PokerWorks

It's Not All About The Cards

One of the most common problems I run into is how inconsistent most people are in their pre-flop betting (both raising and re-raising). This assignment is designed to do one thing - instill some consistency in your pre-flop raises and re-raises so that people can not detect any patterns and so that you are not giving people the right odds to call your re-raise (I can't tell you how many re-raises I see that are incorrect - if you are going to re-raise limpers or someone that has raised, you always have to make the raise significant enough so that they are not getting the proper odds to call UNLESS you want a call).

This assignment will also incorporate some basic starting hand requirements that will help instill some patience and the use of proper position into your game (this is another problem I see a lot of, playing marginal hands out of position), however, I caution, these are not starting hand requirements that you should strictly adhere to outside of this assignment, you will need to adjust according to the table conditions and who your opponents are.

Raising

For the purposes of this assignment:

The standard raise will be to a total of 3x the BB- thus if the BB is 100, you would raise 200 to make your total bet 300. If it is 400, you would raise 800 to make your total bet 1200. You are not to diverge from this at any time when you are raising first to act (hereafter referred to as "FTA"). The standard raise only applies when you are first to act, if you are not first to act you will either reraise (if the hand is a reraising hand), call (if the hand is a calling hand) or fold (if the hand is not in one of the two above categories). If you are reraised, use your best discretion in proceeding.

Raising when there are limpers is to be done as follows. Add the number of limpers to your standard raise. Thus if there are 3 limpers, you should raise to 6x the BB rather than 3x the BB. Thus if there are 3 limpers and the BB is 100, you would raise 500 to a total of 600 (or 6x the BB). If it is 400, you would raise 2000 to a total of 2400.

Raising when there is a raise is to be done as follows. Take the amount that the raiser raised to (total bet) and double it. Thus if the blinds are 100/200 and it was raised to 600, you would re-raise it 1200 more. The reason for this is to price your opponent out of the hand with marginal drawing type hands. He would have to call 1200 to win 2700 or 2.25 to 1. If you just raised it the minimum (400), he would have to call 400 to win 1900 or 4.5 to 1 - no person in their right mind would fold here. If your reraise amount is more then 50% of your stack, go ahead and move all in.

Raising when there is a raise AND caller(s) of that raise is to be done as follows. Take the amount that is in the pot and multiply it by 1.5 and make your total bet that amount. Thus if the blinds are 100/200 and it was raised to 600 and called by two people, there would be 2100 in the pot. 2100*1.5 is 3150. You would raise 2550 to make your total bet 3150.

Assignment

This assignment also works on the assumption that you are at a minimum at a 9 handed table, if you are at a table less than this, use the positional requirements and standard raise, but modify your starting hand requirements somewhat downward in order to make up for the fewer number of people (a way to do this would be to take the original assignment and move the position over 2 spots if you are at an 8 handed table, thus UTG would become UTG+2).

For this assignment you are to play a minimum of 3 no limit hold' em tournaments at a web site such as Full Tilt or Pokerstars (you may play more, but you must use this assignment in each and every tournament you use this week - and yes, I'll be watching). In each tournament you are to do the following pre-flop based on your position and the action that has already occurred. This is only to be applied in the early to middle stages of a tournament. Once you have less than 15x the BB, play as you best feel you should.

If you are first to act (meaning no one has made a bet or call yet):

Small Blind:

Standard raise with any pair, any Ax, any Kx, QJ, Q10, J10. FOLD all other hands.

UTG, UTG+1, UTG+2 (Early Position):

Standard Raise with AA, KK, QQ, AK. Limp with 22-JJ, AQ (if the hand is raised after you call, call any raise that is less then 5x the BB total bet with 22-JJ, use your best determination in determining whether to call with AQ)

UTG+3 (Middle Position):

Standard raise with AA, KK, QQ, JJ, 1010, AK, AQ. Limp with 22-99 (if the hand is raised after you call, call any raise that is less then 5x the BB total bet with 22-99)

UTG+4 and UTG+5 (Middle Position):

Standard raise with 22-AA, AK, AQ, AJs, A10s, KQs.

Cutoff and Button (Late Position):

Standard raise with any pair, any ace/king/queen suited, any ace unsuited, any two cards ten or above suited or unsuited, any suited connectors.

If there are limper(s) in front of you:

Big Blind:

Raise with AA, KK, QQ, AK. Check your option with all other hands.

Small Blind:

Raise with AA, KK, QQ, AK. Complete with 22-JJ, AQ, any ace suited, any two paint suited plus any connectors (one gap or better, one gap meaning there is a gap of one in the cards, i.e. 64) from 54 to J10 (thus all the possible cards would be 45, 46, 56, 57, 67, 68, 78, 79, 89, 810, 910, 9J, 10J) (if the hand is reraised after you call by the BB, use your best determination on whether to call or not but call any raise less then 5x BB total bet with 22-JJ).

UTG+1 and UTG+2 (Early Position):

Raise with AA, KK, QQ, AK. Limp with 22-JJ, AQ (if the hand is raised after you call, call any raise that is less then 5x the BB total bet with 22-JJ, use your best determination in determining whether to call with AQ)

UTG+3 (Middle Position):

Raise with AA, KK, QQ, JJ, 1010, AK. Limp with 22-99, AQ, AJs, A10s, KQs (if the hand is raised after you call, call any raise less then 5x the BB total bet with 22-99, use your best determination in determining whether to call with the other hands).

UTG+4 and UTG+5 (Middle Position):

Raise with AA, KK, QQ, JJ, 1010, 99, 88, AK, AQ, AJs, A10s, KQs (if the hand is reraised after you raise, use your best determination on whether to call or not). Limp with 22-77, KJs, QJs, J10s, K10s, Q10s (if the hand is raised after you call, call any raise less then 5x the BB total bet with 22-77, use your best determination in determining whether to call with the other hands).

Cutoff and Button (Late Position):

All the instructions for UTG+4/UTG+5 apply. In addition, limp with any connectors (suited or unsuited, one gap or better, one gap meaning there is a gap of one in the cards, i.e. 64) from 54 to J10 (thus all the possible cards would be 45, 46, 56, 57, 67, 68, 78, 79, 89, 810, 910, 9J, 10J) and any Ax suited (if the hand is reraised after you call, use your best determination on whether to call or not).

If there is a raise and/or a raise with callers in front of you:

Blinds:

Reraise any raise with AA, KK, QQ, AK. Call a standard raise (do not call any raise that is more than 5x the BB) with 22-JJ, use your best determination in deciding whether to call or not with AQ unless the standard raise came from the cutoff position or later AND was a first to act raise (so if for example there were two limpers and the cutoff raised, you would not reraise, you would just call), in which case reraise.

UTG+1 and UTG+2 (Early Position):

Reraise with AA, KK, QQ, AK. Call a standard raise (do not call any raise that is more than 5x the BB total bet) with 22-JJ, use your best determination in deciding whether to call or not with AQ (if the hand is reraised after you call, use your best determination on whether to call or not).

UTG+3 (Middle Position):

Reraise with AA, KK, QQ, JJ, 1010, AK (if the hand is reraised after you raise, use your best determination on whether to call or not). Call a standard raise (do not call any raise that is more than 5x the BB total bet) with 22-99, use your best determination in deciding whether to call or not with AQ (if the hand is reraised after you call, use your best determination on whether to call or not).

UTG+4 and UTG+5 (Middle Position):

If the original raise is NOT from UTG or UTG+1, reraise with AA, KK, QQ, JJ, 1010, 99, 88, AK, AQ, AJs, ATs, KQs. If the original raise is from UTG or UTG+1, reraise only with AA, KK, QQ, JJ, 1010, AK (if the hand is reraised after you raise, use your best determination on whether to call or not). Call a standard raise (do not call any raise that is more than 5x the BB total bet) with 22-99 (88/99 are calling hands only if original raise is from UTG/UTG+1), use your best determination in deciding whether to call or not with AQ (if the hand is reraised after you call, use your best determination on whether to call or not).

Cutoff and Button (Late Position):

All the instructions for UTG+4/UTG+5 apply. In addition, call a standard raise (do not call any raise that is more than 5x the BB total bet) with any connectors (suited or unsuited, one gap or better, one gap meaning there is a gap of one in the cards, i.e. 64) from 54 to J10 (thus all the possible cards would be 45, 46, 56, 57, 67, 68, 78, 79, 89, 810, 910, 9J, 10J) (if the hand is reraised after you call, use your best determination on whether to call or not).

When you have completed the assignment, record and answer the following for your own benefit:

1)    Hands that gave you difficulty, for me to analyze, post the hand history if you feel it will help explain it better.
2)    Your thoughts on the starting hands by position list. Was it too tight for you? Too loose? Did you have any problems with it?
3)    Your thoughts on how the standard raise worked for you. Problems? Benefits?
4)    Your thoughts on how the re-raises worked for you. Problems? Benefits?
5)    What you learned from this assignment that you can apply to your game.

In the next part, I'll go over this assignment a bit more along with a few conclusions.