Why AA and A5s take the same line

Look at a 3-bet chart and you will find AA next to A5s, with AJo missing in between.

That is deliberate. Raising a middling hand folds out what you beat and keeps in what beats you.

A5s is different: folding them out is a win, and it removes one of their AA and AK combinations. Little is lost when it folds.

So raises sit at the two ends and middling hands just call. This shape is called polarised.

• polarised range

  Raising only with strong hands and with bluffs, while hands in between just call. A middling hand gains little by raising: worse hands fold and better hands continue.

• bluff candidate

  A hand suited to bluffing: little is lost when it folds out, and it removes some of the opponent’s strongest holdings.

• blocker

  A card in your hand that your opponent therefore cannot hold, which removes some of their strongest combinations.

20 hands or more, with an optimal rate of 60%