1-On-1 Virtual Training with Daniel Negreanu @ PokerVT.com
For a special guest editor, a special guest strategy spot, as Daniel looks at the advantages of calling over re-raising.
Too often I hear television commentators say things like, “This is a raise or fold situation,” when in fact, this is the exact type of situation where a player should call! If you are one of the better players at the table you want to make most of your difficult decisions after the flop and not before it; it’s a safer way to protect your stack and you’ll likely make better decisions after the flop than your opponent would.
MASTER OF DISGUISE
In fact, I seldom re-raise before the flop despite my hand. By doing that, I’m able to disguise the strength of my hand pre-flop and am also able to trap unsuspecting opponents who deem my smooth call as a sign of weakness. I’ve busted lots of players by not re-raising before the flop with A-A. Of course you run the risk of being outdrawn on the flop, but the rewards far outweigh the risk.
EXAMPLE 1
YOU (BUTTON): 7h 7s
VILLAIN (EP): ? ?
A player from early position raises and you think he may have A-K, A-Q, or a big pair like J-J, Q-Q, K-K or A-A. You look down at 7-7 on the button. As I said earlier, I’ve heard many commentators say this is a raise-or-fold situation, and while folding is sometimes correct, it’s rarely ever correct to re-raise in this situation. For one, your opponent will only call you with a bigger pair or, when he is in a coin-flip situation, a hand like A-K.
As long as the stacks are deep enough, the best play here would be to call. That way, you could play the hand in position after the flop, and if you are lucky enough to flop a set you might just be able to get all of your opponent’s chips. If the flop comes ragged - 9-4-2 or 8-4-3, for example - your pair just might be the best hand also. You should be able to figure out when to continue after the flop based on your opponent’s betting, but we’ll get to that a little later.
Now, if you re-raise with the 7-7 you give your opponent a chance to shut you out of the pot. With a good “bust ‘em’” hand like 7-7, your goal is to get to the flop as cheaply as possible. If you re-raise before the flop, your opponent may come back over the top of you, forcing you to lay down the hand. That’s an extremely bad result since you may have either A) missed your chance to bust your opponent if he has A-A, or B) you might allow the player to semi-bluff you off the hand if he in fact does have A-K.
SMOOTH OPERATOR
I can remember in my own journey through learning how to play this game how much it would annoy me when the guy on my left would smooth call all of my raises. If he re-raised me, that would make for an easy decision, but if you had to describe the one type of player that you’d least like to face at a No Limit Hold’em table, it’s the player that just keeps calling your pre-flop raises in position. So, I decided, “Why don’t I become ‘that guy’?”
That’s where this pesky little strategy was born. Most players show their biggest weaknesses with their post-flop play. Lots of people have read books and have studied how to play the various pre-flop scenarios, but there are so many variables to playing after the flop that it’s a much more difficult task to master.
So, if you are playing against players whose strengths are pre-flop rather than post-flop, it would only make sense to see more flops with them by simply smooth-calling rather than re-raising. This is especially important against players who over-play their hands pre-flop.
For example, if you are up against a player who likes to re-raise with hands like 9-9, A-K, or A-Q, you should avoid re-raising them before the flop with anything but the best of hands. Even with hands like J-J, Q-Q, or A-K, it’s often better to see a flop first rather than re-raising before the flop against such players. You are a good player and you don’t want to race - they do. By re-raising with marginal hands before the flop you’ll be playing into their hands by neutralising your post-flop skills. |
