Poker clinic

Willie Tann consoles a reader who had to lay down pocket Kings in a cash game

KING FOR A DAY

I was playing in an online no-limit six-handed $3/$6 cash game with a stack of about $1,500. The player in seat two raised to $21. He’d been fairly active anyway and his raise could literally have meant anything. It folded round to me in the small blind and to my delight I picked up K?-K? and re-raised it to $65.

The big blind had just joined so I had no idea what his range could be. He re-reraised it to $200. He had a stack of $1,200. At this point I was caught in a dilemma. My Kings definitely looked ripe for pushing, but being so deep-stacked I didn’t really want to put all my chips in if I didn’t need to. The other thing that got to me was the fact that this was the third raise – and doesn’t the re-reraise normally mean the person has Aces?

Anyway for right or wrong, I decided to call and the flop came a pretty disgusting 3?-A?-10?. It was checked all the way down to the river, at which point he bet $215. I was never planning on calling, but I let the timer run out instead because I was so frustrated that I had lost with Kings. What did I do wrong?
Eric, Blackpool

The re-reraise does mean Aces a lot of the time, but without any hard statistical evidence, I’d be uncomfortable with saying that you should take that as a given. What it does mean of course is that the big blind has one of three hands: Kings, Aces or Ace-King.

I don’t see many players putting in a re-reraise in this situation with Queens or Jacks. For this reason, I think your call is the right way to go. Going all-in is simply unnecessary when you are so deep- stacked. If he really does have Aces you are going to find out on later streets, so you want to keep the pot as manageable as possible.

Checking to him on the flop is definitely the right way to go because any substantial bet from him will almost certainly tell you he has an Ace. His check could mean two things. He doesn’t like the Ace or he has a set of Aces and wants to let you catch up.

On the turn, there is an argument for betting out about $200 to see where you are, but checking to him is by no means terrible. Now when he checks again, I’m quite sure he has a set of Aces and is waiting for you to catch up. His pre- flop play indicated that as a realistic possibility and unless he is a super- passive player, two checks in a row are surefire signs of a player desperate to make his opponent bet.

On the river his $215 bet is as clear a value bet as you can get – and fortunately you didn’t get tempted by it. I’m impressed that you lost as little as possible when you had such a strong starting hand.

EXTRACTION POINT

Probably a slightly different letter from what you usually get, Willie, but I was hoping you could advise me on a hand I played recently. Specifically how could I have extracted more from my opponent in this situation?

We were five-handed in a $2/$4 no-limit game and I was sitting with a stack of just over $400 in the big blind. I picked up one of my favourite hands, 10?-Q?. One of the players in middle position raised to $16 and I elected to just call. I had him just covered. Well, whaddya know – I flopped the nuts: 9?-J?-K?. I bet out $27 and my opponent, an extremely passive player, had a brief think and then called. The turn was the 7?. What’s the best line to take to get the most money?
Reg, Northumbria

From the pre-flop and flop action, I would say that your middle- position opponent either has A-J, K-Q or A-K or possibly a pair of tens. A-10 isn’t out of the question – although it’s a pretty loose call on his part if he’s chasing the gutshot.

Against an extremely passive player, the temptation might be to check the turn, but that would be a mistake. If he’s connected with the flop but unsure whether his kicker is good or whether his second pair is enough, he will probably check behind you hoping to improve. I think a bet of half the pot, say around $40, encourages your opponent’s calling- station mentality, as he starts to think he has the odds to call.

What that under-sized bet also does is project the idea that your hand can’t be that strong – again this might tempt him to call a small value bet on the river. At the end of the day, though, you’re not going to get this player’s entire stack unless he has a monster, but I think firing out a moderate bet on the turn allows you to bleed a few more chips from him.

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