays are +EV but calling is likely to be more +EV. We make more money by keeping his dominated hands in and he value owns himself. A 3-bet will take it down often pre-flop but we could easily use a much weaker hand to do so. It is correct to start 3-betting AK when we know our opponent's calling range is wide.

• 3-betting from the blinds vs a UTG open. Threads13 does not 3-bet from the blinds much as it balancing is difficult to do and playing OOP versus a strong range is never fun.

• Always, always, always think in terms of equity: Pot Equity + Fold Equity. Make your decisions based on these two factors!

• As an extension of the post Pre-flop Raise Size IP vs Fish in Blinds, we should also make our 3-bet sizes bigger vs. fish when IP. Unless we feel the fish is adjusting their calling range by a lot based on our 3-bet size, a smaller 3-bet is leaving money on the table.

Coaching Kristy Episode 4

• Kristy sits down at a new table and immediately 3-bets 76hh OTB versus an unknown CO open. BW explains that if the CO is known to be a 4-bet or fold type of player then 3-betting 76hh would be good. Against an unknown at low stakes, we should assume that they tend to call too much which makes calling the open better than 3-betting.
• The BB cold calls Kristy's 3-bet and the CO folds. Flop comes 7s5h3d and the BB leads out $5 into a $11.65 pot. Kristy was lost on what to do in this spot and ended up calling the donkbet. BW explains that raising is better than calling here. Kristy almost always has 9 clean outs if she is not already ahead and she has a decent amount of fold equity versus better hands. Villain is not likely to put anymore money into the pot if he had a hand like AK or AQ that donked so raising will force him to fold his equity share. A raise will also sometimes force him to fold hands medium pocket pairs like 88 or 99 that he decided to donk/fold.
• MP raises to $1.75, folds to Hero in BB. Hero calls $1.25 with KhQs. Flop: Hero checks, MP bets $3, Hero raises to $8.50, MP calls $5.50. Turn: Hero? Board: Flop: 7s4h2h ($3.60) Turn: 9h ($19.75)
• This is a great spot to double barrel and maybe even triple barrel depending on the river card. The 9h improves our equity by giving us another 9 outs and we can credibly represent the turned flush. The river may be a good triple barrel depending on the villain's tendencies. If he is the type that will call the turn with JxJh or AhX and is likely to fold to a third barrel then fire away. Turn bet sizing does not need to be big since our value range is very strong on the turn so about half pot is enough.
• Hero raises UTG with AcAs to $1.75, MP raises to $6, folds to Hero, Hero calls $4.25. Flop: Hero checks, MP checks. Turn: Hero? Board: Flop: Qd2h7h ($12.15) Turn: Ad ($12.15)
• This is a mistake that I might be making too often. I will often times lead the turn once the flop checks through but the obvious play here is to check again. There are three types of hands the MP can have: weak showdown hand, air, monster. We maximize against air by checking the turn to allow the MP to bluff the turn by representing the Ad. Against his monsters, we will stack off by c/r'ing. The weak showdown portion of his range is difficult to extract value from regardless.

Full Ring Theory and Practice, Part 2

Theory:

• What makes betting, raising, calling and checking profitable?
• Playing a hand against a range versus playing a range against a range.

Betting/Raising

• There are three reasons to bet or raise:
• For value
• As a bluff
• To pick up dead money against hands with non-trivial equity
• Whenever we are debating the merits of a bet or raise, we must consider our opponent's continuance range relative to his entire range. We can often manipulate our opponent's continuance range through bet sizing.
• We want to use the information available to us at any given time to make the most profitable decision possible - not bet in order to obtain additional information.

Calling

• There are four main reasons to call a bet:
• Our hand is ahead of our opponent's range. You could refer to this as a "value call"
• Our hand has sufficient implied odds to extract enough value on later streets should we improve.
• Our hand is behind our opponent's range, but good enough of the time for a call to show a profit given the pot odds we are being offered. Especially applicable on the river.
• To "float": calling a bet because we believe we will be able to bluff a later street profitably enough of the time.
• The expected value of our calls must always be weighed against that of us raising. Just because a call is profitable does not mean a raise will not be more so, and vice versa.
• If we are unable to call or raise profitably when facing a bet, that is what the fold button is for!

Checking

• When we check and are not closing the action, it is because we are intending to:
• Check/Raise - for any of the reasons that raising is profitable.
• Check/Call - for any of the reasons that make calling profitable.
• Check/Fold - if we cannot do either of the above profitably, we should check/fold.
• The expectations of check/raising and check/calling should be weighed against each other, and also compared with that of betting. Fairly frequently all three will be profitable, but one will have a significantly higher return.
• When we are closing the action, the expectation of checking behind should  be compared with that of betting. Even if betting is profitable, checking behind may have a higher expectation in some situations.

Good Float

• Our opponent, running 14/10 with a flop c-bet of 80% opens in MP1. We call from the CO with AhQs.
• The flop comes 3h5hTs, and our opponent c-bets 2/3 pot.
• Factors that make this a good spot to float:
• Our opponent's range has a reasonable amount of air and his c-bet stat suggests he frequently c-bets his air.
• Having the Ah acts as a blocker to our opponent having many combinations of flush draws which he is likely to be continuing with on the turn should we float the flop, while also giving us additional equity.
• Having two overcards, we will often have three to six outs should our opponent c/c our turn bet on a blank.

Bad Float

• Our opponent, running a positionally aware 13/9 with a flop c-bet of 50% opens UTG. A weaker player calls from middle position and we call from the BTN with 6d6s,
• The flop comes JhTh8d, and our opponent c-bets 90% of the pot. The weaker player folds.
• Factors that make this a bad spot to float:
• Our opponent has a strong UTG range.
• Based on his c-bet stat, it is unlikely our opponent will be betting his air multi-way on an extremely wet board. His bet sizing supports this.
• Our hand has very little chance to improve if we are checked to on the turn and our bluff is called.

Hand vs Range or Range vs Range?

• When playing against an opponent who is not thinking about our range or that we expect to never develop any history with, we need only play our hand against his range.
• When playing against an opponent who is thinking about our range, we should be attempting to play our range optimally against his range. Otherwise, we will inevitably develop tendencies which are trivially exploitable to a thinking player that is paying attention.
• By playing a range against a range well, we may sometimes sacrifice expected value with some parts of our range in order to gain a larger amount with others.

My Thoughts:

Definitely a video I would re-watch as the information is presented in a very clear and precise manner. The first 15 minutes of the video touches on basic theories but the explanations are top notch. Beginning and intermediate players could benefit from watching and re-watching that part to refresh their memory, especially when running or playing bad. The rest of the video is made up of HH review, live play, and a quick HEM stats review.

I very much like RonFar3's style of play and wish to emulate it. He puts a lot of thought into his decisions and goes through/compare all his options to choose the one that is MOST +EV. As a result, his style of play lends itself to more checking and less c-betting compared to other winning players. 

I feel that most people, myself included, overuse the c-bet as a standard strategy but fail to consider all their options. I need to seriously take a serious look at my game and see if I can improve in that aspect.

Coaching Kristy Episode 3

• It is not a big deal to get bluffed off the best hand, but it is a big deal to pay off with a worse hand. This changes as you move up in stakes where people bluff much more often. 
• At the low stakes, even the most aggressive of players rarely bluff often enough to merit adjusting our strategy.
• When a good aggressive player starts to 3-bet us a lot. We should adjust by 3-bet/5-bet'ing with a range like AJ+, any pp and call with all the hands we don't want to stack off pre-flop.
• Against a 4-bet range of JJ+/AK and junk, TT and 33 are the same. If someone 4-bets you with a wide range but only stacks off to 5-bet with JJ+/AK, you can 5-bet shove 33. 
• Being OOP is a huge disadvantage. In spots where our equity range vs range is 50/50, positional advantage can tip the scale towards the player in position. A 50/50 situation can suddenly turn into a 60/40 or even a 70/30 in favor of the player in position. Similar theory can be used for skill advantage, but position is often more valuable.
• So even if someone is opening ATC on the button, it doesn't mean you can defend wide from the blinds. His positional advantage can and will tip even a 60/40 situation in his favor. That's why 3-betting is often better than calling when OOP, because it reduces the positional advantage by lowering the SPR and giving you the initiative.
• If a good aggressive player or bad aggressive player is 3-betting you with a unbalanced polarized range weighted toward bluffs, start calling them OOP with very strong hands and 4-bet more trash hands. Our card advantage will be so significant that his positional advantage cannot make up for it. We can do this until we get deep because then positional and skill advantage becomes more important.
• An extreme example is if we know someone 3-bets a hand like 72o, we should call with AA instead of 4-bet. Our card advantage is so great that we are not concerned about being outplayed. (This was not discussed in the video, but as soon as your opponent sees that you are flatting very strong hands, you need to re-adjust your strategy because your 4-bet range will become too weak.)
• Calling OOP with strong hands is also very dependent on exactly what type of hands they are 3-betting and if they will stack off light post-flop. 

Coaching Kristy Episode 2

• How does the button opening range change 3 handed versus 6 handed?
• No changes at all. It's the same as playing 6 handed with the first 3 positions folding. (Not sure I agree with this. If this is the case for 3 handed, then why not for HU?)
• Try to create as much passive dead money versus bad players as they will let us get away with. Against good players, this won't work because they will 3-bet us or raise us.
• Much thought needs to be put into 3-betting from the blinds versus a EP raise. Our perceived range is often very strong with a 3-bet which will force out all but the top of our opponents' range. If this is the case, calling may be better than 3-betting when we have a very strong hand to keep dominated hands in and extract value post-flop.
• You should be more apt to slow play when the board is dry, you can't be outdrawn, and there are very few turn scare cards for you and your opponent. 
• Example: 77 on J27r.
• Board is extremely dry and there are very few scare turn cards. Overcards could even improve opponent's range.
• Be in control of your game instead of getting into reg wars. The ones who move up through the stakes are the ones who don't care and try to play their best at all times. Getting tilted or trying to get back at another player is detrimental to your overall game.
• Polarized versus depolarized turn play in position. Against an aggressive player who will c/r our bets, we should polarize our betting range. Against a passive player who likes to call, we should depolarize our betting range. (what about when we are OOP?)

Coaching Kristy Episode 1

• BW seems to really like the idea of 3-betting Ax type hands, probably A7 or A8 and better.
• Don't stop being aggressive until your opponents GIVE you reason to.
• "Cross that bridge when you come to it"
• "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"
• So don't stop raising, 3-betting or c-betting until your opponents play back at you by floating, c/r'ing, 4-betting, etc.
• Have a sense of urgency when there is a fish at your table. Imagine him with a timer over his head and every second and hand that goes by where you are not involved, that timer counts down until he loses all his money. With that in mind, it is OK to play more hands than normal and push thinner edges in an attempt to stack him. If he wins, then his timer increases, giving you yet more time to get your money back and some.
• Example from video: Bad Aggressive UTG with ~60bbs raises to $1.75, CO calls, Hero in SB with Ad8s raises to $7.50, Bad UTG raises All-in to $27.65, CO folds, Hero?
• Hero decides to squeeze a Bad Aggressive UTG open and gets 4-bet shoved on. She is getting 2:1 on the call at this point and this is a great spot to push our thin edge. The 3-bet squeeze in and of itself is profitable and getting 2:1 against a player who is capable of playing back with a wide range, a call here is mandatory. Even if she doubles him up, she will have future opportunities to stack him.
• Hero calls and UTG shows Q5o
• Folds to Hero in HJ with 87hh. Hero raise to $1.75, BTN (14/10) calls $1.75. Flop: Hero bets $3, BTN calls $3. Turn: Hero? Board: Flop: Ts5cTc ($4.05) Turn: 7s ($9.75)
• BW explains that by betting the turn we are denying the villain an opportunity to realize his equity which is another way in which we gain value. The villain's range on this flop will consist of a lot of floats, pocket pairs, some draws, and monsters such as Tx and 55. The 7 on the turn improves our hand to beat some pocket pairs, floats, 5x, and draws with high cards. By betting the turn, we deny our opponent odds to realize his equity and the opportunity to play perfectly and for thin value. Overcards have roughly 12% equity and draws have more. 
• Calling to keep the fish in vs. immediate value. Unless there is a very compelling reason to keep the fish in or if the situation in which your immediate value is very thin, you should always go for the immediate value. 
• Example: 3-betting ATo vs a loose player or calling to keep a loose SB fish in. If you had a hand like JTo, calling would be better since 3-betting would be too thin. ATo is too strong to flat and the immediate value is too great.
• Try things out early in the session to see if it works. c/r someone you think will fold a lot, raise a donk to see if they will fold, 3-bet someone to see how they respond, etc. Finding out early in the session allows you to play better later as you have valuable information on your opponents.