Before the Flop - Part 3 / By: Lou Krieger / Part 1 - Part 2
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Thinking About Your Opponent's Hand
The lesson to be learned from these examples is that you must always be
extremely selective, even after you've chosen to play a hand aggressively. When
you've been raised, force yourself to answer this question: what's my opponent likely to be raising with? Many beginning hold'em players simply do not play their opponents' hands. Making the mistake of playing only your hand is a common, costly error among beginners and low-limit players.
Remember, hold'em is not like video poker, where you need to make certain hands
of absolute value to win. You only need to make a hand better than your
opponent's when both are shown down at the river. A mere pair may be sufficient
to take the pot, while big hands like sets, straights, and flushes sometimes
lose. Often the probabilities of better hands can be deduced through a
combination of reading the board and analyzing your opponents' betting patterns.
But this is not foolproof, and you won't always know for sure. Occasionally
you'll lay down the best hand to a bluff. Nevertheless, it is much more costly
to carelessly throw more money into a pot you're unlikely to win simply because
you neglected to heed those warning signs along the road.
Playing Small Pairs In Late Position
Smaller pairs become playable in later positions, providing there has not been a raise in front of you. With smaller pairs, you're hoping for a lot of opponents and you want to flop a set. When you get lucky and make that set, you're poised to win a large pot.
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How you play your set depends on the texture of the game. If the board is not
threatening and you're up against aggressive opponents who like to jam the pot,
go ahead and meekly call until the turn - when you'll get an opportunity to fire
in a raise. When the board is threatening, you might want to come out betting or
raise an earlier bettor when it's your turn to act. Even if your opponent makes
an apparent straight or flush on the turn, you're still getting good pot odds in
relation to your chances of improving to a full house or better if the board
pairs. Under those circumstances, go ahead and keep calling until you make your
hand. Then raise.
If you don't flop a set or a straight draw, your small pair will simply not stand up and should generally be abandoned if someone bets the flop.
Here's an exception. Suppose you called with 6-6 and the flop is 7-5-4 of mixed suits. Although you didn't make a set, you flopped an open-end straight draw and can continue playing. If a six were to come on the turn, while you'd now have three sixes, there's a good chance one of your opponents made a straight. However, if the board pairs on the river, then your full house is a big favorite to win that pot.
Playing Big Pairs
When you're dealt a big pair, usually raise before the flop. Your objectives are
to limit the number of players in hopes that your single big pair will be
sufficient to capture the pot without having to improve, and to give your
opponents a chance to make a mistake - calling your bet when the odds don't
warrant it. If you get a lot of callers, you'll need to reassess whether your
pair is still the best hand. For example, a flop like Q-J-5 is much more likely
to give someone two pair than a flop like Q-6-2. Why? Because many of your
opponents will play hands like Q-J. They won't play Q-6 or 6-2.
Playing A Big Pair Against Many Opponents
Playing a single big pair against four, five, or six opponents takes the kind of
judgment you'll acquire only with lots of playing experience. It's tough to
release a big pair. All good players will, when circumstances warrant, toss them
away. Players who will not release aces, kings, or queens lose more money than
they should. Although you cannot prevent yourself from being outplayed and
releasing the best hand on occasion, the money you saved from that losing bet
you didn't make is just as valuable as money won.
I'm certainly not suggesting passive play. Far from it. I recommend aggressive play, tempered with selectivity. Selectivity means not only tossing away weak starting hands, but also releasing medium strength hands when you know you are beaten. Let someone else call to keep ҥm honest. When you know you're beaten or when the pot odds don't justify continuing, toss your hand away.
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How To Play Smaller Connectors
Playing smaller connectors, whether suited or not, is a simple proposition.
Think of them as bargain basement hands - to be played only in unraised pots,
against lots of opponents. When you take the flop with small connectors, you're
hoping to flop a big hand and trap as many opponents as you can. This won't
happen very often, but when it does, you'll probably win a big pot. But if
you're not prepared to release smaller connectors when you don't hit your hand,
you will pay dearly for this flaw in your game. In fact, if you can't bring
yourself to release hands like these, you'd be better off tightening up your
starting requirements by never playing them at all.
Sometimes you'll face difficult decisions with these kinds of hands. Suppose you call with a hand like 7-6 suited on the button against five opponents. The flop is K-7-4. The blinds and one other opponent all check, and the player to your right bets. What should you do? Do you call with second-best pair. Do you automatically put the bettor on a pair of kings and soup your hand? Could your opponent be on a steal, trying to bet and take the pot, since there were no bettors in front of him?
What about the blinds and the other active opponent? Did the flop miss all of
them, or is one of them sandbagging - hoping to get in a checkraise on fourth
street when the betting limits double? Do you raise, representing a big hand,
and hope to win the pot right there?
These are not easy decisions. The correct play, which is partially dependent on
the size of the pot, also hinges on knowing your opponents and how they play.
Situation like this require a good deal of playing experience, and if you're
unsure of what to do, I'd suggest you err on the side of caution.
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Selectivity - The Key To Preflop Play
The key to successful preflop play in hold'em is selectivity - putting yourself
in situations offering favorable pot odds. When you're in a favorable situation,
you need to be aggressive, either to get more money in the pot when you have a
big hand or to eliminate competition when you're holding the kind of hand that
plays best against fewer opponents.
In hold'em, as in other forms of poker, you do not want to make the second-best
hand, especially when you don't realize you're beaten. Recognizing you're
beaten, even when you hold a big hand, takes knowledge and experience, along
with the will to apply it.
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Underlying all these strategic ideas is the need to be a selective, aggressive, and disciplined player. While all the theory you'll need to become a skilled hold'em player is available in this and other books, discipline is not. You'll have to create it on your own. If you're able to exercise discipline 100 percent of the time, you can look forward to a bright future at the tables.
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