Small Stakes No-Limit Hold'em

Post edited 5:40 pm – July 9, 2009 by Sh0e
Post edited 5:41 pm – July 9, 2009 by Sh0e

(*I realize that I've rambled quite a bit here, so I just italicized the main point I was hoping to ask about.  Just skip to that part, if you like.)

I don't really get the term… I mean, I understand that as a general thing, balancing improves your winrate (in the correct balance, of course). Basically, having an optimal amount of bluffs mixed with value bets etc. makes you win much more money.

But when you talk about opponents, and your actions, I kinda don't get it. (I guess it's a sign of my ignorance?) As an example, I'm reading p.96-97, where the authors are talking committment threshold & such… with balance being a concept I wanted to ask about a few pages prior (balance, polarizing)…

In this case's example though, you illustrate a KQhh hand (flat-call OOP vs. TAG), w/a 842hh flop… it does note that you played enough “to feel comfortable” playing him.

Many players (including I) will do what the authors suggest as a line–CR the flop. However, you mention something that I would like some further help with… You say that if you take this line, you need to balance that, by playing other hands this way.

Now, (1) what other hands would/should fall into this category? (I'm thinking sets, flat-called monsters, pretty much it.)

And (2, and more to my point), why do you need to balance this way? I understand that great players really can sort this out… but most of your opponents aren't simply going to get away from their hand (at least not on the flop) if they actually have a hand (e.g. overpair–TT, hearts like you) Are they?

(*at this point, I realized this post is getting long, so I will attempt to cut-to-the-chase. )

In other words, I do understand that… like when I get CR'd in such a situation, and the opponent is rather passive, I realize that I'm behind… but if I have JJ (putting me in Villain's shoes), or if I have another overpair… how can I “pinpoint” what you have, based on your CR and the notion that you don't balance your CR's. (Does that make sense?)

I mean, let's say that I have a decent history with this Villain… how do I come up with such a locked-in diagnosis for how he played this flush draw? Is it simply that I seen him slowplay sets before? I don't understand how you can discount sets ever (in these situations), even if your read is that “his CR's are heavily weighted toward flush draw”.

Lately, it feels like I'm getting CR'd a ton… now MOST of the opponents are relative unknowns, and (it seems) like most of the time, I'm crushed. (i.e. It feels like I'm not often CR'd by draws.) So if you take those two facts into ~very general~ account, should I view my opponents (again, just talking very generally) CR's as very unbalanced, and see it heavily weighted to sets? And therefore, be willing to lay down overpairs, flush draws, even top two, to heavy action?

The section in the end on balancing lines I found extremely eye-opening and useful. 

My question to the authors and to anyone else is "do you often find people with unbalanced lines and exploit them in live games"?  Or is it much much more rare since you 1) encounter them people less and 2) don' thave tracking software to track the thousands of hands/lines they play?

thanks