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Thoughts on betting strategies

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  1. #1

    Default Thoughts on betting strategies

    I was giving some thought to my betting strategies in situations where I have the nuts. Here is what I find myself doing. Please offer any comments based on critique of my betting strategy or what you guys do in similar situations.

    There are basically only 2 situations that you will find yourself in when you have the nuts. Either you take the aggressive approach and you will either get callers or everyone will fold to you. If you get a re-raisethen even better but I find that that rarely happens for me in my online experience when I am sporting the nuts. Or, someone else will show aggression in the the hand.

    If no one shows any aggression with a raise or re-raise, I will usually check or call a small bet to see the next card hoping that it will improve someone else's hand. If it does not appear to do so I will raise and just try to take the pot right there knowing that it is unlikely that I will see any action.

    However, if I see someone show aggression in the hand, I tend to let them continue with that aggression feigning power all the way through to the end of the hand checking to them. I will usually not come over the top of them with a re-raise when I can sense that they are headed toward going all-in on their own without any help from me re-raising them and forcing the action. I will from time to time re-raise just to show the table that I don't always slow play the nuts.

    Should I be more forceful with a re-raise more often or do you feel that this is an effective way to play the nuts? Seems to be working for me right now.
    "The urge to gamble is so universal and it's practice is so pleasurable, that I assume it must be evil." - Heywood Broun
  2. #2
    Here is a case-in-point. This hand was actually played at Ultimate Bet but I modified the hand history format so that it could be played back on the PartyPoker Hand Replayer (what a pain in the ass that was!). But I know it's sooooooooo much easier to watch a hand through the replayer than sifting through the text of the hand history:

    ***** Hand History for Game ????????? *****
    0/0 TexasHTGameTable (NL)
    Table Card Room Table XXXX (Real Money) -- Seat 4 is the button
    Total number of players : 8
    Seat 1: Player1 ( $60.45)
    Seat 2: Player2 ( $23)
    Seat 3: Player3 ( $35.25)
    Seat 4: Player4 ( $49.05)
    Seat 5: Player5 ( $24.30)
    Seat 6: ME ( $47.40)
    Seat 7: Player7 ( $46.80)
    Seat 8: Player8 ( $39.35)
    Player5 posts small blind (0.25)
    ME posts big blind (0.50)
    ** Dealing down cards **
    Dealt to ME [ Qd, Qc ]
    Player7 calls (0.50)
    Player8 raises (1) to 1
    Player1 folds.
    Player2 folds.
    Player3 folds.
    Player4 folds.
    Player5 calls (0.75)
    ME raises (1.50) to 2
    Player7 calls (1.50)
    Player8 raises (2) to 3
    Player5 folds.
    ME calls (1)
    Player7 calls (1)
    ** Dealing Flop ** : [ 5h, Td, 8c ]
    ME checks.
    Player7 checks.
    Player8 checks.
    ** Dealing Turn ** : [ Qh ]
    ME bets (10)
    Player7 raises (40) to 40
    Player8 folds.
    ME calls (30)
    ** Dealing River ** : [ 2d ]
    ME checks.
    Player7 bets (3.80) to 3.80
    Player7 is all-in
    ME calls (3.80)
    ** Summary **
    Main Pot: $97.60 | Rake: $2
    Board: [ 5h Td 8c Qh 2d ]
    Player1 balance $60.45, didn't bet (folded)
    Player2 balance $23, didn't bet (folded)
    Player3 balance $35.25, didn't bet (folded)
    Player4 balance $49.05, didn't bet (folded)
    Player5 balance $23.80, lost $0.50 (folded)
    ME balance $96.20, bet $46.80, collected $95.60, net +$48.80 [ Qd Qc ] [ three of a kind, queens -- Qd,Qc,Qh,Td,5h ]
    Player7 balance $0, lost $46.80 [ Kc Kh ] [ a pair of kings -- Kc,Kh,Qh,Td,8c ]
    Player8 balance $36.35, lost $3.00 (folded)


    I felt pretty comfortable that Player7 didn't have the J9 for the straight based on the fact that he stayed pre-flop with a $3 raise on the table. The board probably couldn't have been much better for me in that I hit my set and no card higher than his KK came up and there was no flush opportunity along with my feelings that he did not hold the cards for the straight. I put him on KK or AA.

    Back to my betting strategy. My $10 bet on the turn was meant to see if he would fold or come out firing and as you can see, he came out guns a blazin'! Since he was showing the aggression, I could just feel him heading toward going all-in. I felt that I could ride this hand out with him eventually going all-in on his own by just calling his bets.

    Looking back, that was probably too big a bet on the turn. I would have probably been better served to bet perhaps half the pot ($5) instead. However, as it turns out it didn't matter. When that Q came up on the turn and I bet he probably assumed I was chasing the straight.

    Any thoughts? Also, this just happens to be my biggest pot and I just wanted to share my good fortune with all of you!
    "The urge to gamble is so universal and it's practice is so pleasurable, that I assume it must be evil." - Heywood Broun
  3. #3
    Fnord's Avatar
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    Per the orginal question.

    What I do when I think I got a lock on the hand depends on the player. Generally I like to put out a small bet to see if anyone has a likely second best hand. Since there are so many call stations at low limits, it works well for them too. If no one is game, I don't like giving away lots of cards in hope someone catches up, just in case they catch up too much. For super-aggressive opponents, I show weakness. Slow play works here because they'll try to take down the pot with pretty much nothing. Less than half pot bets work too. If I sense a strong second best hand it out, I'll drop a big bet (bear trap.)

    Another trick that works is betting out half to 2/3 of someone stack. They won't see it as an all-in, so they may call with less thought or figure they're pot committed and come right back at you. Did that to a guy tonight when my straight (I had been semi-bluffing the flop + turn and was about to put up the white flag) hit on the river. I guess he really liked his two pair...

    Per the hand, what an idiot.

    The raise for an extra $1 was marginal. My best guess is he thought you might play back at him with a lesser hand allowing him to go over the top, however the price was he gave away his hand. I like the play better if he made it $2 more to go since I doubt that would have folded you out and with more money out there would be more incentive to play back.

    I don't like his check on the river. It's just begging someone with a smaller pocket pair to make a set and bust him out or an Ace to come on the turn. He just had a pair of kings, he had to bet it out with something to make the baby pairs go home. If top pair isn't around to pay him off, so be it.

    I'm not so sure about your check though. It's pretty easy to put Player7 on Jacks, Big Slick or Big Chick. I probably would have bet it out there.

    The full pot bet on the turn was pretty aggressive, but he probably read you for buying the pot or he thought he had a live one with AQ. Not the bet I would have made, but then again I don't make those kind of bets very often even when I'm buying. At that point it was going nuclear and it's hard to beat top set. If I were him, I would have just called you down. He way overplayed his super-pair and paid you off big for it.
  4. #4
    Fnord - Thanks for your comments. As I wrote in the 2nd post, looking back at the hand in the replayer I wasn't sure that I played that hand exactly textbook either. My thinking during the hand was as follows: I didn't think my check after the flop was that bad a play. My thinking was that if I checked after the flop and he bet big I probably would've laid down my Qs right there thinking that he had AA or KK (based on his $3 pre-flop raise. I put him on one of those hands right off which is why I wasn't afraid of the straight draw, not to mention that his crazy raise after the turn almost certainly wouldn't be made by someone chasing a straight) especially when no help seemed to come for either of us on the flop. When he checked the flop and allowed me to see the turn for free which then made my set I think I probably got a bit excited and wanted to just buy the pot right there and then because I still had him on AA or KK and didn't want to take a chance of the river giving him a better set. However, knowing that I had the best hand at that point I didn't even hesitate to call his $30 raise.

    In any event, I truly appreciate your examination and comments of the hand. The information that I've gleaned from the better players (and Fnord, from what I've read from your posts, I consider you one of the better players on this board) has truly helped my play. I'm still learning but I feel that I am getting better and I owe much of it to this site and the contributors to it.

    BTW, does anyone know if there is anything resembling the Party Poker Hand Replayer for any other poker sites (namely Ultimate Bet)? I wanted to convert that hand history to the PP replayer because i wanted to make it easier for you all to give me your comments on the hand, but as i stated, it was a pain to convert the format from UB format to PP format to get it to run in the replayer.
    "The urge to gamble is so universal and it's practice is so pleasurable, that I assume it must be evil." - Heywood Broun

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