Quote:
Originally Posted by FGCFlash
I got that concept from this video which I now realize it was talking about the river but does that actually change anything?
It changes it a lot. On the earlier streets, most of your "bluffs" still have some equity, because they still have the chance to become strong hands. In addition, you might c-bet on the flop with an unmade hand and not expect villain to fold, but you think continued pressure on the turn will get the job done. On the river, with no more cards to come, your hand either beats the range villain calls with (so it's a value-bet) or it loses, but can make better hands fold (so it's a bluff).
There are no strict frequencies or ratios of value bets to aim for on the early streets, because it's not completely clear whether a hand is a value bet or a bluff. The terms aren't precise enough. What you should be doing on the flop and turn is constructing a betting range that has a nice mixture of hands that either:
a) want to play big pots because they are strong value hands that will often be able to go for three streets on most runouts.
b) have robust equity and can improve to a very strong hand (e.g. draws).
b) need protection because they are vulnerable made hands (e.g. bottom pair).
In some ways it's easier to build your betting ranges by considering hands that
don't want to play a big pot. If you work out what comprises the middle of your range (e.g. weak top pairs, middle pair, so-so draws) and check those hands on the flop, you can polarize your betting range by betting the hands that are better or worse than those mid-range check back hands.
As you proceed thru the streets, you'll stop betting with some of the weaker "value hands" if they have a bad runout, and give up with some bluffs, but bet the draws that 'get there', such that you arrive on the river with a range that is nicely balanced between "nuts" and "air".
Instead of thinking about "value" or "bluff" on the flop, think more in terms of equity vs continuance ranges, and whether you want to bloat the pot, either because you want to get called, or you're planning to run a big (semi-)bluff.