Strategy Question I am Often Faced With

[PokerGoblin]

When you're in position holding a strong hand you would normal raise with in an unopened pot but not a monster:

[A-Jo] [A-Ts] [88] [99] [KQs] etc...

What do you do when someone raises before you act? Do you cold call two, do you three-bet, or muck?

For simplicity sake we're going to assume that the raiser is not a maniac, but a decent player.

Thoughts?

PG

[emonrad87]

It depends completely on what the exact hand is, what the read on the player is, if there are any cold-callers, etc. etc. Small stakes hold'em offers an excellent and complete discussion of preflop play.

[umdpoker]

ajo is pretty much an automuck for me here. the other hands depend on how many cold-callers, how well they play postflop, etc.

[Zetack]

[ QUOTE ]
When you're in position holding a strong hand you would normal raise with in an unopened pot but not a monster:

[A-Jo] [A-Ts] [88] [99] [KQs] etc...

What do you do when someone raises before you act? Do you cold call two, do you three-bet, or muck?

For simplicity sake we're going to assume that the raiser is not a maniac, but a decent player.

Thoughts?

PG

[/ QUOTE ]

Too many different situations to have much of a stock answer, other than SSHE's play extremely tightly behind a raiser.

Tonight I limped in EP with 99 had two callers a raise and a three bet back to me. I folded. Flop had a nine in it, and somebody ended up winning a very big pot with ace high (technically one pair because the board paired fours...). So basically I just suck and can't profer advice on how to play these kind of hands.

--Zetack

[Acesover8s]

As the other posters said, these are generally easy folds. Against a blind steal these are all easy 3-bet hands. If you get some callers in between all the hands can become playable, except the AJ.

Cold-calling is awful, if you're going to play these hands against only a raiser you should 3-bet.

[Rah]

[ QUOTE ]
Tonight I limped in EP with 99 had two callers a raise and a three bet back to me. I folded. Flop had a nine in it, and somebody ended up winning a very big pot with ace high (technically one pair because the board paired fours...). So basically I just suck and can't profer advice on how to play these kind of hands.

[/ QUOTE ]

First of all, even if you know you're up against overpairs, folding 99 in this spot is wrong. Making a set would pay off hugely.
Second, if you had called the flop would have been different (to easy your mind [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img] ).

[lehighguy]

All of those are folds without a cold caller in between.

With two cold callers many of them become calls, i.e.
Pairs, suited connecters 109, J10, QJ, KQ.

The reason for this is they will play well in large pot if you flop a monster. Be cautious if all you hit is a pair.

[Cooker]

For me it depends greatly on the raiser and how many people you expect to be in the pot. If the raiser is solid and if there are enough cold callers in between that I am getting about 5 to 1 then I will play most pairs and suited connectors, but certainly lay down the offsuit Ace fairly big hands (AJo,AQo) and other just big card hands.

At the low limit tables I play at there is frequently one player that will raise any Ace (yes even A2o). If that is the raiser, and it figures to be just me and him, I will 3 bet for sure with most of the above hands. If an Ace flops I would cap the flop if I am playing one of the ace hands and dump most anything else (obviously I am not dumping sets or draws where I have the correct odds). If no Ace flops I am going to put a lot of pressure on him to show down Ace high or a small pair even if I don't have a pair. If there are cold callers, I probably call along with most of those hands hoping to isolate Mr. Ace-rag on the flop. I may reraise the suited hands and pairs if there figures to be about 5 players going to the flop with me.

[Flashy]

Read SSH for a better explanation, but:

In general you have to decide to isolate the raiser with postion or try and build a pot (5-6 players for 2 bets) with a speculative hand that can flop big. What you don't want is to end up in a 3 way pot for 3 bets with most of these hands.

You should have a sense as to whether your making a raise is going to isolate the 1st raiser or if you simply call, how many other players will come along. Make a decision which way your hand plays best, including mucking, and go for it.


The only hand I see is a mandatory raise or fold is AJo. Against a decent player muck it, against a LAG, 3 bet if you think you can isolate.

Again, read SSH - its the best.

[CORed]

[ QUOTE ]
Second, if you had called the flop would have been different (to easy your mind ).

[/ QUOTE ]

This may or may not be true in an online game, depending on the software. It certainly isn't true in a live game.