Mason, any idea when the kindle/ebook version is available?

this is fantastic advice!

whut.. even if all the players play perfect (gto) poker aqo is always a +ev open UTG, even 9handed

If the game is so tough you can't make money with AQ suited or not you should probably leave the game. Besides that scenario doesn't exist at low stakes live. Do you think you're gonna find robl or Gman or some 10-25 crusher sitting at your table?

This is the correct answer.
If it's somehow correct to fold here you shouldn't be in the game.

So you'd need some crazy extenuating circumstances to even be playing. For example you're in a must move game that's unusually bad and the main game is incredible. And must moves are very rare at these stakes.

Not if you are unwilling or unable to play close to GTO yourself on the later rounds. That was the point of the comment. AQ was just used as an example to illustrate that point. Meanwhile this idea that if you are not good enough to avoid misplaying AQ in early position you can't beat the game, is clearly incorrect. Because for instance, there may be a few terrible players in that game who, for instance, lose way too much to you when you, for instance, flop a set. (And if so, the player who we advise to fold AQ we also advise to play 22 even if the computer says otherwise.)

























not if

preflop minraising hmm? I still remember the first time I saw this. I think I had opened with AK and guy on my left min3bet. I 4bet and he gets all pissy and comments about just trying to "sweeten the pot" and shows me 78s before folding. From that point forward I just assumed all preflop minraises or min3bets were the same; someone bloating the pot *slightly* trying to play bingo poker. I guess maybe this works if nobody else is willing to target you for it? Personally it just seems so terribly unbalanced that it's highly exploitable to just auto-raise them with your entire range.

There are some really good ideas in this book. It might be good to make revisions though. It just doesn't make sense to open fold AQo. The point is good though to play tighter in ep with good aggressive players to act, which should pretty much never occur at 1/3 or even 2/5.

Bc 99.9 percent of the time they are and should be treated as such.

I've seen this a lot more in plo the last couple of years.but in plo hand equities run a lot closer together so your juicers can afford to call a 3/4 bet.

The book advocates preflop play similar to what you see at 1/3 etc. Limping a wide range, raising largish with big hands, smallish with speculative hands, small raise to build the pot etc.

The problem with the always raise / always raise the same size approach is you take hands like 44, QTs, KJo, and 87s and instead of playing 5-ways against weak ranges you get it HU or 3-way against generally better hands. So then, following the raise or fold approach, maybe fold those hands, because you it might be losing play them HU or whatever. I don't take as extreme approach as the authors recommend, but think the standard advice to always raise and the same size does not work well in 1/3 etc.

Cmon guys, read more carefully.

We don't recommend to "open fold" with AQ thus leaving money in the pot, but rather to simply fold immediately.

We make this recommendation not just to beginners who can get themselves in trouble when there are very good players behind them, but also to players who would have positive EV with the AQ but don't want the volatility of being first on the river or turn against GTO types that will sometimes force you to call big bets with significantly less than a 50% chance of winning. The chapter that mentioned this is called Acknowledge your Shortcomings don't forget.

The pot sweetener play obviously should not be used so often that it will influence opponents to either slowplay or sometimes reraise with mediocre hands. But if you only make this play sometimes and you sprinkle in a few monsters to 4 bet with, it should stop that from happening in most games. If it doesn't, you simply stop making the play. The point is that it is worth a try because of the simple reason that if a limp in late position results in an EV of x, a small raise that isn't reraised but is called by everyone, at least doubles that x most of the time.

In my previous book The Theory of Poker Applied To No Limit I proved mathematically, via a toy game, that it is not always better to bet the same amount regardless of the strength of your hand even in heads up games (even when the opponent knows your strategy and knows that the larger bet will only be a bluff or the best hands.) Page 251.

Not a shill account for OP. But the topic/thread inspired me to make a new account (can't remember details of old one).
Just wanted to share that mine has arrived.
Hopefully, I will enjoy reading it as I did so many other 2+2 books in the early days of my poker journey.

Perhaps I’m mistaken but when someone says to “open fold” I take that to mean fold immediately and when I’ve written things I believe I’ve used that term in that way

Raise fold or limp fold are terms people use when leaving money in pot

Change the Q to a J and I could at least partially get behind it.

If so, I owe deuceblocker an abject apology. (I should have realized that anyone who is smart enough to write "IMO it is way the most useful small stakes NL book out there." would not make an error like that).

It's not worth arguing about. Especially because we are advocating playing more, not fewer, hands in early position than others do.

How many players are so weak that they can't open AQo in EP but somehow strong enough to tell if other players at the table are raising and bluffing with correct frequencies?

Mason and David - how did you choose who's name goes up top?

Keep in mind that all of our examples are going with the assumption of a 5 + 2 rake. That rake hurts less when you hand doesn't win that often but tends to win big when it does. And it hurts more with hands like AQo.

Meanwhile the skillful players who would benefit the most when a weak or risk averse player plays AQo in early position when they are near the button, seems very similar to the posters who are trying to dissuade such players from folding that hand. Probably just a coincidence.

LOL…

Yea the skillful players are probably going to stop playing higher games to exploit weak risk averse players who opening AQo in EP. Amazing that thought crossed your mind.

That thought did not cross my mind. I was only talking about the better small stakes players and was mainly joking.

yeah...wont be buying this book with this advice. maybe some ppl will and hopefully they will come across my table

I'm confused.

Do we open fold AQo or simply fold immediately when ep?

Picking AQo makes it sound ridiculous, but it is legitimate to open tighter with unsuited high card hands in ep with good aggressive players to act. It is actually a good point. It doesn't apply much to low stakes though, even 2/5.

You pretty much never want to open fold AQ, unless late in a satellite or something like that. Open fold means it is passed to you and you fold. There are situations where you might raise/fold AQ or even limp/fold AQ if you play that way and it gets 3-bet.

A lot of the advice is not good if taken literally. IMO it is an excellent book if you look at the concepts, but not the actual advice on specific hands.

I got some ideas about preflop. I have been doing some limping, but it is good to see it is OK. Also, maybe better to raise smallish with say 77 or QJs than limp behind. They way people play at low stakes, you don't need to miniraise. 4xBB at 3 limpers won't chase many people away. Got ideas about raising small versus big. Also, got ideas about the way regs automatically raise limpers at 2/5 with junky hands like the limpers have. Maybe not the best play, and can be exploited with 3-bets.