The Bicycle Guide to Doyle Brunsons super system 2

1. 1Pick the format where intimidation pays. The passages place it in live play and shorthanded or heads-up games. Heads-up is called 'psychological warfare in its purest form,' and the text says you 'won't have the same opportunities to psychologically conquer opponents' in online tournaments with a few players left. Online, with players reduced to icons, play solid instead. Live, with eyes on opponents, build pressure.
2. 2Raise as your default entry when position or table size supports it. Heads-up, the source says to play over 75 percent of hands on the button and to come in for a raise. 'Limping in to mix it up is fine, but you can't go wrong with a raise.' Each raise puts the stack at risk, which is the fear you want to build.
3. 3Sort opponents by how they respond to pressure. Brunson's No-Limit chapter lists 'Categorizing Your Opponents' and 'Playing Against a Weak Player.' Spend early orbits watching who folds to raises and who calls light. Aim the pressure at the folders. The source's goal heads-up is to 'seek out your opponent's weaknesses and figure out a way to exploit them.'
4. 4Keep the aggression relentless but not mechanical. Reraise some hands and just call others ('sometimes just calling to mix up your play'). Brunson says his strategy was strong enough that you could almost tell opponents what you will do and they could do little about it. His readers still expected a fixed pattern, so he adjusted 'a little to keep these players confused.' Vary the pattern so pressure stays unpredictable.
5. 5Make the pressure cheap for you and expensive for them. Raise to take control of the hand, and expect to win many hands on the flop with a bet. The source's A-7 example is a decent hand 'that can win without improvement,' where you 'would be happy to win it on the flop with a bet.' You are not trying to win a showdown. You are trying to make them surrender pots.
6. 6Do not give free cards or hand back initiative once you have it. The TOC lists 'Don't Give Free Cards' and 'Betting When You Can't Call' as separate topics. If your aggression stops mid-hand, the fear dissolves.
7. 7Guard against the reverse. Do not become the intimidated player. The WPT section says to 'ignore the intimidation factor' because legends fill the field but anyone who knows tournament poker has a legitimate shot. Shorthanded, 'don't be paranoid, fearing premium hands all the time,' because opponents raise with junk.
8. 8Protect your reputation as an asset and adjust it. Brunson notes that after Super/System, strangers treated him 'with more reverence.' A fearsome name does part of the work before any chips move. Know which opponents are reacting to your image and which are studying it to exploit you.

The passages give a shorthanded case that shows both sides of the construct. In a ten-handed game you hold A-7 offsuit. The first player raises and everyone folds to you. The source says fold, because a raise from a full table usually means strength. Now put the same hand in a three-handed game, with the raise coming from the button. Folding is no longer correct. The source says 'lean toward reraising and sometimes just calling to mix up your play,' because shorthanded 'your opponents will be raising with all kinds of junk' and A-7 'simply figures to be better than the initial raiser's starting hand.' You reraise to take control, and 'more often than not' you win on the flop with a bet. The reraise is the intimidation tool. The raiser has put chips in with a weak hand, now faces a risk to his stack, and tends to let the pot go. Heads-up, the same logic runs continuously: the button raises over 75 percent of hands, and the big blind, who gets 3 to 1 to call, must keep deciding whether to risk a stack on a marginal hand.

• If the table is shorthanded or heads-up, then treat opponents' raises as likely weak and respond with reraises or mixed calls rather than folds.
• If you are on the button heads-up, then enter with a raise on over 75 percent of hands, and limp only occasionally to vary the pattern.
• If you are in an online tournament with a few players left, then play solid rather than trying to psychologically dominate, because the tools for intimidation are missing.
• If an opponent keeps folding to your raises, then keep applying pressure. If he starts calling or reraising, then slow down and let hand strength decide.
• If you face a famous or aggressive player, then ignore the intimidation factor and judge the hand and the numbers, not the name.

• Raising on autopilot into a player who does not fold. The tell is that your raises keep getting called or reraised and you are building big pots with weak hands.
• Becoming predictable. Opponents who have read your approach take advantage of it. The tell is that opponents start calling, trapping, or reraising you at the spots where you used to win uncontested.
• Applying pressure online as you would live. The source says you cannot psychologically conquer opponents the same way there. The tell is that you are bleeding chips with aggression that draws calls.
• Folding too much yourself out of respect for the aggressor. The tell is that you throw away hands like A-7 shorthanded because 'he raised,' when his raising range is full of junk.
• Giving free cards after you have gotten the initiative. The tell is that you check the turn after betting the flop and opponents suddenly play back at you.

• ▸Format: live full ring, shorthanded, heads-up, or online tournament. Note whether intimidation is available at all.
• ▸Opponent and category: name or seat, plus weak, tight, or aggressive.
• ▸Response to my raises: folds, calls, or reraises. Tally over several hands.
• ▸Position and table size: button or blind, and how many players are dealt in.
• ▸My entry action: raise, reraise, or mixed call, with the reason for the choice.
• ▸Result on the flop: did I win with a bet, or get called or raised?
• ▸Last pattern shown: what he has seen me do, so I can vary it.
• ▸Adjustment: continue pressure, slow down, or switch to a solid game.

1. 1Define the target error before you act. Either you want a fold equity error (a better hand folds) or a value error (a worse hand calls or overcalls). Each one needs a different line, so name it first.
2. 2Pick the player whose behavior produces the error. The source's sandbag rule is positional: when you act first with a big hand against two or more opponents, ask who is most likely to bet. Check only if it is the player to your left ('Left is right. Right is wrong').
3. 3Check that the trap can pay. Sandbagging a huge hand is 'often only marginally superior to betting', so use it only when the likely bettor sits on your left. Good spots are a liberal bettor, or a player who made the last raise before the flop with many players still in.
4. 4Gather evidence before the key bet. Watch opponents, not the flop, as it falls. A glance at their chips means they liked it and may bet. A short stare means no help. A long stare usually means weakness and a player who 'probably won't call a bet'. Bet where you expect a fold. Raise or trap where you expect calls.
5. 5Read bet-handling behavior. After a fumbled bet, a weak hand tends to neaten the chips to erase the error. No correction means the opponent is not worried. A drawn-out 'I bet' suggests a powerful hand. Use these reads to decide whether the spot is for value or for pressure.
6. 6Size the pressure against the price the opponent faces. In multiway pots a raise forces opponents to call two bets, which cuts their pot odds in half. That is how you induce folds from hands that were only drawing or holding bottom pair.
7. 7In split-pot games, raise when you hold a freeroll. With half the pot secured and the other half in reach, a raise costs you little. Opponents drawing at half the pot must pay multiple bets, which is their mistake.
8. 8Protect the edge from your own side. Do not raise from the middle on the last round with 'fairly strong, but not invincible' hands. Take on the opponent who might call or fold wrongly only when you can name which error you expect.

Three players are in the pot and you act first with a huge hand. If you check and everyone checks, you win nothing. If you check and the player on your left checks while the other bets, you get a raise in, but your position makes it hard for the left player to justify calling with anything short of a nearly unbeatable hand, so you chase that player away. The line you want is: you check, the player on your left bets, the other opponent calls, and you raise, hoping both call. This 'call and overcall' is common in limit games because the pot is large relative to the cost of a call. The result is four bets, two from each opponent. That result is a value error induced twice, since two worse hands pay a raise. The source ties it to one condition: it is likely only if the player to your left is the most likely bettor. It happens often in hold'em when that player made the last raise before the flop and many players are still contesting the pot. If instead the player on your right is the likely bettor, bet your hand.

• If you act first with a huge hand against two or more opponents and the player on your left is the likely bettor (liberal, or last pre-flop raiser), then check and raise. Otherwise bet.
• If a player's bet is accompanied by neatening spilled chips or erasing an error, then treat the hand as weak and be more willing to call. If the error is left alone, be reluctant to call.
• If the board flops and a player stares for a long time, then expect weakness and a likely fold to a bet. If a player glances at their chips right away, then expect a bet and plan a trap or raise rather than a bluff.
• If you hold a freeroll in a split-pot game (half the pot secured, nuts-type upside on the other half) and others are drawing, then raise, since you cannot lose the whole pot.
• If you hold a strong but non-nut hand in a multiway pot on the final round from a middle seat, then do not raise; the source names this a common money-losing mistake.

• Sandbagging into the wrong seat. You check a monster with the likely bettor on your right, everyone checks behind, and you win nothing. The tell is a check-around on a hand you meant to trap with.
• Raising with secondary strength on the last round in a multiway pot. You get called only by better hands or fold out worse ones. The tell is repeated losses in pots with at least three players after your middle-seat raise.
• Mistaking one read for proof. A fumbled chip or a long flop stare is a gray-area tell, not a certainty. The tell is calling or bluffing on that signal alone with no support from the opponent's tendencies.
• Pushing opponents into the wrong error. You fold-bluff players who are right to fold, or value-bet into players who never call light. The source points out that good players can pass up 10-1 pot odds because they trust themselves to be right 97 of 100 times; against such players a bluff has little equity, while a player who calls too much is a value target.
• Running a predictable plan against opponents who know it. Doyle noted that strangers had read his book and expected his exact plan, so he adjusted a little to keep them confused. The tell is opponents who fold or call exactly when your pattern says they would.

• ▸Target error: write 'fold equity' (better hand folds) or 'value' (worse hand calls) as the goal of this hand.
• ▸Opponent and tendency: name the player and whether they are a liberal bettor, a caller, or a player who lays hands down.
• ▸Position: write who sits to your left and right, and who is the most likely bettor.
• ▸Opponent tell observed: log the flop reaction (chips glance vs. long stare), any bet-handling behavior (fumble, neatening, 'I bet' tone), with one line on what it implies.
• ▸Price faced by opponent: record the pot, the bet or raise, and the pot odds the opponent gets to call.
• ▸Planned line: bet, check-raise (sandbag), raise a freeroll, or fold, and why it fits the target error.
• ▸Support check: list the sources that back the read (tells, tendencies, prior hands) beyond a single signal.
• ▸Pre-commit exit: state what opponent action makes you abandon the line.
• ▸Result review: record whether the opponent made the error you targeted, or a different one.

1. 1Label your hand before the flop action finishes: very strong, marginal, or drawing. Pot size is set by that label, so decide it first.
2. 2Check your position. The source says drawing hands are more profitable from late position because you see what everyone in front of you does, and so control more of the hand. Out of position, plan to check. In position, plan to act.
3. 3Out of position with a draw in a raised multiway pot, check to the original raiser. Betting invites a raise meant to knock out the players behind him, which can leave you heads-up on the turn with a draw. Keep the field in.
4. 4After you check and the raiser bets and others call, do not check-raise with the draw. The raiser may three-bet to thin the field, and you want the big field. Call and take your price.
5. 5In position with a strong draw such as the nut flush draw, raise on the flop. Aggression on the flop usually makes opponents check to you on the turn. If you hit, bet. If you miss, take the free card.
6. 6Before calling with a gutshot, price it. Count only the outs that win outright, then divide the pot by the call. A pure gutshot is 10.5 to 1 against with one card to come. If two of your straight cards complete someone's flush, you have two outs and about 22 to 1. Remember the bet size does not double until the turn, so a flop call is often correct when the turn call would not be.
7. 7Heads-up, do not check and call by default. That line gives up the ability to win without improving and hands over control of the pot. Choose a check-raise (shows a good hand, takes the pot on a turn bet if the raiser misses) or a deliberate fold.
8. 8Add opponent information before you add chips. A suddenly shaking hand after a bet usually means a big made hand, and you should almost always fold unless you are also very strong. A player staring away from the action while you are about to bet is likely strong, so do not bet a vulnerable hand into him. In both cases a smaller pot costs you less.

You hold 8♥9♥ in the big blind of a raised multiway pot. The flop is 2♥3♥10♠, which gives you a flush draw plus straight possibilities. The original raiser came from early position. Lead out and he may raise to knock out the players behind him. Your bet plus his raise could then leave you heads-up on the turn with a draw, which the source calls 'not good.' So you check. The raiser bets and everyone calls. A check-raise now risks a three-bet that thins the field, and you want a big field, so you just call. The pot grows through other players' money while your own investment stays small. Contrast this with A♦10♦ on the button, where an early raiser bets on 2♦9♦Q♥ and two players call. Here you raise. If he three-bets and the others fold, it is 'not a complete disaster.' If he only calls, you have built the pot with the nut draw and may pick up a free card on the turn.

• If you hold a draw out of position in a multiway pot, then check to the raiser and call. Do not bet out and do not check-raise, because both invite a raise or three-bet that shrinks the field.
• If you hold the nut flush draw in position, then raise the flop. Bet the turn when you hit and take the free card when you miss.
• If you hold a gutshot, then call only when the pot odds beat roughly 10.5 to 1 and all your straight cards are clean outs. Fewer clean outs push the odds toward 22 to 1. A flop call is often fine because the bet size has not yet doubled.
• If you are heads-up and have missed, then choose check-raise or fold. Checking and calling gives up control of the hand.
• If an opponent's hand starts shaking suddenly after he bets, then fold unless your hand is very strong. If a player stares away as you consider betting a vulnerable hand, then do not bet into him.

• Betting out of position with a draw in a multiway pot. The tell is a raise from the original raiser that leaves you heads-up with a draw.
• Check-raising a multiway pot with a draw because it feels aggressive. The tell is a three-bet that sends the other callers away and wastes the pot you wanted.
• Calling with a gutshot on price feel alone. The tell is a pot that looks big, with a call of 10.5 to 1 or worse against about 10.75 to 1, or outs you never checked against flush draws on the board.
• Checking and calling heads-up with a hand that cannot win unimproved. The tell is that you lose the pot by default to something like J-10 high on a later street.
• Pushing chips into a pot against a strong-hand tell. The tell is that you read a shaking hand as nervousness and call, when it signals a monster.

• ▸Hand class: write very strong, marginal, or drawing.
• ▸Position: write in position or out of position, and heads-up or multiway.
• ▸Pot size and cost to call: write both numbers and divide to get your price.
• ▸Clean outs: count only the cards that win outright and cross off any that complete someone's flush.
• ▸Odds against hitting: write the ratio, for example 10.5 to 1 for a gutshot with one card to come.
• ▸Field wanted: write keep big or thin, and why.
• ▸Planned line: write check, call, raise, check-raise, or fold for this street.
• ▸Raise/three-bet risk: write who could raise you, and whether that outcome leaves you heads-up with a draw.
• ▸Opponent tells: write any sudden shaking or looking-away behavior and the adjustment it triggers.

1. 1Define the metric before you play: your win rate (for example, big blinds per 100 hands) over a sample large enough to mean something. The passages tie profit to accurate decisions accumulating 'over time', so judge decisions by whether they earn more in the long run, not by one pot.
2. 2Classify the game first. Loose means five or more players see the flop; tight means three or fewer. Passive means little raising before or after the flop; aggressive means the reverse. Hand selection follows: in loose games, nut-capable hands gain value because more opponents pay you, and in tight games, hands that narrow the field to one or two opponents become push hands. In passive games, more decent hands are playable from early position.
3. 3Classify each opponent by how he bets and checks. A meek, non-deceptive checker who checks usually has little, so bet more often after his check. A deceptive checker (check-raiser or frequent bluffer) deserves fewer bets. Against a player who pays off anything, bet any hand you think is better than even money to be best. Against a player who only bets the nuts on the river, value bet less often.
4. 4Against a frequent bluffer who waits to act after you, check and call with medium-strong hands. His main mistake is bluffing too often, and a bluff catcher collects on it. A hand you would bet for extra value earns less in the long run against him.
5. 5Do not bluff into a frequent bluffer's check. A bluff works partly by beating equally weak hands, but his check does not give you that edge, and he checks a disproportionate share of hands he intends to call with. Bluff only if you are very certain you are on solid ground.
6. 6Sandbag (check a huge hand) only when the player to your left is the likely bettor, ideally a liberal bettor and the previous aggressor. When you act first with a big hand against two or more opponents, ask who is most likely to bet: 'Left is right. Right is wrong.' Otherwise bet, because a check that nobody follows wins nothing.
7. 7On the final betting round in a pot with at least three players, seldom raise from a middle seat with secondary-strength hands. These are very strong but not near-invincible. A raise chases away a third player's overcall, gains nothing if the first bettor was bluffing or too weak to call, and exposes you to the perfect hand. Raise only if you hold a weak hand and think you are being bluffed (to eliminate the player behind) or if your hand is extremely strong. Also demand a much stronger hand to overcall than to call.
8. 8Review in batches. Tag each hand with the rule it tested, then compare results by rule over the whole sample rather than by individual outcomes. A rule that loses in one hand but holds over the batch stays in your game plan.

The source's sandbagging case is a three-player pot. You act first with a huge hand, and the player to your left was the last pre-flop raiser while several players are still in. If you check and the player to your left checks, and the other opponent checks too, you win nothing: you gambled that someone would bet and lost. If you check and the other opponent bets with the left player still to act behind you, you can raise, but your seat sharply reduces its effect. The left player will find it hard to call with anything but a near-unbeatable hand, so you chase him away and may not get the bettor to call either. The ideal line is a check, then a bet from the player on your left, a call from the other opponent, and your raise, which both call. That earns four bets, two from each opponent, and it is only likely when the left player is the most likely bettor. Because sandbagging a huge hand is often only marginally better than betting, you use it only when that condition is met, and you bet otherwise.

• If a frequent bluffer checks to you and you hold a medium-strong hand, then check and call as a bluff catcher instead of betting for value.
• If a frequent bluffer checks to you and you hold a weak hand, then do not bluff unless you are very certain you are on solid ground.
• If you act first with a monster against two or more opponents, then check only when the player to your left is the likeliest bettor, ideally a liberal one; if the likely bettor is on your right, bet.
• If it is the final round in a pot with three or more players and you hold secondary strength from a middle seat, then call; raise only with a weak hand you believe is facing a bluff, or with an extremely strong hand.
• If your opponent calls with anything, then bet any hand you think is better than even money to be best, even two pair on a draw-heavy board; if he bets only the nuts, then value bet less often.

• Betting medium-strong hands into frequent bluffers. The tell: you routinely fold or lose when he raises, and you almost never see his bluffs, so you are missing the bluff-catching profit he offers.
• Bluffing a frequent bluffer's check. The tell: your bluffs get called because he checks hands he intends to call with, and you are not picking up pots from equally weak hands.
• Over-sandbagging or sandbagging into the wrong seat. The tell: checked-through pots with a monster, or a raise that folds out the player on your left, so you win one bet where betting would have won more.
• Raising secondary-strength hands from the middle on the river. The tell: aggressive players who are used to dominating by betting for maximum value; they raise and either chase away a profitable overcaller or run into the perfect hand and lose more with the second-best hand.
• Treating a tight player's river check as weakness. The tell: you bet a strong but beatable hand for value after a check from someone who bet throughout the hand; he may have checked because a card slightly weakened a strong hand like an ace-high flush on a paired board.

• ▸Sample range: hands or sessions covered; you need enough hands to be statistically meaningful.
• ▸Win rate: result over the sample in big blinds per 100 hands.
• ▸Game type: loose or tight, passive or aggressive, number of players seeing the flop.
• ▸Opponent type: meek, frequent bluffer, calls-anything, bets-only-the-nuts, or tricky check-raiser.
• ▸Position and who acts after you: note especially whether the likely bettor is on your left.
• ▸Hand strength category: bluff-catcher, value hand, secondary strength, or monster.
• ▸Rule tested: which rule from this guide you applied (bluff-catch, no-bluff, sandbag, no middle raise, value bet).
• ▸Action taken versus the rule's prescription: followed or deviated.
• ▸Result in bets won or lost, and whether the deviation or compliance is the pattern to fix across the batch.

1. 1Seat first, then play. Sit to the left of loose, non-aggressive players. They call weak hands before you raise, so your raise traps them for more money. Failing that, sit left of the sophisticated, aggressive, unpredictable player so he must act before you. Aggression works best when most of the people you want to pressure act first.
2. 2Classify each opponent before the hand starts: loose/timid, loose/calling, tight, or liberal raiser. Every later decision to bet or check depends on this label.
3. 3For each bet, name the purpose: value, protection, or steal. Value betting is for hands that opponents will call with weaker hands. Protect with a raise the hands that fare best against fewer opponents (two aces, or A-2-K-x, A-3-5-K and A-2-Q-Q in Omaha eight-or-better). Steal only against opponents who fold. Value betting for its own sake makes little money; value betting for the right reason makes a lot.
4. 4Run the value-bet test. Bet when (1) you have established a dominant, unpredictable image, (2) you are winning, (3) your opponent is timid, and (4) your opponent calls more often than average. Check when (1) you have not established that image, (2) you are losing, (3) opponents raise liberally, or (4) your opponent plays tight. Count the conditions on each side and act on the longer list.
5. 5Use pre-flop raises and reraises to shape the field. With a hand that plays well against few opponents, raise to narrow the field. Against decent blinds, reraise to make them call two more bets, which cuts their price and should make them fold most of the time. With a premium hand and several players already in for a raise or two, reraise or cap, because the hand performs well multiway.
6. 6Do not raise from the blinds unless the hand is premium (such as A-2-3-X suited). Positional disadvantage costs more than aggression gains. The one exception is the small blind reraising a late-position raiser to eliminate the big blind.
7. 7Sandbag only when it pays. Check a powerful hand, planning to raise, when the player immediately to your left is the one most likely to bet first. Otherwise bet it. Checking risks money through free calls in the hope that someone else does your betting.
8. 8Against a weak player, drop the tricks and bet his weakness. When he shows no strength (he checks the flop and the next street), bet regardless of your hand. When he shows strength by calling you, give him credit and plan to show a real hand at the end.

Doyle Brunson's own description of attacking a weak player shows aggression as a response to information, not as a style applied blindly. A weak player raises pre-flop, then checks the flop, then checks fourth street. Doyle says he automatically bets, regardless of what he holds, because the player's actions tell him he has nothing at all. Doyle also describes raising such a player without looking at his own hand. When the flop comes and the player checks, he bets into the pot in the dark, because a player with something would have bet. The adjustment comes next. If the weak player checks the flop and then calls Doyle's bet, Doyle gives him credit for a small piece of the board (if there is no straight or flush draw). If he checks again on fourth street and calls again, Doyle knows he will have to show a hand at the end. The weak player's check is the signal to bet, and his call is the signal to slow down.

• If your opponent is timid or calls more often than average, and you are winning and your image is dominant and unpredictable, then bet for value. You want lots of calls from weaker hands.
• If your opponent plays tight, raises liberally, or you are losing or have not established an image, then check. Betting gives them either the courage to raise slightly better hands or no weaker hands to call with.
• If the player directly to your left is the likeliest first bettor and you hold a near-unbeatable hand, then check with the intention of raising. If not, bet.
• If you hold a hand that does well against few opponents, then raise to protect it and thin the field. If several opponents are already in and you hold a premium hand, then reraise or cap to build the pot.
• If strong players are already in the pot, then a reraise leads to swings rather than more profit, because their hands are likely similar to yours. Hold back.
• If a weak opponent shows weakness by checking, then bet. If he shows strength by calling, then slow down and prepare to show down a real hand.

• Bluffing a calling station. Weak players call with any hand and fold only when they have nothing, so you cannot push them out. The tell: you keep bet-bluffing and keep getting called, and your stack shrinks while theirs grows.
• Betting when you are losing or when your image is weak. Opponents who know you are behind gain the courage to raise slightly better hands, which costs you extra bets. The tell: you bet, get raised, and have to fold or pay off.
• Raising blind hands from the blinds or reraising strong players holding hands like yours. Positional disadvantage plus similar strength produces swings, not profit. The tell: large pots out of position with marginal edges.
• Making the same raise in the same situations every time. Aggression has to stay unpredictable, and the passages value mixing in reraises with hands that do not seem to merit them. The tell: opponents fold or call in lockstep, and you stop getting action from your good hands.
• Seating and game selection ignored. Playing to the right of a sophisticated aggressive player lets him use position to pummel you, and chasing strong foes wins respect and little money. The tell: you act first against the table's best player and fight for small pots.

• ▸Opponent type: Write loose/timid, loose/calling, tight, or liberal raiser.
• ▸Seat relative to me: Note whether he acts before or after me, and who sits immediately to my left.
• ▸Image check: Mark yes or no. Have I established a dominant, unpredictable image?
• ▸Am I winning or losing this session: Mark which. Losing weakens the case for a bet.
• ▸Does he call more often than average: Mark yes or no. A yes favors a value bet.
• ▸Does he raise liberally or play tight: Mark which. Either favors a check.
• ▸Bet-side count vs. check-side count: Total the conditions on each side from the value-bet list and the check list.
• ▸Purpose of my bet: Write value, protection, or steal. If none applies, check.
• ▸Sandbag test: Mark whether the player to my left is the likeliest first bettor. If yes, check-raise a near-unbeatable hand. If no, bet it.

1. 1Locate the button before every hand. After the first betting round the button acts last, so treat it as the strongest seat and rank every other seat by how many opponents act behind it.
2. 2Use the clockwise order of action: players to your right usually act before you. Your job each hand is to watch what they do before you decide. Brunson says most of your career profit comes from the players one or two seats to your right.
3. 3Check the exceptions before leaning on position. A button player to your right acts last in every round. A blind to your right acts after you on the first round. In stud, the face-up cards set who goes first, though you still hold an overall positional edge over players to your right.
4. 4Choose your seat when you can. Sit to the left of loose, non-aggressive players, because they enter too many pots and call weak hands, and you act after them. Sit to the left of sophisticated, aggressive, unpredictable players to force them to act first.
5. 5If you must choose, put the loose money supplier on your right first. Brunson's first priority is to sit left of his loosest opponents. If both a loose player and a dangerous one sit in the two seats to your right, you get both benefits.
6. 6Put conservative, unimaginative players on your left. They rarely enter pots and rarely exploit their positional advantage when they do.
7. 7Widen your range as you move later, and tighten it in the blinds. Raising from the blinds is generally poor because you are out of position for the whole hand. Reserve it mainly for premium hands such as A-2-3-X suited, which can overcome the handicap.
8. 8Post-flop, spend the extra information. In position you never risk missing a bet and giving a free card, and you can set traps safely. An example from the passages is limping 3-3 on the button and smooth-calling a K-8-3 flop.

Brunson's own example is limping on the button with 3-3 in a four-way pot, and the flop comes K-8-3 rainbow. You have flopped a set, and because you act last you can smooth-call and plan to raise the turn. Position removes the risks that normally limit this play. You never worry about missing a bet and giving away a free card, and you see every opponent's action before you commit more chips. Out of position, the same set forces you to guess between betting and trapping. On the button the trap is safe, since the players in front of you have already shown what they will do.

• If you can choose between seats, then sit to the left of the loosest, most passive player, and sit left of the sophisticated aggressive player if you can also manage that.
• If a loose player calls weak hands before you act, then raise: they are trapped for more money. If you acted before them, your raise would scare off those weak hands.
• If you are in the small or big blind, then raise preflop only with premium hands such as A-2-3-X suited, and otherwise do not raise. The one exception is raising from the small blind to eliminate the big blind after a late-position raise.
• If you are in position after the flop with a made hand, then you can trap, because you never risk giving a free card.
• If your choice is between conservative, unimaginative players and aggressive ones on your left, then take the conservative ones, because they neither enter many pots nor exploit position.

• Seat selection ignores who is on your right. The tell is that a sharp aggressive player sits on your right acting before you, or you sit right of a loose player and lose your main source of profit.
• Forgetting the exceptions to the clockwise rule. The tell is that you assume the player on your right always acts first, when the button acts last throughout the hand and a blind acts after you on the first round.
• Playing the same wide range from every seat. The tell is that you play blind-position hands as if you had position, and you raise from the blinds with marginal holdings and carry the positional handicap all hand.
• Playing a made hand the same way every time. The tell is that opponents can read your play, and you give up the flexibility position offers, such as traps and check-raises.
• Spending effort on strong opponents for respect. Caro's tip says beating strong foes wins much respect and little money, and Brunson admits he overdid it. The tell is that you choose seats and tables for status, not profit.

• ▸Button location: note which seat holds the button this hand.
• ▸My seat relative to the button: early, middle, late, button, or blind.
• ▸Player on my right (1 seat): loose-passive, aggressive-sophisticated, or conservative.
• ▸Player on my right (2 seats): same classification.
• ▸Player on my left: conservative and unimaginative, or dangerous?
• ▸Seat change available?: yes or no, and which seat puts the loosest player on my right.
• ▸Exceptions to check: is the button or a blind on my right?
• ▸Preflop range for this seat: tighter or wider, and why.
• ▸Post-flop plan if in position: bet, trap, or take a free card, based on what the players before me did.

1. 1Set your baseline by game type before you look at a card. In sit-and-goes and other tournaments that pay only the last few players, play more selectively than in a ring game and aim to survive until two players remain, then open up. Online you have fewer chances to psychologically dominate opponents, so solid play is the proven choice.
2. 2Judge a hand by how its cards work together, not by the rank of its highest card. In Omaha eight-or-better, count the decent combinations the four cards create. K-K-J-8, Q-Q-6-7 and K-Q-J-3 go in the muck because they hold too many uncoordinated cards.
3. 3Build a short playable list per game and check every hand against it. For Omaha high-only hands the source lists K-Q-J-10, A-K-Q-10, Q-J-10-9, K-K-J-10, K-Q-Q-J, A-K-J-J and Q-Q-J-J. Treat nines as tainted: a 9 that helps make the nut straight leaves a low or a full house possible, and a 9 straight with no low leaves a higher straight or a full house possible.
4. 4Add suit and the ace as multipliers. In multiway pots A-A-2-x, A-2-3-x and A-2-4-x are raising hands, especially suited, because nut flush cards play well multiway. Raise nearly any suited A-2 when several players are already in, and A-3 suited in very loose games, to charge opponents for inferior hands. Play hands without an ace only rarely.
5. 5Adjust for the number of players and the price. High-only hands play best in an unraised multiway pot, because you will usually miss the flop and fold, so a cheap entry against several opponents gives you good odds. If opponents don't respect raises, raise regardless of position. In a six- or seven-way pot you generally need the nuts to win, so enter with hands that can make them.
6. 6Use seat selection as part of hand selection. Sit to the left of loose, non-aggressive players so they act first and call before you raise, which traps them for more money. If you can't, sit to the left of a selective, aggressive player. Ideally the players to your left are conservative and unimaginative. Put your loosest opponent and your most threatening one in the two seats to your right if you can.
7. 7Fold even premium combinations when the situation demands it. A-A and A-3 should occasionally be discarded before the flop. Review the damage from loose entry by counting how many second-best hands you made, because the source calls these poker's most expensive frustration.
8. 8Re-tighten as stakes rise. At higher limits opponents know starting-hand values, so the edge selective players hold at small games evaporates. Good selection is still necessary there but no longer sufficient.

You sit in a six-handed Omaha eight-or-better game at a small limit. Four players have limped in and you hold K-Q-J-3. The source names this hand as unplayable because it has too many uncoordinated cards, so you fold even though the pot is multiway and cheap. Next hand you hold A-2-3-x with the ace and deuce suited, and several players have entered. You raise, because A-2-3-x is a multiway raising hand and the suited ace gives you nut flush potential that opponents tend to overvalue against. The hand after that, you hold Q-J-10-9 in an unraised multiway pot. You call, because the hand is on the playable list and you are getting a good price. If you miss the flop you fold. In all three cases the decision comes from card coordination, suit, number of opponents and pot price, not from the cards' face rank alone.

• If you are in a sit-and-go or any tournament that pays only the last few places, then play tighter than in a ring game and survive until two players remain before opening up.
• If a hand holds four big cards but they don't coordinate (K-K-J-8, Q-Q-6-7, K-Q-J-3), then fold it; if it is on the playable list (K-Q-J-10, Q-J-10-9, A-K-Q-10), then play it best in an unraised multiway pot.
• If several players are already in and you hold A-2 suited or A-2-3-x, A-2-4-x suited, then raise to build the pot and charge inferior hands; with A-3 suited, do this in very loose games.
• If the pot will be six- or seven-way, then enter only with hands that can make or draw to the nuts, because second-best hands burn your chips.
• If you can choose seats, then take the seat to the left of the loosest, most passive player so they act before you, and keep conservative, unimaginative players to your left.

• Playing too many hands because the game is loose. The tell is that you keep making second-best hands and your stack shrinks without any big losing pot.
• Treating big cards as automatically playable. The tell is a hand like K-K-J-8 or K-Q-J-3 in your range, with cards that don't connect.
• Playing nonaces habitually. The tell is that you enter pots with no ace and no nut potential, then must fold or lose to the nut hand.
• Never folding premium combinations. The tell is that you play A-A or A-3 type hands automatically, even when the pre-flop action says you are beaten or the hand is poorly coordinated.
• Carrying small-game selectivity unchanged into bigger games, or ignoring seat position. The tell is that your results stall as limits rise, or that your most aggressive opponent sits on your left acting behind you.

• ▸Game and format: ring game, sit-and-go, or multi-table tournament; note that sit-and-go and pay-the-last-few formats call for tighter play.
• ▸Hand: write the four (or two) cards and mark suited cards.
• ▸Coordination: count the decent combinations the cards form, and note any uncoordinated cards.
• ▸Ace and suit value: does the hand hold a suited ace, nut flush cards, or A-2/A-3/A-4 low potential?
• ▸Number of players in the pot and whether it is raised: multiway unraised favors speculative or high-only hands.
• ▸Table texture: loose or tight, passive or aggressive; do opponents respect raises?
• ▸Your position and who acts behind you: note your loosest and most aggressive opponents' seats.
• ▸Decision: fold, call, or raise, with a one-line reason.
• ▸Post-hand review: did you make a second-best hand? Note whether the entry broke your rules.

1. 1Start with the rule that deception is a variation, not a style. Harman separates 'straightforward' from 'predictable': bet and raise when you have a hand, but vary the pattern enough that opponents can't get a line on you. Default to the sound play, then pick the spots where you depart from it.
2. 2Name the specific read you are denying. Pre-flop, add some creativity so opponents have a tougher time getting a read. Post-flop, decide which line you want to look like (for example, a hand that would check-call) before you choose the action.
3. 3Price every departure against the free-card cost. Before you slow-play or check, ask what a free card does. Harman's A-K example: checking top pair, top kicker lets a hand like 10-J pick up as many as fifteen outs. If the board is draw-heavy or the opponent can improve cheaply, bet.
4. 4Reserve true slow-plays for safe boards and tight, honest opponents. Harman smooth-calls only when the opponent is a tight player who raises solely with premium hands and the flop (A-4-9) is 'such a safe flop' for top pair. Both conditions have to hold.
5. 5Pre-plan the second half of the line before you take the first. If you smooth-call the flop, the plan is to raise the turn once the bet has doubled. If he checks the turn, the plan is gone. Know that branch in advance. The raise-the-turn play mainly works when he actually has a piece (an ace), because otherwise he may be wary of your flop call and shut down.
6. 6Change your position-based ranges deliberately, not randomly. In pot-limit Omaha, raising from up front advertises a good hand and gives the other player double the ammunition. So limp big hands from the front, raise mostly from late seats, and treat a raise with a draw from up front as an exception you must be ready to call a reraise on.
7. 7Defend against deception from the other side. Against deceptive players, bet medium-strong hands much less often after they check, because they will sometimes raise as a bluff and will raise strong hands daringly for extra value. Against a frequent bluffer, check and call and let him make his main mistake. Bet more often after meek, non-deceptive opponents check.
8. 8Layer in tells only as a cross-check. If an opponent is acting, work out what he is trying to make you do and disappoint him. Treat a suddenly shaking hand as a likely bluff, and don't trust it if his hands are always unsteady.

Harman holds A-K in early position, raises pre-flop and gets two callers plus the big blind. The flop comes A-4-9. The big blind checks. The fancy play is to check back, but Harman says it won't necessarily win more than a bet and might give away information or cost the pot. A free card to a hand like 10-J could give that opponent up to fifteen outs against him, and an 8 on the turn would be a serious threat. So he simply bets. In the second version only a tight early-position raiser remains, a player who raises only with premium hands. Harman smooth-calls the same A-4-9 flop after the opponent bets. The opponent likely holds A-Q, A-J, K-K, Q-Q or J-J, though A-K or A-A is possible. If the opponent bets the turn, Harman raises now that the bet has doubled. If the opponent checks the turn, the raise-the-turn plan is gone. Harman recommends this line only as a variation against someone who may be getting a line on you, and otherwise playing these flops straightforwardly.

• If the board gives a free card real value (draws, overcards) and you hold a strong but vulnerable hand, then bet instead of checking. Deception that hands over outs costs more than it earns.
• If the opponent is tight, raises only premium hands, and the flop is safe for your top pair, then a smooth call with a turn-raise plan is a viable variation. Otherwise play it straightforward.
• If a deceptive player checks to you and you hold only a medium-strong hand, then bet less often. Check and call, because he may raise you off the best hand or extract an extra bet from his strong hands.
• If you are first in from under the gun or a blind in pot-limit Omaha with a big hand, then limp rather than raise, because a raise advertises strength and over-commits you. Raise from late seats.
• If the opponent's play looks acted rather than involuntary, then do the opposite of what it is trying to make you do. If a normally steady hand suddenly shakes after a bet, then lean toward folding to a likely bluff.

• Fancy Play Syndrome: you check or disguise a hand and miss bets, give free cards, or lose the pot. The tell is that you feel clever when it works but your results on those hands are lower than a plain bet would earn.
• Being predictable under the label of 'straightforward': your raises always mean a good hand, especially from up front in pot-limit Omaha. The tell is opponents who fold or reraise accurately against your early-position raises.
• Slow-playing without a plan for the turn: you smooth-call the flop but have no raise-or-fold branch. The tell is that you reach the turn and don't know what you are trying to accomplish.
• Betting medium-strong hands into tricky or frequently bluffing opponents after they check: you get check-raised as a bluff and fold the best hand, or pay an extra bet to a daring raise. The tell is repeated check-raises you can't call and can't fold correctly.
• Reading one tell as an absolute: a hand that always trembles is not a tell, and an acted tell is meant to mislead you. The tell is calling or folding on a physical cue from a player whose baseline you never established.

• ▸Hand and position: your holding and where you act. Note if you are acting from up front, where raising advertises strength.
• ▸Opponent type: tight/premium-only, meek/non-deceptive, tricky, or frequent bluffer.
• ▸Board texture: safe, or does it offer straight, flush or overcard outs?
• ▸Free-card cost: what outs does a free card give him, and how many?
• ▸Straightforward play: the plain bet or raise you would make by default.
• ▸Deceptive alternative: the specific variation (smooth call, limp, check, draw raise) and the read it is meant to deny.
• ▸Next-street plan: what you do on the turn if he bets, and what you do if he checks.
• ▸Verdict: deviate or play straight, with one line of reasoning.
• ▸Result review: after the hand, did the deviation earn more than the default?

1. 1Sort every opponent into a working category as soon as you sit down. Brunson's no-limit chapter is organized around 'Categorizing Your Opponents' and 'Playing Against a Weak Player'. Start with weak vs. strong and loose vs. tight, and treat the label as a draft you will revise.
2. 2Set your default prior by game type. Online, Brunson says to assume most opponents are bad, or at least more unsophisticated and too loose than in real-world casinos. Start there, then let observed behavior overrule it.
3. 3Watch what each player does when he has a hand and when he doesn't. Brunson's reasoning: an opponent who fears giving you free cards bets his real hands right away, so a quick bet from him is information. If continuous betting makes him throw away borderline hands, he is revealing where his threshold sits.
4. 4Track stack size next to each tendency. Brunson decides how far to gamble with second or third pair 'depending on my opponent and, more importantly, how much money he had on the table.' Record chips alongside style, because a deep-stacked opponent changes the value of a call.
5. 5Look for weakness separately from hand strength. Brunson says he raises 'because I detected a weakness in somebody or to take advantage of my position,' not because of what he holds. Note which opponents show weakness and in which spots.
6. 6Check your own pattern as well. Brunson never does the same thing with the same hand from the same position against the same player, because good players would detect the pattern. Many opponents have also read his book and expect him to play as written. Shift gears 'up and down continuously' until no pattern shows.
7. 7Pick the exploit. Against weak or too-loose players, do the obvious correct thing: raise when raising is the logical first choice, fold weak hands, and bluff sparingly in limit games. Save tricks for observant opponents.

Brunson holds small connecting cards, a 7-6, and the flop comes Q-6-2. That is a poor flop, since he has only second pair. He doesn't play it on hand value alone. He plays it on the opponent and the opponent's chips. If the opponent is sitting on a lot of checks, Brunson will gamble with the second pair, or even the third pair. He does this even if he knows the opponent holds a pair of queens, because catching another 6 or a 7 could let him break a deep stack. He calls a reasonable bet and might put as much as 10 percent of his money in the pot if he thinks he can win a gigantic pot. He may also raise. The raise comes from a read, not from the hand: he has detected weakness in somebody, or he wants to use his position. The same 7-6 would get a fold against a short-stacked or strong opponent.

• If an opponent is deep-stacked and the flop gives you a small piece of a hand with big upside, you can call a reasonable bet with second or third pair. Brunson's ceiling is about 10 percent of your stack, and only when you think you can win a gigantic pot.
• If you detect weakness in an opponent, or your position lets you take advantage, consider raising regardless of what you hold.
• If an opponent bets fast the moment he has a hand because he is afraid of free cards, treat his bets as strong. Bet continuously yourself to push his borderline hands out.
• If you are online, assume loose and unsophisticated opponents until shown otherwise. Play the obvious correct hand and cut the fancy plays.
• If the same opponent has now seen your play with a hand from a given position, change speed and action. Don't repeat the line.

• Labeling once and never revising. The tell: you keep treating a player as weak after he has started punishing your bluffs.
• Playing the hand and ignoring the stack. The tell: you commit second pair against a short stack with no way to win a big pot.
• Becoming predictable. The tell: opponents fold or reraise against your usual line, as Brunson expected readers of his book to do against his written play.
• Overplaying tricks against weak, loose opponents. The tell: you bluff and get called, when simply raising your good hands and folding your weak ones would have won more.
• Treating your hand as your whole read. The tell: you cannot say what weakness, position, or stack depth justified the raise.

• ▸Opponent/seat: name or seat number, to keep the notes tied to one person.
• ▸Category: weak/strong and tight/loose, with a note on what you saw that earned each label.
• ▸Stack size: chips on the table, to judge how much a big pot can win or cost.
• ▸Behavior with a hand: does he bet fast to deny free cards, or slow-play?
• ▸Behavior without a hand: does he fold borderline hands to continuous bets, or call?
• ▸Weakness detected: where and when he showed it, and your position at that time.
• ▸My recent line against him: hand, position, and action, to avoid repeating the pattern.
• ▸Planned exploit: the obvious correct play you will use, such as raise, fold, or sparing bluff.
• ▸Revision trigger: the event that will make you change the label.