Card Player Pro

Game: $2-$4 no-limit hold’em
Opponent: Aggressive medium-stakes regular
Stacks $400 (mine); $400 (his)
My Cards: A Q
My Position: Big blind

In today’s aggressive online hold’em games, being able to deceive your opponent about the strength of your hand can be the difference between winning a small pot and scooping a monster. In this column, I’m going to look at how mixing up your play can help you extract some value that playing “straightforwardly” would have missed out on.

In a $400 buy-in $2-$4 no-limit hold’em cash game online, the action was folded around to the button, who opened for $12. I defended my big blind with the A Q.

Given the aggressive nature of most online cash games, reraising with my A-Q preflop would certainly be a fine play. As a matter of fact, most opponents would probably expect me to reraise with A-Q in this situation, given how wide they’re going to be raising from the button. So, by just flat-calling with the A-Q, I’ve underrepresented how strong my hand is.

The flop came A K 6. I checked, and my opponent bet $16 into a $26 pot.

I check-raised to $52.

Here is where our preflop deception has come into play. In button vs. big blind confrontations, most players don’t expect you to just flat-call your premium hands preflop. Most players will assume that hands like A-Q, A-K, K-K, and A-A are not in your range when you flat-call, and will discount them almost completely. So, when I check-raise here, the only “value hands” that I’m representing to an observant opponent are A-6 suited and pocket sixes. That’s only five combinations of hands! Good players will realize this, and will assume that your range for check-raising this board is mostly draws.

So, if my opponent has any ace, any draw, and possibly even a king, I expect him to call my check-raise, figuring that he has the best hand.

My opponent called the check-raise.

The turn brought the 2. I elected to check.

I opted to check here to continue to represent a draw. Against a smart player, the 2 is not a good card to continue bluffing on, because it didn’t improve any of the draws on the flop. So, by checking, I really make my hand look like a missed draw that doesn’t want to bet a “bad” bluffing card. This should invite him to bet any weaker ace that he has, and he might even take a stab with a draw of his own.

After a few moments, my opponent checked behind.

The river brought the 5. I checked again.

Given that I’ve been representing a draw all this time, and now the draw has missed — checking is clearly the best option. If he has an ace, he’ll likely bet it for value, and if he has a missed draw himself, he’ll be very likely to bet it and try to fold me off a better missed draw. Most players in my spot would bet the river with their A-Q, hoping to get a call; yet, while my opponent probably won’t fold any ace if I bet, he will fold his missed draws. By checking, I make money against both his missed draws and his one-pair hands.

My opponent bet $82 into a pot of $130, and I instantly called. He showed the 8 7 for a missed flush draw, and I scooped a nice pot.

When playing against smart players, it’s always good to mix up your play, and keep them guessing about what your hand might be. You just might induce a few more bluffs from them than you otherwise would.