Small Stakes No-Limit Hold’em Excerpt: Ace-Jack Offsuit In The Small Blind
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Here’s another quick excerpt from the new e-book Small Stakes No-Limit Hold’em. This excerpt represents one of the many, many hand examples in the new book. If you haven’t seen it, also check out last week’s excerpt The Light 3-Bet.
Ace-Jack Offsuit In The Small Blind
Stacks are $200. Everyone folds to you in the small blind, and you make it $8 with A 
J 
. The 29/8 big blind calls. He is a passive player and slightly on the loose side. Keeping in mind that this is a blind versus blind battle, and also that he views you as being fairly aggressive, you expect him to have a fairly wide range of hands here. That means pretty much anything playable, although he would probably have reraised with a premium hand.
The flop comes Q 8 
5 
. You c-bet $12 into the $16 pot. He calls. The turn is the K . Should you check and give up, or should you fire again?
This is an excellent spot for a second barrel, and you should definitely bet again. Your opponent’s range is weak. He flat called a likely blind steal preflop, and then he called your flop bet on a fairly dry board. His most likely hand is one weak pair or a gutshot. The overcard king is unpleasant for most of the hands in his range. You have good fold equity, and a big turn bet will take down the pot a high percentage of the time.
Players sometimes see the king on the turn and think, “Oh, I picked up a gutshot. And because it’s a scare card, if I check, he’ll probably check and let me draw to my straight for free.” This is another classic example of overestimating implied odds and underestimating fold equity.
It’s true that if you check the turn, he’ll often check behind. So what? That just confirms what you already suspect, which is that his hand is weak. Even if you hit one of your meager four gutshot outs on the river, you don’t stand to make very much money. Further, checking the turn makes it harder to steal on the river when you miss. A checked turn means a smaller pot on the river, which makes it easier for him to call your bluff. Plus, by checking the turn you give him a free card to improve, which would give him another reason to call your river bet.
When your opponents’ ranges are weak, think first about stealing and then about making the best hand. Even when you have some pot equity, don’t ignore your folding equity.
Tags: barreling, blind versus blind, matt-flynn, no-limit-holdem, poker, small stakes no-limit hold'em, ssnlhe, sunny-mehta
So if he called your bet on the turn would you fire a third barrel on the river (if a total blank came like 3h)?