Phil Gordon's Little Gold Book: Advanced Lessons for Mastering Poker 2.0
By Phil Gordon
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About this ebook
In his Little Gold Book, Phil Gordon reexamines the game from the ground up. The key to competing with today’s top players is finding the post-flop edge, but to really understand this new playing style, you need to get comfortable with the underlying math. Don’t be intimidated. Gordon makes this challenging material as approachable and simple as possible. Beginning with the foundations of Poker 2.0, he unpacks the modern poker player’s tool kit, rigorously examines the new lines of play in No Limit Hold’em, dissects the fast and furious strategies of Pot Limit Omaha, and explores the winning poker mind-set that will take your game to an entirely different level.
The golden age of poker is upon us. Phil Gordon’s Little Gold Book will shorten your learning curve, and if you’re willing to put in the time and the work, big bankrolls await.
Phil Gordon
Phil Gordon is a world-class poker player and teacher with two World Poker Tour championships and seven final table appearances at the World Series of Poker. He is the author of several bestselling books, including Poker: The Real Deal and Phil Gordon’s Little Green Book. Alongside his teaching and commentary on forty-two episodes of Bravo’s Celebrity Poker Showdown, Phil is one of the preeminent poker teachers and writers in the world.
Read more from Phil Gordon
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Phil Gordon's Little Gold Book - Phil Gordon
PHIL GORDON’S LITTLE GOLD BOOK
Previous Titles by Phil Gordon
Poker: The Real Deal
(a k a Phil Gordon’s Little Black Book)
Phil Gordon’s Little Green Book:
Lessons and Teachings in No Limit Texas Hold’em
Phil Gordon’s Little Blue Book:
More Lessons and Hand Analysis in No Limit Texas Hold’em
This publication contains the opinions and ideas of its author. It is intended to provide helpful and informative material on the subjects addressed in the publication. The strategies outlined in this book may not be suitable for every individual, and are not guaranteed or warranted to produce any particular results. The book is sold with the understanding that the authors and publisher are not engaged in rendering any kind of personal professional services in the book.
The author and publisher specifically disclaim all responsibility for any liability, loss or risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this book.
Gallery Books
A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
Copyright © 2011 by Phil Gordon
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book
or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information
address Gallery Books Subsidiary Rights Department,
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
First Gallery Books hardcover edition October 2011
GALLERY BOOKS and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.
Designed by Peng Olaguera/ISPN
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gordon, Phil, 1970–
Phil Gordon’s little gold book : advanced lessons for mastering poker 2.0 / by Phil Gordon.
p. cm.
1. Poker. I. Title.
GV1251.G659 2011
795.412—dc23
2011031197
ISBN 978-1-4516-4159-2
ISBN 978-1-4516-4160-8 (ebook)
To Xander and Zachary,
With everything you do in your lives, go all-in.
Daddy loves you.
Contents
Introduction
Jargon
Foundations of Poker 2.0
Range
Standard Range Notation
Standard Position Notation
Fundamental Mathematics
Range Combinatorics
Range Combinatorics After Card Removal
Expected Value
Combined Probabilities
Utility
Exploitable, Unexploitable, Exploitative
Balance
Balance in Game Theory
Balance in Practice
Poker 2.0 Toolkit
Heads Up Displays (HUDs)
HUD Stats
Pitfalls of a HUD
HUD Options
HUDs for Live Players
Range and Simulation
ProPokerTools.com
No Limit Hold’em 2.0
Pre-Flop Ranges Table
Range vs. Range
Pre-Flop Play
Pre-Flop Fundamentals
New Steal Positions
Beware of the Short Stacks
Calling a Pre-Flop Raise
Three-Betting
Three-Bet Defense
Top 40% Rule
Giving Up
Cold Four-Bets
Five-Betting
Six-Betting
Squeezes—Fish and Chip Sandwich Revisited
Reverse Squeezes
Effect of Folded Hands on BB Hand Quality
Gordon’s A-X Rule
Gordon’s Pair Principle
Flop Play
Post-Flop Questions
Post-Flop Range Analysis
Opponent Analysis
Make a Plan
Continuation-Bets
Check-Raising
Checking Back
Responding to a Continuation-Bet
Donk Betting
Turn Play
Ranges Narrow
Turn Bets
Turn Questions
Parched Boards
High and Dry Boards
Wet Boards, Boards with Draws
Paired Turns
River Play
Calling a River Bet
Empty the Clip
Pot Limit Omaha 1.0
PLO Basics
Combinatorial Explosion
Pre-Flop Hand Rankings
The Excellent
The Good
The Mediocre
The Ugly
The Worst
Pre-Flop Play
Pre-Flop Fundamentals
Equities Are Very Close
Very Little Stealing
Heads Up vs. Multi-Way Hands
Importance of Position
Thoughts on AAXX
Thoughts on KKXX
Thoughts on QQXX, JJXX, TTXX, 99XX
Thoughts on Rundowns
Thoughts on Mediocre, Unpaired Hands
Thoughts on Trash Hands
Three-Betting
Three-Bet Defense
Cold Calling a Three-Bet
Squeezes
Reverse Squeezes
Tournament Play Pre-Flop
Flop Play
Visualize the Turn
Behind with the Nuts
Folding the Nuts
Wraps and Straight Draws
Continuation-Bets
Checking Back
Trapping
Check-Raising
Floating
Donk Betting
The Power of the Naked Ace
Small Sets
Big Stacks
Locked-Down Boards
Turn Play
13 Outs, Turn Equilibrium
Keep Range Uncapped
Nuts, Still Behind
Ace-High Boards
Barreling Away
River Play
Check-Raise More
Induce Bluffs
Polarized Ranges
Small Bets
Hero Folds
Bankroll Requirements
Meta-Game Considerations
Polarized Game Types
Leveling
Game Selection
Big Pot vs. Small Pot Poker
Big Pot Poker
Small Pot Poker
Taking a Shot at Higher Stakes
Zero to Hero—Building a Bankroll Online
The Whiz Kids
Phil OMGClayAiken
Galfond
Pot Limit Omaha Cash Games
Learning PLO from Phil Galfond
Get More Phil Galfond
Annette annette15
Obrestad
Playing Lessons with Annette
Dan jungleman12
Cates
Make More Money
Heads Up
Playing Lesson
Hand Examples
No Limit Hold’em Cash Games
Realizing Equity
Barreling Away
Floating to the River
Crippling the Flop
Leveling and Inducing Bluffs
Getting Value Against a Tight-Passive Player
Trapping a LAGtard
Barreling with Improved Equity
Giving a LAGtard Perceived Fold Equity
Whaling
Defending Against a Smart LAG
Three-Betting Thinly for Value
Adjusting Ranges and Exploiting Regulars
Triple-Barrel Bluffing a Calling Station
Getting Leveled
Ranging Donk Bets
PLO Hands
Aces on a Dry Flop
Making Good Folds
Folding Top Two!
Bluffing with Blockers
Locked-Down Board in a Multi-Way Pot
Deep-Stack PLO
Final Thoughts
Acknowledgments
Phil’s Other Works
PHIL GORDON’S LITTLE GOLD BOOK
INTRODUCTION
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: poker is a very difficult game. It has been six years since my Little Green Book was published, and in that time the game has morphed considerably. The prevalence and importance of Internet poker have fueled most of the changes. Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) has become the game of choice at nosebleed stakes. The players are more aggressive, the games more volatile, and the decisions tougher. With all that in mind, I thought it was time to reexamine the game from the ground up with an update to the Little Green Book. To write this book, I had to do some soul-searching and take a critical look at my own game. In many ways, new poker
has passed me by in a flash. At forty plus years old, I’m ancient in the poker world. The kids are now dominating. From 2008 to 2010, thirty-six players made the final table of the World Series of Poker Championship Event—twenty-four were under the age of thirty, and twelve of those twenty-four players were twenty-five years old or younger. These kids
are good.
To give my readers the best possible insight, I knew that I needed to completely relearn the game. And I needed some help. Fortunately, that was relatively easy to find. I owe a debt of gratitude to my friends and mentors Anders Taylor, Phil Galfond, Annette Obrestad, Daniel Cates, and Austin Schaff. They are the ones who gave me the insights and impetus to write this book. With their help, my goal is to shorten your learning curve. If you haven’t read and studied the Black, Green, and Blue books, I suggest you do so before taking on this more challenging material, as the fundamentals laid out there will still serve you well in the new poker ecosystem.
We will begin with the foundations of Poker 2.0. We’ll examine some of the mathematics and concepts behind the new poker theory: range, combinatorics, and expected value. For the mathematically minded, much of this material will be easy. For others, it will be a real struggle, but perseverance will make the effort worthwhile.
Next, I’ll introduce you to the modern poker player’s toolkit. Heads Up Displays are the biggest innovation. Using them properly can take your game to an entirely different level almost immediately. I’ll also show you how to effectively use range simulation tools to your advantage. These new computer models are essential in today’s poker world.
We will reexamine No Limit Hold’em, tackling both cash games and tournaments with rigorous detail. The strategies of yesteryear have been replaced by new thought processes, new lines of play, and new insights. Think of this section as the Little Green Book, version 2.0. (Note: When advice varies between the Green and Gold books, go for the Gold.)
In the next section, we turn to Pot Limit Omaha, the new game of choice for most high-stakes cash games. PLO is fast and furious, with some huge bankroll swings and a strategy all its own. I’m still working on my PLO game and I’m no world-beater. But I’m confident that the fundamentals in this section combined with good game selection will turn a profit in all but the toughest PLO games.
In the Meta-Game
section, we’ll talk about the game-within-the-game and some important non-strategy concepts that need to be mastered. We’ll also take a look at the remarkable Chris Ferguson and his quest to turn zero dollars into one million by utilizing excellent bankroll management rules.
Last, we’ll hear from three poker whiz kids
and learn what makes them tick and their strategies for success, as we get coached by the best in the game. Much of the material presented in the first sections of this book stems from the advice and counsel of my mentors. We’ll talk with Phil Galfond, Annette Obrestad, and Daniel Cates. Phil is one of the best PLO players in the world. Annette is a multi-table tournament genius. And at the ripe old age of twenty-two years, Daniel is widely considered the best Heads Up No Limit Hold’em specialist in the world. Their contributions and willingness to share their insights were invaluable to me, and I know you’re going to find this material very helpful as well.
The golden age of poker is upon us. For those willing to put in the time and work, big bankrolls await.
Let’s go for the gold.
JARGON
If you listen to the Internet kids talk poker and you’re not familiar with their terminology, you can quickly get overwhelmed and lost. They have a language all their own. Some of it is downright cute.
6-Max: A poker game with six seats
Agro: Aggressive
Barrel, Barrel off: Another phrase for bet, usually with some connotation of a bluff
Blocker: A card in your hand that reduces the chance your opponent holds a hand that has you beat
Bluff-catcher: A hand that only beats a bluff
Button: Player seated in the dealer position, the best position at the table
C-Bet: A continuation-bet
Cutoff: Player just to the right of the button
Deep: Playing with more than 150 big blinds in your stack
Defend: Call or re-raise a pre-flop opening raise from the small or big blind
Donk Bet, Donk, Donked: An out-of-position bet into an opponent when you do not have the lead in the betting. (Example: You raise from late position and get three-bet by the button. You call. The flop comes, 8-6-2 rainbow. You bet. This is a donk bet.)
Effective Stack Size: The size of the smallest stack belonging to a player still playing in the hand
Expected Value: A probabilistically weighted average of all possible results
Fish: A bad, losing player
Flat-Call, Flat, Flatted: Just call a raise or bet
Float: To flat-call an opponent’s flop continuation-bet with a relatively weak hand
Four-Bet: The re-re-raise. (Example: In a $5–$10 NLH game, you raise to $30 from late position. The button three-bets to $100. When the action gets back to you, you four-bet to $300.)
Full Ring: A poker game with nine seats
Hi-Jack: Player two to the right of the button, just to the right of the cutoff
ICM: The Independent Chip Model for tournament poker, a method for calculating tournament equity based on the payout structure and the number of chips remaining for each player
LAG: A loose, aggressive player. Typically, LAGs play too many hands and play them very aggressively
LAGtard: A super LAGgy player—plays tons of hands and plays them hyper-aggressively
Lead, In the Lead: The player who took the last aggressive action in the hand. (Example: If I raise pre-flop and my opponent called from the blind, I have the betting lead. If I raise pre-flop and my opponent three-bets and I call, my opponent has the lead.)
Merge: To have a range of hands that will include more medium-strength hands in the value range.
(See Polarize.)
MP1: Player four to the right of the button, just to the right of MP2, just to the left of UTG+1
MP2: Player three to the right of the button, just to the right of the Hi-Jack
Monotone: A flop that contains three cards of the same suit (i.e., A. ♣ J ♣ 4 or 8 ♥ 9 ♥2 ♥)
Nit, nitty: Very tight, not playing many hands. A player with no gamble—if he puts chips in the pot, he is almost certain to be ahead.
NLH: No Limit Hold’em
Nosebleeds: Very high stakes, usually $100–$200 or higher online
Nuts: The best hand possible or, more commonly, one of the best hands possible
Offsuit: Two cards with different suits (i.e., A♣ and J♦—denoted with a lower-case o, as in AJo. AJ denotes both suited and unsuited varieties.)
Over-call: To call a pre-flop raise when at least one other player has already called the pre-flop raise in front of you
Play-back: To call or raise a bet
Play-back Range: The range of hands that a player will play-back with, either calling or raising
PLO: Pot Limit Omaha
Polarize: To divide a range of hands into two subsets, bluff hands and value hands, leaving out most medium-strength hands
Pop It: Raise
Rainbow: A flop that contains three cards of different suits (i.e., A ♣ J ♦4 ♠ or 8 ♥ 9 ♦2 ♣)
Range: Set of all possible hands for a player given all previous actions in the hand
Shallow, Short: Playing a stack size of less than 30 big blinds
Shove: Move all-in
Spewtard: A poker player who is giving money away with reckless, hyper-aggressive play
Stacked, Felted: Get it all-in and go broke
Steal: Usually refers to a pre-flop raise in an effort to win the blinds and antes
Suited: Two cards of the same suit (i.e., Ace of Clubs and Jack of Clubs—denoted with a lower-case s, as in AJs)
TAG: A tight, aggressive player; typically a good, solid player
Thin: A really close decision, usually in reference to a bet made by a weak, made hand. (Example: He made a really thin value bet with third pair.
)
Three-Bet: Re-raise pre-flop. (Example: In a $5–$10 NLH game, a player raises to $30 from late position. You re-raise—three-bet—from the button and make it $100.)
Triple Barrel: To bet the flop, turn, and river
Two-Tone: A flop that contains two cards of the same suit (i.e., A♣J♣4♥ or 8♥9♥2♠)
UTG: Under the gun, first player to act; UTG is always directly to the left of the big blind
UTG+1: First player to act after the UTG
Value-Own: Betting a hand that will get called by a better hand more than 50% of the time
x: Sometimes refers to the size of the previous bet, or the size of the blind. (Example: If the big blind is $20, a raise to 3x would be $60. If a player faces a bet of $50 and makes it 2.5x, he’d be raising to $125.)
X: Any small card kicker.
For example, AX could be A2, A3 … A9
Try this on for size—if you can make sense of it, you won’t have any problems at the bar after Day One of the WSOP Main Event:
So I’m UTG, deep stacked, and playing like a nit. I pump the pot 3x. LAGtard button three-bets me. My four-bet range was very tight, so I flatted with AQ suited. The flop was Q-9-4 rainbow. I donked half pot. He raised, I flatted. Turn was a suited 8. I checked, he barreled. His range was pretty polarized, so I called again. River came 7. I checked again, he overbet the pot and shoved, and I thought I had to bluff-catch. He showed me the nuts. Guess I played this hand like a monkey.
FOUNDATIONS OF POKER 2.0
Poker has changed dramatically and quickly in the last few years. The game is much tougher than it used to be. Version 2.0 of the game is characterized by very high aggression, off-the-charts variance, and relentless pressure. This is not the same game I played back in the day, not at all.
In the old days, if you had good pre-flop fundamentals, you were a cinch to win. That is why most of the material written about the game (including my previous books) has focused on the pre-flop game. Now, most people play well pre-flop, but the edge comes from post-flop play. Post-flop is where the pros are separated from the posers.
Table composition has also changed dramatically. As late as 2007, I could easily find a nine-handed game with three, four, even five weak spots. These fish
were easily fried, and you didn’t even have to be that good a fisherman to fill your quota. There was plenty of money to go around. These days, we’ve depleted the ocean, and fish are simply not as plentiful. Now, at a nine-handed table, there might only be one fish, and all the fishermen are fighting to get him on the line first.
Much of this change has been fueled by a rigorous scientific study of the game through simulation and mathematics. It is no longer good enough to know my Rule of 4 and 2. To really understand Poker 2.0, you need to get more comfortable with the math underlying this new playing style. If you are less mathematically gifted, don’t be intimidated—I have made this material as approachable and simple as possible.
RANGE
Range
is the set of all possible hands an opponent can have based on your knowledge of their playing style and all actions that have taken place during the play of a hand. A typical pre-flop range might sound something like this: "He’s on, at worst, any pocket pair, AJ offsuit,* or, better, KQ suited, or QJ suited."
Poker players routinely use range
when thinking about or discussing a hand:
PLAYER: He’s got a really wide range here.
TRANSLATION: He can be playing almost any two cards.
PLAYER: I’m at the top of my range.
TRANSLATION: Of the hands that my opponent suspects I could be playing, this hand is one of the best I could have.
PLAYER: He’s playing about 10% of his hands pre-flop from early position.
TRANSLATION: His range is pocket sevens or better, AT offsuit or better, A8 suited or better, KQ suited, QJ suited, and JT suited.
It is very important to think about an opponent’s range throughout the play of a hand. It is also vitally important that you consider what range of hands your opponent is putting you on.
Range analysis, often through computer simulation (and later, experience), has intensified and become one of the most important tools in NLH2.0—without it, you’ll have little or no chance to succeed. I’ll show you how to do these range analyses later in the book.
STANDARD RANGE NOTATION
When writing about range, it is helpful to have a standardized notation. The Internet whiz kids quickly figured out a range notation that is very useful. Here is a quick rundown, via example:
Any pocket pair: 22+
Pocket nines or better, AJ or better (meaning AK, AQ, AJ), KJ suited or better (KQ, KJ): 99+, KJs+, AJ+
Top 20% of all possible hands: 20%+
Some 30% of all possible hands, but not AA or KK: 30%+ - KK+
A very tight
under-the-gun range in a full No Limit Hold’em ring game: TT+, AQs+, AK
A loose button-position
range: 22+, A2+, K2+, Q2+, J8+, J5s+, T9s, 85s+, 74s+, 63s+
Note: In all cases, a range of A2+ denotes all unsuited combinations and automatically includes all suited combinations as well. So, A2+ is the same as A2s+, A2o+. This is the notation I’ll be using throughout the rest of the book.
STANDARD POSITION NOTATION
Position is extremely important. We need some common terminology and abbreviations to be able to talk about position intelligently. Refer to this chart for the names of certain seats with respect to the button. Also, I’ll be discussing 6-max games* quite a bit. When thinking about 6-max, I simply visualize a 9-player table where the UTG, UTG+1, and MP1 players have folded. In a 6-max game, the UTG position is the MP2 position at a full ring.
FUNDAMENTAL MATHEMATICS
NLH2.0 is based largely on mathematics. Without the reads
and tells
commonly associated with live play, the Internet poker geniuses had no choice but to adapt and find other ways to win, and they focused most of their efforts on the mathematics of the game.
To understand and ultimately be successful in the new poker world, you’re going to have to expand your math repertoire beyond the basics of the Rule of 4 and 2 and Pot Odds. Your new weapons will include three concepts: combinatorics, expected value (EV), and combined probability. If you haven’t mastered simple pot odds calculations or you have a hard time figuring