General Knowledge from the STT community

[47thuspresident]

Goofballer:

Go read Small Stakes Hold'Em right now. Do not play another hand of limit poker until you've read it cover to cover.

Freshman, rookie, new guy, newbie, and now fish.. Its definately been a year of new things and it just seems right to add poker to the list. So, I read most of STT (cover to cover) as a guest and used alot of the info at the local game we play friday nights.. now, I know alot of this expert advice is directed towards online play but I wanted to say thanks for the p/f aggressive play advice (I stole some blinds! last thurs, I didnt even know what that meant! ), stop n' go, pot odds and outs.. being a fly on the wall in this forum won me $100. Thanks to all! Anyway, I did have some newb questions that I couldnt find answers to anywhere. What is:

UTG, CO, IMO, gutshot draw, nut flush, OOP, and limping?

I lost a hand to an all-in p/f who had about 1/4 my stack. I called with AA and he showed A8. The flop came 5 7 Q.. 9... 6 on the river! Would this be considered just a bad beat? What factors should one look at as the chip leader when determining who to bully and how often to do it? I figure every chance I get I should lean on the weakest links but at the same time, I noticed a couple mid range players just folding and watching until a couple people dropped.. is this helping them just as much as me? [/b]

[47thuspresident]

What is fold equity?

[jacedk]

Welcome to the forum, or should I say as a posting member of the forum, as it seems you have been with us for some time.

What factors should one look at as the chip leader when determining who to bully and how often to do it? I figure every chance I get I should lean on the weakest links but at the same time, I noticed a couple mid range players just folding and watching until a couple people dropped.. is this helping them just as much as me?

First of all, great that you notice these players. That means that you pay attention at the table, which is key when determining who to lean on.

The most important thing you have to look for when trying to figure out who to put the pressure on is wheter or not they are capable of folding to a raise. Some loose-agressive players will reraise all-in and of course there is the key rule of never bluffing a calling station. The players you are looking for are the weak-tight ones.

The mid range players you mention are prime candidates for some bullying, if they play like you describe. Put yourself in their place. They have a nice stack, there are some short-stacks at the table and some big stack (you) is running over everyone. So why not hunker down and wait for those small stacks to get pushed out. They are certainly not going to risk their position by going up against you without strong hands. So try and bet into them with any two whenever they are in the blinds (within reason and paying attention to position of course). If they reraise or call, you can release the hand safely unless you hit a miracle flop.

[jacedk]

What is fold equity?

Fold Equity is a measure of the added value of the propability that another player will fold to your bet.

Say someone limps in, and you push all-in behind him, your fold equity varies depending on factors such as stack sizes, blinds, how far away the money are and so on.

For example, if the blinds are 50/100, the limpers stack is 3000 and your stack is 400, your fold equity is very small. The price the other player pays to call is so small in regards to his stack and the money he has already paid that he will most likely call.

On the other hand, if there are four players left and the top three are payed, the blinds are 50/100, there is another player with a stack of 400, the limper has 1500 and you have 3000, your fold equity is much bigger.