UNA HISTORIA CRÍTICA DE LOS ESTUDIOS DE CINE AFRICANOS

So this chapter the scope is playing draws, and more specifically, how to approach them on the flop. We’ll discuss turn play later in the book. I strongly believe that a decision with a draw is made on the flop whereas marginal hands I prefer waiting until the turn. That is fairly stylistic, but it bares saying in the introduction as typically I'll make a plan for a draw on the flop, and follow through on it. Before discussing more about draws, though, how should we define a

“Draw”?

A draw is simply a hand which figures to be able to improve to the best hand. A made hand, for example, is a hand which figures to not be able to improve to the best hand. It’s very possibly for a draw to have some made hand characteristics, and therefore inherent showdown value.

However, the sticking point is we have a hand which can improve to the best hand, even if it’s not best at the moment. Air, then, is basically a hand which neither figures to be the best hand or have much of a chance to improve to the best hand.

In this chapter, we will:

-Evaluate the strength of a draw -Categorize the type of draw

-Finally, when these factors have been considered, implement the hand into a plan of action

Firs, however, what separates a limped pot vs. a raised pot? Raised pots play very

differently then limped pots, so what holds true in one may not hold true in another. I’m

basically, “why is a NFD (nut flush draw) in a raised pot better or worse or just ‘different’ then in a limped pot?”

A few quick thoughts of my own:

-Limped pots tend to be multiway

-Players can have anything, especially the blinds, so remote 2pair or weird straights are definitely in the mix of hand ranges you could be facing

-In a raised pot, typically the raiser's hand is "more defined", thus it's easier to ascertain your draw's value. As in, we can expect the pfr to have high cards or a big pair. Or, vs someone who opens their game a little more, occasionally suited connectors and the like. Nevertheless, on a K x x draw, it's very likely if we end up all in it's facing AA, AK, Kx for that matter, or sometimes the nuts. (KKK)

-How this relates to playing draws, is that people make a "fatal" mistake of overvaluing the value of their hand (ie 2 overs plus flush draw) in a pot where weird 2 pairs or hidden straights are DEFINATELY in opponents' hand ranges

-In terms of implied odds, since it's harder to know what people have, they often have less then what it appears to get paid off (Top pair no kicker just wont pay off "too much" to a flush if it hits, if it pays off at all) *A quick point then is that typically check/calling a pot bet in a nothing pot with bare flush is not profitable (yet commonly done!)

In summation of this, I think:

1. In limped pots, value of implied odds is seemingly less

2. A lot of the value in bare over card pair outs and such in those same pots goes down

3. For the reverse, when the pot is bigger, (and generally more rewarding to go after!) is where our efforts to win the pot should be centered *This typically goes after my philosophy of trying to win the raised pots; throwing away too much money in a limped pot with a marginal draw is not where our small pots should come from*

An Equitable Draw

When we flop a draw, very first thing "we" (we meaning you, of course!) should be doing is ascertaining our hand's worth. Remember our definition of a “strong” draw in the equity

chapter? We’ll break draws into 3 basic categories:

Strong – A strong draw is one that requires no fold equity to be played for your stack. Generally, in a 100bb raised pot, a strong draw will be a draw that has ~45%+ equity.

Marginal – A marginal draw is one that requires some fold equity to be played for your stack.

Generally, in a 100bb raised pot, a marginal draw will be a draw that has ~45% to ~30% equity.

Weak – A weak draw is one that requires a lot of fold equity to be played for your stack.

Generally, in a 100bb raised pot, a weak draw will be any draw that has less than 30% equity.

Fairly elementary quiz below, part 1: The situation: In a 6 handed game, you raised QTd from the CO, both the button and the big blind called you. They have full 100xbb stacks, and naturally you cover them. We'll assume 1/2, so. 22$ in the pot ignoring a marginal rake. Our first step is to recognize how much raw equity we have vs. a typical (not overly loose or tight) all in range. So, we’ll have 9 boards, and our draw will range from strong to weak. In order to answer everything, I’ll provide a pokerstove sim with hopefully a reasonable all in range for opponent, but I’m

weighing more top pairs, fewer over pairs, and fewer semibluffs then I’d expect in a typical

Board: 4c 5d Ad

Tthe 2nd part to all this is "which are the best?" This means, and what my point is, the hand w/

highest equity isn't necessarily in the best situation. There are many reasons for this!

Conventional wisdom, for example, is that straight draws are less obvious then flush draws. Nut draws are far more valuable than not nut draws, especially flush vs. flush where an over flush is very costly and you're drawing dead. Although discerning equity is our main goal, being able to figure out how hidden our draw is a close 2nd. What this brings me to is that there are 3 types of draws that we can have in a raised pot. Normally you'll be the raiser in these spots, either OOP or IP, but occasionally, like with a suited 1 gapper, you may be the cold caller with position.

Initiative isn't too important in how to play the draws; forcing your opponent to make a decision is.

The Draw types, further expounded:

1 - Aggressive Gambles - These are draws where you really you want to be all in on the flop because your draw not well hidden, so it’s unlikely to be paid off. The easiest example of this is a simple flush draw, since when you call a bet on a 2tone board, the first thought many people have is “flush draw”. We can expand this definition to overcard pair draws, as well, for example if you chose to cold call AQo, when you miss the flop you’ll typically have a weak aggressive draw if you chose to play on. KJs on a Ts 7s 4x board is an example of a strong aggressive draw, and a more marginal aggressive draw would be 45s on a Qs Js 8d board. Pair + straight draws are often examples of aggressive gambles, as well, since 4 to a straight won’t often get paid off, and your 2pair draw is quite dubious.

2 - Passive Gambles – These are draws where you want to peel light, because since you’re draw

IS well hidden, it is likely to be paid off. These are my favorite draws, as well, where you get a real easy chance to stack someone if you hit your card. There aren’t too many examples of a strong passive draw, but a marginal passive gamble would be T9s on a Qd Jd 4s board, and a weak passive gamble would be perhaps A4s on a Ks 4h 3h board. On a dry board, a real longshot passive draw would be with an underpair, for example 66 on a K J 3r if you’re somewhat

confident you’re behind.

3 - Situation Dependant Gambles - Basically, these draws have a double complexion to them.

Either you don’t mind being all in on flop, or you don’t mind peeling and not playing assertively, mainly because your draw is so big or has an odd showdown element to it. The catch with these draws is that unlike the first type, where if you're stuck on the turn you can’t call a PSB, these type of draws you normally can play a turn as you still have a solid amount of equity. It’s hard to have a weak situation dependant gamble, but a marginal situation dependant gamble would be KQs on a Kh 7s 6s board, and a strong draw would be KQs on a Js Ts 5h board.

Let’s go back to our quiz, briefly, and answer part 2: Classify each draw as either aggressive, passive, or situation dependant.

#1: Jd 9d 4x

a. Situation Dependant. We can either play from the hip here and shoot it out on the flop or we can play it slowly.

#2: 9d 5d 4x

a. Aggressive. We would rather play this draw out on the flop.

#3: Qh Jh 8x

a. Situation Dependant. Once again we can shoot it out on the flop, we can sit back and take a

turn, we can get to showdown without improving, etc.

#4: Ad 5d 4x

a. Aggressive. We would rather play this draw out on the flop.

#5. 9h 8h 7x

a. Passive. We’d rather keep this pot small unless we improve.

#6. 3 2 2r

a. Aggressive. IF we chose to play our hand here, we want to put the pressure in on the flop.

#7. J 8 2r

a. Passive. This is a perfect example of a hand with somewhat low equity but is a great longshot that we’d like to see the turn, at a minimum.

Now that we've broken down types of draws, what's next? Formatting a plan on how to play the flop! Once we've decided our relative equity and category of disguise, the main goal (once again, in a raised pot) is look at the lowest stack. (Just effective stack is what matters) So, if each stack has 100bbs, and it was potted preflop and then got called, there would be around 8bbs in the middle. Or, ~96bb stacks, which is ~12xpot size. What you do is see how many pot bets are left in a stack; even though opponents and you won’t always be betting the pot, it's easiest to clarify how things “shake up” in a pot/repot situation. If you want to be all in on the flop, in our example, you need to decide how best to put them in a decision. If I was the raiser, and I lead for the pot, (8bb) and they raise the full pot, (32 total) I can then push. This provides both folding equity ("maximized") as your line is very strong, and yet giving yourself a great risk to reward situation. What about if they lead into you? Well, with an aggressive draw, raising the pot now leaves you stuck on the turn, (which is what you DO NOT want with that draw) so the natural

play then is to just call, due to stack sizes. So, here's a little chart, if you will...

*Quick note, I do not like overbetting the pot by more than ~twice the size of the pot with anything. The reason is generally because I either make my hand into either winning a small pot or getting all in with a slight edge or getting in a little behind, which isn't really my object: I want to win an uncontested pot which is sizeable OR I want to leave plenty of money for the turn to extract if I hit.

So, effective stack is...

0 to ~2x pot size: PUSH (OOP + IP). Say we raise A4d UTG to 7 in a 1$/2$ game, and button, a short stack with 40$, calls us. 17 in the pot, he has ~33, and we flop the NFD. Rather than

continuation bet and leave ourselves in a not fun turn place, I typically would just get it all in. It's worth noting though that the NFD can also be a situational dependant draw, so making a small bet as to make people with smaller flushes call. (Of course, you want those lower flush draws in vs. your draw!!) NFD is actually a situation dependant gamble, because if you believe there is a lower flush draw, by all means bet small and/or check. Whereas other times it's correct to play fast and make top pair / mid pair stuff lay down. The flexible draws are the most fun as you have options.

2ish+x to 7ishx pot size: CHECK RAISE ALL IN (OOP) or SHOVE TO A BET (IP). Using that same example, with A4d, now villain has 58$. When he calls the raise preflop, his stack is 51, and the pot is ~17. So, he has ~3x the pot size. I normally like checkraising all in; we trap a bet from bluffs or whatnot, whereas if we c-bet we'd just have to call an all in and not make any when he didn’t hit the flop at all. Keeping in mind I do not like overbetting more than ~2ish the

pot, (and checkraising less leaving us not all in is gross!) if he potted it there would be 15 in there, your call is 15 more. So 45$; an effective stack of 105$, or 105:15 (around 7x the pot) is where I draw the line. Notice, though, that it's pretty blurry at this point, and bet - 3bet all in esp.

given lack of pot sized betting is probably the way to go.

~7x to ~18ishx pot size: BET 3 BET ALL IN (OOP + IP). So, now our opponent has a 127$

stack, so when he calls the pfr the pot has 15$ and he has ~120$ left. Here, if you pot it, the pot has 45 if he calls; so, he can raise and essentially fold to an all in! (Say, he commits 50 of his stack... then folds the last 70 getting 240:70 thereabout, or around 3:1 on a call) If he has a full stack, now if he raises the pot, to 60, he is not committed, and you can push, winning a very nice pot and giving yourself best risk reward. (When he has 100bbs to start, he has about 12x the pot) For the upper bound, if you pot and he ~pots it, your call would be 135 pot. So, 2x pot is ~270, or starting stack of ~337$. (Around 165bbs, or 22x the pot on the flop) I wouldn't actually bet/3bet with 22x the pot, as you can’t expect them to repot, (people normally raise less) so I'd draw the line around 18x the pot.

More then 18x pot? (This applies to limped pots mainly!) CHECKRAISE and play a turn makes sense, as you're not committed to just one action. However, if I was pfr I'd just lead, and

probably call a raise, as pushing risks too much, and 3betting less then all in leaves you in a weird turn spot. 18x pot would have to be both you and opponent relatively deep, (for online game; maybe both have doubled starting stacks) or about normal for a deep stacked live game.

18x pot situations are more applicable to limped pots, which is what we get to next chapter.

What if we’re not able to execute the first action, or we were the preflop raiser and want to use our right of first initiative? Let’s say the pot:stack ratio is 5:1, but we were the preflop raiser with

the nut flush draw. Typically I’d just fire again normally and unfortunately not get max folding equity out of my draw. However, if I was in position, I’d consider checking here. (The disguised draws) If we’re deeper – now say a 12:1 pot:stack ratio, and we want to bet/raise all in… But when I bet I am not raised, I can checkraise all in on the turn, check call, check fold, bet/fold, etc.

If in position, and they check called me on the flop, I can take freebie if they check (most likely scenario*). If they lead into me on the flop when I’m in position, in that case I’d generally just call since again, raising allows them to execute the last action, which is what I want to do.

These lines for the most part maximize folding equity. The keys really are:

1. Decide how you want to play your hand (aggressively or passively) and from there, what line will lead you to do that

2. It's not wrong to play a draw slower (Even aggressive gambles) if you feel your folding equity is diminished, esp. if you can hit and make money. If this means folding the draw if you miss on the turn, sometimes that’s life!

Worth mentioning now, but I probably (not always) would play a set or 2pair the opposite way I'd play the draw. Why? I want to allow them to push on me. (Give them some rope in order to believe they have folding equity)