Noodles
10-03-2004, 11:07 AM
after the graet Rolf quiz thread i was poking out some articles that i had printed out ages ago last night and found this on how to play bottom 2 pair
From Card player,rolf Slotboom
Situation No. 1: Playing Bottom Two Pair On or Near the Button (Last to Act)
You’re in a standard $10-$20 hold’em game and you’re on the button with the 10 8. Three people limp in, and you call, as well. Six players see the flop, K 10 8. The blinds check, and the under-the-gun player bets and gets called in two places. What should you do? According to common poker wisdom, you should raise, but I (respectfully) disagree. The problem for you is that many turn cards might cripple your hand. You don’t want to see any ace, king, queen, jack, 9, or 7 come off the deck. Even though it is likely your hand is good right now (it would be fair to assume that the UTG player has top pair and a good kicker, A-K or K-Q, for example), what will raising accomplish for you? The callers (who are probably on some kind of straight draw) will simply call your raise (assuming the UTG player does not reraise; if he does, you may have to fear your bottom two pair might not be good after all). If the callers make their straight on the turn and bet, the pot is not big enough for you to call (you have a maximum of only four outs to improve to a full house), and your flop raise has cost you an extra small bet. My advice would be to simply call and see one more card before committing any further. If a dangerous card comes off, the action in front of you will dictate your course of action (raise/call/fold). If a safe card comes off, the UTG player will probably bet again, maybe one guy in the middle will call, and then you can raise. You’re waiting one round before committing fully. Then, when you think you are still good on the turn, you make your opponents pay the maximum, giving them the worst possible odds in trying to improve. When you raise on the flop, you have to survive two cards to have your hand stand up, and investing too much on the flop will only entice your opponents to stay until the river — which is not what you want with a hand this vulnerable.
Why not raise the 2 pair on the flop you will be knocking out the blinds that maybe drawing so charge them more?
You also have a backdoor flush and you 2 pair will turn into a house 16% of the time (approx)
I can understand waiting until the turn throws a blank to raise but i dont like not trying to knock out the blinds here or charging them if they are drawing
From Card player,rolf Slotboom
Situation No. 1: Playing Bottom Two Pair On or Near the Button (Last to Act)
You’re in a standard $10-$20 hold’em game and you’re on the button with the 10 8. Three people limp in, and you call, as well. Six players see the flop, K 10 8. The blinds check, and the under-the-gun player bets and gets called in two places. What should you do? According to common poker wisdom, you should raise, but I (respectfully) disagree. The problem for you is that many turn cards might cripple your hand. You don’t want to see any ace, king, queen, jack, 9, or 7 come off the deck. Even though it is likely your hand is good right now (it would be fair to assume that the UTG player has top pair and a good kicker, A-K or K-Q, for example), what will raising accomplish for you? The callers (who are probably on some kind of straight draw) will simply call your raise (assuming the UTG player does not reraise; if he does, you may have to fear your bottom two pair might not be good after all). If the callers make their straight on the turn and bet, the pot is not big enough for you to call (you have a maximum of only four outs to improve to a full house), and your flop raise has cost you an extra small bet. My advice would be to simply call and see one more card before committing any further. If a dangerous card comes off, the action in front of you will dictate your course of action (raise/call/fold). If a safe card comes off, the UTG player will probably bet again, maybe one guy in the middle will call, and then you can raise. You’re waiting one round before committing fully. Then, when you think you are still good on the turn, you make your opponents pay the maximum, giving them the worst possible odds in trying to improve. When you raise on the flop, you have to survive two cards to have your hand stand up, and investing too much on the flop will only entice your opponents to stay until the river — which is not what you want with a hand this vulnerable.
Why not raise the 2 pair on the flop you will be knocking out the blinds that maybe drawing so charge them more?
You also have a backdoor flush and you 2 pair will turn into a house 16% of the time (approx)
I can understand waiting until the turn throws a blank to raise but i dont like not trying to knock out the blinds here or charging them if they are drawing