Over the course of a tournament, you will run into bets that may confuse you. Whether they are from an unexpected player or an unexpected position, or for an unexpected amount, something just doesn't seem right. The standard preflop raises of two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half times the big blind and the one-half to three-quarters of the pot bets on the flop happen often, then suddenly, some bet comes from out of left field and stands out like no other. What do they mean? In this column, I'll discuss the minimum bet, the minimum raise, and the overbet. You need to recognize them, whom they are coming from, and what they mean. The texture of the board, the mindset and capabilities of your opponents, and stack amounts are huge in deciphering what certain bets mean. As with all situations and reads, you have to be mindful of
all of the factors that go into decision-making.
Many players today hate the minimum bet. The level of the blinds is very important in determining what they mean. Early on in a tournament, with small blinds and deep stacks, it is
usually a poor play by a poor player with any "interesting" hand like K-Q, Q-J, a small pair, a suited ace-rag, and so on. They simply are not good players, and just think their hand is better than average and they are supposed to raise, but can't bring themselves to truly represent a very good hand. It builds a pot that they are only
hoping to win. It's a
waste of chips. Never waste chips. Make sure that your bets
mean something. Tell your opponents something with your plays, and minimum raising early on only tells them that you are a dope and don't know how to bet, even if you do it with aces.
So, what does the minimum raise mean later in a tourney? Could it be the same holdings by subpar players? Yes. But there are other things to consider now. For example, most players at the table have $50,000 and the blinds are $2,000-$4,000. A guy with $47,000 raises to $8,000 from early to middle position. It could be a
huge range of hands. It could be aces that are looking to get paid off because he
needs chips. But, here's a couple of other thought processes. First, he has a hand with which he is not sure if he wants to risk his tournament life, and this is simply all he can "afford" to raise without committing his whole stack. Maybe this is a good reraise opportunity for you. Just make sure that you know your player before deciding to reraise him. A creative player will make this bet with a big hand to induce a resteal from aggressive players acting behind him. The other thought process is that with large blinds and smallish stacks on the table, a simple one-up raise is really all it takes to get the result you are looking for. For the remaining players, calling $8,000 is a big enough portion of their chips that they are going to fold just as if you had raised to $12,000. So, just as you can't afford to raise to more than $8,000, they can't afford to call it, so there is no need to commit $12,000.
Late in tournaments, when this dynamic exists at my table, I use the minimum raise very effectively to chip up, and also do my share of reraises to accumulate. The level of the blinds is also a key factor when facing the minimum
reraise. You raise three times the big blind preflop and someone bumps you the minimum; all I can say is, look out for a very big hand. Pay attention to stack depths and player image, but just be careful in these situations, as you are most likely facing a very big pair, probably aces. Conversely, you make it $450 with a $150 big blind and someone pops you to $1,300-$1,500; his range now includes A-K, A-Q, and pairs from 8-8 to Q-Q.
The gross overbet is another that makes you think a bit. A huge factor in understanding this bet is knowing your opponent. Who is making this "crazy" bet, and why? These bets happen preflop as well as on any street. For example, at the $200-$400 level, a player opens the pot for $3,500. Or, on a flop of K-Q-4 with two spades and a pot of $1,000, a player bets $2,200 or just pushes all in. Wow, why so much? Most of the time, these types of bets are coming from a "fear bettor," as I call them. In the examples above, I read them as, Mr. Fear Bettor gets J-J under the gun and is too afraid to play a flop with them, so he bets a ridiculous amount to take the pot down preflop. Or, Mr. Fear Bettor sees a flop of K-Q-4 with two spades and he is holding the A♦ K♦, so he bets twice the pot or even shoves all in, afraid of straight and flush draws. Fear bettors are poor accumulators. They are too afraid to extract chips from their opponents by disguising their hand strength a bit. I am not saying you should slow-play, but when the odds are in your favor, you should extract the most that you can. In the second example, the likelihood of a single opponent having the straight or flush draw is low, and, even if he does, it's more likely that he will miss the draw anyway. So, why bet like a nutcase?
These examples are from poor players, but what does it mean when someone you know to be a very good player makes the big overbet? For example, Phil Ivey raises three times the big blind preflop and you minimum reraise him. At this point, he is reading you for having a very big hand, most likely a big pair. He calls, and the flop comes 10-7-3 and he leads out for more than the pot. You are holding aces. What should you do? This is a little tricky. A player who is not thinking on Phil's level would probably reraise the hell out of him, because he has aces and that seems to be a pretty harmless flop. But wait a minute. Phil didn't call your reraise with A-10 preflop from out of position, and even if he did, he wouldn't bet such a large amount at this flop. Did he do it with jacks or queens? Maybe, but let's look at it with a different thought process. You have to think on many levels and be mindful of what your opponent thinks you have, while trying to read his hand. So, what does Phil believe you have? In this case, you should understand that Phil knows that you have a very good hand, and this is probably why he felt so confident (as opposed to fearful) in leading such a large amount at the flop. He is inducing you to shove on him with your monster hand. Outside of you having only A-K, he is probably going to get action. So, instead of getting excited that he is just being a bully and trying to push you off your A-K when you really have aces, understand that he is probably hoping that you don't have just A-K. He thinks you are stronger than that based on your "amazing" ability to reraise him preflop. So, this is a guy who is looking for action rather than trying to deter it by betting such a large amount. So, what does it mean when a guy wants your action? Well, you are probably in bad shape (laughing). So, again, what should you do with aces here? Outside of him possibly getting creative preflop and holding 9-8, there are no likely draws on the board. So, you need to realize that you are either beat or have him in very bad shape. In both of these cases, a smooth-call is your best course of action. You are not slow-playing your aces, so to speak, you are doing a few different things:
1. You are practicing avoidance of going broke if he flopped a set (which is very likely).
2. You are gaining information, because after your large smooth-call, you get to see what he does on the turn.
3. You are extracting chips from a guy who is drawing quite thin with jacks or queens.
Do you see the difference in how you play your hand and read the large flop bet against Phil Ivey as opposed to a fear bettor? The fear bettor would make this flop bet with 8-8, 9-9, or A-10, and reraising him will probably break him. The difference is, the fear bettor would not bet so hard at the flop if he had flopped a set. He has nothing to "fear." Phil will bet at this flop, because he is playing your hand as well as his own. So, the point is,
know your player when deciphering the meaning of an overbet, and play smart.
The bottom line, as I say often, is, you
must understand your opponents' capabilities to know how to play against them. Be mindful, be thinking on your opponents' level, practice avoidance, and always be aware of what your opponents think of you and what you have.
Todd Arnold is the trainer and co-creator of www.realpokertraining.com and a private coach for online and live players. For private coaching information, visit his site or contact him at [email protected].
