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Feb. 21 – Once the flop gets checked through, raising the turn versus the preflop raiser is a very strong play

Even at the lower levels of no-limit these days, most players understand the concept of bluffing scare cards, especially when they are the preflop raiser. I have seen old guys actually continuation-bet (c-bet) A-Q on king-high boards, knowing that it will be difficult for people to call them with anything but a king on a dry board. I’ve also started to see more experienced low-level players fire a second barrel on the turn when overcards come in on ragged boards that should hit their preflop raising range.

Along with this new sense of c-betting the right types of boards, better players know which boards not to c-bet. Say, for example, we raise with a hand like A K from early position and we get four callers. The flop comes out 7 6 5. It would basically be suicide for us to c-bet this type of texture with this many players. So, often times, you will notice that good players will check. Let us say that we are in position instead with A K, and the same board comes out. It gets checked to us and we decide to check the flop back. If you are paying attention, most of the time you should realize that the preflop raiser will rarely have a pair in this spot. So, when the turn comes an ace or a king, and it is checked to him again, if he bets, his range is normally capped at one pair and often times, when more shorthanded, he will be bluffing. So if we have some sort of big draw from out of position, and we were planning on check-raising the flop, we can easily add a ton of fold equity by check-raising the turn instead.

Let us examine this situation again. The flop is 7 6 5. The flop gets checked around. Now, the turn is the A and we expect the preflop raiser to bet this card or use it as a bluff. If we have a hand like 10 9, not only will we win more money by checking and letting him bluff, but we will also give ourselves way more fold equity than we would have had by just coming out and betting, and letting him just call.

This is a very sophisticated play and only should be used against opponents who you think are capable of folding one-pair type hands. However, turn raises are usually an indication of more strength than flop raises at the lower levels, and some players who would not release one pair hands on the flop certainly will when facing a lot of heat on the turn.

To add one other twist to this, I actually advocate playing a little backwards and unbalanced after this scare card comes and you do flop a big hand. I would much rather lead the turn and lead the river for large bets to get maximum value, than blow my opponent off of his one-pair hand with a turn check-raise. You would be amazed at how light someone will look you up on the river when all of the draws brick out. Because players are so inherently polarized in their river betting tendencies, they will think that you are bluffing often.

Feb. 20 – Live cash-game staking is a tough racket. I would recommend never doing it.

One of the more common non-strategy based questions that I receive on Twitter or via e-mail has to do with cash-game staking. Some people want to know the best way to go about getting staking, while others, and I think more interestingly, ask if they should invest in a player and stake them in cash games.

Staking in tournaments, although extremely difficult to profit from, can at least be easily tracked. You invest in a horse or set of horses and as long as you confirm that they actually buy in to the tournaments you’re staking, results are basically public record. You have to deal with makeup and the chance that you might have to cut your losses at some point, but the same can be said about cash games.

Whenever there is money involved with anything there is always the chance that you will be cheated. Back in the infancy of online poker a lot of the young players thought that the game was pure because of the number of hands that were seen. They pooh-poohed the older rounders when questions were raised as to possible cheating. The younger guys just thought that the older ones were not good enough to beat the games, hence their hesitation to play in them. Now, of course, we know that cheating in different degrees has been rampant across many different sites. Towards the end of online, offshore poker in the U.S., it got to the point where most of the high-stakes action was heads-up.

We should learn from these lessons as poker players and realize that it is extremely risky to back players in cash games where the results are not fully transparent. It only takes forty or fifty dollars a day to get ripped off for thousands over the course of a year. I only ever backed one player in my career in cash games, and he was a very dear friend of mine who I trusted fully. I also knew that he was fully capable of beating the game, but his financial situation and bankroll could not take the variance of $5-$10 no-limit due to his college tuition. I also knew that he did not have any gambling or drug leaks — something very important to evaluate when thinking of staking. My horse was easily able to build his own roll within six months and he went off on his own — kind of the way it is supposed to work.

Of the stories that I have heard from others about cash staking, however, my result was by far in the minority. Long term friendships end and nasty disagreements arise from staking arrangements. Just like it is a tough racket to play poker professionally, it is even tougher to stake for profit. The other thing you have to realize is that there usually is a reason as to why a winning, profitable player would need to be staked. A lot of times, the player needing backing is neither as profitable as he thinks, or he has one of the above mentioned leaks (gambling or drugs/alcohol). It takes a really special person, one that you know enough and fully trust and has a legitimate need to be cash-game staked. Most of the time you would do a lot better by adding to your own bankroll and moving up or making more traditional outside investments. Be smart. ♠

Follow Bart for daily strategy tips on twitter @barthanson. Check out his podcast “The Seat Open Podcast” on seatopenpoker.net and his video training site specifically for live No Limit players ­—CrushLivePoker.com. He also hosts Live at the Bike every Tuesday and Friday at 10:30 pm ET at LiveattheBike.com.