How Often Can First-in Vigourish Be Used?

There is an idea, first popularized by poker legend Doyle Brunson in his now-famous poker guide Super/System and accepted nearly universally today, that aggression is rewarded in poker. Aggression wins pots and aggression wins tournaments. Aggression means not being afraid to move chips into the pot, being ready, willing and able to make large bets and raises almost every time you are contesting a hand. Poker professionals stress the need for selective aggression; you must make these big moves when you sense weakness or have set them up properly, rather than at random. Random aggression will strike fear into your opponents, but will eventually catch up with you. A good example of selective aggression is the concept of “first-in vigorish.”

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What is Vigorish?

Vigorish is a word used by gamblers to indicate an edge. If you bet with a bookie, you need to pay slightly more when you lose than you get when you win. This extra amount is the vigorish, or vig, and it is the edge that allows the bookmaker to make money for his service.

What is First-in Vigorish in Poker?

First-in vigorish refers to the edge a poker player gets by being the first to put extra chips into the pot. Let’s say you are in middle position in a tournament with 9sTs. The blinds are 25 and 50 and it is folded around to you. You like to play these suited connectors. You could just call and hope to hit an interesting flop. In fact, if a number of players had limped in before you, this might be a more tempting play. However, what if you raise here? Now, all the players after you have a harder decision. They cannot just limp and see what happens; they must put in extra money. Furthermore, they have to consider that you may have a stronger hand than they would have put you on if you just limped in. The player after you folds, and the players after that, seeing great risk and little gain, fold and concede you the pot. Alternatively, you may get called and hit your flop, or miss it and win with a continuation bet if others miss it as well.

This idea, that simply by being the first one to raise the pot you give yourself more opportunities to win that pot than someone who limps in, is what is called first in vigorish or sometimes “fold equity.” It means that your expected value of the hand is higher than others because you have two ways to win (you hit your hand or your opponents fold) whereas everyone else has only one way to win. Of course, this is not always the case. Someone may re-raise you and put you to a difficult decision, but more often, opponents will either fold or just call to see what you will do next.

When Can You Use First-in Vigorish in a Poker Game?

You can use first-in vigorish whenever you have the opportunity to be the first one to bet, whether it is before or after the flop. This is a nice way you can turn position around. Normally it is better to be in late position, as you have more information than others. Using the first-in vigorish concept, you can be the first one to bet into a scary board and others will have to fold to you. This idea can prove very positive for your results if used properly.

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