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October 2 — Sometimes, no matter how thin your opponent’s value range is, they just have it

Occasionally you will run into situations where your opponent is not representing very much, especially with the line that he has taken. A lot of online players that transition to live poker make the mistake of calling down far too much when their opponent has a thin “value” range. What they do not understand is that, no matter how few combinations of value hands someone might have, frequently, especially when the pot gets large, their bluffing frequency is close to zero percent. This trumps the fact that they are not representing all that much.

I can draw a perfect example of this from a hand that I played at the Commerce $5-$10 no-limit game last week. It was about 2am in the morning and I had worked my stack up to $2,600. My image was a little above average. The game was a bit wild and crazy and we decided to have a round of “blind raises” to $20 from under the gun (UTG), as in the $5-$10 game straddles are not allowed. It got folded to me in the cutoff and I opened A A to $70. A player in his late twenties, who seemed to play a bit questionably (I had seen him call off huge portions of his stack with what appeared to be draws and then folded), called with $800 on the button and the guy in the blind raise spot, a late twenties nitty player who does not make a lot moves, also called.

The flop came out K 7 6 and I bet $125 when it was checked to me. The button called quickly, as did the UTG player. The turn came the J bringing in a backdoor flush draw. For hand-reading purposes, it is very important to notice that the K is out on the flop. The pot was checked to me again, and this time I bet $400. The button just called again, leaving himself with $200 and the UTG player overcalled. At this point, I really thought that the button had some sort of draw that may have picked up hearts on the turn, as he most likely would have shipped now if he had top pair. It appeared to me that the UTG player must have had something like K-Q, K-10, or A-K, to a lesser extent. As the board got more and more drawy I did not expect the UTG player to slowplay something like a set or K-J.

The river brought out the 6 and the pot was checked to me again. Trying to target the king that I thought was in the UTG players’ hand, I bet about half the pot, $900. The button, not surprisingly, quickly folded and the action came back around to the UTG player. He actually quickly asked me, “how much do you have left?” Then he went into the tank for a bit, looking like he was going to call. After about 30 seconds, however, he announced all in. This was a very unexpected action. In fact, I was really shocked.

Again, I never thought that the UTG player would have slowplayed something on an early street with the pot being this big and I did not think that he would check-raise just a king at the end. It was also extremely unlikely that he would only call the turn with K-J to then check-raise the river when the board paired and he could possibly lose to A-A. So, in reality, the only hand that he could have had here for value that was not overplayed or slowplayed was a six. Now, how could he possibly have a six? This is where attention to suit distribution becomes critical on a rainbow flop. It is possible that he might have had a hand like 6 5, 7 6 and so on that took one off on the flop then picked up backdoor hearts on the turn. With the pot being $4,700, $1,100 to call I certainly was getting some enticing pot odds. And my opponent had so few combos of sixes that get to the end I thought it was really difficult to fold. However, no matter how few combinations of value hands that he was representing—he just “has to have it” in this spot. Obviously, if he knew I was capable of bet-folding A-A at the end, then a raise as a bluff would be profitable. But we are not computers and this type of play just does not happen at this level. Even though I knew my A-A only beat a bluff, say 8-9, I stubbornly called down and was shown 6 3.

October 4 — You should have a very good reason to go for a check-raise on the river. A lot of players don’t value bet thinly and will check behind

If you are familiar with some of my previous articles and my training material over at CrushLivePoker.com, you know that in general I think that going for check raises on the river, especially at $5-$5 and below, is a bad play. However, like slowplaying, I think there are certain times where we can implement the concept for additional profit.

The following hand took place on a Wednesday afternoon. For some reason that day, the games were off the hook at the Commerce $5-$10 tables. I arrived at noon to start the second game and by 3pm there were five games going, with multiple “casual” players spread around.

In the hand, the Villain was an unknown, mid-40s Middle Eastern player. He appeared to be playing rather snug, and bought in fully for $1,500. I had an above average image and sat with $2,200. The villain had $1,700. The Villain limped in UTG, and three players limped behind. I had A 9 and decided to check my option in the big blind. The flop came out J 7 5, giving me the nut flush draw. I came out and bet $35. Only the UTG player called. The turn was the 9, giving me a pair. At this point, I did not think that my opponent would ever fold a jack here, so I looked at this as a sort of way ahead, way behind spot. I also did not want to get raised off of my draw on the turn, so I checked. Without too much thought, the Villain checked behind. The river brought out the 8, giving me the nut flush and also putting a one-liner to a straight on the board.

Now normally I would just come out and bet my hand for value, as I never want my opponent to check behind on this river. However, there is a very important hand-reading clue that gives us information in this hand—the action on the turn. You see, if my opponent had a jack, I really think that he would have bet when checked to. When he checks back on the turn, I think that that skews his hand more towards flush draws and possibly pair plus straight draws, like 10-9. If I come out and bet the river with the nut flush, I believe that he will just call with all of those hands. However, if I check my hand, he will certainly value bet and I can put in a check-raise.

Now a case can be made, if my opponent is good enough, that he may fold a strong hand to a check-raise and we may win more money by just coming out and betting. However, I have found that in live play opponents like this value bet so infrequently on the river that when they are facing a raise, they find it very difficult to fold. It is similar to the older player types that have trouble folding A-A or K-K post-flop. They play so few hands that they just cannot find the fold button in the proper scenario.

Sure enough, when I checked the river, my opponent bet $75. I decided to go for a bit of gold and raised it to $400. My opponent thought for some time and finally called and flashed a 10 for a straight. I was very happy with the way that I played the hand, as if I had just come out and bet the river, surely he would have just called with his ten. ♠

Follow Bart for daily strategy tips on Twitter @CrushLivePoker and @BartHanson. Check out his poker training site exclusively made for live cash game play at CrushLivePoker.com where he produces weekly podcasts and live training videos.