Beginners' Questions With Dr Flopaset 3

Dr Flopaset

22 Feb 2008

You have checked the flop and then minimum-raised your opponent when the action got back to you. What were you trying to achieve?

Poker Verdict guru Dr Flopaset answers your poker strategy questions...

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Part One of Dr Flopaset's strategy questions can be seen here

Part Two Of Dr Flopaset's strategy questions can be seen here

Dear Dr Flopaset,

I recently played a hand in a cash game online that, although I won, left me scratching my head and wondering if I could have played it better. The game was no limit holdem and the blinds were $0.25/$0.50. I had around $38.00 and my opponent, Bustedflush, had me covered with about $150. Everyone folded around to Bustedflush on the button who just called. I was in the small blind with Qc-Qs and raised to $1.75. Bustedflush called.

The flop came down 4s-5c-8s and I checked. Bustedflush bet $2.43 and I then check-raised to $4.86 which he called. The turn card was the Js and I bet $6.86 and Bustedflush called. The river was the Ah and now I checked. Bustedflush now thought for a long time before checking behind me and my pair of Queens were good. I did not see what he had.

Could I have played this hand differently?

Thank you,

Headscratcher

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Dr Flopaset replies:

Hmmmm, this is quite an interesting hand. I believe you were suffering from what the pros call Fancy Play Syndrome. Let’s go through the hand street by street.

Pre-flop

This you played okay. Your opponent has limped in indicating not much of a hand and you have found a premium hand in the small blind and have raised 3.5 times the big blind. There are some people who argue in a cash game you should raise four or even five times the big blind, but I think your raise is alright as you want action with your good hands. After all, it’s not often you get dealt these premium hands.

The Flop

This is where I believe you tried to be too clever for your own good. You have checked the flop and then minimum-raised your opponent when the action got back to you. What were you trying to achieve? Unless you knew your opponent was a super aggressive player (which you haven’t mentioned in your question) who was guaranteed to always bet when other players check to him, the check on the flop is crazy. It’s a draw heavy board plus the fact that you raised pre-flop, so therefore you must bet. There are at least two reasons for this:

1) to charge him if he is drawing – once you check to him he can elect to take the free card and you have effectively given him odds at making either his flush or straight; and

2) because presumably you are continuation betting when you have raised pre-flop with your not-so-good hands that have missed (i.e. A-K or similar hands that do not really want to face much heat on the flop and onwards). This way you keep your opponents on your toes – if you bet not only when you have missed but also when you have a good hand you will be much harder to read and that’s the general idea isn’t it?

Now let’s take a look at the check-raise. Seeing as you have opted for this course of action why the hell did you only raise him back the minimum? This is a very easy call for your enemy. When you check-raise him there is already $9.11 in the pot and it’s only $2.43 for him to call giving him slightly better than 7/2 to make his hand. No, if you are going to check-raise here you should make it $8 or $9 to play. This way you are at least not making it too cheap for your opponent to make his hand.

The Turn

The turn card was the Js making the board 4s-5c-8s-Js and now you bet $6.86. This play is not too bad – you’ve bet around 2/3s of the pot ($11.54 is out there after the action on the flop) which is a nice bet if you’re ahead of your opponent and he has something like As-X or maybe 8h-9s. Now you are extracting value out of your Queens and not giving the dreaded free card. Also you have the Queen of spades in your hand which is the flush blocker – in other words if he is drawing to the flush he has one less out (if it does come a fourth spade on the river you would have to ask yourself whether your third nuts would be any good?).

The River

The last card was the Ah and you checked. This check seems okay to me too. Your opponent flat called your bet on the turn which indicates either a super strong hand (like the nut flush) or that he’s still on a draw (8-7, 8-6, 8-9 with one spade etc). Also the Ace on the end is not a great card for you in the sense that if he was on the nut flush draw he has now made a higher pair than you. If you bet on the end what hands that are losing to your Queens will call you down? Not much, maybe Jc-Ts, something like that. I mean think about it - what are you beating at this point? If your foe had a pocket pair (unlikely as he probably would have raised pre-flop with that sort of holding) you would only be beating T-T, 9-9, 7-7 and 6-6 (I assume that your opponent would have folded 2-2 and 3-3 by this point). If you bet and he raises you face a tricky decision.

Another factor you must take into account is the fact that you were playing in a low limit game. Poker purists would argue that it doesn’t matter if you are playing $0.01/$0.02 blinds or $1,000/$2,000 blinds; you must always play optimally, but the truth is that the money does make a difference and you face different opposition at lower rhstakes. Peaps your check-raise on the flop would have been the perfect play at $50/$100 blinds, but at the lower limits it is best to play straightforward solid poker. On the whole your opponents at the smaller games are not that sophisticated and will generally only be interested in their own hands, not thinking about what other players could have. In your case you appear to have been playing against a good player (he had $150 in front of him which indicates he was winning in the game), but there was still no need for the fancy check-raise on the flop.

If you have a Dilemma for Dr Flopaset please email him at hugom@pokerverdict.com