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.

Pre-flop Raise Size IP vs Fish in Blinds

Make bigger pre-flop raises when IP versus a fish. Fish will not adjust their calling range. They will either play too straightforwardly and check/fold or make light call downs. Either way, its a win/win for us because a bigger pot size means a bigger mistake. Keep in mind that our hand is irrelevant for the most part. 

Example 1: Folds to Hero OTB with J5cc. There is a 43/14 fish in the BB. Hero's raise size? At least 3bbs, anything from 3.5x-5x is good. Of course you have to keep in mind stack sizes as well. 

Example 2: Hero has ATcc in CO and there is a target in the SB playing 35/22. The pre-flop raise size should be 3.5x-4x. The BTN is a 22/17 TAG but until he shows us that he is willing to make plays at us, we should isolate and play bigger pots with the fish as much as we can.

Make sure we stay consistent with the bigger raise size as this can be a big winrate boost!