WA/WB in NL

[deucesevenoff]

On the limit forums there seems to be a lot of discussion about different situations where you are either way ahead or way behind. The standard limit line seems to be that the player should check and call the flop and turn but bet on the river. The rationale is that it costs the least when you are behind but wins the most when you are ahead.

Obviously, in NL this kind of line can get very expensive very quickly, so I was wondering if there has ever been any general discussion of WA/WB situations in the no limit forum.

What do people think seems to be higher EV in these situations? Should we try to get to showdown as cheaply as possible via things like free card raises and blocking bets or should we define our hand with pot sized bets and folding to a raise.

As an example, lets say we raise 4xBB UTG with JJ and are called in two spots by some typical LPP players. The flop comes down A82r. You bet the 2/3 pot and one player calls. The turn is a brick...say a 6. What do you do? Do you shut down, give it another PSB, half pot?

This seems like a pretty common situation for me and I am completely lost here. Anybody have any suggestions or links to previous discussions that have been stickied?

Thanks!

I think that one of the differences is that in NL you are folding much more often because as you said yourself those kind of lines get costly very fast.

[DJ Sensei]

In your example, OOP, i'd check-fold it, hopefully check it down to showdown. If you were in position, check the turn and value bet the river if checked to.

I think this question is rather similar to "when do I fire a second (or third!?!) barrel?" On draw-heavy boards, I'll be more likely to keep betting. On dry boards like this with an overcard, I'll slow down and probably check-fold. Obviously, NL is a more situational game than limit (simply because the bets vary, and some pots are much more important than others). Because you can be punished much more when behind, and rarely can extract much more when ahead, a more passive play is typically correct in WA/WB situations.