In the past, if a poker player told you âIâm going to jump in the poolâ, it often meant they were off for a quick five-minute swim on break from a SCOOP event.
Not any more. Now the pool in question is a revolving cast of poker players grinding in PokerStars Zoom cash games, a fast-paced cash format where your opponents change every hand.
But why would you want to play Zoom over regular cash games?
Thatâs one thing PokerStars School looks at in this update.
THIS WEEK:
- 6 reasons to play Zoom over regular cash games
- How to play 3-bet pots as the caller
- âNow or neverâ folding
- More from PokerStars School
6 reasons to play Zoom over regular cash games
Everyone has their favourite format of cash games, but for PokerStars Schoolâs Pete Clarke, thereâs no contest.
âIn Zoom cash games, you do not choose your own seat with a permanent selection of opponents, instead you join a pool where you are randomly dealt into a hand with five other players,â says Clarke. âEach time you fold, you are instantly placed on a new table. Here are some reasons why I personally love Zoom cash games and would choose them all day long over regular cash tables.â
Read Clarkeâs 6 reasons to play Zoom over regular cash games here.
How to play 3-bet pots as the caller
The tougher the line-up youâre playing against, the more three-betting youâll see. Lex Veldhuis often says that in High Rollers every single hand is at least a three-bet pot.
âThree-bet pots often seem a lot trickier than two-bet pots since they are rarer and therefore less familiar,â writes Clarke in this article. âOn top of this, it can also be more difficult to think clearly in three-bet pots due to there being more money at stake.
âLetâs explore how to handle these situations in the role of the defender.â
Find out how to play 3-bet pots as the caller here.
âNow or neverâ folding
When you watch your favourite Twitch poker streamers, youâll notice they often make plans for certain hands, making their intentions known on early streets. This might be to check-raise flop and keep barreling turn and river, or to go into check-call mode on all three streets.
In this article, Clarke takes a look at ânow or never foldingâ, formed from a game theory concept called gradual range filtering.
âThis means that as each street goes by and as more money goes into the pot, ranges slowly become narrower, or more filtered,â Clarke explains. âEntailed within the gradual range narrowing of game theory is the idea that for some hands, the correct action will be to fold immediately to aggression. For others, it will be to call once and then fold. For a third group, the right action might be to call the flop and turn and then eventually fold the river if need be. For a fourth group, calling down might be the only option.â
Clarke explores two exploitative situations where he can choose right away whether to call none or all remaining streets or to make a ânow or neverâ fold.
Learn about âNow or neverâ folding here.
More from PokerStars School:
- 8 tips that might help you survive a bad run in poker
- 4 tips that might help with tournament survival when card-dead
- When should you play poker passively?
- When to ignore poker theory
- How to satellite into high stakes tournaments
- 4 tips that may help you be more proactive in poker tournaments
- How to exploit overly aggressive players
- Top 3 misused poker phrases
- How to rewire your brain for poker
- How to play low boards in 3-bet pots
- When to set the trap in cash games
- 10 poker strategy ideas all beginners should know
- When to pull the trigger on big bluffs
- Four Beginner Tournament Mistakes to Avoid
- 4 bad reasons for playing a poker session
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