Before the Flop - Part 2 / By: Lou Krieger / Part 1 - Part 3
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Modifying Your Strategy In Early Position
Hold'em is a complex game, and you can't play your first two cards mechanically.
Consider a hand like T-9 suited.
It is a very speculative hand - one better played inexpensively and from late
position. Ideally, you'd want to play this kind of hand on the button, when
you're last to act and there are seven or eight callers in an unraised pot ahead
of you. Now you can take a shot and toss your hand away if the flop doesn't help
you.
Here's another example. Assume you hold a "playable" hand like K-J before the flop, but the pot has been raised in front of you. What should you do? Most of the time you should throw it away. Chances are the raiser holds better cards than yours. Not only are you an underdog in this situation, but even if the flop contains a king or a jack, you can't be sure you have the best hand.
Be Selective...
Absolutely essential to your success as a player is the discipline to be very selective about the hands you play. In fact, a quick way to go broke is to play every hand. Yes, you'll win more pots along your personal road to ruin, but your objective is to win the most money, not the most pots.
Still, in a typical game with four or five players active before the flop and not too much raising, you can play hands like T-9s. But if you're in a very tight game, where there are typically only one or two callers, this is not a hand you'd want to play too often. Here's why. Assume you call, along with one other player, plus the big blind. Chances are you will not have the best hand after the flop. In situations where the flop helps no one, you do not stand a very good chance of winning. Suppose the blind held a Q-5, unsuited. A real rag? Sure. But having gotten a free play in that unraised pot, the blind's high card will go on to win that small pot, assuming the turn and river card are also blanks.
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But Be Aggressive!
This raises another interesting point. If calling was wrong, what about raising?
Under the right circumstances it's a good idea. If you are in late position and
no one has called the blinds, raising with a hand like T-9s is usually better
than calling. But not from early position, since you don't know the quality of
your opponent's hands, and they have yet to act. Someone with a big pair, or
bigger connectors could reraise. Then you're trapped for three bets before the
flop, and an underdog to boot. The point, once again, is to be very selective
with the hands you play. In fact, a hand like T-9 is one I'll usually throw away
in early position, but under the right circumstances, I'll raise with it in late
position.
Complex Situations In Early Position
Complex situations arise whenever you are confronted with a decision that might
move you off the starting requirements shown on the Startchart. Because complex
situations, by definition, are tough to resolve, their frequency speaks volumes
about the kind of game you're in. If you regularly have to make choices you're
not sure about, consider changing tables or packing it in until the tough
players leave and the game gets a bit softer.
Complex situations stem from uncertainty over how to play your own hand, or
respond to an action by your opponent. What should you do, for example, when
you're dealt a medium or big pair in early position? If your big pair is Aces,
Kings, or Queens, you ought to raise - or reraise if the pot was raised in front
of you. If you're the first one in, raise with any pair of tens or higher, and
occasionally - to add some deception to your game - raise with any pair of
sevens or higher.
With a small pair in a fixed-limit game, you're better off either heads up - in
which case you're hoping your opponent is holding big cards - or against a large
field. But when you're playing a small pair against a large field, you're hoping
to flop a set. If you're up against a large number of opponents any overcards on
the board are going will probably give someone a better hand than yours. In a
no-limit game, you'll want to see the flop as inexpensively as possible with
small pair because most of the time you'll have to release your hand on the
flop. If you do flop a set, there'll be plenty of opportunity to make a big bet
and win most or all of your opponent's chips.
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Playing Medium Pairs
With a medium pair, you might also have to flop a set to win the pot. If I'm
holding a pair of Kings, only an Ace on the flop may give someone a bigger pair.
But if you hold Tens, every face card on the board creates a potential pair
bigger than yours. If you don't flop a set or an overpair, it is difficult to
justify continuing with your hand, particularly when two face cards fall on the
flop, and there is multiway action.
Here's an example. Suppose you're dealt a pair of Tens in early position and there are four callers. The flop is A-J-6, all of mixed suits. Since most of your opponents will play big cards, chances are one of them has paired an ace or a jack, especially if there is a bet and call before the action reaches you. While there are players who will ride a pair of tens to the end of the track in this situation, they will throw off a bundle of money in the process.
In complex situations, you often need to think more about your opponents than
your hand. Ask yourself this: What kinds of hands would they be playing? Sure,
one of them might have called with K-Q, or 9-8s, but it is also likely that
someone holds an ace or jack. If he does, you're now a big underdog, since only
two of the remaining 47 cards will help you. Investing money in this pot is a
poor investment, since the pot odds will never offset the mathematical odds
against making your hand. People who continue to play on in these circumstances
will lose money - lots of it.
Advanced players always ask themselves: "What does my opponent think I'm playing?" The ability to get into your opponents head is a rare skill - one that really separates great players from all the others. As a beginner, this is not a skill you'll master easily, or immediately. For now, just be aware of this ability, and you'll begin to cultivate it with experience.
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Playing Smaller Pairs
With smaller pairs, unless you are up against only one other player, you almost have to flop a set to make it worth your while to play on. If you don't flop a set when dealt a pair of deuces, for example, you can be certain that every subsequent card will be an overcard. The only way to win under these circumstances is for the board to miss everyone - and with multiway action, that's unlikely.
Most expert players routinely throw away small pairs unless they can play them against many opponents, without risking a raise. When you have a big pair, or two pair, and get beaten by a small set, it's frustrating in a fixed-limit game and can be incredibly costly when you're playing no-limit. However, you'll make up for some of it on those occasions when you make a straight or flush against an opponent who shouldn't have been there in the first place but flopped a small set. Now you'll get all the action you want, and you'll love it.
Disadvantages of Early Position
A major disadvantage of early position is having to act first on each successive round of betting. Because of this, speculative hands such as smaller, suited connectors, and even small pairs, are risky. Since you would prefer to play these hands as cheaply as possible against a large number of opponents, they are better played from the rear.
Playing a small pair from early position runs the risk of a raise from a player who acts after you. This makes it more expensive for you to play these holdings. If there is a raise, you may not attract the number of callers you want to ensure a big payoff on those occasions when you make a big hand. To play smaller suited connectors effectively in early position, you should be in a game where preflop raises are infrequent. If you continue to play hands like this in tight games (with few opponents in each pot) or aggressive games with frequent raising, it will prove costly.
Good Early Position Hands
Hands that do well in early position are big pairs, medium pairs that can either improve to a set or survive as an overpair to the flop, and big connectors - preferably suited. No matter how big the connectors may be, you have to be willing to release them when warranted. Ace-King of clubs, for example, is a big underdog against a flop like T-T-9, especially if that flop contains two suited cards other than clubs. Some players never release an Ace-King, no matter how badly the flop misses them. This is a major leak in their game. You might fall in love with Ace-King, but you don't have to marry it.
Just because a hand is playable in early position does not mean it is playable all the way to the river. Hand values often change dramatically once the flop comes, and when this happens you must be willing to release hands that looked promising before the flop. The key to successful early position play is selectivity. Base that selectivity on those playable hands shown on the Startchart, but be prepared to constrict the number of hands you play when the game is very tight, overly aggressive, or both. If the game is very tight, however, you can steal some from early position. Nevertheless, most low limit games are anything but overly tight, so if you plan on bluffing up front in an attempt to steal the blinds, be forewarned, and be careful.
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Middle- And Late-Position Play
Having been cautioned about early-position play, "What," you might ask, "can you do differently in middle or late position?" You can open up a bit more. The later you act, the more information you have about your opponents' hands and there's less chance you will face a raise, since fewer players remain to act after you. Not only can you play more hands in late position, you can play them more creatively.
Suppose you've been dealt A-2s in eighth position and no one has called the
blind by the time it's your turn to act. You'd routinely throw that hand away in
early or middle position. But with only the blinds active, go ahead and raise.
If the blinds hold trash hands, they'll probably throw their cards away - even
if they suspect you're on a steal. If they call and an ace falls, you still
stand a good chance of having the best hand. If the board helps nobody, which
isn't uncommon in a heads-up confrontation, your lone ace will win the pot.
But that doesn't mean you can play any two cards, or even all the playable hands on the Startchart, in all circumstances. Suppose you're dealt 8-7s on the button, the player in position four raises, and gets two cold calls by the time it's your turn to act. What should you do? Simple. Ask yourself, "What's the worst hand my opponent would raise with in fourth position," and "What's the worst hand other opponents would call with?" Regardless of how much you might like to play that 8-7s, you cannot logically conclude that the raiser and both callers are playing hands worse than yours. Chances are you're already beaten in three places. Toss your hand away. However, another couple of callers would justify a call because of the implied odds, even if you knew you were up against an overpair.
Had you called, you'd need to flop two pair, a flush, or a straight to bet out on the flop, and typically either a flush or straight draw to call an opponent's bet on the flop. However, even if you flop the bottom pair, you should call the flop if the pot is large enough to warrant it. If one or more face cards flop, you have to credit at least one of your three opponents for a big pair. If they bet and you call, you're an underdog. You may be up against a bigger pair, two pair, or a set. Even if you flop a flush draw, you won't know for certain that your opponent isn't holding two suited connectors larger than yours. If you're unfortunate enough to get into that situation and make your flush, here's what will happen. He'll bet, you'll raise, and he will reraise you. Now you're trapped and likely to call him down to the river, only to find yourself losing a stack of chips in the process.
We'll look at more in Part 3 of this series.
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