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You can CRUSH low-stakes poker with a solid understanding of preflop strategy.
Preflop is NOT about memorizing exact ranges and trying to replicate them perfectly.
It is about having good fundamentals and preflop mechanics.
Here are 3 preflop mechanics you MUST master... 🧵👇
Preflop is NOT about memorizing exact ranges and trying to replicate them perfectly.
It is about having good fundamentals and preflop mechanics.
Here are 3 preflop mechanics you MUST master... 🧵👇
Preflop strategy is probably the most solved and easy to learn part of poker.🤔
And STILL, so many people have little idea of what to do preflop, leading to huge blunders. 📉📉
I want to talk about 3 things that will immediately improve your preflop strategy in order to dominate. 🧠
-Preflop Raise First In Mechanics.
-3-Betting Mechanics.
-Preflop Tips For Short Stack Play.
And STILL, so many people have little idea of what to do preflop, leading to huge blunders. 📉📉
I want to talk about 3 things that will immediately improve your preflop strategy in order to dominate. 🧠
-Preflop Raise First In Mechanics.
-3-Betting Mechanics.
-Preflop Tips For Short Stack Play.
Firstly, I want to talk about position because position is everything! 💯
The later your position, the more often you should raise.
That's because the likelihood that someone in front of you has a good hand decreases & you have a higher chance of stealing the blinds and ante(s).
Most people are too loose in early position and too tight in late position.
You really want to focus on getting to see flops in position, ESPECIALLY at deep stacks, because the deeper your stacks, the bigger your advantage.
The later your position, the more often you should raise.
That's because the likelihood that someone in front of you has a good hand decreases & you have a higher chance of stealing the blinds and ante(s).
Most people are too loose in early position and too tight in late position.
You really want to focus on getting to see flops in position, ESPECIALLY at deep stacks, because the deeper your stacks, the bigger your advantage.
Let's take a look at some RFI ranges for EP (Early Position) vs LP (Late Position)... 👇
The second thing I want to discuss is 3-betting linear vs polarized strategies.
Linear Range: A range made up of your best hands as well as thin value hands.
Polarized Range: A range made up of your best hands as well as bluffs, calling hands that are in between the two.
Linear Range: A range made up of your best hands as well as thin value hands.
Polarized Range: A range made up of your best hands as well as bluffs, calling hands that are in between the two.
Let's look at some examples of when you should use a linear strategy, and when you should use a polarized strategy... 👇
So when should we deviate from the GTO strategy?
Let's assume we're 100bb's deep on the BTN vs a raise from the CO.
We have ATs, which is normally a pure call.
BUT, we know our opponent will call a 3-bet with basically any offsuit ace, most offsuit high cards, and he will not 4-bet bluff, which is the case for many small stakes players who are overly weak & tight.
Well, we get to profitably 3-bet every time, even though the charts don't say we can!
So we get to 3-bet a linear range a ton for value rather than calling.
Let's assume we're 100bb's deep on the BTN vs a raise from the CO.
We have ATs, which is normally a pure call.
BUT, we know our opponent will call a 3-bet with basically any offsuit ace, most offsuit high cards, and he will not 4-bet bluff, which is the case for many small stakes players who are overly weak & tight.
Well, we get to profitably 3-bet every time, even though the charts don't say we can!
So we get to 3-bet a linear range a ton for value rather than calling.
You also want to use a linear range in situations where you do not have any calls.
For example, if we're on the SB vs a BTN raise at 100bb's, we want to 3-bet every hand that we're going to play due to being out of position & not wanting to pay rake.
For example, if we're on the SB vs a BTN raise at 100bb's, we want to 3-bet every hand that we're going to play due to being out of position & not wanting to pay rake.
So when your opponents are terrible, and they're going to call with everything, 3-bet aggressively & crush them!
Next... when do you want to 3-bet with a polarized range? 👀
You want to 3-bet against players that will fold too often when you 3-bet.
If your opponent will just raise fold AJo, then you get to aggressively 3-bet all sorts of hands and you'll be getting better hands to fold at a high frequency.
AND, many players won't 4-bet hands they should be, such as AKo/JJ/QQ, which will allow you to realize equity with the bluffs that you have very often.
You want to 3-bet against players that will fold too often when you 3-bet.
If your opponent will just raise fold AJo, then you get to aggressively 3-bet all sorts of hands and you'll be getting better hands to fold at a high frequency.
AND, many players won't 4-bet hands they should be, such as AKo/JJ/QQ, which will allow you to realize equity with the bluffs that you have very often.
You also want to 3-bet with a polarized range in situations where you want to have lots of calls.
Notice the below chart for the BTN vs CO raise at 100bb; we have a ton of calls with hands like ATs/AJs.
Facing a 4-bet with these hands would be miserable, so we want to do a ton of calling as we don't want to fold and give up our advantage of being IP.
This means our 3-betting strategy becomes very polarized.
Our bluffs contain strong blockers of strong hands our opponent may have and good playability postflop when we do get called. 👇
Notice the below chart for the BTN vs CO raise at 100bb; we have a ton of calls with hands like ATs/AJs.
Facing a 4-bet with these hands would be miserable, so we want to do a ton of calling as we don't want to fold and give up our advantage of being IP.
This means our 3-betting strategy becomes very polarized.
Our bluffs contain strong blockers of strong hands our opponent may have and good playability postflop when we do get called. 👇
Tip number 3!
High cards are VITAL when you are short-stacked.
All of the pretty hands that are great to stack your opponents when deep stacked go waaay down in value.
Making top pair and stacking off goes way up in value and is vital to a short stacked preflop strategy.
Play more hands with high cards in them both with RFI's & 3-bets!!!
High cards are VITAL when you are short-stacked.
All of the pretty hands that are great to stack your opponents when deep stacked go waaay down in value.
Making top pair and stacking off goes way up in value and is vital to a short stacked preflop strategy.
Play more hands with high cards in them both with RFI's & 3-bets!!!
Let's take a look at some short-stacked preflop strategy ranges & examples... 👇
So that is it!
Those are 3 mechanics to master preflop strategy.
To recap...
1. Position is everything!
-Look to play way more hands in position and be tight in early position.
2. Use linear & polarized 3-betting strategies where appropriate.
-Linear range when you'll get called often
-Polarized range when your opponent will fold or 4-bet
3. High cards are vital when short-stacked!
-Stop playing speculative hands and start looking to make top pair!
You can check out my full video below!
Those are 3 mechanics to master preflop strategy.
To recap...
1. Position is everything!
-Look to play way more hands in position and be tight in early position.
2. Use linear & polarized 3-betting strategies where appropriate.
-Linear range when you'll get called often
-Polarized range when your opponent will fold or 4-bet
3. High cards are vital when short-stacked!
-Stop playing speculative hands and start looking to make top pair!
You can check out my full video below!
If you liked this thread, give it a like & retweet. 👍
I appreciate it very much! ❤️
I appreciate it very much! ❤️
https://twitter.com/JonathanLittle/status/1699116379897786525
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