In this month’s quiz I am going to slightly alter the format. Instead of leaving you to your own devices like I always do, I will be providing you with key tips along the way to help you get the best score possible. So now you can learn key poker tips before you tackle each question.
GAME: NO LIMIT HOLD’EM $2/$4
PLAYERS: 10
YOUR STACK: $850
YOUR HAND: 8s-7s
QUESTION 1
As always, work your way through the quiz, tot up your score, then go back to read the analysis for each question.
You’re sitting at this full-ring cash game, having doubled your stack to $850. Another player on your table who was already seated when you sat down has even more than you with $1,100. You are seated in the cut-off seat in this hand and your big-stacked opponent is seated two seats to your right. So far you haven’t seen this player play too many hands and you believe him to be a straightforward player. It is folded around to the player with the $1,100 stack and he open-raises to $14. The next player folds and you are looking at the 8s-7s. What is your play?
HOT QUIZ TIP #1
Remember that poker is a highly positional game and No Limit Hold‘em even more so. You have position on this player and you are playing a deep-stacked situation here with you having around 212xBB compared to your opponent’s 275xBB.
A) CALL
B) FOLD
C) RAISE
ANALYSIS:
Firstly it has to be pointed out that folding is not a bad play as your hand is not a huge hand at this stage. But you have to ask yourself a very serious question here and that is, “Do I only want to get involved with big cards in situations like these?”
Your opponent has raised so they have a decent hand but your hand is deceptive and you have position to boot. You also have something else on your side as well and that is a big stack. Depending on the player a big stack in poker can either be a strength or it can be a weakness. Here you are hoping to either out-flop your opponent or take the pot away from them post-flop. You are also hoping that your opponent will make a deep-stacked error against you if you do happen to flop something big or make something big on a later street and your opponent cannot lay down something like an over-pair.
You have several ways forward with this hand and if you are always folding to raises in situations like these then you are more than likely playing too tightly. Raising is a strong play too although I find that a tad too aggressive in a situation like this against a player who may be raising on a tight range. Calling also tells your opponent very little about the content of your hand except for the fact that you don’t have a hand that you think you can re-raise with.
QUESTION 2:
You call the $14, which represents less than 2% of your total stack. The button along with both blinds fold and we see a flop which is 10d-3c-2s missing you totally except for some backdoor draws. The pot is $34 and your opponent leads out for $22. What is your play?
HOT QUIZ TIP #2
Whenever you call a raise in this fashion against decent players in deep-stacked situations you must allow for totally missing the flop. This means that you need to have a plan in place for when you miss as you will miss the flop a high percentage of the time.
A) CALL
B) FOLD
C) RAISE
ANALYSIS:
Once again all three options have merit of some sort. If your opponent has raised with high cards then they are unlikely to have connected with a board like this. This makes raising a viable play but raising has problems too. As we have already said, your opponent’s range seems tight and also the average raising hand from middle position is higher in a full-ring game than it is in a six-max game.
But what if your opponent suspects what you are doing and re-steals? Would you really be pulling the trigger here with a set and would you be willing to escalate the pot with top-pair top-kicker like with A-10 for instance?
Folding is fine as you have nothing but your strategy is weak if you make plays like this too often. You need to balance your play at all times, especially as you go up against better players. I prefer calling here, especially with the presence of back-door draws. Any spade, jack, nine, eight, seven or six is either going to give me a draw or a pair which may give me the best hand or give me five outs to improve to the best hand.
QUESTION 3:
Calling also puts pressure on my opponent who has seen his action twice called by a player who has position on him. You decide to call the $22, making the pot $78. The turn card is the 6s, giving you a flush draw and gutshot straight draw. Your opponent fires another barrel on the turn and bets $55. What is your play?
A) RAISE
B) CALL
C) FOLD
ANALYSIS:
Now is a good time to lay the heat down. You have picked up some great draws and you have substantial equity in this situation. What is so powerful about a raise is that it will scare many players away from the very hands that you have believed your opponent to be holding and that is a premium pair. If they don’t have a pair and merely raised with something like A-K or A-Q then you will win the pot anyway.
Calling is fine but you are running out of chances to win this pot without the best hand. If you fail to make your flush or straight and your opponent bets again on the river then you are going to have to fold. Either that or you close your eyes and make a huge desperation bluff. Folding seems terribly weak to me and isn’t consistent with what you have been trying to do since the start of the hand.
You decide to raise to $240 and your opponent thinks for a while before mucking, showing you the Qh-Qd. Some players just don’t like to escalate pots with mediocre hands.
SCORES ON THE DOORS
1) - A)10; B)7; C)5
2) - A)10; B)7; C)5
3) - A)10; B)6; C)1
HOW DID YOU DO?
30 POINTS - Very good - well done
25+ POINTS - An admirable score
20-24 POINTS - Mediocre, loosen up more!
15-19 POINTS - You had better stick to easier games than this.
Less than 15 - Stop playing poker for your own good. |
