Quiz 2

In this test, you are going to be seated along side a professional player in an online No Limit Texas Hold’em cash game. The internet environment will be new to some of you but I realise that it is all that many of you know. But it is also an environment where many millions of players are situated and many new professionals are plying their trade.

It will be your job to try and guess the pro players next move and you will be awarded points based on your answers. At the end of the test there is a rating scale so you will be able to assess how well you have done.

I have just logged on and have been watching this particular No-Limit game for about fifteen minutes. A seat becomes available and I am next on the list, a screen pops up asking me if I would like to be seated now and how much I want to buy in for. The game is No-Limit Texas Hold’em with £5-£10 blinds, but how much should a professional like me buy in for?

Answer:

A good player must press his advantage as best he can. He must try and cover the table and if this were a live game then I would do this whenever possible. I need to be in a position to take advantage of a big stack making an error against me and losing everything that they have in one pot. But online No-Limit cash games have maximum buy-ins that restrict you somewhat. Fifty big bets is not a bad answer but this could be less than the maximum allowed. If you answered less than 10 then you need to play another game, probably Ludo.

I am just approaching the blinds and haven’t played a hand so far when I am dealt 9c-9s under the gun (first seat to the left of the blinds) what do I do?

Answer:

If you folded pocket nines in a No Limit game when you are first to speak then you want locking up and breath testing at the same time. Pocket nines is not a monster but it presents you with a great opportunity to bust someone who has a higher pocket pair or who flops two pair or top pair top kicker and cannot lay it down. I don’t understand why you would want to raise at all, if you raise and everyone folds then what have you accomplished.

Winning the blinds might be a fair goal in limit hold’em but certainly not in no-limit. Your position is terrible and you need to respect this fact although early position is not always a bad place to be. I want to give players the opportunity to bust themselves and the nines give me a chance to flop a set and bust a player.

If there are over cards on board to the nines then I will slow down depending on who I am up against. What I tend to find happens a lot online is players going all in or over raising with premium pairs after a raise has already been made. With the two blinds and my raise already in the pot, many weak players think that is enough for them and go all in. They either don’t trust their own ability to play from the flop onwards or they can’t bear the mounting tension in the hand and just go all in. I don’t want them to do this because it forces me to fold when I want to see a flop and possibly bust them.

I called the £10 and it was folded around to the cut-off who also called. A played called “Banana-skin” raised from the button to £60, their playing style is very loose and aggressive and they are not afraid to go all in. They had about as much money on the table as me (about £900 or so) but the other caller had slightly less. Both blinds fold and there is £95 in the pot and it is £50 to you to call, what is your play?

Answer:

The money is deep enough for you to call. Fold this hand here and you are missing a great chance to bust this player. Don’t think about pot odds, this is No-Limit and implied odds are what we go by here. I don’t even care if he has pocket aces because a raise helps me to define their hand and what flops may have hit them while they have no idea as to the content of my hand. Re-raising sets you up to be re-raised all in and you could have a dominated hand or a hand that is just a marginal favourite (against A-K for instance) and you really have no call.

Raising all in is asking for trouble, yes they may be trying to pressure two apparent passive callers by a raise and position but they are not immune from being dealt a premium hand even in a notorious steal position. Calling gives you flexibility without setting yourself up to be crushed.

I called as did “Fruitbat” in the cut-off seat and the total pot was now £195. The flop came 10d-9d-2c, go on then what are you waiting for?

Answer:

This is a tricky one and a lot of inexperienced players would simply go all in here against two opponents because of the scary board and I cannot be overly critical of that play. But you have a very aggressive player to speak behind you who raised before the flop so a check-raise or check call may seem in order. A check raise will let them get away from the hand cheaply because it indicates a monster and they may even lay down a big pair to that kind of play, besides if you check who is to say that they will bet at all and you really don’t want to be giving free cards with this type of flop.

Many players slow play big hands and a bet of around the pot size looks like I could be betting just top pair. I know that he is aggressive and my bet looks like a bet out of weakness and not strength. Many players have re-raised me in situations similar to this either on a semi-bluff with over cards or having A-A, K-K or Q-Q. Betting less than half the pot is crazy as it just gives your deep stacked opponents enough incentive to chase you down with draws. If you folded then you are either certifiable or you pressed the wrong button.

I bet £190 which was close enough to the pot size, the passive caller “Fruitbat” called the bet and “Banana-skin” folded. There was £575 in the pot and just the two of us left, I had about £650 left and my opponent had about £500. The turn card was the 2d giving me the second highest full house, the total board was now 10d-9d-2c-2d. You’ve got them where it hurts now so what are you going to do about it?

Answer:

It is not blindingly obvious what the correct course of action is here and especially in the speeded up environment of online play. I feel that a passive opponent like this is calling with a drawing hand but what kind of draw. If he has 10-10 or quad two’s then good luck to him but he has either called with a hand like Q-J or has two diamonds in his hand. If he has made his flush then I could go all in and take his money but we cannot be certain of this. A check by me looks like am I fearful of his flop call and not sandbagging a monster, especially after I bet the pot on the flop. If I bet and he has the straight draw or some other type of weak hand then I may lose him.

If he has a straight draw and I let him make it by checking and his hand also comprises a diamond then he may even pay me off with a weak flush. He could even sense weakness in my check and simply go all in himself and I have given him the rope to which he can hang himself. Remember that we are not playing against the WPT all stars here so you have to adjust your thinking down a couple of notches and understand how these online players think.

I checked and our man thought for a while and went all in, I obviously called but never got to see their hand as I took the pot. Maybe he thought that I had top pair and was scared of the flush draw that hit. Maybe he thought that I thought that he was slow playing himself and went all in trying to represent something believing that I could not call £500 unless I had something powerful. But the way that I played the hand eliminated “powerful” from his vocabulary.