[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
reasonable amount, you may find yourself in a sticky spot on the
river. You ll have to act first, and if you miss your draw, a bluff might
be hopeless. If you hit your draw, you might not get paid, or you
might discover that your opponent made a better hand such as a
bigger flush.
Betting is the right play here. Your opponent s range rates to be
weak. He limped on the button and flat-called on a flush-draw flop.
He may occasionally be trapping with two-pair or a set, but more
likely he has a king with a weak kicker, a middle pocket pair, or a
flush draw. He won t often be able to call a big bet.
BARRELING 87
The pot is $93, and you have $160 left. An all-in is an overbet of
about two times the pot, but it maximizes fold equity against your
opponent s weak hands, and it also leaves you with no decision on the
river. If you bet less and he has a strong hand, he will raise all-in and
you ll have to call. If he has a weaker hand, the oversized bet will
ensure that he folds hands like K`&8`& or Jf&Tf&. You should bet it all
unless you think an all-in will look weak, in which case you might bet
smaller.
Delayed Bluff
The first two players fold, and you make it $7 in the cutoff with
Q`&9`&. The button and both blinds are weak-tight. If instead the
button were a tough player or the blinds were aggressive, folding
might be a better play.
The button folds and both blinds call. The 16/11 small blind has
$194 behind, and the 13/9 big blind has $128. You cover both with
$945. (It s been a good day.)
The flop comes 8e&4f&2`&. Both players check. Low dry flops like
this are good to bet in $1 $2, because they are unlikely to hit your
opponents, and weaker opponents are relatively unlikely to try a
resteal. Plus, here you have some pot equity with your overcards and
backdoor flush draw.
You bet $13 into the $21 pot. The small blind folds. The big blind
thinks for a few seconds and calls. His range is weighted toward one-
pair hands, including pocket pairs. He would probably have reraised
preflop with a premium pair, and he would typically fold overcards to
your bet. His checkcall suggests a set, a small pair, or gutshot.
The turn is the Ac& . He checks again. This is usually an excellent
spot for a second barrel. The ace is a scare card, and a bet will often
chase out his middling one-pair hands.
However, you have another option. You can delay your bluff until
the river. The advantage is that you mix up your play and gain one
more street s worth of information. If he happens to have a set or be
suspicious of your turn bet, you take advantage of the fact that he has
to act first on the river.
88 SMALL STAKES NO-LIMIT HOLD EM
You check behind on the turn. The river is the 4e&, and your
opponent checks one more time. The river card and check are good
for you because they make a set less likely for him. The third check in
particular makes this a good spot to bluff.
Your opponent most likely has one small pair. The pot is $47, and
he has $108 left. Bet it all. He s not the type of player to make a hero
call, so put the maximum pressure on him.*
If you think he ll fold nearly the same range of hands to a pot-sized
bet that he will to an all-in, you can consider betting $40 or $50. That
way you save some money in case he has a monster. But on the other
hand, if he s not likely to try a sophisticated river trap, you might as
well push. Sometimes players will fold to an all-in but talk themselves
into a call for less, even if they re putting in three-quarters of their
stack.
A Three Barrel Bluff
The 31/13 opponent in this hand has the short stack at $140 and plays
straightforwardly after the flop. He limps, and you raise to $8 on the
button with 4f&4e&. Only the limper calls. The pot is $19.
The flop comes 9e&8e&3e&, giving you a small pair and a very weak
one-card flush draw. The limper checks. You bet $12, just under two-
thirds the pot. The limper calls.
The turn is the Jc& . The limper checks, and you fire a $32 second
barrel, about two-thirds of the $43 pot. The limper calls. After the
call, the pot is $107 and the limper has $88 remaining.
*
A hero call is a call of a large bet with a relatively weak hand in hopes of
snapping off a bluff.
The math here is counterintuitive. Say your opponent folds 60 percent of the
time to a pot-sized bet of $47. So how can betting $108 be better if you can t win
twice as often? The answer is you don t have to win twice as often. The pot-sized
bet that wins 60 percent of the time shows a $9.40 profit. To show a $9.40 profit,
the $108 bet has to win only 75.7 percent of the time. If it instead wins 78 percent of
the time, the $108 all-in bet is superior to the $47 pot-sized bet.
BARRELING 89
The river is the Qf&. The limper checks, and you move all-in for
$88. The limper folds.
Preflop, the choice to make an isolation raise with position and a
small pocket pair was standard. You will likely have all the
advantages in the hand: a stronger hand, position, and more postflop
skill.
This flop is a decent one for a continuation bet. If the limper lacks
a heart, it will be difficult for him to continue far in the hand. Also,
since this player is straightforward after the flop, he isn t likely to try
a rebluff checkraise.
The call could represent wide range of hands. It could be anything
from a made flush, a set, or two pair to just a single pair, a straight
draw, or a large heart like the naked Ae&, Ke&, or Qe&.
The turn Jc& is a good card to fire a second barrel on. Since it s an
offsuit overcard, it could scare off a flopped nine, eight, or three as
long as he doesn t have a ten or big heart to go with it. The $32 turn
bet is large enough perhaps to get the limper to fold the naked Ke& or
Qe&.
The river is another great bluffing card. It puts an overcard and a
four-straight on board. If the limper was calling with a single pair,
he ll likely fold to an all-in push. Notice also that the stack sizes are
perfect for a bluff, as an all-in bet is just a bit less than the size of the
pot. That makes the bluff profitable if it will elicit a fold from a better
hand about half the time.
In reality, the player will likely fold more often than that. After the
turn call, the most likely hands are two pair, one pair, or a draw of
some sort. If the limper held a stronger hand like a made flush or a
set, he might well have checkraised by now, or might at least have bet
the river, particularly with a made flush.
Most of the time when you get called, the limper will have made a
straight with a ten such as JT, T9, T8, or perhaps AT with the ace of
hearts. These straight hands were relatively unlikely in the ranges we
put the limper on for the flop and turn.
Sometimes the limper will call with two pair, and sometimes he ll
fold two pair. If he has weaker hands than that, you can generally
90 SMALL STAKES NO-LIMIT HOLD EM
expect a fold. The turn and river cards are both good ones for
bluffing, which is what makes this three barrel bluff worth trying.
Don t get too bent out of shape when a three-barrel bluff like this
one fails. While it s tough to lose your stack bluffing, each bluff
makes sense, and the overall line is profitable and helps you to get
paid off when you flop a big hand and fire all the way.
Lessons for this hand:
¨ð Non-ace overcards are often good cards to continue bluffs on
the turn and river.
¨ð River bluffs are often smart when the hands that can call the
river are, generally speaking, not the same hands that called on
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]