How To Extract MAX VALUE Against RECREATIONALS [WSOP Main Event]

“This is one of the most important spots in No Limit Hold’em” - Matt Affleck
Playing in the World Series Of Poker Main Event you will find a huge mix of poker players ranging from top poker professionals to complete recreational players.
In this hand PokerCoaching coach Matt Affleck talks about why he does not bet on low flops when multiway as the UTG player. He also explains why choosing a small bet size is a good poker strategy to deny equity from overcards for a hand that might be vulnerable.
Many players happen to make big mistakes during the WSOP Main Event as they can become overwhelmed with playing in the biggest poker tournament of their lives.
We also discuss a lot about the ranges of hands that players should have in particular positions at the poker table and how that should affect your postflop strategy.
Lots of players will over-value the strength of overpairs in multiway pots and subsequently find themselves either winning a small pot or losing a very large pot.

[@PokerCoaching]

What would YOU do with J♠ J♦ on the river? Your Stack (LJ): 93,400 Their Stack (BTN): 68,400 Pot: 16,900 Board: 6♥ 3♣ 2♠ A♠ 9♦ A) Check/Call B) Check/Fold C) Bet 5000 (small) D) Bet 15000 (big)

[@jack42011]

after initially answering to myself check/call to any bet, you began the discussion and I immediately knew that a small bet would be best. Now off to see if I can keep that in mind under pressure. Thanks Jonathan, Ben!

[@danfromham]

Would have bet small, even though I would have not been able to articulate the reason behind it so well :)

[@Tiggermk4]

Nice, a really clear and insightful analysis , explained well. Thanks guys.

[@thebarrybarry]

Matt is the best love all his stuff on pc . Really connects with my way of thinking . I’ve improved so much in 2weeks that I’ve been a member believe it or not !

[@jack42011]

I believe it because I saw it in myself also. Enjoy!

[@eman2517]

What's the name of the website?

[@marksimpson2321]

Very interesting concepts here! Ty , Matt and JL. Brilliant use of 13min :)

[@JamesAbramsPianoPoker]

Haha those card graphics when he started listing off the range had me 🤣 🤣 🤣

[@shannanweeks1076]

Great format! I probably would have check called, but I'll rethink that in the future.

[@ninjakiwi1013]

Matt is so good at making complex strategy easier to understand A +

[@TheSodakboy93]

Against a loose passive player I'd honestly go half-pot, mostly because I think if a player is calling 1/3 pot they'll almost certainly call 1/2 pot. I think if you bigger than 1/2 pot, you probably start getting the 6x-77-88-9x-TT in our opponent's range to fold. From a theoretical standpoint I think 1/3 pot is probably right, but I might size up against the player as described.

[@mplovecraft]

I like the small bet. You have to take into consideration that a lot of the time we don't have the best hand here, and when you increase the bet size you (potentially) lose some of the weaker calls. If you know the player well and think you can squeeze out 1/2 pot, go for it, but I really like the smaller bet here.

[@bluedonkey180]

Bet a little more because you def have the best hand but he may think you’re bluffing and calm with a boarded pair

[@jack42011]

Really good one Jonathan and Ben. good analyzation of what we are getting called with and what the opponent has. Spot comes up quite often in my nightly illegal onlines here in Israel. You would be amazed at how the fish play here... Shocking, but this helps tons in how to think about the spot... most important skill in poker if ya ask me.

[@colintimp1372]

Another thing is that with JJ, you double block a lot of hands the button would be calling (but not 3-betting) with here; like AJ, KJ, QJ, J10, J9 type hands. This helps lessen his outs and makes it safer to check this flop. The button's most likely holdings are 2's-10's, KQ, K10, Q10 and suited Ax. If heads up, a protection bet makes sense; but there's 2 other players that may be ahead and also may share over cards with the button. This is a situation where you're most likely way ahead of way behind the button player; so checking makes perfect sense. Since he checked back the turn; most likely he has something like 77 or 88, or 44 or 55. I think this was perfectly played!

[@andreaswagner1338]

Watching this, it is very obvious that a small bet is by far the superior play on the river - I am just wondering whether I would do it in game.

[@Raw_Dawgs6409]

I never can keep up. It's my biggest weakness. I can do as many poker quizzes as I want, at the table, I'm doing the first thing that comes to my mind.

[@mplovecraft]

@@Raw_Dawgs6409 Slow down. Force yourself to think through the hand. Write down steps to go though if it helps.

[@Deeaannoo]

Pot control. Still day 1 No need to go Ham on the first day with no NUT. By betting 5000 you keep the pot small so if he raises and you believe he’s bluff it’s an easy call. If he raises you and you have him as a tight good player. You can fold without maximizing loses.

[@marksimpson2321]

I'm not sure what's best. Maybe a small bet and fold to almost any or any raise because we lose to an Ace , beat a 9 beat TT . A big bet folds out the hands we may get called by if we bet small. Checking is perhaps too passive. Shouldnt an ok player check weak AXs (Axc , Axh) that had backdoor draws on the flop though?

[@scottzeigen1729]

I see two reasons the button checked on the turn to our check. He was afraid of the A and the flush draw being added to the mix. If he had an A he would have bet and if he needed spades to win he wanted to see the river.

[@lewisriddle5859]

Check call up to half pot. Fold 2/3 or more

[@glenterris3980]

Looking to check call, we want to see an appropriated bet size from V, anything too big allows us to start folding some of our showdown range. V should be checking back here a lot too, so when V bets it's a mix of air, 2nd best hands that value own themselves, like TT for example all of which we can beat and V will also have some better hands mostly that got there on the turn or river but still has all the flop sets, river set and aces up for value. Out of the 3 reasons why V may bet the river, we beat two out of three river lines. So we should be looking to showdown this hand when the price is fair.

[@nomilknosugar4900]

There are clearly two options: bet small for value hoping to get called by 77, 88 or TT. Alternatively, we can bluff catch (check call). I think we are much more likely to get paid through bluff catching than thin value betting, so I check call.

[@RobUnwraps]

You have, basically, no nuts. 😂 1:53

[@grantchristopher170]

Given the passive characteristic, I think you check/call a small bet, but check/fold to anything sizable. If he bets again, it's going to be with two pair or better.

[@filmg33333k]

I don't understand why can't we have Ax here? AQ AJ A10 surely all in our range?

[@zachwolfe3222]

Let's check/call this one. My thought process is that we have some showdown value with our hand. The straights probably missed and the flushes missed. We beat a lot of their bluffs at this point. I am not sure if betting here is the right choice. We would hate to get check/raised off our equity and have to fold. If we were to bet it would be the $5K option although I was thinking a roughly 60% bet size. Would that be the wrong size here? I am going to take the Tournament Masterclass and am not aware of the correct bet size. I imagine this 9 doesn't really change the equities in the hand. Although I am wrong often but I always learn from my mistakes. Thank you both!

[@jeffg6900]

Great advice

[@kineahora8736]

Ok loose passive fish. Bet big on 632 flop. But checked the Ace turn. Im thinking he has a lot of 6s and a lot of small overpairs like 77-99. I think other than 99 they are going to check back, so I will want to get value with a small bet like 5000. Will fold to a raise. C. Bet 5000

[@branleyhd]

I’m all in

[@shivasirons6159]

10:00 im new to poker and confused, how can your hand be " worth no chips at all" as a bluffcatcher?

[@PokerCoaching]

Bluff catchers are good!

[@FCarraro1]

It means that, considering that your villain's betting range on the river is perfectly balanced, your bluff catcher is indifferent to calling or folding, which means that calling is a 0EV play. That being said, if your opponent is bluff heavy (which a loose passive fish is generally not) then maybe checking the underpair might be +ev. At least I think, correct me if I am wrong.

[@qwertz12345654321]

I would never bet big here and 5k is already to much for this hand. I would consider beting 3k or less but given the options mostly check looking to call small-medium bets.

[@bbtb05]

I would check mostly looking to check call. The opponents range is mostly pretty polar, sets and straights that decided to slow down because they are afraid the turn card would scare us too much, or just absolute nothing burgers that can't call anything. If we bet we are targeting the small range of marginal made hands, that we beat such as 88 or 67 but those hands may not call a bet if we bet anyway. Edit: Is Matt's solution because this is a "loose passive fish" or are we pure leading this river for value because of the bluff catching = $0 EV concept?

[@johngillies7308]

I check. If I bet, it folds out all the hands I beat. If I bet and get raised, now I have a problem. Their raising range is all the aces, all pocket pairs, and 5-4 suited. My instinct is they flopped the nuts. I am going to fold to any raise. My only hope of winning this hand is if they are so passive that they check on a missed draw or the have tt, 99,88, 77, 55, or 44. The only missed drawing hand they could have is 5-7 suited. I see this as a loser. I will preserve my stack and live to fight another day.

[@boesbensen4397]

Awesome ! Thx !

[@baileydwyer453]

I'd definitely check call

[@AyCaramba1311]

Is catching a fish stacking a fish or winning a hand against a fish?

[@vonMorgen888]

The Mix ist the answer

[@jamesstaggs4160]

I'm having a tough time putting him on a hand. I don't know what hands he'd fold except for worse hamds. Queens and Kings won't fold, small possibility he's got tens or something like 6 7 suited. I check and call anything but a push.

[@sllgrecco]

9:10 "We don't really unblock that many bluffs". My foreign brain got tilted with this phrase. In plain english, does Matt think that we block or don't block many bluffs?

[@channelfortheeveryman3139]

You had me at, ”you have basically no nuts.”

[@denniskrook2925]

bet small (and fold to raise)or check call

[@timleclerc12]

I love the idea that you can’t win money if you check the river but you can win money by betting it

[@jeremyhu6173]

I’m having some trouble understanding this idea, even if you turn your hand into a bluff catcher, why does that reduce its value to 0? You can still get paid off by calling bluffs on the river?

[@ronnie8384]

@@jeremyhu6173 2nd this comment

[@tiagomota4734]

Why do we check jacks here when they checked to us again!? Their reasons dont make any sense lol, im looking funny at the phone and im scratching my head...they can call with soooo many hands that we crush completly...8s 9s 7s, a5 a4 a2 a3 a6...i dont care abkut the turn, im talking flop now! I never check there no matter what lol

[@steveb2616]

@@jeremyhu6173 I’ll give it a shot. Maybe I’m wrong but perhaps it’s due to the opponent being loose and passive? If we check he likely won’t bluff. He would bet with anything that beats us. Maybe he bets with marginal hands that we beat but he is more likely to check behind. By betting here we can get calls from those hands. He may also call with better hands but this is essentially the same as us check calling. If he raises we fold.

[@jeremyhu6173]

@@steveb2616 Very good point, thanks. I forgot to consider the player type. I guess maybe what he meant was that he's probably not bluffing there on the river and so it is worth "0 chips" to hope for a bluff

[@TheBlueDude71]

I think I would check call a bet 8k or less and check fold anything thats much bigger.

[@TheBlueDude71]

That's a nice lesson. I like how I learn a small, but valuable idea on each of these videos.

[@OrKkTeKk]

Bet small, Still a bit worried about that Ace, but large enough that he would throw it away if had nothing...

[@smiley4185]

I disagree that check calling isn't the best option, let the bluff decide the size and they're usually big, value bets would be smaller, nuts would be also smaller to extract value from exactly his holding. Important question, would he lead out small against a player like Addamo? Re pop , and JJ go into the muck

[@williammickle9947]

Flush and straight miss. We are beat by many pairs. Worth a bet. Quarter pot?

[@williammickle9947]

I stopped the video for at least 2 minutes to think it through however

[@FranciscoLetsGo]

👍🏼

[@soulreed]

Shove, cause Jiggitys always win

[@John-uw4hz]

TBH I would check/call and fold to an all in.

[@agentlesoul1975]

What were his cards?

[@impracticallyperfect8987]

Clear bet on the river. He's betting all of his sets on the turn and raising his better pocket pairs preflop. We're losing to 3 combos of pocket nines. Edit: assuming the passive label is correct, I think he's only betting made hands on the flop.

[@chrisko6439]

No, Matt can't have A3 or A6 suited, because he is obviously not calling with those hands in the LJ against an UTG raise.

[@danielk810]

Check/call out of position

[@bluedonkey180]

Bet 35k 7:45 The reason is he checked back meaning he has low pair or miss at most, jacks is almost definitely the best hand. Bet 35k for value

[@christopherhorn4744]

I don’t want bet here and get blown off the hand. I think I’m probably good here, so I would check hoping he will bet. I would call a reasonable bet by him.

[@smokezaza]

Check call

[@qgodp_l]

This is for anyone in the chat and based on what I've seen in the comments most of guys are proficient players... when the turn comes an ace and Matt says he never has an ace in this spot what does he mean by that?

[@andyb2977]

He means all the hands that contain an ace he would have folded, either pre-flop or on the flop. He would have folded weak aces to a UTG raise pre. He would have folded strong aces on the flop when V made a pot-sized bet into three other players. And he does not have AA, because he would have 3-bet pre.

[@tippychips574]

Betting the river with the intention of folding to a raise if it comes

[@Keil253]

check/call

[@culleyevetts3799]

you bet he fold, you bet he raises or calls you fold you check / he checks or you check he raises, you can't call, so the best thing to do is bet

[@cbdgallery]

Matt, no KZbin channel?

[@hymnofashes]

I would bet big. He doesn't have an ace. But he may not believe we have an ace either.

[@horn2102]

Bet folding for 1/3rd pot on river

[@BadHomburgWarrior]

Best small 5000

[@apocalypsepromotions7676]

Yay!

[@ChildOfAsura]

WHAT WAS THE FISH'S CAAAAARDS?!?!? 7s? 8s? A2o? A6o? 😭

[@hymnofashes]

The worst possible thing would be to bet small, leveling yourself into thinking you've induced him, then pay him off for a rivered set.

[@jeffg6900]

I'm check calling a reasonable bet

[@ronaldsmith531]

Check. Fold.

[@litonotnice8676]

I’d bet 4k or 5k on the river

[@jaythrashhvac3571]

Yeh yeh yeah…. 🤣🤘🏾

[@russellmeyer5854]

pot size bet

[@russellmeyer5854]

thats why i sux at hold em

[@rickpietrolungo99]

Bet 1/2 pot

[@NathanSpiwak]

I think I'd check call on the river. Hoping the person bluffs.

[@cameronandrew1853]

I’d put out a small blocker bet and fold to a raise

[@bobybull]

In similar situations I always put a small bet on the river like 4-5k The opponent always calls with A/sh.it like A4 A5 A7 A8 😀 True story

[@tyroner.6432]

Bet 15000

[@tyroner.6432]

Rep the ace. 7s, 8s, 10s call.

[@mikebelnap3079]

2 of the biggest fish affleck and little out there

[@davidgentile4576]

Lmao

[@tomasdirocco]

i would Bet small and fold to a raise

[@nattywit2208]

pot sized bet on the river.

[@TimeToPlay2023]

Check, call the river

[@GetMeThere1]

This is where I begin to question all the "experts" and trainers. Virtually ALL the experts will say that JJ is a "premium" hand -- based on the OBJECTIVE fact that it wins significantly vs all other hands, when they board is dealt out. But here we're hearing that it's mostly crap. I see this is other situations -- where "expert" pronouncements are sometimes NOT completely coherent across all their advice. Since poker is SUCH a complex game, it's easy to see the difficulty of being truly coherent and integrated. The proof is easy: what the "experts" recommend has varied HUGELY over the years. It's a mistake to think "yeah, but now we really have it figured out." All that is why I think EXPLOITIVE logic and play is still a (the) key part of the game. You will make the most money by playing against poor players (those with NO coherence and integrity of their play logic), and exploiting their weaknesses.

[@cbdgallery]

I figured 5K

[@cactuscapper5567]

Bet small on the river

[@tmclbnk]

Bet $5,000

[@malcolmwasher2308]

This opp will never have an ace whattttt????.....

[@theduppykillah]

JJ are truly cursed just saying

[@alkz3701]

Check call