Questions about betting impetus

[pergesu]

I was reading some archived posts, and read one of by Irie on the concept of betting impetus. Looked interesting, so I did a search and read a bunch more posts, but I still didn't really get an explanation.

Irie kept saying that impetus is crucial in determining how to play out a hand. A key point, he mentioned, is that you don't need to seize impetus in order to play a hand strongly. Sometimes you'll have impetus and want to surrender it. Other times your opponent will have impetus and you'll want to seize it. Yet other times he'll have impetus and you'll opt to let him maintain it.

The biggest thing that I'm missing to this point is why? Why do I want to seize impetus? Why do I want to surrender it? What situations do I need to look for, and what do I need to consider to use impetus as a weapon of my own?

He made a couple posts about this, and has mentioned it as a key skill that some of his backees have acquired. Seems to be pretty important and effective then, so I'd like to have a better understanding.

[Freudian]

A few of my thoughts regarding this:

Why do I want to seize impetus? Because you have to for the hand to play the way you want it. Ie, he will check if you check to him or he will push the river unless you throw out a blocking bet and you don't want to call a push.

Why do I want to surrender it? Because you suspect the other guy will fold if you bet but bet if you check. Also it is a good way to disguise the strength of your hand until later streets.

What situations do I need to look for, and what do I need to consider to use impetus as a weapon of my own? I think it has more to do with the type of opponent you are up against than the type of situation you are in. But of course what kind of hand you have and how the board looks will have an impact.

I think the whole point of trying to manipulate betting impetus is that you will vary your game more. It will be much harder for your opponent to interpret your actions if you read your opponents correctly. And hopefully it will make the pots you win larger since you can make your opponent bet/call where they otherwise wouldn't.

[pergesu]

Thanks for the thoughts on this.

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I think the whole point of trying to manipulate betting impetus is that you will vary your game more. It will be much harder for your opponent to interpret your actions if you read your opponents correctly.

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I can't imagine that's the key component of this though, if it is in fact very important. Most people agree that there's little or no reason to vary your play at the lower limits, and the majority of opponents aren't trying too hard to interpret your actions.

They might not be interpreting your specific actions, but at the lower levels they probably have a set way of playing many hands.

For instance, I sometimes find a shortstack in an SNG making a standard raise of 4xbb that leaves them with 2/3 of their stack. I call with a reasonable holding and if I hit something I will check to them. Now that the pot is the size of their stack, they go all in and I call. If I have nothing, I am more likely to go all in myself to make them fold.

[maddog2030]

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The biggest thing that I'm missing to this point is why? Why do I want to seize impetus? Why do I want to surrender it? What situations do I need to look for, and what do I need to consider to use impetus as a weapon of my own?

He made a couple posts about this, and has mentioned it as a key skill that some of his backees have acquired. Seems to be pretty important and effective then, so I'd like to have a better understanding.

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For some reason I see a lot of people refering to this concept as pot control especially in the cash game forums. Although it's related, I'm not sure why people use pot control over a term like betting impetus.

Anyway, betting impetus controls how the hand plays out. Who's currently the aggressor in the hand? Bluffs tend to work if you currently hold betting impetus (eg. contiuation bet). Marginally good hands often gain the most value by surrendering betting impetus (eg. checking with a pair to induce a pure bluff by your opponent). Had you not surrendered betting impetus, your opponent would have never bluffed. Essentially you are manipulating your opponents hand ranges (either widening or shortening depending on what you want to do) and what he does with those hands.

On a side note: You've been asking some good questions lately/making some good posts that are at least thinking in the right direction. I meant to respond to some of them but ended up forgetting (namely the one on how to play different hands).

[pergesu]

Bump - any chance I can get Irie or Unarmed to respond to this?