One of the biggest mistakes I see novice players make is over betting their hands pre-flop. Many newer players see the big boys on TV (and the more experienced players at their own tables) raise the pot pre-flop with hands like 5 6 suited or pocket 3s. The novice players then decide that if they get a decent starting hand (just decent...not necessarily premium) it is the correct play to re-raise pre-flop. The problem with this is that the novice players fail to realize that for a pro there is a HUGE difference between the range of hands with which they are willing to open action with a raise, and the range of hands with which they are willing to call a re-raise pre-flop. For example, last night in the $2/$5 game at the Wynn, I regularly opened the pot with a raise with small suited connectors, small pocket pairs, QJ off, etc...but twice I folded KQ suited to two bets pre-flop. Why? Because I was unwilling to invest $60 with KQ suited? No. At that point it's not about the dollar value of the second bet, it's about the fact that once a pot has been raised and re-raised, I become completely uncomfortable playing KQ because even if I flop top pair, there is a very good chance that AQ or AK is in the pot and I am out kicked. Folding to the second bet isn't a money decision at that point, it is an information decision.
This same line of reasoning illustrates how re-raising pre-flop with sub-premium hands can get the novice player into serious trouble. Take the following hand for example: A loose aggressive player who had been raising a lot of pots pre-flop, opened the betting from early position for a 3x raise of $15. A new (and in my estimation, probably beginning intermediate) player re-raised from the cut off to $55. I looked down on the button at pocket kings. Based on my experience at that table, I felt that even if I smooth called the $55 it was unlikely that more than one other person at the table would call. Therefore, I felt my positive expectation was greater by flat calling in that situation and disguising the strength of my hand rather than three betting pre-flop. I did just that, the original raiser (who was a more experienced player and probably realized what my flat call meant in that situation) mucked, and I took the flop heads up.
The flop came jack rag rag with two hearts. The re-raiser in the cut off came out firing for $90. I raised to $200. He almost instantly pushed all in for $150 more on top of my $200. At that point, his insta-push worried me a little, but I was obviously pot committed and not really thinking about mucking at that point. I called and he turned over A J off. My kings held.
My point in all of this is that by re-raising pre-flop with a sub-premium hand, he enabled me to limp behind him with a monster and keep the strength of my hand disguised. Had he simply called the original raise, I would have probably three bet to thin the field and he would have had a better idea of what I held and more information to use before getting stacked on the flop.
Until next time, if you can't be the best player at your table, may you at least be the luckiest!
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1 comment:
This is a fantastic time in your life where you can write about what you have been doing rather than what the cards have been doing :)
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