Q&A #22: Out of Position with a Tough River Decision

Paul:

In general, be more inclined to open with A7s (or other marginal hands) if there is a soft, predictable player on the button. Your opponent who likes to stick around in hands and make big moves on late streets… well, that’s a bad player to have on the button. There’s really no such thing as a “default” play in the cutoff. The playing tendencies of the button affects the decision too much.

For instance, you said you usually either buy the button or win the blinds. Do you think that “usually” statement was true in this case? How often are you picking up the blinds and/or playing in position in this scenario?

I’m not saying one way or the other… only you can know how your opponents play. But I am saying that how you should play A7s in that circumstance definitely depends on how your opponents play… and if you “always” play it the way you did, I think that’s a problem.

I hate to be a tease, but I think the book will answer your question in much greater depth.

Wil:

You’re right. There’s a LOT of jargon that poker players throw around. In fact, there’s little subsets of jargon. You’ll hear one term in an LA cardroom, a different one in a Vegas cardroom, and a different one still in Atlantic City. And on the internet… there’s a whole ‘net language all of its own.

Not only that, but new words pop up constantly. For instance, “float” is a relatively new term. I first started hearing it on the internet about three or four years ago. So is “donkey.” When I started playing, the bad players were “fish.” Now they’re “donkeys.” And “donkey” gave rise to calling plays “donk” plays. And then “donk” lost the “bad” meaning a little bit, and started meaning a sort of “odd.” A “donk bet” isn’t a bad bet… it’s an out of position bet when you check-called the previous round. Like if you check and call the flop, but then bet the turn, that’s a “donk bet.” Or, more simply, you “donked” the turn.

Anyway, I try to define the terms I use in books (at least define them for my target audience… I’ll define “nuts” in a beginner book, but not an intermediate one). But on my blog, I’m not so careful. So if there’s a term you don’t know, please just ask. They change constantly, and it’s hard to stay current with the fashion.

“Effective stacks” are defined in my book NLHTAP (No Limit Hold ‘em: Theory and Practice). No limit decisions depend strongly on the stack sizes. If someone says, “Effective stacks are 1k,” they mean, “everyone had about $1,000 for the hand… ignore any little differences.”

A “big ace” is an ace with a high kicker. Ace-king or ace-queen primarily. In context, it could also mean ace-jack or ace-ten. For instance, if you have A7 and flop a pair of aces, you’re worried about a “big ace” because someone with that hand has you beaten. In that context, you basically mean anyone with a better kicker than yours when you say “big ace,” but you particularly still mean ace-king or ace-queen.

Likewise, a “little ace” is an ace with a small kicker.

“Villain” and “hero” is internet shorthand when relaying hands. “Hero” is the person whose perspective the hand is relayed from. You know hero’s cards and have to decide what hero’s actions should be.

Villain is anyone else. Often there’s just one, but I guess you could say “villain 1″ and “villain 2.”

Anyway, thanks for stopping by, Wil, and feel free to ask about any other terms you don’t recognize.

It would be nice to have an up-to-date glossary of poker terms, but I wouldn’t want to have to maintain it… the terms change so fast.

Hi Zach,

Thanks a lot. I appreciate it.