Controlling The Pot Size

In my previous article about controlling pot size in no-limit hold’em, we discussed board cards that did not put an obvious draw on the board. We saw that when you have position on your opponent, there is quite a bit you can do to stop the pot from getting too big when holding a solid, but not spectacular hand, such as top pair with a good kicker. You can throw in a check, even when holding a hand good enough to bet, because an opponent with a worse hand is unlikely to draw out. Being out of position is quite a bit murkier, because your opponent can try to take advantage of your check to seize control of the betting.

This article will discuss trying to control the pot size when there is a draw on the board. This is substantially harder to do because there are many more cards that might beat you. In fact, it is not clear to me that you should be trying to keep a lid on things at all when the opponent can make use of a lot of cards to either beat you legitimately or bluff you out.

Let’s look at a hand from my previous article and see what could happen when we changed the board to show a two-flush. In a $5-$10 blinds game (assume stacks of $1,000), you have raised the pot to $40 with K Q on the button after someone limped in middle position. Only the limper calls. This time, the flop comes Q 8 3, giving you top pair, but there is a heart two-flush, meaning someone might hit a flush with another heart. Your opponent checks, you bet, the opponent calls, and the 9 arrives on the turn. He checks again; what to do?

One thing to notice is the increased chance that your opponent has made a straight. That is because he could have the J 10, where he was drawing mainly at the flush, but had a possible gutshot as well. Even though he would need this specific hand, and probably did not make a straight, we must consider this possibility as part of the equation.

I usually refrain from firing a big blast on the flop, where a player with a good draw is often willing to come over the top because there are two tries at a card that may complete his hand. I am reluctant to get involved with all my money on one pair. The turn is a different matter. The draw has been defanged by having only one card to come. So you can bet most of the smaller draws out of the pot with a big blast here. That same blast can force a lot of moderate made hands to fold as well. So my tendency is to try to win the pot here with a large bet. If unsuccessful in trying to get my opponent to fold, I will at least have a better idea where I stand, and would usually hope to show the hand down at the river.

Suppose we have the same situation, only I am acting first. Here, I do not see how a check solves my problem. If I check, my opponent has been given the option of taking a free card or making a play for the pot. In the medium-to-high level games, a check on the turn to control the pot size will put you in serious trouble on both the turn and river betting rounds. The way I prefer to play poker is to shoot a big barrel on the turn when there is a flush draw that arrived on the flop that was not completed by the turn card. I would like to be able to control the pot size, but even better is to control the pot!

So far, we have been discussing only a board with a flush draw. What about straight draws? Frankly, I fear a straight draw much more than a flush draw. Let’s talk about a flop that has touching honor cards such as J-10-2. Any ace, king, queen, 9, 8, or 7 can make a possible straight, for a total of 24 cards. As a practical matter, you cannot check the turn every time there is a possible straight on the board. You would be freezing up out of fear about half the time. So straights get paid off far more than flushes. Don’t be misled by the fact that a flush beats a straight and there are eight cards that complete a straight draw but nine that complete a flush draw. The bottom line is I am more afraid to fire a big bet on the turn when there is a straight draw on the flop that did not get completed than when there is a flush draw on the flop that did not get completed.

The last category to look at is the board that shows both a possible straight and a possible flush. Now more than half the deck represents a danger to you, so I am not nearly as aggressive firing a big barrel on the turn.

How should we approach this problem of managing the pot size on our top pair hands? We can see the difficulties of handling one pair are greatly magnified when we have to act first. This problem needs to be attacked by using the right preflop strategy. The first wager has a lot to do with the ultimate pot size. When I am up front holding a large stack, I am reluctant to raise with A-K and A-Q, especially when unsuited. (Note: I am talking mainly about cash-games, as tournament play forces you to play far more aggressively preflop.) The effect is you will be playing fewer big pots with one pair out of position. You will have a smaller pot to start with when you have built a top-pair hand.

Another thing I suggest is to be quite aggressive in betting your drawing hands. Your opponents need to fear that you are betting hands like the nut-flush draw or two overcards plus a straight draw. This will help stop the bullies from running over you by doing a lot of betting every time there is a possible flush or straight on the board. It is especially difficult for them to be aggressive in these situations when you have position on them. A heavy bettor can lose a lot of money by representing hands that you actually have.

I see a lot of players that get into trouble because they throw in raises on the flop to “find out where they are at.” They are scared with good hands that are nowhere near the nuts. A problem comes when they do not act on the information they received, and wind up playing a big pot on a hand that does not warrant it. There is another problem as well. This reduces the chance of their having a strong hand when they just call, so they are susceptible to coming under betting pressure.

Controlling the pot size is an important poker concept. It is also a much easier thing to do when you have position on your opponent. ♠

Bob Ciaffone’s new poker book, No-limit Holdem Poker, is now available. This is Bob’s fifth book on poker strategy. It can be ordered from Bob for $25 by emailing him at [email protected]. Free shipping in the lower 48 states to Card Player readers. All books autographed. Bob Ciaffone is available for poker lessons.