Chasing in Midlimit Stud

As a child growing up in a busy New York suburb on Long Island, there were always lots of kids around. We played many games – and invented many, as well. My favorite was a variation of "hide-and-seek" that we made up; it was called "chase." One person, who was "it," was given a full two minutes to get away from the group while we closed our eyes. We then tried to find and capture him. He wasn't confined to a backyard, as in hide-and-seek, but was allowed to go anywhere in the neighborhood. Also, he didn't have to remain in a hiding place, but was allowed to roam around as he attempted to evade his pursuers. The person who was it won if he could return to the starting place without being captured.

Most of the kids preferred being it, but I always preferred giving chase. Invariably, I figured out how and when my target would return home, catching him as he did so. I let him do most of the work for the first part of the game – running away from everyone who was in pursuit – and then I'd be the hero by catching him just before he thought he was home free. It was a sneaky way to play the game, and I relished it.

I was reminiscing about this childhood game with a fellow poker player a while back. He opined that this game taught me all the wrong lessons for poker. He pointed out that in poker, we generally should not chase. And, to some extent, my friend was right. Being the chaser in poker is often a tempting but costly mistake. We generally need to learn to fold when we're behind. This is especially true, we've learned, when the pot is going to be heads up. While it may make sense to draw to that straight or flush if the pot is made large by many other callers, if the pot is small, as it is likely to be when heads up, chasing after a higher pair with a lower pair generally seems to be a mistake.

Chasing, however, is profitable in certain circumstances. This is especially so when the antes become a larger percentage of the small bet – as happens at limits of $15-$30 and higher. If we learn what to do when chasing does make sense, we can add some significant profit to our game.

Here's a hand I played recently in a $20-$40 stud game that illustrates the point. There were eight players. I was in the No. 1 seat, and was perceived as being very tight and very aggressive. The other players tended to play loosely on third and fourth streets, and tight thereafter. The exception was the No. 5 seat, who was extra loose and aggressive early on. He was close to being a maniac.

I was dealt (A 6) 6. No. 2 brought it in with the 2. The 3 folded. The Q folded. No. 5 raised with the K. No. 6 called with the 10. No. 7 folded the K. No. 8 called with the 9.

Summary: Dead cards are the 3, Q, and K. The K raised, the 10 called, and the 9 called. I had (A 6) 6. The 2 was to act after my action. Think for a minute about what you would have done if you were in my situation.

The traditional, conservative player in me said fold. At first blush, I thought I was probably chasing a pair of kings with just my pair of sixes. I initially thought I'd be better off just conceding and waiting for a better hand.

But the looser, more confident, experienced midlimit player in me said call. There were five cards that would give me a hand better than the kings my raising opponent was likely to have, or the kings up he might improve to. Although it was a little better than 8-1 against me to draw one of those sixes or aces on fourth street, the size of the pot was large enough with the two other callers that it might be worthwhile to stay in the hand.

But, I neither called nor folded. I decided the best play was to reraise. You might ask, why reraise? One moment I'm thinking my hand isn't strong enough to even call, and the next moment I'm reraising. It seems counterintuitive.

Here's my thinking on it. First, I determined that it made sense for me to chase the raiser with my sixes and ace kicker. I realized that I was very close to having an even-money chance at winning the pot with my lower pair and higher kicker hand. I was only about a 52-48 underdog going to the river against a pair of kings. And when I factored in the chances that he was overplaying a hand that wasn't a pair of kings, I realized that I might actually be in the lead against him.

But, and this is a very big but, it made sense to chase him only if I could chase him heads up.

This is very important. When you have a live lower pair and a higher kicker (and even more so if the kicker is suited), it often makes sense to chase a pair higher than yours but lower than your kicker. But this is true only if the hand is heads up – not multiway. In a multiway hand, this kind of chasing usually doesn't make sense. Your winning percentage plunges as you add opponents. When you consider your betting action with this goal in mind, and then consider the likely reaction from the other players, reraising is really the only play.

So, a call didn't make sense at all. Had I called, I would have let in the two players who initially had called. And the bring-in 2 might well have called, too. The hand might have been five-way going into fourth street. I'd be a serious dog with all of those opponents.

This brings up another concept that's very important, as well. When choosing the correct play, it is critical to move beyond the simplistic thinking of the beginning player, who thinks of his betting action in a vacuum. To be successful at stud requires that you evaluate the likely reaction of your opponents to your action. It is often crucial that you use your betting action to manipulate your opponents.

Consider the hand again. My reraise caused the bring-in, who acted immediately after me, to fold. Had I just called the initial raiser, the bring-in would have faced only a $15 bet ($20 minus the $5 he had already put in). Being a loose player early on, he might well have called with nearly any holding. But for $35, he folded, as I presumed he would. Similarly, the king who raised initially was true to his near-maniacal form and reraised me, as I expected him to do. He made it two more bets for the other players who initially called his raise. They folded, as I expected. Had I only called, they would have been in the hand until fourth street. By reraising and considering the likely reaction of my raising opponent, I was able to manipulate my other opponents into folding – getting the heads-up play I wanted.

A reraise that succeeds in driving out initial callers is often an excellent play because of the dead money they will leave behind. Consider the hand again. Two players had already called the initial $20 bet from the first king. Those $20 calls added to the initial size of the pot for which my lone opponent and I would be competing. The more dead money in a pot on third street, the greater the reason to fight for it.

Heads-up play was going to be especially advantageous for me in this hand because of my likely position on fourth street. I would be last to act unless I improved my hand. Think about it. His king high would act first unless I caught an ace or another 6. My enhanced position was another reason for me to stay in and chase.

There was another possibility, as well, that I needed to factor in. The initial raiser might not have the pair of kings he was representing. He was, after all, very loose and aggressive, and might have been bluffing. He also might have assumed, based on my very tight and aggressive image, that I had pocket aces. If that were the case, he might well have folded when I reraised. That would have been fine, as well. I'd have been happy to take down the pot when everyone folded or play my sixes and ace kicker against some mediocre holding that my opponent might be playing.

In the long run, clearly, reraising was the right move. As it turned out in this hand, however, I improved to two low pair and he improved to kings up to win the pot. But my aggressive play had one additional collateral advantage worth considering. When I showed down my hand, revealing that I had reraised with a lowly pair of sixes, at least a couple of my opponents raised an eyebrow. They were not quite so ready to fold when I bet aggressively in the future. That surely added to my bottom line in the long run.