So they check and then I bet $130 and the pot is mine as they cannot call with no pair. Here I am using the leverage of our entire stacks to frighten my opponent away. I am using my opponent’s aggression as a weapon against him rather than let their aggression bully me into submission. Sure they will have big pairs sometime and sure they will flop monsters but that is poker. If you do not take risks then you do not win big.

Sometime ago I bought into a $5-$10 no-limit texas hold’ em cash game for $500 and had built it up to $4000 within two hours. I had taken advantage of aggressive players and built my stack up to $800. I re-raised all in with a powerful draw expecting my opponent to fold which he didn’t. I made my draw and doubled up, this made me the second biggest stack on the table and I busted the next biggest stack beneath me when I flopped a concealed straight. This made me the big stack and the rest was easy.

Top players just do not back off that easy

Whenever you see a top poker player in action you will notice that it sometimes takes an awful lot to get them out of a hand when they and their opponent have deep money. They know that their opponents know that they need to be aggressive and they counter this like a martial artist using his opponent’s weight and momentum against them.

Top poker players will call your flop bet with nothing just to see what you do on the turn. If you meekly submit every time an opponent shows aggression then you are going to miss out on an awful lot of opportunities. Obviously this also means that you need to be careful as well. I made the play with the 5-3 because I had a good read on my opponent and it was heads up play, a multi-way pot would have been a different story.

So here we have what is the beginnings of a poker food chain, at the bottom we have all of the passive players and the solid predictable players. The solid ones can make a bit of money because they understand good hands from bad ones etc. But both types tend to only be aggressive with good hands and to only call raises with good hands.

Then we move onto level two and come to the player who has figured out that he can win more pots by being aggressive and all of the pots that they have won playing this way reinforces that belief. They take money from the solid poker players and the passives through their aggression.

But they are like a young boy racer that has just been given the keys to their dad’s high powered Porsche 911. Going fast is easy, all you have to do is put your foot down but you need to know when to back off.

This is where I come in; I take the money from the aggressive boy racers. I hope that this lesson has been very instructive because it highlights something that is very important in poker. That responding to aggression and taking advantage of aggression is the hallmark of a solid poker player.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson

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When you play aggressively in a poker game then you are taking advantage of all of the players who are easily bullied and do not raise very often and will release hands rather than get into a showdown with minimal holdings.

Then there are the players who understand that you need to be aggressive and also that you need to respond to aggression as well. These players are the next step up the poker food chain and are more difficult to beat than the passive poker player types that can be dominated.

These players call your raises and do a lot of raising themselves thus robbing you of many opportunities. Many players cannot counter these types of players who have taken their poker to the next level. But this is my most favourite player in poker, the aggressive player who has little or no post flop skill.

Whenever I play against these types and they raise then what they are doing is effectively raising the stakes when I have the edge over them. Let me give you an example of a hand that I played recently.

Countering the simple continuation bet

My opponent was not doing anything too fancy and they raised to a standard $30 in this $5-$10 no-limit texas hold’em cash game. It was six handed and they were second to speak and I was on the button with the 5c-3c and called and both blinds folded. We both had about a $1000 on the table as I recall so there was no danger of them going all in on the flop. The flop came something like 8-6-2 rainbow and they bet about $50 into the $75 pot.

In this situation, I knew that it was likely that they had overcards and nothing more. When a player raises before the flop like this with a hand like A-J for instance then they are 2-1 against flopping a pair. So 66% of the time they will miss the flop and when they miss, this is what they are thinking

“Damn….I have missed the flop. If I check then they are going to think that I am weak. I don’t like betting first but I need to do something. I need to bet an amount that will get rid of him while not costing me too much if he has flopped something. $50 should be enough and he might fold thinking that I have a big pair”

Depending on just how I feel about the situation then I will do one of two things here if I think that I can take this pot away from this opponent. I will raise on the flop and put the heat down. A raise to $125 is getting me even money on my bet. I am risking $125 to win the $125 what is in the pot and the chances are far greater than even money that my opponent has no big pair in the hole and is merely firing with overcards.

Or I may call him very rapidly on the flop. A rapid call is a real shock to an opponent who has raised and been called before the flop and had his flop bet called like lightening. Not many players are capable of firing a second barrel here after they have been called twice.

They fear being trapped because that is precisely what they would have done. They know that the pot has escalated now to $175 so for a bet on the turn to mean something then it has got to be at least $100. Many players think like this, look out for part two on this site.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson

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Better poker players

At this level of play the players are substantially better than they are at NL50 and this comes across with an awful lot of things and thus online poker strategy differs sometimes. In this hand one of the early players had limped in as they had done quite often. It was folded around to me and I had the 10c-8c. Now with these types of hands in these types of situations I like to raise in online hold’em. My stack was around $240 and my opponent had about $190 on the table.

So I had 120BB while they had 95BB, I was in the cut-off but the big blind also called the raise as did the original limper. The big blind had around $180 (90BB) and my pot sized raise to $9 now made the pot around $28 before the flop. In this situation then it is instructive to see what my goals were in the hand.

Using position as a weapon

I was looking to pressure the limper and use my position coupled with the deceptive value of my hand to give me an advantage. In situations like these then another player calling the raise interferes somewhat with my plan. This means that bluffing has less value as the chances of me getting away with it are reduced. But this is offset by the fact that my chances of a big potential payoff are increased because there is more than one player to potentially pay me off.

But there is absolutely no way that I will be bullish after the flop and look to force a laydown here against two players. I have position and the betting lead and now is the time to make that work in my favour. The flop came Jh-7c-6d giving me a gutshot straight draw and both opponents checked to me.

Betting out here does have some value but so does checking. The big blind had shown some aggressive moves and I didn’t want to semi-bluff this and face a check-raise from one of the other players. I was confident now that the limper didn’t have a premium pair because they surely would have re-raised pre-flop after a raiser and a caller had entered the fray.

Other poker factors

There are other factors at work as well and this is that my raise (depending on my table image) could be with high cards and this is what it represents.

So I decide to check and take the free card and the turn card is a useless 2s and now the big blind leads out with a two thirds pot size bet. The limper folded and now the action is on me. There is no way that I am getting pot odds or implied odds to continue but I have a feeling that this player is smart enough to know that I have slowed down due to being up against two opponents.

He suspects that I didn’t connect with the flop and was reticent to bet against two players on a somewhat connected board. The turn card didn’t really change the situation and I felt that my opponent was smart enough to know that. So in this instance he either had a flopped monster, a mediocre hand or fresh air. I made the percentage play and knew that only a very tiny percentage of his range could stand a raise……I raised the pot…..he tanked and then folded.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson

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PRIMARY POKER SKILLS

But yet one of the primary skills in any form of hold’em poker is in how you handle post flop play. In no-limit hold’em, most of the time you will not go beyond the flop so post flop skills are not required as often. But in games where big bets cannot win the pot immediately like with pot limit and especially limit play then you have to be able to play very well after the flop.

While you cannot lose your buy-in in one foul swoop in limit play, your level of skill will be under constant bombardment by having to see flop after flop after flop. This will be even more pronounced in six handed play. Let us look at an example to show what I mean here.

It has been folded around to the button who raises, the small blind folds and you are in the big blind with the hand Qh-5c. Now if this was a no-limit situation then you can clearly fold and wait for a better opportunity as Qh-5c isn’t exactly one of the better poker hands. In fact even if your opponent on the button is a very loose and aggressive player then folding would still be correct here. Even though you would be looking to open your range, it wouldn’t be opened wide enough to incorporate a hand like Q-5.

LIMIT PLAY IS DIFFERENT

But in limit play then you really must play this hand. Your pot odds and implied odds coupled with your opponents likely range gives you a straight forward call here. In fact to balance your play somewhat then you can even consider throwing in a small percentage of re-raises although that percentage cannot be very high with a hand like Q-5.

Your opponent could have something like K-9 but yet pot odds of 3.5/1 dictate that you simply cannot fold this hand. Then you can decide how to proceed on certain types of flop. For example if the flop came J-7-2 rainbow then you may get the opportunity to take the lead here on a ragged rainbow board that has likely missed your opponent.

You could try leading out or maybe check-raising for balance. You have reached this situation purely because you were playing a form of poker where you were receiving good pot odds to get involved before the flop.

Poor post flop play at limit hold’em is like a slow bleeding of money and this is why having a rakeback deal is critical these days to your hourly rate. The overall level of skill in limit play has led to variance becoming more and more of an issue.

This is precisely why I stopped playing the game and switched to no-limit play via a brief fling with SNG’s. But do not let anyone tell you that limit hold’em is a far less skilful game than no-limit because anyone who says that simply does not understand limit hold’em.

This article was written by Carl “The Dean” Sampson

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In this hand our hero had the 10c-9c and it was limped by three players in a full-ring $5-$10 texas hold’em game. In this instance then the call is pretty automatic given the hand type and the pot odds which are very good. Then when you consider the implied odds as well then we have a profitable situation. The big blind raps the table and there is $25 in the pot.

The flop comes Qc-4c-2d giving our hero a flush draw. He is now the first to speak and rightly checks. There is little point in semi-bluffing here into four opponents or pumping the pot. If one of his opponents has flopped top pair and they raise then he could find himself heads up with the worst hand trying to outdraw the only player left in the hand with reduced implied odds.

If you bet and it gets raised then that raise can prevent other players from calling. Here is a situation where you really don’t mind other players staying in the hand if you check and someone else bets. Everyone checks to the final limper who bets and now it is back on our hero.

Once again the correct play here is to call, folding is not an option simply because of the pot odds so the choice is between calling and raising. But raising presents our hero with a similar problem as before. If his opponent is betting a hand like top pair with something like Q-J then a raise will simply thin the field against the one hand that they have to outdraw to win the pot.

It is simply better to call and let other players come along for the ride so to speak. Our hero calls as does one other limper and there is now $40 in the pot and three players left in the hand. The turn card is the 8h which misses our hero so he checks and so does the first limper. The final limper bets $10 making a $50 pot and our hero rightly calls getting 5/1 immediate odds and some implied odds as well so he cannot fold even though the limit has doubled.

The other player folds so the hand is now heads up with $60 in the pot. The river card misses our heroes flush draw but pairs his ten. He checks and the final limper bets again.

This now puts $70 into the pot. Despite the fact that he is almost certainly beaten here, pot odds of 7/1 coupled with a hand that does have some potential to be the best hand then a fold is simply out of the question here.

Raising is a poor play as if our hero has the best hand then he will win the pot by calling as any weaker hand wouldn’t call the raise anyway. Our hero called and lost the pot to a K-Q but he can be commended for playing the hand well.

This article was written by Carl “The Dean” Sampson

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The other night, I played with my friends. There was player A, B, and so on and so forth. Player A went all in and I called the all in as player B. Then next was player C who raised and player D called.

Later on, I tried to check but some did told me that I have to call or fold player C because of having some chips. I was hesitant to do any of the two for I only wanted to compete for the all in and not the side pot actually.

If you were on my shoes that time, what will you do?

Gian
Gian,

Since player C had more chips than you, you had to either call their raise, or fold. The side pot is still part of the original hand. You cannot only compete for the main pot.

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Well, as I could remember, there was a small blind which was 30 and 60 as the big blind. The first player to supposedly act had only 61 chips, therefore with 61, he went all in.

In your opinion, how many chips should the next player possess to act out? Well, at first instance I thought it should be 61, but eventually I became unsure. Most people at the room fought out it should be 120. At that point, I heard somebody saying that since the hand was actually raised, the minimum raise therefore should be 120 to those with adequate chips.

Any comment will be much appreciated. Thanks!

By the way, nice site.

Keith Johnson
Keith,

In the situation above, the next player only has to call 61. If they want to raise, the minimum raise is to 121. The players raise to 61 is not considered a full raise since it was less than half the minimum.

If this was limit holdem, this changes. Since the all-in raise was less than half of a bet, the players can only complete the initial raise and make it 120.

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Thanks!
Clark
Clark,

A check-raise is not only a common occurrence in Holdem, it is an encouraged tool for players to develop. When you are trying to extract money from an overly aggressive player, then checking to this player to induce a bet can be the proper play. You can then raise them to force more money into the pot or maybe even force them to fold if they were bluffing.

Also, whoever told you that you cannot check-raise during other forms of poker was mistaken. While it used to be frowned upon to do a check-raise and even banned in some casinos, the practice is now considered a standard part of playing poker.

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Well, three players were left in the pot and at the turn the 1st player to act bet. Eventually, the 2nd player to act called and then the 3rd player raised. After which, the 1st player called and the 2nd player re-raised. Someone at the table who was not in the hand called a foul for he thought a re-raise after a call was not supposedly possible.

Personally, I thought it was a check raise so I haven’t reacted.

What do you think?

Regards,
Jayden
Jayden,

A check-raise is when a player checks the betting to another opponent, that opponent bet and then you raise. What your opponent did was known as a limp-raise. This is perfectly acceptable. When a player raises as opposed to calling a bet, they are reopening the action to other players. The players have the same options to call, raise, or fold. Would your opponent objected to your other opponent calling and then folding to a raise? Not likely.

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1. For an instance, the blinds are 500 and 1,000 but the person who is supposed to be the big blind has only about 800 to post and a number of players are still on board. I don’t know whether or not these players have to post 1,000 in order to stay in or otherwise just match the 800 of the big blind.
2. In what specific situations do you think there are no small or big blinds? I’m not so sure, but I think you already shared something about such before.
3. For example there is a King high straight on the board and it’s the best hand. However, in the later part, it turned out that one of the players also holds a King in his pocket hand. What do you think, does the King that first occurred on the board overrule the King in pocket hand? Or else, the player could claim the hand?
4. For an instance the blinds are 100 and 200, then after the flop, a certain player raises to 400. I’m wondering if the player to the left of the one who raises wants to raise, does he need to raise to 800 or just double the big blind otherwise? Any idea about this?

Thanks,
Francis
Francis,

1. The players need to call the full 1,000 blind amount.
   
2. The only possible way there would not be a blind would be a case that both opponent were all-in for the ante. There are instances in a tournament where a small blind is eliminated the hand prior to their turn to post. In that case there would not be a small blind.
   
3. The player king in his hand is irrelevant. The object of Holdem is to make the best five card hand. Since the best five card hand is on board, everyone still in the pot splits the pot.
   
4. A reraise must be in the amount of the prior raise. In this case, they must raise to 800.

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