I’ve been into local free rolls in my area. Well, I play two or three times a week. Most of the time, I face bunch of players with different approaches.

Majority of the players I come to face are loose type making it hard for me to steal pots even with a preflop raise and a continuation bet. On the better side, I still can make it to the final table in just almost half the time. There’s just one situation I can never forget.

In early position back then, I had a decent hand, AKs, AK, AQs, AQ. For approximately three times the BB I raised and then got several callers. Flop came but of no help. Later, turn came but of also no help to me, I haven’t made a hand still. At such point, I was in doubts if placing another bet will be a good move.

If you were me, will you place another bet? Well, personally I want to place another one to obtain more info. Also, if I was back in position, how would the situation change? Do you think for free card, I should just check it down to the river and then wait and see if other player place a bet on the river? What do you think?

Your help will be much appreciated.

Thanks!

John
John,

If you raised preflop, you need to make a continuation bet on the flop. If you get called, then you must make a decision to either fire a bluff on the turn or check. The same goes for if the hand is in position except for the fact that on the turn, you will want to almost automatically fire a second bet into the pot to play your position.

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Hand 1:

There were eight players. Player 1 was Rich with 54137. Player 2 was Wesley with 129679. Player 3 was Elija with 197197. Player 4 was Noah with 45939. Player 5 was Mike with 182007. Player 6 was Perry with 222544. Finally, player 8 was Benj with 54593. All figures by the way were in chips.

At certain point, Rich posted the ante 400. This was followed by Wesley, Elija, Noah, Mike, Perry, and Ben who all posted the ante 400. Mike then posted small blind 4000 while Perry the big blind 8000.

Noah then was dealt Jh Ah. Ben raised to 1600. Rich folded and so as Wesley and Elija. Noah raised to 45539 and was all-in actually. Mike and Perry then folded. Ben called 29539. Flop came and was Ts 8c 5d. Turn followed and brought Ts 8c 5d Th. River as expected then also came and brought Ts 8c 5d Th Qs.

At revelation time, Ben flipped over Ks Qh two pair, Queens and Tens while Noah had Jh Ah a pair of Tens. Ben then got the pot.

Hand 2:

There were nine players. Player 1 was Terrence with 11780. Player 2 was Avie with 21364. Player 3 was Sam with 7314. Player 4 was Zeck with 8808. Player 5 was Axel with 6650. Player 6 was Sean with 7405. Player 7 was Dean with 9430. Player 8 was Norman with 8379. Finally, player 9 was Iñaki with 11845. All figures were in chips.

Terrence started the posting. He posted the ante 50. Avie, Sam, Zeck, Axel, Sean, Dean, Norman, and Iñaki all followed and posted the ante 50 as well. Zeck then posted small blind 300 while Axel posted the big blind 600.

Later, Norman was dealt Kc Ac. Sean then folded and so as Dean. Norman called for 600. Iñaki raised to 1200. Terrence, Avie, Sam, Zeck, and Axel all folded. Norman then called for 600 again. Flop then came and was 7c 6c 8h. Norman placed a 600 bet while Iñaki called 600. Turn came and brought 7c 6c 8h Ad. Norman placed 1200 bet while Iñaki again called, at such point 1200. River came and brought 7c 6c 8h Ad Qc. Norman then checked while Iñaki placed 3000 bet. Norman then raised to 5329 and was all-in. Iñaki called 2329.

At showdown, Norman had Kc Ac a flush, Ace high while Iñaki had Jd Ah a pair of Aces. Norman won the pot.

Aside from the two recent hands, I would like to also share to you something and eventually ask a few questions.

In one of your sections, I’ve read that you believe the player has played the second hand perfectly. I’m referring here about the player who had a couple of tournament hands. I’m sorry but I have to disagree. Well, I believe that you must be 100% sure that when you check, your opponent will bet. I also somehow believe that to make more money, do not risk a check raise and place a nice bet just enough and not too huge to invite a call. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Regards,
Deluzio
Deluzio,

You’re right. In order to check there, he needs to be certain that his opponent will bet. I think in the situation above, that checking will make it appear that he is scared of the flush. One of the opponents probably read on this and acted. If that is the case, I think it was a good play.

In either case, you must be sure your opponent is going to be to try that move. Actually, in many tournaments, if you do not bet on the river and are shown to hold the nuts, you can receive a penalty for soft playing.

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I’ve just started playing online limit holdem. Occasionally, I play low limit tournaments with $5-$10 buy-in.

I’ve always been a keen observer. Well, there was one thing that really bothered me for some time, many players always call terrible pre-flop hands and then go on calling bets as well as raises. Well, I strongly believe that such kind of play won’t ever be beneficial, however somebody will always have something on the turn or if not on the river.

Do you think playing NL holdem tournaments will be the answer? Will this eliminate such kind of players or I’ll just hope when I’m already in higher limits? What do you think?

Thanks!

Phillips
Phillips,

It depends on the hands. Limit Holdem is different than No-Limit Holdem. Some hands that are considered bad hands in NL become playable in Limit depending on position, number of players in the hand, etc.

Playing NL will help some, but I would recommend educating yourself on Limit Holdem. Howard Lederer has a fantastic Limit Holdem DVD and Ed Miller has a book on Small Stakes Holdem. I would get one or the other and read up on the game.

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I’ve read a magazine focusing mainly on casino stuff. In one of its articles, it was stated that “If you just call somebody on the river rather than raising them, you hurt all other players in the tournament. It’s not ethical poker, so don’t do it”. I don’t exactly understand what it means. Can you help me?

Thanks!

Regards,
Crocker
Crocker,

The only thing that I can think that this article is talking about is just calling on the river when you have the nuts. In tournament poker, if you do not bet or raise with the nuts on the river, then this is considered soft playing, which is a form of cheating.

Otherwise, there are many times that calling on the river is the appropriate play. Don’t worry about that unless you have the nuts. If you have the nuts, raise.

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Just yesterday, I was in a friendly tourney. At certain point, I mucked my straight flush draw on the river based on pot odds and then later on realized the card I should have. And so I started questioning myself afterwards about pot odds. Are they really significant in tourneys?

Well, I personally believe that in ring games, pot odds are significant in the event you want to play with probabilities and then keep them on your favor. Any thoughts?

By the way, since I’m already hear, I’ll just grab the chance. I’ll share a bad beat story. It’s about me being beaten by a player who called my all-in with a straight draw on the river. I had AAA. Mid part when he knew he needed a 9. Later on the river he got what he needed, a 9.

Any comment about my bad beat story?

Thanks!

Regards,
Donnovan
Donnovan,

When you are at the river, the hand is complete, you either hit your draw or you miss it. I’m assuming based on you saying that you had a draw that you actually was on the turn. If you did not have pot odds to make the call, then you were correct to fold.

Pot odds do play a significant role in tournaments. Sometimes it makes the difference in calling when you have a big draw and sitting back waiting for a better spot.

As far as your bad beat story, unless your all-in bet was less than 8% of the pot, this was a bad call by your opponent. When you have 4 outs on the turn, you have around an 8% chance of hitting your hand.

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Just last Saturday, I was in a tournament for $10,000. We started with 70 players and then was down to 9 at each table, there were 2 final tables. Blinds were at $4000-8000 and then will move up to $8000-16,000 when we finally have the next hand. $4000 chips, I was at the small blind. After posting, I have around $34000 chips.

Of course aside from the small blind, there were 8 other players around. Player 1, the big blind, had $40,000 chips after posting. Player 2 had around $70000 chips. Player 3 had around $180000 chips. Both players 2 & 3 called the big blind. Player 4 was next and folded. Player 5 had around $25-30,000 chips, he folded then. Player 6 had around $70,000 chips. Player 7 had around $50-60,000 chips. And finally, player 6 had around 25,000 chips. Players 6, 7, & 8 folded.

At some point, I was dealt a Q/5 off-suit. Flop then came and brought 6h 6s Qh. I was bothered after knowing this as about 20% somebody will be hitting the six. Well, this was just based on my instincts and observations. Because of this, I checked and so as everyone else, I was not hoping for it actually, I wanted somebody to throw out a bet.

Next card came and was an 8s. I then went all-in hoping that somebody might think I have the 6. Suddenly, bid blind called while two others folded.

I knew then he had a 6/7 clubs and I have my 2 pair. River card came and was a 2. Because of this, everything was over then for me.

Some hands came. Player 5 who is actually my friend was blinded out, K/9 spades to pair of 5s. We then went out, along with our another friend, we discussed what went wrong. Well, I believe that my mistake was going all-in then. Well I realized I should have thrown out a feeler bet, however I don’t have enough chips to do so. One of my friends on the other hand had made a mistake of not going all in, and most especially for laying down beforehand. I believe his play was moronic and everything else seemed like a joke and all. On the contrary, he believe he made the right decision as the flop/turn/river didn’t help him.

Up to now, we still argue every time we talk about what happened. Personally, how do you find the way I played? How about the way my friend played? Who’s right between the two of us?

I’m really open to suggestions and even criticisms so you can actually tell me everything. I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Thanks a lot for your time.

Regards,

Paul Jon
Paul,

First, you should have put out a bet on the flop to see where you were at. If you were raised, you could then fold. When you checked around and then moved all in on the turn, you were telling the person that you did not indeed have a six. Someone with a six there would have put in a smaller amount.

In regards to your friend, I don’t have enough information. If he was blinded out to the point where K-9 was his only choice to push with, than I would recommend he loosen up his requirements in later position some.

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Yesterday, I was in a home game with $20 buy-in, 1 re-buy. The starting was 20,000 chips while the blinds started at 100/200. If I can remember it right, blinds then increase every 20 minutes. There were around 24 players at 3 8p tables. Pay top 5. Luckily, I was able to reach the final table by which there were 8 others. I believe those 8 belonged to the average type. Good for me as no one from them can’t figure out mathematical odds but they can distinguish good from the bad starting hands and love to see flops in Ax and any 2 paint cards.

At some point, when the blinds were 3000/6000, I have 22,000 in chips. For low stack, I was tied with two other players and because of this, I wanted to push in. Later, in third position, I was dealt AdKh and then for 22,000 moved in. Consequently, 1 caller appeared. Then flop came and brought 972, 2 spades. Turn followed and brought As. At such point, I was 81% favorite and he had the spade on the river for the flush.

Later on, I thought of limping in and so he will call however some stuff like him calling afterwards with Q high flush draw on the river and the like should be considered.

Now, for my question, do you usually limp in more and out play players after they have seen their flop considering they only have 2 more cards coming to make their hand and they don’t know how to figure out odds and outs and just like “seeing flops” with good cards? Please help me, I have already lost a number of times at such instance.

Thanks in advance!

Regards,
Nedwick
Nedwick,

With the amount of chips that you had there, pushing all-in was a good idea. You want maximum value for your chips and you had enough to pick up the blinds without confrontation. If someone calls and you win, you are in decent shape.

As far as limping in with big hands, you should stay away from that. You don’t want to invite people to outdraw you. Limping into pots should be reserved for hands you want to see a cheap flop with and catch lucky.

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