Blind Battles: Hand #6

[Spicymoose]

Wow. So if you are calling this often on the flop with bottom pairs, I would imagine that you are calling even more with higher pairs. With all this flop calling, do I take it that a flop raise is somewhat rare? Or do you save that for your non pair and draw hands?

Again, I am talking pretty generally here, but I would just like to get a basic idea.

[imported_stealthcow]

i fold preflop. if i am going to play this it might as well be for image so raise it.

stealthcow-

[TStoneMBD]

i mix it up alot. you cant just raise the flop with only your pairs. your flop raises should have a good balance of pairs, draws, ace high and straight bluffs. if youre just raising the flop with only some of the above then an excellent player will exploit you. im personally trying to figure out what the perfect frequency is according to game theory. from there the frequencies change depending upon what exploitable frequencies your opponent has. while you should be balancing your flop raises, he should be balancing his responses your flop raises. if he doesnt balance properly enough (ie: folding too much or not enough) then bluffraising goes up or down in value. if he doesnt balance properly enough by only 3betting strong hands then your folding frequency goes up.

[Danenania]

Lately I have been experimenting with never raising the flop in position when I defend in BB. I either fold the flop or most commonly call and raise the turn with both pairs and draws and sometimes bluffs (frequencies adjusted for the opponent). More rarely I will wait until the river to raise or just call down. What do you think of this sort of approach from a game theory perspective? Am I giving up much by never giving action on the flop. In some ways it must make me unexploitable since I play every hand that I'm continuing with on the flop the same. Btw, I defend 100% in the BB unless the player's PFR/Att to steal is pretty low. I feel that all this turn raising really makes players fear to get involved with me, and exploits the two most common errors of HU opponents by getting more value from loose players and making tight players fold too often. Thoughts?

Also I should tell you that I really love these blind battle hands you've been posting and have enjoyed your comments and those of others. Very interesting and educational stuff.

[mperich]

Dane, this post sums up my recent play almost perfectly. Altho I wouldnt say I NEVER raise the flop, but maybe only 10% of hands I am going to raise in this situation. I think it definately adds a fear factor to my game and makes me sort of a pain to steal from.

-Mike

[TStoneMBD]

i think its a pretty good strategy to just wait till the turn against alot of players. honestly though i dont call the flop and semibluffraise the turn much anymore. my raises get 3bet alot because not only am i very aggressive but i do alot of bet/fold or raise/fold lines so my opponents try to capitalize on that by 3betting me alot. i think my style of play has evolved into a very aggressive style with lots of semibluffraising the flop and alot of folding when played back at with weak hands. the upside to this is that my opponents will often find themselves spewing to me as they try to move me off a hand and have trouble folding against me because i could be on a draw or a weak pair. im not saying this strategy is the best strategy or that its even a good one, but i think it works for me and utilizes my strengths. playing my draws hard against the players i play against makes them (incorrectly) call down with very weak hands so i dont have to worry too much about not getting action.

i do alot of flop raising with strong hands because i raise my draws on the flop. as a result im often 3bet and extract alot of value with my made hands. youll often see me raise the flop, get 3bet and ill cap. the opponent will checkraise the turn with an overpair, ill 3bet and hell call down. getting my money in on the flop with a draw doesnt lose that much equity and often gets me a free card while getting alot of action on my big hands.

i think when playing against semipassive players (what many here might consider to be aggressive but not overaggressive) its a good strategy to just call the flop instead of raising in most situations. it really makes it tough for the opponents to play against you out of position because they have to invest so many bets to take down the hand postflop unimproved. however, if you commonly call the flop and bet the turn (like you should) you are in an exploitable situation as you might get screwplayed alot. i really doubt this happens at the 10/20 level because not only are the players not observant enough partially because the player base is so large, they arent good enough to realize that a screwplay against your strategy is an excellent counterstrategy.

[cartman]

What is wrong with calling down and betting if checked to?

Thanks,
Cartman