Phil Gordon
August 8, 2005 Let's say an early position opponent - preferably a loose player -
raises and gets called by one or more players. Now
there's a lot of money in the pot. More importantly, the
players who simply called are unlikely to have a hand
that would merit calling a big re-raise. If they had
such a hand, they probably would have raised instead of
flat calling in the first place. Now it gets to me.
I "sandwich" the callers with a big raise.
If my raise gets the initial raiser to fold, the meat
of the chips will very often be coming my way.
I prefer to make this play from the blinds than from
the button; if one of the blinds happens to wake up with
a great hand, it really doesn't matter what the initial
raiser was betting with - my goose is cooked.
I get maximum value from the sandwich raise when I am
down to about 15 big blinds. For instance: I'm in the
small blind. A loose player brings it in from early
position for three times the big blind. Two players
call. There are now 10.5 blinds in the pot. I look down
and find 8-7 suited.
I raise all-in.
The initial raiser now has to make the tough decision
as to whether to call a significant raise. Even if my
timing is off and he has a big hand - let's say A-K -
and decides to call the bet, I'm still in pretty good
shape. My 8-7 suited will beat his A-K about 41% of the
time. I've invested 15 big blinds and stand to win 37
big blinds. I'm getting exactly the right odds on my
money here.
I won't make this play with a hand that can easily be
dominated, like a small ace or king. I don't want to be
25% (or less) to win if I can help it.
And by making the play all-in, I completely negate my
positional disadvantage, and make the most of my short
stack. With all of my money in the pot, I can't be
outplayed after the flop.
If it's chips you're hungry for, try the sandwich.
You might just find that it hits the spot.
Phil Gordon
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