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"Today, I want to share a simple and effective exploitation strategy for dealing with ""fish"" players. All of this starts with a principle from the economics of Texas Hold'em poker.
""Elasticity"" - It's an economic concept that represents how changes in one economic variable affect other parameters. In this article, we will combine ""elasticity"" to discuss three questions:
1. What is the range of elasticity?
2. Why is it useful?
3. How can we exploit opponents using it?
First, what is elasticity?
Elasticity is an economic concept. In simple terms, when product prices change, sales and profits also change.
For instance, let's say you're selling toy ducks. If each toy duck sells for $2, you can sell 1 million ducks for a total sales of $2 million. But if you raise the price to $50 per duck, you might only sell 50,000 ducks, with total sales of $2.5 million. The optimal choice is clearly the $50 price point, which is basic economics. Learning this principle of Texas Hold'em economics can help you dominate low-stakes tables.
In this example, our customers are elastic; as the price increases, the quantity demanded decreases. But if customers were inelastic, no matter how the price changes, the quantity demanded remains constant. This principle helps us conquer small-stakes poker tables.
How does this economics principle help us in poker?
If we view poker as a transaction, with bets and calls resembling buying and selling, then deciding the bet size is like pricing a commodity. In the game, we either want opponents to pay with their bets or discourage them from continuing by making our ""price"" unattractive.
Imagine you're at the river with a pot of $50 and $200 in chips. If an opponent bets, you're more likely to call a $2 bet than a $200 bet. This is because the odds of calling $2 are 26:1, while calling $200 has odds of 1.25:1. This example shows that players exhibit elasticity when choosing to call.
However, ""fish"" players often lack this elasticity. They make decisions based on their absolute hand strength and may not realize the impact of different bet sizes on odds. Skilled players, on the other hand, evaluate their advantage based on relative hand strength. Learning this principle of Texas Hold'em economics can help you dominate low-stakes tables.
Now, onto the main point: How do we use the ""elasticity principle"" to exploit opponents?
In poker, there's no mathematical difference between betting $100 into a $150 pot and betting $20 into a $30 pot. The odds are the same, both bets are 2/3 of the pot. However, if players convert chip amounts into real money, they often feel pressured, affecting their decisions.
Many players, especially in low-stakes live games like 1-2, get intimidated by a $100 bet. They might not react as strongly to bets under $99, showing inelasticity. Yet, when facing bets over $100, they suddenly become more cautious. Learning this principle of Texas Hold'em economics can help you dominate low-stakes tables.
Hence, when facing a fish player and holding a strong hand like top pair on a dry board like T73, where you're likely ahead, don't overthink it. Just go ahead and bet heavily. In low-stakes games, using the elasticity principle to exploit fish players is highly effective." |
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