Dime time

Few of us would complain at being dealt pocket tens, but how heavy would the action have to get for you to lay them down pre-flop? We leave it to the pros to decide

SCENARIO ONE

You’re playing in a $50 sit&go, there are eight players left. You pick up 10?-10? on the button. Your stack is 1,350. The blinds are 25/50. Player in seat two folds, Mid-position plus one (MP1), a loose-aggressive player, raises to 180 (stack 1,770). MP2 calls (a pretty tight player, current chip leader with 3,290). Small blind has a stack of 830, big blind has 1,400. Do you call or is this a good spot for a squeeze?

GAVIN GRIFFIN

I usually don’t like to flat-call here. With pocket tens there are so many bad flops that can come off, like A-Q- 3 or K-J-5. That kind of puts you in a bad spot, especially because you’re committing a little over 10% of your stack. I’d say your two options are to re-raise or fold. Tens are probably way too good a hand to fold in this situation. I think it’s just a shove.

Maybe if you had 2,000 or so, you could make a normal sized re-raise and play a flop if anybody calls you. The guy who smooth-called is a little worrying, but I think you’re in a really good spot against both players’ ranges. I’d probably give MP1 a range of Q-10, Q-J, K-10, A-9, J-10 suited. As for MP2, I’d say maybe pocket fives through to 9-9. I think he’d re-raise with Jacks or better – A-J to A-K.

HEVAD KHAN

If somebody opens for 180 and is loose-aggressive, you don’t respect his range; 10-10 beats it. Chip leader flat- calls – so he could have a pocket pair or may even be slow- playing a big pair. He may figure that a loose-aggressive player will fire out a couple of bullets. There’s 425 in the pot and you’ve got 1,350, so you’d be getting an increase of 31-32% to your stack; that’s big enough to shove all-in.

If you call, there are four overcards that can hit and every single one of them is scary. If an Ace or a King hits, you can very easily put the opener – who’s loose – on one of those cards. And considering MP2 just flat-called, he could have a Jack or Queen. You’re most likely to get folded to, but you may also get called by hands like 7-7 to 9-9, A-K or K-Q; and you’ll be ahead of all of them – so it’s a profitable play.

If I had a stack of around 2,200, I think I would just flat-call and play position. Maybe the short stack will overvalue a hand like pocket sevens.

DARIO MINIERI

I would squeeze. There is 1/3 of my stack in the pot so why call for a flop with 1,300 and pray for three blanks? You have to play a little mathematically. If he has a better pair, I lose. I don’t really care about the blinds – it’s very unlikely they are going to have a better hand than me. GAME No-limit hold’em VARIANT Sit&gos

SCENARIO TWO

You’re playing in a $20 sit&go with seven players left. Blinds are 75/150. You’re mid-position two (MP2) and you pick up 10?-10? (you’re also chip leader, 2,785, loose-aggressive). MP1 raises to $300 (1,710, image of a rock). You call. Flop is 9?-2?-4?. MP1 checks, you bet 600. He instantly re-raises all-in. Is this an automatic fold? What did you think of the play up to this point?

GAVIN GRIFFIN

You’re getting such a good price here – like 2,000 in the pot, 800 to call. I can’t imagine that your hand is good, but he’s laying you almost 3/1! I think it’s probably a fold though. I don’t like the size of the bet on the flop; 600 puts you in a weird spot because you’re giving yourself such a good price if he moves all-in. If you bet 350 or 400, you’re pricing yourself out of calling. I don’t even mind checking, just because of your image. If you look really loose at this point, he knows you’re going to bet, so why not check and try to catch another 10 or see another diamond on the turn?

HEVAD KHAN

Yeah, you’re crushed. He has pocket Aces or trip nines. I’m more likely to say Aces because with nines, he might have open-moved all-in just to pick up the blinds. It’s a correct shove because it’s not a hand you want to see an overcard with.

I wouldn’t have called his raise because his stack is so shallow – and he’s a rock. It’s a fold or a shove pre-flop. If you re-raise or call, you’re stuck on the flop because you can’t fold. These sit&gos are very different from final tables; people play extremely tight in sit&gos because you can play so many of them, looking to develop your skills as a result.

I’d give him a lot more respect for what he has – especially if he’s min-raising. For a rock, I think it’s a very strong play.

DARIO MINIERI

I would probably call because at the $20 sit&go level, players can check-raise with even pocket sevens or eights, A-K. Depending on my read on him – and my feel at the table – there are two ways I would have played it: calling pre-flop, but checking after him on the flop or, re-raising pre-flop.

It’s not enough for me to know he’s a rock, I need to know something about his psychology and how he has played previous hands. If you look really loose at this point, he knows you’re going to bet – so why not check and try to catch another 10?

SCENARIO THREE

It’s the first level of a $100 sit&go and all players are still in. The blinds are 15/30. You’re on the big blind with 10?-10? (1,505 stack). The player under the gun calls (1,500 stack). The small blind (2,435 stack) completes. You respect the UTG limp and check. Flop is 5?-4?-5?, small blind checks, you bet 50, UTG calls. Small blind folds. Turn is 3?. You check, UTG bets 90. You call. River is Q?. You check, UTG bets 180. Now what? What hand do you put the UTG on?

GAVIN GRIFFIN

It’s kind of hard to put him on a hand because you checked the turn and river. I think I would usually have called because I’m getting 3/1. I’m probably betting 100 on the turn, for a couple of reasons: it helps me decide if he’s got an overpair or, if he’s just calling the flop in order to play after that. The 5-4-5 is a bit of a ‘the big blind always bets this flop’ kind of flop. What you could have done is put a blocking bet out on the river of 125. You know if he raises this bet – unless he’s a really good player – he’s going to have you beat.

HEVAD KHAN

The way it played out, I’d just call again on the river out of curiosity – but I think you’re beat. You hung yourself on the turn. I would have bet the turn and folded to a raise. I would double-barrel the turn; I wouldn’t open- check there. There’s no reason to be afraid of a 3 there. He could have 6-7, but is he really going to limp in early position, especially when you say that you respect his limp? By checking, you’re giving him the lead in the pot when there’s no scare card on the turn. If he raises you (and you respect his limp), I think you have to put him on a full house, fours full of fives.

DARIO MINIERI

He could be value-betting on the turn with Aces or pocket nines. But many people in a $100 sit&go will try and make a play on you; so maybe he thinks he’s beat with A-J. Maybe he put you on 7-7, trying to chase the Ace. I would have raised four times the big blind pre-flop and check-raised the flop because it’s unpredictable. I can read it better if I check-raise it.