Big or small

Playing 5/10, I know going in I will almost always lose the first hand. I do not want to get involved with sub-par holdings out of position right off the bat, so will almost always fold when raised to unless I have a pair or Big Slick type hands…so I figure to play roughly 1 in 17 big blind hands.

I have occasionally wondered if I should start with a weird amount like 4.27 or something so they do not know it is my first hand…maybe at higher levels I will but I am not sure how many people are aware enough at this level to make it worthwhile.

In this case the button click-raises with 14.70, the small blind calls with 8.50 and I have 8c/10c and am calling .10 to win .50…5-1 with suited connectors against what is probably a position raise with soft cards seems like a decent idea. I call as well.

The flop is vaguely interesting…7s/ad/9s. There is an excellent chance one of my esteemed opponents possesses and Ace, a smaller yet viable chance one has a Spade draw, and even the chance someone will hang around with something like the J/10 hoping to hit their gut shot.

We check to the button who hesitates and then bets the pot. The small blind folds and I elect to call, tentatively putting him on the ace and figuring I can take a nice pot if I hit my straight.

The turn is the 10h, at least giving me a small pair but also hitting a few not unlikely hands such as the aforementioned J/10 so I am not overly excited about it. It also makes it so if I should hit the Jack for a straight, a Q/K type hand…very believable for the button…might hit it harder. I check and am pretty happy when he checks behind.

The river is all kinds of ugly, the Ks. Now there is a flush, a couple straight draws, and 3 cards that make a higher pair. I am beating medium pairs and that is about it. I check, planning to fold to virtually any bet, but he checks behind with pocket 4s and I start the session with a nice .70 pickup.

I also like that I played the hand in such a way as to keep the pot small and manageable.

I continue the theme when the button opens to .30 with 15.84 and, with 4.52, I look down at pocket 9s in the small blind.

Often here I will re-raise, and certainly there is something to be said for that move. But it is a move better made with a little stronger hand…say Jacks or better.

To open on a button, people have a pretty wide range…any suited hand, any pair, any connectors, suited or not…and often enough, even just a dry face card or better.

Against that range I am in pretty good shape with Jacks, but significantly less likely to win unimproved with nines. When I re-raise, the pot is going to be at least 2 bucks if they call, I will have 3 behind and be in a tough spot if the board has 2 or 3 big cards on it.

By flat-calling, the pot is smaller and I have more room to play with maneuvers like check-raises on favorable boards. So I think it would be prudent to call more and raise less IN THIS SPECIFIC SITUATION. I am out of position for the entire hand with what is a drawing hand, I want to play a small pot unless I hit it hard.

I pretty much like the flop. 2s/4c/Qh. Sure, any hand like 10/Q+ is ahead, but unlikely. No obvious draws…I am in pretty good shape. I check, planning to check-raise a small bet, call anything up to about the size of the pot, and fold to a huge bet. He bets .40, about half the pot, and I call.

The turn is harmless, the 7c. Here is where I like having position. If I am behind him, he checks, I am confident and lead out with a bet, expecting a fold. Acting first, I still think I am ahead but want to keep the pot small so I check. He checks behind and, unless an Ace or King hits the river, I am pretty sure I am ahead.

The river is the 3d. I almost raise but, if he has something like a Q/5 suited type hand, he will still call but will not raise lest I have a better queen. I think I will only get called by hands that beat me or MAYBE something like pocket 8s.

At the same time, he might raise with something like A/7 or A/4 type hands, and I will call even a pot-size bet with the way the hand played out.

He checks behind and shows 3c/9h, a complete position bet/continuation bet bluff. I might have gotten a small call out of him when he hit the river…but I think I played the hand correctly. Small pot with decent but not great hand…then again, maybe this is one of those “value bet thin” opportunities. Bet thin or try to induce the bluff?

Of course, it is not always good to keep the pot small. Middle position limps with 9.69 and, on the button, I have Ac/Qc and 5.07. I think this is clearly a situation to raise it to about .50, but I elect to call and play for the flush. This lets the small blind and big blind in cheaply, and essentially means even flopping an Ace or Queen is not so good as I will have no clue if anyone got in cheap and hit a low two pair type thing.

The small blind completes with 13.29 and the big blind checks with 7.09. So now we are 4-handed and I have just Ace high…

And the flop is as wonderful/horrible/frightening/great potential as I could hope for. Ah/Kd/10d. There are all sorts of draws, the A/K I doubt and A/10 I would believe just out-flopped me as did just the type of hands I might have let in cheap…Q/J, K/10.

It is checked to me and I face a decision. If I am ahead and check, I let in some draws for nothing. If I raise, I will face a check-raise from hands that have me beat and some that don’t and have a decision of my own. Or I could try to draw at the 3 clean outs I have if behind.
This is a case where a pre-flop raise would have identified at least some of the potential…having failed once, I elect to raise, thinking someone might read it as a position raise and re-pop in which case I would test them with a big re-pop…but they all fold.

I really think this was not the best way to play the hand; I let people in cheaply and thus either A) made less than I should have or B) gave them excellent odds to out-draw me. Admittedly, this is a high reward play…if I hit the flush, it will be surprising to people that I would limp here so I can make a good deal…but the odds against it are high, it does NOT fit the style I play best…play a lot of small pots and big ones only with made hands.

But it would be a vast improvement in my game to get a better handle on pot control and, when I have marginal hands, do a better job of keeping the pot smaller, particularly out of position.