Mailbag: Trying New Things

I received this question in response to my latest strategy article, Trying New Things, which is now appearing in 2+2 Magazine.

Q: I read your article on 2p2′s magazine and I wanted to try something new. I determined what is the skill I want to improve in my game and before the tournament I set myself the goal to find weakness in my opponent’s game and try to exploit it.

With this in my mind, yesterday I played a tournament 5€ buy-in, full ring.

blind 150/300 15

I am in middle position with As 5c and 17,885. Villain is in the seat on my left with 18,250. It is the first level with ante and I played very tight since the beginning of the tournament.

I open min raised to 600, Villain raised to 1000, and everyone folded to me.

I usually call here getting 6:1, but I wanted to try something new, so I raised to 2500. I decided that it was a good spot to try something new because the min 3bet didn’t represent anything to me.

Villain called. I put him on a range of [66-TT, AJ+, KQ+].

Flop (3685) : Js Tc 6h. I bet 2000, Villain called.

I thought that my bet could make him fold [77-99], and I thought he could call with the rest of his range.

Turn (7685): Js Tc 6h 2s. We both checked.

I didn’t like this card because it didn’t change anything. My plan on the turn was : I check, if he bets I fold, if he checks I will bet 2/3 pot on a spade or a baby card to make him fold AK and AQ.

River Js Tc 6h 2s 6s. I bet 5000. Villain called and showed 88.

I know that I don’t represent a lot of strength with the check on the turn, but at this buy-in, generally the players are on level 1 on the thinking process. Usually I follow the common advice against these players: play tight in position and not bluff them, and it works. But I want to improve and play a better poker and I am sure it’s possible to build a stack without a good hand against these opponents.

Can you help me to see what did I do wrong in this hand, and can you tell if I am on the right way to improve my game in doing such things, or do you think that against small stakes player all I need to do is continue to play a solid game ?

Thanks,

Jean-Noël

A: Bonjour Jean-Noël, I’m glad to hear you were inspired by my article. Although I have a lot of criticisms about this hand, I want to emphasize that being willing to try new things and get creative is ultimately something that will serve you well. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes along the way, that’s how you learn (though you might consider moving down in stakes when you know you will be trying new things you aren’t sure about).

If you haven’t already, you should also have a look at my new Bluffing series on Tournament Poker Edge. I think it will help to illustrate some of what you could have done better in this hand.

OK, on to the hand:

1. Fold pre-flop. Although it’s correct to try to play more pots once antes are introduced, these are rather small antes, and A5o is an especially poor hand, especially with somewhat deep stacks. There are very few flops on which you can be comfortable playing a big pot, and it’s also difficult for you to have good equity when bluffing. So basically you can’t make good value hands or good bluffing hands.

2. “the min 3bet didn’t represent anything to me” Was there a reason for this? Looking for signs of weakness is an important component of finding a good bluffing spot, but I wonder how much cause you had to think he was weak. Had you seen him make larger raises with his nutted hands before? That would imply that he doesn’t have such a strong hand this time. Without that read, though, I think it’s a little premature to assume he’s weak just because of the small sizing. Many players at this level are very passive and a 3bet of any size is a sign of strength.

3. When you bet a little over half-pot on the flop, you need your opponent to fold a little more than 1/3 of the time to show a profit. If you only expect him to fold 77-99, that’s not going to be enough to make a bluff profitable. This is an especially good flop for the range you put your opponent on, and as you have basically no equity against his calling range, you should just give up now.

4. If you’re just trying to get him to fold AQ/AK on the river, do you need to bet 2/3 pot? Do you think he’d call with those hands if you bet 1/3 pot? And why only bluff spades and small cards? Won’t he fold AK to a bet if the river is an 8 or a 9?

Again, don’t be discouraged by the fact that you made a lot of mistakes here. Instead, think of this as four things you learned today, all because you tried something new and were ready to make mistakes!