Smashing the Jacks-hammer

SCENARIO ONE

You’re playing in a $2/$5 no-limit hold’em cash game in Vegas and find J?-J? under the gun. It’s a fairly loose game where the standard raise has been to $20 or $25, so you jack it up to $25. You get called by the two players directly to your left and the rest of the table folds. The flop comes 9?-7?-7?. You bet $60 into the pot of $82. One player calls, the other folds. The turn is the K?. You think for a good 30 seconds and then check. The other guy quickly moves all-in for his remaining $165. There is now $367 in the pot and it’s $165 to call. What do you do?

PRE-FLOP

I don’t like the raise here. What’s the point of raising with Jacks from under the gun in a cash game? If you’re trying to represent strength and everyone believes you, you’ve picked up the blinds. If not, you’ve given your hand away, and if somebody re-raises you’re more than likely just going to fold. So basically you’ve risked $25 to win $7. And if you do decide to call a re-raise, you won’t know what to do on the flop unless you hit a Jack. Even if the flop comes less than a 10 you don’t know where you stand. Sure, it’s a loose game, but I’d much rather be smooth- calling here. I don’t mind making a move from later position, but the point is that if I smooth-call from under the gun, somebody’s got to have a pretty big hand to raise me. And if they do, I can either smooth-call again or re-raise. If I make a move on them and they come back over the top of me, I can put the hand down and only lose a relatively small amount of money. If I just smooth-call again when they raise, they’re going to be pretty scared – they’re going to need a pretty big hand to make a move on me.

FLOP

The play here is fine. I would definitely bet that flop, 100% of the time. The bet size is fine too.

TURN

After he shoves in on the turn I’m calling, and good luck to him if he’s got the flush. At the end of the day, you can’t always know you’re ahead and you can’t always pass. I’m putting $165 into $367. So I’m getting better than 2/1 on my money and I’m going to get the call right at least once out of every three times, so I don’t mind making the call. He could even turn over the Ace of spades and keep one card down and I’m still going to call. There are all sorts of quirky hands he could be shoving with here.

SCENARIO TWO

You’ve just joined a $2/$4 six-handed cash game online. You’ve been pretty quiet for your first few hands, but get dealt J?-J? in the cut-off seat and raise to $16 after one early-position limp. The player on the button is a good regular with whom you have played before, and he re-raises to $40. The blinds fold, as does the limper. You call the extra $24 and the flop comes K?-9?-8?. You check and the button quickly checks behind. The turn is the 10? and you bet $60 into the $90 pot. The button raises to $175. You call. The river is a complete brick of a 2?. What should you do here?

PRE-FLOP

I don’t mind calling the re-raise to $40 pre-flop. I don’t hate the idea of passing, but I don’t see how I can pass that sort of bet. Of course, I’d rather be calling with 6-8 or 7-9 or 4-5 than Jacks, because they’re more disguised if I hit, but I really can’t see a hand that I’m not going to call with here. The problem is, Jacks can get you into trouble, as if you don’t hit you can have the illusion that you’re still winning as opposed to knowing that you’re bluffing. I’d rather bluff off my chips than call them off any day. The more aggressive option is okay as well – have another pop back at him to see how strong he really is.

FLOP AND TURN

Checking the flop is fine. When the 10… comes on the turn, however, I’d much rather be check-raising than betting out. I’m going to get a lot more information by check-raising and it gives me the chance to win the hand there and then. As it stands I haven’t got a great hand but I can certainly represent one – and I can do so a lot more convincingly by check-raising than by betting out and calling, which suggests weakness. By betting out, I’m also setting myself up for a fall. If the straight comes on the river and I bet out again, he’ll pass anyway because the board is so scary. But if I miss, what do I do? I have to check, he’ll bet three-quarters of Any flop that contains 9-10, 10-J, J-Q is really dangerous because it connects with a lot of hands people are likely to hold the pot and I’ll feel obliged to call. By leading out, I’ve ended up putting in $175 and I still don’t know where I am in the hand. Whereas if I check, he bets $60 and I make it $220, I’ve only put in $45 more, but now I’ve taken control of the pot. For $45 I’m now the boss.

What’s more, you’re never going to get away with not being called on this flop. Any flop that contains 9-10, 10-J, J-Q is a really dangerous one because it connects with a lot of hands people are likely to be holding.

RIVER

Given the action up to this point, I’m going to check-call here. There’s no point calling the raise on the turn if you’re not going to call on the end, so if I’ve played it this way I have to call anything up to the size of the pot. Not to labour a point, but we’re left with no choice because we failed to take control of the pot. If we’d made the check-raise on the turn and he’d called, we could have bet out and still got away from it if he shoved.

SCENARIO THREE

You have been playing in a very aggressive six-handed $5/$10 online cash game and have managed to build your stack up to $1,480. You have generally avoided the player to your left who has a $2,400 stack, concentrating instead on the weaker players at the table. Then a hand comes up where you raise to $35 in early position with J?-J? and he is the only caller. At this point there is $85 in the pot. The flop comes J?-10?-A?. You lead out for $70 and he flat-calls after a brief think. The turn is the 7?. You check with the intention of calling and he checks behind you. The river is the A?. You bet out $150 as a value-bet hoping to get paid by a flush and your opponent very quickly moves all-in. You have $1,225 behind. Should you call?

PRE-FLOP

I have the same issue here as I did in the first scenario. I prefer to play Jacks by calling, then if somebody raises I move over the top of them. I get a lot more information that way. I’ve mentioned in the past that I like to play poker according to the rule of CPS: Control, Position, Starting hand – in that order. Taking control of the pot is the most important thing, then position, and your starting hand is the least important of the three. If you haven’t got control or position, your starting hand has to be an absolute premium hand, which Jacks isn’t.

In a tournament it’s completely different, but in a cash game stealing the blinds is of no value, so raising here is pointless. To tell you the truth, I’ve even been known to muck Jacks in first position in a lively cash game, but in this case I’d be smooth-calling.

FLOP

I’d definitely, definitely lead out on this flop. The turn could come a Queen, a King, a spade – all of them cards that kill my hand dead. Let him put his money in and that way at least I know where I stand.

TURN

Checking when the flush comes on the turn is okay. I would probably have bet out again, about three-quarters of the pot, as I need the information. But the check isn’t terrible.

RIVER

This is a tough decision – really tough. In a live game I’d have a lot more information available and would take a read on the player. I definitely wouldn’t be quiet – I’d be chatting to him and I would usually know if he had it or not.

As we’re playing online, though, I’d just make the call. Online players are a lot more aggressive, and they take any check to be total weakness. This guy’s thinking to himself, the only way that I can be calling here is with A-J. If he’s got a bare Ace or a flush, he’s going to bet with confidence thinking I can’t call without the nuts. On the flop, I bet and he smooth-called. There’s no way he’s doing that with A-J or A-10. He’d stick it back up me for sure in that situation. When the flush comes, I check and he probably thinks I’ve got the flush. So he shoves in on the river thinking I can only call with a massive hand. But I have got a big hand so I call.