Thought of the Week - September 9, 2007
September 11, 2007
Let’s not talk about the book for a change, and just launch into a topic I promised I would cover due tot a post on my Forum. That topic is
What do you do in steal position (in this case the button as other cases are harder to cover) against two people in the blinds who essentially never fold? Do you raise more? Less? Something else?
First, let’s agree that “stealing” in an inoperative word. You cannot steal anything, as the players in question simply will not allow it. You can raise, but you will always be called.
There are hands that are clearly a huge favorite against two random hands. Holdings such as A-J, 9-9, K-Q are excellent raising hands. The players that will call are generally making a big mistake, and that is good.
There are hands that are clearly dogs to random hands, and these are folds Position will not work all that well when you raise with some garbage hand like 10-4, 6-3, and your opponents both call, almost always with better hands than yours. So you should fold those, which you probably would anyway against all but the tightest blind players, who fold way too often (different topic).
Then there are hands in the middle These hand you would like to play, but your opponent will also be correct to call your raise. According to the Fundamental Theorem of Poker (Sklansky’s basic premise that if the opponents play as if they could see your hand, you lose, and if they play as if they did not see your hand, you win…a much deeper and better explanation is found in Theory of Poker by David Sklansky and should be required reading for every player of any poker game), if you raise with a hand what your opponents are correct to call, and they do call, you lose (actually you may gain if they would be correct to raise and they do not, but their calling is still a minus for you). This sounds off topic, but it is crucial for understand the proper play.
Say you have A-3, or 8-7 suited. You would certainly like to play these hands in position against two players, but if you raise, they will call and they will be at least correct almost regardless of their hands. Let’s take an opponent with 10-5. You raise with A-3, the small blind sees 3.5 bets, and must call 1.5. He is getting 2.3:1 and is only a 3-2 dog to your hand. And that’s not counting the price he will get if the big blind calls, as we know he will. (Please let’s leave BB raises out of this for now…this is only a Thought and not a Chapter). It is even clearer if he calls your raise when you hold 8-7 suited, as he is now calling with the best hand!
My solution, which is probably controversial, but, hey, it’s my website, is to call! Yes, I often open-call on the button in the specific circumstance in which I wish to play the hand, my opponents will be correct to call, my hand is not a big favorite over almost the entire range of hands they may hold, my position will be an asset, and both of my opponents in the blinds will never fold if I raise.
By doing this, I keep the pot small, so I will not get too committed if I end up with nothing, and my opponents will likely be making bigger errors if I end up with something and bet or raise into he small er pot. Also, by calling with A-6 through A-2, I also get considerable action when an ace flops, as my opponents simply cannot conceive that a person with an ace would not make a steal raise (which, in this case, would not be a steal raise, of course) on the button.
Raising, getting auto-called, then betting the flop after two checks offers the next player 7:1. If I call and both players play, then check, I can check without feeling like I’m giving up too much equity, or bet and offer the next player 4:1 instead, which is a major difference.
In addition, some auto-callers also can think, and they become highly suspicious when I call on the button, assuming I must have A-A or K-K and be afraid that the blinds will fold (contradictory, I know, but it happens).
So, for what it’s worth, consider calling on the button in this circumstance with a variety of hands and see what happens. It has worked for me.
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