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Folding Top Pair, Top Kick |
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In this hand, we fold top pair top kicker to bottom set on the flop with relative ease.
PokerStars Game #2899676810: Tournament #14297059, Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2005/10/26 - 18:19:16 (ET)
Table '14297059 1' Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: Ham7mer (1580 in chips)
Seat 2: FARTSOFTEN (1400 in chips)
Seat 3: gidders (1470 in chips)
Seat 4: blubmer (1470 in chips)
Seat 5: CEV61 (1480 in chips)
Seat 6: Pistol-Whipp (1690 in chips)
Seat 7: MrAlan2950 (1430 in chips)
Seat 8: north40 (1480 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 9: Blucky2day (1500 in chips)
CEV61: posts small blind 10
Pistol-Whipp: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to gidders [Ah Qs]
MrAlan2950: folds
north40: folds
Blucky2day: calls 20
Ham7mer: folds
FARTSOFTEN: calls 20
gidders: raises 80 to 100
blubmer: folds
CEV61: folds
Pistol-Whipp: folds
Blucky2day: calls 80
FARTSOFTEN: calls 80
*** FLOP *** [Qc 2h 6c]
Blucky2day: checks
FARTSOFTEN: bets 100
gidders: raises 240 to 340
Blucky2day: raises 620 to 960
FARTSOFTEN: folds
gidders said, "your set is good"
gidders: folds
Blucky2day collected 1110 from pot
Blucky2day: shows [2c 2s] (three of a kind, Deuces)
Let’s go over this hand, decision by decision.
Decision 1 – Raise two limpers with AQo 5x to 100 leaving myself with 1370.
Comments - This is a standard play here in the Cut Off with AQo. I need to make a raise here to get the Button to fold – so I gain position in the hand. I want the blinds to know that I am serious about my hand, and if they aren’t – they should also fold. I want my limpers also to know that I am raising a healthy amount, and I am ready to take this pot down at any time. I am not betting to entice them to call, but I am not betting to drive them out of the pot. This looks like a scary bet to call, because it’s big enough to intimidate, but small enough where they will pretty feel they have to call (which they don’t).
Don’t fall into the trap that once you put a single chip in, you must put in more. There is no rule anywhere that says if someone min raises you at the 10/20 Level you have to call it (although it would be foolish if you didn’t – but realize that you are not forced to call it.)
Another thing that a lot of beginners have trouble with is the standard raise. A standard raise is 3xBB, but that only applies when the blinds hit Level 3 (25/50) and above. A raise of 3xBB in Level 1 (60) is only fattening up the pot, and basically inviting players with suited cards to come into the pot with you. Raise at least 4-7x if you are going to try to isolate 1 or 2 opponents in the hand with you. Don’t give your opponents any reason to make easy calls based on your small bet or raise, especially with vulnerable hands preflop.
Options – I don’t recommend you limp in Level 1 and 2 with hands like this. It makes it very tricky to know whether or not you hit the flop hard enough to have the best hand in most cases. With this hand, it’s almost always either reraise or fold. I want to be the aggressor with these type of hands – at almost every level.
Decision 2 – Reraise a bet of 100 to 340 on a Qc 2h 6c board leaving myself with 1030 chips.
Comments – I caught a very good flop for AQo, and I have to make sure I am still the aggressor in the hand. You’ve usually given up the role of aggressor if you only call a small bet on the flop.
A lot of times, player who bet back into the raiser will be betting out a flush draw. This isn’t always the case, but a lot of times a player who has limp/called into a pot, will automatically forget about the previous action and see his four-flush and think “I pretty much already have a flush.” Really, the only other hand I put him on at this point would be a single pair that doesn’t beat AQ.
If I think I have the best hand at this point, I should raise to protect, find out where both of my opponents are at, and most importantly – build a bigger pot.
Options – Here is where I think a bit differently from a lot of theorists. It is widely regarded that betting the pot is the most effective way to give your opponent incorrect odds to draw to his flush. This is a good strategy for the most part, however I personally think it doesn’t apply to SNG’s very much – mostly cash games where you must make the most +EV plays you can. The strategy has some flaws which don’t take into account the escalating blinds, the stack sizes comparative to the blinds and the basic overall ‘strategies’ of low limit players (where a four flush is usually worth all their chips.) I will be writing about my theory on Pot Sized Bets later on.
Decision 3 – Fold to a 340 reraise by the original checker.
Comments – This is a classic example of a way to avoid going broke if you stop and think about what your opponent is trying to do with his bet. Why would he reraise an amount that seemingly looks like he wants me to call? If he wasn’t sure if he had the best hand, wouldn’t he raise all in or fold? Why does he want to continue to play the hand out?
With this hand, the board is textured with one high card, and two flush cards. There is very, very little chance of straight possibilities (you can’t be scared of every possibility out there, especially if you’ve made a big raise preflop). With AQo, the only hands that beat me right now are: QQ, 66, 22, Q6, Q2, 62 and AQc is a slight favorite.
Now what you should be thinking is – “what kind of hand would a limp/caller being making this 3 bet with on this board after I had raised that amount.” Even at the lowest of levels, players who are the third person to bet after a raise and a raise – will almost always have the best hand. In this situation, the only hands I could see a limp/caller/3-bettor do this way are 22 or 66. There is a very slight possibility that I might have the best hand, but the chances are so slim that it really doesn’t even make any sense for me to pay to see – because I still have 1000 chips and am not crippled by any means.
Options - Let’s say I do decide I have the best hand and decide to reraise all in. Well, if he does have a set – I am drawing dead for the most part. This is a crucial part in the hand where if I’m wrong and I go all in – I’m out. It is not a situation where I have KQ and he has AQ so if I’m wrong I still have an okay chance to get lucky.
At this point, if he did bluff me out of the pot with the worst hand – it would be an extraordinary play. If he didn’t have me beat, he made a fantastic play – and deserves to win this pot. However, in almost all cases similar to this one – he has me crushed.
Lesson – Mindfully deduct what your opponent is holding based on all of his actions throughout the course of the hand. |
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