Trying to Understand Little’s Preflop Calling Range
I recently read Jonathan Little’s Mastering Small Stakes No-Limit Hold’em and noticed that he includes a preflop calling range versus open raises in several spots.
What I’m trying to understand is the rationale behind this from a modern perspective.
A lot of contemporary advice (GTO) I hear is that our options should generally be limited to fold or 3-bet rather than flatting. Yet Little maintains a calling range in his small-stakes strategy from all positions.
My question is:
- Does Little explicitly explain somewhere why he prefers having a calling range?
- Is the reasoning mainly exploitative? If yes, what’s the reasoning?
I’m not asking whether Little is right or wrong. I’m trying to understand where his approach differs from modern solver-based strategies and what assumptions about the player pool justify those differences.
Thanks.
5 Replies
I recently read Jonathan Little’s Mastering Small Stakes No-Limit Hold’em and noticed that he includes a preflop calling range versus open raises in several spots.What I’m trying to understand is the rationale behind this from a modern perspective.A lot of contemporary advice (GTO) I hear is that our options should generally be limited to fold or 3-bet rather than flatting. Yet
Solver produced strategies have a preflop calling range against opening raises. Exactly what your calling range will be depends on the opener's position and your position, and the solver assumes both the opener and caller are playing correctly.
I suspect that Little is just reproducing what the solver says, and that's what everyone else does. The reason the solver has a calling range is that the solver has determined that the call is positive EV and by calling this is where the EV is highest. That is, by raising with these hands, unless it's a mixed strategy, your EV will be lower (and perhaps negative), but by calling your EV is greater than zero (which is what it would be if you folded).
I get completely different result on GTO Wizard. No calling range. Little is saying call always and ‘if you want’ you can add 3-bet with certain hands. I am confused.
“ When you are also in early position facing a range that should be strong, you should play conservatively. Because the initial raiser’s range is quite strong, he will rarely fold to aggression. This means you should usually not have a 3-betting range at all”
I get completely different result on GTO Wizard. No calling range. Little is saying call always and ‘if you want’ you can add 3-bet with certain hands. I am confused.
You may want to contact Little or GTO Wizard directly and ask your question. But having a calling range against the preflop raiser is standard.
I don’t believe is a GTO wizard issue. Looking at Modern Poker Theory by Acevedo confirms that calling is not in the range for let’s say HJ vs LJ open raise.
Even GPT says so:
“ For a standard 100bb cash configuration, HJ facing an LJ open is generally close to 3-bet-or-fold, with a very small or nonexistent cold-call range, especially once normal rake is included. Even in an unraked 100bb cash solution, GTO Wizard describes early-position flats as rare and illustrates HJ versus an LJ 2bb open accordingly.
Rake makes calling even less attractive, shifting marginal hands toward folding or sometimes 3-betting rather than flatting. ”
I don’t believe is a GTO wizard issue. Looking at Modern Poker Theory by Acevedo confirms that calling is not in the range for let’s say HJ vs LJ open raise.Even GPT says so:“ For a standard 100bb cash configuration, HJ facing an LJ open is generally close to 3-bet-or-fold, with a very small or nonexistent cold-call range, especially once normal rake is includ
Now you're being a lot more specific. I just looked at some other stuff which does show a calling range for high-jack versus middle position with no rake where there is a calling range. But almost all the hands where it does call is a mix between calling and reraising.
However, when there is a rake, the calling range just about completely disappears. However, if, for instance, you're playing live and some of your opponents play poorly, their poor play should account for the rake and a calling range might appear again.
