Varying Your Play

We often hear that it is important to "vary your play" so that you do not become too predictable. Indeed, at the middle limits, you will often be playing regularly against the same players. It is quite easy for your opponents to know what you are doing if you fail to throw them off occasionally. The reason is that at the middle limits, players look at their opponents as much as they do their cards. Many of them are decent card readers and can pick up on the kinds of hands with which you call and raise preflop, how you play the flop, your propensity for making semibluff plays on fourth street, and so forth. Of course, you should be doing the same thing, since failure to do so will put you at a severe disadvantage.

Opportunities for varying your play are not limited to the preflop betting round. Some opportunities occur post-flop. While we all can agree that varying your play is important, like many poker ideas, "the devil is in the details." One thing to keep in mind is that you may want to vary your play in situations in which it does not cost too much.

The following set of hands addresses some of these situations in which you should consider varying your play. Since these hands were taken from live play, not all of the actions leading up to the problem in question are necessarily correct, but most of them are reasonable. All of these hands assume that you are in your regular game where you know most of the players – and they know you.

Hand No. 1 ($30-$60 game): You are in middle position with the A Q. You raise an early-position player. The big blind and the early-position player call. There is $200 in the pot and three players. The flop is 9 6 4, leaving you with overcards and a backdoor-flush draw. The big blind bets and the early-position player folds. What should you do?

Answer: Think about raising. The "natural" thing is to put the flop bettor on a pair, figure that you are chasing, and start counting your outs. You have six outs to top pair, which is a 7-to-1 shot on the next card. There is $230 in the pot and it costs you $30 to call, so your pot odds are almost 8-to-1. Therefore, the normal play is to simply call and fold if the turn gets bet after a blank arrives. The problem with doing this every time is that your opponent can always figure out what you have. When you raise preflop, he puts you on a big pair or two big cards usually headed by an ace. When undercards flop and he bets, he figures you will raise with an overpair and simply call with overcards. So, when you call, he knows that he should keep charging, since you will fold at some point unless a big card turns up. He can do this with a high degree of success whether he has anything or not. But suppose that you raise once in a while. If he has something or is just drawing, he will simply call and figure that you have an overpair. When the turn comes, he frequently will check to you. Then, you can decide whether to bet or take a free card. I am not suggesting that you should routinely raise with overcards in this situation, but you occasionally can pick a spot to vary your play instead of always calling. If you need an excuse to raise in a specific situation, do it when you have a backdoor draw along with your overcards. This will occur often enough to add the right amount of variation to your play. The other advantage is that when you show down your hand, your opponents will start staying with you when you actually have an overpair, since they will remember that you raised with overcards once.

Hand No. 2 ($30-$60 game): This is a tight, aggressive game against the regular lineup of players. You are under the gun with the 7 6. You have not varied your play from early position in a very long time. Is this a good hand with which to "jump the fence" and either limp in or perhaps raise?

Answer: No. Limping in will often get you isolated by a raise from a middle- or late-position player, so you will be paying two bets to take a card off. You will find yourself out of position, heads up frequently, and facing a better hand. Raising might allow you to steal the blinds, but with nine players yet to act, you will get called in at least one spot the vast majority of the time. You have a hand that does not rate to get shown down, which means that you will usually get bet out of the hand at some point, and no one will ever know that you varied your play. If you want to vary your play from early position, pick a hand with which you would normally limp in and raise with it instead. You also could take a very strong hand like pocket aces and limp in with it instead of raising. These moves add just as much variation to your play and do not cost anywhere near as much money.

Hand No. 3 ($20-$40 game): You are in the big blind with the 8 7. An early-position player, a middle-position player, the cutoff, the button, and the small blind all limp in. Is this a good spot to vary your play by raising instead of taking a free play?

Answer: Yes. Normally, a raise from the big blind after several players have limped in denotes a premium hand like A-A, K-K, Q-Q, and maybe A-K or A-Q suited. This is what your opponents will tend to put you on when you raise in this situation. Your suited connector plays well in volume pots, and a raise costs you very little since you are already halfway in. Your opponents don't figure to have much, since the pot is unraised. If the flop comes ace high or king high, you can check and will find that it will often get checked around, giving you a "four-card flop." The reason this frequently happens is that your opponents will fear that you have flopped top pair with the top kicker, an overpair, or even a set, and are planning to check-raise or even slow-play. If you flop a big draw and get there, your opponents will probably misread the situation. This move will also camouflage the times when you actually raise with a premium hand. Occasionally, you will flop two pair or trips and will check-raise, making it impossible for them to know what you have.

Hand No. 4 ($30-$60 game): You are in the cutoff seat with the A K. An early-position player limps in and you raise. The big blind and the limper call. There is $200 in the pot and three players. The flop is 10 9 6, leaving you with your overcards and a backdoor nut-flush draw. The big blind comes out betting and the limper calls. Is this a good time to vary your play by raising?

Answer: No. Contrast this situation with that in Hand No. 1. You now have a third player in the hand who called the flop bettor. You have a much more hazardous flop with not just a two-flush, but a 10-9 as well, and a third card within hailing distance. You should fold.

Hand No. 5 ($30-$60 game): You open with a raise from middle position with the A J. The cutoff and the big blind call. The big blind is a player you have spent a lot of time playing against over the past year. He knows your play quite well, and vice versa. There is $200 in the pot and three players. The flop is A 7 3, giving you top pair and a decent kicker on this single-suited flop. The big blind checks. You bet and only the big blind calls. There is $260 in the pot and two players. The turn is the 7. Your opponent checks. What should you do?

Answer: Consider checking it back. The "normal" thing to do in these situations is to follow up your flop bet with a bet on the turn with a decent hand and only one opponent who has shown no strength. But your opponent has played against you a lot, and knows that you will bet virtually every time in this situation. This means that he can simply wait until fourth street to pop you when you bet, and always put you in a quandary. In this specific situation, you have both a single-suited flop and a board containing an open pair. This creates a huge potential for lots of semibluff raises at this point. If you are in the lead with a bigger ace and your opponent does not have a spade, he has very few outs to beat you, so a free card does not hurt much. If he has a weak spade, giving him a free card hurts, but he may be calling anyway. Furthermore, by checking, you may induce a river bet from a worse hand. I am not saying that betting is wrong, but this may be a time when you should not make the expected play of simply betting.

Hand No. 6 ($15-$30 game): You are in middle position with the J 10. An early-position player limps in. You have played against this player many times, and he has respect for your play. Overall, the game has been somewhat tight. What should you do?

Answer: Raise. Normally, J-10 suited is a good limping hand. It plays best in multihanded pots that are unraised. But this game is tight, which means most of the pots are heads up or threehanded, so you are unlikely to get any multihanded action. By raising, you can probably isolate the early limper and have good control over him. If the flop comes with an ace or a king, he will put you on top pair and will probably fold at some point. If the flop comes jack or 10 high, or you flop a draw, he will probably misread the situation. If you show down your hand, your opponents will begin to reassess the range of hands they can put you on when you raise preflop. This will enhance your earn on future hands even if you lose this one.

Editor's note: Jim Brier has co-authored a new book with Bob Ciaffone entitled Middle Limit Holdem Poker. It is available through Card Player.