Tag Archives: contenders
No Limit Holdem Small Buy-ins. Post-flop. Flop. (Page 1 of 5)
Your game on the flop is closely connected with how you play on the pre-flop. Often, if you raise to get into the game, it means you have to continue the attack on the flop. When you raise on the pre-flop, you are letting your opponents know that your cards are rather strong. Try to win the pot on the flop even if you dont have winning cards. If you stop attacking on the flop because your cards arent great, it will be obvious to your opponents. The bet on the flop after the pre-flop raise is called a continuation bet or a cont bet. The size of this bet should not differ from the size of the bet when the flop suits you. If you follow this rule, it is more difficult for your contenders to find out if you are bluffing or not. The size of this bet should be between 2/3 of the pot up to the pot size.
When is the best time to make a continuation bet? If you are in a position against one opponent and he checks on the flop, you should always make a cont bet. The only exception is if your opponent is a calling station (Calling Station: a player who constantly calls on the flop with any pair or even without a pair).
Always continue the attack against one opponent if you are in a bad position and the flop is not risky. A flop which is considered to be less risky is one that doesnt offer a large number of possible unfinished combinations. For instance: flop 8-9s-Ts, doesnt call for a cont bet if, of course, you dont have a strong draw already. Before making a cont bet, look at the flop structure carefully. If the flop doesnt suit you but may suit your contender, who usually calls your raises with a particular range of hands, you shouldnt make a cont bet. Instead, you should play check-fold. For instance: you have 99, the flop is A-J-Q. You know that your contender calls raises if he has high cards.
Do not continue the attack on the flop when two or more contenders have called your pre-flop raise and the flop has not brought you anything. Lets discuss the reason for this move. After two or more contenders have called your raise, the pot has become bigger. You need to make a continuation bet of a considerably bigger size now. The profitability of your bet has decreased two fold (the possibility of both opponents folding is two times lower). The only time you should make a cont bet against two opponents is if the flop is not incredibly risky and youre in a good position. For instance: the flop is 3-4-4, the both contenders have checked before you. It is important to note that you may reduce the size of your bet up to half the pot when there is a pair on the board.
Premium hands AA and KK:
There are two different situations in which you will play hands like these.
Raised pot:
If you have raised on the pre-flop and somebody has called your raise, you should play aggressively but carefully on the post-flop. Continue your attack with a bet of the pot size on any flop. The only exception is if you have KK, there is an ace on the flop and you have more than one opponent. You should only make a cont bet from a good position. If not, play check-fold. If there is a rainbow of low range cards on the flop, be careful when tight players call your bet. If you dont know your contenders style of play and he makes a re-raise, the best idea is to fold. You should bet the whole stack on the flop if you play against risk takers or short-stackers (up to 70BB). Re-raised pot.
Micro Limit Games – Pre-flop Strategy (Page 1 of 2)
I will describe the pre-flop holdem strategy on full-hand tables (10max) here.
Micro limit games (~0.02/0.04) have some peculiarities in comparison to a poker game with higher limits. You will find the highest ratio of an average bank size to a big blind size here. This means that the highest percent of drawn combinations are paid-out. Contenders play very freely and lose their stacks easily. The best strategy for this game will be a reliable tight play if you are a new player. Of course, that strategy is not very profitable, but a new player would fare better playing this way. You shouldnt play weak hands which may cause difficulties when you play the post-flop.
Early positions (1-3)
Play tightly here. Raises are very possible from late positions. Having no position will lead to difficulties on the post-flop. So, tight play is the best at these positions.
AK, JJ+ – Raise 5??, if there has been a raise. If you have JJ-QQ, AK, you should call if the re-raise is not more than 15??. If the re-raise is higher, having JJ and AK fold, you should call with QQ up to 20??. Having KK, re-raise (three times that of a contenders raise), up to all-in. If you have AA, and nobody has called in your re-raise (having only one opponent), you may simply call to outwit your contender later and play a check-raise on the flop. If more than one opponent stays in a bank, you shouldnt play call with AA. The best play is to make a re-raise in three times bigger than the last. Its more difficult to play AA against two contenders if you have no position on the flop. A raise of 5?? is recommended in this situation. Though, if you see too many contenders calling your raise, you should increase the amount. If your contenders are very aggressive and often play raise on the pre-flop, you should call in an early position having AA. In the event that there is a raise after you, youll be able to make a re-raise.
AJ-AQ call. Its too tight but good for a new player. A raise with a hand like this may be too risky.
22-TT call and call a raise in hopes of making three of a kind
Fold all other hands.
Middle positions (4-6)
TT+, AQ+, AJ – raise, if no raises have been made. If there is a re-raise up to 15??, call with TT-QQ and AK. KK and AA are played as it is described in the early positions.
If there have been raises, play a re-raise. With the hands AK and QQ+, re-raise by tripling the original. If there has been a raise and then somebody has re-raised, play a re-raise only if you have KK+. If you have QQ, you should call. Fold JJ and lower cards.
KQs, ATs start with a raise of 5?? (to start means that all opponents before you have folded and you are the first getting into the game). If somebody has limped (to limp getting into a game without a raise), its best to call.
KQo, ATo – call if there have been no raises.
JTs+, QTs, KJs – call, if two or more players have gone into the game. Having such hands we need many contenders in a pot to make bank chance better. These hands are too weak to make them stronger drawing by a pair. But they can form very strong combinations – straights and flushes. To make the possibility of drawing those combinations profitable, you will need many potential losers to pay for it.