is it just me, or does the button always have a hand??

[Erdnase]

Hi all,

maybe it is selective memory, but it seems to me that the button (or the last player to act) always has a hand he deems fit to bet. I play mostly the NLHE 50 on PP these days and I cannot remember the last time the flop was checked to the last player to act and he checked to.

Is that just me?

And most of all, is that a good strategy to always bet if it is checked to you?

Greets, Erd.

[Nottom]

Picking up pots no one wants and stealing blinds is what this game is all about isn't it?

[fnurt]

This post reminds me of a guy I used to play with. Every time it would be checked around to him on the button he would bet with a shrug and say, "it's my obligation!"

You certainly don't want to bet every time you're on the button in this situation. For one thing, once your opponents figure out they can count on you for a bet, you will find yourself getting constantly check-raised.

Also, the button can paradoxically be a less successful position for steals because people are so used to the button trying to steal that some of them will call you with whatever. You can use this to your advantage by value betting mediocre hands like second pair.

In Bob Ciaffone's "Improve Your Poker" he points out that before you try to steal you should think about how many players are in the hand and also how likely it is that someone has hit the flop. It's usually silly to try a steal from the button when 7 players see the flop, even if they all check it around to you. If the flop is something like JTx where someone surely must have at least a draw, stealing becomes even sillier. You want to vary your play as a general rule, so why not save the steal for a hand where it has more than a 1% chance of working.

[Guy McSucker]

In Bob Ciaffone's "Improve Your Poker" he points out that before you try to steal you should think about how many players are in the hand

Ciaffone is right of course, but there's a play you can make if you play with the same crowd regularly. Everyone knows that a player like me doesn't bluff into more than a couple of players, right? So occasionally I like to bet the pot from early position into six or more players, on a pure bluff.

Guy.

[Daithi]

I make this bet on the button when it is checked to me on a fairly regular basis. If nobody has anything it doesn't matter if they think you're bluffing. They may believe you don't have anything, but they know they don't have anything, so they have to hope their garbage is better than the garbage they are hoping you have. I don't blame them for folding, as I fold when I'm in their position and suspect the button is full of it.

However, if I am on the button and there is an Ace or King on the flop I never bet if I don't have it. Nor would I bet at a 3 flush. The chances of someone trying to trap you are just too great. Plus, if I just limped in with a suited ace or something I wouldn't bluff at that pot either (since we all limped in there is no money in the pot). Normally, I only bluff at a pot that was raised pre-flop and then checked around. I mean, why take a risk for a pot with no money in it, and it is not a good idea to make that checked around to the button bet 'every' single time (only doing so in a raised pot varies my play).

One last thing. What to do when you get called? Usually I fire again as the most likely reason they called is that they are on a draw. If it looks like they hit their draw I would of course just check behind them and give it up to a river bet. If the flop makes it unlikely they are on a draw then I give that one up as well, because they probably had called with second or bottom pair.