Avoiding Trouble

In a no-limit hold’em session, you’ll probably find yourself in trouble at least once. Trouble means that an opponent has made a large bet or raise, and you don’t know what to do. Your hand isn’t so good that you’re beating your opponent into the pot, and it isn’t so bad that it’s an easy fold.

Getting into trouble is bad for your bottom line. Typically, these are lose-lose situations. If you call, you’ll lose more often than not. But if you fold, you obviously lose the pot.

Getting into some trouble is unavoidable, but many players get themselves into too much trouble by making ill-conceived bets or calls early in a hand. I’ll present a few examples in which players get into trouble, and I’ll discuss what, if anything, they could have done to avoid it. The examples (except as noted) are from $1-$2 games with $200 stacks.

Hand No. 1

An early-position player raises to $10. A player calls from three off the button with the Q J. The button makes it $30 to go. The blinds fold, and both players call.

The flop is Q 9 3. Both callers check to the button, who bets $60 into the $93 pot. The first player folds, and the one with Q-J calls.

The turn is the 4. The first player checks, and the second shoves all in. It’s a $110 bet into a pot of $213.

This is a classic example of an error made early in a hand leading to trouble. In fact, Q-J and similar weak big-card hands are sometimes known as “trouble hands,” for all of the post-flop trouble they can get you into. On the turn, the player with Q-J is getting roughly 3-to-1 to call, but in all likelihood, he’s up against someone holding A-A or K-K. Even with five outs against an overpair, it’s a fold.

But the real mistake occurred preflop. Calling an early-position raise from three off the button with Q-J offsuit is questionable. I can think of a few situations in which I might make the call, but far more often, I’d fold. Once the button reraises, however, calling again is a costly error. It can look tempting to call $20 to win what is now a $73 pot, but the reraiser is marked with an extremely strong hand, and the flop bet will likely be large. The odds to draw out aren’t there.

As a general rule, calling preflop reraises with weak or marginal hands is asking for trouble. Preflop reraises usually mean business. Just fold.

Hand No. 2

A player opens for $8 from five off the button with the K Q. A middle-position player and the cutoff call, as does the big blind. The flop comes K 10 8. The big blind checks, and the player with K-Q bets $30 into the $33 pot. The next two players call, and the big blind folds.

The turn is the 9. The player with K-Q bets $90 into the $123 pot. Only the cutoff calls.

The river is the 4. The first player checks, and the cutoff moves all in for $72. Excluding the bet, there is $303 in the pot.

This is another trouble spot. The pot is quite large compared to the bet, but K-Q is a weak hand in this situation. While at first one might say, “Gotta call with top pair,” for the call to be worthwhile, it requires the cutoff player to bet a hand of K-J or worse. The vast majority of players would gladly check down K-J or any other weaker one-pair hand, rather than put in their last $72 on the river.

A bluff also seems unlikely, given the action. This is definitely a lose-lose situation for the player with K-Q. The problem in this hand was the turn bet. It was far too aggressive for the hand strength.

Preflop, opening with K-Q offsuit is entirely reasonable. At times, it can be a trouble hand, and I would generally fold it to a preflop reraise. But it’s good enough for an opening raise.

On the flop, the hand is relatively strong. Many weaker hands will call the $30 bet, including weaker kings, draws, and even hands like 10-9 or A-8.

On the turn, however, the situation has changed. First, the turn card connects with a number of the hands that would have called the flop; 10-9, for instance, has now made two pair. Furthermore, the large $90 turn bet will cause most weaker hands to fold. It’s a bit of wishful thinking to hope that someone with K-3 will call $90 on the turn. Without a doubt, it happens occasionally, but on average, if the turn bet gets called or raised, one can no longer expect K-Q to be the best hand.

In general, you shouldn’t bet made hands when you will be called primarily by only better hands. Of course, there are exceptions, but in this example, the turn bet overplayed the strength of the hand. A turn check wouldn’t avoid trouble in every instance, but it’s the better play.

Hand No. 3

In this hand, the stacks are $500 rather than $200. A loose player opens for $10, and four people call. You call from the button with 4-4. Both blinds call. Eight players see the flop; the pot is $80.

The flop comes Q 10 4. Everyone checks to you, and you bet $60. Two players call.

The turn is the J. They check to you, and you bet $200 into the $260 pot. One player calls.

The river is the K. Your opponent moves all in for $230.

This is certainly trouble. You flopped a set in a large pot, but now, four to a straight and three to a backdoor flush are on the board. It’s $230 to you, and the pot is a huge $660, excluding his bet. But all your opponent needs in order to beat you is an ace.

Against most players, you should fold in this situation. More importantly for this column, this trouble was unavoidable. The preflop call, flop bet, and turn bet were well-played. You just fell victim to a bad card on the turn and a terrible one on the river. It happens.

Final Thoughts

Not all trouble is avoidable, but a lot of it is. You can make trouble for yourself by overcommitting to weak or marginal hands. You can do this by calling preflop raises too freely, or sometimes by playing too aggressively on the flop or turn with a vulnerable made hand.

If you find yourself in a terrible situation like the examples above, where you face a large bet in an even bigger pot and your hand isn’t quite good enough, review all of your play that led up to the trouble. Did you just get unlucky and catch a really bad card, like the third example? Or, could you have done something better, like the first and second examples, and avoided the trouble? Answering these questions will make you a better player.

Ed’s latest book, Small Stakes No-Limit Hold’em, is available for purchase at smallstakesnolimitholdem.com. He is a featured coach at cardrunners.com, and you can also check out his online poker advice column, notedpokerauthority.com.