Simplification

There is a lot going on at the poker table. It is impossible to take in everything that is happening, and decide among a variety of complex choices. One way to make your sessions easier is to simplify your strategies. (In this section, I will focus on cash games where you have a stack that is greater than 100 big blinds.) What is the most common situation you will face in a no-limit hold’em game? (I am amazed how many people miss this.) It is when you are first to act under-the-gun. Why is that more common than second to act? By the time you are second, one player has already acted. Frequently he has folded, but occasionally he has raised. Not only that, but not all players have the same under-the-gun (UTG) raising range and not all raise the same number of big blinds. Since your UTG decision is so common, why not have a simple strategy that you always follow. Here is an example of one such strategy. Raise to 3.5 big binds (bbs) with the top 15 percent of hands. I am not claiming this is the best strategy, but it is simple. (If you are more comfortable with a different raise amount or different range, then use that.)

A lot of players decide to add more complexity. They might limp occasionally and vary their raises between 3, 3.5 and 4 bbs. That seems only slightly more complex, but it isn’t. You now need to find a balanced limping range and three balanced raising ranges. You will be completely transparent if you limp with your worst playable hands, make it 4 bb with your best hands and 3 with your worst raising hands. In small stake cash games, like $1-$2 or $2-$5, there are players who play in that fashion. If you try to balance your ranges, then you need to do a tremendous amount of calculation and memorization. If aces are excluded from any of your strategies, you are exploitable. So you have to play aces four different ways (limp, 3bb, 3.5bb and 4bb.) This may require you to find a way to randomize which play you make each time. One randomization method is to glance at the second hand on your watch, and use a different strategy for 0-14, 15-29, 30-44, and 45-59. Wow! And all we’ve covered is aces.

My strong recommendation is that you decide what percentage of hands you want to play as the first to voluntarily put money in the pot from each position. I would also suggest that you use the same raise size all the time or that you decide what raise size to use from each position. Some players like to raise larger in late position, since they want to deprive the blinds of getting good pot odds and they don’t mind bloating a pot where they will have excellent position. Others like to raise smaller, since the late position raising range is wider, and they don’t mind letting players in when they expect to have position. But whatever you decide, do it consistently.

Optimal late position ranges may also be varied based on the tendencies of the blinds. If they fold too much, widen your range. If they call a little too much, tighten it a little. If they call way too much, go back to your looser range. Even your widened range will still be ahead of their calling range. Make similar adjustments based on their raising frequencies. As you start to incorporate more factors into your decision making, your decisions get harder. Your play becomes slower. If things aren’t well balanced you will be exploitable.

Before I end this column, I want to look at one tournament situation. You are at a stage in the tournament where there are antes and blinds. You are the big blind, with about a 20 to 25 bb stack. The button, who is a reasonable, aggressive player raises to a little more than 2 bbs. You could design a really complex strategy involving ranges, for folding, calling, raising small, and shoving. This would also entail further strategies for what to do on various flops after you have called. If you have three-bet raised, but not shoved, you have to plan how to react to your opponent’s shove and also what to do after he calls. Continuing my theme: simplify. Switch to a strategy in which you go all-in (shove) or fold. Take the best 70 to 80 percent of your hands and push. With the remaining worst hands, simply fold. Is this the best strategy? Probably not. It will, however, often be better and less exploitable than a more complex one. You will definitely have plus equity, and in this day of wide button raising ranges from players who then over-fold, it will be extremely effective. Not only that, but you relieve yourself of having to make tough decisions later in the hand. ♠

Steve ‘Zee’ Zolotow aka Zebra is a very successful gamesplayer. He has been a full-time gambler for over 40 years. With two WSOP bracelets, over 50 cashes, and a few million in tournament cashes, he is easing into retirement. He currently devotes most of his Vegas gaming time to poker, and can be found in cash games at Bellagio and at tournaments during the WSOP. When escaping from poker, he spends the spring and the fall in New York City where he hangs out at his bars: Doc Holliday’s, The Library and DBA.