board textures

[ccc1433]

i asked for some help on the micros forum on this thread, but had no replies, so, i would be so glad if anyone here could help me...

here is a less formatted version of the thread
[ QUOTE ]
I´m trying to list all possibilities on board textures, but i really need some help from you. I would appreciate any kind of advice, please correct me if you think that are any unnapropriated terms or concepts. Actually i have such a poor english, so any grammar or vocabulary would be welcome as well. I ask for you read with attention before making any commentary.

The first thing to do is to define what attributes should be considerated when trying to organize our board textures, and i think there are 3 main attributes:

* Pairing (just don´t know how i should call this attribute, because it´s not just about pairs, but about trips and quads also, so i don´t think "pairing" as the better word for it)
* Suitedness
* Connectedness



(* i don´t think "cards strenght" should be taken as a separated attribute, and it would complicate a lot all this stuff)

So, let´s examine these attributes on the flop, one by one:

FLOP

Well, at first we should sort it by the "pairing" attribute. There are 3 instances for that:



* Unpaired Board
* Pair on Board
* Trips on Board



Now we´re going to sort it by suitedness. There are other 3 instances for it:



* Rainbow
* Two Suited
* Three to a Flush



You should have noticed that if the board is unpaired, all combinations of instances are allowed, but when a pair is on board, it´s not possible to be a "three to a flush" board. With trips on board only a rainbow board is possible.

The same thing happens when we talk about our last attribute, the "connectedness".

Now we have a problem. For connectedness we have four main types of instances: "disconnected", "two cards connected", "three cards connected" and "three to a straight". But there are much more instances, just because they differ from each other by the number of gaps between the connections (the number in parenthesis, or two numbers, in case of "three connected").
I was pretty satisfied with that idea, but then i have noticed that the presence of Aces had a great influence on texture of the board. For example: a 2 gaps connection between any other cards that aren´t Aces leaves on the board the possibility for someone drawing for an OESD. But if the 2 gaps connection involves an Ace on it, the OESD it´s not possible, just a gutshot is possible now.

So, with all these issues, we have 20 instances for connectedness:

* Disconnected
* Ace-x Connection
* Two Connected (3)
* Two Connected (2)
* Two Connected (1)
* Two Connected (0)
* x-Ace-x Connection
* x-x-Ace Connection (3/2)
* x-x-Ace Connection (3/1)
* x-x-Ace Connection (3/0)
* Three Connected (3/3)
* Three Connected (3/2)
* Three Connected (3/1)
* Three Connected (3/0)
* x-x-Ace Connection (2/1)
* Ace-x-x Connection (2/1)
* Ace-Ended Three Connected (2/2)
* Three Connected (2/2)
* Three Connected (2/1)
* Three to a Straight



The instances above are somewhat sorted by their drawing possibilities, starting with a drawless board (actually, a disconnected board still leaves a possibility for a BDSD), ending with a "three to a straight" board, wich not only makes possible a lot of straight draws, but a completed straight is already possible.
Just a note about the "ace-ended three connected (2/2)". It includes both "ace-x-x connection (2/2)" and "x-x-ace connection (2/2)".

So, compiling it al...

- BOARD TEXTURES (FLOP)

Unpaired Board

-suitedness

* Rainbow
* Two Suited
* Three to a Flush


-connectedness

* (all the 20 instances allowed)


So, for an unpaired board we have 60 instances (20 connectedness instances X 3 suitedness instances)

Pair on Board

-suitedness

* Rainbow
* Two Suited


-connectedness

* Disconnected
* Ace-x Connection
* Two Connected (3)
* Two Connected (2)
* Two Connected (1)
* Two Connected (0)


With a pair on board there are 12 possible instances (6 connectedness instances X 2 suitedness instances)

Trips on Board

* (no connectedness or suitedness combinations, so it makes just 1 more instance)



In a total of 73 board textures on the flop.

So, what i really want from you are your oppinions and suggestions if you think there any errors in my list.
I would be glad also, if someone could help me making the same thing for the turn textures.

Thnx for any kind of feedback.

[/ QUOTE ]

[slcseas]

You might get more of a response if you could tell everybody where you are going with this. What is the point of listing all possible board textures? What possible improvement in your game can be made with this information? Attention spans in this forum are notoriously short, and a thread the length of a novel with absolutely no point to it isn't going to get much input.

This reminds me of the time my little brother wrote down a list of every baseball card in his collection, over 10,000 cards. Sure it kept him busy for about a month, but in the end it was an utter f***ing waste of time.

[Louie Landale]

Didn't read the entire post. But it sure looks like you are going WAY overboard in detail.

First off, 'card strength' is without a doubt the most important factor, not one you should neglect because it 'complicates things'. A board of KQQJ9 2x2-flushes is a completely diffent board than 23346 2x2-flushes, even though it appears your criteria above make them about the same. Likewise QQJT7 is different than 33458. In a reasonably tight game, the high card boards demand extreme caution, the low card boards do not.

You need to generalize your straight potentials down to a manageable few. Perhaps likely straight-very likely draw (1st board above), unlikely straight-possible draw (2nd board above), possible straight-very likely draw (3rd board), and unlikely straight-unlikely draw (4th board). High cards again play a big role.

The rank of the pair also greatly determines the nature of the board: you can check-fold AA when a couple folks call your raise and the turn is KKQQ, but you can bet your AA when the board is 2233.

You need a separate categories for 'stiff Ace', Ace-Face, and '2-face cards'.

- Louie

[Don_Keehaawtee]

[ QUOTE ]
You might get more of a response if you could tell everybody where you are going with this. What is the point of listing all possible board textures? What possible improvement in your game can be made with this information?

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree. When it comes to board texture, you should only concern yourself w/ what is the nuts at all times. W/ a paired board, you should be aware that a boat or quads is possible and that you shouldn't be betting the farm w/ trips, a straight or flush unless you have a good read on your opponent.

[7csCB]

Hey ccc1433,

I too only skimmed over your post and, though I wouldn't spend the time putting the list together (or reviewing it), I don't see anything overboard about somebody wanting to discuss it on a poker forum. It would be overboard if you pursued this line of thought at the expense of more important ones.

[ccc1433]

[ QUOTE ]
Didn't read the entire post. But it sure looks like you are going WAY overboard in detail.

First off, 'card strength' is without a doubt the most important factor, not one you should neglect because it 'complicates things'. A board of KQQJ9 2x2-flushes is a completely diffent board than 23346 2x2-flushes, even though it appears your criteria above make them about the same. Likewise QQJT7 is different than 33458. In a reasonably tight game, the high card boards demand extreme caution, the low card boards do not.

You need to generalize your straight potentials down to a manageable few. Perhaps likely straight-very likely draw (1st board above), unlikely straight-possible draw (2nd board above), possible straight-very likely draw (3rd board), and unlikely straight-unlikely draw (4th board). High cards again play a big role.

The rank of the pair also greatly determines the nature of the board: you can check-fold AA when a couple folks call your raise and the turn is KKQQ, but you can bet your AA when the board is 2233.

You need a separate categories for 'stiff Ace', Ace-Face, and '2-face cards'.

- Louie

[/ QUOTE ]

thanks a lot for your help!!! it helped me so much.
i just don´t understand what does mean "stiff ace"

thnx louie and everybody.

[PantsOnFire]

This thread has been discussed pretty well however one aspect of board textures has not been addressed.

When assessing a board, you also need to put your opponent on a hand. Let's take a board like 9 6 2 rainbow. If the pot is unraised with 3 limpers and both blinds seeing it, this board can be very dangerous since it may have hit anyone. On the same board however, if there is an early raiser and you call on the button and are heads up, this board is not nearly as scary.

Also the type of game is important. In a loose fish fest, I am always afraid of a two suited board for the simple reason that fish will play any two suited cards. Against a rock, you can be safely sure he has high cards or high pairs so a high flop is deadly.

So if you know your opponents like playing suited connectors or only premium hands, you can put the board texture into context.