Concepts
The ideas behind every explanation in your analysis: what each one means, the maths where there is some, a worked example and something to try. Every link in an explanation lands on one of these pages.
Foundations
- Pot oddsThe share of the final pot a call costs — and so the equity a call needs to break even.Interactive
- Equity and equity realisationEquity is your share of the pot if every card were dealt now; realisation is how much of it you actually collect.Interactive
- EV, EV loss and how Rail gradesExpected value is a decision's average result; Rail grades a decision by how much EV it gave up against a reference strategy.Interactive
- GTO and exploitative playAn equilibrium strategy cannot be beaten; an exploitative one beats a particular opponent harder, and can be beaten back.Interactive
- PositionActing last after the flop is worth money: you see what your opponent does before you decide.Interactive
Ranges and boards
- RangesNobody holds "a hand" — they hold every hand they would have played this way, and you decide against all of them.Interactive
- Range advantageOn a given board, whose whole range has more equity — which decides who can bet often.Interactive
- Nut advantageWho holds more of the very strongest hands on this board — which decides who can bet big.Interactive
- Board texturePaired, suited, connected, high or low: the board's shape decides which hands and draws exist.Interactive
- Dynamic and static boardsA dynamic board changes a lot on the next card; a static one barely moves. Rail measures which.Interactive
- Blockers and unblockersYour cards are not in anyone else's hand: holding one removes the combos that need it.Interactive
Betting
- SPR and commitmentStack-to-pot ratio: how many pots are left behind, and so how committed a hand is.Interactive
- MDF and alphaMDF is how much of your range has to continue against a bet; alpha is how often that bet must make you fold.Interactive
- Bet sizing and polarisationSmall, big or overbet: every size has a job, and the job depends on the board and on which hands you bet.Interactive
- Continuation bettingThe preflop raiser betting the flop — often right, never automatic.Interactive
- Check-raisingCheck, let them bet, then raise: the out-of-position player's strongest weapon.Interactive
- Donk bettingLeading into the preflop raiser out of position: usually a mistake, sometimes exactly right.Interactive
- Bluff-catchingCalling with a hand that beats only bluffs: the price says how often they need to be bluffing.Interactive
- Thin value bettingBetting a hand that is only a little ahead of what calls it — profitable more often than it feels.Interactive
- Multiway potsThree or more players in the pot: bluffs need everyone to fold, each defender can fold more, and second-best hands get paid off less.Interactive
Preflop
- Raise first in (RFI)Raise first in: opening the pot with a raise when everyone before you has folded.Interactive
- 3-bets and 4-betsThe first re-raise before the flop, and the re-raise after it: building pots with value and taking them with fold equity.Interactive
- SqueezingA 3-bet after an open and a call: more money in the middle, and a caller who is unlikely to be strong.Interactive
- Blind defenceDefending the blinds against an open: a great price, paid for by playing out of position.Interactive
- Stealing the blindsOpening from the late seats to win the blinds: a bet that is profitable even when it fails a lot.Interactive