12-19-05, LearnTexasHoldem:
Middle Pairs In No Limit Ring Games
What are some factors i should take into consideration besides his likely holdings?
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Answer:
Below are some thoughts:
* Generally speaking, I would say that 99, TT, and JJ are premium hands and are better than most player's preflop raising standards. There are players, though, that only raise with AA, KK, and AK, in which case, I wouldn't give them any action. If you can see a flop and hope to hit a set, great, but most like the opponent doesn't have that many chips anyway (rocks rarely ever do), so even this play wouldn't be that great. As you get to bigger games, players raise with all kinds of hands preflop. It is in these games that the middle pairs do very well.
* Information is important. I would rather play my hand too aggressively than too passively. Part of being able to do this successfully is that you keep evaluating and using the information throughout the entire hand, not just at the start. No limit holdem isn't just a game where you decide to go all-in or fold. You can reraise a player preflop and then muck if they go over the top of that raise. By reraising preflop I get back a lot of information. If the player just calls, that means something. If the player rera
ises, that means something. To just call, I get no information.
* Position matters in no limit holdem. Being able to check behind your opponent is a big advantage. Whomever has to act first has an automatic disadvantage regardless of the situation; the player who acts second will be much more likely to be able to correctly play the hand. Your raise may save you lots of money later in the hand.
* Middle pairs are strong enough hands to play on their own, without having to improve on the flop. The more opponents you have though, the weaker your hand becomes. Consider someone with a hand like A7s or QJs or even KT. These hands aren't great and probably would be mucked against someone who raised in early position, but if you just flat call, the guy with this sort of hand in the back now may pay 3x the BB too, since he won't be heads up and he is getting over 2:1 on his money. Collectively these hands will make your TT weak.
* Initiative. No limit holdem puts a premium on initiative. Let me give you an example to illustrate this. Say you have TT and just call someone's early position raise, who holds KQs. If the flop comes back Ace high, or with any paint, you will most likely have to give this guy credit and muck. You had the best hand, but he has the initiative. Now, consider the opposite. Say you reraise preflop -- double his bet -- and he calls. Now the flop is A-Q-4. He will check and when you bet, he will be in a tough spot. Your regular flop bet, one that you'll always do regardless of the flop, if you raised preflop, will make his life hard. And in many situations, both you and your opponent will have weaker holdings than this even. Say he has 88 this time and you have the TT. The first person to be able to say, "I like this flop" will win.
So these are some things to think about. You don't have to play a hand the same way every time.
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