Q&A #112: How To Get Away From “Big” Hands When You’re Beaten

Don't miss one article! Subscribe to the Full Feed RSS or get NPA in your inbox.

In no-limit, fairly frequently you have to lay down “big” hands like top pair, top kicker or a medium two pair because your opponent is representing something even bigger. Unfortunately, these are also sometimes hands you want to beat your opponent into the pot with. It can be hard to figure out if this is a, “I need to lay this top pair down,” situation, or if it’s a, “Woohoo, got my money in good,” situation. Today’s questioner, ouird, is struggling with these situations:

video #480.
Ed plays four tables of 25NL on Full Tilt. The video is aimed at microstakes players. Concepts presented include very aggressive blind stealing from the button and a river value min-raise. [Description of one of my Stoxpoker videos.]

you comment on not giving these [nitty] players any action, because you arent going to get much yourself. can you explain this to me a bit further. for some reason im not really “getting” the idea behind this statement. What do you mean by this?

i have a habit at this level of going broke on dry boards with hands like TPTK, 2 pair, (these are my major losers, and why im having trouble). ive recently started playing Pot Limit holdem on FullTilt, and having reasonable success, however still not the results i want to achieve. I also find myself really stat dependant, any ideas to get around this???

maybe you can give me some tips on how to reduce my losses with the above types of hands. i dont want to be calling a lot of pot/pot bets on the turn and river as that gets a bit expensive for the type of holding i have. but for whatever reason im unable to let them go. is there something i need to be thinking about when I get into these types of situations? i know its player dependant, but when is 2 pair good enough to play for stacks? I never like playing top pairs for stacks (though im guilty sometimes of doing it hehe).

Well, your question is a complex one. Top pair and medium-strength two pair hands are sometimes not so great to get your money in with, and sometimes you should beat your opponent into the pot with them. To tell what from what is all about hand reading, which is a mixture of knowing your opponent’s playing tendencies and reading the texture of the board/situation.

I’d suggest taking another look at the example hand from the video where I had AK and paid off to the river.

Full Tilt, $1/$2 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 5 Players
Hand History Converter by Stoxpoker

SB: $228.35 (114.2 bb)
BB: $333.75 (166.9 bb)
MP: $139.90 (70 bb)
CO: $200 (100 bb)
Hero (BTN): $318.70 (159.4 bb)

Pre-Flop: Hero is BTN with A K
MP folds, CO raises to $7, Hero calls $7, SB folds, BB calls $5

Flop: ($22) 5 A 3 (3 players)
BB checks, CO bets $18, Hero calls $18, BB calls $18

Turn: ($76) T (3 players)
BB checks, CO bets $58, Hero calls $58, BB folds

River: ($192) 6 (2 players)
CO bets $117 and is all-in, Hero calls $117

Results: $426 pot ($3 rake)
CO showed J K (a flush, King high) and won $423 ($223 net)
Hero mucked A K (a pair of Aces) and lost (-$200 net)

I talk about this hand in detail on the Stoxpoker video referenced above. The short story is that my opponent was an extremely nitty player (6-max preflop stats like 13/8 if I recall), and I was on some take a stand tilt when I played the hand. (In fact, I managed to screw up on every street, and it’s probably the worst hand I’ve played all year.) Against this player, I can lay the hand down fairly easily on the turn when he comes out firing on the flush card, and it’s a no-brainer river laydown.

That was a really bad payoff because my opponent was super nitty and because there was a prominent flush on board. Those two factors combined made it very unlikely my opponent was trying to value bet something that my one pair hand could beat.

Here’s a good test. If your opponent makes a big bet and you have a hand that you think is probably no good, but you don’t feel like you can let it go, ask yourself two questions:

1. Could my opponent be value betting a hand that I beat? Try to think of legitimate hands your opponent could be trying to bet for value that you have beaten. Often they are hard to come up with if you are realistic about your opponents’ play style (because many players tend to be wusses and don’t value bet their decent, but not great, hands).

2. Could my opponent be bluffing… and if he’s bluffing, what sort of hand is he likely to have given the way the hand has played out. I’m talking about busted flush draws, busted straight draws, etc. When opponents shove on you on the river, they typically either have a great hand or their bluffing – those in-between hands get checked down or get small value bets. So think about what bluffs are reasonable.

If you can’t come up with hands your opponent is value betting that you beat, and there aren’t a lot of obvious busted draws or other hands he could have that have no value now, well your top pair or so-so two pair are probably no good and you can fold.

If you find this article helpful please support the site to help keep the poker strategy tips coming.

 Print :: Trackback :: Respond ::