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Part V: Some more examples

In the last issue, I discussed that it is sometimes correct to three-bet a late-position raiser before the flop with a rather marginal holding, under the following circumstances:

You are in the big blind. (Don't make this play from the small blind with a marginal hand. It is simply too expensive)
You were planning to call anyway, i.e., your hand and / or the situation seems too profitable for a fold
The raiser often raises on light values, especially in position
He respects your play, and does not think you are particularly tricky (that is, he will give you credit for a hand when you three-bet)
You think that by three-betting you will be able to take the initiative away from your opponent (so that you can expect to pick up the pot when both you and your opponent flop nothing).

Hands like ten-nine suited and queen-jack suited are excellent candidates for making this kind of move every once in a while. To fully understand the strength of this play, you should put yourself in your opponent's shoes. If you have read him correctly (for a steal or semi-steal), he might well hold a hand like A8o / K9o or something like J8s / 87s- maybe even worse. How do you think he will feel when he gets popped before the flop, holding these types of hands- and not just by someone, but by you, a very, very tight player who hardly ever enters a pot. I guarantee you that he actually will be looking for reasons to fold his hand after the flop. If your image is correct, he will not only fold if he receives no help from the board, but also if he receives some help. Now, knowing that it is 2-to-1 against someone holding two random cards to flop a pair, if there's also the added chance of him folding when he does flop a pair, then it should be obvious that three-betting in this type of situation can be a very powerful play indeed.

Example hand # 3: AA

Now, the reason this can be such a powerful play is that your opponent fears you might have aces or kings- or at least, a very strong holding. (Remember, a late-position player who raises as the first one in, is always scared of someone waking up with a real hand behind him, especially because the players in front of him obviously didn't hold much. This is called the bunching effect, meaning that at least in theory there might be relatively more high cards left in the deck, now that so many players have already folded their hands). Now, let's say you do have aces in the big blind and once again, a late-position player comes in for a raise. Should you trap by just calling, or play straightforwardly and three-bet? Well, actually in this case there is something to be said for just calling. After all, your call closes the betting, as there are no players behind you that you will either have to force out, or make pay for the privilege of seeing the flop. So, just calling may allow you to trap your only opponents on the later streets, as he will probably give you credit for all types of hands, but not aces.

Having said that, I usually like to play my aces straightforwardly. Because I sometimes play my hands in a manner as if I have aces, I don't think it would be right to do things differently when you finally get them. Your opponents will certainly notice if you are someone who likes to play his premium hands deceptively, so next time you will try to represent aces, they will be less likely to fall for it. Even though quite a few good players I know do things differently than me, I always raise with aces before the flop- in any type of situation, in any position, regardless of the action in front of me. Because so many situations come up where you would play a hand like ace-queen or even ace-jack as if you had aces (for instance, by three-betting an early raiser who is on your immediate right -and who is known to raise on light values- with a relatively marginal hand like ace-queen offsuit. You three-bet, hoping to get rid of all players behind you to play heads-up, in position, with a hand that figures to be best), because of this I think you should also play your aces like aces, and raise and re-raise with them wherever you can. (Continuing with the AQ / AJ from above. If players know you are less likely to make this three-bet play with aces or kings, they may call or even raise you with hands like 99 or AQ- hands they might have folded if they figured you for aces or kings. Now, you definitely don't want this to happen. You don't want to be sandwiched between an aggressive player who might bet with anything, and someone behind you who has shown strength, and who may or may not have you beat. You don't want this: you want all the players behind you to simply fold).

I always treat the aces for what they are: the best possible starting hand in the deck, and I will therefore try to get as much money into the pot with them as possible. Because your opponents will often hope you have ace-king or ace-queen rather than aces, and thus will call you down after the flop with any pair, I think it is best to always bet the hell out of your aces- even though in some cases, like in this example hand, there is something to be said for just calling to make your move later.

Example hand # 4: J7o

Contrary to what most people do, I usually don't even complete my small blind with these cards in unraised pots, let alone I will defend my big blind with it against a raise. Regardless of the situation and whether or not the raiser is likely to have a big hand, if he catches me in the blind with this type of holding, the pot is his. The jack-seven offsuit is not just a bad hand out of position in a heads up situation; in a multiway pot it is equally bad. This is: a) because you cannot make the nuts, and b) because you are holding cards in the playing range of your opponents- and on top of that, slightly worse. It is for this reason the jack-seven types of hands often have negative implied odds: you are simply more likely to lose money after the flop with these cards, than to win some additional money with them.

Some final words

In this series, I have discussed the subject of blind play, and shared with you the considerations and reasons why you should defend or not- and if you do, how you should continue from there on the later streets. Even though lots of writers don't like to focus on blinds defense (because it is so "personal", and requires "feel" more than anything else), I have done my best to give you some sort of guide map, a reference to rely on when facing the question: should I defend or not? For additional questions or comments, feel free to contact me at any time.

Playing the blinds
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