Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker, Volume 1 (51 page)

So, call with every hand that lacks huge reverse implied odds against most opponents’ super-tight min-re-raising range. Obviously, you should do your best to determine your opponent’s hand. A few years ago I would almost always be shown a strong hand, but some weaker players in today’s games min-re-raise all pairs, suited aces and a few other random hands. Make sure you know your opponent’s range as well as possible before making a big fold.

Sometimes you will re-raise a player only to have him min-re-raise you. Even though the pot is larger than before, you should still call with all hands except A-x and K-x. Suppose your opponent raises to 3BBs out of a 125BB stack and you re-raise with Q
-9
to 8BBs. Your opponent min-re-raises to 14BBs. You are not getting huge implied odds, but calling 6BBs to hopefully win 135BBs is always a fine deal. So, call and fold most flops unless you hit a monster.

You call these min-re-raises purely to flop a very strong hand. Strongly consider folding if you flop something like top pair, bad kicker and your opponent keeps betting. The optimal line against some players is to call once but fold to a bet on a later street.

You should usually fold to a min-re-raise on later betting rounds unless you have a strong hand or a draw. Most weak opponents think they should min-re-raise with hands like top pair or sets after the flop. Unless you can beat or draw to beat those hands, you should usually fold because these players rarely fold top pair or better.

Check when you Hit your Draw

One of the most common leaks is to lead into the aggressor from out of position whenever you hit your draw. Unless you know him to be a habitual bluffer, you should fold most made hands if a weak player calls your bet and leads into you when an obvious draw hits on the next street. Most players will bet a much wider range if the previous street was checked through. Leading when you hit flips your hand face up and kills your implied odds. Also, if your opponent was bluffing, it forces him to give up on the hand.

Suppose you raise A
-K
to 3BBs out of your 150BB stack and the player in the small blind calls. The flop comes K
-10
-3
. Your opponent checks, you bet 4BBs and he calls. The turn is the 8
. Your opponent checks, you bet 10BBs and he calls. The river is the A
. Your opponent leads into you for 26BBs.

Even though you made top two pair, you should fold to most weak, straightforward opponents. In fact, you should consider folding against every weak opponent. Few players lead here as a bluff because it is too likely that the ace hit your range. They fail to realize that you can read hands decently well, so you may not pay off a bet even if you do hit the ace. Call your opponent’s river bet if you checked the turn because your hand is under-represented if you are no longer the aggressor.

A good player in the previous example would check the river when he hit his draw because checking is the only way to get another bet out of a good player. You should basically check whenever you hit a draw on the river without position. An opponent with a strong made hand that you now beat will probably bet when you check to him and call if you lead. He may bet a weak made hand, but will usually fold to your lead. If he has bluffed, he may continue bluffing but will fold to your lead. When you check, you get value from some medium-strength hands as well as your opponent’s bluffs while getting the same value from his strong made hands.

Consider leading into a terrible calling station when you hit a draw, especially if you know he tends to check behind on the river when draws hit. It takes a really special opponent to make leading an optimal play.

You can lead as a bluff into strong players when all the draws hit and your hand is fairly weak, such as when your draw missed but another hit. Leading will confuse them and may occasionally make them fold the best hand. If you do lead against a specific opponent in this spot, try to balance in the future by leading when you hit a draw.

The standard line all good players take when they hit their hand is to check simply because they realize it is tough to get value by leading into the aggressor. Unless you are sure your opponent is a passive calling station, check to the aggressor every time you hit your draw.

Big Calls or Big Folds

There is always a debate about whether it is better to often make big calls or big folds. Obviously it should be optimal to make both, depending on the situation, but your style of play will dictate if you should tend to make big calls or big folds. In general, the more hands you play and the more aggressively you play them, the more often you should make big call-downs, as your opponents will put you on a wide range of hands and will therefore bluff you more often. If your opponents think you have a tight range, they will only put money in the pot when they think they can beat your strong hand, meaning you should fold more.