Opening Up My Game

I think right now I'm at a point where I can beat most of the NL100 players at a pretty steady rate playing a standard TAG game. I think this is important to do, because when and if I move up the ranks, I'll be playing against more and more players that grinded their way up playing that kind of a game. It's important to know this style well so I can exploit its weaknesses, much as the TAG style is really designed to exploit the weaknesses of the standard loose-passive donkbox. Maximally exploiting weak-tight TAG players often involves opening up your game and taking risks to push them off some pretty good hands, especially in position. So recently I've been trying to do that a little more against players I think are candidates for such exploitation. Here's an example against an 11/8 villain:

Full Tilt Poker, $0.50/$1 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

BB: $100
UTG: $101.50
UTG+1: $266.70
UTG+2: $57.55
MP1: $287.85
Hero (MP2): $133.45
CO: $29.50
BTN: $102.95
SB: $63.85

Pre-Flop: dealt to Hero (MP2)
4 folds, Hero raises to $4, 3 folds, BB calls $3 (He's probably set-mining, although possibly with a higher pocket pair than mine, even up to queens. Although normally you'd expect a re-raise from an 11/8 with queens, I have seen these guys end up tabling queens out of the big blind fairly often. Jacks, too, but AA and KK quite rarely.)

Flop: ($8.50) (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $7.50, BB raises to $18, Hero calls $10.50 (OK, here's the part where I start to deviate from the standard TAG strategy. The c-bet is pretty standard here, although you could argue for a check for pot control against a player whose calling range beats 77 and won't likely fold any hand that beats me on this board.When he check-raises, I'm pretty sure he has a higher pocket pair, like 88-QQ. And I think there are a lot of turn cards that can allow me to get him off that hand. These grinders do not like to stack off with weak over-pairs, and with good reason. And the real point is there are just SO FEW hands that he could have that really nail this board. I'm not even sure his defending range preflop includes 22 and 67s. But if it does, there's only ONE 67s left that's possible since I have the 7 of spades, and the 6 of hearts and the 6 of diamonds are on the board. There are only three 22 combinations. Then there's the one 66 combo that makes quads, but check-raising with quads seems off. Quads don't really come around enough for me to know what the standard line with them is, but it seems like it involves some slowplaying. But even allowing that he would always play 22, 67s, and 66 this way, that's a grand total of 5 hands. There are a total of 30 88-QQ hands. So even if he only plays those overpairs like this 1/6 of the time, he's even money to have an overpair given that he's made this play. So to be clear, I'm NOT calling this check-raise for value. I'm calling because I have position, I think his hand is fairly weak, and he might fold on the turn, especially if an overcard to his pair comes. Now you might ask, "if you think his hand is mediocre and he doesn't want to stack off with it, why not 3-bet him right here and take it down?" It's a valid point, but there are a few reasons: 1) This way, I get to see what he does on the turn, 2) he has to see the turn card, which has a good chance of scaring him, 3) I think flat calling the check-raise is what I would do more often than not if I had a real monster like deuces full or A6s, or even a big overpair like AA or KK, and finally and perhaps most importantly 4) if he leads the turn and then folds, I make more money than if he folds to a 3-bet on the frop.

Turn: ($44.50) (2 Players)
BB bets $27, Hero raises to $111.45 and is All-In, BB folds (Well I couldn't have chosen a better turn card myself, barring a seven to fill me up. This eliminates another A6s hand from his range, although I don't see him defending with that hand out of the BB anyway. More importantly, it's an overcard to the middle pocket pair I think he's holding. Then he bets a little more than half the pot. Now at this point you MIGHT be thinking, "Well I called to see what he would do on the turn, and now he's bet again, continuing to represent a huge hand, so I guess I should fold." But notice that it's a smallish bet that leaves him with just enough (about $50) to be able to fold. He's not going to check-raise the frop and then just check-fold the turn very often. As a TAG, he wants to continue to be aggressive and keep betting, maybe even hoping to get value out of a smaller pocket pair like the one that I have. But it does look like he's leaving himself room to fold. The only problem is, how do I end up with an ace here? Well, I guess I could have been stubborn on the frop with AK, or I could have flat called with AA, worried about the two sixes on board. But really, I'm counting on this guy, who's probably playing 8+ tables, to fold his pocket pair when there's an overcard on board, just because that's what he usually does. He did indeed fold, so I guess it worked out. I'd enjoy some comments about whether I just got really lucky not to run into a huge hand, or if this is a winning play.)

This shows one of the main disadvantages both of calling pre-flop AND of playing a tighter game. It really narrows down your range. There are a bunch of hands I could have in this spot, even as a tight player, including A6s, even a two-gapper like 96s. This is because it takes a much weaker hand to raise than to call (the so-called "Gap Concept"). So when you're a tight player and you call out of position, you're at a disadvantage not just because you're out of position, but also because your opponent has a much better idea of what you have than you do of what he has. This fact, combined with position, means that if your opponent is competent, he can use that knowledge to force you into mistakes and/or minimize his own.

BRUECHIPS


No comment on this play...other than the fact that your pray is above the rim. You had the virrain playing his hands basically face up.

BRACKCHIPS