Cash Game Strategy/Tips Part 2

This will be a longer post.
Welcome to another edition of FF_Barret Poker Articles..We started in our first article dealing with cash tables and we will continue with that theme for this one and the two following. If its SnGs/MTTs you want to read about, you'll have to be a little patient so I get the cash table ones out first.

In my first thread, I dealt with some basic terminology of cash table play, along with some information dealing with table selection, stack sizes, what tables you want to be playing at, and most importantly some differences between tournament play and cash table play and how to make initial adjustments if you're just starting to play cash tables or are curious how you could better your adjustments anyways.

If you did not read my first article, it isn't that you won't understand this one, its just that it's crutial that if you want to improve at poker you understand and learn all of the concepts dealing with it. The technical sides of poker are just as important as our situational plays. Please, before you continue with this or if another time you want to go back and read it, I strongly advise you to take a look at it.

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So now that we have an understanding on our terminology of cash tables and we understand what kind of tables we're at and what adjustments we need to look at, we're ready to begin looking at some situational plays of cash tables, some general poker theory, and some moderate to advanced concepts. These are concepts you've probably already implimented in your poker game cash tables or not, but this is a way to help further your game and perhaps make them a little bit more advanced and tweak them just a little bit. You may have thought that c-betting or 3betting was a very simple part of poker, but it's actually two of the more important and necessary situations or concepts in cash tables..so lets take a look!

1.3-betting
2.Continuation Betting or C-betting
3.Player notes and how to use them for your advantage

Lets start with 3betting.

1.3-betting

Like I talked about in my first article, 3betting consists of a raiser preflop raising over the 1-bet (the big blind), and someone else raising OVER that initial raiser.

3-bets are very important for several reasons..They are very common in poker, but lets examine a little bit WHY we 3-bet:

A.It gives you a chance to take down the pot preflop.

When you make a raise like this, three things can happen. One, he calls and you play out the hand. Two, he raises and you're put to another decision and play out the hand. Or three, you take the pot down there. It's not to say you're automatically winning the hand every 1/3 time you 3-bet, but that chance is there every time you do.

B.You give yourself more options to win the hand.

Think of it this way. Lets say a guy in the cutoff (one person before the button) raises and you have a hand like AJos. If you just flat call, you're basically assuming that you HAVE to hit in order to win this pot. Now you're giving yourself another way to win this pot other than just flat-out hitting that flop.

C.Information

You get a lot of information by 3-betting..consider this:

You will get information on the kind of hands he's opening (raising preflop). If he's folding a lot to your 3-bets preflop, that mean's he's opening very wide, or in other words, he's very loose with the kind of hand's he's opening with.

You will get information on the kind of hand's he'll CALL a 3-bet with.

You will get information about his hand strength in general. If he's 4-betting you you can pretty much figure out that he has a very strong hand. Rarely in cash tables like this will someone make a 4-bet over your 3-bet without a hand like QQ-AA or AK. A lot of times they may just call even that and not even raise you. By giving them an opportunity to come over the top, you're saving yourself. For instance, if you have TT and you just call a raise preflop and flop comes 953 you're setting yourself up to lose a large pot to his JJ-AA. Now lets say you 3-bet and he comes over the top of you with his KK. You can pretty much figure out he has a large pair here and can fold this a lot/all of the time.

You will get opportunities to figure out how he's playing postflop after being aggressive preflop.

We will go over this in more detail later on in the article when we talk about more 3-betting and especially c-betting (or postflop play)

D. The hand is much easier to play

This is kind of synonymous with the above reasons..It gives you information giving you a better idea of where you are in the hand and how to play your hand and your opponents.

E. Even if you're called, you pick up the pot a lot of the time postflop with a c-bet.

Again, more information on this to come later in the article. In short though, by showing your aggression preflop and therefore putting out a continuation bet, people are more likely to respect your postflop aggressiveness as well because of how strong you've already played out your hand.

Now that we know why we're 3-betting, lets go into some hand ranges.

What do I 3-bet with, and when?

Your range of hands to 3-bet with will vary along with each different player you play with. This is because people's aggression levels are obviously different. Therefore, it's smart to include player notes on who you are 3-betting (read the section on player notes later in this article!)

For people who you know to be looser players, or that you know are opening with wide ranges, you want to be 3-betting them much more often. If their range is really as wide as you believe it to be, they will be folding a lot. And if not, they will call you with a worse hand and perhaps continue to pay off.

For a tigher player, consider 3-betting them with a smaller range. 3-betting is all about adjusting to the table, and adjusting to each individual player at every table. You'll be having different ranges on different players, so it's important to keep in mind what your OWN range is for 3-betting a tight player, an average player, and a loose, aggressive, crazy player.

A. Tight/Nit

When I'm playing against a nit, someone who's opening very rarely or just not staying too active, I'm very apprehensive to 3-bet against them. A lot of times they are so nitty they'll be 4-betting me back a lot. However, being a tight player can also mean they are a weak player. If you are 3-betting someone and they are folding a lot, this can have to do with being tight as well. That's why keeping player notes are so handy, not only how many times you're 3-betting them but what their action is.

So if someone is playing tight, here's the kind of range I'm 3-betting them IN POSITION with:

JJ+
AK

If I'm in position, I may be flat calling them with hands like 77-TT and AJ-AQ and folding a lot of other hands. If he's as tight as we think he is, calling with anything else is usually a losing play. This is all read-based however, and these variables may change depending on the player.

If I'm OUT of position, my range doesn't change very much. This kind of range changes out of position in the following two kinds of players for myself, though it may be different for other people:

B. Average player

For an average guy whose numbers are fairly standard and he isn't tight nor crazy, I'm pretty standard on what hands I'm 3-betting him with:

99+
AJ+

I will likely flatcall in position with almost any pair, and A9-T sometimes as well, though I don't like playing aces that low too often. This all depends on how aggressive he is postflop, too though.

If I'm out of position, my range changes just slightly. My out of position 3-bet (or one that I'm 3-betting from the blinds):

JJ+
AK, MAYBE AQ depending on how he's playing postflop.

C. Aggressive crazy player

For a very loose opener my 3-betting range varies a lot depending on where he is at the table.

In a normal sense, I'm 3-betting the following:

77+
AT+
QJsuited+

Out of position my range doesn't change that much either.

D. How these ranges change based on position:

People's button ranges, assuming they aren't a complete nit, are usually very very wide even for a normal player. Therefore, if I have reason to believe he's stealing a lot, especially for an aggressive player, I may be 3-betting fairly light from the blinds. This may include a lot of suited connectors.

If the aggressive player is on the cutoff and I'm on the button, I will 3-bet with an exTREMEly wide range. This includes all pairs, almost any ace, suited connectors, etc. This will again vary depending on if he starts playing back at us a lot of if he's just opening wide and folding to a 3-bet a lot. Chances are they're folding a lot.

There will be a little bit more 3-betting information in later articles so if you want more information on that, just post here in the thread or wait for some more info on that. This is just general information on who you should be 3-betting with what kind of hands in certain situations. No hand ranges or anything like that is "by the book" though. It is your job to continue to be attentative to who's raising a lot, who's folding to 3-bets a lot, who's calling them, how they're playing post-flop, etc. All these factors may be even more important than your hand strength when deciding what and when to 3-bet with.

Now on to a different subject: Continuation betting. This is very in depth so this will go on for awhile in this article and continue with more other information and concepts in another.

2. Continuation bets or c-betting

Like 3-betting, there are several reasons why you want to be c-betting. Remember, c-betting is where you are a raiser or 3-better preflop and you're "continuing" your aggression postflop.

Simply, it gives you another chance to take down the pot. Just like raising or 3-betting did, now play has moved on to post flop. If you c-bet, one of three things can again happens. First, he calls and you guys play a turn. Two, he raises and you're playing out a potentially dangerous/confusing situation. Or three, he folds and you take it down. Again, I like those odds a lot of the time.

Secondly, it gives you an easy decision on how to play the pot. If you're raised off the bat after a c-bet, you get a lot of information on his hand and typically you can throw it away. If he calls, you can deduce a lot of the time he has a medium strength hand or a draw. If he check/raises, you may understand he's trying to be tricky and it gives you information on how to potentially c-bet him in the future.

There are several factors or variables you must think about before c-betting. Lets take a look at them:

A. The value of your hand

The best way to get value out of a good hand is to simply bet it out, correct? So with a made hand on the flop, betting it out and getting value out of it seems self-explanatory. But what about not-made hands?

For draws, often-times putting out a bet is more +EV for your hand and therefore can give you more value out of just taking it down there instead of trying to hit your draw. This is for several reasons. First, your odds of taking down the pot with a c-bet and your opponent folding may be greater than your odds of hitting the draw, if it happens to be weak. Two, if the board is pretty dangerous to begin with and you hit you may not be getting action anyways. Or three, if he has a better draw than you, trying to c-bet and making him pay for his draw may get him to fold and therefore if the draw hits and you both have a made-hand but his is better, you lose more value seeing the rest of the board.

With absolutely nothing, c-betting gives you another chance to try to take it down. If you get raised or called and you give up the pot later, it's no big deal. But it's a great feeling having nothing and getting another shot to win a pot.

B. How much credit will you be given for a good hand?

This is a very common mistake among people who are c-betting. When you are doing this, you need to think of basically, how often is this going to work? In short, is this a situation where your opponent is going to give you credit for a good hand?

What situations will you get credit on?

The most common is if you are raising in early position or maybe even middle position. The point is that people are less likely to give you credit for a hand if you are in a more steal-worthy position (late position, button, etc.). If people suspect you may be trying to steal, your c-bets will be working less. It's still worth it to c-bet most of the time, but if people are playing back at you a lot it may be more worth it to check some flops. If you're raising in early position though, your range is typically tighter or at least people will believe so, allowing your c-bets to work more often.

C. How much merit does your hand hand if you are check/raised or raised?

This is another thing to think about. Lets say you are in position post flop and they check to you, you c-bet, and they raise you. You need to think about this when making a c-bet. Keep tabs on players that are doing this tricky play, especially when you are c-betting with fairly weak hands.

If you have a good hand and you are check/raised, you're going to be excited, right? When about if you have a weak hand? A draw? Absolutely nothing?

You don't want to get yourself into situations where you could possibly have the best hand but you'd have to fold because you might be behind.

This is why having player notes on how people are playing you is so important. If someone has a habit of check/raising you or raising you (if you are first to act and you c-bet and someone in position raises your c-bet), you can avoid c-betting them without a made hand or at least something you're not afraid to be raised with.

How much do I c-bet?

This is a very questionable and arguable topic as far as c-betters will say. Generally, your c-bets should be fairly strong..lets look at it a little more closely, though.

Example - You raise with KJos on the button and the small blind calls, the bb folds. You miss the flop but want to represent some kind of made hand so you look to bet into his check.

The pot is your $1.00, plus his $1.00 call, plus the bb so its $2.25 altogether.

You c-bet $1.25. Him calling is merely $1.25 to see a turn of a pot which will be $4.75. Are you giving him odds to his draws? To outdraw you? To call with a LOT of hands? Yes. Even if he has a better hand than you, you can still get him to fold.

Lets say you have KJos in this example and he has AT. Flop comes 638. If you c-bet to $1.25 I can guarantee he's calling a vast majority of the time. But lets say you make your c-bet a little stronger, and make it around 2/3 or 3/4 the pot. Lets say you bet around $1.75. His odd's decrease, his perception on your hand strength changes (to your favor), and his desire to continue with the pot increase. You'll take down the pot much more often.

A typical c-bet should be around, like I said, 2/3 or 3/4 the pot. Anything less is just begging people to call. What you don't want to do, however, is vary your c-bets based on your hand strength. You shouldn't be betting nearly full pot with no hand to "force them out" but only betting around 1/2 pot with a made hand to "get action". To your surprise, even morons pick up on this after awhile.

Again, more c-betting tendencies and maybe a little on how to play c-bets in another article. Lets move on to a quick section on player notes!

3.Player notes, and how to use them for your advantage

This is something that I've personally endorsed to everyone I've ever coached. I don't see a lot of people doing this and I honestly think its one of the easiest and most important things you could do playing cash tables, especially 6-max.

Every time you 3-bet someone, or someone 3-bets you, you should be typing stuff into their player notes box. That's why almost every poker site has this!

When I 3-bet someone, I type in something like the following:

"3-bet him: 1x"

then underneath, what the situation was

"AQ, he folded." or "KK, he called then folded to c-bet on a T35"

If I'm 3-bet, I'll type in something like this:

"3-bet me:1x
77, tight player.
JJ, i called and check/folded on a AK6 flop"

How does this benefit me in terms of 3-betting?

Like I've mentioned, 3-betting is all about adjustments. Your ranges on 3-betting or calling/raising a 3-better depends on your perception on their aggressiveness AND previous experiences.

If someone's 3-betting you a lot, you may adjust to their playing style and play back at THEM more, or call them more often.

If you're 3-betting someone a lot, you will learn to slow down perhaps a little bit if they eventually start playing back at YOU. However, until they do, and until you note it as such, you can continue doing it to the players at the table you know it will work on.

By documenting how people are playing you and how you are playing them, deciding hand ranges, deciding whether to 3-bet or not, deciding whether or not to call or raise a 3-bet becomes extremely easy.

How does this work with c-bets though?

Like the above examples, I will note what happened postflop if its a normal just raise/call preflop and postflop betting situation. If they are folding to c-bets often, that means they are calling more preflop with weak hands and I can raise into them more often. Also, it means I can c-bet them more often.

If they are check/raising my c-bets or raising them outright, I can be more careful not to c-bet without a decent hand.

Get how it can benefit your play? If you're multitabling and can't narrow people's ranges or how people are playing you, this benefits you even more because you can multitable while really being able to figure out a lot of people's playing styles without having to sit and memorize their every play every hand.

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This has been a pretty long article and I'm sure a lot of you just skimmed to the end or skipped over it. I want to stress to you though, if you really want to improve at poker, you really need to read these kind of articles. They can benefit your play so much. A few minutes reading over this information will be beneficial to your play for years to come. Really getting a lot of detail and info on specific concepts is what really will help your playing style and improve your poker game. Please don't cheat yourself by not allowing yourself to improve.

Much of this info comes from my own experiences as a coach and player. Some of the concepts and basis of other parts come, though not directly, from articles on twoplustwo.com and various poker strategy videos from PokerXFactor and StoxPoker.Com. For more information, check out the Micro NLHE forum on twoplustwo.com forums, go to the "***The Best of uNL - Strategy posts***" thread at the top of the page and read through some of the 3-bet, c-bet, and other concept articles there as well.

Thank you for reading, the next article will deal with a little bit more on c-betting and 3-betting along with playing with position, what kind of opening ranges and how much to make raises based on limpers or if you're first to open.