Posts Tagged ‘no-limit hold ‘em strategy’

There’s a $600 cap at this table, which is why there’s not betting after the flop.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (5 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($1591)
SB ($1561)
BB ($3733)
UTG ($5231.95)
Hero (MP) ($4163)

Preflop: Hero is MP with K, A
1 fold, Hero bets $40, 1 fold, SB calls $30, BB calls $20

Flop: ($120) 4, 10, Q (3 players)
SB checks, BB bets $80, Hero raises to $188, SB calls $188, BB raises to $560, Hero calls $372, SB calls $372

Turn: ($1800) Q (3 players)

River: ($1800) 7 (3 players)

Total pot: $1800 | Rake: $3

Results:
SB had 7, 5 (flush, Queen high).
BB had J, K (one pair, Queens).
Hero had K, A (flush, Ace high).
Outcome: Hero won $1797

A comment on a recent post about the squeeze play observed that a pretty intense dynamic can arise in situations where more than one player recognizes a good squeezing opportunity. I think this is a good example:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($901.50)
UTG+1 ($1660.05)
MP1 ($1289.50)
MP2 ($1987)
MP3 ($5354)
CO ($1020.35)
Hero (Button) ($3507)
SB ($1016.75)
BB ($4832.55)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Q, A
5 folds, CO bets $33, Hero calls $33, 1 fold, BB raises to $160, CO calls $127, Hero raises to $480, 1 fold, CO calls $320

Flop: ($1138.50) J, 8, 7 (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $3025.50 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: $1138.50 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero didn’t show Q, A (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won $1135.50

Note the stack sizes here: BB and I are effectively 350BB deep, while CO and I are only 100BB deep. BB is decent but excessively aggressive pre-flop. CO is loose and weak. Granted it’s not the most plausible line on my part since I didn’t 3-bet initially, but there isn’t too much BB can do about it given our stack depth. Frankly, my AQ is probably ahead of his range anyway, and it would be tough for him to pull off a 5-bet bluff.  Read the complete post...

…because sometimes, you aren’t bluffing:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($14268.50)
Hero (SB) ($4179.50)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 7, Q
Hero bets $60, BB calls $40

Flop: ($120) K, J, J (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $77, BB calls $77

Turn: ($274) 8 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

River: ($274) 2 (2 players)
BB bets $210, Hero calls $210

Total pot: $694 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
Hero had 7, Q (one pair, Jacks).
BB had Q, 9 (one pair, Jacks).
Outcome: BB won $693.50

Although I didn’t recognize his name, this guy played very well, and it didn’t take me long to quit him. He’d been making a lot of good, thin value check-raises on dry flops like this, and he very rarely folded them. Thus, I thought his flop call represented either very marginal showdown value or a float with the intention of bluffing the river. Turns out it was both, which is really as it should be. I think he doesn’t turn Ax into a bluff on the river, which is why I call with Q-high, but I think this is exactly the right way for him to play Q9.

This isn’t going to work against a lot of opponents, but against very tough opponents, it’s essential:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (MP) ($4429.50)
CO ($7120)
Button ($2587)
SB ($4449.30)
BB ($4169)
UTG ($712.40)

Preflop: Hero is MP with 4, 4
UTG calls $20, Hero bets $90, 1 fold, Button calls $90, 2 folds, UTG calls $70

Flop: ($300) 3, 4, 6 (3 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $187, Button calls $187, 1 fold

Turn: ($674) J (2 players)
Hero bets $444, Button calls $444

River: ($1562) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $1225, Hero calls $1225

Total pot: $4012 | Rake: $3

Results:
Button had 6, 7 (one pair, sixes).
Hero had 4, 4 (three of a kind, fours).
Outcome: Hero won $4009

This guy isn’t calling the turn with a bare draw, so I’m not too concerned about him having the flush. He could have a big draw, something like Ah5h, that he chose to “slowplay”, or maybe a flush with the Jh, but I don’t think he has a flush too often. His most likely hand is something marginal with showdown value, either a bare pair that was bluff catching or a pair plus draw.  Read the complete post...

$5/$10 NLHE 6-handed game. Villains have about $1000 each, I cover. MP opens to $35, BTN calls, I call 9h 7h in the BB.

Flop Ks 6h 2d. I check, MP bets $70 into $105 pot, BTN calls, I raise to $190, both fold. Why?

The logic here is very similar to the pre-flop squeeze play, particularly at the time that Harrington was writing his first book (ie before most people knew what a squeeze play was). The original better has a very wide range, and consequently so does the caller, especially since he didn’t 3-bet preflop. My raise into both of them represents strength in a spot where they don’t commonly see a bluff, not to mention that there is extra pressure on the original better since he still has someone left to act behind him.

I expect MP to fold unless he has a pair of K’s or better. While all of those hands are in his range, all he’s done so far is raise pre-flop (something this particular player did often) and then bet a pretty ideal flop. His range is plenty wide, and he probably folds 80% of the time or more.  Read the complete post...

Edit: Made a mistake in the original post. Villain did not have two pair, he had Aces with a kicker that didn’t play.

$5/$10 NLHE, $1100 effective stacks. Action folds to a decent TAG regular in the SB, he opens to $30, I make it $90 with AJo, he makes it $200, I call. Flop is AJ4 rainbow. He bets about $200, I call. Turn is an off-suit 6 7. He checks, I check. River is a 9, he checks, I shove something like $650 into the $800 pot, and he calls with A6s.

There are two major disadvantages to slowplaying that I think I can pretty well avoid in this situation:

1. Losing the Pot. Giving a free card risks improving your opponent to a better hand or letting a scare card fall that enables your opponent to bluff you out of the pot.

2. Losing Additional Bets. When your opponent has a second-best hand that can pay off multiple bets, slow-playing can cost you one or more bets. In big bet games, this is especially bad since the pot size grows geometrically. In other words, the bet that you miss is usually a lot bigger than the bet that you get.  Read the complete post...

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (5 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($3829.50)
BB ($1000)
Hero (UTG) ($4795.55)
MP ($1490)
Button ($2152.50)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Q, Q
Hero bets $40, MP raises to $120, 3 folds, Hero calls $80

Flop: ($262.50) 5, J, Q (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $140, Hero calls $140

Turn: ($542.50) 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $330, Hero calls $330

River: ($1202.50) K (2 players)
Hero checks, MP checks

Total pot: $1202.50 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had Q, Q (three of a kind, Queens).
MP had K, A (one pair, Kings).
Outcome: Hero won $1199.50

On the river, there’s about $1000 left in Villain’s stack, so less than a pot-sized bet. I see a lot of people shove here, but I actually like his check back. It’s not what I expected, and in fact part of the reason I was slowplaying was that I thought he’d probably value bet quite a few worse hands on the river. If he’s checking AK and presumably AA here, though, I’m not sure if that means I should play my hand faster. I guess I could see check-raising the flop, but with his turn bet sizing, I doubt he’s calling a check-shove there.

The last two weeks have been pretty hectic (more on that soon), and I’ve barely played at all. Here’s the most interesting hand I could find without much effort from my “archives”:

No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (5 handed) – Hold’em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($3183.65)
SB ($1679.40)
BB ($2204)
Hero (UTG) ($3188.50)
MP ($1998.50)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with K, 10
Hero bets $42.50, 2 folds, SB calls $37.50, BB calls $32.50

Flop: ($127.50) 9, Q, 4 (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $99, 1 fold, BB calls $99

Turn: ($325.50) 6 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $255, BB calls $255

River: ($835.50) 6 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $690, 1 fold

Total pot: $835.50

Results:
Hero had K, 10 (one pair, sixes).
Outcome: Hero won $1530

Ordinarily I would say this isn’t a good board to bluff into two players, but it’s a little different against two guys calling out of the blinds. To put it simply, I just think my range is so much stronger than theirs on this board that I can expect to take it down on enough turns/rivers if not immediately on the flop. I’m not betting my full range on the flop, but an overcard and a gutshot is good enough.  Read the complete post...