I tried to play according to my range instead of adjusting to certain players and their tendencies. I think, I'm misjudging my hand's strengths frequently and am often unsure, where to place my hand. Can you recommend any must-reads on this subject?

Some examples:

1) Villain is loose pre, but plays very well against other loose players. He's lost quite a bit of money to my stronger holdings though.

PL Omaha HiLo $0,05(BB)
BTN ($8,93) [VPIP: 58,9% | PFR: 18,2% | AGG: 33,5% | 3-Bet: 13% | Hands: 303]
SB ($4,52) [VPIP: 28,2% | PFR: 5,6% | AGG: 19,2% | 3-Bet: 1,4% | Hands: 867]
BB ($25,55) [VPIP: 54,3% | PFR: 10,8% | AGG: 27,3% | 3-Bet: 11% | Hands: 359]
HJ ($6,10) [VPIP: 56,8% | PFR: 20,5% | AGG: 50% | 3-Bet: 14,3% | Hands: 44]
HERO ($13,27) [VPIP: 19,1% | PFR: 11,3% | AGG: 29,4% | 3-Bet: 3% | Hands: 31583]

Dealt to Hero: 3 T 6 A

HJ Folds, HERO Raises To $0,15, BTN Folds, SB Folds, BB Calls $0,10

Hero SPR on Flop: [41 effective]
Flop ($0,32): A T 4
BB Checks, HERO Bets $0,20 (Rem. Stack: 12,92), BB Calls $0,20 (Rem. Stack: 25,20)

On this flop, I'd say my average hand is TPGK without lowdraw or TP-blocker with good lowdraw. Often accompanied by some kind of straight or flushdraw. Occasionally I will show up with 23XX or AKQJ type hands.
Considering this, I think, my hand is pretty strong and bet for protection.

Is my perception correct or is this rather a middle-strength hand? (My lowdraw is weak and I have no flushdraw?)

Which hand would be a typical (semi)bluff here?
What's the weakest hand that would still be bet as value?

Turn ($0,72): A T 4 J
BB Checks, HERO Checks

My best hands have a flush or a set. My weakest hands have a TP blocker and a potentially useless wheeldraw.

I see this hand right in the middle and check back, planning to call all low rivers except the 3,5 and 6.

I'm only betting flushes up to Q-high and naked Ac with a decent lowdraw in this spot.
Aside from rare stuff like 23TT, are there other hands that should be bet?

River ($0,72): A T 4 J K
BB Checks, HERO Checks




2)Typical example of how these games play. Flopping better than average as the BB in a limped pot.

PL Omaha HiLo $0,05(BB)
CO ($3,63) [VPIP: 51,5% | PFR: 3% | AGG: 20,4% | 3-Bet: 0% | Hands: 99]
BTN ($7,95) [VPIP: 58,9% | PFR: 18,2% | AGG: 33,5% | 3-Bet: 13% | Hands: 303]
SB ($1,38) [VPIP: 67,7% | PFR: 10,2% | AGG: 22,2% | 3-Bet: 8,3% | Hands: 167]
HERO ($10,66) [VPIP: 19,1% | PFR: 11,3% | AGG: 29,4% | 3-Bet: 3% | Hands: 31583]
HJ ($8,32) [VPIP: 82,3% | PFR: 1,1% | AGG: 7,1% | 3-Bet: 1,3% | Hands: 266]

Dealt to Hero: 8 8 T 9

HJ Folds, CO Folds, BTN Calls $0,05, SB Calls $0,03, HERO Checks

Hero SPR on Flop: [8,87 effective]
Flop ($0,15): 5 Q 8
SB Checks, HERO Bets $0,11 (Rem. Stack: 10,50), BTN Calls $0,11 (Rem. Stack: 7,79), SB Calls $0,11 (Rem. Stack: 1,22)

I used to check/call these hands and give up on many turns. But my range here is ~80% of hands, so that I'm sitting more or less at the top and I decide to bet for no other reason than that.

Is this a correct perception?
Does this apply to 3way/limped pots?
Is my range capped in this spot, because I'm raising most decent A2, A3 hands pre?

Turn ($0,48): 5 Q 8 K
SB Checks, HERO Bets $0,46 (Rem. Stack: 10,04), BTN Calls $0,46 (Rem. Stack: 7,33), SB Raises To $1,22 (allin), HERO Raises To $4,58 (Rem. Stack: 5,92), BTN Folds

K looks like a safecard. I can't range myself in this spot, because I can't think of hands that I would usually bet on the flop (not having a good lowdraw most of the time). Defaulting back to my "read others" play, I think SB is pressing buttons and BTN has some kind of (low)draw, because QQ almost always raises the flop. Blocking diamonds, I decide to raise for protection.

River ($6,74): 5 Q 8 K Q

Tough questions, but doing some analysis on spots like this should help you understand the game a lot better.


1) I think we are pretty high in our range. Top2 + weak low draw is a nice hand HU and I think I'd bet any top2. Note that we have a big range advantage on this board, so we can bet often.

Finding hands that could be described as bluffs is not so easy, just because our range hits this board so well.

Turn and river wp. I think you could find bluffs from hands with K/Q.


2) Your hand is good enough to get it in on the flop I think. I think both betting and check-raising are better than check-calling. I think you are weighted towards not having A2, which is a small issue on some turns certainly, but not the end of the world. They shouldn't have that many A2 either.

On the turn this hand is certainly a bet-getin. I think you should be betting many of the hands you were betting on the flop.

Thank you very much.

That opens up some other questions:
1) I have a general idea about what "range advantage" means. In PLO on a board like 458 BTN and BB have such an advantage vs UTG for example, just because of the type of hands that each position plays.

However, I find it hard to see similar differences in PLO8.
On a flop of say 269, does the BTN have an advantage over UTG, because UTG is counterfit a lot and doesn't connect well with the 6 and 9?

How can I learn to identify those boards? I was thinking about doing some sims like this one:

My BTN vs superwide BB:

ProPokerTools Omaha Hi/Lo Simulation

600,000 trials (Randomized)

board: A T 4

Hand	Pot equity	Scoops	Wins Hi	Ties Hi	Wins Lo	Ties Lo
30%	55.97%	223,406	356,066	11,596	161,979	15,930
70%	44.03%	153,248	232,338	11,596	193,499	15,930

My UTG vs same BB

ProPokerTools Omaha Hi/Lo Simulation

600,000 trials (Randomized)

board: A T 4

Hand	Pot equity	Scoops	Wins Hi	Ties Hi	Wins Lo	Ties Lo
10%	60.26%	251,080	397,016	12,612	147,089	16,032
70%	39.74%	130,617	190,372	12,612	198,527	16,032

Well, numbers are probably not accurate, I'm rather looking for a method.

2)
My cbet stat average somewhere between 33-55%. Is that way too little?
It comes to mind, because it is exactly these types of boards, where I often check, despites having the range advantage.

Hypothetically. If I start betting the J-high flush would I start bluffing with the J aswell?

Range advantages probably aren't usually as big in PLO8 vs PLO. Still, on say AJ9 or 345 UTG has many more nutted hands than BB for example. On 269 the difference is likely smaller, although pretty sure UTG has a range advantage over any position (most AA, most A23 etc). Pretty sure you can learn a thing or two assigning top%-ranges to each position and running sims.

I also play a strategy with lower cbet than most, but it's hard for me to say what is the optimal number. We are approaching things where I'm uncomfortable sharing all my knowledge.

Yes, I'd think so.

i agree about the effect and disparity of range advantages, compared to PLO for example.

what i have a harder time with are the high card range advantages, especially playing 5 card PLO. i do wonder if it's just a game where understanding range advantages is simply a mitigated skill.

Thank you for all you have shared already. If I understand you right, then I'll avoid strategy related topics.

I have another hand that I'm pretty unclear about:

PL Omaha HiLo $0,10(BB)
BTN ($12,08) [VPIP: 37% | PFR: 3,9% | AGG: 14,3% | 3-Bet: 0,7% | Hands: 499]
SB ($20,01) [VPIP: 36,1% | PFR: 10,2% | AGG: 22,9% | 3-Bet: 3,6% | Hands: 523]
BB ($6,62) [VPIP: 27,2% | PFR: 1,4% | AGG: 21,6% | 3-Bet: 2,5% | Hands: 451]
UTG ($6,34) [VPIP: 13,4% | PFR: 4,8% | AGG: 9,2% | 3-Bet: 3,2% | Hands: 192]
HERO ($15,56) [VPIP: 19,2% | PFR: 11,3% | AGG: 29,5% | 3-Bet: 3% | Hands: 34668]
CO ($10) [VPIP: 31,9% | PFR: 19,3% | AGG: 28,8% | 3-Bet: 9,3% | Hands: 475]

Dealt to Hero: K J Q K

UTG Folds, HERO Raises To $0,30, CO Folds, BTN Calls $0,30, SB Folds, BB Folds

On a table, where people actually fold hands preflop, I'll open much wider than in the wild games.

Hero SPR on Flop: [15,71 effective]
Flop ($0,75): J 4 5
HERO Bets $0,40 (Rem. Stack: 14,86), BTN Calls $0,40 (Rem. Stack: 11,38)

My hand is fairly weak, but not totally hopeless. Now I do something unfamiliar. I think, my range hits this board pretty hard and decide to play this weak hand very much the same way as I would play my stronger holdings, which should be A2QQ+,A2Jx, A23X, maybe A267.

Is this too weak of a hand to do that?

Where should I place hands like AKJ3, A36X? Right now, I tend towards check/calling those.

Turn ($1,55): J 4 5 Q
HERO Bets $1,12 (Rem. Stack: 13,74), BTN Calls $1,12 (Rem. Stack: 10,26)

Aside from K, this has to be the best turn in the deck for my actual hand. So I'm happy to continue my story.

From the strong hands that I bet on the flop, I will continue betting with everything that picked up a good flushdraw (Q+), and all my two pairs and sets.

I think a hand like A236 (no clubdraw) is too weak to c/c full pot, but too strong to fold, so should maybe be bet as a bluff? Only if we have K, A ? What about A23T?

I think, it's also worth noting, that we get raised very little and even less as a bluff. I imagine in tougher games, people are going to raise the NFD in my face here all day.

River ($3,79): J 4 5 Q 2
HERO Bets $3,63 (Rem. Stack: 10,11), BTN Raises To $10,26 (allin), HERO Calls $6,63 (Rem. Stack: 3,48)

My strongest hands have a flush and a low, my weakest hands have a set and no low.

Thinking about the lows I arrive at the river with, it's actually my two pair type hands that frequently make a second best low, whereas otherwise I'll often have a flush/set with no low or a wheel.

Right now, I do check/call the wheels without flush and bet the flush hands. However, I think, I have way more of the two pair hands, so maybe I should c/c with some of those, too?

What I didn't realize at first is, this hand is not so different from the others hands, I have. It's a K-high flush without low.

I think, I have to bet, because I don't want a crappy low to check back.

What made this so interesting for me, is actually HIS hand. I took my time and made an very unhappy call.
At first, I thought, "Wow, well played, put me in a tough spot there, man".
Now that I have thought about my range, I do think, his raise is very optimistic and may be a mistake, because I'll have him 3/4 so often.
What is your opinion?

In that case it's going to be an empty forum. I think it's OK to ask anything, just saying that maybe too "advanced" questions don't get good answers.

On the flop I think your hand is too strong to check-fold so I like your choice to bet.

Turn is of course a bet with this hand.

Your comment that A236 without a fd is too weak to check-call is interesting to me. I'd bet it and call a raise as the hand has decent equity against made hands. I think you are being too passive in HU pots. Also, NFD is a good calling hand IMO, because it has good implied odds. Hands with poorer visibility are better hands for aggression. Say top pair + mediocre low draw + mediocre flush draw.

On the river, I think both checking and betting have merit. If you bet, no way you should be bet-folding 2nd nut high. I think villain's river play is a very clear mistake. Against your sizing it's closer to a fold than a call IMO, since he has the A.

Being to passive HU: I think that's true. I think one reason is misjudging my hands strength and not knowing which hands are good for aggression and which aren't. Kind of what this topic is about.

Ran two sims to understand the equity better:

Not sure how I want to narrow villains range, if he just calls.

ProPokerTools Omaha Hi/Lo Simulation

600,000 trials (Randomized)

board: J 4 5 Q

Hand	Pot equity	Scoops	Wins Hi	Ties Hi	Wins Lo	Ties Lo
30%:A236!cc	35.59%	147,559	177,689	12,026	216,196	50,726
30%	64.41%	330,911	410,285	12,026	0	50,726

I put in, what I think, is a typical raising range in my games. To my surprise A236's equity goes up.

ProPokerTools Omaha Hi/Lo Simulation

600,000 trials (Randomized)

board: J 4 5 Q

Hand	Pot equity	Scoops	Wins Hi	Ties Hi	Wins Lo	Ties Lo
30%:A236!cc	39.66%	190,761	201,184	6,663	263,169	16,517
30%JJ,44,55,QQ,JQ)	60.34%	320,314	392,153	6,663	0	16,517

I think the first sim shows pretty well, how I got to my "too weak to call full pot" statement. It is typical for my opponents to follow up a PSB on the turn with another one on the river. I think to realize my turn equity, I have to call with the bare low on many rivers, where I can't really know, if I'm 3/4 or calling for half. On the other hand, if I hit the superwheel (and it isn't a club, 2 or A), I will get payed the maximum very often.

When you bet/call, how do you play the majority of rivers?

The second one really opened my eyes (I have to run more of those). Here I'm quartered so little on the river, that I can just call all the low rivers.

When I bet and call a raise on say HHLL-board, my range is weighted towards draws (made hands I'd likely shove or fold). So I'd check all pairing cards (even if I happen to have a boat) and bet many cards that complete a draw. Of course, depends a lot on stacks left etc.

I think, I'm starting to get the hang of it. You are playing a range, not just a single hand.

I have a hand that's not 100% related to the topic. I generally think, I played it fine, but ended up getting in behind, so that I'd like to have critical eye on it.

Villain plays hyperaggressive and might be on tilt, after losing 4 BI in very few hands.

PL Omaha HiLo $0,10(BB)
CO ($9,38) [VPIP: 43,2% | PFR: 31,4% | AGG: 28% | 3-Bet: 13,6% | Hands: 270]
BTN ($11,18) [VPIP: 56,4% | PFR: 3,2% | AGG: 22,1% | 3-Bet: 1,7% | Hands: 318]
HERO ($15,06) [VPIP: 19,4% | PFR: 11,2% | AGG: 29,5% | 3-Bet: 3% | Hands: 36356]
BB ($10,42) [VPIP: 34,9% | PFR: 13,4% | AGG: 11,4% | 3-Bet: 0% | Hands: 154]
HJ ($8,34) [VPIP: 66,7% | PFR: 5,3% | AGG: 20,8% | 3-Bet: 0% | Hands: 57]

Dealt to Hero: Q 4 A 5

HJ Calls $0,10, CO Raises To $0,45, BTN Folds, HERO Raises To $1,55, BB Folds, HJ Folds, CO Calls $1,10

I don't know, if 3betting is good here and it might be the reason, why the hand went the way it did. My reasons at that time were:

1) My hand is pretty good, but I don't want to play it out of position in a multiway situation. While the flushdraws are great, I'll have trouble with my lows.
2) There is no way, I'm folding this against the raising range of hyperaggressive guy.
3) If I want my 3bet range to be more than just AA, this is a good candidate to add. (Am I wrong in this?)

Hero SPR on Flop: [2,37 effective]
Flop ($3,30): T A 3
HERO Bets $3,16 (Rem. Stack: 10,35), CO Raises To $7,83 (allin), HERO Calls $4,67 (Rem. Stack: 5,68)

If I understand my sources correctly, then I need something like ~42% to stack off. I can't really say, if I have that much.

Again, this is somewhat unfamiliar. I could have flopped a lot better, but my 3bet range should be crushing this board. I decide to pot, expecting a fold very often.

Turn ($18,96): T A 3 K

River ($18,96): T A 3 K 7

I'd play it the same, I mean flop is a clear jam with SPR 2,5. 3-bet and your reasons to do it are good, too.

Hi Caterina,

On the topic of the range advantages I have an insight to share. Considering you mostly play NLO8 or PLO8 it is shareable.

It's about 3bet pots. Often in a 3bet pot, the 3bettor has no range advantage on flops that are purely high QK10 etc. oriented. A 3bettor often has AAxx or A23x etc. and these hands tend to play very badly on these flops. Thus as a 3bet caller, you can bet these flops more. Certainly when these flops are 3 different suits.

Hello and thank you, any insight is welcome. :-)

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

It's a couple of thousand hands later and I made the following observation:

I play very few big pair hands and most of them are in my 3bet range. As a result I rarely have topset and am generally superweak on paired boards.

To "fix" this, I want to add more big pair hands into my flatting ranges, especially, when defending the big blind.

This led me to a kind of fundamental question. How do I determine which hands to play and which not to?

Up until now, I have stuck with common knowledge guidelines that can be found all over the internet and small adjustments based on personal experience, but there is no real "plan" behind these hands.

Do you think, this lack of top sets/strength on paired boards is even an issue?
What types of big pair hands do others play?
How do you make specific adjustments to your ranges, when noticing a flaw?

Wall of text about my attempt at categorizing starting hands below:

Well, you should be flatting many KK. I don't think it's a huge issue that you don't have many top boats on say ATT. It's the same in PLO anyway.

Also, if you habitually 3-bet hands like AQQ4ds just stop doing so. They play well in single-raised pots, too, and are in huge trouble against 4-bets.

I was more thinking about boards like T88, my feeling is, people are attacking those almost 100%, but I'm not calling with say AKQ2.

The topic of 3- and 4-bets brings me to two hands, that a (very nice) regular and I have played and talked about a lot, without coming to real conclusions. He's reading this too.

He plays a LAG style game (35/20/8) with fairly light 3betting on the BTN.



This hand is really about 4bets. We instantly agreed, that he shouldn't 4bet his hand in position. Here he kind of makes the same mistake, I did earlier in disregarding my position when thinking about my 3bet range.

I did some math and he has to getin against my jam. But it left me with the question, which hands are we 4betting and which hands are we calling 4bets with? Up until know I would fold all my big pair hands and ABBw type hands against 4bet ranges that I assume to be almost exclusively Aces.

1) I'd always 4-bet AAxx BTN vs BB. You are pushing equity, it's as simple as that. On the flop I'd bet-getin with your hand, although checking and folding to some turns (say 3) probably isn't that different.

2) Villain's 4-bet is horrible. He is not pushing equity against your 3-bet range and he has a hand that plays very well as a flat.

Another hand, this time, it's specifically about the river.

Villain plays a lose game, habitually raising bottomset on a 3flush board, raising JT22 UTG and proceeding to pot into 4 people on AK3.
However, he gotin 3+ways a couple of times with the best of it.
We started the table playing headsup, where the dynamic was kind of him being super aggressive and me playing a rather defensive style.

To be honest I am not sure that playing 10 cents game against maniac we should be GTO balanced.

Flop check back OK, but wouldn't blame anyone for betting. Turn I'd certainly call with these reads on villain.

River raise is just outrageous IMO. Can't see him folding any part of his value range, thus for me river would be between calling and folding with your hand. I often click the call button.

You are right of course. I'm not trying to exploit my opponents as good as possible, but rather to learn the basics of the game. Exploiting certain mistakes is obviously better for the bankroll, but tbh I'm pretty sure, I actually miss all but the most obvious mistakes, my opponents do.

But by raising you lose more against that hand. "Can't see him folding any part of his value range."

Yeah, I edited my post, because I realized how stupid that statement was. You were faster with reading though.

Sorry

Another hand, I would like to have some feedback on. I'm not sure about all streets but especially the river.

Villain is a reg, who plays a TAG style, maybe a bit on the passive side.

Your thinking is still way too nitty in HU pots.

First of all, even against a relatively tight button open this hand is just good. It's not a matter of fold or call, it's a matter of call or 3-bet. Calling is OK, especially if he opens tight.

Flop I'd always check-call.

This is the best turn card for you (tied with 2). I think you should be check-raising here a lot. If you don't check-raise (but check-call), you do it to trap.

River jam is roughly 3,5x pot. You need ~43,6% equity to call (ignoring rake). Against a random A3 you have 50,3%. I think it must be a call.