by Al Sousa (site owner)
You have been holding your own at the casino's 1/2 NL game. You are sitting on $225 as are most players. Now a new player sits down at your table. After 30 mins of observation he seems to play almost every hand and sees many hands to the river. It is not uncommon to see him bluff raise draws or bet draws on all 3 streets, even when he misses them on the river. After 30 mins Mr Nutty now has $320 as he other players got frustrated with him and paid him off when he had a real hand.
Mr. Fun is a typical loose player that plays poker for fun. He likes to play a lot of hands and only raises the best ones. Overall he is a losing player.
Mr. Rock is a very tight player that plays few hands. He rarely bluffs and only bets big when he has a strong hand. Overall he is a marginal winning player.
Mr. Nutty is a very crazy player. He is rich and does care about the money he loses. He raises for no reason, he plays many hands, he likes to bluff. He can go on streaks where he wins a lot of money or loses a lot of money. Overall he's a big losing player. |
Hand #3: Mr. Nutty limps into the pot from early position flinging his chips in. Three other players call hoping to get a piece of Mr. Nutty. You are on the cut off and looking down you find Q Q . You raise to $15, the blinds fold, Mr. Nutty calls, as does one of the middle position players. The flop comes down 7 8 3 and the pot is $48. You have $185 left. Mr. Nutty checks, the 2nd player checks to you. It is a favorable, yet dangerous flop. How much should you bet?
Mr. Nutty of course can have any two cards almost. The 2nd player you are unsure of what he has. You definitely want to bet enough to protect your hand but not overbet in case the 2nd player has something big. A 3/4 pot bet should send the message to both, you got the goods.
You bet $36 into the pot, Mr. Nutty does not heistate and annouces all in and shoves all his chips in the center. The 2nd player quickly folds. The pot now is fairly large with $293 in the center and you have to call with your remaining $154 left. You are getting a little under 2:1 here. What should you do?
Before you bet any hand take time and think about how to react to various players so you have a plan on what to do vs who is in the pot. Snapping to a judgement based on emotion has cost many players a lot of money. So lets look at some facts.
1. You have an overpair to the board. That's a good result.
2. You were check raised all in after a big bet in a multiway pot. That's bad.
3. You are up against Mr. Nutty who is capable of big bluffs and plays so many hands he can have almost anything here. That is good.
4. The pot is massive and offering a litte less 2:1 for your money. Thats fair.
5. The board is draw heavy which increases the chance Mr. Nutty has a draw. Thats good.
6. You do have the Q which helps your hand in case you are behind. Thats good.
Most of the considerations favor you in this hand. Even if Mr. Nutty has a hand like 65 you will still win the hand a little less that 1/2 the time. The pot alone justifies a call. If he has 2 pair like 8 7 a call is just slightly bad as you are just under the pot odds to call. If Mr. Nutty has a set you are way behind. So whats the right play? Considering most of the factors are in your favor, the way Mr. Nutty has played, and that because he is so loose his hand range is enormous a call here is justified
You Call and Mr. Nutty sighs and shows 65 for a straight draw. You are ahead of his hand 2:1. The turn and river bring running aces giving you 2 pair, you win the hand.
Now lets say Mr. Nutty was Mr. Rock or Mr. Fun. In this case you would consider folding more than calling because it is more likely neither of those players will put in their money when they are behind.
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