Chris Ferguson
February 27, 2006
There's no question that aggressive poker is
winning poker. If the world's top players have only one
thing in common, it's that they take control of the
hands they play with bets and raises. Usually, among the
world's poker elite, calling is the least attractive
option.
For this tip, however, I thought I'd talk about a
couple of instances when playing passively - just
checking and calling bets - may be the preferred option.
Top Pair, Favorable Board
Say I'm in the early stages of a tournament and I
have an ample stack. I find Ace-Jack in middle position
and raise to three times the big blind. A player in late
position, who I know to be solid but fairly aggressive,
calls my raise, and everyone else folds. The flop comes
As-4d-8h. I've got top-pair, with a decent kicker.
First, I want to think about the hands my opponent
might hold. It's likely he called my raise with an Ace
or a pocket pair, maybe in the range of 66-99. He may
have also called with two high cards like KQ, KJ or QJ.
In this situation, I'm likely very far ahead or
hopelessly behind if my opponent hit a set or has a
bigger Ace. If he's got an Ace with a worse kicker, he's
drawing to only three outs. If he's got a pocket pair
like 77, he has only two outs. With just two face cards,
he's almost drawing dead. And on this board (As-4d-8h),
I don't need to be especially worried about straight or
flush draws. Because of this, I don't mind giving my
opponent a free card.
If I bet my top pair and my opponent holds a pocket
pair, he's likely to fold, and I'll have failed to get
any additional value out of my hand. If I check,
however, I give this player the chance to bluff or bet
his lesser Ace, and I can then call.
Ideally, I want to get one decent-sized bet in over
the course of this hand and by checking, I prevent my
opponent from giving me more action than my hand can
handle.
Say the turn is 3c. The situation hasn't changed
much. I'm still either way ahead or very far behind. I
can check again, and allow my opponent to bluff.
On most river cards, if we have checked the hand
down, I will generally bet. If we've put one bet in,
I'll probably check-call, and if we've put in two, I'll
likely check and fold. Playing the hand in this manner
provides three advantages. It allows me to get good
value out of a strong hand, and it also keeps me from
losing more than I need to against a hand that has mine
beat without too much risk. Additionally, playing this
way gives my opponent the opportunity to bluff, which is
the only way to get any money out of him if he holds a
hand like QJ.
Decent Hand, Scary Board
Here's another early tournament situation where my
opponents and I have relatively deep stacks. Say I'm
holding pocket 8s in middle position and a player has
raised pre-flop from early position. I call the raise
and a player in late position calls as well. The three
of us see a flop of Jd-Jc-4s.
There's a decent chance that my 8s are good, but I
want to proceed cautiously, as either of the other
players in the hand could hold a Jack.
Say that all three of us check this flop. I really
haven't learned too much, because someone could be slow
playing trip Jacks.
The turn comes 6h. This doesn't look like it would
have helped anyone's hand, but the pre-flop raiser bets
from early position. This is a spot where I'd likely
just call. There are a couple of advantages to just
calling in this situation. First, it doesn't over-commit
me to the pot. If the player in late position raises, I
can muck having lost a minimum number of chips.
Secondly, the call is going to look very scary to my
opponents. They might be thinking that I'm the one slow
playing trip Jacks. So, even if the early position
player holds a higher pocket pair, he's likely to check
on the river no matter what card hits. At that point, I
can show down my 8s and see if they are in fact the best
hand.
The problem with this play relative to the last one
is that I am probably giving my opponent six outs to
catch up and beat my hand if he has two over-cards, as
opposed to two or three outs in the previous example.
I don't play passively often, but under the right
circumstances, just calling bets can provide good value
while minimizing risk.
For another perspective on passive play, be sure to
read the lesson entitled
In Defense of the Call
by Gavin Smith.
Chris Ferguson
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