Top no pair rank within the 990

Will make a table to rank high no pair among
all possible two card starting hands after
the board is completed.
ABCDE means five cards of different rank,
meaning no pair on the board.
wxyz will represent the four suits.

*4th or 5th try. Hope this is the right answer.

1. The first board ranked will be ABCDE with
no straight or flush possible.

Top no pair is ranked 384-393.

2a. AxKyQz9w6z
Board didn't pair. No flush possible. Only
one way for a straight which requires both
hole cards. 16 combinations for each way for
a straight.

368-377.

2b. KxQyJz8w6z
Board didn't pair. No flush possible. Only
two ways for a straight which requires both
hole cards. 16 combinations for each way for
a straight. 32 combinations.

352-361.

2c. QxJyTz7w5z
Board didn't pair. No flush possible. Three
ways for a straight which requires both
hole cards. 16 combinations for each way for
a straight. 48 combinations.

334-343.

3a. A straight that needs only one hole
card. 280 combinations

280-289.

3b. A straight that needs only one hole
card two ways. 240 combinations

192-201.

Mapping Distributions

LOWBALL

In a raised pot you and a stranger have both
drawn one card. You've never seen him play.
He could be drawing to an eight or a wheel.
After the draw you don't know the shape of the
distribution of his stronger hands. Regardless
of his draw the distribution of the tails end,
the weaker hands is the same. He has the same
number of ways to catch each high card and pair.
The distribution of all one card draws are
similiar.

This distribution maps easily into the uniform
[0,1] distribution. When you see your card, you
know where your hand lies in the uniform [0,1]
distribution. The relative value of the hand
is known because opponent's draw is known.

Lowball distributions are static. They fit
well into Tom Weiderman's Challenge problem.
Therefore it is easy to apply this to a game
theory model.
The drawing hands are of a continuous range.
On a one card draw we know it's right to call
with a king or better, when the other player
draws one. We also know that if we bluff
when we pair tops, we are bluffing at the
right frequency.
Amazingly many longtime players don't know this.
They call and bluff by feel. I play by rote,
only deviating against predictable players.

Hold'em

In hold'em there are straights and flushes. This
makes the distribution disjointed.

Two-way pot.
From the board and your two hole cards, opp has
a discrete and countable distribution. There
are 990 possible ways for his two hole cards.
But when you look at your hole cards unless it's
the nuts it isn't readily clear where your hand
ranks among the 990 possible. At least it isn't
clear to me.

On the flop it is even more murky. There are
over 200,000 ways to choose opp's two, turn
and river cards. The distribution is dynamic.

On a raised pot between two players.
The top 65% of the hands of the distribution is
about the correct calling frequency for a flop
continuation bet. But what's the top 65%?

Example:
you in BB: AsJh
Button raises and you call.
All others have folded.
flop: 9s6c3d
You check and button bets. You know button is
betting nearly 100% of the time. Does you hand
beat 65% of the hands in his range? This is not
easy to determine even when you know his exact
range.

What if the flop were changed to 9s6d3d. Does
that change the ranking of your two hole cards?
If so, how much?

Bowling Analogy

Lowball is like spot bowling. There are static
points of reference in the distribution. Once
the drawn card arrives you know the relative
rank of your hand to opp's distribution.
In hold'em the distribution is board dependent.
The possibility of boats, flushes and straight
are dynamic and in constant flux. It's like
bowling with the spots removed from the lanes.

Lowball is a simple math game. Hold'em has no
points of reference. The relative rank of your
hand isn't obvious. There are only 990 possible
combinations after the river. Assuming you
don't hold the nuts, it's extremely difficult
to know where your hand ranks among the 990.
Most of the 990 possible hands are unlikely to
be part of opp's set of playable hands.

Hold'em is too complex for players to make
calculations in real time. In hold'em you
must trust your gut. Your gut is often
based on air.

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not maniacs

maniac

(n) A player who bets, raises, and reraises without regard to the quality of his hand; someone to whom getting in the last bet is a matter of pride. Such a player is most often found in flop games.

Been playing fixed limit hold'em for about 12 months. Think I have played much less than 1% of my hands against a pure maniac. Only a player with unlimited funds can play this way and remain in action.
Have seen many threads on poker forum by members stating that they have problems against maniacs. The major reason for their problems is that they misidentify players as maniacs.
A maniac plays wildly on every street. Are not detered when they encounter aggression. Very few players actually play that way.

flopsters

(n) A player who bets, raises, and reraises without regard to the quality of his hand; on the flop only.

One sees these players frequently. Many players mistake these flopsters with maniacs. Flopsters will apply pressure on other streets. They also will attempt to play well postflop. This means they try to avoid bad calls. Many players are giving the flopsters too much action postflop. On the flop the flopster's 3bet means nothing. Postflop flopsters are willing to laydown no hand no draw to aggression. 3bet on the turn means the flopster has a strong hand. Don't blindly call flopster's reraises with no pair. Postflop, don't overplay the 3bet and cap against a flopster.