Hidden Hold'em Key #2: Texture |
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Posted Wed Apr 05, 2006 6:28 pm GMT by snoogins47
"That's a pretty good flop for me."
Until fairly recently, I had no idea of how alarming the rate at which this phrase enters my head (and occasionally, exits my lips, when somebody... person or cat is there to hear it). While my brother was watching me play a while ago though, I heard a stifled laugh at one point in response to that statement.
Everybody pays attention to evaluating the strength of your hand. Everybody pays attention to trying to read what the other guy has.
But the concept that seems to be often overlooked, is arguably more important than either of those two.
Some call it "flop texture" or "board texture." Others look at it merely as an extension of hand reading. My way is merely applied optimism: "That was probably a bad flop for him" becomes "That's a good flop for me."
Probably the most important aspect of 'texture' is not only being able to recognize "That's a draw heavy board, my hand is vulnerable," but also to realize things like "That flop missed most hands he would raise preflop with," etc.
Reading the 'board texture' is the key to knowing when to skip over that standard continuation bet and check-behind with your top pair... the key to recognizing situations where even when you completely missed, the pot is probably yours anyway.
This is a more difficult concept to convey in words than I had hoped. I can't sum up with any simple rules, or anything, but I assure you that trying to apply this will do nothing but help your game: players that already do these things may evaluate situations better if they're forcing themselves to concentrate a little more, and players who don't pay much attention to this, well... it's enlightening.
Basically, ask yourself the following question(s)
On this board, what sorts of hands are likely to want to play on past the flop?
How likely are these hands, compared to each other?
How likely is this entire group of hands (playable) to show up, compared to the other group (unplayable)? In other words, how likely is it that our opponent(s) have hands that they wish to continue on with?
What are our winning chances against all of these different hands, and what actions should we take against them?
As you get better at answering these questions and recognizing different situations, in short, poker gets easier and easier.
A few random things of note:
Boards like K72 rainbow are, all in all, pretty awful flops. Nobody is bound to like it that much. There's no draws to speak of. These sorts of flops: top pair hands are as a Chuck Norris roundhouse. It's not likely you'll get much action with your good hands. It's also not likely that anybody has a hand they can continue on with.
If you DO get somebody continuing on, they almost HAVE to have a made hand of some sort: probably 1 pair, maybe a set. This is important.
Boards like 842 rainbow are much trickier. Here, there are many more hands that have some sort of reason to stick around, but there are NOT many hands that really, hand strength wise, liked the flop that much. These get trickier, but a general rule of thumb here: a lot of the reasons to stick around after the flop, are not very good hands. This is important.
Boards like Js Ts 6d are fun. These have tons of reasons to stick around. Everybody got a piece of this. I hope you did, too.
I could go on and on for days, and never come close enough to really defining all the types of boards you will run in to. I just basically rattled off these few examples to try to give everybody an idea of what I meant by this concept.
How do you apply this? Well, you apply it like any other information you glean in poker: you combine it with all the information you had prior, you mash it up into a big ball, and chuck it at your opponent. When he's reeling from the impact, you steal his chips. That's metaphor, of course.
Andrew Prock once posed the question on his blog: if we raise preflop and our opponent makes a fairly tight re-raise (he specified a hand range), on which of the following boards is he LEAST likely to have top pair or better?
The boards and the answer aren't quite as important (though the answer was Kxx) as the concept this question was illustrating. "Did I like that flop, and how?" is insufficient, without his big brother, "how likely is it that my opponent(s) liked that flop, and how could they have liked it/disliked it?"
Then you'll know when your opponent is probably out of ammo, so you can stick your head out and fire. You'll know when you wouldn't be able to hit him from afar, so you lay back and wait patiently. You'll know when he has no reason to fall into your trap, so you'll be able to properly bait it. And most importantly, you'll understand why after I raise preflop with 96o, get one caller, and the board comes down K 7 2 rainbow, I say "That was a good flop for me."
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Posted Thu Apr 06, 2006 1:04 am GMT by tame_deuces
Yeah understanding flop texture is something people often forget. It is also vitally important to 'adapt' the flop reading skill to your opposition's usual range of cards and his playstyle.
Let's for instance say I hold AA on the button and I'm facing a openlimp from ep and a raise from middle position, I pop the raise, but the EP calling station calls and then so does MP.
Flop comes 5 9 J with 2 diamonds.
Action goes something like check, check, you bet, station folds, MP calls you and check-pushes turn which is a non-diamond deuce.
-The first we can note is that not many people got the guts to check-raise turn with top pair. We are either looking at a bluff, semi-bluff or something bad.
- Versus an unimaginative book-tag the check-raise on the turn is very often a set here and you should actually consider letting the hand go. Book tags like raising the flop with draws, not the turn...because on the flop their equity is much higher and it just feels better for them. And lots of preflop raising hands just doesn't make sense on a book-tag here.
- Versus say Snoogins this is pretty much a call. He could be holding a set too ofcourse, but you could also be looking at something like T8o or 67  and lots of other funky hands (nothing with a ten kicker? :D). Pure pot odds probably dictates a call. (We happily assume Snoogins doesn't know we would do those tough calls in this example, since that could actually change the picture again, but let us not get overly advanced).
Posted Thu Apr 06, 2006 7:43 am GMT by Dave B
A great example of this was a couple nights ago. Limit 5/10 I was playing pretty tight and had not shown any bluffs. There were 5 limpers and I had KQ suited near the button-so I raise preflop, all call. $60 pot preflop.
Flop A82 rainbow. It is checked to me and I bet. The 1st player after the blinds raises and all fold. I reraise, he folds.
Now, I immediately put him on a Ace w/ a junk kicker or a player that is just making a move at a pot, hoping I had a pocket pair and would fold. What hand is good enough to check raise, but not raise preflop with that board? I could eliminate a big Ace, I could also eliminate a set-because w/ that flop having no draws 6 way action, why wouldnt he slowplay a set?
3 betting at a 6 way pot, ace on the flop and 2 blinds still to act behind me isnt a player most would make. But IMO, it was $10 to win $70, and I think that at least 1/3 to 1/2 the time I take down a pot here.
Posted Thu Apr 06, 2006 3:22 pm GMT by AHBrownell
Nice article Snoogins.
Flop texture is so important.
Some of my favorite places to bluff purely because its a unlikely your opponent hit include:
1-2 opponent pot, flop comes ten high, rainbow (no obvious straights) - and you are in a blind position.
1-2 opponent pot, flop comes with a pair
1-2 opponent pot, flop comes three of the same suit
Now of course its not good to bluff at all of these, but picking spots where you are high % for success. I like these spots as "opportunities" - I then look at how I played preflop (what my opponents probably think I have) AND how my opponents played preflop AND how my opponents and I have played recently AND my opponents' stack sizes, AND etc.
8)
Posted Mon Apr 10, 2006 7:28 pm GMT by suitedaces84
Well put, Snoog.
The only point I'd like to add is everytime someone has AJ-AK they miss the flop comes down 338r they ask something like "should I bluff at the pot?" You're hand is probably best as is. Your opponents miss 2/3 of the flops too and they miss a lot more than 2/3 when the flop is 338r.
Posted Tue Apr 11, 2006 4:03 pm GMT by jimmer
Nice one!
You've worked hard at this article.
I work for a newspaper. Although I work in sales, I am occasionally required to write editorials at short notice.
I would be very proud of myself if this was my work.
(I appreciate this response has nothing to do with anything, but i though it was worth mentioning!)
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