[Mason Malmuth]

Table of Contents

About Matt Flynn vii

About Sunny Mehta ix

About Ed Miller xi

Acknowledgements xiii

Introduction 1

It Depends 5

Part One: The Basics 7
Introduction 8
Odds and Outs 9
. Pot Odds 9
. Outs 10
. Discounted Outs 12
. Outs and Odds 13
. Implied Odds 15
. Putting it Together 17
Bet Sizes 21
Absolute Versus Relative Dollars 21
. Betting the “Pot” 24
. What Size is Best? 25
. Final Thoughts 29
Stack Sizes 31
. The Basics 31
. The Table Stakes Rule 31
. Consequences of the Table Stakes Rule 32
. No-Limit Should Be Called Stack-Limit 33
. Effective Stack Sizes 33
. Stack Sizes and Strategy 34
. Stack Sizes and Hand Descriptions 37
. Short, Medium, and Deep Stacks 37
. Why Do We Care About Short Versus Deep
. Stack Sizes? 40
. Summary 42

Part Two: The Fundamentals 45
Introduction 46
Pot Size 48
. Risk Versus Reward 48
. Win Money, Not Pots 50
. Big Pots Versus Small Pots 51
. How To Play a Big Pot 54
. Final Thoughts 54
Commitment 56
Pot Control 65
. The Basics 65
. Some Exceptions 68
. Final Thoughts 72
Position 74
Hand Reading 81
Fundamentals In Practice 85

Part Three: The REM Process 95
Introduction 96
The REM Process — R is for Range of Hands 99
. Know Your Opponents, Observe Their Tendencies 100
. . Preflop Standards 100
. . Betting Patterns or Amounts in Various
. . . Situations 101
. . Particular Actions on Specific Streets or with
. . Specific Hand Types 101
. . Physical Tells 102
. . Betting Pace 102
. Putting It Together 102
. Reassess 103
. Position and Hand Reading 104
. Summary 105
The REM Process — E is for Equity 107
. Calculating Equity Against a Range of Hands 108
. Shortcuts 110
. Folding Equity 112
. Final Thoughts 115
The REM Process — M is for Maximize 117
. The Effect of Checking 117
. Reasons To Bet or Raise 119
. . Value Betting: When You Want Them In 119
. . Bluffing: When You Want Them Out 122
. . When You’re Not Sure 125
. Folding, Calling, or Raising With Drawing Hands 125
. Final Thoughts 130
REM in Action 131

Part Four: Planning Hands Around Commitment 139
Introduction 140
The Commitment Threshold 142
. The Commitment Threshold 146
. The Commitment Threshold Threat 147
. Timing of the Commitment Threshold 147
. When You Are at the Commitment Threshold and Not
. . Committed 149
. Exceptions 152
. When You Are at the Commitment Threshold and
. . Committed 153
. Commitment Thresholds in Multiway Pots 155
. More Hand Examples 156
. Exceptions Revisited 157
. Summary 162
Stack-To-Pot Ratios: Introduction 164
. Balancing Risk Versus Reward 164
. A Hand Without A Plan 166
. A Mental Barrier 167
. Replay 168
. Planning For Commitment 170
. Risk Versus Reward Revisited 171
. Defining Stack-to-Pot Ratios 173
. Max SPRs and Target SPRs 175
Playing Top Pair with SPR 179
. SPR Makes Postflop Play Easier 179
. Top Pairs Have Triskaidekaphobia 180
. Two Pot-Sized Bets Is Better 183
. Four Is Often Better Than Three 183
Target SPRs 186
Estimating Target SPRs 188
. Hand Strength 188
. Opponent Tendencies 189
. Target SPRs For Specific Hands Against Different
. . Opponents 190
. . Top Pair/Overpair 190
. . Target Practice 191
. . More Target Practice 195
. . When You Can’t Hit Your Target 197
. . Playing With High SPRs 198
. . Drawing Hands 200
. . Drawing Hands Work With Middle or High SPRs 205
. Evaluating Starting Hands 206
. . Overpair Hands 207
. . Top Pair Hands 208
. . Drawing Hands 209
. . Final Thoughts 210
Creating Target SPRs 211
. Some Background On Preflop Raising 211
. Variables Affecting SPRs 213
. A Note on Mixing It Up 219
. Remember Triskaidekaphobia 221
. More Shortcuts 221
. Final Thoughts 222
Target SPR Examples 223
. Final Thoughts 233
Making Adjustments 234
. Multiway Pots 234
. Reraised Pots and Limped Pots 236
. Adjusting to Multiple Different Stack Sizes 238
. Getting Money In Preflop With The Best Hand 239
. Playing with Position 241
. Adjusting to Coordinated Boards 242
. Maximizing Postflop 244
. Adjusting to New Information 246
When SPR Doesn’t Work 249
. Sometimes Your Opponents Don’t Cooperate 249
. Some SPR Strategies Don’t Work With Certain Stack
. . Sizes 250
. You Need All-Ins To Happen Sometimes 250
Using SPR to Choose Postflop Betting Lines 252
Betting to Get All-in 255
SPR — Putting It All Together 257

Part Five: Planning in Practice 267
Introduction 268
Planning in Practice 269
. Once Around 269
. Second Orbit 282
. Final Thoughts 292

Conclusion 295

Appendix A: No-Limit Rules and Etiquette 297
. No-Limit Rules 297
. No-Limit Etiquette 302

Appendix B: Odds and Outs 305

Index 307