Beginners' Questions With Dr Flopaset 1

DILEMMA 1

Dear Dr Flopaset

Playing in a nine-player sit ‘n’ go, I am in early position with Q-J off-suit. Thinking this is a pretty decent (not brilliant) starting hand, I call. A player in mid-position raises. He is called by a player in late position, and the button. Everybody else folds.
So now I’m thinking – should I raise and stay in the pot? Or should I fold because the other three players still involved likely to have better hole cards than me?
Is there anything I could have done from my early position to dissuade the other players from raising?

Yours sincerely,

Perplexed

Dr Flopaset Replies:

Hmmm, Perplexed, you seem to have gotten yourself into a bit of a pickle. What you have to ask yourself when you play a hand like Q-J out of position is what are you trying to flop? If the flop comes a Queen or Jack high you now have top pair with a dodgy kicker. It’s going to be hard to avoid haemorrhaging chips to a pre-flop raiser who is holding A-J or A-Q.

Let’s say the flop comes K-10-3. Now you have flopped an up and down straight draw. However, once again you are out of position. You will most likely check to the pre-flop raiser who will most likely have a bet. With two players behind him it’s more likely that he actually holds a real hand such as A-K rather than continuation betting with air (although, of course, that is possible). Let’s say the pre-flop raiser does have A-K and there is also a flush draw on the flop. Now you are effectively down to five outs (three 9s and two Aces - you have to discount the 9 and the Ace which complete the flush) which is not really a great draw is it? What about if the pre-flop raiser bets the flop with his A-K and now one of the late position players still in the hand suddenly comes to life and puts in a raise? This straight draw has suddenly become expensive.

Or, let’s say the action goes check (you), check (the original pre-flop raiser), check (late position caller) and now the button bets. Now the action is on you so a call with your straight draw seems okay doesn’t it? Well, the trouble now is that you have two players behind you, including the pre-flop raiser. He could well be trapping with a set of Kings or even A-K. Now you are facing the prospect of having to gamble all your chips with just Queen-high. Not a great spot really.

The point I’m trying to make with all these different scenarios is that you are out of position with, as you put it, a “not brilliant” hand. Hell, the hand is hard enough to play when you do have position on everybody else. No limit holdem is all about position - you want to see what everybody else does before you have to act. So the answer to your question is what the hell are you doing playing such a weak hand in early position? This is a clear fold pre-flop.

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Hi Dr Flopaset

I am playing in a six player sit ‘n’ go. I have Qd-Ks. The BB and two other players are in the pot. The flop comes down 7d-9c-9h. The first player raises, the second player re-raises and the third folds.
I’m guessing that the player who re-raised has trips 9s. Am I right? Is there another reason why he might have been confident enough to re-raise?

Yours,

Puzzled

Dr Flopaset Replies:

Hi there Puzzled. This is quite an interesting question. You are right to be observing the play even though you are no longer in the hand. This is a great way to analyse your opponents' play and maybe pick up some information. What is missing from the action described is what happened pre-flop. Let’s say it was the first player who put in a pre-flop raise and now on this 7d-9c-9h flop he comes out firing. It’s most likely he has a premium pair (10s through Aces) or perhaps even A-K. Now, the second player does not have to have trips here at all. It’s possible he’s semi-bluffing with a hand lik 8s-10s or 8s-6s. It’s even possible he was trapping the pre-flop raiser with a big hand like A-A or K-K. Some players will even raise with 7-7 here hoping the player behind them has a 9 in their hand. Also it depends on the tendencies of the pre-flop raiser. If they are the type of player who cannot throw away A-A or K-K then there is nothing wrong with player two raising with a full house here.

As you didn't mention any action pre-flop let's assume the three players limped in. Now you are more likely to put a player on trip 9s. Whenever there's mass limping and people are allowed to see a cheap flop they can have anything. Remember, don't go broke in an unraised pot.

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Dear Dr Flopaset

There are seven players remaining in a sit ‘n’ go. I have pocket Aces. Three players – including me – are left in the pot before the flop. I raise first, the others follow. The flop comes down 2-9-10 rainbow. I am betting first. Should I check or raise?

Regards,

Confused

Dr Flopaset Replies:

Well, Confused, this is a fairly safe flop for pocket aces. Obviously the only hands you are worried about are 9-10, 2-2, 9-9 or 10-10. There is, of course, a straight draw on the flop too so reasonable holdings your foes could have are J-Q or 7-8. Whether to check or raise depends on the tendencies of your opponents. If they are passive calling station types then your best course of action is to bet and to make them pay for their draws or with their worse hands that they would call with but not bet themselves with (ie hands like J-10 or Q-T).

If, however, they are habitual bluffers or the sort of players who always bet when everybody checks to them then there is nothing wrong with checking your aces to see if you can induce a bluff. Many players like to get cute here and put you on A-K (the geezer raised before the flop and now he wants to check so therefore he must have missed with his Big Slick, goes their line of thought). If you check here you must be prepared to maybe make a tough decision on the turn or the river. Of course another variable is the chip stacks, but you haven’t asked that so maybe we’ll deal with that next time.

Part 2 of Dr Flopaset's Dilemmas can be seen here

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