Pokeroom.com – Case Study 1
Posted on February 23, 2009
Filed Under Online Poker
www.pokeroom.com – After being dealt (K,K) in the early stages of a Holdem tournament, I raised double the big blind, 400. There weren’t many players going to the flops, and so I felt this was probably enough to isolate one player. I found my caller in the big blind, and the flop came down (K,3,4).
I really didn’t see much point in raising the pot, as it was very unlikely that my opponent had a King, and so if he had caught any other part of the flop, it was more likely to be a vulnerable middle or bottom pair. I didn’t feel my opponents range of potential hands included (2,5) but perhaps (5,6) suited was a possibility. Either way, I checked to him and was happy when he bet out as I had hoped, a 400 raise. Considering that he only had about 1,000 remaining in chips, I decided I should reraise to 800. Our opponent then folded his hand, and I was left wondering if I had made the right choice. There was no flush draw out, and perhaps he would have bet out again if I had called and let the turn card fall.
In some ways though, I feel his bet of 400 was the only real shot he could afford to take at the pot due to the size of his chipstack. Only the straight draw had me in any real potential trouble, and so I would have been perfectly happy if he had reraised all in when I reraised his initial bet on the flop. You might say that I would have been better off raising into the flop in the first place of course, but I do not think I would have achieved anything other than forcing him to instantly fold.
Slow playing in general can be dangerous due to the fact that you might allow your opponent to outdraw you, but I certainly feel there is a place for it when your instinct tells you that your opponent will put out a tester bet if you check. In this way, you can expand the pot, put in the aggressive big raise, and not have to give away a free card. But your judgement of whther your opponent will bet out once you check, is the key. Pokeroom.com
Comments
Leave a Reply
