I (once again) have failed to post over the past week and change, this time because I've been running like absolute death and hate poker.
This evening I sat at higher stakes than I ever have before in terms of big blind size, following a whale who had jumped from $600NL (typically my highest stake) to $1k NL CAP to $2k NL CAP, the latter of which breaks my record.
I was down around ~$280 in the 20 hands of $1k CAP and up ~$630 in the 40 hands of $2k CAP. Huge sample size, I know. There weren't any interesting hands, but I'll post the one where I win a short stack to fill some space! For what it's worth, the hand wasn't versus the whale, but a regular.
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $20.00 BB (3 handed)
BB ($460)
Button ($476.50)
Hero (SB) ($810)
Preflop: Hero is SB with 10♥, A♥
1 fold, Hero bets $50, BB raises to $400, Hero calls $350
Flop: ($800) 9♠, A♦, 4♥ (2 players)
Turn: ($800) 6♣ (2 players)
River: ($800) J♠ (2 players)
Total pot: $800 | Rake: $1.50
Results:
Hero had 10♥, A♥ (one pair, Aces).
BB had 10♠, Q♠ (high card, Ace).
Outcome: Hero won $798.50
Boring indeed. The one thing I found interesting though is that it seems all CAP regs at these levels never ever 3b/fold - they just jam 20bbs over minraises. I'm by no means an expert, but I feel like is has to be suboptimal to be doing this rather than say having a 5.5bb/call and 5.5bb/fold range, or maybe even 5bb 3b size. Seems like they're just looking for simple rather than optimal, which is pretty shocking given the stakes, or perhaps a reflection on the regs that play CAP. Of course, it could very well be that I'm completely out to lunch on this. To be fair as well, I guess my sample size is only six or seven regs at this point, so perhaps I shouldn't be making sweeping generalizations.
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3 comments:
alright mate,
i have just started getting into CAP games (at the lowest level). However i posted yr question on the ShortStackRevolution forum and one of the top CAP players B3rtStare answered it for you:
3betting to 5.5bbs is never optimal. I don't have time to do the math but if we're BTN then the original opener probably has to fold something like 80% of the time for a bluff to be +EV (assuming they only play 3bet/fold to make it more simple). Nobody ever folds that much so a bluff is terrible and if you never bluff then regs will just play back tighter to your 5.5 3bet than they would to your jam which makes it pointless with premiums (and most people would rather flat than jam with premiums anyway so then our small 3bet range would be rather weak). Maybe it would work with a hand like QJs that we want to get in but rely on fold equity, but as soon as good regs notice this they will get it in wider and then it's better to jam those hands.
Some people will 3bet to 4-4.5bs BvB but not many do from other positions with any frequency. This is because it has to work too often when we're BTN/CO (and they like to flat premiums) and when we're in the blinds we're OOP if they flat (and good players will flat these super wide). Maybe the huge 5.5bb sizing could work from the blinds if nobody ever flats but I'm not convinced it is better than 4.5bbs with any part of our range.
Hey Rossi,
Thanks for doing the due dilligence. I was just pulling sizing numbers from my ass in the post, my point was that I wasn't seeing people 3b/fold at all, to any sizing period - they'd just jam or fold, even in BvB. According to B3rt it seems at least some people do go smaller and have 3b/fold and 3b/call ranges, which I think theoretically has to be optimal unless our opponent is a superuser and is going to play perfectly against us.
I think the thing about 3-bet folding with 20 bb is that you have to pick between either 3-betting to 4 or 5 or jamming with your whole range, but if you do both it starts messing up both ranges. Obviously if you take a hand like A9o and 3-bet to 5 bb, then you give your opponent great odds to call and try to hit on the flop.
3-betting/folding in cap makes more sense if there are a couple of players left to act, so you get more info about your opponent's hands before you commit.
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