Two Plus Two Older Archives - View Single Post - Firing the second barrel

MarkD · #1 08-04-2004, 09:45 PM

A couple of nights ago I was playing and I something clicked. I didn’t know how to correctly play a very specific, often repeated, betting sequence. I think this play comes up a lot and I saw it at least three times during my session. I’ve probably seen it many hundreds of times before and I imagine I made some almost random play without really thinking about it. Since this betting sequence comes up so often I think it is probably worth a fair amount to get it straightened out, or to at least discuss it and hopefully clarify a few things to myself. With that in mind I would like to say that I am posting the following examples because they illustrate the general concept that I want to get figured out. We can discuss the individual hands but I am really just supplying them as examples to start a discussion more so than to actually analyze the hands themselves.

So, the general concept I want to discuss is when you are head’s up with position and are the pre-flop raiser without a pocket pair. You then bet the flop after your opponent checks to you and your opponent calls you. He checks to your again on the turn and you have still not made a pair – when do we fire the second barrel? And, if we get check raised how do we respond?

I think what needs to be figured out and discussed is the texture of the board and how that should influence our desire to fire again. I could be wrong. Also, it’s possible I’m the only one who cares about this topic or thinks it is important but oh well.

For the purposes of discussion let’s define our opponent as “typical” meaning that he is slightly too loose, slightly too aggressive, and goes slightly too far with his hands. He is not a maniac or a particularly terrible player, but this is how I view the typical player that is unknown to me.

Hand 1:
Party Poker 15/30 Hold'em (8 handed)
Preflop: Hero is CO with 6[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]. Hero posts a blind of $15.
4 folds, Hero (poster) raises, 2 folds, BB calls,

Flop:8[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 5[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets, BB calls.

Turn:J[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (2 players)
BB checks, Hero ?

Hand 2:
Party Poker 15/30 Hold'em (9 handed)
Preflop: Hero is CO with K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
3 folds, MP2 calls, 1 fold, Hero raises, 3 folds, MP2 calls.

Flop:4[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players)
MP2 checks, Hero bets, MP2 calls.

Turn:J[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)
MP2 checks, Hero ?

Hand 3:
Party Poker 15/30 Hold'em (9 handed)
Preflop: Hero is Button with A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]. CO posts a blind of $15.
1 fold, UTG+1 calls, 3 folds, CO (poster) checks, Hero raises, 2 folds, UTG+1 calls, CO folds.

Flop:7[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 9[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets, UTG+1 calls.

Turn:9[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero ?

PS. I would also like to discuss the situation when we are out of position as I think it is different and worth discussing seperately. I will post about it when I find a few good examples.