“How good is your poker” is a poker column that takes you inside the mind of a professional poker player as he plays a real hand in a real game. At every stage of the hand, you are asked to decide what you would do in the same situation and are awarded points based on your answer. Try to cover the answers with a sheet of paper and then compare your score at the end to see how well you did. This months hand is taken from a $20-$40 limit hold’em game played on the internet. Play the hand as if it is your first hand at the table and you and your opponents have no knowledge of each other but you do know that the games at this level on this site are of a decent standard.
It is folded around to you in middle position and you hold 9s-9d, what next ?
Answer: Raise 10pts Call 3pts Fold 3pts
You need to raise here for several reasons. Firstly your hand is good but not great so you need to raise in order to eliminate players after you. If you only call and a player behind you raises then you are not too sure about the strength of their hand because they have only raised a limper whereas a re-raise signals far greater strength and it is this knowledge that can save you bets later on in the hand. An open limp is rarely a good play in limit hold’em and especially from middle position. If you are folding nines in this position without good reason then you are playing too tight. If your thought processes were similar to this then take 5 bonus points.
I choose to raise and it is folded around to the big blind who re-raises, now what ?
Answer: Call 10pts Re-raise 7pts Fold 0pts
The big blind knows that my raise is not a steal from this position so his re-raise signals strength. His likely hands are two big unpaired high cards or a high to premium pair. A re-raise is a bit too aggressive but not bad, my hand is marginal, I cannot eliminate my opponent and I could be raising a superior hand. A fold is terrible, you are getting over six to one from the pot and probably have the best hand. There is $130 in the pot and just two players left. The flop comes Js-4h-2d
My lone opponent bets, its up to you.
Answer: Call 10pts Raise 8pts Fold 5pts
Many players would argue that raising is the correct play here and they may even be right. But in a heads-up scenario, psychology plays an important part. My opponent is taking me for the same possible unpaired high hand that I am putting them on therefore his bet here is suspect as they are likely to bet regardless of what flops. To a certain extent, a flop raise is also suspect because in a heads up scenario, if I had actually hit the flop, I may just call and try to trap him in the big bet round and my opponent probably knows this. A call sets up the follow up play on the next round which I will not reveal here. If you folded, it is not a disaster but you are going to find that in middle limit hold’em, many players will kick sand in your face if you let them. I called and there is now $170 in the pot.
The turn card is the 4 of spades to give a board of Js-4h-2d-4s, my opponent bets the $40, over to you.
Answer: Raise 10pts Call 6pts Fold 5pts
Raising is the only consistent play after your flop call. You have mimicked a slow-play and your opponent now fears that you have attempted to lure them in by merely calling on the flop. If your raise makes your opponent fold, then you had the best hand all along and you have prevented your opponent from outdrawing you on the river. If you get re-raised then you can safely fold knowing that your nines are beaten. With $210 in the pot, a raise gets you nearly three to one in a situation where there is a very good chance that you have the best hand. Calling isn’t bad and continues to let your opponent bet an inferior hand but this could be disastrous if your hand is best and they outdraw you costing you the entire pot. Folding is totally inconsistent, why would you call the flop and then fold the turn when a card of little consequence hits the board. If you called the flop with the intention of mimicking a slow-play then reward yourself with 5 bonus points.
I raised and my opponent called, there is $330 in the pot. The river card is seven of diamonds to give a final board of Js-4h-2d-4s-7d. My opponent checked, what to do ?
Answer: Check 10pts Bet 6pts
Checking is the best play as a bet is only likely to get called by a hand that can beat you. Your opponent would only check a hand like A-Js or Q-Q,10-10 etc as your turn raise would have slowed them down. A check also eliminates a bluff check-raise, while this is unlikely, there are players at middle limit who are capable of it. Had I been leading throughout then I would have value bet the river. For the record I checked and took the pot against my opponents A-K, some players just fall in love with big slick. After observing my opponents play here, I will certainly be value betting if this situation repeated itself. Now lets see how you rated.
60 points – First class, remind me not to sit at your table
50-59 – Excellent score, you have a good grasp of the nuances of limit play
40-49 – Pretty good but need more study
30-39 – Do not play too high a limit until you improve
20-29 – Stick to low limit
19 – Where do you play poker, I’m interested.
This article was written for Poker Pro Europe Magazine and has been reproduced here with their kind permission.
