Posted by pocketaces in Question by tyzekiel: Poker Strategy Advice?
I started playing NL ring games recently at the .50/1.00 blinds. Everything I read strategy wise tells me to play pretty tight and fold hands that I know are beat before the flop. I’ve found that I make most of my profits by playing hands I know are losing but hit the flop hard and then get paid by the person who raises preflop with their big hand. Here is an example in case my explanation wasn’t clear. I’m sitting in the cutoff seat with 77. The player UTG raises to and. One caller inbetween us, and then I call. I flop set or better, and usually if either the raiser or other caller has big pair pays me off. I know I’m only gonna hit a set 1 in 8 times but if I call this preflop raise 8 times for total and hit my set once and make then I am showing a profit. What I’m trying to say is that I find I’m more successful going into hands behind than when I go in ahead, and overplay my big hand. I almost always get paid when I hit a hand when I’m behind. Is this normal?
Best answer:
Answer by free w
The trouble there is when you hit that 1 in 8 set, someone may only have a calling hand 2 out of 3 times. Now you’re down to getting paid 1 out of 12 times… I guess my point is when you DO hit that set, you’re not always guaranteed .
What do you think? Answer below!
I think You have been lucky, but you don’t mess with a strategy that works, keep it up. its not normal. I usually lose BIG when I don’t have enough sense to fold.
Not normal per se but certainly a pair at a small or tight table shouldn’t be considered being “behind”. Although 7′7 are what I call on the cusp being beat by someone holding even a single Over card. If someone bet the 5 bucks, however, they probably overbet to scare the pot. Probably holding an mid pair like J’J or perhaps suited with a low kicker.
Going in with the pair, your only out the 5 bucks and can still bail if you don’t hit the set on the flop. I’d probably make the call unless I was low stacked, in which case I’d wait for a BigBlind special or the higher pair…
Good Luck
a lot of times you will get paid off for coming from behind with the worst hand at small limits because the worst players are there and they won’t be able to get away from their hand like a good player often would…however, if you just start playing random trash all the time then you will lose, you just won’t get paid off enough times when you make the best hand to make it profitable, and sometimes when you come from behind you will get beat anyway…certain hands, like small/medium pairs(which is your example) are good to play to try to come from behind, because when you do hit you are guaranteed to get paid by a big hand and there’s minimal chance of being beat or cold-decked, and when you miss you just get away cheap…another type of hand like this is the suited connector, i.e. 9-8 of diamonds
A very common situation. I would say you won’t win any kind of a tournament if you fold every time you get raised when your sitting on a small pair. I think it depends on your opponent and how he has been playing the previous hands. There is no sure fire recipe to winning, but a high degree of aggression is a strong ally to have in your bag of tricks.
Heres the big problem with playing short pairs.
The worst thing that can happen to you is to make the second best hand and a short pair can be an expensive one. If you hit your set, and someone hits a bigger set which I have seen happen alot, you are going to lose all or almost all the money you have in front of you.
I once held 66 and the flop was Ace, 6, 5. I raised and was reraised by a player that raised before the flop. I knew this player to be too tight for his own good. I was able to get rid of my set and was right. He flopped a set of aces.
I’m telling you this story because in over 30 years of playing holdem, thats the only time a second best set didnt cost me my entire stack.
That and the fact that if you dont hit your set, your short pair is not a favorite to hold up. Its just not a winning play or the long haul.
First of all i don’t have to much issue with you calling a raise with the two sevens here, although i wish you had a little bit better position on the hand, but you can’t always have it go perfect. But i would never give advice that you should call hands pre-flop if you think you are beat. You can’t play hands out of position and just hope to get lucky all the time, the odds and the percentages will get you in the end. Poker is all about the long run (1-2 years), so in the short run you sometimes feel that you can do no wrong. Weather or not you are going to play a hand pre-flop is the most important choice you face. The only time i ever call a bet with a bad hand is if i think the other player is just playing loose or trying to steal, if i have good position on the other player, or if i think i can out-play them on the flop. Otherwise it is best not to play and just try and get lucky, playing good solid poker will win out over time. But like i said you had a pair, and i would at least take a flop here, because set’s break players. Just don’t go calling off with junk for the most-part, some players who are very good can play a lot of junk hands, i for one am not one of them so i play tight for the most-part, and bluff where my table image will let me. I find when i try and play a style that does not fit me, i make crazy calls and i end up going broke, so a loose style may be for you if you like to be an action player. good luck.