No-Limit Poker Principle #1 |
|
Posted Sat May 08, 2004 6:17 pm GMT by PerpetualStartup
My Poker lessons are lessons that I learned usually for the first time the night before. Last night I was playing No Limit Texas Hold'em at Hustler Casino in Gardena California. I think this will become my new home casino. The people there are nuts and the staff is disorganized, but the facilities are clean and the food is pretty good.
Principle #1: Unless you are on a drawing hand or trying to slow play, bet in the first place as much as you are willing to call.
About half way through the night I found myself holding Big Slick (AK) in the small blind. There were a few callers for the five dollar big blind, so I raised it pre-flop to $15. I usually won't come into a hand for less than 3x the big blind.
I do this for three reasons:
1. By raising preflop I am telling my competitors that I have a good hand, so theoretically when the flop comes I will bet into them no matter what. When this is done the other players have no choice but to imagine that I hit my hand. Even if the flop is full of garbage they could think that I hit trips.
2. If the pot is not raised pre-flop then once the flop comes there is no reason reason to try and steal it. A $15 pot, after the house takes their $4 rake, is hardly worth the risk of making a reasonable sized move.
3. If you do hit your flop and are holding a monster hand you will not get any action unless there is a pot with enough chips in it to warrant action.
In this case I came in with just 3x the big blind because although Big Slick is a monster hand, it isn't a monster in it's native state. Unless you hit one of the six cards in the deck that would give you top pair with top kicker or better, then A high isn't all that great. That’s what makes it such a great gambling hand; Lot's of winning potential if it hits, and easy to throw away if it doesn't.
Now here is where I get to my first Principle.
So I bet $15 before the flop from the Small Blind position and everyone folded except for the player to my immediate right, the Button, and he just flat called the $10 raise. He is a good player. He's tight but understands the value of position and at this point I knew he didn't hold a pocket pair or A-10 through AK because if he did, he would have raised in the first round of betting. When he flat called my $15 I put him on high connecting cards like, KQ, QJ, J10, or middle suited connectors.
The flop hit 6 clubs, 9 hearts, King of clubs. At this point I was quite sure I had the best hand and so I decided to bet $50. BIG MISTAKE!!! Right after I bet it I asked myself, 'what exactly was the purpose of that bet? Do I want him to call and milk more money from him, or do I want him to fold and pick up the $45 pot right there and then. " He pondered his move for quite awhile, so during that time I continued my internal dialogue by asking myself the next most likely pertinent questions: 'If he raises back over the top of me, will I call or fold.'. I decided that I would call his raise regardless of the size. At that point I realized that if I was willing to call his reraise I should have just gone All In on the flop.
He ended up raising me back all in, another $125 more or less. At this point I pretty much new he was on a flush draw, or a pair of Kings with a Queen or Jack kicker, as two pair or a straight draw really wasn't possible, so I called. Sure enough the turn was a club and he made his Flush. Turns out he also had a gutshot straight draw, and of course he could've hit runner-runner for trips or two pair. It doesn't really matter what the last two cards were; I had him beat on the flop and if I would've went All In I probably would have won the hand, and if I didn't win the hand at least he would have been CALLING a $175 bet with a drawing hand.
Did you know that participating in a poker forum can help you improve your own game? Be it by sharing experiences or simply asking for help, participation in a forum helps you focus and keep 'on topic' which will help you improve your game. You can learn from other players feedback and from their experiences. Why the THP poker forums? We offer one of the best managed texas holdem poker forums available, and the community within is far more friendly than those typicaly found on other sites. We've made a 'lurkers edition' of the poker forum available here on Holdem Poker Online, but we encourage all visitors to register and join in on the conversations on TexasHoldem-Poker.com
|
|
