Pre-flop pot odds

[James Boston]

Here's a situation that came up several times last night. We're playing $2-$4, 8 handed. I would limp in late position with hands like suited connectors. The guy to my left would also limp. Then, the guy to his left would raise and everyone would call. By the time it got back to me I was getting something like 14-1 pot odds, so I would call. Then the guy to my left (who had previously limped) would re-raise. Again, everyone would call. At this point when it got back to me I was getting something like 21-1, so I would call again. The two guys doing all the raising didn't have the highest raising standards in the world either, so the raise didn't really mean they were holding a great hand (they would sometimes raise with any face card). The pots were so big (12BB before the flop) I couldn't get away from them. I would never call 3 bets cold with something like suited connectors, but under the circumstances did I play this wrong?

[CrackerZack]

If its gonna be raised often, you should fold them. Small pairs love this type of game, the suited connectors do not. If this type of raising was typical, its more of a loose aggressive game than a loose passive game the connectors like. Big ones are very playable but stay away from the smaller ones.

[pudley4]

If they did this every time, then you should fold instead of limp. Otherwise, if their raises were random/sporadic, then continued limping is fine.

What's more important is how did they play postflop - did they continue to raise and reraise or was the play more passive? If it was aggressive postflop, you should always fold these suited connectors here. If it was passive postflop, you should be more inclined to always call preflop.

[esbesb]

Seems to me that you did the right thing for exactly the reason you say -- pot odds. Suited connectors love big pot odds -- that's really the whole reason to play them. So, if you would call when the odds are about eight to one, wouldn't you be even more inclined to call when the odds are 14 to one and 22 to one? I agree, you wouldn't cold call three bets, but that's a different situation than what you describe.

[James Boston]

Their post-flop play was pretty weak. Their raising was more a statement of "Look, I've got plenty of money." I know that sounds strange, but it's true. They just wanted to demonstrate that being raised wasn't going to run them off. Their starting hands were generally weak, and they would miss the flop and back down. Meanwhile, I would pick up a decent draw and the pot odds wouldn't let me get away from it.

[ElSapo]

Also, if possible, move to the other side of the players so you have position on them.

[James Boston]

That really wouldn't have mattered. Since the re-raiser was to the immediate right of the original raiser, action went all the way around the table before the re-raise.

[Styles]

No help from me here, but, I recalled something that you might want to check out.

MK has a post somewhere that says (paraphrased) "preflop play is not about pot odds" and "it's whether you want to be in the hand with these opponents postflop". He says it's about the whether you want to play that hand against them postflop. Then he explains how sometimes even though you want to play you can find reasons not to play. It's a pretty good thread and is being referred to alot. It's being called the "training wheels" thread. I still need mine, but, FWIW ...

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Number=495010&page=&view=&sb =5&o=