Player at my $3.5k WPT Hardrock main event table this week asked me about a hand we played after the event. I raised K❤️Q♣️ he called K♦️J♦️ in middle positions and the BB called Flop K♣️7♦️2❤️ I bet he calls Turn A♠️ check check River 4♠️ I bet a third pot he called. He asked me over DM if he should have started betting because it looked like I didn’t have the Ace, but the answer is no his check was fine. This is a classic example of being results orientated rather than thinking in terms of ranges and long term outcomes. You can’t expect to win every hand, just because you lost it doesn’t mean you did anything wrong. So let’s think about his perspective in a more analytical way. You don’t need to bluff hands that have a ton of show down value, instead you want to choose hands at the bottom of your range that have very low chance of winning at show down. For example if he called the flop with a hand like 66, 76s, Q♦️J♦️ those would be the bottom of his range and have very little show down value, that he can turn into bluffs to get me to fold hands like QQ-44. On the flip side his KJ beats all of those hands and won’t get any value out of them by getting, so it’s best played as a check to get to show down or possibly induce some bluffs out of me on the river. Understand if you are at the top, middle, or bottom of your range, then Top of range: bet for value Middle of range: check to induce bluffs ir get to show down Bottom range: consider bluffing to get better to fold, Last month I offered out a free 15 min bluff catching excercise video where I taught players how to figure out what part of their range their hand is in, and how to use that info to make decisions at the poker table. You need to know how to do this if you expect to be a long term winner. If you didn’t get it, reply “bluff catching” and I’ll DM it to you.
OK, just DM everyone who asked for the Bluff catching exercise. Will check back in tonight and tomorrow to get everyone else who messages after this
@FarazJaka Love that your willing to give honest feed back to an opponent
@FarazJaka I like your analysis. But I have a question. The intention to bet with KJ is to make opponent "fold a better hand". In this case, KQ and maybe a few Ax hands might fold to the bet. So, is it entirely wrong to bet with our value range?
What if I believed you were never checking the Ace unless it truly scared you? I also find you're going to hesitantly check call with all that I'm beating. Isn't it then a merged opportunity? Bet to beat for value all the skeptical parts of the range that continue. Bet to beat the higher part of the range that will fold. Not that the check turn call river is "bad", just that it exchanges my buying fold equity at the cost of allowing you to forfeit your fold attempts. (Yes I know this is crazy nuanced but fun nevertheless)