06-12-06, LearnTexasHoldem:

Big Semi-Bluffs In No Limit Holdem

Question: I was playing in a No Limit Hold'em ring game yesterday and this hand came up. Blinds were $0.15 and $0.25 (I don't have the cash to play anything higher yet). I was in the cutoff and was dealt Kh 10h, several people limped in before me and I decided to limp as well (I tend not to favour raises with these kind of hands in low stakes, simply because you will get several callers). The button calls as well, SB calls and BB checks.

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The flop comes 9h 8d Jh, great, I have a gutshot straight flush draw. It's checked around to me and I make a pot sized bet, the button then raises with a pot sized bet of his own. It's folded around to me and I think, "he has about 110 big blinds left, I have him covered and he has position on me, if I call and miss the turn, I'm in trouble". The button is a solid player, but he had just lost a few pots and might be a bit on tilt, I figured him for two pair.

Finally I decide to move all in, thinking that if he folds I would win a decent pot with K high, and that if he calls I would still have lots of outs.

He calls in a flash and shows Qs 10c, ugh, he flopped the nut straight.

The board completes 9h 8d Jh 10d 2h, giving me the flush on the river and I take down a huge pot. The thing is, I felt sort of sick after the hand, I made the wrong read, pushed in against the nuts on the flop, and made my hand on the river. Did I play this hand poorly?

David

Answer:

No, you didn't play the hand badly. The best possible hand he could have was the QT. Even with him holding that, you still have a big draw to chop or win. And if he didn't have QT, then you are getting close to even money on your hand.

In no limit, you need to be capable of making these kinds of big semi-bluffs occasionally. It doesn't cost you much, given that they are strong draws, and it adds value to your table image. Now granted, at those limits, chances are you don't need to worry about table image much, but at a larger limit, that play would have been really effective. From that point forward, you would probably be able to bet and raise a lot more, while still getting action, because of that one hand. The next time you had a set, for example, you could go all-in on the flop and most likely get paid off still. So the next point is that it is important to understand how other player's are viewing your play so that you can use it to make more money on your next hands. Let me explain what I mean more.

Say in a shorthanded game, I just raised a few pots with loose hands and won, and got to show the hands down. At this point I'm aware that my opponents see I'm not always raising with solid cards. Because of that, I'm going to back off for a bit and sting them with a good hand, because they will surely contest the pot the next time I raise.

Another example would be capping a draw on the flop in limit holdem occasionally. After the opponents see you pull that play once, they will be more than happy to call a cap on the flop when you have AA. See, you want to remember the hands you played against people so you can mix it up against them. (Again, this may not be as important at that level.) One more example would be how you play your big hands. Say I have the exact same hand against a player twice in a row.

I may play it the same way, or I may mix it up to throw him/her off. I might raise the turn on one hand with top pair, while in the next hand I would pull the trigger immediately. What you are doing is getting this thought process out of them, "he check raised me last time on the flop with top pair, therefore because he just called this time, I'll bet again on the turn." You're just keeping them off balance.

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