Use Long Ball Poker Strategy in Texas Hold'em to Win Big

Now, let's take a further look at the amplitude and sources of fluctuations under the big ball poker strategy, known as the long ball poker strategy.

Those familiar with the Texas Hold'em strategy know that there is no guaranteed winning strategy. Opting for a strategy with higher fluctuations doesn't necessarily mean it's a worse strategy. After all, Texas Hold'em is a game of expected values. In the concept of investing, aiming for a higher expected value implies accepting higher risks. Here, Texas Hold'em strategy and investment skills align.

Fluctuations in the Long Ball Poker Strategy

Traditional Texas Hold'em strategy, known as the long ball poker strategy, emphasizes setting the quality of pre-flop hands. Due to the narrow hand range selected, the amount raised before the flop is usually higher. Consequently, the continuation bet after the flop is often half the pot or more. This leads to relatively high fluctuations in each hand. The value of this Texas Hold'em strategy lies in its aggressiveness. Let's look at an example.

With blinds at 20/40, the player in UTG+1 rises to 160. The button and small blind players call. In the big blind, we have 10s10h and raise to 800. UTG+1 and the button call, and the small blind folds. The pot is now 2560.

Firstly, let's consider the fluctuations that raising a pair of 10s in the big blind may generate. UTG+1 is a relatively tight player, opening with a range of 77+ pairs and K/J or higher high cards. We can roughly estimate our expected value based on his image.

According to Texas Hold'em strategy analysis, facing our 3-bet, UTG+1 is likely to call with pairs of 9/10/J and AQ. Other opening hands will fold, and QQ or higher pairs and AK may raise again.

Considering that the button is only called in the first round, their hand could be a middle pair or a semi-connected suited structure, etc. UTG+1 might call because of the odds, and the button will also call.

So, we might directly win 330 in scenarios where UTG+1's hand is K/J (16 possibilities), K/Q (16 possibilities), A/J (16 possibilities), 7 pairs (6 possibilities), 8 pairs (6 possibilities), totaling 60 scenarios.

After the flop, we must consider A/Q (16 possibilities), 9 pairs (6 possibilities), 10 pairs (6 possibilities), J pairs (6 possibilities), totaling 34 scenarios.

UTG+1 may raise, and we must fold in scenarios like A/K (16 possibilities), Q pairs (6 possibilities), K pairs (6 possibilities), A pairs (6 possibilities), totaling 34 scenarios.

Therefore, we might have a chance of 60/128, 46.8% to win 330, 34/128, 26.6% to proceed to the flop, and 34/128, 26.6% to fold.

Here we can see that in the long ball poker strategy when facing an opponent without a range advantage, we may be at a relative disadvantage.

This is because our chances of winning the opponent's chips before the flop are relatively low.

However, if faced with a player with a looser range, for example, if UTG+1 folds, we can almost 100% take down the pot since we have a range advantage over the button.

This highlights the fluctuations to be aware of when using the long ball poker strategy in Texas Hold'em.