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profitable for you. However, it should also give you ideas for how to
play other hands. For example, if you had 7f&6f& instead of Af&Tf&,
you might bet a queen on the turn exactly because you know your
opponent will fold so many of his marginal hands.
Your opponent is tricky and aggressive, but smart. You might
be conditionally committed against this opponent. For example, if you
think he ll bluff-raise you on the flop and then continue his bluff on
the turn, consider betting the flop, calling his raise, and then
checkraising all-in on the turn. Or, if he ll bet worse hands if you
check, consider checking then doing something goofy to try to induce
a bluff, such as minraising, or raising small. You might also consider
checkcalling all the way if he s the type to fire three barrels on a stone
cold bluff. But keep in mind, you really need to know your opponent
well to make plays like this.
Be sure to pay close attention to the tendencies of tricky
opponents. Because their ranges are tougher to narrow than standard
opponents , you really need to hone in on specific patterns. For
102 SMALL STAKES NO-LIMIT HOLD EM
example, say you know that your opponent will bet the flop often with
air, but will rarely fire a second barrel. You might checkcall the flop
with the plan of checkfolding the turn if he bets. Or, say your
opponent will happily fire two barrels on a bluff, but almost never fire
a third. You might checkcall twice with the plan of checkfolding to a
big river bet.
Getting Value In Medium And Small Pots
Playing big pots is often easier than playing medium and small ones.
If you ve been following our advice, when you create big pots you
already know whether you re committed or not. But medium and
small pots, almost by definition, require more decision making. With
more money left in the stacks relative to the pot, you are likely to play
more postflop streets and have more decisions to make.
Playing medium and small pots well is an integral part of winning
in 6-max games. In these situations, ranges tend to be wider, and hand
reading is paramount.
Your goals in medium and small pots should be to gain
information early, extract value from weaker hands, and control the
pot to your liking. Let s take a look at a few examples. All are from 6-
handed $1 $2 games with $200 effective stacks unless otherwise
specified.
Checking Behind On The Turn For Pot Control
You open for $7 in the cutoff with Ke&Je&. The button folds and an
aggressive opponent calls in the small blind. The big blind folds.
The flop comes Kf&Tc& 5`&. The small blind checks, and you bet
$11 into the $16 pot. He calls.
The turn is the 6`&. The small blind checks. Your opponent is wily,
and a turn checkraise would put you to a tough decision. You decide
to check with the intention of calling a river bet. This is a classic pot
control line with top pair/medium kicker.
If you instead had middle pair, you might bet the turn. Since you
have less pot equity relative to your opponent s range, a turn
GOING FOR VALUE WITH GOOD HANDS 103
checkraise doesn t bother you as much. Also, calling a river bet has
less value. But with top pair, checking the turn to pick off a bluff (or
weak value bet) on the river is a smart play.
Betting The Turn In A Multiway Pot
Everyone folds to you on the button with K`&8`&. You raise to $5. You
are fine with winning the blinds outright, but if called you are
comfortable playing a postflop pot with position. Both blinds call.
The flop comes Kf&Tc& 5`&. The 29/17 small blind leads for $10,
and the big blind calls. The small blind is fairly loose, so he could
have a lot of possible hands on this board. You haven t played much
with the big blind, so his range is more unknown to you. However,
you have top pair in a three-handed button versus blinds pot.
Ranges tend to be wider in these situations, and you could easily have
the best hand. You decide to flat call the $10. This allows you to keep
the pot small for now and gain more information on the turn.
The turn is the Qe&. Both players check to you. Here you should
bet because your opponents are likely weak. On this board you will
get called by weaker hands like a pair and a straight draw, and usually
only very strong hands will checkraise. It makes no sense to give both
players a free card. Checking the turn and calling a river bet doesn t
have good value because your opponents aren t very likely to bluff.
They ll usually either have hands that are better than yours, or they ll
have hands that want to see a showdown. Also, opponents generally
play more straightforwardly in multiway pots. Bet about two-thirds
pot and fold to a checkraise.
Overriding Pot Control
You open for $5 on the button with Te&9e&, and only the big blind
calls. He is a loose-passive player with stats of 38/4.
The flop comes Kf&Tc& 5`&. The big blind checks, and you bet $8.
This bet serves the purpose of gaining information as well as getting
value from weaker hands. Your opponent s response to the bet will
help you narrow his range. If he checkraises, he likely has you beat,
and you can safely fold. If he calls, he could have one of any number
104 SMALL STAKES NO-LIMIT HOLD EM
of weaker hands like a straight draw, an ace, any pocket pair, or a
five.
If the turn is a blank, consider betting again. If he checkraises you
there, he probably has you crushed with a slowplayed monster. You
don t mind that he s putting you to a commitment decision, because
you have no intention of calling.
Controlling the pot to your liking sometimes means denying your
opponent the opportunity to put you to a stack decision unless you are
confident in that decision. Here you are confident that you will fold if
checkraised, so denying a free card and extracting value from weaker
hands takes precedence.
Checking The Flop
You open for $7 in the hijack with Ac& 2c& . Only the 22/20 small
blind calls. He is a solid regular in this game.
The flop comes Af&9e&3`&. The small blind checks. This is a good
spot to sometimes check the flop. A free card is unlikely to hurt you,
and it may even help you because your opponent could catch a pair on
the turn. Or he may simply decide to look you up on the turn and/or
river with a hand he would have folded on the flop.
Checking the flop works better with top pair than with second pair.
You should be more inclined to bet second pair because you don t
mind a checkraise as much. Also, checking the flop works better the
higher your top pair is. Top pair of aces is best for this play, whereas
top pair of tens isn t so great since so many overcards can come. With
top pair of kings you can also check the flop. Top pair of queens is a
judgment call since there are eight potential overcards.
Saving Your Value For The River
The button opens for $7, and the small blind folds. You are in the big
blind with Qf&Tf&. Folding isn t an awful plan. The button is a solid
regular who plays about 25 percent of his hands and raises about 20
percent of the time. However, his opening range on the button is
wider. You think he d open about a third of his hands on the button,
so routinely folding your blinds to his late position steals is not ideal.
You should be able to defend yourself, particularly when your hand
GOING FOR VALUE WITH GOOD HANDS 105
has decent equity against his range, as Qf&Tf& does. Reraising him is
an acceptable option, and so is calling, particularly if you feel
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