Holdem Resources Calculator is a powerful tool to calculate GTO strategies for preflop in No Limit Holdem.
In the beginning this software was only able to run sims for open shoves and open raises/calling ranges.
Nowadays, this powerful software has the same capabilities as any other preflop solver, with some upsides.
This Holdem Resources Calculator Review will have a different taste, as I will use an example to demonstrate how you can use this software to improve your game.
Holdem Resources Calculator example – BTN vs BB 3bet:
In this image you can see the open raises percentages that HRC calculated for a 100bbs cashgame with a NL500 rake.
Lets look into the BTN, for this example, it opens for 2.5x with 42.6% top range and forces the SB to 3bet 14.2% with no calls. The BB is calling 31% and 3betting 13%. If you are an experienced player, this looks very standard. If you are not, you can check for free gtowizard´s ranges here!
Looking into more detail to the BB response to this 2.5x OR, you can see that the solver is 3betting a lot of “garbage” hands like A5o, K9o, etc… This is something that you rarely see ingame.
Most of the players, nowadays, 3bet less than 11%, and do it with a more “linear” range. This means that they will remove some of the weaker hands and add some hands that play better post flop, like suited Aces and KQo. So, how do you play when you face a 3bet from a player like this? It’s simple, you can simulate in Holdem Resources Calculator and find out how the solver would play.
In the image bellow I have changed the 3bet frequency to 8.5%, and moved the 3betters range into something more linear. This is the sim on the left. On the right, you can also see the call, and 4bet in the first environment, against the GTO range.
After running the sim this is what we came up with:
The power of using a preflop solver:
As you can see, the BTN now reacts extremely tight against the BB 3bet. This makes a lot of sense, since the BB is 3betting less and stronger hands. I would not suggest you to fold this much to the 3bet, but it is for sure a starting point for you to understand that calling the bottoms of the GTO Range is probably costing you a lot of money.
You can do this for a lot of spots, and have a better adaptative capability against different opponents and players pools. But, you can’t if you don’t run your sims.
Why should I fold more but not this much?
- Your opponents will play worst than the solver post flop, specially when OOP (out of position). This will allow you to win the pot more times than you should.
- You will be exploitable for folding too much, preflop leaks are easy to spot… I can add that maybe someone 3betting only 8.5% is not adaptative, but it’s up to you.
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Are there any good alternatives?
At PokerStudySoftware we like to take a look into a few softwares for the same task, so we can see how does the market is solving the problems it is facing. We didn’t finish our review for any other preflop solver in this site, but you can take a look into our Simple Preflop Holdem review here!
And of course, if you only want to see premade GTO Charts you can see our GTOWizard Review here!
