Poker Plays You Can Use Hull Authorized

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Poker Plays
You Can Use
Written by
Doug Hull
Edited by
Ed Miller
Copyright © 2013 by Doug Hull
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of the publisher
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
First Printing, 2013

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ISBN-13: 978-1489522450
Symbol Meaning
Difficulty 1 of 4
Too loose
Too tight
Limped
Played out of position
Plays fit or fold (check folds flop)
Bet sizing tell
Maximizing value
Making a thin value bet
Player has predictable or straightforward play
Bluffing with an empty or nearly empty range
Tilty, or lashing out
Slowplay
Changing gears
Floating, intention to bluff later
Bluff, with potential to bluff more as needed
Once and done bluff
Bluff with the intention to follow up on next street
Bluff with intention of bluffing all three barrels
Semi-bluff: bluffing with a good chance of improving
Fold
Poker Plays You Can Use
iv
Contents
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vi
Contents
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viii
Contents
ix
x
Contents
xi
xii
Contents
xiii
xiv
Contents
xv
Acknowledgements
My game has greatly improved because of Ed Miller, Bart Hanson and Todd
Flanagan. All those small stakes games where Todd crushed me slowly were
really tuition payments. I am glad I managed to get most of it back by
winning coin flips, catching coolers on him, and using my RLD (Run Like
Doug).
Thank you to Nathan Lloyd, Joe Wargo, Mark Freund and Jesse Chen for
proofing this manuscript as it was being developed. Of course, thank you to
my girl, Laura, for all her support.
-Doug
xvi
Introduction
Foreword by Ed Miller
What's the number one skill a poker player can have?
Patience.
Have you heard that one before? Patience, they say.
Who’s “they”? I’m not exactly sure, but whoever they are, chances are I’m
not listening to any more of their advice.
I’ve been immersed in the poker world for twelve years now, and I’ve met
a number of wildly successful poker players. You know what they tend to
have in common?
They have hyperactive minds. They’re competitive. They’re Type-A.
They’re perfectionists. They’re obsessive. Quite frankly, they tend to be just a
little bit sick in the head.
The phlegmatic, let-the-world-come-to-me, c’est la vie souls among them
are few and far between. If patience were the most important skill one could
have, every one of these top players would be dead broke.
If you think about it, it’s no different in any other game. The guys at the
top tend to be a bit hyped up and obsessive. How laid back and patient do
you think Tiger Woods is?
If it’s not patience, what is the number one skill a poker player can have?
In my opinion, it’s a willingness to work every single day to improve. It’s
accepting that everything you’ve learned to this point is subject to
reexamination. “Standard” is never standard until all alternatives have been
thoroughly considered. Everything can be improved. And every improvement
is worth pursuing. It means that good is never enough. There’s always better.
What is an expert poker player? It’s a mediocre poker player who has
made hundreds or thousands of small, incremental improvements.
That’s why these Type-A, perfectionist types are well represented at the
top. They’re willing to put in the work. In fact, they’re often driven to do it by
a single-minded obsessiveness.
So how does this apply to you? Chances are, you’re not single-mindedly
obsessed with poker, nor are you the sort of sick in the head that some top
players are. I’m not, either.
Doug Hull, author of this book, first came to me a couple of years ago in
Las Vegas. He had a full-time job and a keen interest in poker. He wanted to
turn that interest into a second career, and he asked me to coach him.
Just as I do with all new students, I asked him questions designed to get
him to explain how he makes poker decisions. And as with nearly all new
students, within the first half hour, I found some obvious things he could
improve. At that point, for me he was a typical student. He had a base level of
knowledge about the game with plenty of potential room for improvement.
xvii
We concluded that first session the same way I do with all my students. I
gave him homework. He was to write down hands he played, then analyze
them in a particular way. He was to do this as often as he could—every day if
possible. Next time I saw him, we’d go over his homework, and I’d possibly
assign something new to work on.
Doug left Vegas and returned home, and I didn’t hear from him for a
while.
Next time I talked to Doug, he had changed drastically. He was a much
improved player and thinker. It’s because he actually did the homework!
Over time, Doug and I went back and forth, and he continued to
improve. He went from “just another” $2-$5 regular to a professional-level
player in a year or less. I probably coached him a total of ten hours during
that time. The improvement came from him and the work he was willing to
do.
Doug isn’t a hyperactive, perfectionist, obsessive guy—though it’s fair to
say he has those traits perhaps a bit more than the average person. There’s no
magic about his results. They came because he possessed the number one skill
a poker player can have: a willingness to work every day for a never-ending
series of small improvements.
Now Doug has written a book (another testament to his willingness to
work a little bit every day to accomplish a goal). It’s a good book. It’s a book
about how to get better at no-limit hold’em and how to do it the right way—
one small improvement at a time.
The book comes in two major sections. First you’ll read a series of hand
examples. These examples are designed to show you the difference between
how a typical no-limit hold’em player thinks and how a professional-level
player thinks. Each of these hand examples represents a small improvement
you can make in your play.
The second section turns the lessons from the first section into missions
you can do on your own. These missions are the equivalent of recipes in a
book on nutrition or exercises in a workout book. Doing the missions—doing
them as often and using as much your brain on them as possible—are what
will make you a better poker player. Do the missions, and you’ll see results.
Ignore the missions, and you likely won’t.
You can’t put the workout DVD on, watch it from the couch, and expect
to get fit. You can’t read this book, put it back on the shelf, and expect to win
at poker.
You have to work every day. Work through every hand example. Figure
out how to apply each one to your game. Change the details of the hands and
figure out if the answers change.
Pledge to do every mission. Go as fast or slow as you like. You do not
have to overhaul your game overnight. Quite the opposite. Focus on one
xviii
Introduction
small change at a time. Just do a little bit every day. The most important
thing—keep at it.
Doug did it, and he got results. And now in this book he shows you
exactly the work you need to do to get the same results he did.
- Ed Miller
Author of Playing the Player, How To Read Hands At No-Limit Hold’em, Small
Stakes Hold’em, and a big believer that you can achieve a whole darn lot if
you’re willing to commit thirty minutes every day.
xix
Foreword by the Author

How is it that a winner can bet with the nut flush when a third flush card
comes in and get called by worse and win? How can this same winner then
bluff with a missed straight draw when a third flush card comes in and fold
out top two pair and win again? The answer is from playing the player. Most
poker players make systematic, predictable errors that can be exploited by
those who are paying attention and are willing to pull the trigger when
needed.
One of the concepts that changed how I think about poker is that not all
bluffs need to tell a story. I am not always representing something specific
when I bet. I am betting because the Villain’s range is weak and I think he will
fold often enough for it to be profitable. Many Villains are not thinking
beyond their own cards. Other times you are representing a hand to a
thinking opponent, and then that story needs to be coherent.
Another concept that changed how I think about poker is that just
because you likely have the best hand on the flop, it does not follow that you
should start to build a pot. Some hands are destined to be bluff catchers by
the river and should be played as such. You need to protect your stack, not
your hand.
xx
Introduction
A guide to reading these hands

This book is laid out differently than other poker books. A tabular format is
used so that all the relevant stack sizes, positions, holdings and table images
are easily seen during every street.
$2-$5 Image: Action: Hand: Starting

Foxwoods Stack:
UTG LAG Call/Call $450
…
Cutoff Bad regular Call/Fold …
…
Button Hero $30 Covers
In this format, the action of each player is in the action column. If a player
makes multiple actions per street, they are separated by slashes. This hand
would be written out as follows:
“A Loose Aggressive player limps Under the Gun. It is folded to a bad
regular in the cutoff who also limps. Hero raises on the Button and only the
LAG calls.”
This format is continued on each street in a different table. The starting
stacks for each street are updated to make the action clearer.
Pot: $72 Range: Stack:
LAG $50/Fold $420

(UTG)
Hero $200 Covers

(Button)
We can see that on the turn the LAG bet and then folded to our raise.
The other thing you will notice is that each chapter starts with a table
showing the Villain’s flaw, the difficulty rating of the play we made, and the
exploit that we used. The icons are there to make it very fast to flip through
the book for the situations you are looking for later.
xxi
A guide to reading this book.

This book is has two types of content. The first and lengthier type looks at
different hands that illustrate a pattern in your opponents’ strategy. These
patterns are identified and then exploited. The second type of content is a set
of missions for you to accomplish at the poker table over the next few
months. Each of these missions is designed to give you concrete actions you
can take to either eliminate a weakness in your own game or to exploit a
weakness in your opponents’.
Most opponents at the poker table have a fairly static way that they think
about poker. I like to classify players roughly as those that make calling errors
(too loose), versus folding errors (too tight), versus betting errors (too
aggressive), versus checking errors (too passive).
This makes them fall into predictable errors. When someone is
predictable, they are exploitable. This book is all about identifying typical
patterns and how to exploit them. For example, players are often announcing
how they feel about their hands with bet sizing tells. This book shows you
what to do when they fail at information hiding in this way.
When you have embraced the lessons of this book, you will find it much
easier to fire in big bluffs. You will no longer be thinking about your own
weak hand but instead will be thinking about the Villain’s weak range. You
can fearlessly fire when your focus is on the opponent’s cards rather than
your own.
The hand reviews allow you to hear my inner dialog as a hand unfolds. I
am an aggressive player, but it is not wild flinging of chips. It is a cold,
calculated brand of aggression that is designed to get better hands to fold and
worse hands to call. This book will teach you to deviate from the typical
strategies that most people use. You will then be able to adopt this much
more exploitive and aggressive style. It will take a lot of work to get from here
to there, but it will be worth it. The missions in the second half will give you
the roadmap to get there. They are not there to be simply read. They are there
as milestones for you to reach for on your path to better poker.
xxii
Bluffs and semi-bluffs
1) Loose Aggressive players are beaten by
information deficits and backwards play.
(Villain’s flaw) (Difficulty rating) (Hero’s exploit)

Related Missions: 5, 11, 14, 16
While he never said a word at the table, this player was generally ticking off
the table by listening to loud music through his headphones, constantly
three-betting pre-flop and giving off an arrogant vibe. I had seen him
opening pretty light, even UTG with hands like KJo and A5s.

Foxwoods Stack:
UTG LAG Internet Kid $25 Covers
…
Cutoff Hero Call $640
This player was opening many pots for a raise, and betting so often that
he must frequently have a weak hand. Because of this, we are ahead of his
range, even his UTG opening range. We might even have him dominated
with a better Ace. Lots of frustrated opponents would be tempted to raise
here to stand up to the bully. We are ahead, so we should raise. Right? No.
Resist this temptation.
Although we have position and the chance to isolate, we should just call
instead. We do this because we know something about his hand, but all he
will know about ours is that we choose to play. Good LAGs know they
have a weak range, so when people stand up to them they are safe to fold.
Good LAGs can thrive because their opponents do not hide information
well. Betting into the LAG when you have a hand tells him he should fold.
When people passively call them, they are more in the dark. When faced
with this passivity they tend to predictably bet. Their victims fold often
enough that the strategy works.
When we give minimal information by calling, we start creating an
information deficit. His predictable error is that he tends to barrel into
opponents, trying to get them to fold. If we hit top pair top kicker or an
Ace we can profitably call down three streets. We know the error he tends
to make. We want to set up situations where he is likely to make that error.
LAG Internet Kid $50 Covers

(UTG)
Hero ??? $615

(Cutoff)
Since we believe Villain bets nearly 100% of his range here, his bet does
not carry any information. If we just fold, that plays into his game plan. He
bets so often because most flops miss most hands. When ABC players
miss, they fold to his bet. On the rare occasion that his opponents hit a
flop, he can just fold to aggression. He wins enough small pots to make this
strategy profitable.
We are not going to fold, yet all we have is a bluff catcher. We cannot
call with the hopes of catching a pair or folding to a bet on the turn. If we
want this pot, we might have to fight for it. That often means bluffing when
the showdown value of our Ace high is not going to be enough.
LAG Internet Kid $50/Fold Covers

(UTG)
Hero $200 $615

(Cutoff)
Think to ourselves, “What would a typical bad recreational player do

here with a great hand like a set?” They would do exactly the wrong thing
and stand up to the bully, giving him the information he needs to make a
good fold. So that is what we do: raise it up. We threaten a second barrel of
the bluff with a turn shove. We can also think from the LAG’s perspective.
When he gets raised big like this what does he think we have? People very
rarely make cold bluffs like this, and there are no big draws to be betting
out with. Sets and big over pairs are the most likely holdings.
This also uses a concept known as leverage. When a bet on one street
implies an even bigger bet on the next street, you get to threaten the all-in
amount while only risking the smaller amount.
He open folded AhTh.
3
As he folded, he said, “I do not want to stack off with just top pair to
your set.” Notice that he specifically says he does not want to stack off. He
thought we were going to shove the turn. We got $565 worth of fold-equity
while only risking $200. That is leverage in action.
Notice also the bet sizing. We made a strong bet, about the size of the
pot. I see many people bluff at the pot for too small of amounts because
they are afraid to risk more than that. The problem is the smaller raise is not
very effective, so it loses money because it will get called too often. The
smaller amount is actually the riskier bluff.
I was honestly surprised to see he was so strong there. I would not have
tried to take him off that kind of hand had I known. Playing backwards
worked well, he put me on exactly the hand I was hoping he would. LAGs
have come to learn that kind of resistance is a big hand, so I used that to
my advantage.
Notice also that we switched gears. We started out pre-flop slowplaying.
Normally slowplaying is a bad idea, but against a LAG, this backwards play
works well. When we missed the flop we needed to switch gears and play
backwards a different way. We started bluffing when we had nothing even
though the original plan was to just call if we connected with the flop.
This might seem like a shocking move to make, firing in a $200 bet with
nothing. This is not reckless aggression though – it is calculated. Look at
how we folded out a hand that really hit this board. As far as flopping a pair
goes, this was a perfect board for his ATs. Even so, he found a fold
because this move looked so strong. Every other time this has been done to
him, he was against a better hand. We are mimicking the play of ABC
players that hit a big hand to get a fold when we want one.
This play was specific for this kind of loose aggressive player. He is
smart enough to read hands and thinks that players only play back at him
when they hit. Doing this to a nit would be a very bad plan.
Alternate line: Call flop, Bluff-raise turn

LAG Internet Kid $120/Fold Covers

(UTG)
Hero Shove $565

(Cutoff)
This alternate line of play would also be a reasonable plan since he

would likely fold to this surprising aggression, just as he did in the actual
line we took. This is a riskier play, but gets another $120 into the pot before
we bluff.
4
Alternate line: Call flop, Bluff turn

LAG Internet Kid Check/Fold Covers

(UTG)
Hero $125 $565

(Cutoff)
If he checks the turn, that gives us even more confidence that he has
given up on his hand, making this bet a really high percentage play.
NEW
HAND
We started the above hand as a slowplay and turned it into a bluff. Here we
play backwards again, only this time for value. We make it difficult for the
LAG because even out of position we keep the information about our hand
minimal.

Stack:
UTG Limper Call/Call …
UTG+1 Unknown Call/Call …
…
Cutoff LAG $12 $412
…
Big Blind Hero Call Covers
We are pretty happy to try and flop a set at this point. We look at the
stack in front of the LAG, there is 40x the value of our call available to win.
In addition, it is very likely two others will also call this bet. This
immediately gives us 3.5x on our call in a situation where we flop a set once
in eight flops. Having more people in the pot increases the chance someone
will pay us off.
5
Hero Check/Call Covers

(Big Blind)
Limper Check/Fold …
(UTG)
Unknown Check/Fold …
(UTG+1)
LAG $35 $400

(Cutoff)
There are straight draws and a flush draw on board here, but we have a
premium hand that we need to protect. We should bet, right? No, not when
this player has the lead in position. His problem is that he bets too much
when he sees weakness. We need to feign that weakness to get as much
money in this pot as possible. Against other more passive players that call
too much, we could bet this hand out for value, hoping to get called by the
draws or weaker made hands. We are hoping to get stacks in against the
LAG. Can we do it? With $400 to win and $50 in the pot, a pot sized bet
on every street easily gets it in. With even a ¾ pot bet on every street, it is
almost all in on the river. If one other player comes along just on the flop,
then even a ¾ pot bet will easily be all in by the river.
What about protecting against the draws? Let us give him one of the
worst possible draws: 7c9c. He is still a 40%-60% dog on the flop to our set
because of redraws. Because we have observed this player is willing to bet
too often, we need to give him that chance. Because his range is so wide,
any particular draw should not be that scary to us. If he has a made hand
with a Queen, he will do the betting also.
Imagine for a minute he has a weak Queen here and we lead out on the
flop. He might call once but not twice. If we were to check to him though,
he might bet two streets. Because of his wide range, he has air here often
and a bet will just get him to fold. It is in his nature to bet into weakness.
Let him.
Hero Check/??? Covers

(Big Blind)
LAG $100 $365

(Cutoff)
6
Most of the time, draws do not come in. What did come in was a nice
barreling card. True to form, our LAG bets. With our call, he has $265 left
in a $319 pot. Now it comes down to style and reads. What will get the
money in? These are our options in order of preference:
 If he will call, shove the turn over his bet
 Minimum raise the turn over his bet and shove $165 any river
 Call and evaluate river, but never fold the river
As the pot gets bigger, the need for deception goes down, and the need
to take the pot goes up. The biggest fear is the flush card hitting on the
river. Let us look at his odds with a few reasonable hands:
Board Our hand

The holding Example His He will He will He will
odds call turn bet river bet river
check on flush on non-
shove? card? flush card
Pair no draw Unlikely
0%
? ?
Flush draw 16% Usually Yes for
strong, ?
18% likely for
middling
Air 0% No
? ?
Two pair 9% Yes
? ?
Combination 22% Yes Usually
draw, high ?
Straight 9% Maybe
draw ? ?
18%
Combination 30% Yes Usually

draw ?
7
There is a lot of hand reading and combinatorics that goes into putting
him on a hand. There are nine combinations of top two pair. He would
likely play all those combinations this way every time. There are tons of
combinations that give him air, but he would not play them all like this
since he would give up on many of them on the turn. The rows of this chart
are in order of my guesses as to relative likelihood of him holding these
types of hands combinatorically while also taking into account the betting.
These are rough guesses of a typical LAG without specific reads. Maybe the
hyper-aggressive LAG has air more often than a weak made hand or a flush
draw. However, to be considered a LAG, he needs to sometimes have air
here. Most likely, I expect him to have a pair and no draw. Rarely he is
going to show up with the specific open-ended combo draw of 7c9c.
Should we check-shove? Typically, we have a much better idea in this
situation of how the LAG would react to our shove because it really comes
down to math for him. How he will react to our flat call is up to much
more debate. It depends on the player and how he feels about us. It cannot
be quantified as easily as his reaction to our shove. The only thing we can
say is he is likely to bet whenever he makes his flush.
The right play here is something you need to decide at the table. The
guesses above are simply my beliefs as to which of these hands he would
use to call the shove. It also shows that it is hard to guess how he would
react when checked to on flush and non-flush rivers. We have two
competing interests. The first is getting value from his river bluffs. The
second is trying to get value from draws and weaker hands that will call the
turn. If we do not bet now, he would play his draws perfectly on the river
against us. If he has a bigger set, it is all going in and there is nothing to be
done.
Traits that will make me want to flat call:
 He will three barrel with air but fold to a raise now
 He will three barrel with a busted draw
 He will bluff if a flush card hits
Traits that will make me want to shove:

 He will call with a variety of decent made hands and draws
 I am not getting more value from the air; he would only fire a
third barrel when he hits his draw
 I am not getting more value from weak made hands; he will
neither bet them nor call with them anyway
We are trying not to give ourselves a negative freeroll on the river. A

negative freeroll is a situation where a weaker hand would call us now, but
by checking we rarely induce a bluff yet we would call off our stack if he
8
has us beat. The less likely he is to bluff the river, the more we need to bet
now. There was a lot of value in checking the turn to get his second barrel,
but now there is more value in getting stacks in unless you have good
reason to slowplay further.
9
2) Some players believe they are unlucky.

Act as if it is true.

Related Missions: 5
There are certain players that are always complaining about people sucking
out on them. They often verbalize their fears of it happening again. This
Villain is notoriously tight, and he never does anything unpredictable. Other
regulars at the table brag about correctly folding full houses to him without
a second thought. That predictability makes him exploitable.

Mohegan Stack:
Sun
…
EP2 Hero $15/ Call $600
MP1 Fatalistic Regular $45 Covers
Villain thinks, “I never get there with Ace King”, and he never three-
bets even that lite. Therefore, we put him solidly on QQ+. Him holding
Ace King would be very surprising. We are getting about 20:1 implied odds
on this call, and he is the kind of guy who will stack-off pretty significantly
with an overpair to our set. We are happy to invest $30 in set mining, even
out of position.
Pot: $97 Range: Starting

Stack:
Hero $75 $555
(EP2)
Fatalistic Villain Angry fold Covers

(MP1)
QQ+, AK
10
Because of his very nitty three-betting range, we can quickly go through

the combinations of his holdings:
Holding Count
QQ 6
KK 6
AA 3
AK 12 possible, likely many less
If we give him all the combinations of AK, it is almost 45% of the time
that he does not hold an Ace. If we give him only the suited combinations
then 65% of the time he does not hold an Ace. Just winning the $97 pot
45% of the time with a bet of $75 sounds great. However, we estimate it is
closer to 65% of the time.
If this Villain is holding QQ or KK, this is a nightmare flop. The one
card he did not want to see on the flop is there. He will not bet this flop, so
we cannot check-call hoping to get more money in before we bluff. In fact,
this guy is so tight that it is exceedingly unlikely that he puts any money in
with KK, even if checked down to the river. This is a once and done kind
of bluff. The emotional shock of the bet will play into his fear of flopping
an Ace. This is a great time to fire.
He hates this flop. What is worse, a solid player just bet into him. It
happened again – he got sucked out on. He folds, muttering, “Ace King got
there again! I never win coin flips.” I believe this bluff folds him out of his
entire range of hands that are beaten by a single Ace.
What if we want to take a more cautious path because we think he is
capable of three-betting pre-flop with AKo and AKs. We expect him to be
straightforward and timid, so look at this alternate line where he can have
any cards in his range:
Alternate line 1: Wait for information, he bets flop

Stack:
Hero Check/Fold $555
(EP2)
Fatalistic Villain Bet Covers

(MP1)
AK, AA
11
We expect this Villain to check down with KK or QQ. Since he bet, he

has AK or AA. We can safely fold. We played this hand to flop a set. We
missed.
Alternate line 2: Wait for information, he checks flop

Stack:
Hero Check $555
(EP2)
Fatalistic Villain Check Covers

(MP1)
QQ,KK
Since he could have any of the combos in his range in this alternate line,
yet he checked behind, we figure him for QQ, KK.
Alternate line 2: Wait for information, he checks flop

Stack:
Hero $75 $555
(EP2)
Fatalistic Villain Fold Covers

(MP1)
QQ,KK
When he has given up like this, he will easily believe we slow played an
Ace on the flop and he will fold to this bet, just like he did in the actual line.
Us waiting for information like this lowers the risk versus timid players.
If we were in position on the flop, we could make this same play only it
would be easier. There would be no need to wait a street to fire the bluff.
This is one of the many reasons to play in position against nitty players who
will give up most flops.
NEW
HAND
This kind of play often takes the form of once and done bluffs when the
pre-flop raiser has given up on a flop and you have position.
12

Stack:
UTG+1 Unknown $7 $307
…
Cutoff ABC player Call $407
…
Button Hero Call Covers
We could consider a squeeze play here, but taking a flop in position is

fine also. We should be aware of domination here if we flop a pair, but in
position against straightforward players we should be fine.
Unknown Check/Fold $300

(UTG+1)
ABC Player Check/Fold $400

(Cutoff)
Hero $20 Covers

(Button)
No one seems to have any interest in this pot. We can take a stab at it
once. We do not have much equity if called, but we get all kinds of folds
here from fit or fold players that might be ahead of us with an Ace high
type of hand. Some Villains would give up a middle pair: 77-JJ. They would
think they lost a coin flip and be done. Since there are no likely draws, if we
get called then it is likely by a weak Queen or a rather adventurous under
pair. Some low stakes players do ridiculous slow plays here with a set of
Queens. Knowing the players that are willing to do this helps. We would
evaluate the turn action, but giving up after one barrel is fine. We should
get folds often enough to make a little on this move. Little moves like this
help make our pre-flop call right.
13
3) Raise boards where the flop continuation

bet looks automatic.

Related Missions: 11, 14, 16
Some players will continuation-bet into boards when it superficially appears
like it hits their range. However, this bet is actually a bet-fold on the flop or
a fold on the turn when more pressure is applied back on them.
The Villain in this hand has proven himself able to continuation-bet
with noticeable frequency, but he is not incredibly creative. He can fold a
hand when he needs to.

Mohegan Stack:
Sun
…
MP2 ABC Regular $25 $600
…

Stack:
Hero Check/??? Covers
(Big Blind)
ABC Regular $25 $575

(MP2)
At first, we can look at Villain’s bet and say, “We missed. Time to fold.”
However, before we do we need to consider Villain’s range. Here is a
reasonable estimate:
14
Middle position opening range of ABC Regular

AA AKs AQs AJs ATs A9s A8s A7s A6s A5s A4s A3s A2s
AK KK KQs KJs KTs K9s K8s K7s K6s K5s K4s K3s K2s
AQ KQ QQ QJs QTs Q9s Q8s Q7s Q6s Q5s Q4s Q3s Q2s
AJ KJ QJ JJ JTs J9s J8s J7s J6s J5s J4s J3s J2s
AT KT QT JT TT T9s T8s T7s T6s T5s T4s T3s T2s
A9 K9 Q9 J9 T9 99 98s 97s 96s 95s 94s 93s 92s
A8 K8 Q8 J8 T8 98 88 87s 86s 85s 84s 83s 82s
A7 K7 Q7 J7 T7 97 87 77 76s 75s 74s 73s 72s
A6 K6 Q6 J6 T6 96 86 76 66 65s 64s 63s 62s
A5 K5 Q5 J5 T5 95 85 75 65 55 54s 53s 52s
4A K4 Q4 J4 T4 94 84 74 64 54 44 43s 42s
A3 K3 Q3 J3 T3 93 83 73 63 53 43 33 32s
A2 K2 Q2 J2 T2 92 82 72 62 52 42 32 22
There are really only three likely hands right now:
Holding Percentage
Trip aces 25%
Pocket pair under Aces 20%
Air 55%
The fear here is he has an Ace. Most players at this level will not bet out
here with an Ace. If he had an Ace, he would likely check, hoping that we
get something to call him with on the turn. If we discount the already
unlikely Aces and look for other value hands, there are not that many. The
small size of his bet also looks like he is just taking a stab. It looks a lot like
a rote continuation-bet. How are we going to exploit this situation?

Stack:
Hero Check/$50 Covers
(Big Blind)
ABC Regular $25/Fold $575

(MP2)
15
This line folds him out of most of his air. We are playing a game of
chicken, and we just won. Since a check by Villain would have been more
consistent with holding an Ace, the combinatorics along with the bet told
us a lot about his hand. What it told us is he does not often have an Ace.
We also told a story, but our story was more believable because it was
mimicking the way many players would play an Ace. It does not need to be
much of a story when he holds nothing though.
Let us consider the same hand where he could again hold any hand in
his range:
Alternate line: Minimum raise, we get called

Stack:
(Big Blind)
ABC Regular $25/Call $575

(MP2)
This call is not a big surprise; we expect him to have under pairs
sometimes. He still might have an Ace, or he could sometimes be calling
with two big unpaired cards because he is priced in.
Alternate line: Minimum raise, we get called

Stack:
Hero $80 Covers
(Big Blind)
ABC Regular Fold $525

(MP2)
He probably called our minimum raise with some kind of pair like 88-JJ.
When he did not improve, he just gave up. Our minimum raise showed
strength and earned another $25. We also picked up a solid backdoor flush.
We were going to bet this turn regardless, but the flush draw shades the
play a little more in our favor. The bet we make here does not need to be
very big. We are mimicking a player with an Ace who wants to be called.
One-third to one-half the pot should do just fine.
16
NEW
HAND
When we are making this kind of play, we are looking to take the pot down
right now. Because of this, our equity when called does not matter as much
as their likelihood of folding. We want players that are predictable in their
high continuation betting frequency, players continuation betting where
they would likely check with a made hand, and players that are not leading
out on a draw such that they will call our raise.

Stack:
…
Cutoff TAG $12 $350
The TAG is going to open pretty wide in the cutoff. We will have
position and can flop a set or outplay post-flop.
TAG $15/Fold $338

(Cutoff)
Hero $45 …
(Button)
This kind of disjointed rainbow flop with a single high card will get a bet
from a TAG most of the time. It is mostly a bet-fold. A really good player
would look at our raise and realize that we rarely have a hand we raise with.
Thankfully, most TAGs will have air here a lot, and fold without thinking
about it further. Any move can be overused, but turning our hand into a
bluff is fine. We could also consider floating by just calling here. Floating
means calling a bet with the intention to take the pot away by the river.
Both are preferable to folding the flop when we miss our set.
17
4) Check-raise and barrel low paired flops

from Big Blind.
<none>
Related Missions: 11, 17, 24
This move has a much higher difficulty rating because things go wrong on
the turn and we need to make a decision to fire all three barrels as a bluff or
to give up. This hand is similar to the above hand, where we are
representing flopped trips. In this hand, the Villain is not a believer. This is
one of those situations where a second barrel on the turn requires a third
barrel to be profitable.

Hollywood Stack:
Casino
…
MP2 ABC Recreational $10 $300
…
Button Unknown Call $300
…
This hand can flop big, and we can outplay these players post-flop.

Stack:
(Big Blind)
ABC Regular $15/Call $290

(MP2)
Unknown Fold …
(Button)
18
This is one of my favorite Big Blind special board textures. Here are the
key components:
 Low pair with a low side card
 No flush draw or likely straight draw
 Raise from tight player pre-flop
 My call from the Big Blind or possibly Small Blind
 Potential to be heads up after the original raiser continuation bets
All of these work together to make it so Villain is unlikely to have

anything but an over pair. We have a wider range that can represent flopped
trips. This play works because this is how most people play flopped trips
from the Big Blind: a small check-raise, then barrel.
His continuation bet is only half pot and could easily be an automatic
one. There are not a lot of Fives in Villain’s pre-flop raising range. We, on
the other hand, closed the action in the Big Blind. We have a much wider
range that can contain Fives. Our raise puts more money in the pot and
looks stronger. With his call, we suspect an overpair like 88-JJ. On rare
occasions, we expect a Seven or that he disbelieves us entirely while holding
a couple of big cards. We expect to have a profitable turn bluff against this
range.

Stack:
Hero $60 Covers
(Big Blind)
ABC Regular Call $260

(MP2)
This card is concerning as the Villain will now be very skeptical of the
story we are trying to tell. There are bluffs where you bet the turn and then
evaluate the river for the final bet because the final card will dictate our
move. There are once and done bluffs, where you fire once and give up if
called. This case is the all or nothing bluff; we cannot give up in the middle.
This is the big decision point of the hand. Giving up now is
reasonable, but there is another way. If we bluff the turn, we need to
commit to a river shove now. However crazy that may seem to put $200 in
with nothing, that river shove will look super strong and fold Villain out of
almost his entire range.
Beware that chickening out on river is terrible. When making this play,
giving up on the river will lose money, but barreling the river will make
money. We need to commit to the river shove now. Maybe if the fourth Five
comes out, we could consider giving up; but then again since Villain has
19
called this far, he likely has a small pocket pair, and our Jack might be good
for value.
We have gotten a read from this player that $200 is a huge bet to him.
He looks very uncomfortable calling the turn because he knows what is
coming on the river. His fear helps us.

Stack:
Hero Shove Covers
(Big Blind)
ABC Regular Fold $200

(MP2)
We are representing the absolute nuts here, even pocket Aces is just a
bluff catcher. As expected, he folds. The reason this play works is that as
unbelievable as it is that we have the last five, somehow it is even more
unbelievable that we are bluffing. Most players do not bluff for the big
money, whatever that means at the stakes you are playing. The typical player
never bluffs in this specific situation. The common mistake of not bluffing
often enough makes our bluff more believable.
The Villain instantly forms a one-way animosity against me when I do
not show. For the rest of the night, when I am beaten he makes snide
comments about my likely weak holdings. I do not plan to bluff him again
for a while.
Also note, you should always have a seat change Button, this gives you
priority when a seat opens at the table. As you start taking more aggressive
lines and pounding on players, they do form grudges. When a player wants
to get even with you, try to make sure no seats to your left open up. If they
do, take them. Even a semi-competent player with a grudge to your left is
not as nice as him to your right.
NEW
HAND
Typically, this play gets a fold on the flop or turn. We rarely need to fire
three barrels as seen in the example. Here is a more typical form of the play.
20

Stack:
UTG+1 ABC player $10 $500
…
MP2 Calling station Call $400
…

(Big Blind)
ABC player $20/??? $490

(UTG+1)
Calling station Fold …

(MP2)
This is how the play begins, we will be heads up, we expect the Villain
rarely has a Seven after raising pre-flop and betting. We however could have
anything since we just called from the blinds. The check-raise emulates how
most people play this kind of Big Blind special. The Villain very well could
have just been continuation betting and will give up immediately. If Villain
has a premium over pair, they will likely call down and evaluate the turn.
Hero $100 Covers

(Big Blind)
ABC player Fold $440

(UTG+1)
Some players might get really stubborn with Aces here. You will get
folds from most ABC players even with KK. You need to choose your
targets well, a calling station that cannot understand what you are
representing will ship that same KK in this spot.
21
5) Fire the second barrel when overcards

come on dry boards.

Related Missions: 17, 18
The second barrel is a natural extension of a continuation betting strategy.
When a dry board with only medium and low cards comes, and your
opponent calls, he will often be marked with a weak pair. Over cards that
come on the turn will allow you to fold them out.

MGM- Stack:
Vegas
…
EP2 ABC Player Limp/Call $600
Cutoff Hero $30 Covers
The flop comes out with very little for anyone:

Stack:
ABC Player Check/Call $570
(EP2)
Hero $40 Covers

(Cutoff)
Villain calls. Because of our pre-flop raise, we can very believably have
an over pair here. However, even a straightforward player will take a card
off with a Ten, a small pocket pair, an occasional inside straight draw or just
two over cards. We are hoping for a nice over card on the turn, preferably
one that pairs us, but any of them will weaken the relative strength of his
pair and not help his likely draw.
22

Stack:
(EP2)
Hero $100 Covers

(Cutoff)
This is one of the best possible barreling cards. Villain can now tell
himself two stories: We had an over pair, and are still going with it, or we
had AK and just got lucky on him. We do pick up a little equity with our
Broadway draw, and the nut no pair is worth something versus the straight
draws that Villain might hold.
NEW
HAND
This is an important concept. Just as good players have learned to

continuation bet when the board is right, we need to learn to fire again on
good turns. Let us try again in a multi-way pot.

The Lodge Stack:
…
EP1 Loose passive Limp/ Call $600
…
MP1 Nit Limp/Fold $900
MP2 ABC Regular Limp/Call $750
Lots of limpers to the flop. I tend to start at 4-5 BB and add a big blind
for every limper.
23

Stack:
Loose passive Check/Call $565
(EP1)
ABC Regular Check/Fold $715

(MP2)
Hero $80 Covers

(Button)
We should not be shocked by this call. There are lots of pocket pairs
that will call: 55-JJ all seem reasonable. The suited connector, 78s makes a
good straight draw. There are plenty of single gap connectors also. None of
these hands that he probably has likes it when an over card comes.
The reason these are bad for the calling range on 964r is that these cards
change the relative strength of their hands. Their top pair or their over pair
often become a second pair, which is beaten by a single card. Their under
pairs, like 77, now becomes third pair. The second bet by us makes us look
stronger, so it is harder for Villains to call. Also, the bigger bets as the pots
grow make people play more straightforward.
We would not want to fire again on the following cards:
The reason not to fire is that these cards help many of the kinds of
hands that we expect called the flop. Lots of suited connectors picked up a
straight, two pair, a pair with their draw or open trips. When these players
improve, they are unlikely to lay down their hand. Since we are betting to
get a fold, we should not bet unless we expect to get one.
These are cards are the bricks. On this loosely connected board they do
not help any of the draws. They do not change the board, but they devalue
the draws. This sets up a situation where we can bet the turn with the plan
24
to shove the river. There are so many weak fits on this kind of board that
we can charge them on the turn and shove the river.

Stack:
Loose passive Check/Fold $485
(EP1)
Hero $175 Covers

(Button)
Thankfully, we got a good barreling card, and the Villain released his
hand. Note the bet sizing we used. We had lots of latitude in our bet size to
get a fold. A bet of $150 is on the small size while a bet of $300 is on the
large size. This sizing was chosen because we have fold equity now, and the
$310 that is left on the end will have fold equity if we decide to fire the final
barrel. It leaves our options open. We should always look at the remaining
stacks and decide our bet size based on our plan for the rest of the hand.
As you get better at deciding when to fire second barrels, you will find
you want your continuation bets to be called. This is because often you will
win the hand on the turn after being paid for a continuation bet. This puts
more chips in your stack than just taking it down on the flop.
Most people will not notice what kinds of texture you are double
barreling on. They will not know how to defend against your betting. Watch
the hands you are not in. Notice which people are doing the same thing as
you are. When you know what they are doing, you will be able to defend
yourself and take advantage of their barreling. That comes in the next
chapter.
NEW
HAND
Let us try this important move yet again.
25

Stack:
UTG Nit Call/Fold $320
…
Hijack ABC player Call/Call $400
…
ABC Player Check/Call $385

(Hijack)
Hero $25 Covers

(Button)
Villain limp-called pre-flop, and on this flop we expect him to have a

small pocket pair like 66-JJ. He might also have some suited connectors
looking for an inside straight, or possibly a weak Nine from a suited
connector. There are only a few good sets for him to have. His weak range
will often fold on the turn, especially to a good overcard.

(Hijack)
Hero $60 Covers

(Button)
This Queen is the kind of card that does not help his hand, and makes
all his likely pair holdings look even weaker. It is the rare player who is
going to call again with 77, 68s, or even 89s. This is why he folds.
26
6) Players that know when to two barrel

bluff can be semi-bluffed on the turn.

As you are playing at the table, watch the other players. You will find
certain players, the LAGs and TAGs, fire a second barrel when good
barreling cards come. Whenever you can predict what a player will do
before they do it, they are exploitable. Bluffing the bluffer is the next level
of poker thinking. Raising this bluff is an excellent option, especially if you
have a draw to back you up. The other reason this semi-bluff works is that
it is rare at this level for a turn check-raise to be anything but a strong made
hand. This induces a lot more folds because we look so strong. This is how
to play against players that are playing like us.

The Bike Stack:
…
Hijack Hero $25 $600
Cutoff LAG Call Covers
Button Nit Call $400
Small Blind Weak player Call $550
We certainly do not like being out of position to the Loose Aggressive

player; he tends to make our hands hard to play because he will bet or raise
when he senses weakness. We expect the LAG to not have complete
garbage, but he does not need to be too strong either. Most pairs, any two
Broadway cards, suited Aces, suited Kings, and one or two gappers are all
reasonable. He is capable of flat calling with premium hands if the mood
suits him. We are on the border of folding or opening in this hostile
situation. The weak players in the blinds and the predictable Nit on the
Button give us reason to open here.
27

Stack:
Unknown Check/Fold …
(Small Blind)
Hero Check/Call $575

(Hijack)
LAG $35 Covers

(Cutoff)
Nit Fold …
(Button)
We have very little hand strength on this flop, and terrible equity when
called. Because of this, we do not like continuation betting into three
opponents. However, after the LAG bets, we can close the action heads-up
with an inside straight draw, backdoor Hearts, two over cards and a board
that is unlikely to have hit him either. We are getting great odds from his
small bet. Having this relative position on the LAG has advantages as his
bet clears out the rest of the table.

Stack:
Hero Check/$225 $540
(Hijack)
LAG $75/Fold Covers

(Cutoff)
This is a very sneaky card for us. We have a well-hidden double belly
buster straight draw. It is a good barreling card for the LAG. It is an over
card, we have shown weakness and we are the only opponent.
It is hard for us to simply call his bet, because we need to make a hand
on the river to realize our showdown value. However, our hand also has
stealing value. The stealing value combined with the showdown value
makes this a profitable spot. His small bets and prior history of two-
barreling gives us reason to try this move. The range analysis later in the
alternative lines section applies here too. He does not likely have a strong
hand, so we can push him out with a check-raise.
If he shoves over our check-raise, it comes down to pot odds and our
perception of his range. We would be getting 2.4:1 on the shove. If he has
even an overpair like AA, we need 4.5:1. If he only has an Eight, then we
can barely squeak in a call since we would need at least 2.14 to call.
28
If he flat calls and we miss on the river, it is doubtful he called with

anything that he would fold on the river for the small amount we have left.
We got really lucky with the draw we picked up on the turn. Let us look
at an alternative line and see what happens if we are less fortunate.
Alternate Line: unhelpful over card on turn

Stack:
Hero Check/$225 $540
(Hijack)
LAG $75/Fold Covers

(Cutoff)
Villain bets again on the turn. Let us look at his range; he called a late
raise pre-flop and we had put him on a range like this:
Pre-flop cutoff calling range (25%)

A9 K9 Q9 J9 T9 99 98s 97s 96s 95s 94s 93s 92s
A8 K8 Q8 J8 T8 98 88 87s 86s 85s 84s 83s 82s
A7 K7 Q7 J7 T7 97 87 77 76s 75s 74s 73s 72s
A6 K6 Q6 J6 T6 96 86 76 66 65s 64s 63s 62s
A5 K5 Q5 J5 T5 95 85 75 65 55 54s 53s 52s
4A K4 Q4 J4 T4 94 84 74 64 54 44 43s 42s
A3 K3 Q3 J3 T3 93 83 73 63 53 43 33 32s
A2 K2 Q2 J2 T2 92 82 72 62 52 42 32 22
This is about 25% of all starting hands. This range only hits this flop
about 20% of the time. Half of those times with an overpair, a third of the
time with just top pair. Sets and a straight draw make up the rest. Here are
the hands that hit:
29
value range in white (20% of pre-flop)

A9 K9 Q9 J9 T9 99 98s 97s 96s 95s 94s 93s 92s
A8 K8 Q8 J8 T8 98 88 87s 86s 85s 84s 83s 82s
A7 K7 Q7 J7 T7 97 87 77 76s 75s 74s 73s 72s
A6 K6 Q6 J6 T6 96 86 76 66 65s 64s 63s 62s
A5 K5 Q5 J5 T5 95 85 75 65 55 54s 53s 52s
4A K4 Q4 J4 T4 94 84 74 64 54 44 43s 42s
A3 K3 Q3 J3 T3 93 83 73 63 53 43 33 32s
A2 K2 Q2 J2 T2 92 82 72 62 52 42 32 22
How many of those hands like betting when a King of Clubs comes on
the turn? Only about half of them:
value range in white (10% of pre-flop)

AA AKs AQs AJs ATs A9s A7s A6s A5s A4s A3s A2s
AJ KJ QJ JJ JTs J9s J7s J6s J5s J4s J3s J2s
AT KT QT JT TT T9s T7s T6s T5s T4s T3s T2s
A9 K9 Q9 J9 T9 99 97s 96s 95s 94s 93s 92s
A8 K8 Q8 J8 T8 98 88 86s 85s 84s 83s 82s
A7 K7 Q7 J7 T7 97 87 77 76s 75s 74s 73s 72s
A6 K6 Q6 J6 T6 96 86 76 66 65s 64s 63s 62s
A5 K5 Q5 J5 T5 95 85 75 65 55 54s 53s 52s
4A K4 Q4 J4 T4 94 84 74 64 54 44 43s 42s
A3 K3 Q3 J3 T3 93 83 73 63 53 43 33 32s
A2 K2 Q2 J2 T2 92 82 72 62 52 42 32 22
30
The point of looking at this is that rarely does he have a hand here.
Only 20% of his starting range hits; only 50% of that 20% hits the turn too.
So, only 10% of the time does he have a hand strong enough to bet here. It
seems far more likely that he is just betting because we showed weakness.
This is not some nit that is out of character betting because he got lucky
and hit a great hand. This is a guy that has shown a proclivity towards
betting into weakness. That is why the check-raise will work, even if we did
not have a draw to back us up.
What are we representing on this board? Nothing, absolutely nothing.
He will probably give us credit for a set that we played sneaky. This is a
bluff that is pressuring his weak range while not particularly representing
anything.
This kind of analysis shows that almost no card really helps him. We
would likely check-raise any card with similar prospects.
Let us look at a different alternative line. We checked the original turn
and got in a check-raise. What happens if the Villain checks behind on the
turn?
Alternate line: turn checks through, induce action

Stack:
Hero $20 $540
(Hijack)
LAG ??? Covers

(Cutoff)
If we hit one of our straight cards, we could just sell our hand for
whatever we think we can get. A standard bet might be about $100 when
we make it.
We could also try something strange – bet $20. What LAG is going to
fold to this small bet? It would prove that he had nothing. Calling is just
not his style. He might convince himself that this strange little bet is a
blocking bet. If we are making a blocking bet then we would fold to a raise.
In this book, we raise when we think someone will bet-fold. Often our
small bet size telegraphs the intention to fold to a raise. Villain likes raising
when people show weakness. Give it a try. This is how we beat people that
play like us.
Also, the Seven might make him a tempting two pair if he had suited
connectors 67 or 78. If he held this, his raise would very likely come, giving
us a chance to shove.
31
Alternate line: turn checks through, big bluff

Stack:
Hero $175 $540
(Hijack)
LAG Fold Covers

(Cutoff)
If the turn checks through and we do not hit our miracle straight, we
know that he bet the flop, but then checked back the turn. From earlier
analysis, we suspect that he has a very weak hand. He wants to get to a
cheap showdown. A healthy donk over-bet here really pressures his
holdings. It appears as if we have one last chance for value and do not want
to miss it. We are not representing anything in particular, but we do not
need to. He will not need much of a story to fold his hand. He seems to
only have a single pair, one beaten by a single Queen. He will fold pretty
much everything here.
NEW
HAND
This semi-bluff requires courage and observation of patterns. While we will

have some showdown equity with our draw, this play is mostly about
noticing that a player is willing to double barrel with air. Just as we might
bluff-raise a continuation bet, we are now bluff-shoving a frequent two
barreler.

Stack:
UTG+1 Unknown Limp/Fold …
MP1 Loose passive Limp/Call $262
MP2 TAG $12 $312
…
32
Loose passive Check/Fold $250

(MP1)
TAG $30 $300

(MP2)
Hero Call …
(Button)
It all starts when he fires the first barrel on a flop that does not really
hold much for anyone. Certainly he could do this legitimately with JJ+ and
some good Tens. More likely, he has two missed overcards, some tenuous
suited connectors or possibly some low pairs that are now essentially a
bluff.
TAG $60 $270

(MP2)
Hero Shove …
(Button)
The only value hands that like this King are AA, KK, TT, TK and flush
draws. Maybe he was leading out with AK/KQ/KJ on the flop too. This is
a very small amount of his range. Imagine you were this TAG and were
following the barrel plan with AQ, AJ, QJ, JJ, 89s, 88. Would you make a
hero call on the chance we were making a play? Exactly. We have just as
empty of a range as him, but it is harder to call a bet than to make one.
33
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34
Getting Value
7) Players are amazingly truthful in

discussing their hands during play.

Related Missions: 21
People often ironically say poker players never lie, but that is a lie. During a
hand, they almost always tell the truth. At worst, they tell you something
misleading but true. I managed to get full value for this hand because the
player told me what cards he held on the turn.

Playground Stack:
Poker Club
…
Hijack Bad, social regular Limp/Call $225
Cutoff Hero $25 Covers
Everything is according to plan; I have position on a recreational player

with a healthy pocket pair.

Stack:
Bad, social regular Check $200
(Hijack)
Hero Check Covers

(Cutoff)
This is not a great board to continuation bet. I do not have very good
equity when called, and this board hits a lot of his check-calling range. If I
am called, I am likely to have to shut down on the turn. When that
happens, I would open myself up to a river bluff from all the missed draws.
36
Getting Value

Stack:
Bad, social regular Check/tank $200
(Hijack)
call
Hero $50 Covers
(Cutoff)
I likely have the best hand here, but the board is super draw heavy.
There are lots of pair plus draws, backdoor and front door flushes. I am
really hoping for the proverbial Deuce of Stars to come out on the river.
These worries were entirely relieved when Villain tank calls saying, “I
have two pair, I cannot fold.” It has been my experience that after the hand
is over, I do not trust a lot of what people have to say about their hand. The
pressure is off, and they have time to think about how they would like to
manipulate you. However, as counter-intuitive as it might seem, people tell
you the truth when they speak about their hand during the hand. The
reason is that they think that no one will believe them if they tell the truth,
they cannot think of a plausible lie that quickly, and they just do not like to
lie. The more specific their statement, the more truthful it is. “I have a
hand,” does not mean much. “I have a big draw,” is likely true. “I have a
set,” is very likely true.
Villain here was very plausible with two pair. This made me feel much
better when the worst card in the deck fell:

Stack:
Bad, social regular Check/Call $150
(Hijack)
(assumed)
Hero $150 Covers
(Cutoff)
Just about the worst card in the deck comes out here. Normally, I would
consider just checking it back since there is no room for a bet-fold.
However, when he had told me that he had two pair, I had already decided
to ship if I managed to fade the two remaining queens. When Villain
checked, I announced, “all-in”. He gently slid his remaining stack to me, put
on his coat and walked away before I revealed my hand. The dealer just
shrugged, mucked his hand and shipped me the pot.
He told the truth – he could not fold!
37
8) If you are bluff catching, improving your

hand should not alter your plan.

Related Missions: 5
If you know the other guy is full of it, then you can call down with a pretty
weak hand. Sometimes you will back into a strong hand while doing this.
However, you cannot bet into him for value because it will only scare him
away before he has the chance to make the mistake. Once he has bluffed,
then you can evaluate if you can raise for value.

Taj Stack:
UTG+1 TAG $25 Covers
…
MP1 Recreational Call $550
Player
MP2 Hero Call $700
…
Button LAG Call $600

Stack:
TAG Check/Fold Covers
(UTG+1)
Recreational Player Check/Fold $525

(MP1)
Hero Check/Call $675

(MP2)
LAG $60 $575

(Button)
38
Getting Value
We were set mining and missed. However, we have relative position on

the LAG. What this means is since we can count on him to bet often, by
being to his right we get to see everyone’s reaction to his expected bet. His
bet has cleaned out all of the competition. This is a fine board for him to
take the lead at an abandoned pot. We do not believe him for a minute and
are happy to let him barrel off. He is willing to make the mistake of betting
too often without a hand.

Stack:
(MP2)
LAG $150 $515

(Button)
We called so that the LAG could make the mistake of betting the turn.
We execute that plan and call him. We only have a bluff-catcher, but it is
doing its job. We ready ourselves for the third barrel since we do not
believe he has the King. He certainly could have it, but it is a small fraction
of his holdings.

Stack:
(MP2)
LAG Shove $365

(Button)
We got very lucky. Should we bet it out and hope he has a King to pay
us off? No! We played this hand with the intention of calling the LAG
down precisely because we did not believe he had a King. Betting would
let him off the hook because he is never going to call us on the river with a
worse hand. If he is never calling, we have to hope he is willing to bet with
a missed flush or fire a third barrel to represent a King.
With Villain’s wide range, if he managed to have a King it might have
been very weak, for example, K5s. Betting might fold him out, whereas
checking would allow him to bet for value.
39
9) Remember the Chicken-Hawk

Declaration.
I offer up this observation
Chicken-Hawk Declaration
“If a passive player check-calls out of position on the flop and turn, then jams the
river, he has whatever big hand you fear he has.”
It is difficult live to get enough hands to determine if this is true so I

leave it merely as a “declaration”, not a law. My experience says I would
have saved a lot of money had I believed it to be true.
Let us look at some of the kinds of situations where this would take
place.
He is representing a straight with a pot sized bet. How could this tight,
passive Villain call two streets with a Three? Maybe he got there with 3dAd
when he picked up a straight draw on the turn. Maybe he had 7d8d, and
now he is afraid you will check the river, so he jams.
You flop a straight with AQ; the tight passive guy check-calls you on
the flop. Your straight is partially counterfeited on the turn, and he check
calls you again. Finally, he jams on the river. You are against a boat of some
sort.
Test this declaration for yourself. Pick out the passive players at your
table; when you see this pattern, note what happens. My belief is they will
always have a five card hand (straights, flushes, and boats) or better. Let me
know what you observe by writing me at [email protected]
40
Three-bet pots
10) Three-bet to isolate a bad player.

The first reason people three-bet is because they have a premium hand.
This is also often the only reason they three-bet. However, there are other
reasons. One of the favorite reasons, especially of TAGs, Internet Kids and
LAGs is to isolate a bad player.
The way this works is there is a bad player that will raise into a lot of
pots. We want to be in pots with this guy. If we just flat call after him, we
will often find ourselves to be second of five people to the flop. This is not
ideal. What we want is a situation where we are two or three to the flop, act
last and were the last player to put in a raise pre-flop. This is a “Bread and
Butter” scenario as Tommy Angelo called it in Elements of Poker. Flatting
his raise will not get us that, but three-betting often will.
As you are adding this move to your arsenal, consider it a success if you
get into this scenario. This is a profitable situation so you want to get into it
often. The question is what kinds of stack sizes and holdings do you want
to go to war with in this situation? QQ+, AQ+ are nice, but that is not
what we are talking about for this kind of play (that is the more natural
value raise.)
We want our Villain to have the money to pay us off. If he only has
30BB, you only are looking to raise for value. So, let us assume effective
stacks are around 200BB or, hopefully, much more.
Next we are looking for fatal flaws in the Villain. Where is he going to
stack off to us? Some common ones are the inability to fold top pair or
playing any suited cards for flush possibilities. Suited Aces will allow for
over flushing someone and can provide sneaky two pair hands versus better
Aces.
The later our position when we isolate, the better. The reason for this is
that smarter players to our left will take note of frequent three-bet isolation
and can punish us. It is ideal to have passive, straightforward players after
us to minimize this possibility.
Three-bet pots

Charity Stack:
game
EP1 Unknown Limp/Fold $40
EP2 Frequent raiser, $10/Call $380

bad player
…
MP2 Hero $20 Covers
Since we have three people after us, we want to raise to get heads-up
against our Villain. We specifically took a seat change twenty minutes ago to
get to this position because we wanted to act after this particular player.
This is the kind of situation we were looking get into. The small raise
should be enough to single him out. This was at a charity event, and they
tend to have mostly passive, recreational players. Raises happen, but three-
bets are pretty rare. At first people put you on big pocket pairs and Ace
King/Queen when you make this play. Eventually they figure out you could
have anything here. Villain’s range is rather wide and hard to list. However,
we expect lots of middle pairs, suited connectors and one gappers. We
expect he reraises only with AA and KK so they are not in his calling range.
He could have any Ace up to and including Ace King. Let us say this is
what he is usually going to the flop with.
43
Bad player raise-call range.

A9 K9 Q9 J9 T9 99 98s 97s 96s 95s 94s 93s 92s
A8 K8 Q8 J8 T8 98 88 87s 86s 85s 84s 83s 82s
A7 K7 Q7 J7 T7 97 87 77 76s 75s 74s 73s 72s
A6 K6 Q6 J6 T6 96 86 76 66 65s 64s 63s 62s
A5 K5 Q5 J5 T5 95 85 75 65 55 54s 53s 52s
4A K4 Q4 J4 T4 94 84 74 64 54 44 43s 42s
A3 K3 Q3 J3 T3 93 83 73 63 53 43 33 32s
A2 K2 Q2 J2 T2 92 82 72 62 52 42 32 22
Rather than play out an example hand, let us deal out 16 random flops
from the remaining deck and determine which we would check and bet. We
are almost always going to be checked to here. We will say he hits the flop
when he flops
 Set
 Two pair
 Pocket pair below top pair
 Middle pair
 Flush draw
 Open-ended straight draw
 Inside straight draw
The following was done in Flopzilla, with the percentage rounded to

nearest 5%. The highlighted cell shows the primary reasoning for our
betting or checking.
44
Three-bet pots
“Miracle” flops Our % of Our

equity his equity
vs. his range vs. his
range that “hit
“hits” range”
Action: Bet
Bet for value 85% 45% 75%
Bet as semi-bluff 75% 40% 60%
Can pick-up draws on turn Action: Bet

We can pick up backdoor 40% 40% 20%
hearts or a straight draw. Lots
of barreling and bluffing
cards.
Continuation betting boards
Typical continuation bet 45% 35% 15%
board
Hard for villain to hit 55% 25% 25%
Can often fire a second barrel 50% 25% 20%

when an overcard hits
when an overcard hits
when an overcard hits, small
chance of picking up straight
draw
Weak fits on coordinated boards Action: Check,
consider bluffing or
bluff catching later
We have a bluff catcher. 60% 55% 45%
A draw to Broadway, but 30% 70% 20%

might need to fade Spades
45
Bad boards Action: Check

Some backdoor equity with 35% 60% 25%
straights, but a straight with
our Eight is a trap. Any Jack,
any Ten, or any Diamond will
often let Villain call with great
equity when he does.
If called, we are far behind 35% 45% 25%
with little hope.
If called, we are far behind 35% 45% 20%
with little hope.
Miracle flops:
We played this hand and hit a miracle flop, which are those where we
have high equity when called, and will be called often because the flop also
hits him. If our Villain gets over-flushed or pays off our sneaky two pair, it
was all worth it. These are the places that pay off well. Bet these out; that is
why you came.
Backdoor draws with barreling possibilities:

The next class of flops are those that are reasonably hard for Villain to
hit. These are the ones that we can often barrel when an overcard hits or
when we pick up a draw. Though we have low equity when called, we will
know when we have a hand that worth putting big money in for. Villain’s
equity will be hard to achieve because we will often pressure him to fold.
Continuation betting boards:

The key to three points for these kinds of boards are
 Hard for the Villain to hit
 His hit is often weak
 He will fold to pressure later
That is why we are betting them and barreling them.
Weak fits on coordinated boards:

With position, we might be able to bluff these boards. These are going
to be harder to play. We at best have bluff catchers on these boards. We
will often give up to aggression on these boards.
46
Three-bet pots
Bad boards:
These boards fit our Villain’s check calling range before the flop. We
missed, and he more than likely hit. We cannot win them all. Just lose a
little pot here, and buy your next lottery ticket versus this player soon.
You do not need Flopzilla at the table to do this kind of analysis. All the
above classifications were done by hand as I dealt out the random flop; I
then went back ran the numbers through Flopzilla. The numbers bore out
my intuition. This is an easy exercise to try with just a deck of cards.
47
You are still reading. Use this discount code:
Remember, I am saving every dime from this book to buy a modest
retirement home in Vegas. Once I can move to Vegas and go pro as an
author, coach and player, I will. There will be more books like this, but I
need to be able to afford to write them. You can help.
Thanks,
Doug
Author of Poker Plays You Can Use
[email protected]
48
Poker Missions
Poker missions for continuous improvement

Some of the kinds of plays that were outlined in these chapters are relatively
easy, such as a one barrel bluff of raising a continuation bet. Some are much
harder, such as floating out of position. How do you add these kinds of
plays to your arsenal? You add them one at a time in a gradual progression.
These missions give you a logical, gentle framework to improve your game
slowly.
You have read the stories of these plays being used and now you need
to get out there and do these things yourself. This is going to bring you out
of your comfort zone. It is one thing to abstractly agree that a $500 bluff
makes sense when it is not your money. It is another thing to slide in five
full stacks of red chips with Queen high. If even the thought of pushing in
that kind of money has your heart pounding right now, you are going to
benefit from following these missions.
If you are already playing a bigger game, you might want to drop to
lower stakes. It should make the bigger bluffs, thin value bets and floats
easier to stomach. Doing these missions is going to increase your variance.
You are going to have some big winning sessions, but you are also going to
bluff your entire stack into a big hand at some point. Sometimes it will
happen four times in a session! This will rattle your confidence and make
you want to go back to ABC poker. Do not do that. Take stock of what
happened, learn from it, and carry on.
These missions are designed to help you avoid making the same flaws
that the Villians in this book made, and, at the same time, teach you to
exploit those flaws in other players. Each mission is presented as a small,
focused exercise so you can work on one new skill at a time. Remember
that there is some element of luck and chance in poker. If a mission does
not work out successfully for you the first time you try it, do not assume
that it is a poor strategy. These are strategies that are winning moves over
time; they are not winning moves every time. Each time you try a new mission,
use the strategy for at least one or two entire sessions so that some of the
inevitable failures will be hidden by the equally inevitable wins.
These missions were designed to do one at a time and in order. Try one
mission for a session or two before starting the next mission. Stick with
certain mission for a while if you like. This is not a race. Some missions
are stepping stones towards better play; once you have learned the lesson,
then you no longer need to follow the overly strict rules of the mission.
Other missions are designed to get you ready to accomplish the next
mission so that the change is not too abrupt. Some missions are rules that
will stay in your game indefinitely.
50
Poker Missions
Flaws to eliminate
Stop ignoring opponent’s tendencies
Stop limping pre-flop and playing out of position
Stop being predictable pre-flop, add some lite raises and

lite three-bets
Stop feeding the nits
Things to do more
Start exploiting fit or fold players. Start continuation
betting, barreling and floating more
Start exploiting bet size tells
Start getting more value for made hands
Start bluffing and semi-bluffing more, especially for bigger

money
I want you to take these missions seriously. Do not just read them right
now and consider doing them “later.” You can improve your game by
committing to accomplishing these missions. I did. These are the kinds of
challenges I gave myself when improving my game. Each session I was
focused on looking for one kind of opportunity. Maybe I was looking to
make a check-raise on the turn, or I was looking for a chance to over-bet
for value on the river. You see the opportunities more when you are
specifically looking for them.
Let me know how you are progressing with these missions by e-mail:
[email protected]. Anyone that finishes them all should let me
know about your experiences. I will send you a free gift and buy you a beer
at the next WSOP. I recommend you blog your experiences with these
missions. If you do, please let me know, I will link to you from my web
site: www.ThreeBarrelBluff.com.
51
1) Identify Tommy Angelo’s “Bread & Butter”

situations.
Element #116 of Tommy Angelo’s Elements of Poker states that a Bread

& Butter situation is one where you are last to act of two or three people
and you put in the last raise pre-flop.
This mission is an exercise in observation. For this mission, draw two
columns labeled Two and Three (see illustration below.)
The Two column is for hands with two players to the flop; the Three
column is for hands with three players to the flop.
You will then create a row for each orbit. Every time you see this B&B
situation arise for any player in the game make a vertical line. If the B&B
player wins, make the vertical line into a plus sign. If the hand gets to
showdown, circle it. Every hand where there is a raise and no callers, write
an “R” in the middle of the row for that orbit. Every time the Button hits
you, draw a horizontal line across the chart under this series. Some people
like to put a dot next to the hands they were the B&B for.
A typical chart might look like this after three orbits:
So, first orbit two B&B players won heads-up, the second one with
showdown. Second orbit a B&B player lost at showdown while heads-up.
Three-handed a B&B won at showdown and another one lost without
showdown. There was a hand raised with no flop. Third orbit a B&B won
52
Poker Missions
without showdown both two and three-handed. There was an uncalled pre-
flop raise also.
This exercise will sharpen your focus on the game and give you a sense
of how aggressive your specific game is. This example chart is more tight-
aggressive than most $1-$2 games. People do not take advantage of
position as much as they should.
When B&B do not win, watch to see why. Are they continuation betting
and barreling enough? If the hand gets to showdown does it seem
reasonable that more aggression would have won the hand because of the
weak holdings of the out of position players? Under what situations did the
out of position players win? Were those hands based on hand strength
rather than aggression? Long term patterns like this are really hard to see
unless you are taking notes.
After about a hundred of these situations, you can fill out the next chart.
Remember the four numbers in each column should add to 100%.
Raised pre-flop, no flop ___% of ALL hands
Two players Three players

B&B wins B&B wins
No showdown ___% No showdown ___%
B&B wins B&B wins

Showdown ___% Showdown ___%
Non B&B wins Non B&B wins

No showdown ___% No showdown ___%
Non B&B wins Non B&B wins

Showdown ___% Showdown ___%
If it were completely random, the B&B should win 50% of the time in
the two player case and 33% in the three player case. If you watch for a
decent sample size, it will not be random. The B&B player should win
much more.
This should make it apparent that these are good situations to get into
and that often your cards do not matter. This will really serve as inspiration
for why you want to play in position with the initiative. It should also make
it much clearer why calling a raise out of position aimlessly is a losing
proposition.
53
Optional:
It is harder, but you could also do this exercise noting the dollar amount
won or lost by the B&B player. The number of hands won should be easier
to track and is a reasonable proxy to make the point though.
2) Stop limping pre-flop.

Stop limping pre-flop and playing out of position
In this mission you have one unbreakable rule:

I will never, under any circumstance, limp pre-flop.
This rule is simple, but iron clad. It does not matter if every player at the
table has limped in before you and you are on the Button with JTs. Raise or
fold.
Limping leads to limp-calling and being out of position. When you are
out of position you are at a great disadvantage to your opponents. Limp-
folding is like lighting your money on fire. Flip through the book and see
how many hands were advantageous to us because the Villain had limp-
called pre-flop.
If you want to see the flop, you need to raise by at least the standard
raise for the table plus one big blind per limper in the pot already. My
default standard raise is five big blinds plus one big blind per limper. If it
has already been raised, you should consider a three-bet but may flat call the
raise. If you get three-bet, you may flat call. While it is not forbidden, avoid
calling any raise or three-bet out of position. If limped to in the Big Blind,
you may check.
This mission will likely see you tightening up pre-flop since it costs you
more to get into the flop. What else will it do? It is going to thin the field
quite often. It is going to make it substantially more likely that you are in
position post-flop. It will also give you the initiative going into many more
flops than usual.
Optional:
Limping pre-flop is the first of many mistakes made by bad players in
any hand. Many people often want to be in as many hands as possible. This
can be tempting, but to see why you should not do this, you can make a
chart where you record, over time, how much you would win/ lose by
limping versus not limping.
For each hand that you neglected to limp where you normally would
have, estimate how much you would have lost (or won) had you limped
pre-flop. Mark saved money as +. Mark missed opportunities as -. Write
54
Poker Missions
what you think would have happened. This is pretty rough estimate, but I
expect it would be something like this:
Holding Position Savings Imagined Action

AJo UTG+1 +$10 Limp call pre, miss flop
77 MP2 +$2 Limp pre, no set on flop
A8s CO +$10 Limp call pre, missed flop
KJs MP1 +$50 Out kicked on J high flop
89o HI -$10 Flop two pair, everyone missed
These are real winnings in this column. Chips you do not lose are the
same chips that you win when you get to the cashier’s cage. Sometimes you
would have gotten lucky and are kicking yourself for not seeing a cheap
flop, but these are the exceptions. Over these sessions, you should have a
sense of how much you are losing on these cheap flops.
After trying this for several sessions, do you miss limping pre-flop? You
should not. Is there a place for limping pre-flop? Sometimes, but you are
more right than wrong to always come in for a raise or fold.
This mission will get you playing less hands pre-flop but playing them
more aggressively. This mission is a small step towards better pre-flop play.
Keep at this until the later missions where your pre-flop options are
widened.
3) Keep track of the pot size every hand.

People are often making too small of bets at a pot, giving good odds to call
for. This will be more important as the hands get played through more
streets and for larger amounts. You want to make sure your bets are the
right size for your goals.
To do this, you only need to roughly keep track of the size of the pot.
You do not need to be exact, for example, for a pot size of $156, $150 or
$160 is fine. When the pot gets to $1285, $1200 or $1300 is sufficient.
Going into the flop should be easy since the dealer should be announcing
the number of players and you can multiply by the raise or big blind
amount when limped. Do not forget to add in the amount from people
who folded after putting in a limp or smaller raise.
It is important to try to make this automatic skill that is happening
whenever you are in the pot. To make this a habit, you can make it a little
55
game with yourself. You can get a stack of coins to shuffle at the table. Set
one aside for every pot you correctly tracked. See if you can get a full orbit
in without losing concentration.
You can also use this mission to see if people are betting in accordance
to pot size. I notice that often when the pots get big in absolute amount for
the stakes, people underbet. That means at $2-$5 once pots hit $400 or so,
players will start betting $150 because that feels like a big bet yet it is
actually quite small relative to the pot. Try to observe under what
conditions people are underbetting big pots. Are they scared to fire in more
because of the large size or are they trying to increase the chances of being
called when they have a lock hand in a big pot? The way people react in big
pots like this can be very valuable information when you are in a similar
situation later. This skill is something you should be doing as part of every
hand you play.
56
Poker Missions
About the author

Doug has been found at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun poker rooms
since 2001. When he is not perfecting this craft, he is blacksmithing,
woodcarving or developing his permaculture homestead in Massachusetts.
He has authored an engineering textbook, co-authored a second and
contributed to a third. He has taught countless people to use MATLAB
through his blog at MathWorks.com.
Reach him at [email protected]. Buy him a good Belgian
beer at the WSOP and get a free copy of his next poker book. Visit his
website at www.ThreeBarrelBluff.com
You are still reading. Use this discount code:
57

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Played out of position

Plays fit or fold (check folds flop)

Bet sizing tell

Making a thin value bet

Player has predictable or straightforward play

Bluffing with an empty or nearly empty range

Tilty, or lashing out

Floating, intention to bluff later

Bluff, with potential to bluff more as needed

Once and done bluff

Bluff with the intention to follow up on next street

Bluff with intention of bluffing all three barrels

Semi-bluff: bluffing with a good chance of improving

Foreword by the Author

A guide to reading these hands

$2-$5 Image: Action: Hand: Starting

Pot: $72 Range: Stack:

LAG $50/Fold $420

Hero $200 Covers

A guide to reading this book.

(Villain’s flaw) (Difficulty rating) (Hero’s exploit)

$2-$5 Image: Action: Hand: Starting

Pot: $57 Range: Stack:

LAG Internet Kid $50 Covers

Hero ??? $615

Pot: $57 Range: Stack:

LAG Internet Kid $50/Fold Covers

Hero $200 $615

Think to ourselves, “What would a typical bad recreational player do

Alternate line: Call flop, Bluff-raise turn

LAG Internet Kid $120/Fold Covers

Hero Shove $565

This alternate line of play would also be a reasonable plan since he

Alternate line: Call flop, Bluff turn

LAG Internet Kid Check/Fold Covers

Hero $125 $565

$1-$2 Image: Action: Hand: Starting

UTG+1 Unknown Call/Call …

Pot: $49 Range: Stack:

Hero Check/Call Covers

LAG $35 $400

Pot: $119 Range: Stack:

Hero Check/??? Covers

LAG $100 $365

Board Our hand

Combination 30% Yes Usually

Traits that will make me want to shove:

We are trying not to give ourselves a negative freeroll on the river. A

2) Some players believe they are unlucky.

(Villain’s flaw) (Difficulty rating) (Hero’s exploit)

$2-$5 Image: Action: Hand: Starting

MP1 Fatalistic Regular $45 Covers

Pot: $97 Range: Starting

Fatalistic Villain Angry fold Covers

Because of his very nitty three-betting range, we can quickly go through

Alternate line 1: Wait for information, he bets flop