But what if I have the best hand?

[David Ottosen]

Playing Paradise low limits. UTG folds I limp with 88. All fold to the button who raises. Button seems to be reasonable or at least I haven't noticed anything crazy. SB calls, SB is a horrible player. BB calls, nothing exciting noticed about this player. I call.

Flop: 6hc-6d-3h

Both blinds check. What is the best action here and why?

[Uston]

If he'll raise with only AA-99 and AK and AQ, you're about even money to have the best hand. If he'll also raise with AJ and KQ, you're a pretty big favorite to have the best hand. I think you should assume you're good and play the hand (at least on the flop) accordingly. If your hand is good, it's vulnerable and you'd like to get the blinds out. A check-raise figures to tie them in with the potential that they'd see the turn for free. I'd bet and reassess if raised.

[Clarkmeister]

If the button is the kind who won't pop you on the flop with "only" AK, then bet. But against most players I'm checkraising the flop.

[Vehn]

Raising preflop makes this hand easier to play IMO.

That being said I just bet and hope AK raises me. I then 3-bet or just bet the turn.

I kinda gather from his post he was in an early position with this hand. If thats the case, I don't think raising preflop is such a good ideal. Medium pairs play best against either a very small field (1 or 2 players), or against a very large feild (more than 4 players). Worst possible field is 3 or 4 players. In a low limit game raising preflop with this hand is likely to leave 3 or 4 players left in the field, which is what you do not want.


Stu Pidasso

[Vehn]

That's a vast overgeneralization. If he said PP .50/1 or 1/2 then sure, but "PP LL" could mean a lot. At 2/4 and above, and even 1/2, most tables will see only 1-2 players against an open-EP raise. You should know.

[David Ottosen]

I chose to checkraise the flop to see if the preflop raiser had a big pair or just big cards. However, a good playing friend of mine insisted that betting out is the correct play, hoping the raiser will fold the other two players and you can call down heads up. I didn't agree with this, thinking you are planning to play a hand of uncertain quality against a preflop raiser out of position. When I asked about some future street play (eg. Say he raises and you get heads up. The turn is checked around and a broadway card hits the river. You check and call? His answer: yes).

His main concern in this hand is getting the other random drawers out and never folding the winner. My main concern is finding out where I stand in relation to the preflop raiser and trying to decide how far I need to take this hand. We had a lengthy disagreement over this (in fact, he called my play flatly wrong and bad poker) and I still don't agree with him, but on the other hand, I can't argue with his results.

Am I crazy?

As the hand played, I checked, the raiser bet, the bad player called, I raised, both called. The turn was a 3, I bet and no one called.

[Clarkmeister]

I (obviously) think you played it perfectly fine. As I said, it depends somewhat on the nature of the preflop raiser, but the line you took is my default one.

[Stu Pidasso]

To be honest when I read your post, I did not recall that the original poster referenced Paradise low limit. In my mind I was thinking of a typical low limit game. My veiw of a typical low limit game may be very different from yours. It is possible for each of us to express a general strategy for a specific type of hand and even though our veiws might be quite different, both of us would be correct.

I agree with you that in many Paradise low limit games a raise preflop may narrow the field down to 1-2 players. That in and of itself would not necessarily make it correct to play a medium pair like this in early position. Here are a couple of senarios assuming your raise limits the field to just 1 or 2 players:

If the game is tight/passive, a raise preflop from early position, might buy you the blinds out right, or win the pot with a bet on the flop. If over cards to you pair flop and you have callers to your bet, you are probably beat(at the very least someone has a good draw against you). However since that flop bet will often win the pot for you, and sometimes your pair will hold up unimproved, It may be optimal strategy to raise with a medium pair up front.

In a tight/agressive game, raising with a medium pair up front might be a bad ideal. You could be reraised preflop by someone with better position and a way better or slightly worse hand. If that happens, how do you play your hand on the flop? Does the reraiser have Queens or his he bumping you back with AKs? When the flop hits you may be slightly ahead or way behind.

At paradise, I have seen games at the lower limits were it would be correct to limp with a medium pair. I have seen games where it would probably be correct to raise with a medium pair. Finally I have seen low limit games at Paradise where one should fold their medium pair preflop in early position.

Since I consider myself to be a novice still learning the game, I welcome any and all critcisms.

Stu

[Vehn]

I would rather raise or fold 88 UTG in a "typical" game where an EP raise gets "respect". That's just my opinion. Maybe in a really tough game that would be incorrect, but when I see one, and I'm still in it after an hour, I'll let you know.

Oddly enough, my biggest money winners, in 28,000 hands are in order:


AA 2.16 bb/hand
QQ 1.98
JJ 1.48
KK 1.37
88 1.12
AKs 1.11
AJs 1.11
AK .69