Playing Scared Poker

Most of my poker clients don’t fall into a static mold. When they make a mistake, they may be playing too boldly on some hands and too cautiously on others. However, the client that sent me this email needs to be a bit braver on his good hands.

On the hands he sent me, he would not have done any better by being bold, because he was in such a bad trap that there was no rescue. But these hands are worth discussing, because they are good hands that usually win the pot. The applicable concept here is when you have a good hand that is not the nuts, you need to know if the money situation dooms you if the opponent is in front, so you can play to milk it for all its worth if it is the best hand, instead of cautiously holding back. This is my client’s email and my comments.

Client: Here are three hands that I played. All were at a $1-$2 no-limit Texas hold’em game at an Indiana cardroom.

Hand 1: I have the A K under-the-gun and I limp in for $2. A middle position and late position player also limp in. The small blind folds and the big blind checks. The flop is K 8 6, putting a two-flush on the board and giving me top pair. I bet $8 and the late player calls. He has been at the table about an hour, and I have only seen him stay for a few flops. The two other hands that he played to the river he won. The turn is the 2. I check because I only have top pair, ace kicker, which in my opinion is not a strong hand. My opponent bets $15 and I call. I’m thinking that I will fold to a bet on the river if I don’t improve. The river is the A, giving me top two-pair.

The spade flush has not come in, which I was not too afraid of because I don’t think this player would bet the turn with a non-nut flush draw, considering I had the A. I check and the late position player bets $25, which I call and it also puts me all-in (I had $23 left). I thinking he has a lesser two pair or the same hand as I have. Although in hindsight, would a tight player bet a half-pot size bet on the turn with just top pair, ace kicker? Maybe he would, given my show of weakness with a check on the turn. I did this because I don’t like to bet both the flop and the turn with just a pair. The opponent shows a pair of sixes for a set, which beats my two pair. How should I have played differently, other than raising preflop, which might have driven out the late position player who had the pair of sixes?

Bob Ciaffone: On the flop, there is $9 in the pot and you have $46 left. There is no way you can fold this hand at any point, because the money is too shallow and you have a good hand. You should not check the turn because you are afraid to bet. This is unduly conservative. However, you can check the turn against an aggressive player to try to get him to run with the ball. If you check the turn, put the remaining $23 into the pot via check-raise when he bets, because it has to go in anyway, so put it in now rather than letting a third spade fall off and mess up the situation. The basic idea is you should play your hand to get all the guy’s money. If it is not the best hand, you will get busted no matter how cautiously you play it, because it is too good to fold.

Hand 2: I have the Q 10 on the button. After three callers, I also limp in for $2. The small blind calls and the big blind checks. The flop is Q 10 5, a rainbow flop where I have top two-pair. All check to me and I bet $10. I get one caller, who is in the cutoff position. The turn was the 6. I bet $15 and my single opponent raised to $30. I folded, being timid because I had just lost to a set of sixes a few hands before.

(I was currently at a new table with a new buy-in, same casino, same night). I think I should have called his raise.The 6 probably gave him two pair, or a flush draw. He was a loose player who player about half of his hands, like a lot of the players at these $1-$2 tables. The players at this table would generally see a lot of flops, but fold to a bet if they don’t hit a piece of the flop, or a draw, or overcards.

Comments?

Bob Ciaffone: Yes, you should continue to play after getting raised (although you do not tell me how much money you have left, which is pertinent). If you flop top two-pair and there is no straight, flush, or higher two-pair possible, you are going to have to go broke when someone has a set when you are not deep in money.

Hand 3: I was under the gun with pocket aces (A A) and I raised to $10. I got a middle position caller and a late position caller. The small blind and big blind folded, so three of us saw the flop of K 9 7. I bet $15 because I had raised preflop, had an overpair, and had a draw to the nut flush. The middle position player raised me to $35, and the late player folded. I called for $25 more because I only had $28 left, so figured my best option was to see this hand through. If I had more money, I might have called and folded to a significant turn bet if I did not hit the flush. I figured I had about a 2-to-1 chance to hit my flush by the river, and would see two cards for my $25 call. The turn was the 5. I checked and the middle player bet me my last $28, which I called.

The river was the 10. My opponent turned over a pair of kings (set of kings on the flop). My club did not come to complete my flush, and another ace did not come to give me a higher set (which I did not know would win the hand). I thought that the middle player had a lower flush when he raised me on the flop.

Comments?

Bob Ciaffone: You have to learn that when you have a hand that you cannot fold, you should play it as if it’s the winning hand, even though it may not be. You will lose all your chips when you are beat, so you must try to make the maximum when your hand is good. ♠

Bob Ciaffone has authored four poker books, Middle Limit Holdem Poker, Pot-limit and No-limit Poker, Improve Your Poker, and Omaha Poker. All can be ordered (autographed to you) from Bob by e-mail: [email protected]. Free U.S. shipping to Card Player readers. Ciaffone is available for poker lessons at a reasonable rate. His website is www.pokercoach.us, where you can get his rulebook, Robert’s Rules of Poker, for free. Bob also has a website called www.fairlawsonpoker.org.