Every so often, I start out too aggressive. Case in point; 1st hand, I pick up 9/2 suited in the big blind. Under the gun +1 click-raises, everyone folds, and I randomly elect to call. I guess because they were suited? No, more because the click-raise often indicates weakness.
The problem with doing this is sometimes you hit. 9d/Js/4c does not hit a lot of pre-flop raises. Maybe pocket pairs or J/10 suited? So I bet out and he re-raises. I am done with the han….what? I called? Hmm. Turn is a harmless 3d.
I bet again and he makes a big re-raise. I belatedly realize I am not just beat but crushed. So I toss off 1.20 on the first hand with 2nd pair, weak kicker. Not a promising start.
Worse, I started with just 5.15 so now I am sitting behind 3.95. On the bright side, I learned my lesson. After several folds, I raise from the cut-off with 4/5 off, the button re-raises, and I fold instead of continuing with a weak hand.
I do not regret the raise as it was the correct move based on frequency of success, and I did not get caught up in “I raised, so am obligated to call the re-raise” type hands.
Well, not that time. Later I raise with a more reasonable 7/8 off, the blind click-raises, and that raise I call. Click raises are often responses to position raises. They usually check-fold the flop. This time the flop is Jh/9H/3D so I have a gut-shot. He raises and I…CALL? What? Turn is the Qd, he raises, I fold. Much too late, but I fold.
Now I go into passive mode. Sitting behind 2.30, with a click-raise and call, I also call from the small blind with pocket 8s, but check fold a flop with an Ace and Jack on it.
I am playing poorly so after a couple more blinds go away, I quit for a while down about 3 bucks. I then restart with 10. This is a curious choice. I do not feel like I was playing well…so why play more? And if I am going to play longer, why risk a larger stack?
First hand, under the gun limps, I check with A/4 hearts. Flop is 7H/Ad/2S. I check-call his .15 cent raise. Turn is the Jd and I check-call .25. And the river is the Ks. Lots of hands beat me, I am only ahead of A/3. I check and win, my aces beating his pocket tens.
Had he simply raised them pre-flop he would have won the blinds. Not great play on my part…but he made it cheap enough I could see the river reasonably.
Sometimes, though, taking a break and catching a break change your methods. I open raise from the small blind with 2/9 off and the big blind folds. When I am playing poorly, I fold that and give away 15 cents.
Sitting behind 10.58, I open from the button with a typical power-house, the 10/3 off. The big blind, with 5.64, calls. I am not too bothered. Lots of big blinds do that and check-fold all sorts of flops. The flop is pretty good for me, 8H/2S/10D. Only hands I am really worried about are A/10, K/10, Q/10, and 10/J. Maybe 9/J for the draw…I bet .40 into the .61 cent pot, he calls.
The turn is the 10S. I backed into trips. Kicker nothing to be proud of…but I like my chances. He checks and I decide to trap, checking behind. The turn is the 5s, giving a flush possibility. Now he leads out for 1.40. Oops.
Do I call? He did call on the flop…he beats me with any ten or any two spades. I should have bet the turn but I got tricky. Do I re-raise? Fold? Aggh! Instead of betting, I got sneaky and now I have a tough decision. Ultimately, I cannot lay down the trips, figuring if he hit the back-door flush, I goofed badly. Sort of. He had the K/Q off, so he was on a pure bluff. I ended up winning a nice little pot.
One easy way to tell if I am playing well or poorly is how I play A/J. This is my trouble hand, and I should just fold it…but it is strong enough to open raise. So every time I see it, I mentally tell myself, “I can raise with this, but I cannot call.” So when I pick it up in middle position, the Under the Gun raises, and I fold, I am happy. I am back to playing decent poker.
Or am I? Later, I pick up A/8 off in the cut-off, plenty good to open raise with in light of some of the trash I play. The big blind calls, and the flop is A/8/8. Does not get much better than that. He checks, and I raise. Very seldom do I slow-play, but in this format, this would be the time to. I pick up a few cents, but he might have caught on a later street.
At the same time, slow-playing is not my style, so it is often not a good idea to switch in the middle of a session. It is a skill I need to add, though. Playing live, I slow-play all the time. Online…not so much.
But I will occasionally take a flier on a hand in position. Some sessions, it is a bad idea to call with A/x suited. This session I make such a call when the cut-off raises to .30 and I am on the button with Ac/9c. The flop is 5h/Tc/2h. He checks and I bet, he folds. I just had him read for being on a position raise, I went with it and it worked. Sometimes this is a good idea, sometimes a bad idea.
A while later I am sitting behind 13.26 in the big blind when the under the gun limps, the hi-jack raises to .45, and I elect to call, as does the original limper. The flop is 6d/4d/Ks. With two players behind me who have both shown strength, I check as do they. The turn is the 6c, I bet, the limper folds, the raiser calls. The river is the Ac, I check, he goes all in 3.01 into the 2.62 pot, and I fold.
I think he was slow-playing a big hand and am fine with this hand. If I had hit my set I think I would have made a nice score.
Nor would being pushed off a pot slow my aggression. Next opportunity, I opened to .30 from the button with J/4 off. As often happens, the big blind calls, I miss the 5s/ks/9h flop, he checks, I bet, he folds. This game is easy…
But it is not just blind aggression. The very next hand I fold J/8 suited from early position. It is all about position. I open fold K/Q off as well. 9/J suited runs into a call and re-raise, time to fold.
Open to .30 from the cut-off with another monster, the 3h/5c. The big blind calls. The flop is 8c/2d/4s. He checks, I bet .40 cents, and he click-raises. I hem and haw briefly. Click-raises scream weakness to me, and if an Ace hits, I think he will call a big bet. I call. The turn is the 6S, giving me the straight. He comes out firing for .70 cents, I bump it to 4.35, he folds. Guess I should have slow-played…
The next hand I am the big blind with 9/Jd…and everyone folds. I pick up the small blind uncontested. Nice!
Several unimportant hands happen, and then one that illustrates why I have loosened up my raising requirements so much. Sitting behind 13. 68, I pick up a real hand, pocket aces under the gun +2. I make my standard raise to .30 and everyone folds. I pick up the blinds and that is it.
Well, if everyone is going to fold when I have Aces, they will fold when I have K/Q off as well. That is an argument that I am folding too many marginal hands. I just have to be willing to lay them down when people play back at me. This belief only grows when the next hand again I have everyone fold to me in the big blind.
There are times when I get a “feel” that people are playing tight on Rush and really widen my raising requirements. This is going to be such a time. Or is it? People play back at me a couple times, do not pay me off when I hit a straight, and I get a hair more cautious.
With 12.07, the under the gun limps, I call from the hi-jack with A/10 suited, the big blind checks. The flop is Qc/7D/8c. They check to me and I bet my flush draw. The big blind folds, the limper calls. Turn is the 4d and he check-calls my bet again. The river is the 9s. I missed. He checks. Now, to figure out what is happening.
There were a couple of draws on the flop; gut-shot straight if he had something like J/10, open-ended straight if he had 9/10, or of course he could be playing suited cards and have missed the flush. Pretty much anything else has me beat, but he might fold with a low pair. I bet, he folds, I win.
A while later I get involved in a hand by accident. I have the suited one gapper, 8/10h in the big blind. 2 limpers, the small blind completes, I check. The flop comes 9d/2d/kc. Checked to me. No hand, no draw, 3 other people in the hand, no need to get involved. Check check check. Turn is the Js. Interesting. A queen gives me the straight to the King, though of course an Ace/10 would crush me, or a 7 would give me the nut straight…provided it is not a diamond. So really 6 clean outs. Might as well bet and see what they think.
20 cents is half the pot, sounds good. One caller. River is the 7c, a perfect card. It completes no obvious draws yet gives me the nuts. The pot is only about 80 cents. How to extract the maximum? I figure he has the 9 or jack and wants to see a cheap showdown. I over-bet, 1.40, trying to look like a desperate bluff. Turns out he had A/J and calls me down. I can see where he would have been nervous about the King so did not re-raise me on the turn, but it also shows the value of aggression. The King was still there on the river, he had no idea where he was in the hand and ended up losing way more than he needed to.
Meanwhile, by betting my draw I kept the price right, controlled the hand, and yes…I got lucky to hit my straight…but by not re-raising the turn and letting me bet it, he gave me the right price.
A while later the under the gun limps, I raise to 50 from the next seat and everyone folds. Open limps spell weakness. (I had A/Q off.)
Sensing weakness often means more than having a hand. Under the gun raises to .35, the small blind completes and I decide I have enough of a hand to call as well from the big blind. The flop is the 8d/4d/Qh. The small blind leads out for 10 cents…into a dollar pot. It does not matter if I hit or not, that is a call…and if nobody was behind me, I might even re-raise. But there is someone behind, so I just call, and he calls as well. The turn is the 5s and again the small blind min-bets, I call, and the first raiser…folds? What? The river is the 8S, the small blind again raises to .10 cents, I bump it to .80 cents, he folds. I take down the pot. If my 10/J off was the best hand, I would be surprised, but I did not need the best hand to win this pot. If I had to guess, the small blind hit the 4 or else had a diamond draw that missed.
Actually, that fits it well…he wanted to see it cheap and made the defensive bet to keep the pot small. But his passive-aggressive under bets just begged me to re-pop him and take it away so I did.
Other times, actually having cards helps. After making a couple poor plays, and having a couple real hands go south, I am sitting behind 9.49. UTG+2 raises to 30 cents, the next guy calls, and I decided to call from the big blind with pocket 7s. Really I plan to flop a set or fold. I miss my set, but the 8c/9d/6s flop gives me an open ended straight to go with my pair. I bet out .40 into a .90 cent pot, the initial raiser meekly folds and the caller calls again. The turn drops the 6h. With no re-raise on the flop, I figure this is my pot to bet, so I do, betting .80 cents this time and again he calls. The river is the 5c, giving me my well disguised straight.
But it is not all sweetness and light. Pocket 8s, 9s, 5s or less likely 6s have me crushed, and all of those are quite believable. Less believable but still possible is the unlikely 7/10. So do I check, hoping to play pot control and/or induce a bluff, or do I value bet? Hey. This is me. Value bet, except I over-bet 2.30. Turns out he had 8/9 and slow-played 2 pair to lose a good-sized pot.
Hence my aversion to slow-playing. A few dozen hands later, I have 11.57 in front of me and pick up pocket 9s in the small blind. Middle position click-raises, it is folded to me, I re-pop to 60 and he calls. I elect to re-raise because playing out of position is no fun. So when he calls, I am thinking I need to hit to win.
I like the flop, 6c/9h/Ad. With any luck, he has something like A/K. I check, he bets .65 cents. Hey, slow-playing sometimes works! The turn is the Jd and I lead out for 1.50 which he calls. The turn is the 3c. Time to value bet. I just echo my last bet, 1.50 and he calls. And shows K/Jh. Wow. I should have gone all in, if he would call a total of 4.25 with second pair he would have called off his last 1.60 as well. I missed a nice pick-up there, but do drag a nice pot.
Play on, winning some and losing some, working my way up to 17.24 when I pick up Aces under the gun. I raise to 30, the next guy calls, the cut-off calls, and the small blind calls. The flop is 6d/10c/Kd. I am hoping one guy has A/J or J/10 and another A/K or something. They all have between 10.56 and 11 dollars except yellowbird with 8.35. First guy checks, I bet the pot, second guy calls, third guy raises to 6.50 and I have to think. How likely is a set?
Pocket 6s or tens probably call there, pocket kings probably re-raise pre-flop. So maybe a set. Maybe a draw. But maybe A/K. I raise to 11.70, they both call all-in. The first guy has q/9 off and is drawing to a gut-shot straight. The second guy has two pair, Kings and tens. Uh-oh…I made a mis-step. I need a 6, ace, or running cards to pair. Fortunately, the turn is an Ace and I pull in 27.88 after the 1.99 rake.
I should have recognized the re-raise meant I was behind. I mis-read the situation and got in trouble against two players. Of course, one of them played much worse than I did. And frankly, calling with K/10 and Q/9, suited or not, is never a recommended play. Those are the type of “marginal hands” that get people in trouble. Top two…I definitely understand the flop raise. And had I waited for the turn, who knows if we would have all gotten it all in? Admittedly poorly played by me…but after all the 21-1 beats I have taken on the river, I do not feel the least bit bad. They called with bad hands, one temporarily took the lead, the other was on a ridiculous draw, and I did have 6 outs twice and 9 outs once. For a pot that big I will take a shot every now and again.
Now I am sitting behind 34.56 and have to make a choice. Often, when I get a big hit like that, I start playing poorly and give a lot of it back. Should I just call it a night or keep playing? I am having fun, have been playing well, so I keep going.
I am picking up lots of pots in lots of ways, and this next one is typical. I open from early with A/Kc. The small blind calls, leaving himself 3.40. The flop is an innocuous 7s/10s/2c. He hesitates, then bets .80. I ponder coming over the top but decide to merely call. I doubt that flop helped him and it feels like a “test the waters” bet. Sure enough, he checks the 6s turn, I bet 1.10, he folds. Nothing exciting or major, not a big pot, but picking up lots of these little ones adds up.
And they come my way more often the more aggressive I am. From the hijack I bump it to .30 and the cut-off calls. He is sitting behind 29.83, so I need to be careful. All I have is the Js/9c. The flop is the Qs/3h/Jc and I do my standard .40 continuation into a .70 cent pot. He calls. The turn is the 7d. He did not re-raise me on the flop, so I doubt the queen. I bet .80 cents and he click-raises. Had he made a legit raise here, he wins the pot. That feels more like a “do you mean it?” query, so I snap-call. The river is the 3s, I bet 2.20, he takes his time and folds. Had I not been aggressive, I probably lose to a J/10 type hand. Instead, I probably stole the pot from a better hand.
And for the second time in the session, I make a poor choice…maybe. Sitting behind 38.49 I pick up A/Kh on the button. I raise to .30, the small blind re-pops to .90. This actually is my first sign they have a hand as usually the small blind folds or at most calls. He is sitting behind 17.96, so I can take him for a lot. I call.
The flop is gorgeous…9h/kc/4h. I have top pair, top kicker, and the nut flush draw. I raise to 1.00 and he goes to 3 almost instantly. Hmm. He did not have to think about it, he has a big hand. He could have A/K, pocket Aces, pocket Kings, pocket 9s, or pocket 4s. For whatever reason, instead of calling, I re-pop to 10/90. He raises all-in and it is 6.16 to call.
I now revise him to having one of the pocket pairs. Only a set would play like that, I am obviously behind. However, there is about 30 bucks in the pot so I am getting 5-1. I am less than 3-1 against making the flush, so my aggressive play means it is an easy call. Sure enough, he flips up pocket kings, so it is top set against nut flush draw. The turn is a harmless 7d, but then on the river I break his heart, catching the 5h.
The irony here is I played this hand poorly. He showed obvious strength pre-flop and on the flop. My re-re-raise to 10.90 might be the most ridiculous thing I have done. Yet my poor play was rewarded with a monstrous 34.02 pot (after the equally ridiculous 2 dollar rake).
But I do not feel bad about it. I have taken a lot of much worse beats from much worse plays. I at least had top pair, top kicker, and a great draw. I am a dog, but not so huge a dog that this is abominable…merely bad play and I am not a good enough player to get away from such a huge draw.
I am, however, good enough to learn from it. In the future, I will just call the re-raise and see what the turn brings, playing some pot control.
Now I am sitting behind 54.55, only 10 bucks below the most I have ever held in a session. Again I consider packing it in, but elect to keep playing. However, I will keep a close eye on it and if I am acting bulletproof…making more calls based on pure aggression instead of reads they are weak….or if I am playing hands I should not or folding hands I should, I will quite. But soon I lay down suited connectors to heavy pre-flop action and re-pop a larger-than-average raise with pocket queens.
Time goes on and I find myself in a raising war. Under the gun I open to .30. The cut-off, sitting behind exactly 10 bucks, elects to bump it up to 80 cents. That is a weird amount. A click-raise goes to .50 cents, a pot-size bet goes to 1.05. So it shows he is a tricky player who actually is putting some thought into how much he wants to re-raise. Turns out I like my hand and want to play it…but want to play it pre-flop so I take my time and then raise to 2.55. He takes his time and re-pops to 6.70. About this point I figure he has Kings or Queens and re-pop to put him all in for his last 3.30. He calls and shows A/K off. This is a guy I want to play more. My Aces hold up and, after rake, I add another 8.81 to my stack. And now I have the most I have ever had, 65.79.
I almost quit just because of that. I am afraid I will play scared, not wanting to lose when I need to play fearlessly and aggressively. But I keep playing. That fear is shortly answered. Under the gun raises to .35, I re-pop with the “pot bet” button to 1.20 with pocket Kings, and he calls. The 8h/5h/5c flop brings a check from him, a raise from me, and I pick up another modest pot.
Again, many better players would say I mis-played this hand…but with just a single pair, I do not want to play a big pot, and my chances of improving are slim. I like to win lots of small plots and play few big ones. Just my style. Unless, of course, I hit the nuts…then I like to play monster pots.
Sometimes when I have deep stack, I will get a wild hair and play a drawing hand. I open to 30 with A/4c figuring I have about a 60% chance of picking up the blinds and a solid 70% chance of winning on the flop with a continuation bet even if called. I get a bit more action when the next seat flat calls and the button click-raises. Well, that just screams weakness to me, so I call the .20 cents.
When I raise to .30, I know it is only a 20 cent raise over the blind, but it FEELS like a 30 cent raise because I am not getting the big blind discount. So when I raise to 30 and he re-pops…into the raiser and a caller…another 20 cents, he is just being ridiculous. I am calling .20 to win 1.05, or better than 5-1, and I assume the next guy will also call so it is more like 6-1. I am calling that all day, all night and most of tomorrow.
So with a pot of 1.65, the flop comes 8c/6c/ks. I hit nothing but do have the nut flush draw. I lead out for .70, the original caller folds, and the button again click-raises. That is at best a feeler bet. And not a smart one. I have to call .70 to win 3.05, so way better than 4-1. Lets say I put him on Pocket Kings. I am getting a stupendous price to draw to the nuts. However, the way he has played that hand, I do not think he is that strong. The click raises indicate a soft Ace or something goofy like K/9, K/10, maybe even a medium pair.
I call. And the turn gives me the nuts. It is the 10c. I love that card. It hits a lot of hands, giving straight draws or making 2 pair with hands like K/10. Now, how to extract the most? I could bet, if I were afraid he had a set and was drawing to the full house. I do not want to give him the infinite odds. But if I think he has a weaker hand, I should check to let him catch up.
I am fairly positive he does not have a set, so at worst I am against 2 pair and a 11-1 favorite. ( I figure if he has 2 pair, then I “know” 8 cards…my own two, the 4 on the board, and that he has 2 cards in his hand that match the board, in which case it does not matter which ones.) If the board pairs, I will re-evaluate at that point…
Except he shoves all in his last 2.18. Easy, easy call. At the moment I have the absolute nuts and worst case scenario is he has a set and is drawing to 10 outs, so I am either an 11-1 favorite, a 4.4-1 favorite, or holding an unbeatable hand. I am not surprised when he flips up A/K, as it fits with how he played the hand, neither being a club. He is drawing dead and I pull down another 8.23 pot.
Now I am sitting behind 71.02 and again the thought crosses my mind…quit while you are ahead. But then I get a wild hair…I want to see if I can break 100. So I keep going.
One good thing about having a deep stack is I can play against more raises. Sitting behind 69.45 I pick up pocket deuces on the button. The cut-off, sitting behind 18.81, raises to .40 cents. Now, if I only have 3 or 4 bucks, I have to fold that because even the implied odds are no good. But here, I am going to try to win 18.81 so I can take a flyer on a trash hand. I call. Then the big blind, with 11.18, raises to 1.90. It is folded back to me.
There is 1.30 in the pot, I need to call 1.60 to win 3.90. A little better than 2.4-1, not even close to the 8-1 odds I need. Worse, if I am behind about 10 bucks or so, it is 20% of my stack and I have to fold here. With almost 70 bucks, it is a drop in the bucket and I can call in position. No need to get fancy, with him re-raising a steal position raise and a steal position caller, he can have a wide range of hands…medium pockets or better, A/10 or better, any suited ace…lets take a flop and see what he does.
8s/jh/2h. Jackpot. I flopped my set. The only obvious draw is a heart flush, though I suppose a super loose player on a move could have re-raised with 9/10 suited and if he did, he is not going away if that suit is hearts. He leads out 3.70. Either he hit the flop hard or else he has an over pair. So I think he has Queens or better, maybe A/J, and less likely a set of Jacks or set of 8s. The 8s seem unlikely and it feels like an overbet for A/J or a flush draw, but they are still possible.
So really, the only hand I am behind is pocket Jacks, and I think he has a better starting hand than that. I think for a bit, then re-raise him a pot-sized bet…he calls his last 5.58 all-in. He has Aces. The turn and river are blanks, I stacked him. Ah, the joys of playing deep-stack…if I folded pre-flop, I would have missed out on a big hit. And sitting behind 79.61.
Ironically, a few hands later I pick up the deuces again. In fact, after a number of folds, it is the next hand I play. With 2 limpers, I complete from the small blind and the big blind checks. I weakly check the 7h/8s/8h flop and fold to a bet after we turn a queen. I should have bet the flop. Even if someone re-raises….a bet is in order here.
But I am not above making a move. On the button I pick up ks/5s. Not a monster, and one I usually fold to any action. This time the cut-off open limps. I decide he is not serious and raise it to .40 cents. To my surprise he calls. The flop is 8d/10d/kd. Great flop for me…suited, straight draws, high cards. He checks, I raise, I win.
At the same time, I miss a possible value bet opportunity. Under the gun open limps, I raise to .50 from the cut-off, the first limper calls. Flop is Ks/10S/2H. He check-calls my raise to .60. Time to put him on a hand. A/10, J/10, medium pair seem most likely. Better and he would re-raise, worse and he would fold. Turn is the 10h. He checks, I bet 1.20, he calls. River is the 6h.
Now, it is unlikely he is slow-playing trip tens and also unlikely he rivered the back-door flush…but possible. All I have is A/K, so Kings up…but one pair on the board. A lot of hands he could have called with…A/10, K/10, J/10…are out there. I meekly check behind and he mucks his J/Q, a missed straight draw. I am up to 80.69.
And starting to get too aggressive. From the cut-off I open raise to .30. The big blind, with 7.96, calls and we take the flop heads up. The flop is 6d/10h/5h and he comes ut betting. I go through the normal routine…A/10, a heart flush draw, J/10, maybe big pocket pair higher than a ten or a set. I re-raise to .70 cents and he calls.
The turn is the 3s and he leads out…for .20 cents. Into a pot of about 2.60. That is a defensive bet. I narrow it down to a likely flush draw and raise it to 1.50. And he calls. I am not happy. I am done with this hand. I have nothing. Then he checks the Ac on the river. If my read is right, he has a modest flush draw and just missed it. I bet 2.60 int the 5.32 pot…and he folds. I win with King high and virtually no chance of having the best hand. Woo-hoo! But stupid…
I get pretty aggressive, splashing around in lots of pots and playing them aggressively. I play pocket kings and K/j off the same way. I pick up several pots, lose a couple, and am having a great time, bouncing around between 79 and 82 bucks.
Presently I call a guy with 10.84 who opens under the gun for .35. That raise indicates they are raising the pot and I have A/q off and position as I am in the cut-off. I often fold here, but this time I call. Mixing up my game I guess. The flop is 2h/2s/3h and he raises .50 cents. For whatever reason, I sense weakness and re-raise to 1.60 which brings a rapid fold.
I keep splashing about, raising pocket 10s on the flop with a king and turn with a queen, raising 2.4 from the button, just generally raising and re-raising like mad. After a while, with 83.18 in front of me, I pick up As/Qh under the gun. I open to .30, sirbluffalot calls with 8.39 from the next seat, a fold, then a re-pop to 80 cents by a guy with only 8.90 to start. Not a good raise yet again…if it is folded to me there will be 1.05 in the pot and the raise will be only 55 cents. I will call that all day. As does sirbluffalot.
The flop is the 9s/Qc/3c. I bet 1.20, sirbluffalot folds, and the re-raiser makes another horrible raise, click-raising to 2.40. I am curious what he is doing here so I call. The turn is the Jd which I am not happy about. It completes the straight if he is playing something like a K/10 maniacally…which his poor betting means he might do. In the right circumstances, K/10 is a good hand. Against an under the gun raiser and a call, re-raising it is begging to be broken. I check…and he checks behind.
What a weird hand. The river is worse, dropping the Ks. I am behind A/K, K/Q, K/J, K/10, K/9…and this guys betting patterns tell me those are all possible. Also possible is some sort of suited connector flush draw or even something like J/10. I raise to 3.50 with my second pair…and he folds the 6.86 pot to me. Wow. So bizarre. What can you re-raise in that situation, click-raise the flop, check the turn and fold the river with? I wish I could see his cards…
A while later, pocket nines on the button. I love pairs on the button. They always seem suspicious when you raise, yet it is entirely possible to have a legit hand on the button. Middle position click-raises, I bounce it to .60 cents, he calls. The flop is Kc/6h/Tc and he checks.
If I re-raise pre-flop and you check to me, I will raise about 95% of the time. I bump it to .70. That is actually a raise I hate, but it makes sense. I raised to .60 pre-flop, so it seems like a weak bet of just slightly more than pre-flop but into a much larger pot…but it fits my ½ -2/3 pot bet size I like to stay with. So it is a real quandary…should I alter it when my flop bet would match my pre-flop bet?
Admittedly, the situation arises more frequently when I raise to .30 pre-flop and get one caller in the blinds as after the rake, the pot is about .61 cents or so. But it also comes up frequently when I re-raise someone pre-flop. Definitely an area I need to work on.
I am not surprised when he calls. The turn is the 8d, he checks, I put him to the test with a 1.60 bet and he folds. All sorts of hands he could have, and his passive play costs him a pot he could have had. With two overs on the board, both of which hit a lot of hands he could reasonably hold, he could make me lay it down with any reasonable raise at several points in the hand.
Later on, it is folded to the small blind who click-raises. I come over the top to .60 cents from the big blind and he folds. I had pocket nines…but I should make that move with deuce-seven, too.
I guess I should show the level of play I sometimes face. Under the gun limps, I call with As/5s hoping to see a cheap flop and hit a flush.
This, by the way, is a poor play that I over-use. Sure enough, the cut-off bumps it to .55 cents and for the rest of the hand I will be out of position against the aggressor. Since he only has 4.41 behind, I will be calling .45 to win 5 bucks but need it to be 7.20 to justify the call. But the limper makes it easy by pushing all in.
Easy fold since that almost always means Aces. The re-raiser calls. I figure Aces versus Kings or Queens or, if a really weak player, A/K. But no, it is…I am embarrassed to write this…pocket tens for the limp-re-raiser versus K/10 suited? What?
The first raise against two passive players I love. Great move, K/10s is a great hand in that instance. But when the limper re-raises you all in, have the discipline to fold. No need to call off another 3.86 with what is now a trash hand. Of course, he got rewarded when he rivered the straight after turning a queen and rivering a jack…and the Ah/qh were on the board which meant his incredibly bad play would have been a royal flush had the river jack been a heart instead of a diamond.
Lets see how I play pocket tens. Sitting behind 86.35, I pick up tens on the button. I open to .30 cents and the big blind comes over the top all in for 13.78. Wow, massive overbet…small to medium pair? A/K? Aces, Kings, Queens? We will never know. I am not risking that amount pre-flop when I might be a 3-1 dog or worse when I can simply fold and go back to raising monsters like the K/3 off when I have position. Easy fold.
After all, a weak hand like pocket tens cannot compare to a power house like 3h/9c. Under the gun limps, everyone else folds, I check from the big blind. The flop is 2s/3c/10d. That hits very few limp-worthy hands so I lead out with a pot-sized bet, 20 cents. He calls. The turn is the 6d which does hit a few suited connector type hands but I lead out for 30 cents anyway and he folds. Clearly, proper aggression works for me.
Sometimes I chase my draws too long. I am in the cut-off with A/6h and two people limp to me. I decided to try to see a cheap flop and limp along. The big blind checks and we take the flop four handed. The flop is decent…8c/Jh/5h. For me, this is a pretty good flop. I have the nut flush draw and got in cheap. As long as it stays cheap, I am happy.
First guy checks, second guy bets .25 into a 42 cent pot. Third guy folds, I call, first guy folds.
The turn is the Jd which is one of the worst cards in the deck from the standpoint of now I would believe lots of hands that have trips, so even if something like the King of Hearts rolls off I do not want a big pot. Well, he checks, and, never one to be smart, I bet .50 cents, trying to take it down. He calls and the river is the pseudo-beautiful 9h giving me the 5th nuts.
Of course, he is UNLIKELY to be playing the J/9, J/8, J/5 and if he had pocket jacks he would have played it different, so when he checks I go ahead and make a value bet of 1 dollar, which he calls with pocket tens. Perfect. I sucked him in, and on the river got him to pay off with a worse hand. His cautious check on the turn, while prudent, probably made an extra 1.50 for me as I doubt he calls nearly as much if the pot was smaller.
The thing is, I was getting a pretty good price pre-flop and on the flop, not necessarily straight pot odds, but implied odds for sure. However, though I did pull in a pot of 3.69, in the long run that is a losing play because I called a total of 35 cents and to properly play the hand, I need to get about 5.60. This is a play I make quite a bit that if I tighten up might improve my overall results.
It is just so hard for me to lay down what could turn into the nut hand. But it is hard to get paid off when you are holding the nuts. All of which makes it very hard to get the right price on it which means I need to make smarter decisions. This is one way I can become a much stronger player with better long-term results.
It is not easy to ignore the lure of a potential big pay-off, but it should be because I can make nearly the same amount just by picking up numerous small pots with aggressive raisers instead of a few modest pots with passive calls.
Example; the next hand I play I raise the Qs/6d from the cut-off, perhaps a seat too early for this hand except I have notes on the big blind. Sure enough, everyone folds. Now, I have been raising the blinds left and right but mention this one just to contrast it to the hand that looks good because I won but was actually poorly played when examined more closely. Here I raise a trash hand and pick off the blinds.
The next hand I play I open to 30 under the gun with Ah/js, the big blind calls and check-folds to my continuation bet on a 2h/Qd/Ac flop. I like that even more than just winning the blinds. An extra 20 cents a shot is always nice. And it does not require cards.
From the cut-off I open to .30 cents with the Kc/3h. The button calls and we take the 9h/8s/2c flop heads up. I lead out for 40 cents, he folds. Who needs flush draws? It is a hard lesson to learn, but I need to learn it. In three hands I have picked up almost a buck…and with the flush hand, I only made like 1.80. But here I have risked the same 30 cents three times, there I risked the 35 cents I called and the 50 cents I lead out on the turn. Play smarter, not luckier. Grr.
Again I raise from the cut-off, though by some quirk of nature I actually have a pseudo-respectable hand, the Js/Kh. Both blinds call sitting behind 9.91 and 11.30 each. I am pretty happy when the flop is Jd/Ks/3c. If I am going to raise trash hands, flopping Kings up is a pretty good result. They check to me and I continuation bet. The small blind checks, but the big blind check-raises me to 1.75. Suh-weeeeeet! Flat call or re-raise?
If he has A/K he will keep raising, if he has A/J he might be done either way, if he has K/10 or worse he is done. I flat-call, he checks the 2s turn, I bet out and he folds. I end up picking up a nice 4.11 pot when all I was really trying to do was to steal the blinds.
And for the first time, I am over 90, sitting behind 90.81.
And then I get a couple people playing back at me, a couple flops I get re-raised, and get down to 86.61. So I tighten up, go back to just trying to win the blinds and start building my way back up.
And one hand shows why raising the big blind is always wise. I am able to check in the big blind with 7/10off. I flop a 7, bet it, get called, turn a second 7, bet my trips, get called, river the full house, bet but they fold. Still, they gave me over a buck when a pre-flop raise would have driven me off the hand. I can raise that trash but will not call with it.
Sitting in the small blind, I call the button’s raise to 30 cents with the 9h/10h. The big blind also calls and we see the 6h/7h/4c flop. I have a flush draw and two over cards and no chance of winning a showdown. Time to bet my draw. I lead out for 40 cents, the big blind folds, and the button calls. It is at this moment that I decide he is on the flush draw and am no longer sure I want to hit mine. The turn is the Ac and I figure it is a good bluffing card, so I lead out for 80 cents and he calls. The river is the Js. I have nothing. But I also think he has nothing. He has a busted flush draw. I lead out for 2.10…and he folds. I win the 3.08 pot with what absolutely has to be the worse hand.
A while later with one middle position limper I complete from the small blind with the Kh/Js. What a weak move. The big blind checks and we see a 7H/Jh/Kd flop. I bet .40 cents, the big blind re-pops to 2.35. For whatever reason, I decide he cannot have A/K or K/Q or two pair and raise his last 1.43 to put him all in. He calls…and we split the pot with both of us having K/J off. I played very poorly in this hand. Tying a pot costs money as you lose to the rake…and I was very fortunate he did not have one of the better hands.
Yet aggression overall has done well for me. Sometimes it lets me have multiple chances to win a pot; I can stay in a hand I am betting that I could not stay in if facing a raise. With Qc/Kd I open to 30 cents from middle position, the cut-off calls and we take the flop heads up. He is sitting behind 10.33 so I need to be careful, by which I mean make a continuation bet of .40 cents into a .61 cent flop on an As/3d/Jd flop which he calls.
If he had re-raised me I would have to fold a gut-shot, but with what Cloutier calls the “first in vigorish” I keep the initiative. The turn card is great, the 10h. I hit my straight. Never one to slow-play, I keep betting, 90 cents and he calls. The river is a harmless 8s, I have the nuts. I am afraid he will check behind if I slow down, so bet 1.20. Sure enough, he has just enough to call…an A/Q…but probably would not have bet. He had me crushed on the flop, played conservatively, and I pull in a 5.37 pot.
After a few more blind steals I am sitting behind 94.21 when I pick up Jd/Kd in the small blind. It is a requirement to raise this strong a hand when folded to, and I oblige, only to be called by the big blind, sitting behind 4.28. The flop is 10s/Kc/5h and I continuation bet 40 cents which he calls. The turn is the 6c, I raise to 80 cents and he does the “has yet to work” click-raise move which I call. Now we have a large pot, the river is the 8c and I bet 2 bucks, with him having just 1.98. He calls and shows Ac/10d. I take down the 7.99 pot.
What was he thinking? That I bet the flop and turn, called a re-raise on the turn, and bet the river with nothing? He has the Ace of clubs, so I guess not being afraid of the runner-runner flush makes sense…but calling off 4.38 with second pair against constant aggression? Very interesting maneuver. Not a good one…but at least interesting. These are the players I want to be in a lot of pots with because while there are plenty of better players on here and I tend to do poorly against them.
So now I am at 97.92 and desperately wanting to get to 100 dollars just to say I have done so.
After a while I am at 99.19 and think I have it for sure. Under the gun click-raises, I am under the gun + 2 and re-raise to .75 cents with pocket Aces. I figure he will call and check-fold the flop and I will quite with over 100. But everyone folds. My Aces pick up 35 cents…but not enough to bring me home. I laugh quietly to myself, thinking I have made much more with 2/7 than Aces.
A while later, 2 people limp, I complete the small blind with 10c/Qd…and the big blind, correctly sensing weakness, busts it to .70 cents. One limper folds, the other one and I call and the flop comes down 10s/6d/Ah. Never one to shy away from raising second pair, I raise it 1.20, they both fold, and I have 100.90. I instantly fold the next hand and quit.
Showing posts with label theory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label theory. Show all posts
Friday
Wednesday
A Couple of fascinating hands
Playing 5/10 cent Rush, I was sitting behind 11.78 when I was dealt A/Ko. The guy under the gun is someone I have marked down as raising every time it is folded to him so when he opened for 30.
(Rush is Texas hold 'Em, 9 handed...where as soon as you fold your hand, you are sent to a new table with new players and dealt a new hand. It is easily possible to see anywhere from 2-400 hands per hour per table. Many people multi-table, so you know they have little or no idea who they are playing against. It makes certain plays...position bets, continuation bets, etc. much more effective, but bluffs much LESS effective because the odds anyone still in the hand past the flop actually has a hand and will call you down.)
A/Ko is nice pre-flop but tends to miss a lot. On top of that, Villain is aggressive enough that I am going to have a hard time putting him on a hand. He could have any ace, any pair, any two face cards, or even any one or two-gappers, suited or not. That is a pretty wide range.
I bounce it up to 1.05 and it is folded back to him. He calls. I am not particularly disappointed. On most flops I expect him to bet and plan to re-raise. If he calls that or re-raises, I am done with the hand. The cards do not really matter, I figure I am playing the player at this point.
Until the flop comes K/K/9, 2 hearts. I just hit the third nuts. The only hands I am afraid of are pocket 9s or K/9. Sure, both of those are reasonable holdings even under the gun for someone as aggressive as he is…but I am not going to play in fear of them.
He checks. This brings warning signals to my brain. Why would he check?
Four possible reasons.
First, he has nothing, is afraid of the board, and fears that hit me. He has given up on the hand and I am not going to get paid off.
Second, he hit it huge, has the stone cold nuts or close to it. He wants to induce a bluff.
Third, he has a draw…either straight or flush. People on Rush chase gut shots all the time, even in the face of obvious better hands, so…I would believe that.
Fourth, he plans to bluff me off the hand with a big check-raise if I continuation bet.
Now, I have tried everything to get paid on these type hands. Standard continuation bets, overbets, underbets, checking the flop, or even checking all the way to the river. It almost never works regardless…which is not unexpected. Hard to call if you do not have a King or pocket 9s.
Well, I decided to go the “fear bet”, betting 10 cents into a pot of about 2.50 after the rake.
He pauses, then raises to 2.55. Sadly, this tells me little. It pretty much eliminates the first possibility, but does raise the idea that he missed but thinks I missed as well and is playing the player.
He could also just be going blind aggression, raising and reraising at every opportunity. I have seen several people do and I do have him marked as hyper-aggressive in my notes.
I actually half-expected him to re-raise, I got my result. Now, how to handle it.
I refuse to play in fear and plan to play it aggressively. The only thing I am realistically afraid of is him having A/x suited and drawing to the heart flush, but even if he hits it I have a 10-out redraw to the full house.
Still, I would rather make him pay to draw out on me and if I am behind a pair of nines, I want to at least put him to a big decision, wondering if I have Kings so I re-reraise him all-in.
He thinks about it for a bit, but calls all-in. We now have a 19.00 pot…and he turns up the A/Q of hearts.
He is drawing to the flush and runner-runner straight.
And of course turned the flush when the 2 of hearts hit.
So now I am about a 3.4-1 underdog. Any 9, 2, or Ace will give the full house or the miracle king would give me quads. 10 outs, we know 8 cards, 52-8=44, 10 winners, so 34-10 or 3.4 to one against.
I wonder how upset he was when the King hit to give me the stone cold, absolute nuts...quad kings, Ace kicker?
At first it felt like I had put a bad beat on him, mostly because it was the King that hit instead of one of my other nine outs. But percentage wise, I win about 23% of the time.
Compared to the brutal 21-1 hits I have taken repeatedly, it was pretty reasonable. And had the roles been reversed…had a blank fallen on the turn and he caught a heart on the river, I would not have felt like I took a bad beat. I would, however, have known he did not get the right price to draw to the flush.
So I wonder how the hand looked from his side.
“I have A/Q suited under the gun. Usually when I raise, most people fold. I raise three times the blind.
Oh, someone re-raised. Everyone folds to me. My 30, 15 cents from the blinds, I am getting somewhat better than 1.8-1 and if I hit a flush I might be able to stack him.
A re-raise usually takes a stronger hand. So he probably has a medium pocket pair or better, Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, or A/K. I am probably behind but if I catch up, those are hands that will pay me off.
Ooh, bad flop…K/K/9. At least I have the nut flush draw. Let’s check and see what he does.
Hmm. Led out for 10 cents. I have seen people do this before. They are just trying to see if I have anything, figuring I will fold if they bet. A re-raise should drive him off and if not I have the flush draw.
What the…he raised all in? Lets see…my 2.55 plus his is 5.10 plus the 2.5 from pre-flop, pot is about 13.85 and I figure to have 9 outs. If he had the king he would just check so he might have the 9 or a small pair in which case I lose an out or two but pick up 6. I am getting a little better that 2-1,calling 6.50 to win 13.85 and might have as many as 14 outs if I am even behind to begin with. That is 18 outs twice, so I am actually a favorite to win. I call.
But that is not how I would have played it. Lets switch places for a second.
I pick up A/Q Hearts under the gun. I am going to raise. Uh-oh…re-raise. (Note that I do not know if this other guy keeps notes…if he does, they are probably going to show the re-raise as coming from someone who does a lot of re-raising, though usually from middle to late position.)
Lets put him on a range of hands. To re-raise someone who raised under the gun, he needs a pretty strong hand. Of course, I have seen some pretty loose re-raises with hands like 6/7 suited, King/Queen off and so forth, but mostly I am going to put him on Jacks or better or big slick. I am mostly looking to hit the flush if I call, not sure how happy I will be to hit either my Ace or Queen.
Hmm. K/K/9, two hearts. That hits almost every hand I put him on. Check-fold seems wise.
He raised ten cents into that pot? Ridiculous. One of three things. Either he hit it hard…Big Slick or pocket kings, maybe Jacks, Queens or Aces and figures it missed me and I will fold but does not want to invest too much if it hit me or, more likely, it missed him, he figures it missed me and I will only call if I hit it.
I did miss it but I have the nut flush draw. If I re-raise he will most likely fold and if not, I will believe he has the King or nine and be done with the hand.
Raise to about 2.55 does seem right, but when he came over the top all in…I would fold.
Not that I would not check my odds to the flush, but more that I could already be drawing dead to the full house. On top of that, there are easier targets than getting all my money in on a draw where I am getting the wrong odds and might be drawing dead. I would rather raise all in than call all in, particularly when I am calling all-in to someone who showed strength pre-flop and on the flop. A fold seems pretty clear to me here.
And that analysis represents, to me, the difference between aggression and prudent aggression. Whichever side of the situation I am on, I like the flop re-raise. I just hate the all-in call if I am the one making it.
Perhaps that is too cautious. Maybe it is marginal situations like this I need to improve on. The problem is, the range of hands I might put my opponent on has far too many that hit that flop or are well ahead of me and far too few where I am a favorite.
Add to this...it is not necessary to get involved in such close situations. Rush is a pretty soft game. People fold otherwise playable hands because by folding they get dealt a new hand that might be Aces. It is not unusual to see everyone, including the blinds, fold to a min-raise from any position...even Under the Gun, the Button, or even the small blind.
So why get involved in a HUGE pot where you might be drawing thin or dead to someone who has twice shown strength?
Not to take too much of a page from Phil Hellmuth...but I feel I am a bigger favorite with 2/7 in a small pot where the opponent is out of position and shown no strength than having the Nut Flush draw on a board likely to have someone holding trips or better. Win small pots, let big ones that are close go.
Yet there are times I will make a loose call, as well.
Also on Rush, later same session, but this time there is nobody at the table I have made a note on. This is in itself unusual as I have notes on thousands of players.
Under the gun limps in. This typically means a suited ace, suited connectors, or a small to medium pair, probably 8s or worse. Under the gun +1 also limps, and I put him on about the same range of hands. One other player limps, the small blind folds, and I have a 4/9 Hearts. Not a great hand. I consider raising since nobody showed strength, but elect to just check.
I will be out of position for the entire hand with what can only be charitably described as a trash hand. I am drawing at the 6th nut flush against three players out of position…a pre-emptive fold would not be a bad idea here. I check.
The flop is intriguing. 6s, Jh, Ah.
I hit nothing but did flop what is now the 4th nut flush draw. Also, the Ace is out there, which means the most likely flush draws I will be facing would be the King/Queen or suited connectors…and the suited connectors I could beat.
Still, I check and when the next guy bets .45 into a pot of 40 cents (after rake), I am going to fold…until the other two guys call. Now I am getting 3.78-1 to call…and will probably get more action if the flush hits.
Then again, I am still afraid of something like an unsuited j/10 where the 10 is a heart, or K/10 or K/Q where any of those are the heart. Fold or call?
I decided to take one off. I call.
And I do not know if I love or hate the turn…7H. I completed my flush. But there are lots of flushes that beat me and it did not complete any likely hands.
I could raise here, representing a better flush…but I am only going to get called or re-raise by better hands so it would be wasted money. I would like to see a cheap showdown. So I could play some pot control and check.
That is what I do. And to my surprise, everyone checks behind me.
Okay, time to do some analysis.
Under the gun limped, bet the pot on the flop and then checked the potential flush. Hands that fit this criteria include big aces, J/10, suited connectors, medium pairs. He could have top pair good kicker, a gut-shot straight draw, a small set, or even something like A/J for 2 pair.
Oddly, the one thing I did NOT put him on was a flush. Most players who limp with suited connectors raise big when the flush card hits. Sure, a few will slow-play it, but mostly they are doing so much betting and raising they figure they need to protect against something like K/Qo where either card is a heart.
The calls are more troubling. If they had a big hand, knowing the bettor was silent, they probably raise here trying to build the pot. By not raising, it becomes more likely they hit something callable if cheap, like top or middle pair or, if good players, are also trying to see their weak flush to a cheap showdown.
I figure my hand is good.
River is an off-suit three.
Check or raise?
I elect to make a thin value bet, raising to 90 cents into a pot of about 2.10. Both under the gun and under the gun +1 call…I am curious. Both with low heart flushes? Seems unlikely. Maybe a medium set afraid of the flush and a big pair? Maybe two pair?
Then it gets worse. The button raises to 2.20. What a weird raise…it is 1.30 to me, and 2.20 into a pot that now has 5 bucks or so in it.
He is raising into one guy who has raised an earlier street, one guy who has called the raise and raised the river, and one guy who has called a flop raise with people behind him, a river raiser and two callers.
If he makes a serious bet...say, pot size or better...I am going to believe I am beat and go away. I will not be getting the right pot odds with a weak hand. I am not afraid of laying down a hand when i believe I am beat and, in fact, at least twice have laid down suited connectors on the river when a big re-raise has convinced me the opponent(s) had a better flush. But he made it very, very affordable.
In fact, I expected both guys behind me to call again, so it would be a double digit pot I would see really cheaply.
So now I need to call 1.30 to win 6.1. I am getting 4.69-1 to call on a hand played really strange…but there are two people behind me. If they do call, I am getting almost 6-1.
The three completed no draws. The only hands that beat me are suited hands containing the King, Queen or ten of hearts. Still, re-raising into 3 players, this looked like a value-bet.
I nearly folded but elected to call based on the great pot odds.
And here it got even stranger. Both early limpers fold and the showdown is between the button and me.
I had to think about what hands he could have that I could beat because that 3 changed nothing.
Two pair, a set, or a complete bluff. The way he played this hand, I figured maybe a weak ace or set. Those were the most likely hands, but there was a possibility he could have K/Q hearts.
And my soft bet and two soft calls certainly did not represent a lot of strength.
If I could convince myself he did not have a suited hand that held the King, Queen or 10 I would re-reraise. However, if he re-raised, i would have to fold. Much better to see the showdown the call.
Still, when he turned over A/3 for two pair…I want to play more hands with him. Odds are good he had at best the third best hand and maybe even the fourth. I would be surprised if at least one guy did not fold a set or low flush, maybe even the 10.
I was feeling fishy for making it to the river.
On the bright side, between my blind, flop, and river I put 2.75 into what turned out to be a 7.69 pot…and I took it down.
(Rush is Texas hold 'Em, 9 handed...where as soon as you fold your hand, you are sent to a new table with new players and dealt a new hand. It is easily possible to see anywhere from 2-400 hands per hour per table. Many people multi-table, so you know they have little or no idea who they are playing against. It makes certain plays...position bets, continuation bets, etc. much more effective, but bluffs much LESS effective because the odds anyone still in the hand past the flop actually has a hand and will call you down.)
A/Ko is nice pre-flop but tends to miss a lot. On top of that, Villain is aggressive enough that I am going to have a hard time putting him on a hand. He could have any ace, any pair, any two face cards, or even any one or two-gappers, suited or not. That is a pretty wide range.
I bounce it up to 1.05 and it is folded back to him. He calls. I am not particularly disappointed. On most flops I expect him to bet and plan to re-raise. If he calls that or re-raises, I am done with the hand. The cards do not really matter, I figure I am playing the player at this point.
Until the flop comes K/K/9, 2 hearts. I just hit the third nuts. The only hands I am afraid of are pocket 9s or K/9. Sure, both of those are reasonable holdings even under the gun for someone as aggressive as he is…but I am not going to play in fear of them.
He checks. This brings warning signals to my brain. Why would he check?
Four possible reasons.
First, he has nothing, is afraid of the board, and fears that hit me. He has given up on the hand and I am not going to get paid off.
Second, he hit it huge, has the stone cold nuts or close to it. He wants to induce a bluff.
Third, he has a draw…either straight or flush. People on Rush chase gut shots all the time, even in the face of obvious better hands, so…I would believe that.
Fourth, he plans to bluff me off the hand with a big check-raise if I continuation bet.
Now, I have tried everything to get paid on these type hands. Standard continuation bets, overbets, underbets, checking the flop, or even checking all the way to the river. It almost never works regardless…which is not unexpected. Hard to call if you do not have a King or pocket 9s.
Well, I decided to go the “fear bet”, betting 10 cents into a pot of about 2.50 after the rake.
He pauses, then raises to 2.55. Sadly, this tells me little. It pretty much eliminates the first possibility, but does raise the idea that he missed but thinks I missed as well and is playing the player.
He could also just be going blind aggression, raising and reraising at every opportunity. I have seen several people do and I do have him marked as hyper-aggressive in my notes.
I actually half-expected him to re-raise, I got my result. Now, how to handle it.
I refuse to play in fear and plan to play it aggressively. The only thing I am realistically afraid of is him having A/x suited and drawing to the heart flush, but even if he hits it I have a 10-out redraw to the full house.
Still, I would rather make him pay to draw out on me and if I am behind a pair of nines, I want to at least put him to a big decision, wondering if I have Kings so I re-reraise him all-in.
He thinks about it for a bit, but calls all-in. We now have a 19.00 pot…and he turns up the A/Q of hearts.
He is drawing to the flush and runner-runner straight.
And of course turned the flush when the 2 of hearts hit.
So now I am about a 3.4-1 underdog. Any 9, 2, or Ace will give the full house or the miracle king would give me quads. 10 outs, we know 8 cards, 52-8=44, 10 winners, so 34-10 or 3.4 to one against.
I wonder how upset he was when the King hit to give me the stone cold, absolute nuts...quad kings, Ace kicker?
At first it felt like I had put a bad beat on him, mostly because it was the King that hit instead of one of my other nine outs. But percentage wise, I win about 23% of the time.
Compared to the brutal 21-1 hits I have taken repeatedly, it was pretty reasonable. And had the roles been reversed…had a blank fallen on the turn and he caught a heart on the river, I would not have felt like I took a bad beat. I would, however, have known he did not get the right price to draw to the flush.
So I wonder how the hand looked from his side.
“I have A/Q suited under the gun. Usually when I raise, most people fold. I raise three times the blind.
Oh, someone re-raised. Everyone folds to me. My 30, 15 cents from the blinds, I am getting somewhat better than 1.8-1 and if I hit a flush I might be able to stack him.
A re-raise usually takes a stronger hand. So he probably has a medium pocket pair or better, Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, or A/K. I am probably behind but if I catch up, those are hands that will pay me off.
Ooh, bad flop…K/K/9. At least I have the nut flush draw. Let’s check and see what he does.
Hmm. Led out for 10 cents. I have seen people do this before. They are just trying to see if I have anything, figuring I will fold if they bet. A re-raise should drive him off and if not I have the flush draw.
What the…he raised all in? Lets see…my 2.55 plus his is 5.10 plus the 2.5 from pre-flop, pot is about 13.85 and I figure to have 9 outs. If he had the king he would just check so he might have the 9 or a small pair in which case I lose an out or two but pick up 6. I am getting a little better that 2-1,calling 6.50 to win 13.85 and might have as many as 14 outs if I am even behind to begin with. That is 18 outs twice, so I am actually a favorite to win. I call.
But that is not how I would have played it. Lets switch places for a second.
I pick up A/Q Hearts under the gun. I am going to raise. Uh-oh…re-raise. (Note that I do not know if this other guy keeps notes…if he does, they are probably going to show the re-raise as coming from someone who does a lot of re-raising, though usually from middle to late position.)
Lets put him on a range of hands. To re-raise someone who raised under the gun, he needs a pretty strong hand. Of course, I have seen some pretty loose re-raises with hands like 6/7 suited, King/Queen off and so forth, but mostly I am going to put him on Jacks or better or big slick. I am mostly looking to hit the flush if I call, not sure how happy I will be to hit either my Ace or Queen.
Hmm. K/K/9, two hearts. That hits almost every hand I put him on. Check-fold seems wise.
He raised ten cents into that pot? Ridiculous. One of three things. Either he hit it hard…Big Slick or pocket kings, maybe Jacks, Queens or Aces and figures it missed me and I will fold but does not want to invest too much if it hit me or, more likely, it missed him, he figures it missed me and I will only call if I hit it.
I did miss it but I have the nut flush draw. If I re-raise he will most likely fold and if not, I will believe he has the King or nine and be done with the hand.
Raise to about 2.55 does seem right, but when he came over the top all in…I would fold.
Not that I would not check my odds to the flush, but more that I could already be drawing dead to the full house. On top of that, there are easier targets than getting all my money in on a draw where I am getting the wrong odds and might be drawing dead. I would rather raise all in than call all in, particularly when I am calling all-in to someone who showed strength pre-flop and on the flop. A fold seems pretty clear to me here.
And that analysis represents, to me, the difference between aggression and prudent aggression. Whichever side of the situation I am on, I like the flop re-raise. I just hate the all-in call if I am the one making it.
Perhaps that is too cautious. Maybe it is marginal situations like this I need to improve on. The problem is, the range of hands I might put my opponent on has far too many that hit that flop or are well ahead of me and far too few where I am a favorite.
Add to this...it is not necessary to get involved in such close situations. Rush is a pretty soft game. People fold otherwise playable hands because by folding they get dealt a new hand that might be Aces. It is not unusual to see everyone, including the blinds, fold to a min-raise from any position...even Under the Gun, the Button, or even the small blind.
So why get involved in a HUGE pot where you might be drawing thin or dead to someone who has twice shown strength?
Not to take too much of a page from Phil Hellmuth...but I feel I am a bigger favorite with 2/7 in a small pot where the opponent is out of position and shown no strength than having the Nut Flush draw on a board likely to have someone holding trips or better. Win small pots, let big ones that are close go.
Yet there are times I will make a loose call, as well.
Also on Rush, later same session, but this time there is nobody at the table I have made a note on. This is in itself unusual as I have notes on thousands of players.
Under the gun limps in. This typically means a suited ace, suited connectors, or a small to medium pair, probably 8s or worse. Under the gun +1 also limps, and I put him on about the same range of hands. One other player limps, the small blind folds, and I have a 4/9 Hearts. Not a great hand. I consider raising since nobody showed strength, but elect to just check.
I will be out of position for the entire hand with what can only be charitably described as a trash hand. I am drawing at the 6th nut flush against three players out of position…a pre-emptive fold would not be a bad idea here. I check.
The flop is intriguing. 6s, Jh, Ah.
I hit nothing but did flop what is now the 4th nut flush draw. Also, the Ace is out there, which means the most likely flush draws I will be facing would be the King/Queen or suited connectors…and the suited connectors I could beat.
Still, I check and when the next guy bets .45 into a pot of 40 cents (after rake), I am going to fold…until the other two guys call. Now I am getting 3.78-1 to call…and will probably get more action if the flush hits.
Then again, I am still afraid of something like an unsuited j/10 where the 10 is a heart, or K/10 or K/Q where any of those are the heart. Fold or call?
I decided to take one off. I call.
And I do not know if I love or hate the turn…7H. I completed my flush. But there are lots of flushes that beat me and it did not complete any likely hands.
I could raise here, representing a better flush…but I am only going to get called or re-raise by better hands so it would be wasted money. I would like to see a cheap showdown. So I could play some pot control and check.
That is what I do. And to my surprise, everyone checks behind me.
Okay, time to do some analysis.
Under the gun limped, bet the pot on the flop and then checked the potential flush. Hands that fit this criteria include big aces, J/10, suited connectors, medium pairs. He could have top pair good kicker, a gut-shot straight draw, a small set, or even something like A/J for 2 pair.
Oddly, the one thing I did NOT put him on was a flush. Most players who limp with suited connectors raise big when the flush card hits. Sure, a few will slow-play it, but mostly they are doing so much betting and raising they figure they need to protect against something like K/Qo where either card is a heart.
The calls are more troubling. If they had a big hand, knowing the bettor was silent, they probably raise here trying to build the pot. By not raising, it becomes more likely they hit something callable if cheap, like top or middle pair or, if good players, are also trying to see their weak flush to a cheap showdown.
I figure my hand is good.
River is an off-suit three.
Check or raise?
I elect to make a thin value bet, raising to 90 cents into a pot of about 2.10. Both under the gun and under the gun +1 call…I am curious. Both with low heart flushes? Seems unlikely. Maybe a medium set afraid of the flush and a big pair? Maybe two pair?
Then it gets worse. The button raises to 2.20. What a weird raise…it is 1.30 to me, and 2.20 into a pot that now has 5 bucks or so in it.
He is raising into one guy who has raised an earlier street, one guy who has called the raise and raised the river, and one guy who has called a flop raise with people behind him, a river raiser and two callers.
If he makes a serious bet...say, pot size or better...I am going to believe I am beat and go away. I will not be getting the right pot odds with a weak hand. I am not afraid of laying down a hand when i believe I am beat and, in fact, at least twice have laid down suited connectors on the river when a big re-raise has convinced me the opponent(s) had a better flush. But he made it very, very affordable.
In fact, I expected both guys behind me to call again, so it would be a double digit pot I would see really cheaply.
So now I need to call 1.30 to win 6.1. I am getting 4.69-1 to call on a hand played really strange…but there are two people behind me. If they do call, I am getting almost 6-1.
The three completed no draws. The only hands that beat me are suited hands containing the King, Queen or ten of hearts. Still, re-raising into 3 players, this looked like a value-bet.
I nearly folded but elected to call based on the great pot odds.
And here it got even stranger. Both early limpers fold and the showdown is between the button and me.
I had to think about what hands he could have that I could beat because that 3 changed nothing.
Two pair, a set, or a complete bluff. The way he played this hand, I figured maybe a weak ace or set. Those were the most likely hands, but there was a possibility he could have K/Q hearts.
And my soft bet and two soft calls certainly did not represent a lot of strength.
If I could convince myself he did not have a suited hand that held the King, Queen or 10 I would re-reraise. However, if he re-raised, i would have to fold. Much better to see the showdown the call.
Still, when he turned over A/3 for two pair…I want to play more hands with him. Odds are good he had at best the third best hand and maybe even the fourth. I would be surprised if at least one guy did not fold a set or low flush, maybe even the 10.
I was feeling fishy for making it to the river.
On the bright side, between my blind, flop, and river I put 2.75 into what turned out to be a 7.69 pot…and I took it down.
Monday
H.O.R.S.E.
With the Goose off in Arizona last week I spent a sad amount of time playing on Poker Stars. Some of the time I spent on the classic No Limit tournaments, mostly sit & gos but I played a lot of H.O.R.S.E. as well and learned some interesting things. Each game had something to offer. Prior to this I had played very little Limit Hold Em, a small amount of Omaha, and never played Stud or Razz.
Limit Hold 'Em would actually probably be my best game. I have the patience to wait for good hands, I generally get pretty good reads on my opponents, and I know the percentages. Still, it is such a slow game...it is good for learning patience. I came out of almost every Limit session up a little bit. I waited for good hands in good position and played them aggressively. At one point I had not played a hand in nearly 2 full circuits as I was pretty card dead when I picked up the Rockets under the gun. I raised them and it came back to me with a re-raise. I 3 bet...and everyone called. When I flopped a set I saw no point to slow-playing. The betting was capped on every round and I raked a huge pot. Now, anyone who was paying attention should not have been in that hand without a pretty good straight draw (no flush possible) and there wasn't one. Sure, by folding when 2 and 3 bets came to my blind I was getting ground down a bit...but it is limit. I did not get ground much and was able to maximize my winnings when I got a hand. So the key I learned was patience.
Omaha is a much faster game. Because so many combinations can hit, lots of people play any 4 cards. Using the patience from Limit, I waited for hands that were connected, preferably with a suited Ace. When I flopped, if it was a small draw I folded and if it was to the nuts I called or raised, depending on the game. Because of the nature of Omaha I won some huge pots and lost some huge ones. Then when it switched to Omaha High Low, I only played hands with the potential to win the low. As a result, when I won pots they were typically the whole pot and when I lost I was usually out of the hand early as if no low is possible I got out. Twice I folded straights when I believed an opponent had a flush or full house and once I folded a full house (deuces full of 2s) believing one of the 2 opponents had to have queens over deuces. I was right...and wrong. One guy had that, the other had Aces full. The lesson to be learned from Omaha is pretty simple; you have to be willing to fold when you are beat.
Razz is a different game where you want a bad hand. A/3/4/5/6 is pretty solid. An 8 high is questionable. And all too often you find yourself with a hand that looks good but is beating by subtlety. You and your opponent both roll 7 low hands but he is 7/5/4/3/2 and you are 7/6/3/2/a...and you lose. Subtle differences in hand strength make or break a hand so you start developing a feel for how good your hand needs to be to stay in.
Stud is a game that requires you to pay attention and use your memory. If you are dealt 3 to the flush but see 4 cards of your suit up on other boards there is not much point to playing the hand. Forgetting someone folded one jack and another opponent has a Jack showing renders your buried jacks meaningless. The player who does not pay attention to who has what door cards and other cards showing on their board...and who forgets what was folded...finds them self drawing thin too often. And by following the betting pattern you can often discern what people are representing. So Stud is great for developing memory.
Last but not least, the Hi-lo split versions of the game help with developing a sense for the meaning to percentages and getting a feel for pot odds. When you hit your flush and pull in just 50% of the pot...well, sometimes you barely break even!
So HORSE is great for seeing poker from other angles. It remains to be seen if I will put those lessons to good use.
Limit Hold 'Em would actually probably be my best game. I have the patience to wait for good hands, I generally get pretty good reads on my opponents, and I know the percentages. Still, it is such a slow game...it is good for learning patience. I came out of almost every Limit session up a little bit. I waited for good hands in good position and played them aggressively. At one point I had not played a hand in nearly 2 full circuits as I was pretty card dead when I picked up the Rockets under the gun. I raised them and it came back to me with a re-raise. I 3 bet...and everyone called. When I flopped a set I saw no point to slow-playing. The betting was capped on every round and I raked a huge pot. Now, anyone who was paying attention should not have been in that hand without a pretty good straight draw (no flush possible) and there wasn't one. Sure, by folding when 2 and 3 bets came to my blind I was getting ground down a bit...but it is limit. I did not get ground much and was able to maximize my winnings when I got a hand. So the key I learned was patience.
Omaha is a much faster game. Because so many combinations can hit, lots of people play any 4 cards. Using the patience from Limit, I waited for hands that were connected, preferably with a suited Ace. When I flopped, if it was a small draw I folded and if it was to the nuts I called or raised, depending on the game. Because of the nature of Omaha I won some huge pots and lost some huge ones. Then when it switched to Omaha High Low, I only played hands with the potential to win the low. As a result, when I won pots they were typically the whole pot and when I lost I was usually out of the hand early as if no low is possible I got out. Twice I folded straights when I believed an opponent had a flush or full house and once I folded a full house (deuces full of 2s) believing one of the 2 opponents had to have queens over deuces. I was right...and wrong. One guy had that, the other had Aces full. The lesson to be learned from Omaha is pretty simple; you have to be willing to fold when you are beat.
Razz is a different game where you want a bad hand. A/3/4/5/6 is pretty solid. An 8 high is questionable. And all too often you find yourself with a hand that looks good but is beating by subtlety. You and your opponent both roll 7 low hands but he is 7/5/4/3/2 and you are 7/6/3/2/a...and you lose. Subtle differences in hand strength make or break a hand so you start developing a feel for how good your hand needs to be to stay in.
Stud is a game that requires you to pay attention and use your memory. If you are dealt 3 to the flush but see 4 cards of your suit up on other boards there is not much point to playing the hand. Forgetting someone folded one jack and another opponent has a Jack showing renders your buried jacks meaningless. The player who does not pay attention to who has what door cards and other cards showing on their board...and who forgets what was folded...finds them self drawing thin too often. And by following the betting pattern you can often discern what people are representing. So Stud is great for developing memory.
Last but not least, the Hi-lo split versions of the game help with developing a sense for the meaning to percentages and getting a feel for pot odds. When you hit your flush and pull in just 50% of the pot...well, sometimes you barely break even!
So HORSE is great for seeing poker from other angles. It remains to be seen if I will put those lessons to good use.
Friday
If I were to teach a class part 1: Pre-flop
To begin with, I would go over how to determine hand values:
1) How strong are my cards?
A) strictly hand strength
I. Top ten hands
You can play these hands from any position. I.E., even with a raise, re-raise, and re-re raise in front of you you will play Pocket Rockets. The Cowboys...well, that depends on the players in front of you but they would be tough to lay down.
So pocket 10s through Aces, A/K suited, A/k off, K/Q, A/Q suited suited is a pretty good foundation. With these you do not need to be too advanced about thinking about what type of hands your opponents have/play.
II. Middle Position
Hands you can add from middle position. Here you add hands like middle pairs (down to say...7s), Ace/x suited where x=10 or higher, off suit hands with both cards paint
III. Late Position
Widen the range of hands you play from late position. Mix in your suited connectors, stuff like that. If facing a weak raise and you have a couple callers you can play literally any 2 cards. For example, Under the gun makes a minimum raise, 2 people call, small blind folds and you have the dreaded 2/7 off. Do you call? Let's say for ease of numbers the blinds are 100/200. The pot has 1500 in it. You need to call 200 to win that 1500 but of course you would get your 200 back so you are getting 1700/200 or 8.5-1 on your chips. That should be an easy call. If you hit the flop hard...2 pair or trips...you keep going. If not, get out. Small investment, big payoff. If you are the bluffing sort you can make a stab at the pot even if you miss, though generally against a large number of callers that is ill-advised. Sure, you will lose your 400 chips most of the time. But as long as you get out cheaply and then maximize the value when you DO hit the flop it is a winning proposition in the long run.
IV. Why position matters
If you are playing 8 handed and open with an Ace/rag, what are the odds someone behind you will pick up a stronger hand; say, A/10 or better, or else a big pocket pair? Let's say they merely call your raise with an A/Q, a not uncommon occurrence. The flop comes A/10/2 and you have an A/4. Barring running cards that pair the board make a straight or a 4 hitting you cannot run down the A/Q as their kicker will give them the pot. Thus you are likely to lose a large number of chips with your weak Ace. It is even possible to have the board provide your kicker. However, if you are in late position and nobody has shown strength your Ace is more likely to be the best hand at the moment.
You can also afford to play hands from late position you cannot play early. Say you pick up Pocket 3s. You are almost guaranteed to have 3 over cards to your pair on the board when the flop comes and the only way you will gain chips off this hand is to hit a set (have a third trey hit the board). As a result, since you will only hit a set 1 in about 9 tries you want to see the flop cheap. If you enter the pot from early position you will probably have to fold if someone raises. However, from late position you can often see a flop cheaply which is the only way you can realistically play this hand unless you plan to bluff with it.
Third, if you are in late position and people have folded or limped to you, showing weakness, you can often raise with any two cards and potentially take down the pot right there. Making the same raise from early position is vastly more dangerous as you are far more likely to have someone wake up behind you with a big hand when there are 6 or 7 hands that haven't shown their strength than if you have just 1 or 2 hands left to get through.
B) Comparative hand strengths
Under the gun raises to 3 times the blind, 2 people call, and you are in the big blind with A/6. Should you call?
The first thing we established was starting hands. So you put your opponent on a range of hands. Here is where knowing your opponents comes into play. For arguments sake we will say you know the UTG raiser is a fairly tight player who pretty much only plays the top 10 hands, the first caller is a somewhat loose player who will play any Ace, any paint, any pair, and any suited connectors, and the third player is also a bit loose.
4 of the hands the open raiser might hold contain an Ace: Pocket Aces, A/Ks, A/Qs, A/K. To be honest, I have never seen anyone that tight in real life, you can pretty much figure in local type games they will have A/10 or better.
The other two are even less likely to hold an Ace as their range of hands is much broader. Let's be mean to ourselves, though, and say the open raiser exposed his cards and has A/K. You KNOW you are a 3-1 underdog to him. Would you call, KNOWING you are behind?
Surprisingly...yes, you should. Let's keep our 1/200 blind structure. He raised to 600, 2 players called, so you need to call 600 to make 2400, not counting the blinds. You are getting 4-1 on your chips and are only a 3-1 underdog. Now, take the same situation where you are the raiser with your A/6. You limp in for 200, everyone folds to the big blind who shows A/K and raises to 600 ...now you need to call 600 to make 1400 (your 200, his 600, your 600) or 2.33-1 and you are a 3-1 underdog...you fold. Same cards, different positions, different potential return on investment. Which leads us to
C) Position
2) How do my cards compare to those of my opponents?
A) put opponents on a range
It is a great feeling to be able to tell your opponent what cards he held while those cards are face down. It is also very difficult. Usually you don't need to know the exact cards they have...just a range of hands they might play to see if you should continue in the hand or not. Example: You have pocket 10s and raise from late position. The big blind calls, everyone else folds. The flop comes Kd/Qd/2c. You raise and he re raises. Do you fold, call, re-raise, or move all in?
The answer is "it depends".
If you are playing someone "tight" they have a narrow range of hands at this point; they are representing a hand that can beat either the King or Queen or they have a draw. That means they have Pocket Aces, they have the King or Queen (or both), 2 diamonds, or something like J/10.
If you are playing someone a bit looser then you can add any pocket pair, hands like A/10, A/J where they are praying for that miracle straight, or even something like A/rag where the Ace is a diamond and they want the runner runner for a flush.
Against the tight player you fold. Against some loose players you call, against others you re-raise, maybe even all-in if you put them on a bluff or a weak hand. It just depends on what range of hands you believe they will A) call you pre-flop and then B) re-raise you with. How do you figure that out?
I. What types of hands have they played?
Even when not involved in a hand, watch every hand. Your goal is to see as many hands shown as possible. If you watch a guy play 20 hands, 10 he does not show and the other 10 are only shown at a showdown, he wins 9 of those...you can assume he is a tight player and seldom has anything but a monster when he plays. In the example above you would fold.
Conversely, if you see him show everything from pocket Aces to a pair of deuces you can assume he is much, much looser and now you either call or re-raise. Whenever possible, reconstruct the hand to see when he likes to call, when he likes to raise or re-raise, and what it takes to get him to fold.
II. How do they play them? I.E. top pair, set, draw...do they raise or call?
3) Raising, calling, or folding
Should you raise, call, or fold? A lot of people tend to just call. This can work if you know when to get out of hands but it really limits your options. If you just call your opponent controls the size of the bet, when there is a bet, and thus will win a lot of pots that he shouldn't. If you just raise you risk running into someone who is slow-playing the nuts. In short, you need to mix up your play.
A) Standard raise theory
C) Few folds are bad folds but sometimes you have to play back; defending your blind
Sometimes you need to defend your blind. Pay attention to the table. If someone raises every time you are in the blinds it does not mean he has a hand. He might sense weakness in you and be trying to steal your blinds. If you see someone doing this, "play back" at them. The next time they raise, come over the top and re-raise them. If you do not have the courage for that, at least pay to see the flop and if there is anything to work with, take a stab at that. If you do not, they will raise your flop every time no matter what cards they have.
4) Basic odds
Sometimes you think you are behind and need to decide whether to call or not. All you need are basic math skills and a general sense of how much is in the pot.
"The Rule of 2" allows you to quickly figure your percentage chance of hitting a needed card. Say you have an 8/10 and the flop comes A/J/9. At the moment you have nothing but a straight draw. Someone you put on an Ace raises. Should you call? The first thing you do is count your outs. In this case there are 8: if any 7 or Queen falls, you figure to hit your straight and that figures to be the best hand. 8x2 = 16 so you have roughly a 16% chance to hit your card. If this is a flop your actual percentage chance is 34.24% so you are close enough. You will win about 32% of the time, or roughly a third, so if you are getting 2-1 or better on your chips then you can call. If you are getting less then you should fold.
However, don't forget "counterfeited odds". Example:
I had K/10 diamonds, the villain had pocket Jacks. The flop came K/J/2, 2 diamonds. In theory I have 9 outs to make a flush; however, the Jack on the board is a diamond leaving me 8 outs. But not so fast; if another King or deuce falls, he makes a boat. I have the king but the 2 is his, so now I have 7 outs. Regardless of what falls on the turn, if it is not a diamond it takes away one more out since it will also give him a full house and thus a higher hand so you can say that 2 of my theoretical 8 outs are "counterfeited" and in truth I have just 6 outs. Now I need to get 8-1 on my chips to make the call.
That will get you started. More next time, mostly on flop, turn and river play, though some of that was covered here.
1) How strong are my cards?
A) strictly hand strength
I. Top ten hands
You can play these hands from any position. I.E., even with a raise, re-raise, and re-re raise in front of you you will play Pocket Rockets. The Cowboys...well, that depends on the players in front of you but they would be tough to lay down.
So pocket 10s through Aces, A/K suited, A/k off, K/Q, A/Q suited suited is a pretty good foundation. With these you do not need to be too advanced about thinking about what type of hands your opponents have/play.
II. Middle Position
Hands you can add from middle position. Here you add hands like middle pairs (down to say...7s), Ace/x suited where x=10 or higher, off suit hands with both cards paint
III. Late Position
Widen the range of hands you play from late position. Mix in your suited connectors, stuff like that. If facing a weak raise and you have a couple callers you can play literally any 2 cards. For example, Under the gun makes a minimum raise, 2 people call, small blind folds and you have the dreaded 2/7 off. Do you call? Let's say for ease of numbers the blinds are 100/200. The pot has 1500 in it. You need to call 200 to win that 1500 but of course you would get your 200 back so you are getting 1700/200 or 8.5-1 on your chips. That should be an easy call. If you hit the flop hard...2 pair or trips...you keep going. If not, get out. Small investment, big payoff. If you are the bluffing sort you can make a stab at the pot even if you miss, though generally against a large number of callers that is ill-advised. Sure, you will lose your 400 chips most of the time. But as long as you get out cheaply and then maximize the value when you DO hit the flop it is a winning proposition in the long run.
IV. Why position matters
If you are playing 8 handed and open with an Ace/rag, what are the odds someone behind you will pick up a stronger hand; say, A/10 or better, or else a big pocket pair? Let's say they merely call your raise with an A/Q, a not uncommon occurrence. The flop comes A/10/2 and you have an A/4. Barring running cards that pair the board make a straight or a 4 hitting you cannot run down the A/Q as their kicker will give them the pot. Thus you are likely to lose a large number of chips with your weak Ace. It is even possible to have the board provide your kicker. However, if you are in late position and nobody has shown strength your Ace is more likely to be the best hand at the moment.
You can also afford to play hands from late position you cannot play early. Say you pick up Pocket 3s. You are almost guaranteed to have 3 over cards to your pair on the board when the flop comes and the only way you will gain chips off this hand is to hit a set (have a third trey hit the board). As a result, since you will only hit a set 1 in about 9 tries you want to see the flop cheap. If you enter the pot from early position you will probably have to fold if someone raises. However, from late position you can often see a flop cheaply which is the only way you can realistically play this hand unless you plan to bluff with it.
Third, if you are in late position and people have folded or limped to you, showing weakness, you can often raise with any two cards and potentially take down the pot right there. Making the same raise from early position is vastly more dangerous as you are far more likely to have someone wake up behind you with a big hand when there are 6 or 7 hands that haven't shown their strength than if you have just 1 or 2 hands left to get through.
B) Comparative hand strengths
Under the gun raises to 3 times the blind, 2 people call, and you are in the big blind with A/6. Should you call?
The first thing we established was starting hands. So you put your opponent on a range of hands. Here is where knowing your opponents comes into play. For arguments sake we will say you know the UTG raiser is a fairly tight player who pretty much only plays the top 10 hands, the first caller is a somewhat loose player who will play any Ace, any paint, any pair, and any suited connectors, and the third player is also a bit loose.
4 of the hands the open raiser might hold contain an Ace: Pocket Aces, A/Ks, A/Qs, A/K. To be honest, I have never seen anyone that tight in real life, you can pretty much figure in local type games they will have A/10 or better.
The other two are even less likely to hold an Ace as their range of hands is much broader. Let's be mean to ourselves, though, and say the open raiser exposed his cards and has A/K. You KNOW you are a 3-1 underdog to him. Would you call, KNOWING you are behind?
Surprisingly...yes, you should. Let's keep our 1/200 blind structure. He raised to 600, 2 players called, so you need to call 600 to make 2400, not counting the blinds. You are getting 4-1 on your chips and are only a 3-1 underdog. Now, take the same situation where you are the raiser with your A/6. You limp in for 200, everyone folds to the big blind who shows A/K and raises to 600 ...now you need to call 600 to make 1400 (your 200, his 600, your 600) or 2.33-1 and you are a 3-1 underdog...you fold. Same cards, different positions, different potential return on investment. Which leads us to
C) Position
Assuming 8 handed game, early position will be the first 2-3 people, depending on their aggression; middle position, again 2 - 3 people and late position 2 - 3 people. Note that late position pre-flop is, except for the dealer button, early position after the flop. For example, if you are the big blind, you are late position pre-flop because you are last to act. After the flop, however, only the small blind will ever act BEFORE you. So you have become early position.
The primary reason this matters is for information. Let's assume you pick up a mediocre hand, say...pocket 9s. High enough to have under cards on the flop but still likely to see a flop where at least one over card hits the board. If you are in early position you face a risky proposition; if you limp someone is likely to raise it which will give you a tough decision; are they sensing weakness in you and making a move or do they have a monster? If it is just 2 high cards...say, A/J...you are "in a race" where it is so close to 50/50% to win or lose that you can play it. But if they have a higher pair...say, Jacks...you are now crushed, a 4-1 underdog, and likely to lose a large percentage of your stack. If you are in middle position you already have a sense of the strength of hands of the first 6 people and are more likely to know whether you should play the hand or not. If you are in late position it becomes an easy decision; if there is light action you can play them cheap and hope for a favorable flop, if there is heavy action you can fold. In late position, judging by who folded, limped, called, or raised you should be able to put people on a range of hands and thus can decide whether to play your mediocre hand or not.
2) How do my cards compare to those of my opponents?
A) put opponents on a range
It is a great feeling to be able to tell your opponent what cards he held while those cards are face down. It is also very difficult. Usually you don't need to know the exact cards they have...just a range of hands they might play to see if you should continue in the hand or not. Example: You have pocket 10s and raise from late position. The big blind calls, everyone else folds. The flop comes Kd/Qd/2c. You raise and he re raises. Do you fold, call, re-raise, or move all in?
The answer is "it depends".
If you are playing someone "tight" they have a narrow range of hands at this point; they are representing a hand that can beat either the King or Queen or they have a draw. That means they have Pocket Aces, they have the King or Queen (or both), 2 diamonds, or something like J/10.
If you are playing someone a bit looser then you can add any pocket pair, hands like A/10, A/J where they are praying for that miracle straight, or even something like A/rag where the Ace is a diamond and they want the runner runner for a flush.
Against the tight player you fold. Against some loose players you call, against others you re-raise, maybe even all-in if you put them on a bluff or a weak hand. It just depends on what range of hands you believe they will A) call you pre-flop and then B) re-raise you with. How do you figure that out?
I. What types of hands have they played?
Even when not involved in a hand, watch every hand. Your goal is to see as many hands shown as possible. If you watch a guy play 20 hands, 10 he does not show and the other 10 are only shown at a showdown, he wins 9 of those...you can assume he is a tight player and seldom has anything but a monster when he plays. In the example above you would fold.
Conversely, if you see him show everything from pocket Aces to a pair of deuces you can assume he is much, much looser and now you either call or re-raise. Whenever possible, reconstruct the hand to see when he likes to call, when he likes to raise or re-raise, and what it takes to get him to fold.
II. How do they play them? I.E. top pair, set, draw...do they raise or call?
3) Raising, calling, or folding
Should you raise, call, or fold? A lot of people tend to just call. This can work if you know when to get out of hands but it really limits your options. If you just call your opponent controls the size of the bet, when there is a bet, and thus will win a lot of pots that he shouldn't. If you just raise you risk running into someone who is slow-playing the nuts. In short, you need to mix up your play.
A) Standard raise theory
A good standard raise is 3 times the blind. If the blinds are 25/50, you are first to act, you typically want to raise to 150. Many people adjust this a bit. For example, 2 people limp in, then you raise, some people add 1 blind per person who has entered it so in this case you would raise to 250.
B) When to limp, when to raise, when to fold
It depends on the types of players seated at the table with you. If you are in with action oriented players who like to see a lot of flops cheaply you can limp with a lot of hands you would typically fold. Conversely, if they only ever enter for a raise then you should raise more, call less. Here is an example of why.
You limp in, the opponent raises strong, you look at your 3s and release your hand. The next time you limp in he is likely to raise no matter what cards you have. Conversely, if you are the one who raises, your opponent folds, the next time he limps you do not even need to look at your cards, just raise.
C) Few folds are bad folds but sometimes you have to play back; defending your blind
Sometimes you need to defend your blind. Pay attention to the table. If someone raises every time you are in the blinds it does not mean he has a hand. He might sense weakness in you and be trying to steal your blinds. If you see someone doing this, "play back" at them. The next time they raise, come over the top and re-raise them. If you do not have the courage for that, at least pay to see the flop and if there is anything to work with, take a stab at that. If you do not, they will raise your flop every time no matter what cards they have.
4) Basic odds
Sometimes you think you are behind and need to decide whether to call or not. All you need are basic math skills and a general sense of how much is in the pot.
"The Rule of 2" allows you to quickly figure your percentage chance of hitting a needed card. Say you have an 8/10 and the flop comes A/J/9. At the moment you have nothing but a straight draw. Someone you put on an Ace raises. Should you call? The first thing you do is count your outs. In this case there are 8: if any 7 or Queen falls, you figure to hit your straight and that figures to be the best hand. 8x2 = 16 so you have roughly a 16% chance to hit your card. If this is a flop your actual percentage chance is 34.24% so you are close enough. You will win about 32% of the time, or roughly a third, so if you are getting 2-1 or better on your chips then you can call. If you are getting less then you should fold.
However, don't forget "counterfeited odds". Example:
I had K/10 diamonds, the villain had pocket Jacks. The flop came K/J/2, 2 diamonds. In theory I have 9 outs to make a flush; however, the Jack on the board is a diamond leaving me 8 outs. But not so fast; if another King or deuce falls, he makes a boat. I have the king but the 2 is his, so now I have 7 outs. Regardless of what falls on the turn, if it is not a diamond it takes away one more out since it will also give him a full house and thus a higher hand so you can say that 2 of my theoretical 8 outs are "counterfeited" and in truth I have just 6 outs. Now I need to get 8-1 on my chips to make the call.
That will get you started. More next time, mostly on flop, turn and river play, though some of that was covered here.
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