Advanced strategies for Texas Hold’em include balancing your range, using GTO play, executing semi-bluffs with 60% success rates, exploiting opponent tendencies with a 2:1 value-to-bluff ratio, and optimizing bet sizing to maximize expected value.
Pot Odds and Implied Odds Explained
As Phil Gordon put it, “if you’re not thinking about pot odds, and implied odds, you’re not really thinking.” Find a detailed explanation with examples as well as the strategies for implementing these concepts.
Pot Odds Explained
Pot Odds: TCF / TCC. Here’s a step-by-step guide:
Determine the Size of the Pot: If a $100 pot and our opponent bets for $20. The total pot is now $120.
How Much Your Call Costs: For this hand, your call is $20.
Pot Odds Calculation: $120 (Pot) :$20 (Call) = 6:1
In the case of drawing hands, you are looking to compare your pot odds to the odds of completing your draw. For instance, if you have a flush draw the odds of making your flush on the next card are about 4:1.
How to Use Pot Odds: Example from the Real World
For example, you may hold 8♠ 9♠ and the flop comes 7♠6♠K ♦ to grant you an open-ended straight flush draw. Your opponent bets $20 into a $100 pot. Here’s how to apply pot odds:
New Pot Size After Bet: $100 (pot) + $20 (opponent’s bet) = $120.
Cost to Call: $20
Pot Odds: $120 : $20, or 6:1
Calling is an option – funnily enough, the pot odds of 6:1 make this profitable since the odds of making your flush draw (4:1) and the straight draw (5:1) is less than this.
Implied Odds Explained
While Reverse Implied Odds implicate only the size of the pot in front of you, Implied Odds account for the total amount you stand to win if your draw is completed. This is relevant when the pot odds by themselves do not excuse a call, but future wagers from opponents make it profitable.
Calculating Implied Odds
Implied odds: To calculate implied odds, estimate the win size that you can achieve if you are going to hit your draw. Now, let us reexamine the example above but with respect to implied odds:
Pot Size: $120
Cost to Call: $20
Projected Future Bets: Let’s say you think you can get $80 more from your opponent if you hit a flush or straight.
In this case, your total potential winning is $120 (as of now) + $80 (in upcoming bets); thus a sum of $200. A bet of $20 to win $200, for an implied odds 10:1.
Implied Odds in Practice: Deeper Look
You Have Q♠ J♠, 10♠ 9♠ 2♣. You have a straight flush draw (nine high-end). Your opponent makes a $30 bet into a $90 pot. How to apply implied odds in practice:
Pot: This pot now stands at $120 ($90 + $30).
Cost to Call: $30
Pot Odds: $120 : $30, or 4:1
This equates to odds of about 10:1 on hitting your straight flush, and about 4:1 on your normal flush draw. The existing pot odds say that a phone call must be created, yet think of intended chances:
Potential Future Bets: If you fill up your flush or straight, you may win $100 more.
Max Potential Winnings = $120 (total) + $100 (future) = $220
Implied Odds: $220 : $30 = 7.3 : 1
Which now gives the call positive implied odds.
Table talk for this reasoning in live play:
Player Conversation Example:
Player A: “You called with a flush draw?”
Player B: “Sure, pushing 6:1 pot odds and taking into account implied odds I knew I stood to make a fair bit if I win.”
The High Art of Bluffing
Though bluffing is one of the basics of Texas Hold’em, you will likely learn some amazing bluffing techniques to be a pro. As Phil Ivey would say, “A well-timed bluff will defeat a stronger hand every time.” Here are some tips and tricks on how to refine your bluffing with river bluffs and an explanation of them.
Psychology of Bluffing
Known for finagling inside the inner workings of his competitors suggests Daniel Negreanu has a stellar psychological streak and equally strong tactics when it comes to “putting players on tilt.” Here is what it looks like in action:
Finding Spots: Only able to bluff foldable opponents. The bluffs are most profitable against tight players and those licking their wounds from a recent big loss.
When to Bluff: You want your opponent to be vulnerable when you bluff – say, if they’ve checked or made a small bet. For instance, if an opponent checks behind you on a dry board such as K-7-2 rainbow then they almost definitely have whiffed the flop and banking on that for a bluff is not bad.
Executing Semi-Bluffs
Semi-bluff: A bet or raise with a drawing hand to the best hand. This is a technique that combines having a decent chance of winning the pot outright with the chance to hit your hand. This is one of the reasons why semi-bluffs were said by David Sklansky to actually have positive expected value in his theory.
Example of Semi-Bluffing:
You hold 8♠ 9♠ with a flop of 7♠ 6♠ K♦ to give you an open-ended straight flush draw. The pot is $60, and your opponent bets $20. Making this $60 raise is a semi-bluff. If your rival is folding you take down the pot. If he calls, you are drawing very thin or have many outs to the best hand on the turn and river.
Double barrel and triple barrel bluffs
Using bluffs on more than one street (turn and/or river) can make your opponents fold better hands. This is a technique that we call double or triple barrel bluffing and it depends on the board texture and your opponent tendencies.
Double-Barrel Bluff Example:
You open pre-flop with QdJc on a flop of Ts4s2h, You continuation bet, and your opponent calls. The turn is the 8♥. When you bet again (double-barrel) on the turn, it will make him fold hands like middle pairs or weak top pairs.
Triple-Barrel Bluff Example:
In the same example, if the river came down as a scare card such as the A♠, then a third bet (triple-barrel) could suggest an incredibly strong hand like a completed straight or flush, and move your opponent off all but his best holdings.
Using Polarized Ranges
In other words, a polarized range is one in which a player has either the top of their possible hand value ranges (meaning hands) or very weak hands and nothing decent in between. This confuses your opponents and it is hard for others to guess what kind of hand you have.
Example of a Polarized Bluff:
You raise preflop with A♠ 5♠, the flop is K♦ 9♣ 2♠. You continuation bet, and your opponent calls. The turn is the 4♠ and now you hold a flush draw. This has the effect of polarizing your range when you decide to bet here – meaning that you either have a strong hand (e.g. a set) or a complete bluff. If the river bricks and you bet big it will be very difficult for your opponent to call without a monster.
Leveraging Table Image
One of the key elements to bluffing effectively, is your table image. Your bluffs will be more believable if you have a tight image. If you were bluffing too much in some previous hands, then your bluffs will be called more frequently.
Creating a Tight Image: Be tight for a while by playing only strong hands and showing them down. In turn, you can bluff more successfully against your opponents.
Exploiting a Loose Image: If you have to relax and make a few more bluffs your bets, mix in some value bets as well to capitalize on your loose image. This confuses your opponents and makes your bluffs more believable.
Advanced Bluffing in Action: A Hand Example
Example: Live game that you have been tight. You hold 10♣ 9♣ and the flop comes A♠ Q♠ 4♦. You have a pocket pair and are facing an unusual but not unusual situation against a tight player who checks to you:
Flop: You c-bet the Ace. Your opponent calls, suggesting to you that they might be playing a weak ace, Queen or a draw.
Turn: The turn is the 6♠. This card fills many possible flush draws on the turn. Your opponent checks again. You elect to go for a double-barrel, betting as if you had top pair or just hit your flush. Your opponent thinks long and hard, before making the call.
River: 3♦. River is the last All Over card that has no improvement. Your opponent checks again (their 3rd check). You opt with the triple-barrel, firing a chunky bet that screams a tech made flush or high ace. Your opponent folds thinking you are telling the truth following your tight image.
Balancing Your Range
It includes switching up your play to make it impossible for them to put you on a hand. Phil Galfond famously said, “The secret to poker is that we have to stay balanced and make every play in our range look exactly the same.” If you liked this article, make sure to check out my complete series on ranging and balancing strategies with examples on every type of board texture!
Polarized 3-bet Range: Very strong hands and bluffs, there are no middling portions. Spike raise with AA, KK and seven high suited bluffs like 7♠ 6♠.
Merged Range: A wide range of hand strengths. E.g., do not open with hands like 10♠9♦, but do open with Aces, Kings, AQs, and pocket nines.
Pre-flop Range Balancing
The pre-flop range is where you begin to balance your range. The more you raise with different types of hands the less defined your range is for your opponent:
Raise Premium and Speculative Hands: i.e., raise AA or KK but also TT or 86s. Thus forming a balanced range with some value hands and dry equity hands that can make very strong combinations.
Occasionally limp with strong hands (to trap) and with weak hands (to see a cheap flop). You might conceal your power by limping AA or 7♣ 6♣, for example.
Post-flop Range Balancing
So you need to balance on the flop your C-bets (regular ones, cheap and delayed), checks, and raises so as not to make it too easy for your opponents:
Cbet: Bet the rest of your “value” hands/enough hands to protect your draws and make you less readable. They have flopped 10♠ 7♠ 2♦ and here you are with A♠ K♠, the continuation bet is strong as well as a way to up the pot if you hit your draw.
Quality Check: Check with strong hands once in a while to encourage your opponent to bluff. One example is to check behind on a flop with a nine high, six high, three-way flop that misses your hand and induce action on later streets.
Balance Turn and River Play
Balancing your turn and river play is vital for balanced range:
Continue betting on the turn with your strong ranges in all spots, including your semi-bluffs. If you have, like K♠ Q♠ on a J♠ 10♠ 3♦ 6♦ board, betting again on the turn gives you some fold equity against your opponent and keeps your range in balance.
Attempt to bluff the flop with those whiffed combo draws, but also be creative and value bet the river when you make it. One example is not continuing bluffing with your missed flush draw on A♠ J♠ 7♦ 4♦ 9♣ as he may consider the range of hands you are likely to show up with, but instead a river bluff can be very effective.
Balanced Ranges Against Different Opponents
You should adjust your range balancing depending on your opponents:
Versus Tight Players: Because they fold more often without a cinch, you should be bluffing more. You have to keep on betting in either case and can bet very big if you need. For example, if the board is K♠ 7♠ 2♦ and you raised pre-flop with 9♠ 8♠, it will be an over-exaggeration aggressively.
Versus Loose Players: Reduce bluff frequency and increase value bet frequency to balance our range. For example, if you were to open with A♣ Q♣ pre-flop and the flop comes Q♦ 10♠ 5♠, bet again so that you can get value from their weaker calling range.
Players Talk and Table Talk
Take subtle hints and talk at the table to help you balance your range and keep opponents on their toes.
Player A: “You’re betting that big with a set all the time?”
Player B: “I mix it up.”
Player C: “Damn you’re good. Well, never know if you’re bluffing or not.”
Advanced Balancing of Range
Here are some tactics to balance your range for deeper-level play:
At random: Choose an arbitrary factor here, for example, movement of the second hand of a clock, deception or assessment. That way your play is as unpredictable as possible.
GTO (Game Theory Optimal) Play: Work on playing a balanced range, which means mathematically your opponents cannot exploit you-based on how this approach is designed to force them into an exploitable position. This includes combining both bluffs and value bets into your 3betting range in such a way that they become very difficult to defend against.
A Hand Example of Balancing Range
Imagine playing with a balanced range in a live game.
Pre-flop: You open-raise 7♠ 6♠ from the cutoff. The button and the small blind fold, and the big blind calls.
Flop: A♠ 10♠ 5♣. You have a flush draw. The big blind checks to you and you c-bet, saying your range includes strong ax hands, flush draws and bluffs.
Turn: The turn is the 3♦. The big blind calls your bet. You elect to double barrel, betting again with a strong or semi-bluffing range.
River: The river is the Q♦. The big blind checks. You decide to also put in a large bet here with your balanced range, pretending that you have it all. The big blind folds and you take it down with your bluff.
Game Theory Optimal (GTO) Play Study and Application
Game Theory Optimal (GTO) play in Texas Hold’em is a CRAZY-ADVANCED strategy that helps you to be the best, and essentially your decisions are unexploitable by opponents. Phil Galfond says it best, “GTO is not about trying to win the most on every single hand; it’s about being unexploitable.” Detailed examples and strategies for studying and implementing GTO in this article!
Range Balancing: Make sure you have a mix of nuts, some medium strength hands, and bluffs in your range.
Choosing Bet Sizes: Optimal bet sizing, to maximize EV and avoid being exploited.
Continued Strategy: Avoiding results-oriented or emotional-based strategies.
Studying GTO Play
In order to start using GTO strategies you need to grasp some key concepts and tools:
GTO Solvers: Examples of tools that assist with hand analysis and finding the GTO solution such as PioSolver, GTO+, etc. By simulating a lot of games and using exact calculations for optimal decisions, they provide you with insights into the best plays in different scenarios.
Equity Calculators: Tools like PokerStove and Equilab can help you with understanding the likely equity against a range of hands your opponent might have.
Hand Histories and Breakdowns: Go over your hand histories to find out where the weak point is and boost your GTO expertise by evaluating the particular hands.
Key Concepts in GTO Play
There are a few key concepts that you have to grasp in order to apply GTO principles.
Attack Frequency: If you want to properly balance your range, then bluff exactly the right percentage of the time. Say on the river, your bluff-to-value ratio should be balanced. If you bet your value range at a 2 to 1 ratio with two hands then you should be bluffing in roughly that same ratio, once (one hand).
Bet Sizing: Bet sizing is also very important. In GTO play you are typically using a blend of bet sizes to balance your range. For example, sometimes posting 1/3 pot and full pot bets in different situations to keep opponents guessing.
Bluff Times: Learn to think when to Bluff and Use perforated well. Blockers are cards in your hand that reduce the number of ways in which your opponent can have particular hands. For example, if you are bluffing a flush while having the A♠, it is more likely that your opponent has a flush, so this makes your bluff more effective.
Practical Example of Applying GTO Play
Imagine having to make a tough call on the river in a cash game:
Pre-flop: Your pre-flop play in position with A♦ K♦ is called but the flop of 6♥ 8♥ J♣ doesn’t help you in any way.
Flop: 10♠ 6♦ 3♣. The big blind checks to you, and you c-bet a half-pot. The big blind calls.
Turn: The turn is the 7♠. The big blind checks again. You opt to c-bet a slim portion of your range before checking back with a handful of value hands and bluffs.
River: The river is the Q♥. He 2/3-pot as the big blind.
Applying GTO concepts
River Range Assessment: The big blind is polarized (on river shove = strong hands or bluff). Missed draws, medium-strength hands, and strong hands are all doubtful whether you should be bet.
Which Hands To Bluff Catch: Depending on the GTO aspect implement and consider what blockers you have. When you hold A♦ K♥, you block some of the big blind’s potential straight draws that missed (e.g., KJ).
Calling Frequency: If you play GTO, then making sure that you call at the right frequency is also a way to prevent from getting exploited. If the big blind bluffs with a third of his range, you will lose if you fold hands that can beat some part of that bluff-catching frequency.
Balancing Your Range
Encouraging a balanced range is the idea that: you’ll have some strong hands, some bluffs, and then some medium strength hands with the right frequency.
Flop Play: When you are on a J♦ 10♠ 3♦ board, a GTO- like strategy may wait for people to top pairs, stronger draws, and hands that are at the bottom of your range.
Turn Play: On the turn, keep balancing with both bets and checks using a mixture of hands. Say for a turn card that pops off to complete a flush, perhaps you bet stuff like flushes, well-paired hands and a few bluffs with flush blockers.
River Play: When the river comes, it becomes much harder for both you and your opponents to get to a showdown, so again bet sizing and frequency should also be in balance (value bets versus bluffs). If you are betting pot-sized with a polarized range, you need to use a proper ratio of value to bluffing hands.
Adjusting to Opponents
Rather than sticking to an unexploitable GTO strategy, you can identify and capitalize on your opponents’ tendencies:
Being More Exploitative vs Weaker Players: Bluff more versus opponents who fold too often. Valuebet more light against calling stations.
Exit: Even though GTO can give you a baseline, adjusting based on certain reads. For example, you should be folding more often if you know that an opponent is rarely bluffing a river resort.
Using GTO Solvers
Table Dynamics and Player Conversations
This will take your play to a higher level, and your opponents will wonder what you are discussing over there at the table.
Player A: “And this river bet you call it every time?”
Player B: “Depends on what I have in my range and what blockers I hold. GTO suggests mixing it up.”
Player C: “Damn you’re good. Well, never know if you’re bluffing or not.”