02 Sep 2024 Advanced This material is for experienced players float ranges river turn Welcome to TBP Insights. Today, we're continuing our series by exploring how to play the big blind versus the small blind in a three-way limp pot. Our Range When you're in the big blind, the button has folded, and the small blind has chosen to limp. In this situation, we have a range and strategies for playing certain combinations against a limp. For today's article, we'll focus solely on flat calling and taking the hand post-flop. So, with that in mind, after the small blind limps pre-flop, we check back, and now we're in a post-flop situation. The small blind is out of position, so they have the first decision — whether to check or bet. If our opponent bets a standard continuation bet, we'll continue with our range and play a straightforward ABC strategy, especially against recreational players. This means continuing with value hands and potentially raising with strong backdoor combinations, open-ended straight draws, or gutshots, depending on the player profile. However, in general, we aim to stick to a solid strategy. In this spot, we can call with combinations that have the potential to increase our expected value (EV) on the turn, but there's no need to do anything too fancy, especially if you're newer to this format. You don't need to complicate things or fight for every pot against recreational players, as it’s unnecessary and could potentially harm your future EV. Stick to an ABC strategy, and the hand will play out naturally based on how our opponent reacts. Typically, when facing a continuation bet (c-bet) from a recreational player, you might notice they follow up with a smaller bet on the turn. This allows us to continue with a slightly wider range. However, if they c-bet the flop and then increase their bet sizing on the turn, we need to stay disciplined. Only call turn combinations that you believe can withstand another bet on the river. Recreational players tend to go bet-bet-bet, especially if they increase sizing on the turn, so avoid calling on the turn only to fold on the river — this just costs you value. A concept we wanted to introduce today is how to react when facing a check from a recreational player post-flop when you're in the big blind. In this situation, the small blind had the option to bet but chose to check instead. When playing against a recreational player, remember that they may not fully understand the concept of initiative. Float Bet Recreational players often donk bet when they’re out of position with a hand they like at the moment. If we apply this logic to a scenario where it would be correct for them to bet, but they haven't, we can often assume they have a weaker range. This is because recreational players typically like to bet with their top pairs, middle pairs, draws, and even random combinations. In this context, a float bet becomes a powerful tool. A float bet is when you bet in position against an opponent who initially had the initiative but has opted to check. We can use this strategy as an extreme exploit against all types of recreational players and even unknowns, effectively acting as if we had the initiative ourselves. The goal is to maximize fold equity by betting after they check the flop, often with just a single big blind, and taking down the pot right then and there. There are more advanced situations where you might decide to skip the float bet on the flop, especially if you have a value hand or a strong combination. In such cases, you might want to give the recreational player a chance to catch up or hit something themselves, thereby maximizing the value you can extract from your hand. However, in general, implementing float bets into your game can be a solid strategy if you’re not already using them. If you face a check from a recreational player post-flop while you're in the small blind, try betting one big blind yourself to see if a float strategy is effective against your player pool. If it works, this can be a quick and effective adjustment to improve your win rates moving forward. Turn & River One of the most important aspects of playing against recreational players, especially in three-way pots, is to stick to a solid game plan. When you're in a situation where the recreational player has checked on the flop, and you have a hand that warrants a call, the turn play becomes crucial. Recreational players can approach the turn in a few different ways: Some prefer the one big blind, one big blind, one big blind betting line; Others might size up on the turn and then continue to increase their bet on the river. When facing a recreational player who continues with another one big blind bet on the turn, pot odds and math will allow us to call with a wider range due to the favorable odds. However, it's crucial to ensure we play correctly on the river. If a recreational player bets one big blind on the flop, turn, and river, we can often call them down quite lightly. But it's important not to be random in our approach. If a recreational player increases their bet size on the turn, we need to recognize that they are likely to continue their aggression on the river, possibly with even larger bets. In such cases, our calling range on the turn should be very disciplined. We should focus on finding combinations that allow us to comfortably call on the river with value hands and win the pot. What we want to avoid is calling too loosely on the turn and then over-folding on the river. This is an expensive mistake that many new players make. Every decision we make on one street should be linked to our strategy for future streets. Top tips for today: If you haven't been doing so already, consider implementing float bets against recreational players. Also, when facing a recreational player's continued aggression on the turn after a flop c-bet, remain disciplined to avoid costly mistakes on the river. Thank you for joining us today. More topics will be released soon — good luck at the tables!
