more questions......

just some questions about situations I've gotten into where I don't know what to do:

1. Say there's 3-4 people in the pot including myself, I have a pp and flop bottom set on a suited board (neither of my cards match the suit). Do I have to check/fold here? Would a pf raise effect my decision here?

2. I raise 5xBB pf with KK and get 1 caller, someone else comes over the top, do I have to assume he has AA and fold?

3. Is there ever a time where I should bet/call/raise on the flop with anything less than top pair?

4. Say I have A9s (or any Axs with an avg kicker) and the flop is something like AK4. How do I react to a pot-sized bet...I assume he doesn't have AK or KK without a pf raise but is my kicker good enough to call or should I just save money and fold. Oh yeah, assuming I completely missed my flush draw.

1) if 2 of a suite, bet as much as you think they will call, but at LEAST 3/4 of the pot (even all in can be a great play here)

if 3 of a suite, check/call to the river hoping that the board pairs... if it does, take everything they have with your FH.

2) It's probally +EV to call, but fairly often your going to be against AA... Depends on the player really.

3) sure, if your last to act and no one has bet, then try to steal... dont keep bluffing though.

4) I'd fold.. thats probally a weak play, but unless i have a good read i'd fold.

lol at the first question.


You probably have the best hand at that time and you have a great draw for a full house. I play that aggro baby

-'rilla

Never ever put KK down preflop ever. If you have to pay AA off a coupla times then so be it. You'll be surprised at the crap some people will go over the top of you with.

2) All in. Every time. Never fold KK pre flop.

3) Heads up like at the end of a SnG for eg. In most general situations you ain't playin this and if you are, consider it bluffing, pot stealing or whatever.

4) I'd be inclined to fold. Also f you fold A9 preflop you wont have to make difficult decisions like this.

Originally Posted by bigredhoss

just some questions about situations I've gotten into where I don't know what to do:

1. Say there's 3-4 people in the pot including myself, I have a pp and flop bottom set on a suited board (neither of my cards match the suit). Do I have to check/fold here? Would a pf raise effect my decision here?

2. I raise 5xBB pf with KK and get 1 caller, someone else comes over the top, do I have to assume he has AA and fold?

3. Is there ever a time where I should bet/call/raise on the flop with anything less than top pair?

4. Say I have A9s (or any Axs with an avg kicker) and the flop is something like AK4. How do I react to a pot-sized bet...I assume he doesn't have AK or KK without a pf raise but is my kicker good enough to call or should I just save money and fold. Oh yeah, assuming I completely missed my flush draw.

1. With two of a suit on a board, bet out, close to pot sized. DONT give other people odds to draw out on you. Laeelin, I disagree with you strongly about to check/call if the board is entirely one suit. It is still overwhelmingly likely that have flopped the best hand. You HAVE to bet this, no question. Checking is about the worse thing you could do, because you really dont want to go to showdown on a suited flop. Bet to protect your hand from people with flush draws trying to suck out on you and force them to fold. If you get called/raised then its time to revalulate, but basically, I will concider a set on ANY board the nuts until someone hints otherwise by playing back at me or continually calling my large bets. And like laeelin said, you have 30%ish chance of improving to a full boat anyway, and then you can take all the chips from the flush. The scarrier the board, the stronger you must play your set.

2. Over the top. You pay off AA with KK virtually every time, because the chance that he is just being a douchebag and pushing over the top with AQ or KQ or some other garbage is just far too high for you to fold. You should be happy when someone pushes over the top of your raise if you hold KK.

3. This is an extremely difficult and complex question, one that is much to broad to be answered sufficently in a few short sentences. The short answer to this question is: Yes, absolutely. Here are some examples of times when you should "bet/call/raise on the flop with anything less than top pair":
-Sometimes you will sense that you hold the best hand even if its third pair or whatever. If you think you have everyone else beat, then bet and put money in while you are ahead (situationlly of course).
-Bet or raise if you think you can get everyone else to fold as a result.
-Call flop bets with any kind of draw that you are getting proper odds for.
-Sometimes its also advantagous to raise a bet on the flop with strong draws and position on the other players in the hand (this is called "jamming"). This serves two purposes. One, everyone else may just fold, and you will win a pot that you might have otherwise not have won. And two, it "puts opponents in their place" for the rest of the hand. When you raise someones bet, they are MUCH more likely to check the turn to you, giving you the chance to check behind and see the river for free.
-Sometimes it can even be right to go all in on the flop without even a pair. Say you hold Qh Jh and the flop is 2s 9h Th. If some guy bets into you, raising all in with only a draw in this situation with an open-ended straight flush draw is acutally a profitable move. you have about a 50% chance of completing one of your draws by the river, meaning that if he has, say AT on that board, you are tied with him to win on your draws alone. Then add to that the % chance that you might hit a Q or J to beat his top pair, and add to that the % chance he might just fold and you take down the pot right there. This adds up to be a quite profitable and unstressful move for you, because if you dont improve your hand on the turn it makes decisions alot harder. Its better to just get all your money in while you are a favorite to win.

These are just some examples situations that fit your question. You dont have to fully understand all these, but its more important to realize from this that poker is a very situational game and the words "Always" or
"Never" dont fit anywhere. There will always be an exception.

4. Hard question. This is also very situational. First off I fold A9 so I dont have to get into this difficult decision. Maybe if I have position on him I'll raise him for information about his hand and to prevent him from betting on later streets and getting me a cheap showdown with my TPWK, or sometimes if im out of position I may just muck my hand right there on the flop and avoid getting into it all together.

DONT give other people odds to draw out on you. Laeelin, I disagree with you strongly about to check/call if the board is entirely one suit. It is still overwhelmingly likely that have flopped the best hand. You HAVE to bet this, no question. Checking is about the worse thing you could do, because you really dont want to go to showdown on a suited flop.

This is only for low limits, but personally, i've found it impossible to know for sure when the fish are on a draw, or already have the flush.

I normally slowplay for a FH at that point... the idea being that you can lose a lot against a flush calling you down.... and then add in the chance of anothe of the suite landing, it's just very hard to make more than whats in the pot on the flop, and easy to lose your stack against a calling station that either gets lucky, or already has it with his 75s

But if you slowplay and the board pairs then you have a moster that will probally take someones entier stack...

Basically, I look at betting on the flop as having a decient chance of winning a small pot now, and check/calling as having a small chance of willing a large pot.

the pot and stack sizes are probally required to make a good decision here.

However, betting on the flop is probally better +EV, so as much as i hate to say it, your probally right...

1. Bet every time, if there are three of the suite and you are reraised consider folding according to reads
2. Reraise every time, pay of the AA in the rare occasion it does happen, more often then not you will find yourself vs AK, QQ or worse
3. Sure, in tons of situations, the first that comes to mind is continuation bets and draws when there are multiple players i the pot. As the table gets shotrhanded betting with middle or even low pair sometimes makes sense (in HU I usually bet every pair)
4. If you are not willing to bet the A9 when A comes on the board why play the hand in the first place ? Hoping to catch two pair ? Fold preflop and save yourself a world of pain

Was your question for NL or LHE?

Originally Posted by bigredhoss

2. I raise 5xBB pf with KK