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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface............................................................................................................................ 6
Making Money In Tight Games ........................................................................ 9
Poker Advice Is Confusing.................................................................................. 16
Should You Play 6max or Full Ring?............................................................. 20
When Do I Hold Or Fold An Overpair?......................................................... 24
3betting More Against Fish................................................................................ 31
Playing In Games With BBJ Or High-Hand Promotions..................... 38
Running It Twice...................................................................................................... 44
Hand Reading In Fishy Games.......................................................................... 49
The Best Way To Study Poker............................................................................ 55
My Flop CBs No Longer Work...HELP!............................................................ 66
Maximizing Value Against Fish........................................................................ 73
Should You Play Looser?...................................................................................... 78
The Leveling Game.................................................................................................. 84
What Is Wrong With 50bb Poker?................................................................. 88
CBing The Flop In MW Pots................................................................................ 94
Range Advantage Against Weak Players.................................................... 102
Should I Just Wait For A Better Spot?........................................................... 105
When Should I Change My Bet Size?............................................................. 109
How To Use Your Table Image.......................................................................... 118
Wrap Up........................................................................................................................ 123
Your Next Steps.......................................................................................................... 125
Glossary......................................................................................................................... 126
Bonus Offers................................................................................................................ 132
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PREFACE
7
1
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JAMES “SPLITSUIT” SWEENEY
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9 4 2
You think they would CB with any pair, sets, flush draws,
Ace-highs, and backdoor draws with overcards like K♦J♦.
(Many players will CB even more often).
You also think that if you check-raised, they’d only give
you action with top pair or better and flush draws.
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JAMES “SPLITSUIT” SWEENEY
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They Leave
Some players just do not want to play against a ton of ag-
gression. That is totally fine with me though. If that kind
of player leaves, it opens up a seat where a weak
player can join the game. Wish them well and show
them the door.
They Keep Playing Weak-Tight
This is my favorite player since they really don’t adjust at
all. They keep playing tight, they keep folding to aggres-
sion, and they never challenge me for pots. These players
are waiting to hit their monster to get back at me, and you
already know how often the monsters come. Just keep
fighting for pots and picking up the money they don’t
want to contend for (and make sure to fold when these
players finally do show interest in building a big pot).
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JAMES “SPLITSUIT” SWEENEY
15
2
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JAMES “SPLITSUIT” SWEENEY
19
3
Full Ring
Full ring games have seven or more players. The more
players there are the tighter the game tends to run. This
does not mean that you will not find fishy players, or
those playing way too many hands. It does mean that your
VPIP/PFR will commonly be tighter in full ring games
than 6max games at the same level.
This is a plus for newer players. Playing tighter keeps your
ranges stronger and keeps you out of trouble more often.
The major issue with full ring is the ceiling. Full ring
games just do not run as high as 6max games can run
online. If there is volume at mid-stakes and high-stakes
on the site you play, it is more likely to be on heads up or
6max tables. So if you are looking to set the online scene
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JAMES “SPLITSUIT” SWEENEY
6max
6max games are capped at six players, and are also
known as short-handed tables. With fewer players and
the blinds constantly coming around faster - these games
tend to play looser and more aggressive. This is a key dif-
ference between full ring and 6max.
That is not to say that full ring games are never aggres-
sive, nor that they are never more aggressive than a cer-
tain 6max table. But in general 6max games are more ag-
gressive, players have higher VPIPs, and players are more
willing to contend for pots in spots where full ring play-
ers would otherwise surrender.
For newer players, this higher level of aggression can
be intimidating. Facing more 3bets, getting called down
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JAMES “SPLITSUIT” SWEENEY
players start with full ring if they are new to poker. Full
ring is a bit more simple, less aggressive, and an easier in-
troduction to online cash games. But, after a certain point
I suggest they look into switching over to 6max.
Learning to handle the aggression in 6max games is a
huge help as you move up and play against better play-
ers. And even though full ring and live cash games typi-
cally play 9 or 10 handed - 6max skills can go a long way
towards developing a larger live edge. Knowing when to
fight for pots and how to adjust vs aggressive players is a
skillset that you will need throughout your entire poker
career.
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4
K O 4
Sets: 3 (most opponents 3bet with KK and QQ preflop
and thus they can only catch a set with 44 here)
Two Pair: 9 (most villains fold rather than call pre-
flop with K4 or Q4, and thus they can only make two
pair with KQ exactly).
Not that all situations will have this exact combo break-
down, but the number of nuttish combos is far lower than
most players assume.
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Other player types will raise top pairs and slight over-
pairs for a variety of reasons - but all you need to deduce
is a.) would they raise these hands and b.) if yes and you
re-raised them, would they continue with them?
Most players are comfortable answering the A part of
that, but do not focus enough on the B when deciding if
they should just call or re-raise. A player that raises but
will not continue against your re-raise is someone you
could call and induce bets from them on later streets.
Remember, if you think your opponent would normally
just call with these kinds of hands - they are not going to
be in their aggression range and thus what are they actu-
ally aggressing with?
Would They Raise With Draws Here?
Next I consider draws. Would they raise in this situation
with flush draws? With any flush draw, or just nut flush
draws? Would they raise with OESDs? What about a gut-
shot with a single overcard? Consider the full plethora of
draws and deduce if they would raise or call with them.
In general, the more aggressive a player is, the more they
are going to raise their draws. Especially big draws like
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JAMES “SPLITSUIT” SWEENEY
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JAMES “SPLITSUIT” SWEENEY
If they only raise with sets and T9s, you have 15% eq-
uity
If they only raise with sets, T9s, and reasonable flush
draws, you have 33% equity against their range.
And of course, the more hands you add into their raising
range, the better your KK performs.
Remember, you do not need to be ahead equity-wise to
justify giving action when the pot odds are right.
Consider Playability
Also consider how the hand is likely to play out if you call
or 3bet against their raise.
Do future cards benefit you or them more often?
Do you think they shut down with bluffs?
Do you think they continue semi-bluffing?
Answering questions like these will keep you focused on
making +EV plays when you just decide to call their raise.
When you decide to 3bet, this is normally a committing
action baring deeper stacks. Have a plan and really think
about which hands from their raising range they commit
with you. Could you make more money from their raising
range by calling and forcing them to play turns and rivers
against you?
To correctly answer questions like these requires a good
deal of off-table study - but it will help you make far bet-
ter decisions in real-time.
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Likely not. Too many players fold more than they should
in this spot.
Truthfully, if they raise any non-nitty range your overpair
performs plenty well enough to continue. Will you win
every single time you give their raise action? Of course
not. Will you win often enough? Almost certainly.
An important thing to keep in mind is that if you are
folding hands as strong as overpairs against flop raises,
chances are you are folding far too often. This makes you a
huge target against aggressive opponents and forces you
to relinquish the best hand more than you ever should.
Are you folding too much? Read this article
where I breakdown why folding too much is a
huge leak in a player’s games.
WWW.SPLITSUIT.COM/UNFOLD6
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3betting Air
You are 100% correct that 3betting 96o vs a fish is not a
great play. Fish hate folding and love seeing more flops.
Why would we want to bloat a pot with minimal preflop
fold equity when holding a hand like 96o?
When 3betting vs fish you do not just say “I am only go-
ing to 3bet the nuts” nor do you say “I am going to 3bet
them with a ton of air”. Instead, you ask yourself which
hands would perform better by 3betting than just calling
against them?
3bet Differently
3betting fish with nuttish hands makes sense. Fish fold
less often, and thus they continue against 3bets with a
great deal of marginal hands. We 3bet hands that domi-
nate their continuance range and the basic hands like QQ
and AK fit the bill.
But what about expanding your 3betting range to include
hands like TT, AQ? What about 88 and AJ?
I do not want to bore you with a ton of complicated eq-
uity breakdowns - but consider this...
If the fish were going to give your 3bet action with a 20%
range of hands (JJ-22,AQs-A6s,K9s+,Q9s+,J9s+,T8s+,97s+,8
6s+,76s,65s,54s,43s,AQo-A8o,KTo+,QTo+,JTo), these hands
would have the following hot/cold equity:
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JAMES “SPLITSUIT” SWEENEY
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JAMES “SPLITSUIT” SWEENEY
E YOU M FISH
E TAG
P
3 460 P
1 35bb M BORING TAG
P
2 340 OPENS 3.5BB
P
2 850
K O
E SOLID TAG YOU
785 125bb
P C
1 O
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E YOU M FISH
E TAG
P
3 460 P
1 150bb M BORING TAG
P
2 340 OPENS 3.5BB
P
2 850
K O
SQUEEZER UNKNOWN B YOU
105bb 85bb 130bb
B S U
B B T
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make sure to punish them with large sizes when you have
monsters and consider limping behind with the marginal
hands and using your postflop skillset instead of forcing
action preflop when there is not enough fold equity to
mash hands like KTo through the pot.
What About Postflop?
As a default, stick to your normal postflop plan. If most
flops are multi-way, veer away from firing bluff CBs with-
out a clear profit plan (see Chapter 15 for more informa-
tion). And since most pots in this game will be multi-way,
you really need to focus on when to stab and when to just
check and hope to get a free card.
One of the biggest questions I get about postflop in these
games is “should I be slowing playing?” I do not in most
situations. The rare situations where your opponent has a
BBJ-candidate combo in their range would likely give you
action whether you fast or slow play. So rather than focus
on a single combo in their range - focus on the other 98%
of their range and get money from those hands as well.
Will fast-playing sometimes force them to fold out a hand
that would have otherwise hit runner-runner perfect for
the BBJ? Sure. Will it be often enough to worry about it?
Not even close considering many players will still draw
for at least the first part of the runner-runner anyway!
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Overall
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JAMES “SPLITSUIT” SWEENEY
43
7
J 9 6 O
TAKES $420
3 WINNER
TAKES $420
This means you could end up winning the full pot, half
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JAMES “SPLITSUIT” SWEENEY
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JAMES “SPLITSUIT” SWEENEY
Do I Run It Twice?
As a pure default, yes, I do run it twice. In fact, give me
the option to run it even more times and I do that as well.
I very much enjoy lowering variance and I find it keeps
the game more social. To that end, I either decide to run
it twice in all spots vs all players at that table - or I decide
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8
Notice they are folding about 30% of the time (pink hands).
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JAMES “SPLITSUIT” SWEENEY
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Training Videos
Videos are one of the most powerful ways to learn any-
thing, and poker videos are no different. That being said,
I hear students all the time say “I watch a ton of poker
videos, but I have not improved enough yet.” The problem
typically stems from the way in which they watch videos.
I want to explain how to get the most out of any poker
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Poker Books
Learning with poker books is very similar to learning
with videos. The same concepts will apply.
1. Set aside the time to read X amount of pages
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Hand Reviews
One of the best resources for studying poker in between
sessions is reviewing hands that you have played. Too
many players avoid this, for a number of different rea-
sons, and miss huge opportunities to spot and fix their
own leaks.
Make sure you are saving your hands. If you play online,
this is simple using software like PokerTracker. If you
play live, you are responsible for writing down your own
hands.
Here are my guidelines for reviewing hands:
1. Review at least 1 hand every single day. This builds a
study habit, and helps keep your poker brain active. You
do not need to play every single day in order to review a
hand each day. And in the event you run out of your own
hands to review, you can always jump on the forum and
review somebody else’s.
2. When reviewing a hand, break it down action-by-ac-
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JAMES “SPLITSUIT” SWEENEY
tion. Do not skip ahead and do not assume that any action
is too standard to at least question. This is the benefit of
off-table study. You have all the time you need to analyze
the hand, and if you do it properly you can find many oth-
er +EV lines and opportunities.
3. When analyzing an action in a hand, stop and ask your-
self “why” three times. This constant asking of why is
meant to help you really understand your decision mak-
ing process. It also shines a huge light on any areas where
you are making decisions with poor rationale.
Say you review a spot where you check-raise the flop
with a flush draw. I would start by doing this (and these
are hypothetical answers):
1. Why did I check-raise this? Answer: I had a flush
draw.
2. Why is a flush draw worth check-raising? Answer:
It has a large amount of equity and I want to be
more aggressive.
3. Why is playing aggressively in this spot better?
Answer: ???
Notice that these decisions were made solely-based upon
Hero’s hand and did not focus on villain’s range, texture,
etc. Whenever you answer questions and there is little to
no conversation about villain, ranges, math, etc. you have
uncovered a very obvious (though not uncommon) leak.
Start with those leaks when studying other material like
books, videos, or posting on the forum.
Over time you may find asking why only 3 times is not
enough to get deep into the logic. When that becomes the
case (and it will for serious students), start asking why 5
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times.
4. When you find a spot where you do not have a clear
answer, it is time to get another point of view. This is the
benefit of a forum, and even moreso of a mastermind.
Once you find a spot where you have no clear idea on the
best play or you are unsure about your exact logic - post
it. Ask for help, ask for information that would help you
find the best play. You can always start by looking for ma-
terial (a book, video, etc.) on the topic, but if you cannot
find an answer within 20 minutes, post it on the forum.
5. Do NOT just review your biggest losing hands! Too many
players do this and end up missing the bigger picture.
First, just because you lost a pot does NOT mean you
played it poorly. Second, just because you won a pot does
NOT mean you played it perfectly. There is just as much, if
not more, to learn from pots you won - so do not exclude
them from your study time.
If you are unsure where to start, do this:
• Analyze any hands you marked for review first.
If you decided in real-time that a hand need to be
analyzed later, start with it.
• Review your 3 biggest losing hands from your last
session.
• Review your 3 biggest winning hands from your
last session. (You might have conveniently forgot
that you got all-in as a huge underdog in a hand
and sucked out for the win. What decisions led to
you getting it in badly?)
• Review 4 random hands where the final pot was
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The newer you are, the less you need a coach right now.
You can learn a ton of the front-loaded poker concepts on
your own and for far less than the cost of a coach.
your topic.
5. When playing, spend some extra energy focused
on that topic.
6. At the end of the week, write down what you have
learned.
7. Choose a new topic and start again for the next
week. Rinse/repeat.
Studying is not the sexiest topic. But it is crucial for growth
and improvement.
Remember to keep an open mind while studying and al-
ways challenge your own assumptions. When in doubt,
ask for help. And remember, other players are asking for
help in the forums too and you may be able to assist them.
Jump in, share your thoughts, and enjoy the journey.
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WWW.SPLITSUIT.COM/UNFOLD13
Take the same example from earlier where you bet the
flop and villain would continue with pairs, draws, and
some backdoor draws. How often is that range going to
enjoy facing a barrel when the turn is the 5♣?
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This does NOT mean that you always bet 2/3 pot. The no-
tion of always betting 2/3 pot is partially due to the fact
that it is easy to calculate and remember. And when play-
ing against strong players you will not want to bet full
pot with big hands and 1/2 pot with bluffs. Strong players
would pick that strategy off and make your life miserable.
Fishy players do not think like that. They are focused on
their own hole cards and how those cards connect with
the board. The things you consider like math, ranges, and
frequencies are things they unaware of. You do not need
to balance your bet sizing against fish.
Since your betting ranges will be so much stronger against
these players, consider using larger sizes a default. Bet-
ting 80%-100% pot is very standard against fish since they
tend to be more inelastic with hands they deem strong
enough to call with.
Overall
When in doubt, bluff rarely against fish. They do not fold
often enough.
When in doubt, value bet thinly against fish. Their contin-
uance frequencies are wide and wide ranges inherently
have weaker and weaker hands in them.
Bet size on the larger size of the spectrum. Do not always
value bet against a fish for 2/3 pot. Look for bets closer
to pot size and overbets are also viable options. The more
inelastic they are with weaker hands, the bigger you
should bet. This is where you truly maximize your win-
rate against these players.
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When you play in loose games you will see the craziest
things. Huge pots being won with middle pair against
bottom pair and all sorts of weak hands shipping sizable
pots. It is not unusual to ask the question “am I playing
too tight and missing out on spots to win hands with Q6s
or A5o?”
The answer is made even more confusing when your
TAG strategy is not generating the money you would have
hoped for in this game.
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JAMES “SPLITSUIT” SWEENEY
Is Tight Right?
As a default, tight is fine. Not perfect, not awful - but fine.
It is a safe to be tight and implement a TAG strategy. Is it
optimal in all situations? Mostly certainly not.
In a situation where you are surrounded by fish that are
gambling, creating huge pots with weak hands, and play-
ers who will give you action regardless of how much ac-
tion you give - playing tight is excellent. Just sit back, wait
for opportunities to unfold, and do not fall into the trap of
adding junk into your preflop ranges.
To be honest, these games are boring. They are wildly
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JAMES “SPLITSUIT” SWEENEY
easily you can fight for that button, and attack when pos-
sible. This is a staple of TAG strategy, and it is even more
important for a LAG who is playing more hands.
As soon as you sit down at a table, your mission is to fig-
ure out how easily you can fight for the button. If you are
playing on a very tight table, you may be able to get the
button often when you raise from EP. If so, raise a ton of
hands from everywhere since you will either picking up
buttons or blinds a large chunk of the time.
If you find yourself on a table where the players behind
you are very loose, it becomes very difficult to play a LAG
strategy since you will not be generating many folds. The
big difference between TAG and LAG is that a TAG is play-
ing enough hands where he can get value quite often giv-
en the way his range is composed. A LAG, because he is
playing so many more hands, is going to have more weak
hands in his range and thus he will be forced to bluff
more often. If the table will not let you take position or
bluff well, playing LAG could be setting money on fire.
3bet More Often
Remember that the “AG” part of LAG stands for “aggres-
sive”. Do not try to implement a LAG strategy by calling a
ton of preflop raises…instead…focus on how you can open
more, can 3bet more, and can be a bigger pain in the ass
to your opponents.
3betting more often is a great way to utilize your LAG
skills. Start by looking for players who fold too often
against 3bets…and attack them. Just make sure to size
your 3bets well to ensure they do not start looking you up
wider. You will find out very quickly who wants to fight
back with you and who has no interest in playing against
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You are not alone here. There are many players who have
read books, studied hard, and developed a playbook of
their own. They know the value of bluffing and they try
to run bluffs in some spots where bluffing is simply futile.
Oddly enough, this is something that happens less often
to new players and more to players who have actually put
some work into their game. By increasing their knowl-
edge, sometimes their confidence gets a bit too high and
they overestimate their ability to get certain plays to work.
If this is you, read on.
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Overall
Notice that it is far easier to identify a low level thinker
than a high level one. It takes more showdowns and more
confirmations to identify the level of a player who is be-
tween 2 and 5. But being able to identify fish is impor-
tant (so you can curb your bluffing frequencies and focus
more heavily on value against them), and being able to
identify players who can “think just deeply enough to get
this bluff to work” is invaluable.
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JAMES “SPLITSUIT” SWEENEY
skill at this stack size, that makes sense. If you play bad-
ly deeper stacked but have an edge at 50bb, then 50bb
would be a better decision.
However, I am not letting you off the hook that easily.
If you actively decide to buy in short and use the ratio-
nale that you have a greater edge at 50bb vs 100bb+ stack
sizes - I would ask you why you are not working hard
to improve your 100bb+ game. If nothing else, when you
double up at 50bb you are going to be sitting there with
100bb+ anyway.
Purposefully buying in short is typically a crutch for play-
ers, whether or not they want to admit it. Using the ex-
cuse of “I have a short roll” or “I am better at 50bb poker
anyway” is typically just lip service for “I do not want to do
the work to get proficient at 100bb+ poker.”
I do not say this to take away any of the effort a player has
put into becoming a solid short stacker. Rather, I want to
challenge the assumption that solid short stacking is as
longterm profitable as developing a strong 100bb+ strat-
egy. It could be, and in some cases, it is. But not as often as
you may assume.
And any player who claims “buying in short gives me
more bullets per session” is normally a losing player. Sorry.
The question is not whether 50bb, or any shortstacking,
is ‘wrong’. The question is “is shortstacking the most prof-
itable thing for me to do right now AND for the future?”
Short stacking profitably forces you to develop a very
technical skillset. Your decision matrix is simplified since
you rarely have decisions to make on turns and rivers,
and thus you make your committing decisions preflop or
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poker you want to prepare for the stack size you want.
The greater your edge, the deeper you want effec-
tive stacks
You can have an edge short stacking. There is no argu-
ment about that. But how does that edge compare to the
edge of playing 100bb+?
I always want the deepest stacks possible when my edge
is greatest. I can apply the most amount of pressure, I
have all options available to me, and I can exert edges on
turns and rivers to maximize profit potential.
Some players will use the reason “losing a pot is cheap-
er when I buy in short”. While true, the fact that you cap
your losses also means that you cap your wins. If you are
a winning player, why would you want to cap your wins?
If you are a losing player, you should be working towards
maximizing your upside rather than minimizing your
downside.
The ecosystem has been pushing out short stacks.
Not so much 100bb+ stacks.
If you have been around poker for over a decade, you
have seen a major shift in stack sizes. Many rooms used
to allow you to buy in for as little as 10bb. Eventually mini-
mum buy in requirements increased - pushing out short
stackers.
The same has not really been the case for maximum buy
ins. Sure, some rooms have gone from uncapped buy ins
down to 100bb-300bb - but that is hardly pushing out
deeper stacked players.
100bb poker is not going anywhere in my opinion. I would
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Thinking Ahead
Here are three final considerations I want you to keep in
mind.
What Do You Have Available Right Now?
If you only have short buy in games available to you, it
makes sense to focus on building up that skillset. But
chances are you have full stacked games available if you
look for them. And remember if you play in a short buy in
game that quickly gets deep - the 100bb+ skillset becomes
more imperative.
Opportunity Cost
You are going to study the game you play. If you choose to
short stack and spend time studying it, each hour you put
towards short stacking is an hour you cannot put towards
full stacked study. The more you see full stacked play in
your future, the more time you should put towards study-
ing it now.
Are You Preparing For Tournaments/SNGs?
If you mostly play tournaments or SNGs, or plan to in
the future, working on a short stacked cash game strat-
egy makes more sense. Tournaments and SNGs require a
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JAMES “SPLITSUIT” SWEENEY
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Hand Reading
Knowing the formula is great. But you need to know how
to estimate each player’s folding-percentage to get a more
precise output.
The first part boils down to hand reading. While not the
easiest skillset to learn, it is certainly one of the most pow-
erful skills you can develop as a poker player. There are a
few major questions I ask myself when trying to estimate
a player’s folding-percentage:
1. What is the bottom of their continuance range?
2. Does that create many or few folds?
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prove, but will only give the river action with top pair or
better, are prime candidates to triple barrel bluff. Their
gap between the hands they got to the river with and will
actually call your river bet with is large and thus leaves
opportunity for profitable bluffing.
Answering these questions can seem daunting at first.
Flopzilla becomes your best-friend when trying to find
answers, and the more you use the tool the greater your
intuition will become.
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JAMES “SPLITSUIT” SWEENEY
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leaks are glaring and you can get away with playing a to-
tally exploitative strategy against them. They adjust slow-
ly, if ever, and as such you should not feel pressure to let
the thought of “I have range advantage, so I should bluff
here” dictate your actions.
If they will fold often enough against your bluff, fire. But
that decision is based upon their range, their folding fre-
quency, and the math. That decision is NOT based upon
the fact that your perceived range has an advantage over
theirs.
Make decisions accordingly and stop over-thinking these
situations.
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them to play. They will play until that money is gone, and if
they happened to only bring one buy-in, then the amount
of time you have to get their money is limited.
If you decide to pass on a spot that is +EV, you may easily
miss your one shot to get their stack. If you do not get that
stack, then you risk it getting locked up by another reg
who is not going to willingly give it to you. You only have
so many chances at taking a weak player’s money when
they have a clear expiration either in terms of duration of
their session, or amount of money they are willing to lose.
Maybe calling with that 88 from earlier will be wrong.
Maybe the new player could have just gotten AA twice in
a row. But they also might just be shoving with total air.
Which is more likely? Them getting dealt monsters two
hands in a row or them getting dealt garbage two hands
in a row?
I would rather gamble and find out than fold and give
the rest of the table a chance to win that money before I
somehow find a better hand than 88 to call with.
Be very aware when a weak player is going to expire/
leave. Taking slightly +EV shots at their money is far better
than thinking you can fold and pick up a strong enough
hand before somebody else gets their stack.
My Personal Opinion
Whenever a player tells me that they passed on a slightly
+EV spot in hopes of waiting for a better one - I cringe.
This is almost always an excuse for “I am under-rolled
and couldn’t stomach the gamble” or “I am a nit”.
Regardless of the exact reason, in cash games I implore
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Static vs Dynamic
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A static bet sizing strategy uses the same size in all simi-
lar spots. So a player would always use X size when open-
raising from UTG whether they have AA or 54s, and they
would always CB for Y size whether they flop top set or
a gutshot. The benefit of this strategy is that your oppo-
nents will not be able to gauge the strength of your hand
based solely upon your bet size.
A dynamic bet sizing strategy uses different sizes in vari-
ous spots. So I might CB 1/2 pot with a bluff and 3/4 pot
with a monster. Or I might 3bet to 10bb against a reg and
3bet to 17bb against a fish in that same spot with KK+. The
exact size I choose is dependent on many variables, but it
is done in an exploitative way.
The benefit to a dynamic sizing strategy is that you can
tailor your exact size to maximally exploit your oppo-
nents. It is less simple since you have so many extra op-
tions to consider, but it allows you to maximize value in
the long run.
Elastic vs Inelastic
Another key concept when choosing bet sizes is the elas-
ticity of your opponent. This is an economic term that ap-
plies beautifully to poker.
• Elastic: A player who will continue differently
based upon the exact bet size. So they will give 1/2
pot bets action with a different range than they
would give a pot-sized bet.
• Inelastic: A player who will continue relatively
similarly against different bet sizes. So they will
give a 1/2 pot bet action as often as they would give
a pot-sized bet action.
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JAMES “SPLITSUIT” SWEENEY
3betting
Many players use a simple formula for this as well. Often
times somewhere between 3-4.5x the size of the open-
raise. But again, there is room for breaking away from
the formula with the focus on generating extra profit.
When it comes to 3betting, I almost never use a size small-
er than 3x in cash games. Sizing smaller than that tends
to eliminate fold equity and removes the ability to make
outright profit with the bluff part of my range.
That being said, I go larger than 4.5x quite often. I do this
in spots against tighter players who might give action
with hands like TT, JJ, and AQ if I go to 3.5x, but would
actually fold them if I go to 5x. You will find range contor-
tion like this often against elastic players who dislike giv-
ing bigger sizes action with marginal parts of their range.
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And of course you can use larger 3bet sizes with your
monster hands against weak players. Capitalize on the
fact that are inelastic with hands they want to see a flop
with, and punish them when you have huge edges in your
favor.
Most of these adjustments skew towards using larger siz-
ing. There are times to deviate from default sizing and go
smaller - and if you spend the next 20 minutes pondering
them I bet you can come up with at least three +EV situ-
ations.
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JAMES “SPLITSUIT” SWEENEY
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JAMES “SPLITSUIT” SWEENEY
Mixing It Up
As you can see, there are plenty of good situations to veer
away from using “default” bet sizes. Sometimes larger
sizes perform better, and other times smaller bets actu-
ally create more profit. Whenever you choose a bet size,
make sure to have a clear reason. A default size is a start-
ing point, but certainly not always the best option.
Too many players get lazy when it comes to bet sizing.
Make sure you are diligent in your sizing, and understand
that improvements in sizing can greatly impact your
winrate. It is not easy at first, but with practice and study
you will be able to size with more precision and generate
more value along the way.
One final note is that some players will argue that you
should always use the same bet size so that your oppo-
nents can never deduce your range based upon your size.
There is merit to this statement, but most of your oppo-
nents are NOT great hand readers.
The lower level your opponent is thinking on, the less you
need to worry about balancing your ranges and sizes.
The lower level your opponent is thinking on, the more
you can focus on purely exploiting them and bet sizing
with precision is a huge way to do that.
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Overall
There are plenty of situations where you can use your ta-
ble image to your advantage. Just notice that these spots
occur against thinking and observant players. A fish
rarely cares that you have been playing tight and they
will continue calling down at their same frequency. Even
if you feel like you should bluff them because they should
know how tight you have been, please avoid setting mon-
ey on fire.
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JAMES “SPLITSUIT” SWEENEY
WRAP UP
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JAMES “SPLITSUIT” SWEENEY
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GLOSSARY
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JAMES “SPLITSUIT” SWEENEY
flop.
Pocket Pair: When both of your hole cards are the same.
Pot Odds: A mathematical expression of risk/reward. For
a detailed video explaining pot odds, visit www.splitsuit.
com/potodds
Range: All of the possible hands a player could hold.
Reg (Regular): A player that commonly plays a specific
game. A reg, while maybe not the absolute best player at
the table, is commonly not a fish and has some strategy.
Resteal: A 3bet made specifically against a steal.
Speculative Hand: A hand that has lots of drawing po-
tential postflop, such as 76s, 97s, and A4s.
Spewy: Describes a player who is making many -EV plays.
Steal: A preflop open-raise made specifically from the
CO, button, or SB.
Squeeze: A specific kind of 3bet made after a preflop
raise gets one or more callers.
Suited Gapper: A suited hand with one gap between the
cards. Typically this refers to hands like 86s and J9s.
TAG: A tight/aggressive player.
Target: The weakest player at the table that everyone is
actively aware of and trying to stack them as soon as pos-
sible.
Trap: Refers to slow-playing a hand in order to induce
action.
Villain: Slang for ‘opponent’.
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JAMES “SPLITSUIT” SWEENEY
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