Poker blog

This concept may not work in tougher games where players are more aggressive, have better hand selection and 3bets more frequently preflop.

We sit down at a live poker table and observe a few pots going to showdown. It quickly becomes apparent that the standard open-raise size is about 5 big blinds, which is typical for live games. We also notice that the game seems to be rather weak-passive, the flops are often multi-way, we rarely see 3bets, and players tend to have wide hand ranges, frequently holding hands like A4s, Q9o, K7o, J7s, and 33.

From this, we conclude that there's an opportunity to increase our open-raise size while still attracting a reasonable number of callers, most of whom are playing overly loose ranges.

We begin by gradually increasing our open-raise size and closely monitoring how our opponents respond. If they continue calling with weak hands without adjusting, we keep increasing the size until we notice them tightening up their calling ranges. Once we've identified the point where they start folding more frequently, we can maximize our expected value by selecting an open-raise size just below that threshold.

Ultimately, we may find that an open-raise of 11 big blinds is optimal. While this might seem excessive, if our opponents are indeed calling too wide, this larger raise size is the most effective way to exploit their inelasticity.

It's important to remember that as we increase our open-raise size, the post-flop stack-to-pot ratio (SPR) decreases. This means we must adjust our hand selection accordingly to account for the reduced flexibility in post-flop play.