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Hand Discussion #1: My Thoughts

Posted on Mon Jan 29, 2007 06:25:46 PM
Filed under Adjusting Your Play, Hand Discussions, Limit Hold 'em

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Here are my thoughts about the hand I posted yesterday. It’s a shorthanded game against aggressive players. One of the most important skills in that environment is adaptation. You have to react and adjust to your opponents. Against loose and passive players, you can often be shamelessly exploitative, playing hands in the “obvious” way that maximizes your earn. In short, aggressive games, though, you have to be unpredictable. You also have to punish players who have designs on dominating the game and stealing all the little unclaimed pots.

For convenience, I’ll repost the hand below.

No individual reads, but based on what I’ve seen so far, the table seemed to be loose and aggressive.

Party Poker 5/10 Hold’em (5 handed)

Preflop: Hero is SB with J :spade: , 9 :spade:
UTG calls, 1 fold, Button calls, Hero completes, BB checks.

Flop: (4 SB) 7 :spade: , 4 :spade: , 3 :club: (4 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, UTG checks, Button bets, Hero calls, BB folds, UTG folds.

Turn: (3 BB) 5 :heart: (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets, Hero raises, Button calls.

I was planning to bet any river card.

River: (7 BB) 9 :diamond: (2 players)
Hero bets, Button folds.

Final Pot: 8 BB

This is a small, unraised pot in an aggressive game. You flopped a flush draw and two (admittedly weak) overcards. That’s quite a strong draw. Chances are you hit this flop harder than any of your opponents, and you should consequently play the hand that way.

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9 Responses to “Hand Discussion #1: My Thoughts”

Kyle
@ Mon Jan 29, 2007 06:54:10 PM
1

Good response Ed. Not sure why I’ve been so weak-tight lately, but this was a ‘duh’ moment for me.

Ed Miller
@ Mon Jan 29, 2007 07:06:12 PM
2

Kyle,

It’s actually one reason I picked this hand for the first discussion. I sort of expected some of the responses to be on the weak-tight side, and I think many of them were.

It’s important to remember that you need to bluff/semi-bluff/push draws relatively frequently to push people off weak hands and to provide cover for your made hands.

It’s easy to get disheartened because they “always call you down” or “they always have something,” but the fact is, they don’t, and they don’t. You have tons of equity and plenty of leverage. I’m going to push pretty hard most of the time when I catch a flop like this.

JJS
@ Mon Jan 29, 2007 07:57:41 PM
3

OK that’s the hero’s point of view but what about the button? I was amazed to see that he folded on the river for a single BB in an 8 BB pot! Getting 8 to 1 odds I would call with anything, even deuce high!

(Yes I know there’s no such thing as deuce high… ) :)

Ed Miller
@ Mon Jan 29, 2007 08:01:33 PM
4

That’s just it, though. I think I remember reading in one of the comments on the original post that they would check the river because no one would call the checkraise and then fold to a river bet.

But obviously people will, and they do. People show up with weird hands, and they fold weird hands too.

timprov
@ Tue Jan 30, 2007 07:53:46 AM
5

Plenty of hands will call the checkraise and fold to the river bet; notably another spade draw, which is by far villain’s most likely hand.

A better question is why on earth do we want villain to fold to a river bet here? I’m all for firing when we miss, but let’s induce a bluff or a too-thin value bet when we make top pair. Unless villain is extremely weak he’s never folding a better hand.

Ed Miller
@ Wed Jan 31, 2007 12:01:04 PM
6

timprov,

I’ve seen people fold two pair or even a set in situations like this to the “obvious” straight.

I’ve also seen people call with worse hands like A7. If you don’t fear a bluff-raise, then I like the bet for the two-way value. You might get a worse hand to call, and you might get a better hand to fold.

Ed Miller
@ Wed Jan 31, 2007 12:01:50 PM
7

Though against the right players, obviously checking to induce a bluff might be better. I just think that betting has value against many opponents as well.

Bobby Bass
@ Fri May 18, 2007 12:06:04 PM
8

This was an interesting scenario. Although I consider myself somewhat tight-aggressive, I would be still so worried about betting and raising that hard with simply a flush draw.

Given my luck, I’d be taken out with a straight, or trips. LOL

IMHO Ed, the SSH book is the one I have found invaluable and have stuck with along (especially the questions) with the chart on Hold ‘em for Adv plyrs. Although Im starting to find online opponents much more aggressive, Ive still been able to manage an alright standing.

Cheers.

MrAmbiguous
@ Thu Mar 13, 2008 12:08:22 PM
9

I Quote

“Overall strategy is something not many players think about much, but it’s a critical concept the higher you go and the more aggressive and attentive your opponents are. Poker is not a series of independent trials, like roulette or craps. It’s more an interconnected web. What you do this hand affects all your future hands. It will have a psychological effect on your opponents, and it will cause them to change the way they read your hands.”

thought it was worth repeating to be honest…great article aswell,it is a good way to balance-mix your game while keeping up the aggression.And in this article being in a short aggressive game ,it is another good way to fight back and keep them at bay i suppose…plus i think its a good way to set up future plays, especially if they think they know what you’re doing?

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