Part 1 The following in this three part article are a collection of hands played at Canterbury Park in a live $30/60

game. A typical Canterbury game has a cast that consists of a few TAG/LAG types who know what they're doing, a few loose-passives who are alright and have a clue but are generally not understanding a few key concepts, and then a few people who are totally clueless. When you're seated at a table (be it live, or online), from the get-go you need to try to figure out as much about your opponents as possible - this is especially true live, where there is more table talk and much more is available to you. One of my favorite little tidbits is how people are running in the recent past (for live play, we'll say the past week or two). You can often tell this just from peoples' table demeanor, and oftentimes they'll inadvertently give it away through simple comments about a hand getting cracked again for the millionth time or what not. Or in the case of this hand, villain simply stated out loud to the whole table about her recent struggles to book a winning session. Please, please try not to give this info away, as your astute opponents are going to try to move in for the kill. We start with an EP limp by a horrible, loose aggressive player. Our villain, who falls into the category of competent but still, is missing several key things raises from MP, a moron cold calls in LMP, and I call in the BB with A8o. Flop comes K65 with two spades (I also hold the As). I check, check, villain bets, fold, I'm next and raise, another fold, and our villain calls. Also worth noting, that because 3 people in addition to me took our hands to this flop, that the pot is already 4.5BBs when the action is to me. Because it's a bigger pot, it is more worth fighting for (when picking your spots versus people who you think will act predictably and give it up) and throwing in a 1BB checkraise, and then assuming she calls and we bet all turns so it's 2BBs total invested postflop, we're risking 2BBs to win 5BBs. If she doesn't hit the board at least 40% of the time, this is a +EV checkraise (not even factoring the times we're behind and she calls down but we luck into the winner). Now, a little more about the villain: I estimate her approximate preflop raising range is ATo+, A9s+, KJs+, KQo, QJs, and 88+. A lot of other hands such as KJo or JTs are hands I believe she'll over limp with. So then, with this range, against a player who's running badly, I figure the flop is more likely to miss than hit her, and I don't think she'll put up much of a fight (plus it helps that I have a flush redraw and a straight redraw, just in case) because I have her pegged as someone who is frustratingly folding everything that misses her. The turn is a 9, which is a great card for my hand. I bet, and predictably, she folds. Part 2 Another hand from the same session as Part 1, which illustrates some more similar ideas about attacking when the pot is starting to grow and it's still likely nobody has anything, but in a different context:

5-handed, the game just got short. I raise 8c7c in the CO, the button who has been playing over 24 hrs now and plays okay and generally pretty honest and straightforward but he is stuck a lot and frustrated 3-bets, the SB who is braindead cold calls, and I call. Flop J54 with one club. Checked to the button who bets, the SB calls (which means he has two cards in his hand, but no pair yet as he'd checkraise the flop with a pair almost always), and I checkraise. Again, looking at the board texture and estimating a hand range for the button, there are a lot of hands that he could hold and that he'll fold on the turn and/or river on this board. Plus, with the SB in and not really many draws out there the button can put me on, he's going to tend to give me credit for a jack, 88, etc. Anyway, the button 3-bets, SB calls (again, doesn't mean much except he probably has KQ/AQ/AK/QT/KT/A3/A2), and I call. From the 3-bet, I am pretty sure now that I only have 4 outs (plus backdoor draws) and the hand is going to be easy to play the rest of the way (an added bonus to the checkraise, since if the turn is an 8/7, I can check/call the turn and check/fold a river that doesn't improve me). Turn Qc (second club). Checked to the button who bets, SB calls, I call. River Kc, check, check, button bets, SB folds, I raise, button 3-bets, I 4-bet intending to fold to a 5bet (the jack from the flop isn't a club - If he 5-bets I figure he has to have AcJc), and he calls with KK and I win. I got lucky, but that's okay because getting to play this hand in the style I chose has added benefits: 1) A flop checkraise obviously makes it tougher for your opponents to put you on a hand. 2) You can get excessive action both during the hand if you hit, and afterwards because most of your opponents do not understand how the flop checkraise can possibly be a good play. Anything that makes you look more moronic than you are in reality, is as a general rule a good thing in LHE because it's the easiest type of table image for you to use to your advantage. Part 3 Final hand from my Canterbury Park $30/60 session, where we'll also explore something I call 'imaginary outs': I buy the button (which for you online players, means I missed my BB, but came back between the BB and SB, so I'm putting out both blinds and nobody else is putting out any blinds. Then, the next hand I'll get the button and two to my left will have their correct blind as normal, instead of having to post behind the button or else wait for the BB to come around again). UTG moron limps, UTG+1 who is a tight passive kind of guy raises. I call in the BB with A8o, UTG calls. Flop K75 two spades, I have no spade. Check, check, raiser bets, I checkraise (and have no spade), limper folds, villain calls. For the turn card, I am basically rooting for any 9/8/6/4/A or spade. Why would I be rooting for all of those cards when all I hold is an A8? Because they are all cards that can

make it look like I hit something if I didn't in fact already have anything (or in the case of the A and 8, they do improve me). So we'll call the 9/6/4 and spades 'imaginary outs' and are likely cards that I can get ace high or whatever villain can hold to fold rather than make a call down versus me. The key is villain is viewed as tight and passive, and also while running this bluff it's going to be a super easy fold if he raises me at any future point in the hand. He is the type of guy who I believe is capable of folding 99 if the turn is a Qs, to give you a better sense. I also want to emphasize that overusing this 'imaginary outs' idea can be dangerous, as LHE is generally a game of showing down the best hand. You really have to try to pick your opponents - in general, focusing on players who are tight and you believe are thinking enough to at least try putting you on hands, plus it helps if you know they're running bad (which often causes tight guys to get even more fold happy). Furthermore, this concept is usually more applicable in live mid stakes games than online, as in general people are willing to make more folds live than online. The outcome to the rest of the hand isn't especially important, but here it is anyway: So we're to the turn, which comes an As (and now leaves the board K75A with three spades). I bet, and villain calls. River is some low blank and I bet, villain calls, and I win. So I guess in this instance, he probably had a king. Had the turn been say a red 3 and I bet and got called, I would probably check and fold the river unless it was a Q/J/T of spades (as a last ditch effort to get him to fold a low/middling pocket pair). So from this 3-part article, I know it seems like I am always putting my opponents on nothing and hoping to be right. And that's partially true, I do that sometimes, and to be successful you have to be able to pick some spots to do that (while also placing extreme importance on estimating what their potential preflop hand range can be). As long as you don't go overboard, the advantage of doing so is usually twofold: 1) You either win the pot outright, via by getting them to fold, or lucking into a winner (which is why you should usually try when it's possible you still have 3-6+ outs if you get called) 2) If you get called down, then everyone thinks you're a maniac, when really you're a TAG-LAG who picks his spots and value bets well, so, you'll just torture them in future hands with some quality value bets. All of these ideas also relate to playing long sessions when you're winning and short sessions when you're losing. When you're winning, you're active in pots and you're showing down winners often enough, that people will give your posturing efforts credit more often than if you're never showing down winners. Plus, your own mentality is more likely to be in the "attacking" mode when you're winning, than when you're losing.