8/19/2019 Red Chip Poker Late Position, Chapter 10

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/red-chip-poker-late-position-chapter-10 1/6

Hands

71

Fish in the Middle

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

Some people say there are only three ways to play pocket Jacks preflop andthat all three of them are wrong. Pocket Jacks can be difficult to play. Butas you improve your skill you begin to find ways to play Jacks better than

ever before. In this hand we take Jacks to war against not only oneopponent, but two.

$1-$2NJUndergroundgame

Image: Action: Hand: StartingStack:

UTG+1 Short stack $10/??? $90

Cutoff Loose passive Call $435

Button Hero $45 Covers

 When we raise, we will either win it preflop or see a flop with one ortwo opponents. Let us look at the most realistic outcomes:

Scenario Short Stack:UTG+1

Loose passive:Cut off

Result

1 Shove Fold +EV: All-in pre-flop2 Shove Call +EV: Can re-raise3 Fold Call +EV: Play normally4 Fold Fold +EV: Win

Scenario 1: Short Stack Shoves, Loose Passive Folds: 

 We expect the Short Stack to shove or fold once we squeeze. In thisscenario he shoves and the Loose Passive player folds. At this point we aregetting about 3:1 on a call. Would we be happy calling off?

In this hand our $45 squeeze represents half the open-raiser’s effectivestack. The rule preflop is that you do not put in more than ⅓  of the

8/19/2019 Red Chip Poker Late Position, Chapter 10

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/red-chip-poker-late-position-chapter-10 2/6

Red Chip Poker: Late Position

72

effective stack and fold. The logic being that against any shove you will begetting 2:1 or better to call. With these odds, you are often times correct tocommit your chips.

Once he shoves we are getting about 3:1 on a call, which means we

need at least 25% equity. Versus a tight range of QQ+/AK, our JJ has36% equity. If he shoves any wider our equity only increases and we makemore on average.

Backing up for a moment, before we even make the original squeeze to$45 we need to have a plan for this shove. A Short Stack is going to beraising tighter from early position and will stack off a larger density of hisrange. Because of this, we need to understand that our squeeze effectivelyrisks $90, since we will always call his shove here. Let’s proof this with asimple fold equity calculation:

 Assuming UTG+1 would never fold we need at least 47% equity tobreakeven on a shove. Realistically, he will fold against our three-betenough of the time when he open-raises with hands like 77, AJ, and KQ.

 The more often he folds the better our three-bet becomes. Follow thecontour line of zero EV up and to the left to see the trade-off between howmuch we need to win and how much they need to fold.

Let us construct some reasonable ranges for UTG+1. Let us start withthe Short Stack opening with 77+, AQ+, KQs. We then consider whichparts of that range he would shove with. We call that their stackoff range.

-  7    5    

-  5    0    

-  2     5     

- 2  5   

0       

0    

0 

        2        5 

        2       5 

   2   5

25

      5     0

   5   0

    7    5

Win percent when called

   F  o   l   d 

  p  e  r  c

  e  n   t

EV of shove of $90 into a pot of $23 over a bet of $10

0 20 40 60 80 1000

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

8/19/2019 Red Chip Poker Late Position, Chapter 10

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/red-chip-poker-late-position-chapter-10 3/6

Hands

73

vs.+,

+, S

Stack range Equity:

Us vs. Them

 Their fold

 percentage TT+/AK 43%-57% 48%99+/AQs+ 49%-%51 Always +EV

 We can profitably get JJ all-in preflop against the Short Stack giventhese conservative range assumptions. The wider they are opening andcalling, the better for us.

Scenario 2: Short Stack Shoves, Loose Passive Calls: The Short Stack is rarely going to just call our $45 three-bet. He is

most likely going to push all-in or fold. If we size our three-bet correctly,the Short Stack’s shove will reopen the betting. This will allow us to re-raisethe times that the Loose Passive player calls. We want to re-raise because

 we have a hand that we expect is ahead of any range the Loose Passiveplayer would continue calling with. We would like to make a big side pot

 while holding the better hand.

If we three-bet to $70 and the Short Stack goes all-in, the betting is nolonger opened. To reopen the betting his all-in would need to be equal to,or greater than, the size of our re-raise. Making a three-bet to $70 is a raiseof $60. To reopen the betting the Short Stack would need a raise to $130and he cannot do that. If we three-bet to $45, that is a raise of $35. Toreopen the betting the shove would need to be to $80. The Short Stackshoves to $90, so the betting is re-opened. 

 The question of “is the betting re-opened” is often confusing.Different card rooms can have different rules. Some rooms consider half the

raise  amount to re-open the betting. This rule about a half raise re-openingis from limit poker, but is used in certain no-limit games. Be sure to knowyour local rules.

By three-betting to $45 we ensure the betting is reopened. We create asituation where we three-bet, the Short Stack shoves, the Loose Passiveplayer calls again, and then we can five-bet for value. Awareness of thesenuances is what allows forward-thinking players to capitalize in unique

 ways.

8/19/2019 Red Chip Poker Late Position, Chapter 10

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/red-chip-poker-late-position-chapter-10 4/6

Red Chip Poker: Late Position

74

$1-$2NJUndergroundgame

Image: Action: Hand: StartingStack:

UTG+1 Short stack $10/$90 (All-in) $90

Cutoff Loosepassive

Call/Call/Call $435

Button Hero $45/$185 Covers

Everything is going according to plan. We have gotten the Short Stackall-in, and then the Loose Passive player calls the $90. Now we need tofocus on maximizing value against the Loose Passive player and create thelargest side pot possible. Our edge is huge against the Loose Passive playersince his range is filled with many speculative hands and weaker pairs. Weexpect him to three-bet QQ+ himself when the Short Stack originallyopens to $10.

In low-mid stakes live play we rarely see four-bets wider than Kingsand Aces. Yet we sit here happy to five-bet with Jacks. Why?

 We believe we have a better hand than the Loose Passive player. Notonly do we beat the hands he called the $90 with, but we expect to be aheadof any range he would give our five-bet action with. Our five-bet size isimportant as we do not want to go so large that we drive away those worsehands.

Regardless of our five-bet size the SPR will be small on the flop. Even when we make a smaller sized five-bet, like $185, and he calls, there will be$463 in the pot and $250 in the effective stack. With an SPR of less thanone, we are always going to stack off post-flop.

 We choose to five-bet $95 on top because we want to ensure he willnot fold pre-flop. Psychologically this kept the amount he needed to callunderneath the important $100 price-point. People are far more likely tocall $95 versus $105. The math does not change much, but the psychologyof it does. 

8/19/2019 Red Chip Poker Late Position, Chapter 10

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/red-chip-poker-late-position-chapter-10 5/6

Hands

75

Main Pot: $277Side Pot: $190

Range: StartingStack:

Short Stack(UTG + 1) 

(All-in) (All-in)

Loose passive(MP2) 

Check/??? $250

Hero(Button)

Shove Covers

Not all flops will come low, but we cannot complain when theydo. Once the Loose Passive player checks we shove for value without any

hesitation. While it is possible that the Loose Passive player flopped a set ortwo pair, there are only nine combos of possible sets and only threecombos of 43s. If the Loose Passive player is bad enough to have 43s herethen he is bad enough to have 76s.

 We crush 76s and lots of other hands. If he put in that much moneypre-flop with 44 and happened to flop a set; good for him. All thedecisions were made pre-flop, this flop shove is our default play. 

Some players may consider going for a smaller bet on the flop. We donot think it is best. Given the player, if he has any piece or overpair he’ll be

inelastic with it and call regardless of our size. Why bet small if he wouldcall the entire $250 right now? That means the only options are betweenchecking and shoving ourselves. We would rather shove now and stack his88 type hands rather than check and risk missing value. If a big card orFive fall on the turn we may not win his stack.

Unfortunately, the Loose Passive player folds. The Short Stack reveals99 and we win the $467 pot when the turn and river do not help him.

Scenario 3: Short Stack Folds, Loose Passive Calls:

 We just play this as a normal three-bet pot. There is a $100 in pre-flopand we are in-position with the initiative and $390 effective stacks.

Loose passive players, and bad players in general, tend not to adjustbased upon starting stack sizes. So it is reasonable to assume that theLoose Passive player has worse pairs, suited connectors, and weakBroadway hands. We have an edge on that kind of range and we will useour postflop skills to maximize value.

Scenario 4: Short Stack Folds, Loose Passive Folds: We win $23.

8/19/2019 Red Chip Poker Late Position, Chapter 10

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/red-chip-poker-late-position-chapter-10 6/6

Red Chip Poker: Late Position

76

Conclusion: At the end of the day, Scenario 2 happened and we won a sizable

pot. However, we cannot stress enough how horribly the Loose Passiveplayer played the hand. He put in almost $185 pre-flop and then folded in a

0.5 SPR pot. These are the players we can exploit by playing our big handsfast pre-flop and getting lots of money in the pot when our card edge ishuge.