How good is your Poker?
In this months quiz, you will once again be taking a seat in one of the toughest Limit Hold’em games in Las Vegas, the $200-$400 game at the Bellagio. The players on this table range from strong players to some of the best in Las Vegas. If you are asking just why you are sitting in this game at all then that is a very good question, maybe you just wanted to test yourself against some of the best.
The fact that you cannot bust out in any one hand should not detract from the fact that you can still get very seriously hurt financially in these games. Many players think that just because they are playing $1-$2 in a No Limit Game then this makes them serious players. Well in a Limit game of this magnitude, wins and losses of between $20,000 to $40,000 a night are quite common.
You have been sat in this game for about thirty minutes and have been observing some very loose aggressive play from several players with the rest of the table seemingly playing rather solidly. The game is six handed and has been for some time with the average stack somewhere in the region of $20,000, you have been playing rather conservatively during this time.
A liberal raising loose aggressive player under the gun raises once more and it is folded around to the small blind who calls. You are in the big blind with the 10d-8d, there is $1000 in the pot and two players, what is your play?
Call 10 points
Raise 3 points
Fold 0 points
Raising to deviate your play to throw your opponents a curve ball is overplaying your hand and especially when you have a player who raised before the flop and a player who called that raise either side of you. Getting pot odds of five to one makes folding out of the question. The game is only six handed as several players have left the table so your price per round of the table is $300 just to see the cards, this equates to $50 per hand.
With action as expensive as this then you have no option but to get in there and mix it with these players or you are going to find yourself being blinded to death. If you are folding a hand like 10d-8d in a six handed game when getting five to one pot odds then you have no place at this table full stop.
So you call the extra $200 making the pot $1200 before the flop. The flop is 7s-5d-3s missing you totally, the small blind checks and it is up to you, what is your play?
Check 10 points
Bet 5 points
Let me get one thing absolutely straight here, betting is not a weak play. On a board like this with only two opponents and one of them checking to you then betting would be correct in many games…but not this one. The $200-$400 game at the Bellagio is a far cry from your average $20-$40 game. Players don’t just fold meekly on the flop when they fail to connect in three way pots like this. Betting out on the flop like this is known as “the weak lead” and tends to be done out of fear than strength, don’t be surprised if you get raised on the flop here if you lead.
Checking does not necessarily mean that you are check folding, but if it gets bet and raised before it gets back to you then you will be grateful that you checked and saved the $200. But checking is giving your opponents no information whatsoever other than they will assume that you are weak to which most of the time they would be correct of course. You check also and the pre-flop raiser fires $200 into the pot and the small blind thinks for a while and folds, what is your play with $1400 in the pot?
Call 10 points
Raise 6 points
Fold 2 points
Folding is not a horrible play but only deserves two points simply because too many plays of this nature in a $200-$400 game will get you eaten alive. Raising will not get rid of your opponent as he is going nowhere on the flop and especially with $1800 in the pot and nine to one pot odds. He will likely think that you have a pair at best and could even pop you again to put you to the test. Good players in games like these just think that players try to jockey for position on the flop and would not take any aggressive action on the flop all that seriously. Raising and taking the lead is fine if you can get your opponent to lay down at some stage but this hand could get very expensive and you have no hand as yet.
But with straight and flush draws out there that you can represent as a pre-flop caller and flop caller then many cards can come that would scare your opponent. Both a ten and an eight are overcards to the flop and this could give you the best hand at that stage should you hit them. Calling also gives your hand a lot of extra possibilities as well as well as retaining flexibility in the hand. You call and the turn card is the 2s making a board of 7s-5d-3s-2s, what is your play with $1600 in the pot?
Check 10 points
Bet 6 points
Remember that your opponent is very strong, he will not believe that you have made a straight or a flush if you bet out plus he has not seen any of your cards yet due to your relative inaction. Now is the time to tell him that you have a monster but if you had then why would you try to take him out of the lead? He is likely to raise you on suspicion because of your strange betting sequence and a raise here would blow you off the hand unless you want to get into some silly macho raising contest. Checking has the advantages of not allowing your opponent the chance to raise you out while retaining the flexibility in the hand. You check and your opponent bets $400 into the $1600 pot making it $2000 in total, what is your play here?
Raise 10 points
Call 4 points
Fold 0 points
Now is the time to lay down the heat by raising to $800. This makes it very difficult for your opponent to continue with no hand which he has a fair chance of having. Raising gets you pot odds of 5-2 that your opponent may have no hand and those odds surely make raising worthwhile in this situation. Your table image coupled with your play has told your opponent a very powerful story and that is one of sheer strength. You raise and to your disdain, your opponent calls the raise. The pot now stands at $3200 and the river card is the 8d making a final board of 7s-5d-3s-2s-8d, what is your play?
Bet 10 points
Check 4 points
Betting is the play here for several reasons, firstly because one of the key criteria in limit hold’em is value betting. $400 is an awful lot of money and you should really try to avoid leaving that kind of money on the table because that really adds up over the space of a year. But betting out is also the best play for another more subtle reason. I have heard many players state that check calling is the best play in many situations because you are only going to get called with a superior hand if you bet and this is basically betting just to get your bet back if your opponent folds.
I do not necessarily agree with this as checking and then having to reveal the best hand like in this situation can cost you an awful lot of money in certain games when your opponents cotton on to what you are doing. If we check this hand then our opponent may check it back with a hand like ace high and then not only have we missed a possible extra bet but also our opponent and the entire table has now seen us attempt to blow him from the pot with no hand because we have been forced to reveal our hand. This will force us to tighten up and change our play somewhat now that we know that they know this. Better and more productive to keep your opponents in the dark, you make more money that way when they make mistakes against you.
You bet $400 into the $3200 pot and your opponent reluctantly calls making the pot $4000 in total. He does not make much of a move to reveal his hand indicating to you that he is not that strong, you say that you have an eight and he says “that is good”. You were forced to reveal your hand anyway as it turned out but at least you made an extra $400 in the process.
60 points I cannot believe it, that is really good!
50 + points That is still very strong play!
40-49 points Not bad but play at a much lower level!
30-39 points Be careful, you still need to do a lot of studying!
20-29 points The Sharks really did eat you alive!
Less than 20 Fish food, plain and simple!
