PokerCoaching.com Quiz: Eights Are Great Sometimes

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You are eight-handed in a $500 buy-in live poker tournament with 45,000 chips at 300-600 with a 600 big blind ante. UTG raises to 1,500 and it folds to you on the button with 8 8.

Question 1: Should you fold, call, reraise to 4,500, or reraise to 7,000?

Answer: Against an under-the-gun raise 75 big blinds deep, you should much prefer to call with your small and medium pairs. If you three-bet, you run the risk of getting four-bet, taking away your chance to flop a set and potentially stack UTG’s strong range.

You call and everyone else folds. The flop comes 7 3 2 and UTG checks.

Question 2: Should you check, bet 2,000, bet 4,000, or bet 6,000?

Answer: This is a situation where many players think 8-8 with a spade wants to bet big to make their opponent fold. This may be a reasonable strategy if your opponent is overly straightforward and never protects their checking range by checking flushes and overpairs, but many players are aware that they cannot check with only weak holdings.

Assuming your opponent protects their checking range well, you have to do a decent amount of checking as well. That said, 8-8 in particular (a hand that is likely good but very vulnerable to being outdrawn) is a hand that should usually bet for a small size both for value and protection when checked to, even on a monotone board.

You bet 2,000 and your opponent calls. The turn is the 6 and your opponent checks.

Question 3: Should you check, bet 3,000, bet 6,000, or bet 9,000?

Answer: Once you get check-called, your opponent’s range should lack many overpairs. That said, some of your more skilled opponents will check-call with overpairs in order to protect the rest of their checking range. So, as your opponent is more skilled, you should consider checking behind on the turn more often.

However, a small bet on the turn is also reasonable, given your betting range is well protected by containing many flushes. When your betting range is protected, you can bet with a wider range of hands for thin value.

You check behind and the river is the 5. Your opponent bets 4,000.

Question 4: Should you fold, call, raise 12,000, or go all-in?

Answer: Against a 50% pot river bet, it is safe to assume your opponent is somewhat polarized to overpairs and better made hands, or bluffs. Because of this, your only options with 8-8 are to call or fold.

Since many players will check-call the flop with any decent spade and then feel inclined to bluff when they do not improve on the river, calling is the only play that makes sense, even though you could be crushed. When your hand is somewhat under-represented and your opponent’s range contains lots of bluffs, when you are getting nearly 3:1 pot odds (meaning you only need to win 25% of the time or more in order to profit), you should call.

You call and your opponent shows you A 10 for the nuts. Ouch! ♠

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