Julian Thew’s Pro Views

SCENARIO ONE

You are playing in a 25p/50p eight-handed cash game. You have a £60 stack. You have been playing very tight and have not played a hand for well over an hour. The action is folded to you in mid-position and you look down at A?-A? and raise to £2.

The small blind calls, and the big blind, who has been catching big flops with a stack of £150 also calls. The flop comes 4?-4?-7?. The action is checked to you, and you bet £6. The small blind folds and the big blind calls. The turn is a K?. Once again the big blind checks to you and you fire again, this time betting £11 and once again the big blind calls. The river is a Q? and this time the big blind bets £41 putting you all-in. Can you call here and what do you make of the bet sizing so far?

Pre-flop
Raising here is a pretty standard play with Aces but once in a while I’ll limp in to vary the play. I think £1.50 would suffice but I don’t think making it four times the big blind is a problem.

Flop
The flop is a great one for Aces but with the two callers being in the blinds, it’s conceivable that one of them could have a 4. There are definitely worse flops to run into though, like 7-8-9 or 10-J-Q. There are no flush draws. You have to bet on that flop. Not knowing anything about him it’s difficult to know what our opponent could have called our flop bet with, but I’d say a 4, a 7, a 5-6 or any over-pair or perhaps two picture cards are all possibilities. In most respects you should be happy with the call.

Turn
The King on the turn should flush out most of the overpairs and the 7 but we still got a call. A Queen hit the river and he led for an oversized bet that put us all-in.

River
While on the one hand we’re not beating much other than K-x through to K-Q or an outright bluff, we’re also really losing to one or both remaining fours, 7-7 and  perhaps K-K. It really does come down to what we make of the player and what playing style he falls into. There is also a possibility that he might be pushing his rush a bit too far. I can call, but it’s very player and game flow dependant. If we piece together all the action it becomes apparent that there aren’t too many hands we lose to.

SCENARIO TWO

You are playing in a live £0.50/£1 six-handed cash game. You have built up a £225 stack at what you have found to be a pretty loose-passive table with a lot of check-calling and very little three-betting pre-flop. Your image is pretty loose-aggressive and you have not shown down many hands. You pick up A?-9? in the cut-off and open to £4.50.

While you are thinking he continuously stares at you, literally not taking his eyes off you. Do you call? What do you think of the play and is this a hand you would raise pre-flop with, normally? What do you make of his call on the flop? Is there a case for checking the turn and again what does his all-in mean?

Pre-flop
Raising one off the button in a six-handed game is fine regardless of your cards although I wouldn’t have bet four times the big blind – three times will get the job done just as well without swelling the pot too early in the hand.

Flop
I’d welcome his call on the flop especially because he’s a loose player and I would have to allocate him a very wide range.

Turn
Instead of betting £17.50 here, I might have gone for a bit of pot control and check. You’ve got top pair but your kicker is bang in the middle of the road. By opening up the betting again on the turn we have thrown all chances of a cheap showdown out the window and have allowed our opponent to re-push on us. You should check the turn and check/call the river unless we improve. If we’re feeling brave a value bet on the river might elicit a little pocket money in light of his two checks. I probably would have taken a free card on the turn, again, just to manage the size of the pot with a hand that is at the moment just top pair, weak kicker.

When he shoves, I’m less inclined to call purely because there are so many more hands that can beat us than could in Scenario 1. While our foe is the perfect candidate to make marginal calls against (he’s had a few drinks, he’s just lost a big pot) he may well be aware of his image and how best to use that against us. Again, it’s very read-dependant, but usually when something looks too good to be true, it is. I’d fold, hope he builds that stack up and catch him when you have a hand that can beat top pair.

SCENARIO THREE

You are playing in a six-handed $ 0.25/$ 0.50 game online and have a stack of $ 70. You are under the gun with A?-A?  and raise to $ 2. A mid-position player who you cover calls as does the button with a stack of $ 80. You have him pegged as a good tight-aggressive player.

The flop comes A?-K?-7? . You bet $ 4.50 and the mid-position player gets out of the way. The button thinks for a while and calls. The turn is a 10?. You bet $ 11.50 and the button once again thinks for a while using a large part of his time bank. Finally he min-raises to $ 23. What do you do here? Can you call or should you raise or even fold in this spot? What do you make of the play on all streets so far?

Pre-flop
Like scenario 1, it’s good to randomise your play by sometimes limping with Aces. In his book, Dan Harrington said a good way to do that is to look at your watch and if the second hand is in the last ten seconds, you limp with Aces and if it’s in the other segment you raise. I think there’s a case for limping with them about one in eight times but on the whole you’re definitely going to be raising.

Flop
You can’t really hit it much better than that. I would definitely bet it because there are some draws. A 10, Jack, Queen or a heart wouldn’t be good. Most people would just read your bet as a continuation bet. There’s $ 8.75 in the pot so I think the bet of $ 4.50 is a little small. I would make it 2/3 the pot.

Turn
It’s a kick in the nuts on the turn but I’d still be reluctant to fold. It’s rare that you get a perfect board in hold’em and this example typifies the problems we can often face, even with such a strong holding as this. A fold might be the prudent play, after all we only have $ 18 in the pot and are still sitting on a $ 52 stack, but to auto-fold this hand to a button raise, when a scare card falls, just feels a little too weak.

Min-raises are very hard to read and can depend a lot on your history with the player.  The options I now face are whether just to flat call or to raise to perhaps protect my hand from a random heart. By just calling the turn, you’re still out of position on the river and could face a tricky decision if another heart, Queen or Jack falls. Do you bet or do you check? Personally, I think that to fold top set in a six-handed game is a little too passive. With that in mind, I’m probably going to re-push here and if I’m beat either re-suck or take my medicine. I don’t think the stacks are big enough to re-raise and have a meaningful amount behind.