CHAPTER FOURTEEN

MULTI-WAY DYNAMICS

You don’t want to waste a“ lot of time and energy trying

to think about what is the range of all seven players.
You think, Collectively, as a whole, how does my hand
do against all the ranges possible?
“

MASTE RCL ASS

 CHAPTER FOURTEEN

multi-Way Dynamics

SUBCHAPTERS

• BETS BECOME MORE POLARIZED
• PLAYERS ARE MORE HONEST
• INCORPORATE SEMI-BLUFFS INTO
MULTI-WAY POTS
• EXPLOIT OPENINGS TO APPLY
PRESSURE ON OPPONENTS
• CAPITALIZE ON THE OPPORTUNITY
TO BLUFF WHEN IN POSITION
• DON’T SLOW PLAY AS MUCH
• STEER AWAY FROM PUTTING
OPPONENTS ON SPECIFIC RANGES
• FOCUS ON HANDS THAT ARE
EASIER TO PLAY
• EXTRACT EXTRA VALUE AT THE
LOWER STAKES
• VARIANCE IN MULTI-WAY POTS

CHAPTER REVIEW

ulti-way pots are pots that have three or more
M players. They require a different strategy than
heads-up pots, where you only have a single opponent,
because with more players in the hand it is more likely
that at least one player has a strong hand. This means that
bets in multi-way pots are more polarized to strong hands
and (occasionally) worthless hands. The medium-strength
hands will usually be played more passively. The tendency
to see strong hands more frequently in multi-way pots
makes players a lot more honest than you usually see in
heads-up pots. Bets will tend to mean what they are repre-
senting. You can incorporate semi-bluffs into your betting
range in multi-way pots to avoid being so easily read. This
way—with the increased danger of being up against a
strong hand—you are bluffing with plenty of equity and
will often finish with the best hand if you hit your draw.
Even though multi-way situations can be dangerous, you
can still seize opportunities to push stronger hands out
of the pot with a bluff, leaving you to play against the
perceived weakest hand or player. For this to work, your
bluffs need to be viewed as strong value bets more often
and you must be keenly aware of what your opponents’
ranges are. You can take the initiative when you are in
position and nobody bets, because it is unlikely that
anybody has a strong hand. If, for example, you are in a
six-way pot on the button and nobody has bet, then you
can bet knowing that if anybody had a strong hand or a
monster draw, they likely would have bet themselves.
Even if you are called, you can continue aggressively on
the turn and river knowing that your opponents have
weak ranges.
Daniel doesn’t recommend slow playing as a regular part
of your strategy in multi-way pots because you may forfeit
value in a situation where it is more likely somebody
has a strong hand. If you don’t bet and your opponent
doesn’t bite then no money went into the pot and you win
less—and in multi-way situations you’re missing out on
a lot because there’s a higher chance someone has a hand
they can call with. Multi-way pots are also more common
at lower stakes where players are less skilled and likely
to pay you off. If you’re playing low stakes against less
skilled opponents, bluffing is rarely a good idea because
weak players do not generally fold enough. Your focus
should always be toward value betting rather than trying
to make sophisticated plays.
Reading players’ ranges is more difficult in multi-way pots
because as more players enter the pot, the pot odds get
bigger, which offers a better price to ever wider ranges.
Daniel advocates not trying to pinpoint an exact range
in these situations; rather, you should just consider how
your hand is doing overall against other possible hands.

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 CHAPTER FOURTEEN / MULTI-WAY DYNAMICS / DANIEL NEGREANU

You also need to be aware of how ranges change as more
players enter the pot. With more players in the pot, the
value of speculative hands rises because hands such as
and are either extremely weak
or they make a nutted hand. High cards, on the other
hand, go down in value because they mostly make one
pair, which isn’t strong in a multi-way situation. Because
premium hands are often out drawn in multi-way pots,
the variance you will experience is much more extreme
than in heads-up pots. You should always remain objective
when you go through periods of your overpairs getting
cracked on wet boards in multi-way pots, as this is perfectly
normal and unavoidable.

UP YOUR GAME

Watch a skilled player on Twitch.tv and assess how

much they are adjusting their ranges in multi-way pots.
You must play much more conservatively as more players
enter the pot, as the chance that somebody will make a
nutted hands increases dramatically. If you are unsure
about the strength of your hand, err on the side of playing
tight when faced with a multi-way situation.

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