Rambling on 3/4 Betting

In general, against unknowns, we are best of to assume that a villain 3- betting PF is likely to have AA** a vast majority of the time, therefore our 4betting range assuming 100bb is very polarized heavily to premium AA**. This is because 4betting premium KK** is not going to end well as we are only like 35% or so against him, and villain is not folding pre so it’s not good, we would be better off to set mine/look to hit flops with good equity. When they do 3bet PF with primarily AA** we will not be folding too often pre flop as we will have rather easy decisions to make post flop based on SPR and our perceived equity.

When we face a liberal 3bettor, they will be potentially 3betting very wide with JJ+, and lots of suited/double suited rundowns and some garbage. As a result we are able to start to widen our 4betting range to include all AA** and premium KK**, QQ** and A*** (where all our cards are broad way and our AK**double suited hands.

We will not be folding these pre flop as we are not 4bet bluffing in PLO that often, unless of course we have a very specific hand range we can put them on (AA**) and it is clear that we do not fare well/able to play well against this range. If we can ensure there is a non zero percent 5bet range that is not AA** we are good to go.

The reason we 4bet AK** double suited and high card hands is because we will be dominating our opponents hands if they have a double suited hand with one suit matching which is good for us. The AK** also ensure that we defeat the A*** hands that they are getting overly aggro with.

Equation to use to assist in our pre flop calculations to work out the EV of a 4bet: EV (call 4-bet) = (1 - top_x) (-25.5 BB) + top_x {av_equity (201.5 BB) - 88 BB}

Rambling Notes

If we get checked to HU and our villain has more than 33% equity, they are making an error by folding if we make a pot size bet on the turn. Therefore, when we make the bet half pot, they are making a mistake when they have more than 25% equity. *This assumes that all stacks are going in on the current street as implied odds etc. influence the true equity %, especially as villain is out of position as they need to play a guessing game.

This is why check calling is horrible out of position with a marginal hand!

Ramblings on Draws

We can flop an absolute monster such as AhKdQhJd on JhTd2h, in which case we have 9 outs to the nut flush, plus an additional 11 outs to a straight and a good back door flush draw and a pair! Minimum 20 outs! TWICE! HUGE EQUITY!

We can also flop a plane old OESD with Ah7h6c2d on Js9s8c and could be drawing dead if we call and see a turn with no chance of a re draw. Here we have minimal equity and will not be looking to put money in this pot at all unless we get a free card a off suit 5 comes, then hope to take down the pot on the turn or avoid a bazillion river outs.. MINIMAL EQUITY!

In reality we will flop somewhere in between these two extremes. As PLO is a drawing game, it is important for us to be able to calculate our equity quickly and pretty accurately before deciding on the best line with our hand which will also be dependent on SPR.

Ramblings on SPR

With a SPR ratio of one, we only have one move, if we bet fold, it would be a big mistake, therefore:

In position: we can check behind, call and all in, or put the money in ourselves.

If we are facing a bet, we have a simple equation in that as long as we have at least 33% equity against the betting range, we call.

If we have the option to bet or check, the factors that will be involved are our hand strength, board texture, villains image, how various turn cards affect the board, and possibilities of having more EV spots on the turn if we check behind.

If we bet, we can win the pot in two ways, at showdown or by having villain fold. Therefore we do not necessarily need to have minimum 33% equity against a villains calling range as we also have fold equity to add to the plus EV of some hands, which when we get called may only have 20% equity etc.

We should therefore check behind, when we miss the flop and the flop hits villains range for calling 3bets hard and our equity is not going to be good. If the board is missing both players ranges a lot we should bet by default, especially against tight players.

We should also check behind when we have a hand that can pick up lots of equity on man turns.