Miller, Ed. Smallll Stakes No-Limit Holdem

116 SMALL STAKES NO-LIMIT HOLD’EM

The river card put a four-straight on board. On top of that, you could be behind to trip sixes or a full house. But before you check in fear, consider your opponent’s tendencies. Depending on how your opponent plays, going all-in, checkcalling, and checkfolding can each be the best play.

If your opponent is aggressive and loves to bluff scare cards, then the natural inclination to check and call can be the right play. He could hold a busted heart draw or a small pocket pair and be unable to resist betting. Some bluffy players end up firing away in this situation with unusual holdings like Q♦9♦.

Checkcalling a bluffy player works best if he would bet many hands worse than yours after a check that he would otherwise fold to a bet. For instance, if you bet this river all-in, your betting pattern will look quite strong. You raised preflop and then bet big at every opportunity despite the scare card. Your opponent with a hand like Q♦9♦ might grudgingly fold. Checking and calling works well against an opponent who will attack your show of weakness.

If your opponent is timid and passive, checking and folding can be the best play despite the fact that half the money is already in the middle. A timid player may fold to a bet on this scary board without trips or better. And a timid player might bet this river only with a straight or better. Since he’ll rarely call you with a weaker hand and rarely bet a hand you can beat, you cannot profit by betting, and you cannot profit by calling. So, you should check and fold.

If your opponent is loose, suspicious of you, or generally bad, then pushing all-in can be your best play. Sure, he’ll sometimes have a straight or a full house. But if he’s the sort of player who will also call with hands like K♦T♠, T♦9♦, or possibly even 2♥2♣, then going all-in captures these loose calls and becomes superior to checking.

Overall, the river scare card shifts value from you to your opponent, and position allows him to take advantage of this shift. He can fold his weak hands to your all-in, or check them behind if you check.

Loose or suspicious opponents fail to take advantage of this shift. They call your bets with too wide a range. Timid players also fail to take advantage by checking behind with too many hands. Against a

strong player, often you just have to take your lumps. With $127 in the pot and $63 behind, you’ll be getting 3–to–1 on a river call. If you check and your opponent bets weaker hands than yours a fourth of the time or more, you must call due to pot odds. He makes money on the bet, but your call is correct.*

Oddly, sometimes you should still push all-in against strong opponents. This is a defensive bet. It works when you expect calls from a fair number of second-best hands that your opponent would otherwise check behind. For example, say your opponent is savvy enough that if you check, he will value bet with trips, straights, and full houses and bluff about a fourth of the time with air, an eight, or a pocket underpair. He will check behind with a ten or nine, because he knows you must call with anything that beats those hands. If he will call with most of those tens and nines, and those calls outnumber his bluffing hands, pushing captures more value than checking.†

Here’s another example of a river scare card in a big pot. Hero has $294. His adversary, an extremely loose and poor player with 65/35

* More specifically, he makes money if he bluffs less than half the time.

† This player’s river betting strategy is excellent against skilled opponents. Use it when you have position in a big pot on the river and it is checked to you. Once the pot becomes bigger than the remaining stacks, the dead money forces smart opponents to call all-ins with a much wider range. You should bet all hands that expect to beat this widened calling range. Many $1–$2 players fail to bet enough hands for value against strong opposition in such circumstances.

You should also bluff with the right proportion of hands. Many $1–$2 players don’t bluff enough in big pots with position against strong opponents. For example, here a river all-in offers about 3–to–1, so you should bluff about a fourth of the time or a little less. (People tend to overestimate how often opponents bluff, so it’s usually better to bluff a bit less frequently than game theory suggests.) Bluff with your weakest hands, and check the medium strength ones. Again, we’re talking about betting into skilled opposition in big pots here. If your opponent doesn’t know enough to call more often when the pot is big, don’t widen your range of betting hands. And if the pot is not big, sometimes medium hands like those tens deserve a pot-sized or larger bet, not for value but to force better hands to fold.

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stats, has him covered. He is playing haphazardly postflop. He’s been lucky so far and run up a huge stack.

The poor player opens for $7 on the button. Hero reraises from the big blind to $22 with T♣T♠, and the button calls.

The flop comes 9♠6♣4♦. Hero bets $30, and the button calls. The turn is the 6♥. Hero bets $70, and the button calls.

The river is the J♥. Hero shoves for $172, and the button calls with 8♣8♥.

After flopping an overpair and surviving the middle card pairing on the turn without getting raised, Hero can expect his overpair to be well ahead of this terrible player’s range. The river jack is a scare card but only a minor one, as there is no particular reason to believe the button has a jack. Since this opponent is wild and erratic, he could easily call a large river bet with a worse hand.

Bad players like this make some terrible river calls. Don’t give them more credit than they deserve. When out of position and on the fence about value betting such an opponent, just stick the money in. And don’t forget to mark the name so you can find him later.

When a Bad River Card Should Not Affect Your Commitment Plan

Stacks are $200 in this 6-handed $1–$2 game. You raise to $7 under the gun with K♠K♣. A loose player calls on the button, and everyone else folds. This opponent has been at the table for an hour and has played 70 percent of his hands. He has made several weak calls postflop.

The flop comes J♥T♦5♣. The pot is $17, and the remaining stacks are $193. You are first to act. What is your plan?

Commit. Your opponent’s range is extremely wide, and he is likely to pay you off with a weak hand. Your plan should be to value bet hard and try to get all-in.

You bet $15, and your opponent calls.

The turn is the 4♥. You bet $45, and your opponent calls.

The river is the 9♥, which makes a straight and flush possible. Should the bad river card affect your commitment plan?

No. You have less than a pot-sized bet left, and your opponent’s range still includes many weak hands. Furthermore, if you checked, you would probably call his all-in. Since you don’t plan on folding, you should bet the rest of the money yourself. That way you don’t allow your loose opponent to check behind with weak calling hands.

The river was not a pleasant card. Your opponent may have outdrawn you by making a straight, flush, or two pair. Nevertheless, the situation calls for you to stay committed and bet the rest of your chips.

When a Bad River Card Should Affect Your

Commitment Plan

Stacks remain $200. You raise to $7 under the gun with K♠K♣. A decent and moderately aggressive regular calls on the button, and everyone else folds. Your opponent plays about 25 percent of his starting hands, and he plays well postflop. He views you as being capable and aggressive.

The flop comes J♥T♦5♣. The pot is $17, and the remaining stacks are $193. You are first to act. What is your plan?

You likely have the best hand, so betting for value makes sense. Further, if you get raised, you don’t mind getting all-in against this opponent. He knows your preflop range is wider than just premium hands, and he knows you’d often c-bet the flop. If he flopped top pair, he probably feels confident about his hand. He could also call or raise with overcards, straight draws, underpairs, or air. Your plan is to bet with the intention of being committed.

You bet $15, and your opponent calls.

The turn is the 8♥. This adds flush and straights draws and may have completed a straight. Nevertheless, you remain committed. You bet $45, and your opponent calls.

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The river is the 9♥, which completes a possible flush and puts a one-card straight on the board. Should this bad river card affect your commitment plan?

Yes, here it should. Even though you only have about a pot-sized bet left, your opponent will probably fold any worse hand, including a jack, to an all-in. Betting yields no value. And betting as a bluff doesn’t make sense because your opponent will only rarely fold a better hand. Checking to pick off a bluff isn’t wise because your opponent’s range doesn’t include many hands that would call a turn bet and then need to bluff on this river. Every draw made it. If you check and your opponent shoves, you are very likely behind. Your plan should be to check and fold to any decent-sized bet.

You don’t fold the river because the board got scary. You fold because it is the best play given your opponent’s likely range. A bad river card should not necessarily change your commitment decision. When one falls, reconsider your opponent’s range and your equity against that range. Sometimes you should still bet for value, and sometimes you should checkfold.

Value Betting The River

Stacks are $200. You open for $7 on the button with A♥4♥. The small blind folds, and the big blind calls. He is a loose-passive player who plays about 35 percent of his hands.

The flop comes Q♦6♦5♠. The big blind checks, and you c-bet $9 into the $15 pot. He calls.

The turn is the 8♠. Your opponent checks. While he may be weak, a turn bet will get called too often to be profitable. You check behind.

The river is the 7♠.Your opponent checks. Even though there is a flush out and you only have the bottom end of the straight, it’s a clear value bet. Your opponent may have called your flop bet with a queen. He may have been planning a turn checkraise with a set. He might have a busted straight draw that backed into a pair or two pair. He is loose, he can have many worse hands, and he will call a value bet with a lot of them. Checking behind here leaves money on the table.

Since the pot is still a fairly small $48, you can probably bet around $40 and expect to get called by many worse hands.

When you have position, your opponent’s actions on the turn and river will often tell you whether to value bet.

For example, say you open for $7 on the button with A♥4♥ in the same game as above. Only the big blind calls, but this time he is a solid 21/18 regular. He views you as solid and tricky.

The flop comes 7♥3♥3♦. The big blind checks, and you c-bet $11 into the $15 pot. He calls.

The turn is the 2♠. Your opponent checks. This time you think a turn bet is profitable because he will fold several hands and is unlikely to have you crushed. Also, if he checkraises, you aren’t too concerned because it usually means he has a big hand. Your draw isn’t worth as much with the pair on board. You bet $40, a slight overbet, into the $37 pot. He calls.

The river is the A♠, and your opponent checks again. You missed your flush, but you paired the ace, albeit with a weak kicker. Many players check behind here. But this is a profitable spot to value bet.

Your opponent is more likely to call with a hand weaker than your aces than he is to have a strong hand. His checkcall on the turn often indicates an attempt to take a stand with a seven or medium pair. The ace on the river is a scare card, but your opponent knows that you know it’s a scare card, and he may take a stand again.

The pot is $117, and you both have $142 left. This is a good spot to balance your overbet river bluffs by occasionally overbetting as a thin value bet. Stick it in. Keep him guessing.

River Value Bet On A Double-Paired Board

Effective stacks are $200. Everyone folds to the button who makes it $8 to go with J♥9♥. Only the big blind calls.

The flop is A♥Q♦J♣. The big blind checks, and the button bets $12 into the $17 pot. The blind calls.

The turn is the Q♣. The big blind checks, and the button checks.

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The river is the J♦. The big blind checks again, and the button bets $24 into the $41 pot. Is this a good play?

Once the big blind calls the flop continuation bet, he is unlikely to have small cards. He probably caught a piece of the flop. The board gets worse for the button on the turn when the queen pairs, so he checks behind.

On the river the button catches another jack, and the big blind checks again. This is a terrific situation for a value bet. If the big blind held a queen, he usually wouldn’t checkcall the turn then check the river. It’s much more likely that the big blind holds an ace than a queen, and many players would call a modest bet on the river here with any ace. So the button has a solid value bet for half the pot or a little more. Checking is a significant mistake.

Minraising The River

This time effective stacks are $400. The big blind is a very loose, passive player with stats of 65/4.

You open from the cutoff for $7 with 6♣6♦. The big blind calls. The flop comes A♥9♣6♠, giving you bottom set. The big blind

checks, and you bet $11 into the $15 pot. He calls.

The turn is the 2♣. Your opponent checks, and you bet $35 into the $37 pot. He calls.

The river is the J♣, putting a possible flush on the board. The pot is $107, and you have $347 left. Your opponent leads out for $35. What should you do?

This is a great spot for a small raise. While your opponent could have a backdoor flush, he is more likely to have an ace or two pair. His small river bet appears weak.

The beauty of minraising here is that your opponent will likely reraise only with the flush but will call with most of the hands in his range. In addition, there is plenty of money left behind such that a minraise doesn’t pot stick you into calling an all-in. This makes the small raise far superior to a call.

Minraising the river is a great play when:

You don’t have the nuts.

You have a hand that you think is best.

You think your opponent will call a minraise but fold to a bigger raise.

You don’t think your opponent will bluff reraise you.

The stack sizes are such that a minraise doesn’t commit you.

River Overbet For Value

Stacks are $200. Everyone folds to you on the button. The blinds both are regulars. They each play about 20 percent of their hands and 3-bet about 5 percent of the time. Neither is overly aggressive or tricky.

You should be stealing their blinds often and laying as small a price as you can get away with to do it. You open for $5 with Q♥8♥. The small blind calls, and the big blind folds.

The flop comes A♥T♣4♥, giving you the second nut flush draw. The small blind checks, and you bet $9 into the $12 pot. He calls.

The turn is the 9♥, completing your flush. Your opponent checks, and you bet $30 into the $30 pot. He calls.

The river is a J♠, and the small blind checks. He has $156 left, and the pot is $90. How much should you bet?

Many players make a standard two-thirds pot value bet. However, an all-in overbet is usually better.

Your opponent checkcalled twice, including on the turn when a flush was completed. He probably has a fairly strong hand. Also, the river was a good card for you because it could have improved his hand. Your opponent’s range includes hands like AxJ♥, K♥Qx, AT, A9, A4, TT, and 44. He might have been planning a checkraise somewhere and then decided against it, or he might have been planning to checkcall all the way. It doesn’t matter. Shove it in and let him decide what to do.

3-Betting Light and the 3-Bet,

4-Bet, 5-Bet Game

You can play for hours in some live no-limit games and never once see someone 3-bet preflop. Online 6-max games couldn’t be more different—3-betting plays a large role in many players’ strategies.

In general, you 3-bet preflop for three reasons:

1.To get value for excellent hands.

2.To resteal preflop from players who are opening with wide ranges of hands.

3.To take the momentum so you can steal postflop.

In other words, sometimes you 3-bet for value, and sometimes you 3-bet as a bluff or semibluff. The more often your opponents open with weak hands, the more often you should 3-bet. When you increase your 3-betting frequency, you should do so both with strong hands and weak ones.

For example, say against a tight open raiser you 3-bet with JJ+ and AK and occasionally with weak hands as a bluff. Against a looser open raiser, you should bluff more often to resteal, but you should also widen your value 3-betting range to perhaps 99+ and AQ+. Increasing your bluffing frequency without also increasing your value raising frequency unbalances your range and leaves you vulnerable to a rebluff. Don’t let your ranges get unbalanced.

When you increase your bluffing range, you should also increase your value betting range to keep your overall range balanced.