1 00:00:00,660 --> 00:00:02,430 Mike: Welcome to Upswing Poker Level Up, 2 00:00:02,430 --> 00:00:04,440 the show that teaches you not only when to hold them, 3 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:05,280 but when to fold them. 4 00:00:05,490 --> 00:00:08,040 I'm Mike Brady and Scottish Poker Pro Gary Blackwood is here 5 00:00:08,040 --> 00:00:11,270 to help you make winning adjustments based on the rake in 6 00:00:11,270 --> 00:00:12,030 your games. 7 00:00:13,470 --> 00:00:14,570 Gary: That's right guys. 8 00:00:14,570 --> 00:00:16,380 We'll be discussing all things rake today, 9 00:00:16,380 --> 00:00:17,410 when the rake is high, 10 00:00:17,410 --> 00:00:18,390 when the rake is low, 11 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:21,750 when the rake is non-existent and how you should adjust accordingly. 12 00:00:22,860 --> 00:00:24,880 Mike: Contrary to popular belief, 13 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:26,220 more rake is not better. 14 00:00:26,430 --> 00:00:28,560 There are loads of different rake structures out there. 15 00:00:28,710 --> 00:00:29,970 Your game might have high rake, 16 00:00:29,980 --> 00:00:33,180 low rake time-based seat fees where you pay a certain amount 17 00:00:33,180 --> 00:00:33,690 per hour. 18 00:00:33,810 --> 00:00:35,870 Your game may take rake before the flop, 19 00:00:35,870 --> 00:00:37,050 or maybe it's a no flop, 20 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:39,810 no drop game where rake is only taken out of the 21 00:00:39,810 --> 00:00:41,460 pot once you reach the flop, 22 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:45,490 you may be surprised to learn that these different rake structures 23 00:00:45,490 --> 00:00:47,000 should impact the way you play, 24 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:48,420 sometimes quite dramatically. 25 00:00:48,660 --> 00:00:51,030 Put simply when money is being taken out of the pot, 26 00:00:51,630 --> 00:00:55,230 your pot odds and strategic incentives change. 27 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:58,680 If you're playing the same way regardless of rake structure, 28 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:00,840 if you're not even looking at how much is being taken 29 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:01,440 out of the pot, 30 00:01:01,710 --> 00:01:03,840 you're likely leaving money on the table, 31 00:01:04,020 --> 00:01:07,050 but you won't make that mistake after finishing this episode. 32 00:01:07,890 --> 00:01:11,230 Before diving into how you should change your strategic approach in 33 00:01:11,230 --> 00:01:12,990 low rake games versus high rake games, 34 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:16,650 we should define exactly what low and high rake is. 35 00:01:17,070 --> 00:01:20,250 In this episode High rake is going to mean four big 36 00:01:20,250 --> 00:01:23,070 blinds or more being taken out of the pot. 37 00:01:23,370 --> 00:01:25,860 Medium rake is going to be two to four big blinds 38 00:01:25,860 --> 00:01:27,270 being taken out of the pot, 39 00:01:27,540 --> 00:01:29,580 and when we say high rake throughout this episode, 40 00:01:29,580 --> 00:01:32,460 that really includes medium rake games as well. 41 00:01:32,460 --> 00:01:35,190 Two big blinds coming out of the pot is still quite 42 00:01:35,190 --> 00:01:35,520 a bit. 43 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:37,720 Imagine you're playing two five and they take 10 bucks out 44 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:38,130 of the pot. 45 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:40,660 That's a lot and it's going to impact your strategy quite 46 00:01:40,660 --> 00:01:42,990 dramatically. But there are games out there with really, 47 00:01:42,990 --> 00:01:43,560 really high rake. 48 00:01:43,570 --> 00:01:46,200 So we do want to differentiate high rake and medium rake. 49 00:01:46,710 --> 00:01:49,260 Low rake is when two big blinds or fewer is taken 50 00:01:49,260 --> 00:01:50,040 out of the pot. 51 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:52,440 This will typically be in higher stakes games, 52 00:01:52,830 --> 00:01:54,480 and then there are games with no rake. 53 00:01:54,660 --> 00:01:57,480 $0 is being taken out of the pot in these games. 54 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:00,150 Maybe you play in a home game where there's no rake 55 00:02:00,150 --> 00:02:03,420 or maybe you play at a place with time-based seat fees 56 00:02:03,420 --> 00:02:05,760 like the Lodge Card Club in Texas. 57 00:02:06,180 --> 00:02:08,770 In these games since no money is coming out of the 58 00:02:08,770 --> 00:02:11,490 pot, you get to play quite a bit looser as we'll 59 00:02:11,490 --> 00:02:13,030 talk about a little later. 60 00:02:13,030 --> 00:02:14,310 Gary, in your experience, 61 00:02:14,310 --> 00:02:15,900 what would you consider high rake? 62 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:16,830 Gary: Yeah, 63 00:02:16,830 --> 00:02:18,390 so it really kind of depends on which part of the 64 00:02:18,390 --> 00:02:19,230 world you're playing in, 65 00:02:19,410 --> 00:02:20,800 poker games in Europe, 66 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:21,600 for example, 67 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:22,480 here in the UK, 68 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:23,430 it's not ideal, 69 00:02:23,430 --> 00:02:24,870 at two five and five ten, 70 00:02:24,870 --> 00:02:27,740 they take out approximately 12 pounds per hand, 71 00:02:27,930 --> 00:02:30,780 sometimes as much as 13 or 14 pounds per hand. 72 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:34,000 But some places in Europe they take as high as 26 73 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:35,370 euros in a five ten game, 74 00:02:35,370 --> 00:02:37,470 which is astronomically high rake. 75 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:40,450 Obviously we have plenty of listeners from the USA and there 76 00:02:40,450 --> 00:02:42,650 are of course some places where the rake is a little 77 00:02:42,650 --> 00:02:43,530 higher than others, 78 00:02:43,530 --> 00:02:46,830 but overall it's really quite reasonable across the board in America. 79 00:02:47,700 --> 00:02:48,840 Mike: You kind of touched on it there, 80 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:51,450 Gary, but what games typically have high rake and which ones 81 00:02:51,450 --> 00:02:52,590 typically have low rake? 82 00:02:53,730 --> 00:02:56,690 Gary: It kind of sucks for lower stakes grinders because the 83 00:02:56,690 --> 00:02:57,450 lower you play, 84 00:02:57,450 --> 00:02:58,670 the higher the rake is. 85 00:02:58,670 --> 00:03:01,300 Obviously you pay less in actual dollar amounts, 86 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:04,620 but the percentage of the pot that's being taken away from 87 00:03:04,620 --> 00:03:05,320 you is higher. 88 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:06,930 50NL and below online, 89 00:03:06,930 --> 00:03:09,460 one two and one three in the casinos. 90 00:03:09,820 --> 00:03:12,830 These are games which are higher rake environments and the rest 91 00:03:12,830 --> 00:03:15,250 of this podcast will really help you guys. 92 00:03:15,250 --> 00:03:16,540 The higher you play, 93 00:03:16,540 --> 00:03:19,210 the better the rake is both live and online. 94 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:22,750 Online it gets a little more forgiving when you reach 200NL 95 00:03:22,750 --> 00:03:25,750 and can be favorable to the players playing five ten and 96 00:03:25,750 --> 00:03:28,870 above. Obviously it's dependent on which sites you play. 97 00:03:28,870 --> 00:03:33,030 On some sites the rake is astronomical and you're basically saying 98 00:03:33,030 --> 00:03:34,290 GG before you start. 99 00:03:34,290 --> 00:03:37,360 At live poker higher stakes games have timed rake, 100 00:03:37,630 --> 00:03:39,040 which is just a dream. 101 00:03:39,250 --> 00:03:42,560 Some places have this seat fee as opposed to taking rake 102 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:45,570 out the pot where every player pays X amount every 30 103 00:03:45,570 --> 00:03:48,280 minutes or every hour depending on where you play, 104 00:03:48,610 --> 00:03:51,500 and that is going to drastically alter your strategy in the 105 00:03:51,500 --> 00:03:52,390 other direction, 106 00:03:52,660 --> 00:03:54,190 which of course we'll get to in due course. 107 00:03:54,970 --> 00:03:58,180 Mike: So let's get into those high rake adjustments. 108 00:03:58,180 --> 00:03:59,320 If you play one two, 109 00:03:59,320 --> 00:03:59,770 one three, 110 00:03:59,770 --> 00:04:01,330 even two five live in certain places, 111 00:04:01,330 --> 00:04:04,510 if they're taking at least two big blinds out of the 112 00:04:04,510 --> 00:04:06,910 pot or if you play micro and low stakes online, 113 00:04:06,910 --> 00:04:08,650 this is the part where you're going to want to pay 114 00:04:08,650 --> 00:04:11,260 a lot of attention because you might be surprised just how 115 00:04:11,260 --> 00:04:13,220 tight you're supposed to be playing. 116 00:04:13,220 --> 00:04:13,660 So Gary, 117 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:16,960 how should you adjust your strategy in a high rake game 118 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:19,080 compared to a low rake game? 119 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:21,270 Gary: So there are plenty of things that you can do 120 00:04:21,270 --> 00:04:23,960 to combat the rake and in turn obviously increase your win 121 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:24,820 rate. Firstly, 122 00:04:24,820 --> 00:04:27,370 you want to play a tight aggressive style preflop. 123 00:04:27,370 --> 00:04:30,200 When facing a raise you want to do more three betting 124 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:33,000 with hands that could go either way between three bet and 125 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:36,180 call. Let's seize the initiative and start putting in more three 126 00:04:36,180 --> 00:04:37,980 bets instead of flatting opens, 127 00:04:37,980 --> 00:04:40,210 but of course with the right range. 128 00:04:40,210 --> 00:04:43,080 Secondly, you want to really tighten it up from the big 129 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:44,470 blind in higher rake games. 130 00:04:44,500 --> 00:04:47,570 So many of us listening to this could seriously increase our 131 00:04:47,570 --> 00:04:50,160 win rate by just trimming off the bottom parts of our 132 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:51,040 pre-flop charts. 133 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:52,980 Hands like five deuce suited, 134 00:04:52,980 --> 00:04:53,990 seven six offsuit, 135 00:04:53,990 --> 00:04:55,060 king eight offsuit, 136 00:04:55,090 --> 00:04:56,050 three deuce suited. 137 00:04:56,350 --> 00:04:58,760 All these types of hands are defends from the big blind 138 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:01,830 versus some positions in most charts and in higher rake games 139 00:05:01,830 --> 00:05:06,400 they go from being slightly profitable defends to slightly losing defends. 140 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:09,610 If we just trim off all these slightly losing calls pre-flop, 141 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:11,670 we end up saving ourselves a lot of money in the 142 00:05:11,670 --> 00:05:12,100 long term. 143 00:05:12,850 --> 00:05:16,220 Mike: There's so much advice and training out there about defending 144 00:05:16,220 --> 00:05:18,590 your big blind and I think 10 to 15 years ago 145 00:05:18,590 --> 00:05:21,350 a lot of people under defended from the big blind, 146 00:05:21,350 --> 00:05:22,780 they didn't defend often enough, 147 00:05:23,140 --> 00:05:25,690 but then the advice started getting out there about how wide 148 00:05:25,690 --> 00:05:27,370 you get to defend in certain scenarios, 149 00:05:27,370 --> 00:05:29,960 especially in tournaments with an ante where you get to defend 150 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:33,450 really, really wide that there starts to be a general shift 151 00:05:33,450 --> 00:05:35,170 where everyone is hearing, 152 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:36,610 oh, you're supposed to defend your big blind, 153 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:38,770 but that really doesn't tell the full story. 154 00:05:38,770 --> 00:05:40,930 That's kind of advice taken out of context. 155 00:05:41,140 --> 00:05:44,110 How wide you should defend your big blind depends on a 156 00:05:44,110 --> 00:05:44,920 lot of things. 157 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:47,530 It depends on the raise size you're facing. 158 00:05:47,710 --> 00:05:50,440 It depends on the range that you're likely up against, 159 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:52,510 whether your opponent is raising with a tight range or a 160 00:05:52,510 --> 00:05:53,890 loose range or somewhere in the middle, 161 00:05:54,100 --> 00:05:55,540 and it also depends on the rake. 162 00:05:55,540 --> 00:05:56,650 If the rake is very high, 163 00:05:56,650 --> 00:05:58,970 you don't get to defend as often as Gary just said. 164 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:00,860 I also think kind of a side note, 165 00:06:00,860 --> 00:06:02,640 there might be a little bit of an ego element to 166 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:05,190 it. People think of it as my big blind and then 167 00:06:05,190 --> 00:06:07,610 they don't want to surrender my big blind, 168 00:06:07,610 --> 00:06:09,050 but putting that to the side, 169 00:06:09,060 --> 00:06:12,590 it's really important to consider the specifics of your game and 170 00:06:12,590 --> 00:06:13,800 a lot of games are different, 171 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:16,170 so you have to do some thinking ahead of time to 172 00:06:16,170 --> 00:06:19,100 be prepared for when you're actually facing a raise in game 173 00:06:19,100 --> 00:06:20,420 and you're in the big blind. 174 00:06:21,110 --> 00:06:23,930 I'm going to pull up a couple charts from Nick Petrangelo's 175 00:06:23,930 --> 00:06:25,070 Smash Live Cash course, 176 00:06:25,070 --> 00:06:29,930 which has a ton of pre-flop live ranges that are built 177 00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:31,440 with high rake in mind, 178 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:32,690 straddles in mind, 179 00:06:32,690 --> 00:06:35,120 things of that nature that are kind of unique to live. 180 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:37,950 And the one I have on my screen right now is 181 00:06:37,950 --> 00:06:38,870 a no ante, 182 00:06:38,870 --> 00:06:40,130 raked chart. 183 00:06:40,130 --> 00:06:41,560 So this is when there is no ante, 184 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:43,550 which if you play one three or two five live, 185 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:46,280 there probably isn't an ante and then there's high rake, 186 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:47,990 these charts assume two big blinds. 187 00:06:48,290 --> 00:06:52,620 This also assumes that your opponent is only raising to something 188 00:06:52,620 --> 00:06:53,210 like 2.25 189 00:06:53,210 --> 00:06:53,880 big blinds. 190 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:55,620 That's probably not accurate. 191 00:06:55,620 --> 00:06:57,500 If you're playing one three live, 192 00:06:57,500 --> 00:07:00,290 you're probably facing 10 or 12 or $15 raises, 193 00:07:00,620 --> 00:07:04,440 but to make useful charts you can't really run them with 194 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:07,610 4x opens because the solver will just play outrageously tight. 195 00:07:07,850 --> 00:07:09,800 So for the sake of having practical charts, 196 00:07:10,010 --> 00:07:12,720 these charts were created with a 2.25x 197 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:13,730 raise in mind. 198 00:07:14,060 --> 00:07:17,830 There are some kind of live factors that wash away that 199 00:07:17,830 --> 00:07:18,830 smaller size. 200 00:07:18,830 --> 00:07:21,170 Like in live you're going to be facing larger sizes, 201 00:07:21,380 --> 00:07:24,360 but your opponents also aren't going to be nearly as aggressive 202 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:25,040 as the solver, 203 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:26,690 which means you realize more equity, 204 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:28,570 which means you get to play looser. 205 00:07:28,570 --> 00:07:31,500 So I actually look at these charts and this is pretty 206 00:07:31,500 --> 00:07:34,400 much how I would play against a 10 or a $12 207 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:37,720 open in one three even though these charts are for 2.25x. 208 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:38,990 That was a nerd-y aside, 209 00:07:38,990 --> 00:07:41,890 but it's important to get out of the way because the 210 00:07:41,890 --> 00:07:44,600 inputs for a solver chart are very important to know. 211 00:07:44,990 --> 00:07:48,360 So I'm looking at this no ante high rake chart and 212 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:51,330 against a raise from early position and we're in the big 213 00:07:51,330 --> 00:07:55,190 blind, we're folding hands as strong as Queen Jack offsuit, 214 00:07:55,610 --> 00:07:58,700 we're sometimes folding King Jack offsuit even doing a little sliver 215 00:07:58,700 --> 00:08:00,810 of folding with king queen offsuit, 216 00:08:00,810 --> 00:08:02,960 queen seven suited pure folding, 217 00:08:03,350 --> 00:08:05,350 queen ten offsuit pure folding, 218 00:08:05,350 --> 00:08:07,280 ace nine offsuit pure folding, 219 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:10,790 king two suited is mostly folding insanely, 220 00:08:10,790 --> 00:08:11,840 insanely tight, 221 00:08:12,020 --> 00:08:16,910 way tighter than your intuition would probably lead you to play. 222 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:18,530 I think a lot of people will think, 223 00:08:18,530 --> 00:08:20,630 oh, queen seven suited easily worth the defend in the big 224 00:08:20,630 --> 00:08:24,530 blind, apparently not at least against the solver in these parameters. 225 00:08:24,530 --> 00:08:26,090 Maybe if your opponent's very weak, 226 00:08:26,330 --> 00:08:28,590 you can call if they're raising from later position you can 227 00:08:28,590 --> 00:08:30,490 call. But for the sake of comparison, 228 00:08:30,490 --> 00:08:31,990 we're folding all of these hands. 229 00:08:31,990 --> 00:08:34,090 Now, if I go over and look at a no rake 230 00:08:34,090 --> 00:08:36,880 chart so there is no rake being taken out of the 231 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:38,340 pot, maybe it's a time rake game, 232 00:08:38,340 --> 00:08:39,370 maybe it's a home game, 233 00:08:39,370 --> 00:08:42,740 whatever, the chart gets so much looser. 234 00:08:42,980 --> 00:08:45,400 Those hands that I said were folding every time before Queen 235 00:08:45,400 --> 00:08:45,980 jack offsuit, 236 00:08:45,980 --> 00:08:46,750 queen ten offsuit, 237 00:08:46,750 --> 00:08:47,570 queen seven suited, 238 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:49,670 all those hands are calling every time now. 239 00:08:49,850 --> 00:08:51,620 We're calling King two suited every time, 240 00:08:51,830 --> 00:08:53,780 queen five suited is getting in there sometimes, 241 00:08:53,780 --> 00:08:56,540 jack five suited is getting in there sometimes and then even 242 00:08:56,540 --> 00:08:58,410 some pretty offsuit junky connectors, 243 00:08:58,410 --> 00:08:59,340 five four offsuit, 244 00:08:59,340 --> 00:09:00,210 six five offsuit, 245 00:09:00,210 --> 00:09:01,140 seven six offsuit. 246 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:04,470 Those hands are getting in there a sliver of the time 247 00:09:04,470 --> 00:09:05,740 when there's no rake. 248 00:09:05,740 --> 00:09:07,680 So once again with rake, 249 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:11,060 we're folding queen jack offsuit every time versus that early position 250 00:09:11,060 --> 00:09:12,630 raise. Queen ten offsuit every time, 251 00:09:12,630 --> 00:09:15,630 Jack ten offsuit every time queen five suited every time. 252 00:09:15,810 --> 00:09:18,870 All these hands that seem like pretty worthwhile defends are folding 253 00:09:18,870 --> 00:09:22,180 every time with high rake and then against that same raise 254 00:09:22,180 --> 00:09:23,190 in a no rake game, 255 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:27,570 all of those hands are calls almost every time or every 256 00:09:27,570 --> 00:09:29,020 time. So it's a very, 257 00:09:29,020 --> 00:09:30,510 very big difference. 258 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:33,540 The same goes for Gary's first adjustment, 259 00:09:33,540 --> 00:09:35,980 how we talked about you're going to want to play more 260 00:09:35,980 --> 00:09:37,680 tight aggressive against raises. 261 00:09:37,680 --> 00:09:39,240 I'm pulling up charts again, 262 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:40,410 a hundred big blinds. 263 00:09:40,410 --> 00:09:42,330 We're on the button facing a hijack open, 264 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:46,590 with rake we're not really doing much calling at all, 265 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:48,660 the hands that call are some medium pocket pairs. 266 00:09:48,660 --> 00:09:52,050 We're doing some calling with the best suited Broadways, 267 00:09:52,050 --> 00:09:53,040 ace jack suited, 268 00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:54,260 king queen suited, 269 00:09:54,260 --> 00:09:54,940 et cetera. 270 00:09:54,940 --> 00:09:56,920 But it's mostly three betting, 271 00:09:56,920 --> 00:09:57,990 9.2%, three bet, 272 00:09:58,170 --> 00:09:59,310 4.3% call. 273 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:02,540 So when we're continuing on the button against the hijack raise 274 00:10:02,540 --> 00:10:03,330 with high rake, 275 00:10:03,780 --> 00:10:06,570 we're three betting the vast majority of the time and very 276 00:10:06,570 --> 00:10:07,380 rarely calling. 277 00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:08,940 But with no rake. 278 00:10:09,180 --> 00:10:10,930 All of a sudden I see a lot more yellow on 279 00:10:10,930 --> 00:10:13,170 my screen and the yellow indicates calls. 280 00:10:13,170 --> 00:10:15,290 We're now calling with a lot of those hands that were 281 00:10:15,290 --> 00:10:18,540 three betting frequently before we're doing some extra calling with suited 282 00:10:18,540 --> 00:10:22,210 connectors, low pocket pairs get to call more often and so 283 00:10:22,210 --> 00:10:23,960 on. Gary: Yeah, 284 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:26,280 I completely agree with everything Mike has just said, 285 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:28,090 and for those of us that are watching on YouTube and 286 00:10:28,090 --> 00:10:30,380 can see this chart on their screen right now, 287 00:10:30,380 --> 00:10:32,880 ask yourself if I'm on the button, 288 00:10:33,180 --> 00:10:35,730 I'm playing one three or two five and the hijack opens, 289 00:10:36,510 --> 00:10:38,490 how does my range compare to this? 290 00:10:38,490 --> 00:10:40,680 Am I pure folding eight seven suited, 291 00:10:40,680 --> 00:10:41,810 nine eight suited, 292 00:10:41,810 --> 00:10:42,880 jack nine suited, 293 00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:44,010 king jack offsuit? 294 00:10:44,010 --> 00:10:45,000 The list goes on. 295 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:47,460 So this is a really great example. 296 00:10:47,460 --> 00:10:50,070 I've said this quite a few times already today, 297 00:10:50,070 --> 00:10:51,810 but the high rake environment, 298 00:10:52,110 --> 00:10:54,050 if we just adjust accordingly, 299 00:10:54,050 --> 00:10:56,370 our win rate drastically increases. 300 00:10:56,670 --> 00:10:58,470 So I encourage you to look at this chart and sort 301 00:10:58,470 --> 00:11:00,250 of think about your own strategy in this spot. 302 00:11:00,250 --> 00:11:02,010 If the hijack opens and you're on the button, 303 00:11:02,310 --> 00:11:05,670 how does your own range compare and goes without saying that 304 00:11:05,670 --> 00:11:08,780 everyone watching this is just a little too loose and it's 305 00:11:08,780 --> 00:11:11,490 really important that we do make these adjustments. 306 00:11:11,490 --> 00:11:14,420 So an absolutely fantastic visual on our screens right now and 307 00:11:14,420 --> 00:11:17,100 I encourage you to just kind of compare your own range 308 00:11:17,100 --> 00:11:19,690 to this and see just how differently you should be playing 309 00:11:19,690 --> 00:11:20,000 right now. 310 00:11:21,060 --> 00:11:23,640 Mike: I will throw in one caveat. 311 00:11:23,700 --> 00:11:26,030 We do love our caveats here on the Level Up podcast 312 00:11:26,030 --> 00:11:28,860 because poker is a complicated game with a lot of variables. 313 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:31,740 If you're playing a very soft one three game, 314 00:11:32,550 --> 00:11:35,830 you can do a little more calling for a couple reasons. 315 00:11:35,830 --> 00:11:36,570 Number one, 316 00:11:36,900 --> 00:11:40,250 you are not going to get squeezed as often as the 317 00:11:40,250 --> 00:11:44,080 solver assumes you are when it generated these charts. 318 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:45,030 So for example, 319 00:11:45,270 --> 00:11:46,740 when the solver generated these charts, 320 00:11:46,770 --> 00:11:49,290 it's assuming that the big blind and small blind are also 321 00:11:49,290 --> 00:11:52,460 solvers who are going to play super aggressive against the raise 322 00:11:52,460 --> 00:11:53,130 and the call. 323 00:11:53,650 --> 00:11:57,920 Your one three opponents live might not even be squeezing pocket 324 00:11:57,920 --> 00:11:58,900 jacks, right? 325 00:11:58,900 --> 00:12:00,840 They could be very tight or they might not even be 326 00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:04,070 squeezing ace queen every time and they might never be squeezing 327 00:12:04,070 --> 00:12:04,810 with a bluff. 328 00:12:05,140 --> 00:12:06,800 So that's going to allow you to call a little bit 329 00:12:06,800 --> 00:12:07,230 more often. 330 00:12:07,230 --> 00:12:08,120 And then one other thing, 331 00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:11,060 maybe the player who raised is a very weak player who 332 00:12:11,060 --> 00:12:13,670 you think is going to give you extra money post-flop, 333 00:12:13,670 --> 00:12:15,880 they're a player that you think is worth targeting, 334 00:12:16,180 --> 00:12:17,680 then you do get to call more often. 335 00:12:17,680 --> 00:12:22,830 So there are some live specific factors that if they are 336 00:12:22,830 --> 00:12:24,130 the case in your games, 337 00:12:24,130 --> 00:12:26,170 if the blinds are very weak players, 338 00:12:26,170 --> 00:12:27,850 if the player who raises is a very weak player, 339 00:12:28,030 --> 00:12:29,620 you do get to do a little bit more calling and 340 00:12:29,620 --> 00:12:31,470 more three betting for that matter as well. 341 00:12:31,900 --> 00:12:36,280 But I hope this comparison has at least convinced you to 342 00:12:36,700 --> 00:12:40,140 lean more towards three betting as a default and then once 343 00:12:40,140 --> 00:12:41,970 you have that reliable information, 344 00:12:41,970 --> 00:12:43,480 you could throw in some more calls. 345 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:46,310 But just make sure you have that reliable information first and 346 00:12:46,310 --> 00:12:48,850 if you are the guy who was always calling king jack 347 00:12:48,850 --> 00:12:51,580 offsuit on the button against a raise in a high rake 348 00:12:51,580 --> 00:12:55,010 game, maybe give that a second think maybe consider three betting 349 00:12:55,010 --> 00:12:57,620 it or just even folding it because that's not really the 350 00:12:57,620 --> 00:12:59,940 type of hand we want to be calling on the button 351 00:12:59,940 --> 00:13:03,420 at a high frequency at least without a ironclad read that 352 00:13:03,420 --> 00:13:04,830 it's the right way to go. 353 00:13:04,830 --> 00:13:05,710 Alright, Gary, 354 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:08,210 that was a long aside for your second adjustment, 355 00:13:08,210 --> 00:13:09,610 but I know you have one more. 356 00:13:09,610 --> 00:13:12,310 What is your third adjustment to make in high rake games? 357 00:13:13,090 --> 00:13:13,740 Gary: Yeah, 358 00:13:13,740 --> 00:13:16,840 so let's continue talking about defending from the big blind, 359 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:20,050 but let's add in when there's a raise and a call, 360 00:13:20,050 --> 00:13:22,400 we're going to be going multi-way to the flop. 361 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:24,070 Let's forget about rake for now. 362 00:13:24,220 --> 00:13:26,620 If we're playing in a reasonable rake environment, 363 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:29,890 most people are still defending too wide in this scenario from 364 00:13:29,890 --> 00:13:31,710 the big blind multi-way in general, 365 00:13:31,710 --> 00:13:34,080 and then you factor in the higher rake on top of 366 00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:37,210 that, then people are just bleeding money from the big blind 367 00:13:37,210 --> 00:13:39,460 under the guise of being priced in. 368 00:13:39,970 --> 00:13:43,050 Say middle position opens the button calls hands like queen ten 369 00:13:43,050 --> 00:13:44,630 offsuit, ace ten offsuit, 370 00:13:44,630 --> 00:13:45,290 queen five, 371 00:13:45,290 --> 00:13:46,330 jack seven suited. 372 00:13:46,750 --> 00:13:49,850 These hands in theory are not pure calls in more forgiving 373 00:13:49,850 --> 00:13:50,950 rake environments. 374 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:52,610 Some of them are mixing calls, 375 00:13:52,610 --> 00:13:54,400 some of them are actually pure folds. 376 00:13:54,700 --> 00:13:57,550 Then you factor in the high rake environment On top of 377 00:13:57,550 --> 00:13:58,720 that, guys and girls, 378 00:13:58,780 --> 00:14:00,600 tighten up from the big blind multi-way, 379 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:01,570 you're not priced in, 380 00:14:01,570 --> 00:14:04,330 you are really hurting your win rate by calling too wide. 381 00:14:05,530 --> 00:14:07,720 Mike: The key that I always think about in these scenarios, 382 00:14:07,730 --> 00:14:10,850 pretty much any pre-flop calling scenario in the tournaments out of 383 00:14:10,850 --> 00:14:11,510 the small blind, 384 00:14:11,510 --> 00:14:12,610 you get to do a little bit of calling. 385 00:14:12,610 --> 00:14:14,800 So I think about this in that situation, 386 00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:17,130 but most often it's when I'm defending from the big blind 387 00:14:17,130 --> 00:14:22,720 multi-way, I want to avoid sharing cards with my opponent's range. 388 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:25,370 So a hand like Jack ten offsuit, 389 00:14:25,810 --> 00:14:29,410 I actually would much rather have six five offsuit than Jack 390 00:14:29,410 --> 00:14:32,500 ten offsuit in a lot of these scenarios because when it 391 00:14:32,500 --> 00:14:35,260 goes raise call they're going to have a lot of big 392 00:14:35,260 --> 00:14:37,360 jacks and big tens in their range. 393 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:39,230 There's going to be a lot of Ace ten, 394 00:14:39,230 --> 00:14:40,450 ace jack pocket jacks, 395 00:14:40,450 --> 00:14:41,290 pocket Queens, 396 00:14:41,290 --> 00:14:41,810 et cetera, 397 00:14:41,810 --> 00:14:44,230 cards that I don't really want to have Jack ten when 398 00:14:44,230 --> 00:14:45,040 they have those. 399 00:14:45,220 --> 00:14:46,810 I don't want to have Jack ten when they have Ace 400 00:14:46,810 --> 00:14:49,620 jack, but when I have five four offsuit or six five 401 00:14:49,620 --> 00:14:53,720 offsuit, those can and especially six five suited or five three 402 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:58,030 suited, I'm not then sharing cards with my opponent's ranges so 403 00:14:58,030 --> 00:15:00,480 the boards that I hit are not going to hit them 404 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:02,390 harder. When you have jack ten offsuit, 405 00:15:02,420 --> 00:15:04,220 you flop top pair on a jack high board, 406 00:15:04,550 --> 00:15:07,120 there's a fair chance that you're out kicked by a hand 407 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:09,650 like ace jack or something like that or even an over 408 00:15:09,650 --> 00:15:12,260 pair. But when you have five three suited and you flop 409 00:15:12,260 --> 00:15:14,550 two pair or you flop a straight draw or even a 410 00:15:14,550 --> 00:15:18,170 five on five three suited on say five four deuce, 411 00:15:18,470 --> 00:15:20,270 you're the one who really smacked that board. 412 00:15:20,270 --> 00:15:23,370 It's very unlikely that one of the other players has connected 413 00:15:23,370 --> 00:15:25,560 with that and that's what you'd prefer to happen in a 414 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:26,180 multi-way pot. 415 00:15:26,180 --> 00:15:29,180 You don't want to be sharing cards with those other players. 416 00:15:29,930 --> 00:15:30,920 I'm going to throw in a caveat. 417 00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:33,230 Again, this is very similar to the caveat we had a 418 00:15:33,230 --> 00:15:33,830 moment ago, 419 00:15:34,340 --> 00:15:37,890 but you can adjust if your opponents are up to something 420 00:15:37,890 --> 00:15:39,890 unusual and you know it. 421 00:15:39,890 --> 00:15:40,700 In some games, 422 00:15:40,700 --> 00:15:43,870 I've seen players call on the button against a raise with 423 00:15:43,870 --> 00:15:47,750 eight seven offsuit and four three suited and ten four suited, 424 00:15:48,020 --> 00:15:50,060 if that's the player who called on the button. 425 00:15:50,390 --> 00:15:52,430 Some of this advice obviously goes out the window. 426 00:15:52,460 --> 00:15:54,610 I'm not going to fold queen five suited or ace ten 427 00:15:54,610 --> 00:15:57,480 offsuit when the guy on the button has almost any two 428 00:15:57,480 --> 00:16:00,050 cards. I want to play a pot against him. 429 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:03,200 But if you're playing against thinking players who are playing somewhat 430 00:16:03,210 --> 00:16:06,260 reasonably and aren't just flicking in the call with whatever hand, 431 00:16:06,260 --> 00:16:07,970 aren't flicking in the raise with whatever hand, 432 00:16:08,300 --> 00:16:10,760 then you have to follow this advice to a tee and 433 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:11,660 play very tight, 434 00:16:11,660 --> 00:16:16,580 especially with these non multi-way friendly hands like these offsuit high 435 00:16:16,580 --> 00:16:19,000 card hands and some of these suited hands that have a 436 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:20,120 high card and a low card. 437 00:16:20,990 --> 00:16:24,650 Some card rooms forego rake altogether and instead charge an hourly 438 00:16:24,650 --> 00:16:25,160 seat fee. 439 00:16:25,190 --> 00:16:26,620 Like we've mentioned earlier. 440 00:16:26,620 --> 00:16:29,860 Gary, how do you adjust your strategy when no rake is 441 00:16:29,860 --> 00:16:31,190 taken out of the pot? 442 00:16:31,190 --> 00:16:33,860 So everything that goes in there is staying in there and 443 00:16:33,860 --> 00:16:35,930 the winner of the pot is getting it all. 444 00:16:36,410 --> 00:16:38,630 Gary: These are the best games to play in and our 445 00:16:38,630 --> 00:16:40,130 strategy changes drastically. 446 00:16:40,130 --> 00:16:41,750 Now we get to play way looser, 447 00:16:41,750 --> 00:16:43,160 way more pre-flop calls, 448 00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:45,050 defend much wider from the big blind. 449 00:16:45,410 --> 00:16:47,660 Our vpip goes up a lot in a game like this, 450 00:16:47,660 --> 00:16:50,060 which is of course a much more enjoyable experience. 451 00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:53,380 Everything I've said in this episode so far about countering the 452 00:16:53,380 --> 00:16:55,930 rake that kind of goes out the window and we play 453 00:16:55,930 --> 00:16:56,870 many more hands. 454 00:16:56,930 --> 00:16:58,700 Obviously we're not playing bad hands, 455 00:16:58,700 --> 00:17:02,140 we're not playing too loose and defending seven three offsuit from 456 00:17:02,140 --> 00:17:03,000 the big blind, 457 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:05,990 but we get to play much wider ranges overall, 458 00:17:05,990 --> 00:17:08,990 as we saw in Mike's chart comparison earlier in the episode, 459 00:17:08,990 --> 00:17:11,600 and it's because there's no money being taken out the pot, 460 00:17:11,630 --> 00:17:14,120 everything that's in there you win and it means you get 461 00:17:14,120 --> 00:17:15,710 to play much wider as a result. 462 00:17:15,710 --> 00:17:18,090 Mike: If you want to do some kind of homework to 463 00:17:18,090 --> 00:17:19,610 understand this even better, 464 00:17:19,610 --> 00:17:21,670 and I'm sorry to remind everyone of school by saying the 465 00:17:21,670 --> 00:17:22,250 word homework. 466 00:17:22,580 --> 00:17:25,830 I encourage you to do some simple pen and paper math 467 00:17:25,830 --> 00:17:28,210 or use the calculator on your phone or whatever. 468 00:17:28,610 --> 00:17:32,540 Go ahead and test how different your pot odds look, 469 00:17:32,540 --> 00:17:35,530 your price to call looks when you are in a game 470 00:17:35,530 --> 00:17:37,310 with rake and with no rake. 471 00:17:37,610 --> 00:17:38,120 For example, 472 00:17:38,120 --> 00:17:40,750 if you're playing one three and the player on the button 473 00:17:40,750 --> 00:17:42,940 races to $12 and you're in the big blind, 474 00:17:42,940 --> 00:17:45,610 you have to call nine more to play for a $25 475 00:17:45,610 --> 00:17:49,690 pot. That means you need about 36% equity to call nine 476 00:17:49,690 --> 00:17:52,050 divided by 25 is 36%, 477 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:55,080 but that would be in a game with no rake being 478 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:56,160 taken out of the pot. 479 00:17:56,250 --> 00:17:59,310 What I would encourage you to do then is run it 480 00:17:59,310 --> 00:18:02,300 for if they take $3 out of the pot instantly when 481 00:18:02,300 --> 00:18:03,210 you see the flop, 482 00:18:03,210 --> 00:18:04,390 which is going to be the case in a lot of 483 00:18:04,390 --> 00:18:06,500 rooms, sometimes it's going to be even more than that. 484 00:18:06,500 --> 00:18:09,430 Now all of a sudden you're calling that nine to play 485 00:18:09,430 --> 00:18:12,820 for a $22 pot and now you need just under 41% 486 00:18:12,820 --> 00:18:18,210 equity. So you went from needing 36% equity to profitably call 487 00:18:18,210 --> 00:18:19,790 to 41% equity to profitably call. 488 00:18:19,790 --> 00:18:21,600 That's going to make a pretty big difference. 489 00:18:21,610 --> 00:18:24,780 And you can also toy around with some ranging software like 490 00:18:24,780 --> 00:18:25,620 poker Equilab, 491 00:18:25,620 --> 00:18:29,050 that's a really good free one out there and you could 492 00:18:29,050 --> 00:18:32,230 see what hands have 41 or 36% equity against a button 493 00:18:32,230 --> 00:18:35,430 raising range and you could really toy around with it and 494 00:18:35,430 --> 00:18:37,760 start to get a feel for how you should actually be 495 00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:40,290 playing and how big of a difference the rake in your 496 00:18:40,290 --> 00:18:42,300 game or the rake in a game that you plan on 497 00:18:42,300 --> 00:18:43,800 playing really makes. 498 00:18:44,760 --> 00:18:47,590 I found that there's really no substitute for this type of 499 00:18:47,590 --> 00:18:51,100 work. Even if you just spend 30 quick minutes doing it. 500 00:18:51,100 --> 00:18:53,130 It's going to give you really, 501 00:18:53,130 --> 00:18:56,560 really good insight on how this works at sort of a 502 00:18:56,560 --> 00:18:58,920 mechanical functional technical level. 503 00:18:59,700 --> 00:19:03,270 We've got one more important live specific thing to go over, 504 00:19:03,270 --> 00:19:05,980 but we were just talking about no rake games and you 505 00:19:05,980 --> 00:19:08,810 want to know what other game has no rake taken out 506 00:19:08,810 --> 00:19:09,480 of the pot? 507 00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:14,540 Tournaments. Upgrade your tournament game now with elite training courses and 508 00:19:14,540 --> 00:19:17,690 save up to 51% during the World Series of Tournament Sale 509 00:19:17,690 --> 00:19:19,530 happening right now on Upswing poker. 510 00:19:19,740 --> 00:19:20,870 Go to upswingpoker.com 511 00:19:20,870 --> 00:19:23,000 and click the banner at the top of the screen to 512 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:24,610 browse all available deals. 513 00:19:24,610 --> 00:19:27,630 We have a bunch of courses and bundles that are either 514 00:19:27,630 --> 00:19:28,850 30, 50 or 51% off, 515 00:19:28,850 --> 00:19:32,520 all made by Darren Elias and or Nick Petrangelo, 516 00:19:32,970 --> 00:19:35,400 so go check those out right now. 517 00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:38,660 It's the best way to upgrade your tournament game before all 518 00:19:38,660 --> 00:19:40,550 the big birds this summer. 519 00:19:40,550 --> 00:19:41,460 So Gary, 520 00:19:41,460 --> 00:19:44,430 there was one more live specific thing I know you wanted 521 00:19:44,430 --> 00:19:47,210 to hound our listeners about because I think it's a little 522 00:19:47,210 --> 00:19:48,390 bit of a tilt point for you, 523 00:19:48,660 --> 00:19:50,010 so jump into it. 524 00:19:50,940 --> 00:19:51,550 Gary: Yeah, 525 00:19:51,550 --> 00:19:53,340 let's talk about chopping the blinds. 526 00:19:53,640 --> 00:19:55,660 A lot of us watching this will have a bit of 527 00:19:55,660 --> 00:19:57,270 an ego when it comes to chopping. 528 00:19:57,690 --> 00:19:59,720 The amount of guys that I've played with in one two, 529 00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:00,150 one three, 530 00:20:00,150 --> 00:20:00,540 two five, 531 00:20:00,540 --> 00:20:01,630 and they're like, 532 00:20:01,630 --> 00:20:02,430 I don't chop, 533 00:20:02,430 --> 00:20:02,860 I play. 534 00:20:02,860 --> 00:20:04,170 Just chop the blinds. 535 00:20:04,170 --> 00:20:06,800 Okay. It's okay to leave your ego at the door and 536 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:08,980 chop up the blinds and speed up the game. 537 00:20:08,980 --> 00:20:11,580 And when you're playing in high rake environments, 538 00:20:12,210 --> 00:20:15,650 it's going to be a single raised pot very often and 539 00:20:15,650 --> 00:20:18,220 there's a lot of money being taken out the pot, 540 00:20:18,220 --> 00:20:20,220 particularly when you're in the small blind, 541 00:20:20,490 --> 00:20:22,480 you're out of position that's hard to play anyway, 542 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:23,430 factor in the high rake, 543 00:20:23,730 --> 00:20:24,470 guys and girls, 544 00:20:24,470 --> 00:20:25,770 it's boring and it's nitty, 545 00:20:25,770 --> 00:20:27,360 but just go ahead and chop the blinds. 546 00:20:28,050 --> 00:20:30,000 Mike: The one exception there would be maybe you get to 547 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:31,960 a shorthanded game and there's a reduced rake, 548 00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:32,770 which by the way, 549 00:20:32,770 --> 00:20:34,560 if you don't know about reduced rake, 550 00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:36,750 you might want to ask your local poker room because sometimes 551 00:20:36,750 --> 00:20:38,730 they will reduce the rake for you if you get down 552 00:20:38,730 --> 00:20:40,170 to five or four or three handed. 553 00:20:40,180 --> 00:20:42,980 So make sure you're aware of that because oftentimes you have 554 00:20:42,980 --> 00:20:45,990 to actually request it for them to start taking less rake. 555 00:20:46,290 --> 00:20:49,160 Very interesting procedures that they have at poker rooms to try 556 00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:51,790 to get you for that extra dollar or two per hand. 557 00:20:51,790 --> 00:20:53,680 But if you are in that scenario, 558 00:20:53,680 --> 00:20:56,350 you can maybe justify not chopping the blinds, 559 00:20:56,560 --> 00:20:58,880 but if you're playing a nine or eight handed live cash 560 00:20:58,880 --> 00:20:59,980 game, you're playing one three, 561 00:21:00,130 --> 00:21:03,930 you should be chopping every single time because you're just paying 562 00:21:03,930 --> 00:21:05,680 way too much rake in that scenario. 563 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:10,830 Thanks for being with us today and learning all about rake 564 00:21:10,830 --> 00:21:14,380 strategy. If you agree that more rake is not better, 565 00:21:14,380 --> 00:21:15,670 go ahead and like, 566 00:21:15,910 --> 00:21:16,960 subscribe, follow, 567 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:19,540 make sure you get notified about future episodes. 568 00:21:19,900 --> 00:21:21,920 We got another one coming for you next week and then 569 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:23,280 we might be taking a short break, 570 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:24,460 but we will see you then.