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Cold Calling: A Hold'em Discussion

April 9, 2018   Game skill   No comments

Definition of a cold call- It’s one of the most ominous thing you can see in a hand of hold’em. A player raises, another reraises, and then a third guy decides, “Eh, my hand’s so strong, I don’t even want to reraise; I’m just going to cold call this bet.” The cold call is usually symbolic of massive strength in a hand, especially from an experienced player. To put it in perspective, look at how the hand has to be viewed from that players perspective. Okay, a guy raised in early position to 3x, then another guy popped it to 10x. I have a hand that I want to see a flop with, but don’t mind having the player who originally raised call or raise; I’m just going to call this. What kind of hands fit those criteria? If it’s a tight, solid player, it may only be AA or KK. If it’s a thinking, looser player, it may include Ax suited, 33, and other random junk that retains the scariness of the cold call. Understand what the cold call means from player to player is important in how you proceed against the cold caller.

Playing against the cold caller- Let’s look at a river example in no limit hold’em, determining what kind of hands we need to play against the cold caller. The board on the river is 3s8hAh7d2h, putting the flush draw on board on the river. You hold A8o for top two pair, and have been betting the entire way, with two player calling your flop and turn bets. You elect to fire a river bet. Your first opponent raises you, and your second opponent, a solid, tight player calls a bet and a raise cold. What sort of hand do you need to call this bet, and what sort of hand do you need to raise this bet? First of all, your two pair is essentially worthless due to the cold caller; the raiser is trying to tell you he made his flush, and the cold caller sees this and says, “Hey, I don’t care, my hand is STILL good enough to call with here.” I would be folding sets and the 45 straight here against a solid player without any other information, and would only be inclined to call with flushes above the 9. The only hand I would ever consider a three bet with is the pure nuts, Kxh, as it’s just far too likely that one of your opponents is holding that precise hand, given the board. That’s how much power the cold call wields; be wary when you see it.

Cold calling: Your usage- You also may use the cold call as a play in your arsenal, but it needs to be used with caution. Many times, you may think a hand that you should fold can become a cold calling hand if you think your original opponent is weak; don’t make that mistake, because between the raiser and the cold caller, as a rule, someone will have some sort of hand that is represented on the board. If it’s three flush, I’m not cold calling without a weak flush. 8910xx? 67 becomes a cold call, as well as 1010, while 89 becomes a fold. Use it to plant a firm ground on the amount you’re willing to invest in the hand.

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Playing Premium Hands In Texas Hold Em

January 2, 2018   Game skill   No comments

No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em, with all the complexity and psychology that surrounds it, has confounded most casual players. Even with simple yet powerful hole cards like AA and KK, intermediates and newcomers alike misplay them. They don’t understand the importance of optimizing AA and using KK in a way that keeps in mind that poker players, especially those online, love to play A-x.

Playing AA

Beginners literally jump out of their seats when playing this type of hand. Most of them shove all their chips in a split second when this shows up while forgetting the important fact that they must maximize their profit. Not make sure that a few pennies come their way.

As players do their customary raises and calls, an optimal play with this kind of hand is to simply call. You don’t acknowledge the fact that you have strong hole cards but ones that are simply “callable”– drawing cards like A-10 or K-J suited.

Once the flop shows up, be wary of its texture. 8-3-J with no similar suits is an excellent flop; and given that there was a raiser before the flop, this gives him/her an automatic action of making a continuation bet of around half the pot. Therefore, you shouldn’t bet when you’re in early position. Not only does a check indicate a weakness, simply calling a bet that gives you 3 to 1 pot odds only gives the impression to your opponents that you only have a pair of jacks with a medium kicker or better.

Whatever card that shows up on 4th street, you must over-bet (3/2 or twice the pot) indicating that you want to steal the pot and acting all jittery, showing that you are making a desperate bluff. If you’re not an actor even worthy of a class award, then over-betting will suffice. When your opponent does see this, he/she will definitely see this as a sign of weakness, as seen from the fact that you frantically tried to block his/her pot odds. With that in place, the player will be compelled to call your seemingly atrocious error.

With those plays in place, be ready to joyously eat up the pot. Trips or a two pair isn’t likely, because he/she didn’t make a reasonably sized bet in the first place, which is around the size of the pot. Also take note that this strategy only works with good players, not beginners who mindlessly call bets without realizing the basic concepts of pot odds and outs.

Playing KK

KK should be played differently. In the betting round pre-flop, you must hammer the pot as much as possible, making sure that only excellent drawing cards and face cards will be the only ones that will call your bet. But stomping the pot doesn’t mean that you’ll go all-in, a bet around four to five times the big blind is just right.

After the flop, in the threatening instance A comes, do not cringe and just check. Rather, as a raiser in the pre-flop betting round, you should make a continuation bet. But don’t give rather pathetic bet of about half the pot, it should be a straight-up value bet of around 2/3 to the size of the pot. Not only does it present the fact that you do have a hand, it also conceals the fact that you only have KK while making your opponents believe you just paired your ace. When someone does call, brace yourself because he/she has either AQ or AK, given that she called your substantial raise pre-flop. So to speak, don’t attempt an outrageous bluff on 4th street but be calm and fold your hand. Remember, poker is a game of making the least mistakes, not winning substantial pots.

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