Charley Swayne is a professional teacher and seminar instructor at some of Foreword by the top universities in the world. As a lifelong learner, he has combined his Daniel Negreanu education and lessons of mathematics, statistics, total quality management, industrial engineering, operations research, entrepreneurship, finance, eco- nomics, investments, marketing, leadership, strategy and even ethics, to construct a full blown course on Texas Hold’em. He teaches poker with Daniel Negreanu on pokervt.com and has, with Daniel, created the N-SPAT (the Negreanu-Swayne Poker Aptitude Test). He has created a course at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, “Strategic Thinking Using Game CHARLEY Theory” (Game Theory means poker). Charley is also a frequent speaker SWAYNE at the World Series of Poker camps. This book contains the results of years of study and application of the psychological and mathematical aspects Swayne’s of Texas Hold’em. Much of what is presented has never been published before. More of a university textbook than the traditional poker book, it is the most comprehensive book on the market for the serious poker player or for one who wants to become world class. This book was created with significant contributions from Joe, Brian, and Chuck Swayne. Swayne’s ADVANCED DEGREE “Charley Swayne has created a book that is great for limit and no-limit players which balances the mathe- matical and psychological aspects of a winning hold’em strategy. It includes exceptional original research ADVANCED DEGREE on the combining effects of playing style and drawing hands on win rates. Highly recommended.” —Howard Schwartz, Gambler’s Book Shop, Las Vegas “The graphs and charts make some difficult concepts easy to comprehend.” in —Paul Wasicka, second-place finisher in the 2006 World Series of Poker, Main Event ($6.1 million) Hold’em “Charley’s book will give you the confidence to believe you are the best.” —Sam Chauhan, author of the bestselling book Mind’s Power Unleashed “Swayne’s book is a comprehensive, easy-to-read summary of the state of the art of the game. He is a born teacher, and his students will have a leg up next time they sit at the table.” —James McManus, author of Positively Fifth Street, and fifth-place finisher in the 2000 Main Event in Hold’em ECW Press • $29.95 ecwpress.com ISBN: 978-1-55022-866-3 5 2 9 9 5 CHARLEY Annie Duke and Charley Swayne 9 781550 228663 ECW SWAYNE Charley Swayne is a professional teacher and seminar instructor at some of Foreword by the top universities in the world. As a lifelong learner, he has combined his Daniel Negreanu education and lessons of mathematics, statistics, total quality management, industrial engineering, operations research, entrepreneurship, finance, eco- nomics, investments, marketing, leadership, strategy and even ethics, to construct a full blown course on Texas Hold’em. He teaches poker with Daniel Negreanu on pokervt.com and has, with Daniel, created the N-SPAT (the Negreanu-Swayne Poker Aptitude Test). He has created a course at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, “Strategic Thinking Using Game CHARLEY Theory” (Game Theory means poker). Charley is also a frequent speaker SWAYNE at the World Series of Poker camps. This book contains the results of years of study and application of the psychological and mathematical aspects Swayne’s of Texas Hold’em. Much of what is presented has never been published before. More of a university textbook than the traditional poker book, it is the most comprehensive book on the market for the serious poker player or for one who wants to become world class. This book was created with significant contributions from Joe, Brian, and Chuck Swayne. Swayne’s ADVANCED DEGREE “Charley Swayne has created a book that is great for limit and no-limit players which balances the mathe- matical and psychological aspects of a winning hold’em strategy. It includes exceptional original research ADVANCED DEGREE on the combining effects of playing style and drawing hands on win rates. Highly recommended.” —Howard Schwartz, Gambler’s Book Shop, Las Vegas “The graphs and charts make some difficult concepts easy to comprehend.” in —Paul Wasicka, second-place finisher in the 2006 World Series of Poker, Main Event ($6.1 million) Hold’em “Charley’s book will give you the confidence to believe you are the best.” —Sam Chauhan, author of the bestselling book Mind’s Power Unleashed “Swayne’s book is a comprehensive, easy-to-read summary of the state of the art of the game. He is a born teacher, and his students will have a leg up next time they sit at the table.” —James McManus, author of Positively Fifth Street, and fifth-place finisher in the 2000 Main Event in Hold’em ECW Press • $29.95 ecwpress.com ISBN: 978-1-55022-866-3 5 2 9 9 5 CHARLEY Annie Duke and Charley Swayne 9 781550 228663 ECW SWAYNE Copyright © Charley Swayne, 2009, as President of Advanced Degree Poker, LLC Published by ECW Press, 2120 Queen Street East, Suite 200, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4E 1E2 416.694.3348 / [email protected] All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any process — electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise — without the prior written permission of the copyright owners and ECW Press. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Swayne, Charles B Swayne’s advanced degree in hold ’em / Charley Swayne. ISBN-13: 978-1-55022-866-3 ISBN-10: 1-55022-866-6 1. Poker. I. Title. II. Title: Advanced degree in hold ’em. GV1251.S93 2009 795.412 C2008-907550-1 Cover and Text Design: Tania Craan Typesetting: Florence Aliesch Printing: Transcontinental 1 2 3 4 5 Printed and Bound in Canada Carol has never seen one hand of poker, not even on television. When I proudly showed her my WSOP Academy instructor website she asked, “What’s a wooosop?” No man has ever had a more wonderful wife than Carol, or better sons than Joe, Brian, and Chuck. CONTENTS Foreword by Daniel Negreanu vii 1 Introduction 1 2 The Swayne PATL Matrix 13 3 Reading Opponents and Their Hands 26 Part I – General hand strength 27 Part II – Physical changes 31 Part III – Postflop hands 36 4 Deception 44 5 Boardology 49 6 Playing the Blinds 61 Test 1 66 7 The Numbers Chapter 72 Part I – Probability and hand frequency 72 Part II – The Swayne hand pyramid 74 Part III – Odds, probability, pot odds, and Expected Value 77 Part IV – Preflop 88 8 Relative Strength 106 Test 2 120 9 Which Hands to Play 131 Part I – The Advanced PATL Matrix 133 Part II – Win Factors 138 Part III – Win Factor adjustments for position 183 Part IV – Win Factor adjustments for passive/aggressive 187 Part V – Hands you may consider playing 197 Part VI – Horse adjustments 212 Part VII – Pot size 216 Test 3 228 10 Betting 238 11 No Limit 274 Final Exam 344 12 Ultimate Texas Hold’em 351 13 Preface/Postface/Conclusion 364 Bibliography 379 Acknowledgments 381 Author/Seminars 382 Appendices Appendix A – Endnotes 383 Appendix B – Boardology 394 Appendix C – Winning Probabilities for Specific Hands and Flops 395 Appendix D – Hobby, Profession or More! 411 Appendix E – Test and Final Exam Answers 413 Glossary 415 Foreword You know they say that poker is a game that takes five minutes to learn but a lifetime to master. It may take a little more than five minutes to learn, but it does indeed take a lifetime to master. When I first started playing Hold’em, books and training devices were few and far between. We are straight up spoiled today! There is an abundance of poker training tools out there that claim to make you a better all-round player; however only a few give you a serious return on your investment. As you may know, I’m constantly trying to learn more about the game and add more weapons to my poker arsenal. Most of the stuff I read is commonplace and a dime-a-dozen. However, Swayne’s Advanced Degree in Hold’em really grabbed my attention through several cutting edge concepts. The PATL (Passive Aggressive Tight Loose) and Advanced PATL matrices, Swayne’s Win Factors and Relative Strength Evaluations (just to name a few) are a direct result of Charley’s extensive academic background and thorough understanding of the game. Charley’s innovative concepts not only will give you the opportunity to become a great poker player, they will allow you to play with unmatched confidence. I was so impressed with his school of thought that I asked him to join my Poker VT team at the very start. It turned out to be Foreword Vii quite the good decision. Not only does Charley have an in-depth, easy-to-use mathematical strategy, he and I developed the ever- so-challenging N-SPAT (The Negreanu-Swayne Poker Aptitude Test) seen on Poker VT. So why would I back Charley’s book? The answer is quite simple. Swayne’s Advanced Degree is like nothing I have ever seen before and offers readers of all experience levels, even the weak little fish, the tools necessary to become a better Hold’em player. Contrary to what you may believe, I’m all for feeding the fish knowledge. After all, it’s better for the competitive nature of the game I love. Daniel Negreanu April 2009 Viii SwaYne’S ADVanced Degree in Hold’em CHAPTER 1 Introduction Just what you wanted to see when you opened the book. A disclaimer.