12- 6-05, LearnTexasHoldem:
Big Pairs In NL And Reading Opponents
I prefer no limit so that is what I have been playing primarilly (1-2 no limit tables.) I find that I do pretty well and pick up quite a few pots, grow my chip stack, then WHAM, I get dealt A,A, or K,K and there goes my stack.
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I do know how to lay down a hand (in fact I would say I'm overly cautious post flop if anything - I'm trying to improve on this) however my problem comes when I raise (usually about 4-6 times the blind) get a caller or two, then the flop comes J, 3, 8 rainbow. I normally bet the flop, double that on the turn only to get re raised pretty big. With no scare cards out there I have a hard time folding a big overpair so I call and poof the other guy shows trip 3's or two crazy pair. I don't want to give away pots when I'm strong just because someone shows strength back at me, but at the same time I am loosing quite a bit this way.
When I am playing in person I feel I am able to make better reads and make better decisions. Online I feel like it's much more dificult to get a feel for the player because people are coming and going so quickly. Do you have any suggestions on how to play this better? I feel that loosing these big pots is the main thing holding me back from progressing up in limits (not to mention making money online)
I guess a secondary question is do you have any advice for how to "read" online players better when you only have a limited time to see their style of play.
Answer:
Generally speaking, the way you read an opponents hand is to look at the current hand and how it was played -- did he call/limp preflop? raise? position -- and base that with how you've seen him play in the past. Before I continue, it is very difficult to not lose a lot when you are heads up and someone flops a little set on you when you hold a big pair. Even the best players would have a very hard time laying down a hand like that. It makes it more difficult to play well in these spots if the opponent isn't that good.
Obviously, the more reckless someone plays, the harder it is to narrow done what he/she has because there is no reasoning behind any of it. For good players, you can sometimes get a read if they hit a set. One give away for me is if a fairly tight player limps in from early or middle position and then calls a bet or raise on an innocuous flop like J-8-4 after I have raised preflop and defined my hand. When a good player calls your preflop raise, it usually means two things, namely, either he has a couple big cards too, or he has a pocket pair. Occasionally you'll have someone call with a suited connector, but that isn't much to worry about.
Next, how quickly the player raises his hand is also telling. Most players will try to raise a later street, versus the flop, with their best hands. Since you raised preflop and are betting, it is very likely that he will flat call the flop and then raise the turn. (Some more tricky opponents might put in a medium raise on the flop, only for you to reraise, after which they call and then raise the turn.) Most of the time if there is a Jack high flop and you raised preflop, the opponent will put out a feeler raise.
It would be pretty odd for someone with just a hand like KJ to call the flop and then raise the turn (in a regularly cash game). So, these are some things to think about. But again, it is very difficult to lay down big pairs heads up in no limit holdem. Most of the time you'll be going down with the ship.
Are you doing this sort of play yourself? Obviously, playing J8 against a preflop raiser raising 6x the BB isn't winning play, but what about the little pocket pairs? Don't overlook learning from opponents. If some play works well and is giving you trouble, there is a good chance that the same strategy would be difficult for others.
I recommend playing more small pocket pairs in no limit holdem cash games, even against preflop raises. If the guy has a big stack, and you hit, you will bust him -- just like in your case. An example is having 33 and the flop is A-K-3. You'll nail the guy. Also, postflop, the small pocket pairs are really easy to play because most of the time if you miss you can just concede, and you only lose 4-6x the BB. And as you get better, you'll be able to play these more postflop too for profit. You might win pots when the flop comes back all low, like 8-5-2 when you have 66.
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