The Scenario

The featured hands this week showcase correct play at a major final table with short stacks when you have a medium stack out of position against the chip leader.

Due to the presence of the short stack players along with the pay jumps at this final table, the big stack can exert ICM pressure on you. ICM Pressure occurs when you are highly incentivized to not bust out before the other players at the table with shorter stacks. Your preflop opening hand ranges should be narrower due to this effect and a good player who is in position against you will exploit you for open raising too frequently.

Postflop, this pressure should dictate extensive passive line adjustments for any medium stacks so as to avoid all-in confrontations versus larger stacks. This often means checking in spots where you might otherwise continuation bet.

With hands that have high equity but are also vulnerable the medium stack should sometimes check-raise all-in rather than taking a check-call line that risks allowing their opponent to catch up.

To see more examples and test your skills, you can play through five solved hands from this exact scenario. To access the five (5) FREE hands, click here.

Regular play on the WPT® GTO Trainer™ will help you adjust your decisions closer and closer to GTO strategy.

You don't have to be the world's best player to use GTO Strategy, and thanks to the WPT GTO Trainer, now you don't have to buy expensive software or have expert level knowledge to study GTO.

Why use the WPT GTO Trainer?

The WPT® GTO Trainer™ lets you play real solved hands against a perfect opponent in a wide variety of post-flop scenarios for cash game and tournament play.

If your goal is to be a tough poker player then you should try the WPT® GTO Trainer™.

Register for your FREE account today (only email address is needed) to play hands and see true GTO Trainer™ strategy in real-time.

The WPT® GTO Trainer™ has over 1 billion unique solved flops, turns and rivers that are fully playable.

As you make decisions in a hand, you receive instant feedback on the specific EV loss (if any) and played percentage for every action you take as compared to GTO Trainer™ strategy.

The full selection of scenarios for the WPT® GTO Trainer™ are only available to members of LearnWPT™, however we're giving ClubWPT™ fans FREE access to the GTO Trainer™ on a regular basis with the WPT® GTO Trainer™ Hands of The Week.

Use this weekly series of articles to practice the strategies you learn on LearnWPT™ (or at the table) and test your progress by playing a five-hand sample each week.

The Scenario

This week we're highlighting a common spot where you 3-bet preflop from the Button vs a Middle Position Open.

Against most opponents you will have a fairly high c-bet frequency in this spot and you can often size down your c-bets to 25% of the pot on static flops.

However, you can use larger c-bet sizing on dynamic boards with a more polarized range that consists of bluffs with blockers and vulnerable but high equity value hands.

Remember that missed draws are often good candidates to round out a bluffing range and provide overall balance to your aggressive lines.

You will often be put to tough decisions with marginal hands, with the correct decision often coming down to understanding the effects of blockers and the specific suits you hold.

To see more examples and test your skills, you can play through five solved hands from this exact scenario. To access the five (5) FREE hands, click here.

Regular play on the WPT® GTO Trainer™ will help you adjust your decisions closer and closer to GTO strategy.

You don’t have to be the world’s best player to use GTO Strategy, and thanks to the WPT GTO Trainer, now you don’t have to buy expensive software or have expert level knowledge to study GTO.

Why use the WPT GTO Trainer?

The WPT® GTO Trainer™ lets you play real solved hands against a perfect opponent in a wide variety of post-flop scenarios for cash game and tournament play.

If your goal is to be a tough poker player then you should try the WPT® GTO Trainer™.

Register for your FREE account today (only email address is needed) to play hands and see true GTO Trainer™ strategy in real-time.

The WPT® GTO Trainer™ has over 1 billion unique solved flops, turns and rivers that are fully playable.

As you make decisions in a hand, you receive instant feedback on the specific EV loss (if any) and played percentage for every action you take as compared to GTO Trainer™ strategy.

The full selection of scenarios for the WPT® GTO Trainer™ are only available to members of LearnWPT™, however we’re giving ClubWPT™ fans FREE access to the GTO Trainer™ on a regular basis with the WPT® GTO Trainer™ Hands of The Week.

Use this weekly series of articles to practice the strategies you learn on LearnWPT™ (or at the table) and test your progress by playing a five-hand sample each week.