In the last part, I had you spend some time observing and studying people's folding tendencies. Before I get into the next assignment which will help you use this information, I wanted to show you a couple of real life examples.
Hand #1
It was early in the tournament and all the stacks were relatively deep. A player in the 2 seat had limped in five times and called three raises, while folding to two.
To the casual observer, this wouldn't seem like much information to work with. In fact, you would probably think that you would need a legitimate hand to raise this guy's limps with because of his proclivity for calling. A closer look at the hands in question reveals some crucial information. The three raises he called were smallish raises of 3-4 times the big blind. The two raises he folded to were bigger raises. One was 8 times the big blind and the other was 10 times the big blind.
Fast forward to about three orbits later. The money is shallower now, the blinds are 25/50 and I have 1,350 in chips in front of me and my opponent has 1,200. It is folded to my opponent who limps in from middle position. I have 9-5 off suit in the small blind and it is folded to me. Usually, this is not a hand I would play but I felt this was a spot where I could pick up a free 100 in chips. I make it 400 to go (8 times the big blind) and like clockwork he folds.
I don't want to overuse this move, however, so I only do it occasionally. For the next two hours, I manage to pick up four more uncontested pots from this player in similar fashion. Only one time did I actually have a hand (which I of course showed to make him feel good). Unfortunately for me, he would eventually go broke.
Hand #2
This type of scenario is actually a very common one in tournament poker. Player X raises first to act and is called by Player Y. Player X continuation bets the flop and Player Y calls. Player X checks the turn and Player Y bets. Player X folds. If you can spot the Player X types, this is a very exploitable and profitable situation. Ideally, what you are looking for is someone who is an auto continuation better who shuts down once he is called and has nothing.
I had just moved to a table in the middle stages of the tournament and had only seen my opponent play two hands. Each time, he raised first to act and made a continuation bet on the flop. The first time, he was able to win the pot when his opponent folded. The second time, he checked on the turn after being called and folded when his opponent bet. I stored this information for later use.
It would not be until nearly an hour later that I would have the opportunity to use it. I had been card dead but had managed to pick my spots here and there to maintain my stack. My opponent was fairly aggressive and people, for the most part, relented to his continuation bets. The blinds were at 200/400 and I had 10,300 in front of me while my opponent had 14,500. He raised first to act from middle position and I flat called from the cutoff with J-5 suited. I wasn't calling this raise to try and hit the flop. I called it because I planned on taking the pot from him on the turn. This is a risky play because there is the chance he does actually have a hand or improves on the flop or turn, but I'd say over the long run the risk is worth it.
We see the flop, and predictably he bets 2,500 into the 4,000 or so pot. I call, leaving myself with approximately 6,000 in chips. Oh, the flop was 9-6-2 rainbow. The turn is a 4 and he checks. The pot size is now 9,000. I'm a big believer in never bluffing off your entire stack, which is exactly what most people would do here. To me, that bet is more likely to get called then say a bet of 1/3 the pot or 3,000. That is the amount I would bet if I wanted a call anyway. If I didn't want a call, how much would I bet? All in. The key when making a bluff is to make it believable. A bet of 3,000 in this instance makes it look like I want action. It's a bet I've made before at this table when I've had a good hand. My opponent knows this. If by chance, he does actually have a hand and is going for the check raise, I can save face and still survive. If I had moved all in, that option would be gone. Needless to say, I made a bet of 3,000 and my opponent folded.
Those were just a couple of examples where picking up on WHEN a person folded enabled me to pick up some relatively easy pots holding nothing. That's why observing and figuring out these tendencies is so important. Now, on to the next assignment.
Using what you learned in the previous assignment, you are to play in a minimum of three NLHE tournaments. During the tournament you are to do the following based upon what your observation of a particular player is. A "folder" for a particular stage means that they fold for that given situation. It is your job to evaluate players and determine if they are that (you can usually figure it out in the first orbit or two).
For all of these situations, you need to ensure that you are at a minimum three handed or less in order to do it. If the pot is multi-way, ignore these instructions. If any bet is raised or not covered by these situations, use your best discretion in proceeding. The best way to go about this assignment is to map out your table using five categories and to place a player in the appropriate category if it meets them and act accordingly if you are in a hand with them.
Pre-flop
Blinds: If you are first to act in late middle position or later and the person in the BB is a "folder" and there is no calling station between the two of you, raise with any two.
Limpers: If there is a limper that is a "folder" and you can safely raise (meaning you are in fairly late position and can isolate), raise to 4x the BB total bet with any two.
Raiser: If there is a raiser that is a "folder," reraise their raise using what you feel is the threshold raise (minimum amount you can raise to get them to fold). Only use this one if you believe you have a greater than average chance of success.
Post-flop
Check: If a person is a "folder" and they check to you, make the bet amount that is the threshold bet, regardless of whether they raised pre-flop or not or bet on the flop. This is regardless of your hand.
Bet: If a person is a "folder" and they have bet, raise the threshold amount, regardless of the strength of your hand.
Upon completion of the assignment, answer the following questions for your own benefit.
1. Were you able to identify people who were "folders" for particular areas? How were you able to do this?
2. For each of the five different areas answer the following questions:
a. What was the success rate of betting with nothing to get a "folder" to fold?
b. If they did not fold, what was their action and the general outcome of the hand
c. Did this work well, if so why did it? If not, what were the problems?
3. General summary of the “folding” assignments. What did you learn? What can you use going forward?
Hopefully through these last two parts you have been able to identify players who fold for a particular reason and are now able to win pots against these players because of their folding tendency in a given situation. Up next, we're going to do the same thing, except this time it's going to be for “callers” rather than “folders.”
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