Preflop Mechanics

Preflop Mechanics
Starting soon
Is preflop important?
All strategies stem from preflop play. If you don’t get this correct, errors can
snowball on later streets.
Understanding basic preflop mechanics helps you adapt and sharpen your strategy to
maximize your win rate!
Outline
● Basic preflop theory
● Thresholds
● Polarity
● Pricing
● Time EV
● Stack depth
● Efficient Jam Principle
● The bunching effect
● How to adjust
Basic preflop theory
● Everything starts with the blinds
● Polar vs linear ranges
● Blockers
What would happen if there were no blinds?
Let’s imagine no one posted any blinds or antes. There’s no money in the pot.
How should your opening range change?
(Poll)
Only AA should bet, everything else should fold. You need money in the pot to incentivise
initial bets.
Betting into a $0 pot is equivalent to an infinite bet size - unlimited risk without reward.
● OOP should only defend hands better than IP opens
● IP should only open hands that beat what OOP calls with
This causes a feedback loop that drives the optimal strategy to be as nitty as possible.
What to take away?
- More money in the starting pot means more hands want to play
- Adding more money into the pot such as antes will increase the incentives to play.
- Decreasing money in the pot, such as playing with one blind, decreases the incentive
to play.
- The total EV of any spot is equal to the pot at the start of the hand.
CO open - EV
Thresholds
Always pay attention to
thresholds.
These hands can be used as

markers to identify breakeven
parts of your range.
CO open - EV
Thresholds BTN facing BB 13bb 3bet, 50NL:
Threshold hands are sensitive to

small changes in villain’s
strategy. These are the first hands
to deviate.
Knowing where the indifferent

lines are helps sculpt your
strategy.
CO open - EV
Condense your strategy charts with color codes

This study method involves using color
codes to combine several charts together.
Here we have a 50NL Cash game RFI

chart by position, which has been mildly
simplified to include no mixing.
This technique helps you memorize your

strategy.
Polar vs linear ranges
Polarized = Strong and weak hands
Linear = Top-down value to medium hands
Raise/fold situations (e.g. BTN open) are linear by definition. Spots without much wiggle
room to adjust calls are also quite linear, (e.g. SB facing IP open).
IP tends to polarize harder than OOP.
Let’s examine some BB defence ranges vs BTN open:

Polar vs linear ranges
Polarized 3bets tend to combat raises . Your value is happy to face a 4bet, your bluffs are
easy folds facing a raise
Linear 3bets tend to combat calls. This range includes value and/or medium/drawing
hands that do well against calls.
BB vs BTN 3bet comparison - 50NL
11bb 3bet 13bb 3bet

BB vs BTN 3bet comparison - 500NL
11bb 3bet 13bb 3bet

BB vs BTN 3bet comparison
Visualizing how polarity shifts

(100bb cash game)
Increasing rake or bet size creates

more polarized 3betting strategies
from the BB.
BB vs BTN 3bet comparison
Think about the incentives with different parts of your range. Bluffs like Q2s or J4s are
most concerned with fold equity.
“Merged” Hands like QJs have plenty of EV as a flat rather than a raise. These hands have
poor equity retention against a very tight BTN calling range, and risk more facing a
potential 4bet. If you keep sizing up, at some point they just become pure calls.
Use polarized ranges when they 4bet/fold a lot
Use more linear ranges when they call a lot

Blockers
BTN opens. Let’s
compare the BB’s
response when we
hold 22 vs AA:
Blockers experiment
(100bb 6max cash game) Folds to BTN
You can open 2.5 or fold.
Let’s assume the blinds can only raise/fold, and cannot call your open
How should you adjust your opening range?

Blockers experiment
BTN RFI range when blinds must
3bet/fold
The BTN switches to a top-heavy

strategy to block 3bets.
Hands like J5o never see a flop. They

either make the opponent fold, or they
fold to a raise.
Hands like 54s have poor blockers, but

can call a raise and see a flop.
Pricing
Pricing refers to how much your strategy should adjust according to bet size.
Pricing effects calling ranges
BB vs UTG open 2 bb BB vs UTG open 2.5 bb
BB vs UTG pricing elasticity chart
1 = mixed continue vs 2bb open
2 = continue vs 2bb open
2.5 = continue vs 2.5bb open

BB vs BTN pricing elasticity chart
1 = mixed continue vs 2bb open
2.5 = continue vs 2.5bb open

Pricing - MTT comparison
100bb 8max MTT, 1bb ante
BTN opens 2.3bb
BB needs (1.3 / 6.1) = 21.3% pot share

to call
The price, as well as lack of rake,

incentivise more calling
Pricing
Always consider the price of a call.
When BB is facing a 2bb open, they are calling 1 and the pot will be 4.5. That
means they only need 22% pot share to make a call.
When BB is facing a 3bb open, they need 31% pot share to call.
This applies to calling facing a 3bet/4bet as well.
You need to adapt your strategy facing different bet sizes.

Time EV
Should you trade bb/100 for bb/hour in zoom

games?
CO open EV
Time EV
Fold marginal hands
Zoom or fast-fold games create an

interesting incentive. You can attempt to
trade bb/100 hands for bb/hour.
Many hands in your opening range are

0EV. These hands typically add nothing
to your winrate, but do cost valuable
time.
CO open EV
Time EV
Fold marginal hands
In anonymous zoom games it may

be optimal to fold marginal opens
in order to maximize your time
EV (BB/hr).
Bluffs ensure value gets paid off.

Opponent’s can exploit this
strategy by under-defending.
Why open big or small?
Solvers strongly prefer the smaller open
from early position, and a slightly larger size
from late position.
In general, if you expect that the table will

mostly 3bet/fold vs your open, then you
want to use a smaller size to give them the
worst price on a raise.
Conversely, if the table is overcalling/under-

raising then you generally want to size up to
make them overpay for their equity.
Let’s compare the LJ’s expected value when opening hands. We have a 2bb strategy, and a 2.5bb opening strategy.
LJ EV change opening larger (2->2.5)
(QQ+ AQ) benefits from using a larger

open size. However, the rest of the range
suffers.
The LJ expects to face a raise more often

than a call after opening, so they anticipate
this by opening smaller.
On the right: EV of LJ opening 2.5bb

instead of 2bb.
Stack depth 500NL: BB vs BTN
As stacks gets deeper, hands that can make

draws become more valuable.
At shallow stack depths, hands that can

make strong one pair become valuable, and
implied odds of draws drops off.
Stack depth - HU experiment
HU experiment: BB facing 2.5bb open
No rake, no ante
BB has various raise sizes available.
Should BB raise larger or smaller as stacks

get deeper?
Stack depth -
HU experiment
HU experiment: BB facing 2.5bb open
No rake,no ante
BB has various raise sizes available.
Should BB raise larger or smaller as stacks

get deeper?
Stack depth -
HU experiment
We can see that BB 3bets with a slightly
smaller size when stack depth is shallow
It sizes up around 100-150bb
Then sizes back down as it gets deeper

Stack depth - HU experiment
BTN/SB’s EV increases and levels off as
stacks get deeper.
Positional advantage is magnified as stacks

get deeper.
In general, late position will RFI wider as

stacks get deeper as more hands are
profitable to play in position.
Efficient Jam Principle
Shoving is a serious weapon in hold’em. Hands that shove will always realize their
equity.
The solver often fights to give its opponent a bad price on a shove. Examples:
● Min open or limp in shortstack MTT situations
● Min-raise or jam 4bet 75bb deep
● Small 4bet sizes 100bb deep in cash games
● Large 4bet sizes 200bb deep in cash games
● Large 3bet sizes force a larger 4bet, which gives the 3bettor a better price on a
shove 100bb deep
Bunching effect
People tend to fold low cards more than
high cards.
This means that after many folds, we expect

to see more high cards in the deck.
This increases the probability that

remaining players/deck have bigger cards.
Here we can see how the
effect builds up in a 6max
cash game.
Bunching effect - BTN Open Comparison
Bunching adjusted SB range
If SB were to open any two cards

after 7 folds, it would look something
like this:
Visualizing the bunching effect -

Holdem Resources Calculator
General preflop adjustments:
To combat raising: To combat calling:
● Use a more polarized strategy - You ● Use a more linear strategy. Choose
lose less raise/folding bluffs than hands with good playability postflop.
medium hands. ● Open/bet bigger - Overcharge your
● Open/bet smaller - you lose less value.
bet/folding smaller amounts. ● Use bluffs with better implied odds
● Use bluffs with better blockers rather postflop rather than focusing on
than playability. blockers.
How to adjust
100bb 6max cash game, 500NL.
Folds to BTN. How should BTN adjust in these different situations?

● Scenario 1: The BB is too tight
● Scenario 2: The BB calls too wide
● Scenario 3: The blinds raise too small (2.5 -> 8bb)
● Scenario 4: The BB is a maniac who will 3bet more than 20%
Scenario 1: The BB is too tight
BTN opens 2.5. The BB’s calling range
looks like this:
BB is calling 10% fewer hands than

they otherwise should.
GTO Wizard
Scenario 1: The BB is too tight
BTN opens much wider.
RFI increases from 43.5% to 60.7%
Since the blinds are under-defending, our

steal EV increases. This increases the EV
for many marginal hands in our range,
especially hands with good blockers.
Size adjustment: You may want to min-

open to be able to open even wider.
Scenario 2: The BB calls too wide
Let’s say the BB calls too wide. How
should the BTN adjust?
BB strategy facing BTN open:

BTN should tighten up considerably.
We’re now opening 29% instead of

43%!
Size adjustment: Use a larger size to get

extra value with your tight range
The expected value of marginal opens
becomes negative as they aren’t stealing
the blinds often enough.
The EV of premium hands increases

significantly.
BTN RFI EV:

Scenario 3 The blinds raise too small
The blinds don’t raise large enough.
Let’s say they 3bet to 8bb instead. How should the BTN react to this size without
knowing their range?
Scenario 3 The blinds raise too small
BTN vs BB 8bb 3bet:
BTN can call much wider overall. BB is

giving BTN an excellent price to see 3
cards.
The SPR is also considerably higher, so

BTN has better implied odds with draws.
A small 4bet, ~18 is preferred. This gives

BB a bad price on a shove while applying
pressure.
Scenario 4: The BB is a maniac
The BB is a maniac who raises over 20%
vs a BTN open.
How should BTN adjust their strategy?
BB’s strategy looks like this:
Maniac: Fold 60%, Call 20%, Raise 20%
GTO: Fold 56%, Call 30%, Raise 14%

Scenario 4: The BB is a maniac
First adjustment, open fewer hands.
Hands which cannot call a raise need

good blockers to continue.
Many breakeven opens become -EV

when they can’t realize as much equity.
Here’s how the BTN adjusts their

opening range:
Bonus scenario: OMC
500NL, 100bb deep
(Hero) BTN opens 2.5, BB raises to

6.5bb, with the nitty range:
JJ+, AK, AQs
How should hero adjust?

Bonus scenario: OMC
Call with hands that have good implied
odds.
4bet less often or not at all.
Overfold postflop a lot.
This play maximizes equity realization -

getting a great price to cooler OMC.
Conclusion
We’ve only really scratched the surface of many different preflop topics today.
● Pay attention and be flexible with threshold hands
● Develop a sense of pricing
● Use color-codes to simplify memorization
● Consider your time EV in zoom games
● Consider your fold equity and blockers
● Don’t overestimate your “postflop edge”
Preflop Mechanics
Thanks for your time!

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How does understanding basic preflop mechanics help improve your strategy?

How does understanding basic preflop mechanics help improve your strategy?

What are some factors that influence a player's opening range?

What are some factors that influence a player's opening range?

Preflop Mechanics

How should your opening range change?

These hands can be used as

Thresholds BTN facing BB 13bb 3bet, 50NL:

Threshold hands are sensitive to

Knowing where the indifferent

Condense your strategy charts with color codes

Here we have a 50NL Cash game RFI

This technique helps you memorize your

Linear = Top-down value to medium hands

IP tends to polarize harder than OOP.

Let’s examine some BB defence ranges vs BTN open:

11bb 3bet 13bb 3bet

11bb 3bet 13bb 3bet

Visualizing how polarity shifts

Increasing rake or bet size creates

Use polarized ranges when they 4bet/fold a lot

Use more linear ranges when they call a lot

You can open 2.5 or fold.

How should you adjust your opening range?

The BTN switches to a top-heavy

Hands like J5o never see a flop. They

Hands like 54s have poor blockers, but

1 = mixed continue vs 2bb open

2 = continue vs 2bb open

2.5 = continue vs 2.5bb open

3 = continue vs 3bb open

1 = mixed continue vs 2bb open

2 = continue vs 2bb open

2.5 = continue vs 2.5bb open

3 = continue vs 3bb open

BTN opens 2.3bb

BB needs (1.3 / 6.1) = 21.3% pot share

The price, as well as lack of rake,

This applies to calling facing a 3bet/4bet as well.

You need to adapt your strategy facing different bet sizes.

Should you trade bb/100 for bb/hour in zoom

Zoom or fast-fold games create an

Many hands in your opening range are

In anonymous zoom games it may

Bluffs ensure value gets paid off.

In general, if you expect that the table will

Conversely, if the table is overcalling/under-

(QQ+ AQ) benefits from using a larger

The LJ expects to face a raise more often

On the right: EV of LJ opening 2.5bb

As stacks gets deeper, hands that can make

At shallow stack depths, hands that can

HU experiment: BB facing 2.5bb open

BB has various raise sizes available.

Should BB raise larger or smaller as stacks

BB has various raise sizes available.

Should BB raise larger or smaller as stacks

It sizes up around 100-150bb

Then sizes back down as it gets deeper

Positional advantage is magnified as stacks