10 RULES OF

EQUITY
REALIZATION
 RULE 1
As hands are stronger they will tend to realize or even
over-realize raw equity.
Example: A R AW
=
A

AA, AKs EQUITY

OVER
in any situation. REALIZED

RULE 2
As hands are weaker they will tend to under-realize their equity.
Example:
K7o, T6s, 22
A
2 R AW
=
2
EQUITY
after flatting from UNDER
the Big Blind. BB REALIZED

RULE 3
As weaker hands compete with stronger ranges they
will tend to under-realize raw equity.
Example: Q
 Jo after raising from the LoJack
and being called by the HiJack.

Q J X X
R AW
XX = EQUITY
UNDER
LJ HJ REALIZED

RAISES CALLS

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 RULE 4
The player in position will tend to realize more equity.

RULE 5
The player out of position will tend to realize less equity.

RULE 6
Suited hands will
Q
tend to realize equity K
MORE
profoundly better
than their offsuit
X = EQUITY
counterparts.

RULE 7
Hands that cannot 8
A
LESS
make straights using
both cards will tend X = EQUITY
to under-realize.

RULE 8
Hands that can make Q
K
MORE
straights using both
cards will tend to X = EQUITY
over-realize.

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 RULE 9

SPR 9 8
LESS
DECREASE = X EQUITY
>
As the stack-to-pot ratio decreases the value
of suited connectors decreases.

RULE 10

SPR 9 8
MORE
INCREASE = X EQUITY
<
As the stack-to-pot ratio increases, the value
of suited connectors increases.

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 Here is a matrix that in a very GENERAL sense colorizes and ranks
how certain groups of hands will realize equity.

AA AKs AQs AJs ATs A9s A8s A7s A6s A5s A4s A3s A2s

AKo KK KQs KJs KTs K9s K8s K7s K6s K5s K4s K3s K2s

AQo KQo QQ QJs QTs Q9s Q8s Q7s Q6s Q5s Q4s Q3s Q2s

AJo KJo QJo JJ JTs J9s J8s J7s J6s J5s J4s J3s J2s

ATo KTo QTo JTo TT T9s T8s T7s T6s T5s T4s T3s T2s

A9o K9o Q9o J9o T9o 99 98s 97s 96s 95s 94s 93s 92s

A8o K8o Q8o J8o T8o 98o 88 87s 86s 85s 84s 83s 82s

A7o K7o Q7o J7o T7o 97o 87o 77 76s 75s 74s 73s 72s

A6o K6o Q6o J6o T6o 96o 86o 76o 66 65s 64s 63s 62s

A5o K5o Q5o J5o T5o 95o 85o 75o 65o 55 54s 53s 52s

A4o K4o Q4o J4o T4o 94o 84o 74o 64o 54o 44 43s 42s

A3o K3o Q3o J3o T3o 93o 83o 73o 63o 53o 43o 33 32s

A2o K2o Q2o J2o T2o 92o 82o 72o 62o 52o 42o 32o 22

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Groups 1-4 will tend to 5 6-9

OVER REALIZE RETAIN UNDER REALIZE

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This is NOT situation specific, which is a big part of the rules.
Some hands realize less equity if they are towards the bottom of
a tight range (for instance if you call a 3-bet with KTo there is a
good chance it underrealizes).
The above list of rules is really more of a formula.
If a hand is very strong, but out of position, it will realize less
equity than if it were in position.
If a hand is suited but not connected it will not realize equity as
well as a hand that’s both suited and connected.
If a hand like 76 s which typically performs quite well, is out
of position vs a tight range with a short stack-to-pot ratio, all of
these factors will mitigate most of the advantage this hand this
otherwise has. Namely, hands like this usually:
• Functions well as bluffs when much of your range improve
• Are easy to know when to continue because you flop a pair
plus draw, a strong draw, 2 pair, trips, etc
• Are easy to know when you are beat
(when the flop comes Axx, KJx, TT2, etc).
This is really the beauty of the game.
It’s considering all of these little factors
that add up to make the right decision,
weighing them against each other
and trying to find the signal
(answer) where there is noise
(variables that do not matter).

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