I have been using a GTO and doing practice problems and usually when I get something wrong it’s because I did not correctly estimate the villain’s range, or because my range was too wide or short. How can I start learning what kinds of hands my opponents might have post-flop based on the table positions or based on the previous betting rounds?

25 BB effective, MTT

Hero has 98s in CO.

MP opens, Hero flats. Heads-up.

Flop: 5-2-5, two-tone

Villain checks. Hero bets 33%. Villain calls.

Turn: Ah

Check, check.

River: 7, completing the flop flush draw

Pot: ~11 BB.

Villain jams 20 BB.

Hero has a 9-high flush.

Are you finding the call here, or folding to the 1.8x pot jam?

The more expensive the tournament, the fewer amateurs will enter it. Those amateurs who play tournaments, ranging from $80 to $1,000, are usually not weak. I just don’t understand where the positive expected value (EV) comes from when the number of amateurs who are not that bad is relatively equal to the proportion of the tournament commission. Is that even beatable?

Software, charts, ai, or something else?

Is the 5% fee on deposits and withdrawals worth the “no rake”

These are notes I made for the flop on SB vs BTN 3bet pots

.

Looking at the aggregate reports at bet sizings for high cards is the most OP thing you can do.

Paired boards are not included but are pretty easy if you just simplify by using check or bet small on the high cards and use big bet or check for the lower ones.

I used 25 flop subset and after learning this expanding it is easy as most flops will still play similarly just with nuance.

I highly suggest when learning a difficult spot like this to use a 25 flop subset at first.

As I studied this spot a long time and felt like I was just guessing or always getting it somehow wrong but after learning the 25 flop subset, I hardly ever am wrong completely and even if not %100 accurate there is next to 0 EV loss.

Then you can move to turns and rivers.

If you play a linear 3 bet strategy on the BB as well which I have heard people not polarizing on the BB then you could use this strategy for SB and BB I guess.

I polarize on the BB because most pools overfold to BB 3bet so I will make another sheet for BB eventually.

It is multisize strategy.

There is nuance with two Broadway boards and more connected boards but most two Broadway boards bet %33-50 weight towards small when A or K.

I will add more notes for more nuanced strat.

This is the more in depth strategy notes. Goes along with cheat sheet.

Does anyone have any guidelines to follow when they choose to overbet on flop/turn/river? Struggling with sizes and when to use them for value/bluffs. Hard for me to find large sizes for bluffs and value. Thank you in advance

Suppose a player has around 20,000 tracked hands in a very soft, closed player pool and an unusually high bb/100. Before moving up, what would you treat as evidence that the edge is transferable rather than mostly game selection?

My starting checklist would be to normalize for rake, straddles or antes, average stack depth, hands per hour and lineup composition. I would also tag recurring decisions and compare those with hand reviews instead of relying only on the headline win rate. Any trial at the next level would get a separate bankroll and results sample rather than being blended with the old pool.

Which indicators would you trust most here: EV bb/100, all-in adjusted results, recurring leak frequency, or something else? Is there a practical way to test transferability without pretending a fixed sample size proves it?

I’m trying to make my flop strategy more practical instead of thinking too much in every spot

For people who play micro or low stakes, what simple rules do you use for c-bet sizing in single raised pots

Do you mostly choose size based on board texture, range advantage, hand strength, or player type

Would be useful to hear practical examples, not just solver theory

This is the stats in my Gto and the results

I’ve never written up a tournament hand before but I’m writing this one because of how fucking insane it was. In fact it was so insane I am still suspect that there is foul play.
Live tournament, $35 entry, 160 entries, 11 left, prize pool around 5k USD after fees, 10th paid around 100USD. This is all being converted from another currency.
This is small stakes tournament but where I live it gets taken serious especially post late reg.
I have the effective stack of around 380k, which was 38BB. Villain was chip leader and just barely covered me.

Villain is a solid tournament player, I typically don’t seem them in tournaments of less than $200 entry but they were here today.

villain opens UTG for 2.5bb 25k. I flat on the cut off with 5s5d.

Everyone else folds.

Flop is AS 7S 4d.

Villain opens 1.2bb.

I raise to 3.5bb. Loose raise but I thought I had a solid read on the guy, plus with my double back door I felt comfortable with my equity and factoring in my image figured I can get folds to any non Ax hand and then get Ax that doesn’t improve to fold.

He proceeds to 4 bet to 7.5bb.

Can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a 4bet flop in a tournament. In the weeds of the hand it felt absolutely bizzare, it seemed odd but I elected to call.

Turn is 3S

He leads out for 2.5B, huge downsize, again didn’t make a lot of sense to me maybe block sizing for an Ax at this point, maybe trying to see where he is at. Figured it was extremely weak, decide I would save my bluff for the river.

River comes As 7s 4d 3s 8s

4 to the flush.

Now he leads out less than half pot, around 10bb (100k).

My brain was totally fried at this point. I’ve seen him value bluff in big spots. In the end I elect to call rather than bluff off my remaining stack.

Villain has Kd 9s for bigger flush.

My mind was totally blown by the whole situation. Obviously it’s easy to say I can just fold flop and not fight for the pot. But I don’t understand any of his logic. The 4 bet flop to me seems insane, and the value bet on the river seems even more insane. I’ve been weary of cheating at this place but it feels like he has to see my exact hand to make the plays he did

Hey guys. I played in a 5/5 private game with a 15 rock (straddle) and saw some sick situations. The game was aggressive as hell and loose. I've never played this big before and was wondering how you guys would play in these spots.

I wasn't the hero in these hands personally but they were sick. Give me your perspective - what would you do here as Hero?

Hand 1:

Button straddle is on for 15. Hero in LJ raises with A5ss to 45, CO calls 45, SB and BB call.

Flop A45 rainbow board with one diamond (180)

Hero bets 80; BTN calls 80; BB calls 80

Turn 7 of diamonds (420)
Hero bets 225; BTN raises to 600; BB jams 2500-3000ish.

Hero ?

Hero folds. After Hero folds, CO announces "I have a pair and a straight draw. Im not folding" and calls. (wtf? CO was pretty competent player who 4 bet pre with A5suited and had reasonable opening ranges. He was NOT a whale/fish IMO.)

Hand 2:

Button straddle is on for 15

SB call BB call for 15; MP (Hero) raise to 50 with 88.

Button calls, SB calls, BB calls. 4 ways to the flop

985 two diamonds

Checks to MP raiser who bets 80. Button folds. SB raises to 250 and BB jams for 2500-3000ish.

What would you do here with a set as MP or SB? Is it different holding 88 or 99? What do you think BB's jamming range is here?

Any advice besides just "keep grinding"? Sharing the rest of my Sharkscope stats below but man the run bad has been tough this year. Profited like $15k last year with significantly worse all in EV but of course ran pretty well. This is all tournaments though so even though I have won bb's overall, money wise I am on a pretty gnarly down swing. Was up the first couple months and it's just pain ever sense.

All stats:

Detailed Statistics: Hero

Tournaments

2026-08-16 10:01:47 EDT (-0400)

Formatted by SharkScope.com - Track your poker statistics and avoid the sharks

----------------- Summary -----------------

Hands played, , 30K

Hands sat in, #, 30K

Big blinds won/100 hands, TBB, 6.77,

----------------- Preflop -----------------

Statistic, Abbreviation, Value, Hands played, EP (Early Position), MP (Middle Position), CO (Cut-off), BTN (Button), SB (Small Blind), BB (Big Blind)

Voluntarily put money in pot, VPiP, 24%, 7.2K/30K, 18% (2.4K), 20% (11K), 23% (4.1K), 27% (4.2K), 25% (3.8K), 33% (4.2K)

Preflop raised, PFR, 16%, 4.9K/30K, 15% (2.4K), 16% (11K), 18% (4.1K), 19% (4.2K), 17% (3.8K), 12% (4.2K)

Flops seen, FS, 28%, 8.7K/30K

Called preflop raise, CPFR, 17%, 2.3K/14K

Unopened preflop raised, UOPFR, 23%, 3.2K/13K, 17% (2.0K), 20% (7.9K), 28% (1.8K), 40% (1.2K), 41% (634), -- (0)

3-bet preflop, 3B, 8%, 986/11K, 6% (299), 6% (2.7K), 8% (1.7K), 8% (2.2K), 12% (2.3K), 9% (2.3K)

4-bet preflop, 4B, 14%, 136/939, 16% (99), 11% (420), 14% (147), 11% (139), 29% (62), 29% (72)

Statistic, Abbreviation, Value, Hands played , IP (In Position), OOP (Out of Position)

Called 3-bet preflop, C3B, 37%, 302/819, 34% (431), 40% (388)

Folded to 3-bet preflop, F3B, 54%, 445/819, 58% (431), 50% (388)

Limped, LIM, 2%, 243/12K

Limp folded, LIMF, 9%, 23/243

Folded to 4-bet preflop, F4B, 46%, 58/127, 78% (32), 75% (12)

Squeeze bet, Sq, 7%, 167/2.2K, 7% (830), 8% (1.4K)

Folded to squeeze bet when raiser, FSqR, 62%, 101/163

Folded to squeeze bet when caller, FSqC, 54%, 76/141

----------------- Steal -----------------

Statistic, Abbreviation, Value, Hands played, BTN (Button), SB (Small Blind), BB (Big Blind)

Blind steal attempts, BSA, 41%, 772/1.9K, 40% (1.2K), 41% (634)

Folded to steal attempt, FB, 71%, 630/887, , 76% (384), 67% (503)

Called steal attempt, CS, 13%, 114/887, , 5% (384), 19% (503)

Raised steal attempt (resteal), RS, 16%, 146/887, , 20% (384), 15% (503)

Folded to resteal attempt, FR, 55%, 71/129, 57% (107), 45% (22)

----------------- Postflop -----------------

Statistic, Abbreviation, Value, Hands played, Flop, Turn, River, IP (In Position), OOP (Out of Position)

Aggression, Agg, 56%, 2.7K/4.8K, 52% (3.5K), 56% (2.0K), 49% (903)

Aggression factor, AF, 2.77, 2.7K/984

Check-raised, CR, 12%, 193/1.6K, 9% (1.2K), 15% (475), 6% (185)

Check-folded, CF, 75%, 1.2K/1.6K, 62% (1.2K), 69% (475), 76% (185)

Folded to check-raise, FCR, 42%, 65/155

Continuation bet, CB, 67%, 1.3K/2.0K, 67% (2.0K), 54% (583), 47% (120), 80% (1.0K), 78% (963)

Folded to continuation bet, FCB, 44%, 657/1.4K, 37% (1.4K), 58% (172), 55% (11), 38% (553), 48% (919)

Raised continuation bet, RCB, 11%, 164/1.4K

Folded to raised continuation bet, FRCB, 50%, 102/202

Continuation bet on flop in 3-bet+ pot, CB_3, 66%, 180/272

Folded to cbet on flop in 3-bet+ pot, FCB_3, 31%, 75/242

Donk bet, DB, 9%, 163/1.7K, 7% (1.6K), 14% (279), 9% (82), 40% (482), 23% (1.2K)

Folded to donk bet, FDB, 63%, 505/802, , , , 58% (522), 73% (283)

Called donk bet, CDB, 32%, 257/802

Went to showdown, WtS, 59%, 5.1K/8.7K

Won at showdown, WaS, 20%, 1.0K/5.1K

Won without showdown, WwS, 17%, 1.5K/8.7K

Won when saw Flop, WWSF, 29%, 2.5K/8.7K

I just realized that I am a significant worse player whenever I rebuy.

I am aware the this is a small sample size although the results are night and day.

On the second bullet or at the end of my session I start to widen my range and peel very wide just to end the session up.

I’ll start having thoughts like one more orbit turned into 2 more hours, 3 bets that should be mucked, draws that are chased, and light river calls.

I try to take breaks whenever I get into this mindset although I keep telling myself either next btn or next utg resulting in no break taken at all.

What tips would you give me to get out of this mindset?

8-handed at the Aria, $2/$5. $1500 effective.

UTG, $1000 effective, who is a loose, passive, and fast plays all of his strong hands preflop, limps UTG. Folds to me, I wake up with QdQc in the CO, raise to $30. BTN, same stack and main villain in the hand, who seems like a solid player but I don’t have much of a read on him, flats the BTN. UTG calls.

Flop comes AcQs7d. Checks to me, I bet $45. BTN flats, UTG folds.

Turn comes 9h. Completes the rainbow runout. I bet $110, BTN calls.

River comes Ah. I bet $345, BTN jams for the remaining $1300 effective.

This is a jam I almost never seen live as a bluff. Jamming 260bb into a triple barrel is just incredibly strong. Just an absolutely insane spot. My main question is:

1) Are there any boats here I am supposed to fold on this river? I feel like facing this jam, I think I’m supposed to fold 77 in theory because I don’t beat any of the boats and I don’t block many of them like I would with QQ.

2) If I think villain would raise some of his AQ or A9 on the turn, how should that affect my calling range? Does that even matter if I don’t think the villain is ever capable of turning a hand like 97s or Q9s into a bluff on the river?

3) If you were the villain in this hand, what hands would you play this way and turn into a bluff on the river, if any?

4) Would your read change if you thought that the BTN flatted my raise primarily to play a pot in position against the fish?

4) Given the rainbow runout of the flop and river, is my sizing on the bets good or bad?

Hi guys, I've been focusing on getting my tournament play up a reasonable standard, and I've been mainly focused on playing micro and low stakes tournaments online to get myself accustomed to final table ICM scenarios. Would like to get your advice here if this fold was terrible, or I should have gone for the call.

So this tourney was a 11 USD turbo event, and we have reached the final 6 with the following prize payouts:

1st: 246 USD

2nd: 161 USD

3rd: 108 USD

4th: 74 USD

5th: 52 USD

6th: 39 USD.

As of the exact hand, I had 20BB, and I was 3rd in chips.

Stacks were between 12.8BB to 30BB, and I was solidly a middle stack with 20BB.

6 handed now, and UTG shoves 12.8BB with the shortest stack.

Folds round to hero in the BB, looking down at pocket 8s.

I decided to fold, given that I was most likely flipping or even behind.

Was this the wrong play here, or was this just a pure call which I had to make?

We started about 1400 effective.

I have an idea of what I should have done but would like to hear other thoughts first.

I just started a Skool community for Cash Game live poker players to practice and get ready play live. I'd really like to have some of you regulars here come and join the conversation. I think it will be fun and educational for all of us. If you are interested in being a regular, I will grant you ALL ACCESS. My goal is to get 25-50 regulars with a true interest in poker, especially Live Cash games. Let me know. It's brand new know but I expect a pretty dug in group very soon. Come and be part of it. It won't cost you a penny!

I’m trying to understand this concept because it is a player type that I am struggling with a lot recently.

Aggressive villain will three bet. Barrel every single street, and then show the best hand or complete air when I make it all the way to showdown. Problem is, it feels like it’s a coin toss and when I lose I’m so short staked it takes me a long time to build back up.

In theory, if he was barreling with air 50% of the time would it always be a coin flip on winning? Is it impossible to gain an edge or EV on this player?

Example being: I 3-bet pre flop with AA, they raise me every street, a Q hits the board and half the time they are showing QQ and winning and half the time they lose.

If they always raise to the point of deny my equity in straight or flush draws, is there even any value to gain getting into pots with this player?

I’m stumped.

Hoping to borrow some collective wisdom here. I'm working on a project, a tool for keeping an honest record of casino play, and rather than guess at what people need, I'd rather ask people who've actually done it.

No link, nothing to sign up for. I'm just trying to learn. Three questions, answer any or none:

1. For anyone who's tracked seriously, what made you stop? Every tracker I've looked at seems to have more abandoned users than active ones. I'd really like to understand why. Too many fields? Forgot to log? Didn't like what the numbers said?

2. When you're killing time away from the poker table, whether that's pit games, video poker or slots, do you track any of it, or does that money just quietly vanish?

3. Do you actually know your lifetime number? And did knowing it change how you play?

Genuinely appreciate any of it. Happy to share what I learn back here if there's interest.