31/21

I woke up early today, did some exercise and trained a bit of hand reading on the app, just 1 hour.
Later I'll take another study/training session then I'll play a session to put it in practice, I will just do what I set for myself to do today and relax after that.

NEW YEAR'S EVE

I was planning to see the fireworks at copacabana beach with a girl that I'm dating but since I'm pretty broke this year and she will be working at hospital that will not be possible, so I'll just get extremely drunk and high with my friends until I pass out as I traditionally do every year

The cheapest beer I found: OK



the new years eve joint : OK



I WISH AN AWESOME NEW YEARS EVE TO EVERYONE

03/01

I'm currently not playing a lot, just studying commom spots on equilab and taking some notes, I'll share my notes with you guys from time to time so it might also help those who are begining like me however take into consideration that some of my assumptions might be wrong. I just like to take notes of commom spots where I don't know how much strong I am or what changes when a problematic card show up on turn, etc.

I'll use this notes in my warm up session, I'll open equilab and simulate some situations that I saw before to have a better understanding of what I'm doing when playing.

SMART NOTES

AQs vs UTG open raise. AQs usually have 60-65% equity against UTG range. you should call.

If villain on UTG called 3bet preflop, be careful. he have a strong range of 5-3%, so even if on FLOP you have nut flush draw you'll have little equity(48%), just put money having TPGK or better.

when you have a flush-draw on FLOP and doesn't hit your card on TURN your equity will drop to 35% or worse since now you only have 1 chance to hit your Flush. check-fold.

KK vs 5% range(UTG call 3bet). KK have 78% equity against this range.
If FLOP had an A card, this drops to 60%.
However if another A show up on TURN it grows to 70% equity

If you have QQ against a 3bet range (less 10%) and a K show up on FLOP you have 55-60% equity. however if an A show up you just have 48%.

JJ on SRP is stronger than on 3BET pots.
If you raised with JJ from EP and someone called with a large range (25-30%) and on FLOP there's a Q, you'll have 70% equity. Even if an A show up you'll have 60%. Because his range is weak. only if two greater cards show up(A, K, Q) on board your equity will drop to 45%.

ps: again, don't take my notes as rules, they are just basic guidelines that are helping me improve my game

04/01

today I just practiced a lot of BB preflop, my SB is already cool, I'm kinda not commiting mistakes anymore, sometimes I spend some time thinking about what to do with some specific hands but eventually I take the right line.

I know that poker is not so simple and a lot of variables play a role when deciding if some acton is ''right'' or not, but I believe that knowing what is the "standard gto answer" for all the preflop situations can be useful when used as a framework to develop profitable lines against other players.

There's some situations where I just don't have a clue about what would be the right approach, having some idea about what would be the standard approach will give me some clarity about what situation I'm getting myself into.

This month I'll dedicate myself on dominating the standard preflop game, by dominating I mean being able to know what is the standard action in all preflop situations.

my open raising ranges and SB defense are ok, I'm also palying well on BB but I need to improve in some areas. about my 3bet game, I kind of know what hands I should 3bet and with what hands I should call a 3bet however I never memorized the specific ranges, which I am planning to do this month. SB is already dominated, I'm focusing now on BB game while practcing a bit of SB just to to keep fresh in mind.

05/01

Today was my first day after vacation, it was a pretty quiet and nice day, I was not busy at all and I could find time to practice a bit on the app.

I setted for myself the task of training everyday at least 1 hour on the app, no matter that the day was busy or not. I think I can find at least 1 free hour of my day to dedicate to poker, no matter how bad the day was.

that doesn't mean that I will ONLY dedicate 1 hour everyday, I can dedicate more time if I want and the most of the time I'll be dedicating more time than this. I just created this rule for myself to keep my evolution consistent (even if just 1% per day) and to keep my subconscious thinking about poker on a daily basis.

I think it might also work as a "stop loss" for productivity since I'll never allow myself to "lose" a day not improving my game, it doens't matter how terrible or stressful my day was i'll always have at least 1 hour of my day to do my task and improve my game 1% more than tomorrow.

after that I got home i played a bit to put in practice what I learned, just played a short session with 1 zoom table. I played well the most of the time, at least preflop.

A hand I think I played well

PokerStars Zoom, Hold'em No Limit - $0.01/$0.02 - 6 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat

hero (UTG): $2.00 (100 bb)
IBRODIAN-ACER (MP): $2.23 (112 bb)
Klement Reich (CO): $2.86 (143 bb)
bachoboi (BU): $2.43 (122 bb)
aut092604 (SB): $1.98 (99 bb)
erkin180 (BB): $3.33 (167 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($0.03) Hero (hero) is UTG with T♠ T♣
hero (UTG) raises to $0.08, IBRODIAN-ACER (MP) calls $0.08, 1 fold, bachoboi (BU) calls $0.08, 1 fold, erkin180 (BB) calls $0.06

Flop: ($0.33) 2♦ 8♣ A♥ (4 players)
erkin180 (BB) checks, hero (UTG) checks, IBRODIAN-ACER (MP) checks, bachoboi (BU) checks

Turn: ($0.33) T♥ (4 players)
erkin180 (BB) bets $0.20, hero (UTG) calls $0.20, 2 players fold

River: ($0.73) 7♦ (2 players)
erkin180 (BB) bets $0.70, hero(UTG) raises to $1.72 (all-in), erkin180 (BB) calls $1.02

Total pot: $4.17 (Rake: $0.15)

on TURN I had a set with my TT and villain betted 2/3 the pot, in this spot I usually raise him or go ALL IN but since he just called from BB preflop and checked the flop and I imagined that he was not with a hand strong enough to call my raise (I imagined him having TPWK, second pair, two pair sometimes), he was too much passive flop and preflop so I decided to deviate from my standard approach and call the bet and try to stack off him on river, which worked beautifully.

07/01

today I woke up really late, almost 11AM because I was really tired and needed some rest. at afternoon I trained 1 hour on the app to warm up then I started playing 1 zoom table with the focus of improving my BB game and hand reading thought process.

I played a short session but with full atention on what I was doing, thinking more deeply about what happened preflop when being on complex postflop situations on turn or river, being more selective with the spots where I choose to bluff on flop (taking more factors into consideration like strength of villain range or probability of my hand improve in later streets).

I'm noticing more the spots where I'm spewing money and correcting then, forcing myself to fold more and accepting losses.



A hand I think I played well

he betted flop on a board that didn't hit well his 3bet range what made me consider the he was bluffing with broadway cards or having the nuts, so I just called to see turn, if any broadway cards show up I'll just check/fold, if another weak card show up I'll check/call because I still have TPGK and if I bet he can raise me with his possible nutted hands and I'll have to fold since there's little probabilty of my hand improving, but if show up any card that improves my equity giving me something like a FD or OESD I'll bet against him since I have a TPGK while also having the possibilty of hitting a straight or a flush that can beat villain possible overpairs and sets

PokerStars Zoom, Hold'em No Limit - $0.01/$0.02 - 6 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat

UTG: $1.38 (69 bb)
MP: $0.84 (42 bb)
CO: $2.79 (140 bb)
BU (Hero): $2.38 (119 bb)
SB: $2.00 (100 bb)
BB: $4.21 (211 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($0.03) Hero is BTN with 9♠ J♠
3 players fold, Hero raises to $0.06, 1 fold, BB 3-bets to $0.20, Hero calls $0.14

Flop: ($0.41) 6♠ 9♦ 8♦ (2 players)
BB bets $0.27, Hero calls $0.27

Turn: ($0.95) 2♠ (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.55, BB folds

09/01

Today I just focused on practicing hand reading, that app is helping me alot to notice spots where I believe that I'm strong when I'm not and vice-versa.
the more I practice the more I notice new leaks on my game, specially spots where I have TPTK, Overpair, two-pair and the board gets too much wet or coordinated like for ex you have KQ and the board is K,6,7,8,9 or K,Xs,Xs,Xs,Xs, in this spot I always knew that my equity had droped when that happen but I never had an idea about how much, your hand become really weak when that happen and I always thought that I had at least 50% equity when that happen.

spots where I have a flush and there's 3 equal cards on board like for example J,3,3,3,T, I never had an idea about how much behind my hand gets in those spots, I probablly lost a lot of money in this spots without realizing what was happening.

What you guys think I should had done on river?

Hold'em No Limit - $0.01/$0.02 - 6 players

UTG: $2.94 (147 bb)
MP: $1.95 (98 bb)
CO: $1.80 (90 bb)
BU: $2.15 (108 bb)
SB: $1.79 (90 bb)
BB (Hero): $2.13 (107 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($0.03) Hero is BB with A♦ Q♥
UTG raises to $0.06, 4 players fold, Hero calls $0.04

Flop: ($0.13) J♣ J♦ 5♣ (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG checks

Turn: ($0.13) Q♣ (2 players)
Hero bets $0.09, UTG calls $0.09

River: ($0.31) 2♠ (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $0.15, Hero calls $0.15

11/01

Today I started studying UTG game, I think I'll learn this one faster than SB or BB since I already trained some spots in this position months before, trained a bit of hand reading also it's helping me find big leaks on my game so I'll keep doing it.

I decided that I'll study 1 specific hand per day like AK, JJ, T9s, for example. how that specific hand connects with some boards, when it's better to call or raise preflop and for what reasons, things like that. Always when I study that way I find some leaks on my game to work.

SOME HANDS

PokerStars Zoom, Hold'em No Limit - $0.01/$0.02 - 6 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat

UTG: $2.94 (147 bb)
MP: $1.91 (96 bb)
CO: $1.60 (80 bb)
BU: $3.36 (168 bb)
SB: $2.23 (112 bb)
BB (Hero): $2.10 (105 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($0.03) Hero is BB with 8♦ 8♥
UTG raises to $0.04, 2 players fold, BTN calls $0.04, SB calls $0.03, Hero calls $0.02

Flop: ($0.16) 4♥ 6♥ 5♣ (4 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.11, UTG folds, BTN raises to $0.30, SB folds, Hero calls $0.19

Turn: ($0.76) Q♠ (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $0.40, BB (Hero) folds

...

I know that Q doens't hit his range on turn, what made me fold was his aggression on flop on a board where he could had two-pair or a set.

I'm not sure but I think I have something like 55-60% equity here however I decided to fold since it's pretty rare to see players at NL2 showing all this aggression and not having the nuts or something similar.

HAND 2

PokerStars Zoom, Hold'em No Limit - $0.01/$0.02 - 6 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat

UTG: $2.68 (134 bb)
MP: $5.29 (265 bb)
CO: $1.10 (55 bb)
BU: $2.06 (103 bb)
SB: $4.22 (211 bb)
BB (Hero): $2.06 (103 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($0.03) Hero is BB with Q♣ J♦
3 players fold, BTN raises to $0.05, SB calls $0.04, Hero calls $0.03

Flop: ($0.15) 5♠ 7♣ Q♥ (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.10, BTN calls $0.10, SB folds

Turn: ($0.35) K♦ (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $0.20, Hero calls $0.20

River: ($0.75) J♣ (2 players)
Hero bets $0.72, BU folds

16/01

I'm still working on my preflop game, currently studying HJ position, since the way to play from HJ is similar to UTG it's been quite easy to know what to do the most of the time. I'll probably had finished studying CO anjd BTN also until next sunday, then I'll start with SB again.

I think that practice it's been helpful for my game because I was 3beting a lot with hands that are better to just call and calling with hands that are better to 3bet. I was also folding with a lot of playable hands when villain 3betted against me. I can feel that my game is improving by doing that. And I'm just dedicating 1 hour of my day to this, so it's been quite worth it to train that way everyday. I'll stop when I feel that I have a good grasp on all positions and the training is not having that much impact on my game as before.

I'm currently not putting a lot of volume on my sessions, I'm playing with more focus on study than on volume. about playing I like to switch between a volume focused approach and a study focused approach for some periods of time. volume is good because you can have a better idea about what is working in your game and what is not, it gives you a better perspective, the variance also have less impact on you. but sometimes I prefer to just play 100 hands, study the ones that I'm not sure with a played well, save the hands that I know I played badly on a folder for later review then start again playing another 100 hands. I feel that my game is improving that way so I'll keep doing it

21/01

today I'm at 24 hours service at my battalion so I was not able to play poker, however I practiced a bit of preflop game on my celphone, hand reading and also studied some hands from the forum, not a lost day.

today I was thinking about my new years eve and man, how sad I was. even though I passed with friends having a beer and eating barbecue I was sad anyway because of my financial situation.

It really sucks to be broke, to not be able to help a parent or a friend when they need, to go out with a girl you're interested, to buy a new cloth, etc. everybody treat you as garbage, specially the girls. It's a deep feeling of abandonment and loneliness tbh.

Anyway, this year I decided that I'll improve my game everyday, even by just a bit, even by just 1%. But everyday. I can't afford to lose any single day.

I want to start playing poker for a living this year, and I believe that I'll be able do that by august or september if I keep this pace of learning that I'm doing.
since I am from a poor country this isn't that hard, just beating 10NL is enough to make more than minimum wage here.

I just need to do my job everyday without excuses and everything will end up well eventually, I'll work hard to make my next new years eve be happier than the last one.

26/01

yesterday I was practicing BU preflop, which is my last day training preflop game this month. I'm not playing a 100% perfect and bulletproof preflop game tbh but I can say that I know the standard response for 90% of the situations preflop, and when I deviate from that is not a lot. from the beginning of january until now my preflop game improved a lot, specially when playing against 3bets.

That being said I don't see a point on keep doing this training until near perfection while there's many other areas on my game where I'm not good even on the basic level.

So in this end of January until March I'll just focus on improving my hand reading game the most I can.
I'll choose a specific spot everyday and see how my range and villains range connects with the board and who has the range advantage in each scenario.



then I take some notes on interesting spots where I didn't knew I was behind villain and vice versa.

26/02



since today is holiday and I'm at home I took the whole day to play / study poker. I'm playing 1-2 zoom tables with quality, way better than some months before. I took some bad beats today but it's okay, not a big deal.

I just return to work again at wednesday so I'll use this free days to dedicate some good time studying/playing,

I also streamed some sessions at my twitch account, if someone want to take a look:

www.twitch.tv/theicebergslim

Today I am at 24h duty so I cannot play poker so I decided to watch some "play/explain" videos on youtube from people that are beating 25NL to see what I'm doing wrong or right. I'm watching weazel the most of the time, his channel is great.

I think I'm playing way better than i was couple of months ago, because before my strategy was diverging so much from what they were doing. raising when should call, calling when should fold, fold when should call or raise, etc..

Now the most of time I'm playing similarly, not always but let's say 80% of the time. My strat is diverging more when talking about sizes, specially on the turn and river. I'm still struggling to put villain on the right range and choosing the right size, but I don't think I'm doing blunders as before. Not so frequently at least.

I'm starting to think that my current strat is beating the stakes that I'm playing, specially when I don't try nothing fancy and just play solidly. If I didn't reached that point yet, at least I can feel that I'm pretty close.

I'll start from today watching everyday at least 1 hour of play/explain videos at 25NL and bellow to fine tune my strat with what is currently working at these stakes and what is not. Then I will take some notes and later I'll review them before start my sessions.
I believe it will be really helpful for my game doing that on a daily basis.

I would really like to be beating 25NL until July and I think I have plenty of time go aftet that, 3 months if I'm not mistaken. Let's put the work and let the results show up when it's time. Wish me luck guys.

Donk less, 88 may be fine but 4way it's way easier to realize equity by check calling, then you could probably have called ott too

If you don't know when donking is theoretically allowed just never donk, that's totally fine when learning

I already stopped with the donk, I'm also starting to check-call more instead of beting.

Just keep trying to Improve by working hard off the tables and I'm sure you'll achieve your goals. Good luck

I'll keep doing that bro, thank you

I think I played ok today, no big mistakes or errors, just a couple of coolers as every single day lol



COOLER 1:

PokerStars Zoom, Hold'em No Limit - $0.01/$0.02 - 6 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat

UTG: $2.28 (114 bb)
MP: $2.44 (122 bb)
CO (Hero): $2.03 (102 bb)
BU: $2.00 (100 bb)
SB: $1.35 (68 bb)
BB: $1.74 (87 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($0.03) Hero is CO with A♦ A♥
UTG calls $0.02, 1 fold, Hero raises to $0.08, 1 fold, SB calls $0.07, BB calls $0.06, UTG calls $0.06

Flop: ($0.32) 3♥ 4♦ 6♦ (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG bets $0.20, Hero raises to $0.60, SB folds, BB calls $0.60, UTG raises to $2.20 (all-in), Hero calls $1.35 (all-in), BB calls $1.06 (all-in)

Turn: ($5.88) T♥ (3 players, 3 all-in)

River: ($5.88) 9♥ (3 players, 3 all-in)

Total pot: $5.88 (Rake: $0.21)

Showdown:
UTG shows 6♥ 5♥ (a flush, Ten high)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 22%, Flop: 33%, Turn: 38%, River: 100%)

CO (Hero) shows A♦ A♥ (a pair of Aces)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 62%, Flop: 35%, Turn: 43%, River: 0%)

BB shows K♦ 9♦ (a pair of Nines)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 16%, Flop: 32%, Turn: 19%, River: 0%)

UTG wins $5.67

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

COOLER 2

PokerStars Zoom, Hold'em No Limit - $0.01/$0.02 - 6 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat

UTG: $1.70 (85 bb)
MP: $4.44 (222 bb)
CO: $2.00 (100 bb)
BU: $2.14 (107 bb)
SB: $1.95 (98 bb)
BB (Hero): $2.00 (100 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($0.03) Hero is BB with Q♦ Q♣
1 fold, MP raises to $0.06, 2 players fold, SB 3-bets to $0.19, Hero 4-bets to $0.72, 1 fold, SB calls $0.53

Flop: ($1.50) 3♠ J♥ 8♣ (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.36, SB raises to $1.23 (all-in), Hero calls $0.87

Turn: ($3.96) 5♣ (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($3.96) 2♥ (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $3.96 (Rake: $0.14)

Showdown:
SB shows J♦ J♣ (three of a kind, Jacks)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 17%, Flop: 90%, Turn: 95%, River: 100%)

BB (Hero) shows Q♦ Q♣ (a pair of Queens)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 83%, Flop: 10%, Turn: 5%, River: 0%)

SB wins $3.82

OUCH

4b way too big with the QQ hand, in position 45c is big enough, if you have 4b bluffs you don't want to put in more than 1/3rd of your stack. If you were oop maybe 50-55c max

ran pretty good yesterday, luck was on my side. finally variance gave me a break

Some interesting hands:

PokerStars Zoom, Hold'em No Limit - $0.01/$0.02 - 6 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat

UTG: $2.00 (100 bb)
MP: $21.35 (1068 bb)
CO: $3.82 (191 bb)
BU: $2.62 (131 bb)
SB: $3.27 (164 bb)
BB (Hero): $2.29 (115 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($0.03) Hero is BB with 7♦ 6♦
2 players fold, CO raises to $0.06, BTN calls $0.06, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.04

Flop: ($0.19) Q♣ 6♠ 9♣ (3 players)
Hero checks, CO checks, BTN checks

Turn: ($0.19) 7♠ (3 players)
Hero bets $0.11, CO calls $0.11, BTN raises to $0.34, Hero calls $0.23, CO raises to $3.76 (all-in), BTN calls $2.22 (all-in), Hero calls $1.89 (all-in)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PokerStars Zoom, Hold'em No Limit - $0.01/$0.02 - 6 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat

UTG: $6.67 (334 bb)
MP: $0.43 (22 bb)
CO (Hero): $2.13 (107 bb)
BU: $2.21 (111 bb)
SB: $2.79 (140 bb)
BB: $1.97 (99 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($0.03) Hero is CO with 3♠ 3♥
2 players fold, Hero raises to $0.05, BTN calls $0.05, 2 players fold

Flop: ($0.13) 3♣ 9♦ Q♦ (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $0.02, Hero raises to $0.08, BTN raises to $0.20, Hero calls $0.12

Turn: ($0.53) 4♣ (2 players)
Hero bets $0.31, BTN calls $0.31

River: ($1.15) 4♥ (2 players)
Hero bets $1.57 (all-in), BTN calls $1.57

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PokerStars Zoom, Hold'em No Limit - $0.01/$0.02 - 6 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat

UTG: $2.00 (100 bb)
MP: $2.12 (106 bb)
CO: $3.63 (182 bb)
BU (Hero): $2.31 (116 bb)
SB: $2.21 (111 bb)
BB: $2.02 (101 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($0.03) Hero is BTN with Q♥ Q♣
2 players fold, CO raises to $0.10, Hero 3-bets to $0.30, 2 players fold, CO calls $0.20

Flop: ($0.63) J♣ 3♣ K♣ (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $0.22, CO calls $0.22

Turn: ($1.07) 7♣ (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $0.62, CO calls $0.62

River: ($2.31) 7♦ (2 players)
CO checks, Hero checks

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Current Bankroll: $27,5

16/02

yesterday I played a bit and got some losses in 4bet pots, always with AK. Not sure of it was a cooler or bad play, I'll study this hands better today when I got home.

I think I truly need to study 4bps, I know so little about this spot, It would be good to dedicate 3-4 days to dive in this subject.

Being honest I'm not studying a lot this last days, it's so tough to concentrate your mind on study when you don't even have the money to pay rent, food and other expenses properly and need to get money borrowed from your friends/family to tap holes that will become greater next month.

I just would like to have a bit of peace of mind to sit in front of my laptop and study/play the whole day with no worries. study poker while a bunch of problems are fallin over you it's so ****ing hard, I can find a place in my mind where I can manage to do it but there's some days I just can't .

I just need to have myself out of navy and get my release money as soon as possible, then things will get better for sure.

Later I'll play a session when I got home and post some hands here.

Life is tough even at the best of times. Use this as motivation to improve and move up so the money from poker is a welcomed addition for you and your family

Good luck man..

Even things getting worse and worse I know that I should only focus on the long term, so I'm doing my best to ignore all that is happening and keep doing my stuff as always, eventually things will get better for sure.

thanks for your support guys, much appreciated.

Hi!

I describe the algorithm for working on ranges on the flop, which we talked about there.
I think it will be more useful if I do this on your blog than it gets lost in the hand evaluation section.

Let's analyze SRP CO vs BTN as the most frequent spot when we play out of position from free positions.

For this I use Flopzilla. I'm old school and I still think it's one of the best investments for micro- and low-stakes players.
In order to understand how solvers work, we need to understand how ranges work and how we can form them. Flopzilla is perfect for this imo.
This is probably why GTO Wizard provides its solutions from NL50.



First of all, it is important to pay attention to BTN calling range.

Usually, the caller will always be cupped, but these spots should be divided into two categories:

1. When BTN has a wide calling range (fish)
2. When BTN has a narrow calling range (regs)

In the first case, we will almost always have a range advantage and it would be a mistake to refuse CBet on the flop.
In the second case, despite the fact that the opponent cupped, his range will be quite strong and we play mainly by range checking in these situations.

We can have a polar CBet like the solver does, but this will make our strategy much more difficult and the EV gain will be minimal.
Therefore, we simplify our strategy and check the entire range.

1. Setting the initial ranges of CO and BTN

Based on the Hand Research I have, regs at the micros BTN call vs CO Open Raise with the following range:


Let's take it as a basis and simplify it for clarity.

So we have our CO Open Raise range and BU Call range. Set them in Flopzilla.
Our CO Open Raise:


BTN Call vs CO Open Raise range:


2. Set the board

Consider the flop from your hand: J Q 8



As you can see, CO has a minimal equity advantage (51.5%).

If we look at this spot in the GTO Wizard, we find that CO has no advantage at all despite the fact that BTN has no premium pockets in his range.


This is because the solver has a tighter BTN preflop calling range than the average regular of micros. And we must actively exploit this fact.

Our edge is negligible, so we decide to play our entire range from checking.

3. Determining the Minimum Defending Frequency

Let's say Villain is linearly 1/3 of the pot when he sees a check from the preflop raiser.

MDF = 1 - (bet / (pot + bet))=1-(0.33/(1+0.33))= 75%

We need to protect 75% of our range so our opponent can't exploit us.
Solver has overfold in this situation:

In this case, the solver plays against the solver. If the solver plays against an opponent who bets 100% on a missed Cbet, it will actively counter-exploit that opponent with extended check/raises.

We can also have a small overfold (5-10%) when the advantage is on the opponent's side. It's cheaper to overfold on the early streets when the pot is small than it is to pay and fold on the later streets. We will compensate for this overfold when we are on BTN and CO will have to overfold in the same way.

4. Forming our protection range

We need to choose the required number of the strongest combinations to continue. To do this, it is convenient to use the equity matrix:


On this flop, it is enough to simply collect the required number of combinations for protection.

It includes made hands:

• Any Pair with board + (6 outs pairs)
• Pocket pairs 66+

Draws:

• OESD
• Gutshots

To keep this range exactly 75% I added 15% low pocket pairs 33-55 and 15% bdfd Axs.

These are the hands I will use in my check/raise bluff range. In order to have strong hands in the range on almost any turn runout (the nut bdfd becomes the nut FD, and small pockets become sets).


If during range forming you notice that you have to add hands to protect that you usually do not protect, remember this texture.
It's very likely that your opponents don't know how to optimally defend on this board either, and you can get an edge on it.

Save this range by File - Save As...

Now we need to split our defense range into check/raise and call.

5. Forming a range of Check/Raise

Value Check/Raise (26 combos):

• Straights
• Sets
• Two pairs

Over pairs will be left for strengthening the calling range.

We can add 52 (26x2) combinations of bluffs for our Check/Raise
For bluffs, we pick hands that have the potential to improve on the turn to a strong hand or a strong draw that we can continue betting with.
The solver composes such ranges more “smeared” and it is almost impossible for us to remember these ranges. But we can use them as an example to make up our more simplified ranges.

For bluff-raising, I chose the following hands:

• Part of low pairs 77-33
• 50% OESD
• 50% Gutsots
• 50% bdfd Axs, Kxs, 78s-65s (These hands were not in the overall defensive range, but I had to add them due to a large number of value combinations. We can go back a step and add them).

We get a check/raise of 26%.
This happened because we checked our entire range and decided to check/raise all the nuts.
Usually against aggressive opponents, we should leave some of the nuts in our check-calling range so that we have hands to counter their barreling and overbets.
But against an opponent who plays according to the strategy, "I bet 1/3 on the flop, and will see", such a check-raise will be the best exploit.
If we just float him wider, then we won't punish him, because by calling we give him the opportunity to watch the turns and rivers and realize his equity.

6. Forming a Calling Range

Now we need to launch the second Flopzilla, open the previously saved defense range and remove the hands that we sent to the raising range in it. This will give us a calling range.

7. Save the received ranges so that you can always return to them.

In adition

In the beginning, such analyzes will take a lot of time and their quality will be low. But over time, you will learn how to do it quickly and efficiently. And after a while, you can do it in your head without a Flopzilla. Not quite as accurate, but enough to punish regulars who didn't do it at all.
A strategy with errors is better than no strategy.

The resulting ranges are something like the optimal strategy from which we must deviate depending on the opponent. For example, if Villain folds more than 45% to a check/raise, we can further expand our check/raise range with hands that we would simply fold. Conversely, reduce the bluff part of a check/raise if Villain folds less.

You don’t need to analyze only one type of boards, you need to analyze different ones in order to have an overall picture of the formation of ranges. It makes no sense to analyze different monotonous textures with different runouts. The main thing is to learn how to avoid gross mistakes on each type of board and gradually deepen your knowledge.

We form a database of the main types of flops, after that, we study 3-4 turn runouts for these flops. After that, we will have an almost complete understanding of the game on this texture and only the river will remain. Most of the hands end before the river and the flop is the most important street - so you need to understand it well, feel more confident and be able to drive opponents into situations that are uncomfortable for them.


I tried to make it as short as possible, but it didn't work

I hope this information will help you advance your understanding of the game and move up the stakes.

Good luck!

Just stopped to say sick post!!

I'll be rereading this for a while

Thanks