Tough Turn Spot

I am excited to announce that I recently finished my upcoming book, Jonathan Little on Live Cash Games, Volume 2: The Workbook. I found the following hand example to be particularly interesting. It took place in a live $10-$20 no-limit hold’em game. Leading up to this hand, I had been fairly loose and aggressive, although certainly not crazy.
I raised to $60 out of my $8,000 effective stack with 2 2 from second position at an eight-handed table. Only the hijack, a loose, aggressive guy, and the small blind, a tight, aggressive kid called.

While raising from early position with small pairs is speculative, I much prefer raising to folding or limping, especially when deep stacked, as long as I do not think my opponents play too well. If you think your opponents will frequently reraise before the flop or generally not pay you off if you make a set, you should fold preflop.

The flop came 9 4 2.

The small blind checked to me and I bet $110 into the $200 pot.

While I like my idea of betting both to get value from numerous worse made hands and to charge the draws, with stacks $8,000 deep, I should have almost certainly bet a bit larger, perhaps $130 instead of $110. Although this sizing error is not too big of a deal, you want to get as much money as possible in the pot without tipping your opponents off to the strength of your hand. Building the pot early will allow you to invest exponentially more money later.

Both of my opponents called. When both my opponents call, I put them on somewhat wide ranges containing most reasonable one-pair hands as well as most of the possible flush draws. In addition to these hands, the small blind could potentially have a few more marginal draws, such as 6-5 and 5-3.

The turn was the 3.

The small blind checked, and I bet $260 into the $530 pot.

Again, I prefer a larger bet purely for value and protection, perhaps around $340 instead of $260. While a few gutshot straight draws improved on the turn, most of the time I will have the best hand, meaning I should continue value betting.

The hijack raised to $860 and the small blind reraised to $2,360.

At this point, I think I am against two overly strong ranges, containing primarily straights, sets, and premium draws, such as a flush draw plus a straight draw. Against two of those ranges, my bottom set is in terrible shape. I lose to all of the made hands and I am only slightly ahead of the premium draws.

I decided to fold. The hijack called $1,500 more.

It is important to have the discipline to make a big fold even when you have what is normally a premium hand. If you study how specific hands do against various ranges away from the table, you will be able to recognize unprofitable situations and fold without getting in too much trouble.

The river was the 6.

The small blind bet $2,000 into the $5,510 pot and the hijack called with A 5, losing to the small blind’s J 5.

Fortunately, I made a snug fold on the turn and lost the minimum. If I happened to make the error of calling on the turn, I would have certainly folded on this terrible river. If you happen to find yourself in this river situation with a set, you must get away from your hand. I frequently hear amateur players say something like, “I knew I was beat, but I couldn’t fold a set!” They fail to recognize that while sets are normally quite strong, given the action and the board, in this situation it is a terrible bluff catcher. Since very few people are willing to run an insane bluff in a multi-way pot by blasting in tons of money, you must make the fold. If you fail to get away from these situations, you will have a difficult time being a winner in the long run. ♠

Jonathan Little is a two-time WPT champion with more than $6 million in tournament winnings. Each week, he posts an educational blog and podcast at JonathanLittlePoker.com, where you can get a FREE poker training video that details five things you must master if you want to win at tournament poker.