Anyone use it? I'm on a free trial and so far... not sure. Maybe I'm too weak to understand it, but here is an example of why I am confused.

Hero has A Q CO.

One limper UTG+1 and one raiser MP 3BB.

Everyone has decent stack (cash-game).

Hero called (OK, not sure about this... maybe I should have folded... well, that's what PokerSnowie recommend).

Flop is:

4 4 6



UTG+1 checks.
MP bets 4BB.

Now...


PokerSnowie says this is a 100% fold...

But I checked with Equilab and I gave a range of hands of VPIP 35% for limper and 15% for raiser. With this flop I have 39% equity. I only need to put 22% to call this.

So why should I fold?

You have ace high, and no draw or BDFD, while MP usually has an overpair or two overs with a flush draw. You're also not closing the action (UTG+1 can still wake up with a hand). You should play very tight in multiway pots.

In addition, Snowie plays limped pots differently to real people. It expects the limper to have a much better hand that real-life limpers would show up with.
To that extent, Snowie is not ideal for learning how to beat (by exploiting) the weak players in the micros. It is, however, very good at teaching you a solid pre-flop strategy. This means you shouldn't be doing much calling pre-flop.

But Equilab shows I have equity to call... Shouldn't it be +EV every time you call with less equity than what you can get? Let's say MP raises only 10% of his hands in this position. Here is his range: 77+, A9s+, KTs+, QTs+, AJo+, KQo

Equilab gives me 32% equity, and I still need only 22% to call.

With my six odds, if I hit one, I can beat most of this range.

And since UTG+1 only called, he can have nearly anything (OK, maybe top 35% of hands).

I don't get it.

Another example:

OK I should have raised pre-flop, but postflop PokerSnowie says I should check. But in Equilab, with total random cards for V (because it was a forced blind) I've got 70% equity.

PokerSnowie also consider a bet but a much smaller one. I don't get it either. Wouldn't it make sense to bet strongly (like I did) to deny flush draw odds?



* * *

PokerStars - $0.02 NL - Holdem - 7 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

MP: 100 BB (VPIP: 10.34, PFR: 6.90, 3Bet Preflop: 5.26, Hands: 61)
CO: 40 BB
BTN: 107.5 BB (VPIP: 7.95, PFR: 6.12, 3Bet Preflop: 2.80, Hands: 330)
SB: 99 BB (VPIP: 45.24, PFR: 39.47, 3Bet Preflop: 28.57, Hands: 42)
Hero (BB): 47.5 BB
UTG: 122.5 BB (VPIP: 14.29, PFR: 14.29, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 7)
UTG+1: 103 BB (VPIP: 33.33, PFR: 33.33, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 7)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB, CO posts penalty blind 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.5 BB) Hero has J A

fold, fold, fold, CO checks, fold, fold, Hero checks

Flop: (2.5 BB, 2 players) J 6 2
Hero bets 2.5 BB, CO calls 2.5 BB


---

On the turn, it was K and Equilab gives me 55% equity (I reduced V range to 25% of hands) and again PokerSnowie says a bet is bad...

Another example:

I have KK and I 5bet it. PokerSnowie says I should have folded...

Come on! Would I really have to fold KK in this situation?

There's a difference between raw equity, and realizing that equity. You might think "I have a 25% chance of making top pair on the turn or river", but you'll usually have to call another bet on the turn, meaning you end up with about 12% chance of binking the river, but it's cost you much more than you originally had to pay. In addition, there's no guarantee you'll have the best hand.

I think before you even ask all these post-flop questions, you should be looking for, or making, your own pre-flop charts. That's what I did with Snowie a few years ago.
Go to the Scenario builder, and choose your format (full ring at the lowest stakes, or whatever), then click the Range analysis button for UTG. Make a screengrab of the chart and save it as "UTG", then make him fold and do the same thing for "UTG+1". In this way, you'll see what the opening ranges are for every position. Once you've done that, you can build scenarios like "UTG opens, what should BTN call or 3-bet with?"

---

On monotone boards, the player that is out of position should often check with hands like one pair. You should usually only bet with hands that have robust equity. i.e. flushes, strong flush draws, and sets. Betting top pair can be problematic, because you can get raised, and playing OOP with one pair vs a range of flushes and flush draws is very hard.

As for the KK hand, I'd like to see a screengrab showing the positions and action sequence. You might have stumbled on one of the rare pre-flop situations where KK is indeed a fold, but I doubt it. You were probably supposed to flat the 4-bet.

Thanks for the advice. I did this and the way PokerSnowie is made, even pre-flop you got the choice between betting 1/4 pot, 1/2 pot, pot and 2 pot. I don't think it is a good strategy to open by calling, so I chose 2 pot only. Only good hands there, but PS recommends raising with hands like A5s 78% of times or even A2s 10% of times... Isn't it a bit loose for UTG?

* * *

For the KK, really it wasn't a flat. It suggested folding. I didn't find the hand itself in my Pockertracker archive, but it was like 2BB, 3bet 12BB, 4bet 36BB and then I 5betted all-in. PS gave -EV at anything but fold.

KK hand, not much info on it but lets assume its 6max utg vs utg+1

There was 3-4 players in full-ring

BTW michaelorcharlie, do you undertand how the "Preflop advice" in "Strategy" works in PokerSnowie?

For example, I made UTG limp and UTG+1 fold. Then I click "preflop advice" for the next player and I've got the choice between 1/4 pot, 1/2 pot, 1 pot and 2 pot. Not sure what is difference between a 1 pot call and 2 pot call in this scenario.

I don't know how to post screenshots here, but it's weird... At 1 pot it recommends raising with 45s and 56s but folding all smaller pairs and folding 67s to QJs! At 2 pot you fold KQs... Don't understand the difference.

This is so weird...

Example:

1/2

SB: 1
BB: 2
UTG: 2

MP:... If I click "pot" on PokerSnowie, it shows 9$. I don't get it. The pot is 5$, not 9$. This is so weird.


----

Another example (try this).

I made a 9-seated scenario.

First player under the gun, click "1/4 pot" and it's $4. "1/2 pot" is $4.50" and "pot" is $7. In what reality does 1/2 pot is $4.50 and 1 pot $7.

This software is broken.

Honestly - you're making a heck of a lot of threads, most of which indicate you're not at a level to understand what this sort of software is doing. Try taking a bit of time to read the advice given in various threads, read some stuff on the background yourself, play some hands then come back

And re: your last point, the pot after you have called is $5. A pot raise is to 5+2=7. A half pot raise is (5/2)+2 = 4.5. A quarter pot raise would be to (5/4), but you can't raise that small, so it interprets it as the minimum bet you can make, which is to 4

It's just different bet sizings.
1/4 pot would indicate 25% of pot, but since it's preflop we cannot open bet for 3.75 (which is $3 sb+bb + 25%) so it automatically adjusts it to $4 which is the min open.
1/2 pot would indicate 50% of pot hence the $4.50 ($3 + 50%)
Pot bet would indicate 100% of pot - 3$ + 3$ +1sb (don't know the correct equation for this but on all platforms clicking the pot button would add another small blind to the sb + bb + our raise which equates to sb + bb + the SB we're talking about) whereas if there's limpers such in your case, formula for Pot bet get's a bit different.

The hands you can open for min raise are much more than those you can open for 2 pot. If we open 65s to 2 pot everytime it will definitely be a losing play in the long run, that's why snowie will tell you it's okay to open it for minraise, but not good when we open it for 2x pot.

If we open 2 pot everytime with AA it will still be profitable, but our expected value (EV) drops a lot.

Hope I was clear enough.
Cheers.

OK thanks, I understand. Still, it would be easier it seems to make it in BB pre-flop.

Still, strange things. TT isn't enough to raise to pot (which is 3.5BB) 1/3 of the time but A3s and A4s would be a raise each time... Maybe I'm not good enough yet, but it's weird I think. I'd feel more confident raising with TT UTG than with A3s...

A3s has more top pair + nuts potential than TT.
Add in some fold equity and A3s bigger size open makes perfect sense to me

Thanks...

Another question... If i want to simulate what to do against a limper...

Let's say

1/2

UTG: limps
MP: ?

I don't understand how to use the 1/4, 1/2 or pot feature. PS says I can call at 1/4 with some hands or call with 1/2 with other hands. Let's say I plug A3s on the player, the software says I could raise at 1 pot or fold at 0.5 pot. It doesn't make sense to me. The pot is already at $5. What should I do?

If I don't put the player on any card, I still have the "choice" to call or raise with some hands at 1/2 pot or call or raise some hands at 1 pot. I just don't get how I have any choice... If I call it's a call and it's $2 and if I raise it's not a call and it's at least $4. For example: AK is raise at 1 pot and a call at 1/4 pot while AJs is a call at 1/4 pot and a raise at 2 pot.

Regarding the pre-flop advice I was talking about, I happened to find my copy of the Upswing opening ranges. For full ring, you should play a fair bit tighter than they suggest for the LowJack (LJ), but this should at least give you an idea of how tight you should play in EP and how loose you can steal in LP:



Snowie's ranges are little bit tighter than the above.

Snowie always prefers one size for its range, but it can still give you different ranges if you choose another size. For pre-flop you're usually fine going with half pot or POT (I use the latter for 3-bets in particular), and for post-flop, half pot is about right for most boards.


P.S. I'll echo what Sixfour said about asking too many questions. Don't try to run before you can walk. Read up on the basics first. We're happy to answer general or specific questions, but not 20 esoteric questions about specific spots every day.

Thank you very much for this suggestion and for the time you took to answer my questions. Will try to see how I can adapt it to full-ring.

And you are right, I will try to slow down on the questions for a couple of days.