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or more dominating hands given how many players are left to act
preflop. It assumes everyone up to that point has folded. For this
chart, we define a dominating hand as one that has you beaten badly
preflop or that often has you in deep trouble if you flop top pair. So
250 SMALL STAKES NO-LIMIT HOLD EM
AK is dominated by AA and KK, TT is dominated by AA-JJ, and KJ
is dominated by AA-JJ, AK, AJ, and KQ.
As an example, suppose you are under the gun in a 6-handed game.
Five players are left to act, so TT is dominated 9.5 percent of the time,
and KJ is dominated 20.6 percent of the time.
There is no cookie-cutter way to use this chart. If you expect to
play the hand out of position against good opponents, then as a
starting point you might fold any hand that has a 20 percent or greater
chance of being dominated. Under the gun 10-handed, this limits you
to AA-TT, AK-AQ. Under the gun 6-handed, this would limit you to
AA-TT (lower pairs are not considered here), AK-AJ, and KQ.
However, as you approach the button, your chances of picking up the
blinds with a raise increases. When the blind stealing equity is
significant, it largely compensates you for the risk of being
dominated.
We recommend you ignore this chart on the button. There is too
much money to be made stealing blinds to worry about preflop
domination.
Returning to the bet-sizing discussion, the hands 99-22, AQ-AJ,
KQ comprise two-thirds of the new range. These additions work best
with smaller open-raises. Therefore, the wider range in Situation 2
may work better with a smaller fixed raise size than in Situation 1.
Also, you should consider dropping the weaker portion of this range
in some games.
Try raising to 2.5bb or 3bb and see what works best.
Flop. Your range is much weaker than in Situation 1. Most of the
time you will miss the flop. Consider betting smaller on the flop, like
half the pot or a little less. The smaller bet size reduces your cost of c-
bet bluffing.
This is only a starting point. Poker requires adaptation. If you find
some opponents attack your small c-bets too often, adjust by betting
half to two-thirds the pot instead. If that doesn t work, consider
tightening up from early position.
The only difference between Situations 1 and 2 is your opening
range. Your range is the most important factor in determining a fixed
bet size against thinking opponents. We considered the best preflop
UNDERSTANDING FIXED BET SIZES 251
raise size for each hand in the range then took roughly the weighted
average. This works fairly well for approximating the best fixed
preflop raise size for a range. To repeat:
Match your bet size to your range s average
strength. Then adjust it for the other factors.
Situation 3: A Shorter Stack Under The Gun
Players at the table: 10
Effective stack size: 30bb
Your position: Under the gun
Your range: AA-22, AK-AJ, KQ
Preflop. Your range is the same here as in Situation 2, but your
stack size is different. How does that affect things?
First, as we said above, in tough 10-handed games you should
probably drop some hands from this range.
Are you playing primarily to make the best hand with this range?
With 30bb stacks, often yes. First, your opponents may mistakenly 3-
bet you with a wide range. With a short 30bb stack, you are happy to
see a light 3-bet so you can push. Second, if you can get all-in
reasonably when you hit top pair or better with AA-22, AK-AJ, KQ,
you profit significantly from making the best hand.
When stacks are small, stack-to-pot ratios play a major role in
choosing an optimal fixed preflop raise size. Here the effective stacks
are 30bb. If you raise to 3bb, heads-up pots will have SPRs around 4.
If you instead raise to 4bb, heads-up pots will have SPRs around 3.
This larger bet size can substantially increase expectation, even if
opponents fold more often to the 4bb bet. When you are playing
primarily to make the best hand and can achieve a good SPR against
weaker ranges, raise enough to get there.
Your ranges in Situations 2 and 3 are identical. The only thing that
changed was the effective stack size. With 100bb stacks in Situation 2
we recommended starting by open-raising to 2.5bb or 3bb. In
Situation 3, effective stacks are 30bb. With 30bb stacks it is far easier
252 SMALL STAKES NO-LIMIT HOLD EM
to play for commitment with top pair hands. This dramatically
changed our strategy. With 30bb stacks, we recommend playing for
commitment and raising to 4bb.
When your range is weighted toward top-pair hands and stacks are
short, SPR is the driving factor for choosing a fixed preflop raise size.
Let s look at 6-handed games.
Situation 4: A Tight Range Under The Gun In 6-Max
Players at the table: 6
Effective stack size: 100bb
Your position: Under the gun
Your range: AA-TT, AK
Here your range is the same as in Situation 1, but you are at a 6-
handed table instead of a 10-handed one. Does that affect things?
Yes. This range is way too tight. Add more hands. If you raise only
these premium pairs and AK, then as with Situation 1, aim for a larger
fixed bet size. But in general, if this is you, stop being a wuss and
widen your range.
Situation 5: A Wider Range Under The Gun In 6-Max
Players at the table: 6
Effective stack size: 100bb
Your position: Under the gun
Your range: AA-99, AK-AJ, KQ, and occasionally a lesser pair,
suited connector, or small suited ace
Preflop. This is a strong range with a good balance of premium
and non-premium hands. Let s talk about choosing a fixed bet size.
First, how often will someone 3-bet? Suppose you expect many 3-
bets. What will you do if that happens? If you will fold a good
percentage of your range, in general you should open-raise for less or
drop some hands from your range. (Sometimes a larger bet will deter
some of the 3-bets and work better.) Smaller fixed raise sizes reduce
the cost of folding to 3-bets. If you won t fold to 3-bets often, feel
free to make larger raises.
UNDERSTANDING FIXED BET SIZES 253
Second, how often will you take down the blinds? This can play a
significant role in 6-handed games. For blind stealing, you want to
raise just enough to get the job done. For example, a raise to 3bb or
3.5bb might be plenty.
How about postflop stealing? If you can steal many pots postflop,
you like more money going in preflop and so might raise more.
However, under the gun against tough opponents, most players cannot
steal enough postflop pots to justify a larger raise.
Overall, we recommend raising to 3bb for starters, then adjusting
from there.
Flop. This works similarly to Situation 2.
Situation 6: Open-Raising From The Cutoff
Players at the table: 6
Effective stack size: 100bb
Your position: Cutoff
Your range: 30 percent of hands
22+,A2s+,K9s+,Q9s+
JTs-87s, J9s-97s
A2o+,KTo+,QTo+,JTo
Preflop. Choosing an opening bet size from the cutoff can be
tough because it depends so much on how the button and blinds play.
If they are tight, you play to steal the blinds. Here your range is 30
percent of starting hands. It s a good start for a stealing range. You
might widen or narrow it depending on how tight the three players to
your left are.
As usual, when your range is wide and weighted toward steal
hands, aim for smaller fixed bet sizes. Bet just enough to get the job
done. If you match your bet size to your range s average strength, a
raise to 2bb or 2.5bb would be best. But that is only a starting point,
and it can break down here. In the cutoff, you re trying to get three
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