Defenses Against Auto-Bettors

These days, it seems that everyone and his sister is auto-betting the turn in limit hold’em. Well, perhaps not everyone, but a sizeable number of players will bet the flop — typically in position — and if called, will always bet the turn. These folks bet the turn regardless of whether they have a hand or not. They also disregard the texture of the flop, and who the caller is.

Now, this did not come about by accident. Flop bettors noticed that increasing numbers of players were sticking around for the cheap flop bet on speculation, weak draws, or even nothing, hoping that the bettor would reveal weakness on the turn. They planned to fold the turn if the bettor followed through. So, of course, bettors learned to do just that. Oftentimes, a hand would go limp, raise, call, call, call preflop; check to the raiser, bet, all call on the flop; and check to the raiser, bet, all fold on the turn.

Given this sort of action, it is no wonder that so many players took up betting the turn automatically. For the price of a big bet, they had a fair chance of winning right then. Whether or not they are correct is not the topic of this column (although you may get some tips in a previous column, “Don’t Auto-Bet the Turn,” available at
www.CardPlayer.com).

Auto-betting the turn has been happening for some time, and so far, I have seen few players properly adjusting to it. Like all things in poker, when your opponents start doing something, you need to react.

Here are some suggested adjustments to make when you encounter auto-bettors:

• Don’t check-raise the flop when heads up.
• Check-raise the flop more often in a multiway hand.
• Check-raise the turn a lot more, even light.
• Donk-bet the river.

Don’t check-raise the flop when heads up: The primary reason to check-raise the flop when heads up is to get your bets in with the best hand and avoid giving free cards. The fear is that if you call the flop, your opponent will check the turn behind you. Well, he won’t — if he is an auto-bettor. He will bet. That’s what he does. So, why check-raise the flop? If you just wait, he will bet even if he is on a draw and needs a free card. You may as well collect the extra big bet or two.

This heads-up call, planning to check-raise the turn, also may eventually frighten your opponents into stopping their auto-betting. If you are known to play back enough, opponents will adjust to your turn aggression. If you can control their auto-betting to some extent, you will be better positioned to read their hands and know how to proceed. Of course, if this happens, you will need to adjust your strategy again.

Check-raise the flop more often in a multiway hand: If you discover that many of your opponents are calling on the flop with marginal and thin hands, your response should be to check-raise more often with good hands, even if you will be second best sometimes. You must be able to trap these light callers for an extra bet while they are still in the hand, making them pay for their attempt to draw out on you.

Similarly, if you are in a large field with the auto-bettor on your left, you may choose to check a powerful hand on the flop and turn, hoping to check-raise several players on the turn. There is little risk, as you know that there will be a bet.

Check-raise the turn a lot more, even light: We have seen that if you get a good flop, you should most often wait for the turn to check-raise. But how about a mediocre flop? Generally, this was check and call territory, because the bettor usually had a good hand for his continued betting. 

But if your opponents are auto-betting, you need to take more risks, and check-raising the turn is one of them. Recently, I held J-10 in the big blind and called a raise. I checked and called the jack-high flop. When my opponent bet the blank on the turn, I check-raised, having no idea if I was ahead or behind, but believing I was well ahead of much of the range of hands he would bet (which was pretty much all of them, as he was an auto-bettor). I also bet when a river blank hit, got called, and won, somewhat to my surprise. Win or lose, I think you need to make this sort of aggressive play more often.

Even if they have a good hand, opponents will have to respect your check-raise, as you might have a set or other huge holding. This raise appears to cost money when you are beat, but not if you plan to check the river with your medium-strength hands (and occasionally with powerful ones). If you have check-raised and been called, and you now check the river, most opponents will bet only with very good hands, fearing the strength that you have just shown. Thus, if they bet and you have a marginal hand, you generally can safely fold. Of course, this is also opponent-dependent, but it is fairly reliable. To avoid being exploited, you also must be ready to check some excellent holdings and check-raise again on the river.

Donk-bet the river: Many opponents figure that if they bet the turn and you call, they can always check the river behind you if they hold a mediocre hand. If you call the turn, consider betting the river from out of position (donk-bet). Perhaps you do not like doing this for fear of being raised, and of course sometimes you will be, but oftentimes you will pick up a crying call that you could not get any other way.  And sometimes your opponent will fold, and you won’t have to expose your hand. This even permits you to pull off a successful bluff, on occasion. When you are called, frequently it will be by a hand that would have bet anyway, so if you were planning to call, you will have lost nothing from your play. The donk-bet is an underutilized weapon in many circumstances, particularly against turn auto-bettors.

Conclusion: When opponents, especially ones in position, try to overpower you with continuation-bets, you need to do something to combat them. Some of the recommendations I have made involve risk, but selective aggression is the key to winning poker, and this situation is no different. In the long run, you cannot be successful in poker by checking and calling, so you must play back occasionally. Of course, it helps if you pick the right times, and understanding your opponent’s tendencies will help you to do so. But, when you believe that you probably have the best hand, make the play.

Barry Tanenbaum is the author of Advanced Limit Hold’em Strategy, and collaborator on Limit Hold’em: Winning Short-Handed Strategies, both available at www.CardPlayer.com. Barry offers private lessons tailored to the individual student. Please see his website, www.barrytanenbaum.com, or write to him at [email protected].