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TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreward Preface Introduction My Story The History of No Limit Online Poker Exclusive Super/System 2 Specialize or learn Limit Hold'em Poker Omaha Eight or Better Seven Card Stud High Low Pot Limit Omaha High Triple Draw Poker Tournament Overview No Limit Hold'em World Poker Tour Poker Glossary

LIMIT HOLD'EM POKER
by Jennifer Harman

Though Jennifer Harman is proficient in all poker games, I chose her to write the limit hold’em chapter because I’ve seen her win consistently at this game, often beating the best players in the world. Having played high-stakes poker with Jennifer the past few years, I’m convinced that she’s not only the best all-around female player alive, but also ranks among the elite poker players of the world.
Her aggressive play, a style that fits right into the power poker I have always recommended, has impressed me for years. Jennifer is one of the few women who have won open events at the World Series of Poker, and she is the only woman who has done it twice. In 2000 she won the deuce-to-seven title—a game that was new to her at the time—and in 2002 she won the limit hold’em championship.
To further illustrate her versatility, Jennifer also has appeared at the final table at the WSOP in seven-card stud, pot-limit hold’em, and twice in limit hold’em events. She won the no-limit hold’em championship at the Commerce Casino in 1998, the same year that she won the limit hold’em event at the Orleans Open. In 2002 Jennifer made her final table debut at the prestigious World Poker Tour in Aruba. We’ll be hearing more roars from this 100-pound poker lioness in the future.

INTRODUCTION

There are significant differences between limit and no-limit hold’em. One obvious difference is that in no-limit, if you play your cards right, you can trap your opponents for all their chips. That’s just not the case in limit hold’em. While no-limit is a game of traps, limit hold’em is all about value betting, which means you want to get maximum value for your hand, often through aggressive betting. You’ll find that in limit hold’em it’s best to play in a straightforward manner, that is, bet and raise when you actually have a decent hand. But don’t be predictable, and don’t forget that bluffing is one of the most powerful weapons you can use in limit hold’em. Let’s get to it!

BLINDS AND ANTES

I would like to start with a discussion of blind structures. After all, posting the blinds is the first step in any hold’em game. In this chapter we are going to cover the different approaches that should be considered based on the blind structure .
A full-limit hold’em game has either nine or ten players seated at the table. These games are often referred to as ring games. Typical lower limit games are played ten-handed, but as the limits go up, eight- and nine-handed games are more common. Games with three to six players are called shorthanded games, and those played with just two players are called heads-up games.
Hold’em is a positional game. A little puck or button moves clockwise around the table representing the dealer. In home games, the deal simply moves to the left each hand, but casino games use a professional dealer. The position of the button on the table determines the order of action. After the first round of betting, the button always acts last, which is a great advantage. As the last player to act, the button is able to watch his opponents act on their hands, revealing possible strengths and weaknesses, before he makes his own decision.
Two players, the blinds, are forced to put money into the pot before the hand is dealt. The small blind sits directly to the left of the button, and the big blind sits directly to the left of the small blind. There are two basic types of blind structures: a two-and-three chip and a two-and-four chip. In a two-and-three chip blind structure, the small blind puts in two chips, while the big blind puts in three chips. For example in a $15/$30 limit hold’em game, the small blind must bet $10 while the big blind must bet $15.
In a two-and-four chip blind structure (a one-and-two chip structure is identical), the big blind posts double the amount of the small blind. So in a $20/$40 limit hold’em game, the small blind would be $10 and the big blind would be $20.
Optimal limit hold’em strategy differs depending on which blind structure you are playing. A two-and-three chip blind structure will cost you more money proportionately per round than the two-and-four chip structure. As a result, two-and-three chip games are looser than two-and-four chip games, and you will need to compensate for this by playing more hands.
The difference between the two structures seems pretty insignificant, so why the need to adjust your play?

Two-and-Three Chip Structure
In the two-and-three chip structure, the small blind already has 2/3 of a bet in the pot. If there is no raise before the flop, it’s highly likely that the small blind will complete the bet and see the flop. There are few, if any, situations in which the player in the small blind should fold a hand rather than kick in one more chip. For example, let’s say you are in the small blind in a
$30/$60 hold’em game. A player from middle position calls $30, as does the button. As the player in the small blind, you already have $20 invested, and including the big blind’s $30, the pot already stands at $110. Since calling will only cost you $10, you are getting 11 to 1 odds on your investment. And since there are very few hands that would be worse than an 11 to 1 underdog to win, it’s basically an automatic call no matter what you are holding.
If only you and the big blind remain, remember that there is already $50 in the pot and you have to throw in just one more chip to call. In this case, you are getting 5 to 1 on your money, and you only have to beat one player. Even if you limp in with a marginal hand and the big blind raises you, it’s not the end of the world; you’ve still made the right play.
In a two-and-four chip blind structure, the game should be played a bit more conservatively. As the small blind, you’ll have to put in one-half more bet to see the flop, as opposed to the 1/3 bet in the two-and-three chip structure.
Let’s apply the scenario above to a two-and-four chip structure. Once again, you are in the small blind, this time with a $10 bet invested. A middle position player limps in for $20, as does the button. There is $70 in the pot, and you have to call $10 more to see the flop. In this scenario, you are getting 7 to 1 on your money, which isn’t bad. You should still play a majority of your hands, but not as many as you would have in the two-and-four chip structure. If only you and the big blind remain, you’ll have to call $10 into a $30 pot—not that high a price against just one player, but it’s still much less enticing than in the
two-and-three chip blind structure. As the small blind in this type of game, you should play more conservatively, as it costs you less money per round.
When deciding what limit to play, consider what type of blind structure suits your style. If you are an aggressive player before the flop and like to play a lot of hands, the two-and-three chip blind structure is probably the best choice. Conversely, if you are the type of player who likes to sit back and wait for big hands, then the two-and-four chip structure is definitely better suited to your style.

PRE-FLOP STRATEGY

When people who are new to poker ask me for pointers, I usually tell them to play fewer hands. If you are a beginner, you should stick to strict guidelines with your pre-flop hand selection. This will benefit you in two key ways:

(1) You’ll learn the importance of patience and discipline.
(2) Your daily swings won’t be as large.

When you are just starting out, your goal should be to get accustomed to the game. As you improve, you’ll be able to expand your starting requirements and play even more hands for a profit. As with strategies for any poker variation, there are basic principals and guidelines you should keep in mind, but remember that nothing is set in stone. As your poker abilities improve, you’ll want to add some creativity to your pre-flop play so your opponents will have a tougher time getting a read on you.
Your pre-flop strategy will differ greatly depending on the number of players at the table. Later in the chapter, we’ll discuss different strategies for games of all sizes, but for now let’s look at optimal pre-flop strategy for ring games, those played nine- or ten-handed.
Position is an important factor in helping you decide how to play any given hand. In a typical ten-handed game, there are three positions other than the blinds (we’ll get to blind play later in the chapter) you can bet from: early, middle, and late. The later you act, the better your position, and the more hands you can play for a profit. Conversely, if you are in a bad position (early position), you need a premium starting hand to enter the pot. For the sake of this discussion, we’ll call positions three through five to the left of the button the early positions, positions six through eight the middle positions, and positions nine and ten (the button) the late positions. In a nine-handed game, players one and two are in the blinds, players three and four in early position, five through seven in middle position, and eight and nine in late position. The last player of each position falls in the middle of the two positions.

Early Position
When in early position, it is important to remember that the rest of the players act behind you, so your hand has to be strong enough to stand a raise. So as a general rule, you should only play the following hands in early position: A-A, K-K, Q-Q, J-J, 10-10, A-K, and A-Q—plus A-J suited and K-Q suited. These may sound like strict guidelines, but keep in mind that the texture of the game will dictate whether or not you can expand on them. If you find yourself in an aggressive game with a lot of pre-flop raising, you’re better off sticking to these guidelines. On the other hand, if you are in a passive game with little aggression or pre-flop raising, you can broaden your hand selection to include A-10 suited, 9-9, and 8-8.
If you are dealt a premium hand in early position, you should raise. If you always raise with a premium hand, you’ll actually be giving away less information about the strength of your hand than if you only raise with aces and kings. If you adopt this strategy of always raising with a premium hand, your opponents won’t know if you are raising with A-A, A-K, K-Q, and so on down the list. However, if you always limp in with hands other than aces and kings, your opponents will soon be onto you and learn to never call when you raise.
Your pre-flop raise with these hands serves two purposes:

(1) It enlarges the pot. When you are holding premium cards, you want as much money as possible in the pot.
(2) It narrows the field. The value of your big pairs decreases in multiway pots. By narrowing the field with a raise, you increase the chances that your premium hand will stand up.

As you become more comfortable with the game, you might consider occasionally limping in with a premium hand in order to throw off your opponents. By limping in, you might cause many players to rule out the possibility that you’re holding aces or another premium hand. Your pre-flop deception might win you more bets in later rounds. You could even consider limping in with A-K suited in early position. If it is raised behind you, you could go ahead and reraise when it gets back to you. By doing this, you could actually represent aces or kings. So even if you miss the flop, you can bet out and try to take it on the flop.

Limping in from Early Position
Some expert players like to limp in with kings in early position. I’m not a big fan of this play. If someone is going to beat me with an ace-rag hand, I want to make sure I make him pay for it before the flop. If more than three people see the flop and an ace flops, you can quietly deposit your kings in the muck.
If the pot was three-handed or heads-up and an ace flops, you might want to test the waters and bet out. If you get raised, you’ll have to rely on your judgment when it comes to deciding whether to call or fold. Your decision should be based on your read of your opponent. Would he raise me here with a draw? Might he even raise me with middle pair? Does this guy ever bluff? Would this guy play ace-rag? By answering all of these questions, you should have a sufficient number of clues to help you make the right choice.
This is why it’s so important to pay attention to the hand you’re involved in, as well as hands you’ve already folded. By watching the game, you should be able to figure out who likes to limp with A-x and who prefers playing suited connectors.
You may consider limping with K-Q suited as well. Unlike high pairs like A-A or K-K and other premium hands, this hand plays well in multiway pots. Deception and mixing up your play should be an important part of your game, but unfortunately there is only so much you can do from early position. For the most part, you just want to play fundamentally sound poker. When you find yourself under the gun, don’t try too hard to be creative, because it may cause you to be faced with more difficult decisions later in the hand, and you can end up outwitting yourself!

Middle Position
In middle position, you should definitely play the premium hands we mentioned above, but now, with fewer players acting after you, you can play a few more. Although middle position allows you to broaden your hand selection, remember that, unlike early position, you now have to take into account what has happened in front of you.

Playing Premium Hands from Middle Position (A-A, K-K, Q-Q, A-K)
For the most part, you should play your premium hands from middle position the same way you would from early position. If you are the first one in with A-A, K-K or A-K, you should raise. If somebody has raised in front of you, you should be aggressive and reraise. As you read on through this chapter, you’ll find a recurring theme: aggression!
Sometimes, you might want to practice a little bit of deception by calling a raise with a hand like A-K suited, the best drawing hand of them all. Even if you flop a flush draw with no pair, you still have fifteen outs against a hand like Q-Q, which, by the way, would make you the favorite to win the pot. If you are up against another unpaired hand, you’d have the best hand, as well as the best draw.
There are other reasons why you might just want to call a raise with A-K suited. Say you are holding A? K? in a loose game with lots of action. By smooth calling, you might persuade others to stay in the pot. Being heads-up with the initial raiser wouldn’t be horrible, but it might be even more profitable to let others in. So let’s say you call, as do three others, and the flop comes bad for your hand—7-8-9 with two hearts, for example. No problem—just check-muck it, thus saving one bet.

Playing Middle Pairs from Middle Position (J-J, 10-10, 9-9)
If you are the first to enter the pot, you should raise coming in. Remember: aggression, aggression, aggression! If someone has raised in front of you, you should reraise to narrow the field and give yourself the best chance to win the pot. Unlike a hand such as A-K suited, these middle pairs don’t play very well in multiway pots. By reraising, you’ll get a little bit more information about the initial raiser’s hand.
If the initial raiser makes it four bets, he probably has a bigger pair or at least A-K. Defining your hand as a strong one is a good idea, and by reraising you can represent a premium hand. Why is this good? Take this example: Say you reraise with 10-10 against a player who has raised from early position. You get it heads-up and the flop comes down 7-3-2. The initial raiser checks, and you bet your 10-10. If your opponent has A-Q, he would be correct in calling one more bet on the flop. However, since you’ve represented a stronger hand than you actually have, the initial raiser may fold thinking that you might already have A-A.

Playing A-Q from Middle Position
As when playing middle pairs from the middle position, if you have A-Q and are the first to enter the pot, you should raise coming in. On the other hand, if you are facing an early position player who has already raised, playing A-Q from the middle can create some potentially sticky situations. What you should do against an early position raiser will depend heavily on your read of that player. If the Rock of Gibraltar raises from first position, you’re A-Q isn’t worth two cents! However, if you know the raiser to be a loosey-goosey type player, you should probably try to isolate him by reraising.
There are a few situations where simply calling an early position raise is acceptable, but if you think the hand is worth calling with, you should go ahead and reraise. Otherwise, dump it. You’ll then want to keep the lead on the flop whether you flop a pair or not. What you do after the flop will depend on the texture of the flop, your opponents, tendencies, and the number of players in the pot. But as a general rule, you should never call a raise and a reraise with a hand as weak as A-Q.

Playing Marginal Hands from Middle Position (A-x suited, K-Q, K-J, Q-J, J-10, 10-9 suited, 7-8 suited, and Small Pairs)
This is where your starting requirements get a little tricky because there is an added variable: what has happened in front of you. For example, let’s look at a hand like J-10. If no one has entered the pot, you should consider raising it up, hoping to pick up the blinds. But if someone has already raised in front of you from an early position, chances are they can beat jack high. Since it’s no longer possible to pick up the blinds, your best play here is usually to fold.
I say usually, because there are very few absolutes in poker. Each situation is unique and varying your plays will help confuse your opponents. How often you use these variances depends on many factors, including table composition, table image, and more.
Here are a few general guidelines to think about when playing marginal hands in middle position:

(1) In an aggressive game with pre-flop raises coming from all positions, you should avoid getting involved if you are holding only small suited connectors. While these hands play well in multiway pots, they do much worse in heads-up situations, especially when played from early or middle position.
(2) In a passive game you can open up a little bit with a marginal hand. If no one has entered with a raise, you might want to raise with all of your big card and small pair hands (K-J, Q-J, J-T, 10-9 suited, 7-7, 6-6, etc.). You should also raise with any suited ace if you are the first one to enter the pot. In a passive game, playing aggressively with a marginal hand is the way to go, as it gives you the opportunity to pick up the pot when no one calls pre-flop. Even when your raise is called, you could still win the pot with a bet on the flop. That is, if an opponent doesn’t catch a piece of the flop, which will happen more often than not.
(3) In a loose game with many pre-flop limpers, you should still play the majority of your marginal hands—but unlike in a passive game, you should not play them aggressively. In this situation, your objective is to get full value on your hand, and a raise will only deter others from calling. In these more liberal games, your motto should be “The more the merrier!” For instance, if you are holding 7-8 suited and one player raises while two others call, you should call the raise. Chances are there is a big pot developing, and you’ve got the right kind of hand to take it down.

Late Position
Now it’s time to have some fun! Late position is definitely my favorite place to be and once you’ve finished reading this limit hold’em section, you’ll know why. Playing late position is fun for several reasons. For one, you get to play a lot more hands than you do in early and middle position. Secondly, as a late position player, you have access to a lot more information than the other players, such as who called, who raised, how many have called, etc. Furthermore, late position is the position from which you’ll want to do the majority of your stealing—but only when no one has entered the pot ahead of you. If you are in the button, the last seat, you have the opportunity to knock off other late position steal attempts by isolating them and making it three bets. Confused yet? Don’t worry, I’ll explain.

Stealing from Late Position
When I say stealing, I’m referring to a late position player’s attempt to grab the blinds with a less than premium hand. A stealer comes in with a raise, hoping to represent a premium hand, which will cause all of the stealer’s remaining opponents to fold. Remember, it’s hard to hit flops, and your opponents know it. So by staying aggressive, you can pick up a lot of loose change when your opponents miss and give up on the pot.
Sometimes, though, steals don’t go quite this smoothly. If your opponents disappoint your steal attempt and call your raise, you’ll have to try to pick up the pot on the flop whether you have anything or not. A player might even call behind you or try to isolate you by making it three bets. If you do happen to get reraised, you are now at the mercy of the deck.
If you don’t catch a piece of the flop, your best play is usually just to give it up, but depending on what type of hand you have, you can also take one off and try to pick up something on the turn. If your opponent doesn’t reraise but smooth calls your late position raise with position, you are presented with a new set of dilemmas. The first thing you need to consider is what hands might this particular opponent play this way. Typically, strong players will three-bet you in these situations, while some weaker players who see lots of flops might call you with just about anything. So, unless the flop looks extremely bad for your hand, you should continue leading and bet the flop.
Let’s say that you are holding 6-7 suited in the nine position of a ten-handed game. Everyone has folded to you, and you raise before the flop. The button, seated right next to you in the ten position, calls the raise and both blinds fold. Now it’s heads-up, and the flop comes A-9-2 rainbow—three unsuited cards. What is your play here? I would advise you to bet just as you normally would when you’re the initial raiser and find yourself heads-up. Since the button almost certainly has the better hand, you’re hoping that he will throw it away based upon the strength you showed by raising. If he doesn’t have an ace he’ll probably just dump his hand, and if he does have an ace…oh well. It’s only going to cost you this one bet to find out. However, if he calls or raises you, you should shut down and fold your hand.
This ace flop is a good one to bluff. It is unlikely that your opponent has an ace. Unless he is a passive player, chances are your opponent would have reraised with a big ace, such as A-K, A-Q, A-J, or A-10.
The flops you should worry about are those that connect to hands like 8-9, 9-10, 10-J, J-Q, Q-K. More often than not, your opponent’s holdings will fall into this range, so, you may want to save a bet if the flop comes down 8-J-Q or K-J-9. If your opponent bets one of these flops, you are done with this hand. If he checks one of these flops behind you, it can mean only one of two things:

(1) He flopped a monster and is trapping you; or
(2) He missed the flop as well.

Isolating from Late Position
You’ll hear me use the term “isolation” several times throughout the chapter. To put it plainly, if you are going to succeed playing higher limit hold’em, you are going to have to learn the nuances of isolation plays.
So what is an isolation play? Quite simply, isolation is a play you make in order to create a one-on-one situation with your opponent and take the flop heads-up, usually with position. For example, say an aggressive player raises from middle to late position and you find 8-8 on the button. With no one else in the pot other than the raiser, you would reraise him and hope to knock both blinds out, thus isolating him and allowing you to play the hand against just one opponent, with the added advantage of having position on every street.
This example puts you in a marginal situation, but it is a situation from which you should profit due to your favorable position. Ideally, your opponent will have a non-paired hand like A-K, A-10, Q-J, or even 7-8 suited. Your pair of eights is a mathematical favorite over any of these hands. Couple that with the fact that you may be able to get your opponent to fold on the flop and it makes this play a profitable one.
In addition, you may even be able to bluff your opponent off of the best hand! How? Well, let’s say your opponent has 9-9. The flop comes down A-J-10. It looks like a horrible flop for you, but if your opponent checks and you bet, how can he call you? He doesn’t know that you hate this flop just as much as he does! But because you took the initiative and made it three bets to go, your opponent is in no man’s land—virtually forced to fold the best hand. There are many similar examples, all based on a combination of pre-flop aggression and position. The more you play limit hold’em, the more you’ll understand how deadly this combination can be.
What do you do when the flop comes a little more difficult—something like J-9-2 rainbow? What happens if your opponent checks, you bet, and your opponent calls? He could have a number of different hands, so what you do on the turn should be determined by the card that comes off and your read of your opponent. In these situations, as well as virtually all hold’em hands, the most difficult street to play is the turn. Hey, no one said this was going to be easy!
If your opponent check-raises you on the flop, that’s a different story all together. In this case, your opponent most likely has better than you, but there are still a few hands you can beat. Depending on the opponent, you might be up against nothing more than a pair of deuces! Again, your decision on what to do here and on the turn depends on your read of your opponent and the situation.
As a general rule, you should rarely try to isolate somebody who has raised or called from early position. Here’s why: unless you’re facing an extremely weak or wild player, you can assume that anyone entering a pot from such a dangerous position probably holds an extremely strong hand—and why would you want to isolate a hand like that? Against an early position raiser, the chances are just too good that your opponent has a big pair, making the odds of outdrawing him more than 4 to 1 against you. Even if it’s not a big pair, your opponent might still be holding A-K or A-Q, hands that he might be willing to go to the river with. This means that you are less likely to win the pot right on the flop when they miss. It’s also less likely that they are raising with suited connectors and such, hands you could move them off of on the flop.

General Hand Selection Advice for Late Position
Your starting requirements in late position should be wide, to say the least! Play all of the premium hands, of course, all the hands I mentioned for middle position, and—in the right situations—some offsuited connectors.
Here are some more guidelines and basic principals to consider when you are in late position:

(1) If no one has entered the pot in front of you, you should raise, as there is a decent enough chance that no one will call the raise.
(2) If there are several limpers in front of you and you are holding a weaker hand, you can go ahead and limp in. In fact, with hands like 10-9 or 9-8 suited, you might even want to raise from time to time—not because you think you have the best hand, but because it adds a little deception to your play and at little cost. With these types of drawing hands, playing larger pots with multiway action is going to be a profitable decision, not to mention the fact that your pre-flop raise might earn you a free card on the flop. This might give you an opportunity to pick up a draw on the turn if you didn’t already flop one. If you did flop a draw, you might be able to pick up a free card on the turn! Huh? Well let’s say you do flop a draw and bet it from last position. If you miss the draw on the turn and no one has bet in front of you, you’ll get a free shot to make your hand on the river.
(3) Avoid being overly aggressive in multiway pots with hands that play better shorthanded. If six people have already limped in before you, raising with hands like A-Q offsuit or
A-J offsuit is counterproductive. With so many players in the pot, the chances of running the hand through to the river without improvement aren’t good. You will need to flop at least a pair, and even that doesn’t guarantee you will win the pot. The more players in the pot, the more likely it is that someone will make two pair, trips, a straight, a flush, or better. Furthermore, by raising pre-flop with A-Q offsuit or the like in multiway pots, you also induce your opponents to take long-shot draws against you. Of course, this doesn’t mean you should fold these hands in multiway pots, but you should certainly proceed with caution. Limp in cheap, and hope to flop something solid. If the flop comes 10-6-7 to your A-Q, for example, you would be foolish to call any bets on the flop.

These three rules are simply guidelines. Each poker hand contains a completely different set of variables, so there will always be scenarios where you might want to bend the rules just a little.

THREE IMPORTANT LIMIT
HOLD’EM CONCEPTS

Learning the fundamentals, improving your hand reading skills, and fighting the psychological wars at the table are three essential ingredients in becoming a fierce, winning player. You might be able to get by in the lower stakes games by simply playing fundamentally sound, but once you are up against some tough competition, relying on fundamentals alone will get you crushed. Hand reading skills and psychological warfare are certainly valuable tools, but again, without any fundamental understanding of the numbers you won’t be able to succeed at the highest levels.

1. Fundamentals
In order to play fundamentally sound limit hold’em, you need to do your homework. Once you’ve studied the odds of, say, making a flush with two cards to come or hitting a straight with one card to come, making fundamentally sound decisions is much easier. So if you find yourself on a drawing hand, simply compare the odds of hitting your hand with the price you are being laid.

Comparing the Odds
To illustrate this point, let’s look at a typical hold’em hand: Playing $20/$40 and holding 6-7 of clubs, you’ve called a raise from the big blind. It’s a five-way action pot, so that’s $210
(5 players x $40 + the $10 small blind). Now the flop comes
Q? 8? 4?, giving you an inside straight draw and a backdoor flush draw. You check, one player bets, and three call. That’s an extra $80 added to the pot for a new total of $290.
The price you are being laid to make your straight on the next card is 290 to 20, or 14.5 to 1. You know that the odds of hitting the straight on the next card are 43 to 4 or 10.75 to 1. So on the flop, you are getting 14.5 to 1 in a situation where the true odds are 10.75 to 1. You’ll take those odds any day, so you call.
The turn brings the 2?, which is no help. The first player bets again, and all fold back to you. Should you call or fold? Let’s take a look inside the numbers. There is now $350 in the pot ($210 pre-flop, $100 more on the flop, and now $40 bet at you on the turn). It will cost you $40 more to see if the river card is a 5, which would give you the nut straight. In deciding how to proceed, you should go through the same mental process as above. Since you know there are forty-six unseen cards remaining and only four helpful cards, there must be 42 unhelpful ones. Divide 42 by 4 and you know you’re a 10.5 to 1 underdog.
Are we being laid enough pot odds to call? No. Our $40 investment will only earn us $350, not including bets we may make up on the river. But 350/40 equals only 8.75 to 1. Even if you know your straight cannot be tied, unless you’re certain you’ll be able to check-raise the river and get called, folding is still the correct decision, even though it’s very close now.
Casinos make a fortune by taking the best of it on propositions similar to these. If you are mindful of the pot odds you are being laid, and have a good understanding of the situation, you too could make a fortune by making fundamentally correct decisions. As you get more playing experience, these exercises become second nature. A second or two is all you’ll need to figure out the correct play.

2. Hand Reading Skills
In order to make fundamentally correct plays, it’s important to have some idea about what you are up against. So how do you put your opponent on a hand? Simple: pay attention! I can’t stress this enough. Whether you are in the current hand or not, you need to pay attention to the action at all times in order to learn what your opponents’ tendencies are. By simply watching the action, you’ll likely be able to find the answers to the following questions:

On the Pre-Flop
(1) What hands will opponents raise with?
(2) What hands will they call with?
(3) Do they play conservatively or loosely from early position?
(4) How often do they defend their blind to a raise?
(5) Do they raise a lot of hands, or are they on the careful side?

On the Post-Flop
(1) What type of hands will they check raise with?
(2) Do they play draws aggressively or passively?
(3) Do they slow-play made hands?
(4) Do they ever bluff?
(5) Do they fold often on the flop, or will they call all the way to the river?

These are ten questions that you’ll learn the answers to simply by paying attention and making mental notes. If you spent the last forty-five minutes watching the ball game, how can you possibly be ready to answer these questions when the time comes? These questions are just the tip of the iceberg, but think about how much better you’d do against an opponent if you knew the answer to all ten! And the more you play, the better you’ll get at it.
If you make the most of your time at the table, your skills will improve that much quicker. When you are out of a hand, make a game of it. Before the flop, put an opponent on a range of hands based on his pre-flop action. Then, try to narrow his holding down further after the flop, again on the turn, and finally on the river. Don’t get discouraged if you are way off at first. I promise you that the more you try this exercise the better you’ll get at it.

3. Psychology
What distinguishes a good poker player from a great poker player is simply the ability to read the thoughts of his opponents. When I first get into a game, I sit back for about ten minutes and watch how the others are playing. It’s important to know how the game is playing in order to make better decisions. Does the game seem more aggressive than normal? Does it seem looser or tighter? Are there any players who are upset and playing badly or on tilt? Or conversely, who is winning and really playing their A-game?
The texture of the game can change in an instant, and a player can go from being on his A-game to being on tilt with just one bad beat. You need to keep tabs on all of your opponents and their ever-changing states of mind. When it comes to improving your ability to focus and your people reading skills, nothing is more valuable than experience at the table. This book should help prepare you for the tables, but the rest is up to you. The more intense and focused you are at the tables, the better your results will be. That, I can guarantee.
Understand also, that while you are focusing on your opponent’s emotional and mental states, they will be doing the same to you! Whatever your table image is at any given time, it will inevitably have an affect on how your opponents choose to play against you, so it’s important for you to be aware of your image and make the necessary adjustments to your play. If you have just raised, lost your fourth hand in a row, and turned beet red, chances are your opponents will assume that you are steaming. If you decide to raise a fifth consecutive hand, chances are your opponents won’t give you credit for aces! In fact, if they are perceptive, they will likely play back at you with marginal hands assuming that their hands probably stack up pretty well against the trash you are raising with!
If your table image is shot, it’s time to throw your opponents a curve ball and tighten up a little bit. Stealing blinds is only possible if your opponents have some respect for your raises. If they think you are steaming, they won’t let you get away with anything! Of course, the opposite is true as well. If you have been winning every chip in sight, your opponents may fear you. They may decide to simply get out of your way. If they do that—pound ‘em!

THE FLOP

This is the street where you have to be aggressive. If you play too passively on the flop, you risk being run over and giving away pots you should win. I don’t advocate betting with reckless abandon, but when you have the lead and flop something, think about protecting your hand more than worrying about whether or not your opponents have the nuts. If you miss the flop entirely, there may be situations where it would be correct to take one off, hoping to pick up a draw or make a pair. Otherwise, it might be a good time to muck your hand.
This is why aggression is so important. If you had the pre-flop lead, meaning you were the raiser, you can usually keep the lead on the flop. So if both you and your opponent miss the flop, which often happens, your aggression might just win you the pot. If you use good judgment and play your hands aggressively, you’ll be one step ahead of the game. You’ll find that the best way to go in limit hold’em is playing in a straightforward manner, that is, betting and raising when you actually have some kind of a hand.
Fancy Play
When I say that you should play straightforward, that isn’t to be confused with predictable. You still need to think about playing deceptively, but you want to avoid what Mike Caro terms Fancy Play Syndrome (FPS). FPS leads to missed bets, giving away free cards, or even playing a hand in such an unorthodox fashion that it actually costs you a pot! More often than not, fancy plays will minimize your profit on a hand. Sure, when these plays work you feel like a genius, but you’re better off playing a more fundamentally sound game.
Before we go any further, I want to help you with a common scenario that arises when you are playing fundamentally well. Let’s look at an example and go from there.
You are holding A? K? in early position. You are the initial pre-flop raiser and get two callers behind you, as well as the big blind. Now the perfect flop comes down: A? 4? 9?. So here you are with top pair and top kicker. The big blind checks, so it’s your turn. Since you were the pre-flop raiser, it’s natural for you to bet here. The fancy play, the check, might work, but it won’t necessarily win you any more money than a bet would. You have a strong hand, and a check-raise would only give away information. The right move here is to simply bet.
Of course, a check might do more harm than giving away information – it could cost you the pot! The right free card might give your opponent a big draw on the turn. You’re better off taking what’s in the middle and getting rid of hands like
10? J?. If your opponent was lucky enough to get a free card with that hand, he could pick up as many as fifteen outs against you going in to the river. An 8? on the turn, for example, would pose a serious threat to your hand.
What else could happen? You could miss a valuable bet. Many of your opponents might call once more on the flop with a hand like 10-10 or even 8-9. Say it gets checked around on the flop and a king hits the turn. With a bet now, you will probably lose both the 10-10 and the 8-9, costing you two bets on the flop, not to mention the fact that you allowed both of your opponents to draw out on you for free.
So in this situation, the fancy play, the check, could do one of three things:

(1) Give away the strength of your hand.
(2) Cost you the entire pot.
(3) Miss bets on the flop.

On the flip side, what could you gain? You may be able to get a check-raise in and look cool—whoopee. Stick to straightforward play, and leave the fancy plays to the hotshots. When you are the pre-flop raiser, you should usually bet the flop whether you like it or not. Of course, there are several exceptions to this rule. Remember, in poker there are very few rules that are set in stone; always betting the flop when you raised pre-flop isn’t one of them.

Two A-K Scenarios
If you have A? K? in a multiway pot and the flop comes
7-8-9 of diamonds, save your money and just give up. You can’t run this hand through often enough to make a bet profitable.
Let’s look at a less obvious and more difficult example: With your A? K? again, you raise after two people limped in, and get one player behind you to call So it’s four-handed to see a flop of 6? 7? 8?. Even if the first two limpers check to you, I would still advise you to check more often than not. This flop just connects with too many hands that players would limp in with, such as 9-10, 6-6, 9-9, A-7, and about a million others. If there is a bet on the flop, you should probably give up. Sure, you may be folding the best hand every now and then, but folding here is the safe, straightforward play.
Now let’s look at a situation where you might decide to continue after the flop. What if, in the same scenario, everyone checks to the player in last position, who bets and sees both limpers fold. You have a decision to make. The last player may only be on a straight steal here, just taking advantage of his position. But then again, maybe he’s got a hand. Here is where you’ll need all of your poker skills to answer some important questions: If he held a high pair before the flop, would he have reraised you? Would this player call your raise with a marginal hand that hits this flop? Would he bet here with a hand like A-J or A-10? Is he a habitual bluffer, who always bets when checked to regardless of his hand? Or is this player a careful bettor, who only bets with strong hands?
Once you’ve answered the important questions, you’ll have a much better idea about whether or not you should take one off, hoping to catch an ace or a king, or even whether or not you should call your opponent down all the way to the river. In general, if you’ve answered your questions about your opponent and still haven’t found very strong reasons to proceed, you should fold.
So now that we are all warmed up, let’s look more closely at the play of specific hands on the flop.

Playing Big Pairs
As I mentioned previously, you should play big pairs aggressively before the flop in order to narrow down the field. Big pairs do extremely well against one or two players, but the more opponents you have, the more likely it is that your big pair will get cracked. If the flop doesn’t go your way, it’s important to avoid getting too attached to your hand and fold in the face of too much action. Imagine you have two black aces in a multiway pot and the flop comes 6-7-8 of diamonds. I don’t know about you, but I really don’t like this flop for two black aces. Now, you shouldn’t necessarily fold on the flop, but if the action gets hot and heavy, you can probably assume that you are dead or that your opponents at the very least have several outs against you.
Again, even if you’re A-A is good at the moment, a 4, 5, 9, 10, any diamond, or an 8 could seal your fate. Another scary flop for aces is one that contains high straight cards like J-10-8. While aces are good here a high percentage of the time, there are several cards that could potentially kill you on the turn: 7, 9, 10, jack, queen, king. You shouldn’t muck those aces just yet, but you should consider taking your pedal off the gas until you see the turn card. If the turn card is safe—2, 3, 4, etc.—you might want to get aggressive and try to eliminate players. However, if a scare card comes on the turn—a 9 or a queen would be the scariest—and the action gets heavy, you should consider folding.
While Q-Q is still considered a big pair, there are even more trouble flops to that hand than to A-A. In addition to all the scary flops A-A faces, any ace or king on the flop might do you in, as well. Let’s say you raise with the Q-Q and are reraised pre-flop. Now the flop comes J-10-4, giving you an overpair. Only problem is, what can you beat? Well sure you have A-K or A-Q beat, but if your opponent has A-A, K-K, J-J, or 10-10, you are in pretty bad shape. Again you shouldn’t automatically fold in these situations, but it’s probably best to play a small pot and simply call your opponent down. If he does have a big ace, then you are simply letting your opponent bluff his chips off to you. True, you may be missing some bets along the way, but that’s better than getting in a whole lot of bets when you are dead to two outs.

Flopping Top Pair
When flopping top pair, your main objective should be to narrow down the field, while punishing those opponents that are drawing to beat you. Aggression, which is the theme of this entire chapter, is key in this situation. Of course, there are certain types of flops that you should play carefully and other, safer flops that can be played full speed ahead. Let’s first take a look at some of the more friendly flops.

Safe Flops. A scenario mentioned earlier is a good example of a safe flop. Say you have A-K and hit an A-9-4 rainbow flop. There is no legitimate straight draw out there, and no flush draw either. At this point, only two pair or trips would have you beat. This is a great flop for your hand, and ideally you’d be up against a player holding a hand like A-Q, A-J, or even A-10. You are a huge favorite against any of these hands, as they can only beat you if they hit one of three remaining kickers on the turn or the river. Of course, if either one of those cards is a king, they simply can’t win unless they happen to make a backdoor flush. This is a dream situation for you, not only because it’s unlikely that you’ll lose, but you also stand to win several bets from your opponent. How you go about doing this depends on several variables, including your table image, your opponent’s tendencies, your position, and so on. You might even choose to make a fancy play on a flop, but remember that I recommend straightforward, brute aggression. If you play the hand aggressively you should be able to win the maximum amount of bets, or close to it.
Let’s look at a more detailed example of how you’d go about playing this hand in a specific situation. Say you are in the big blind with an A-K. A player in first position raises and gets two callers. Calling here will help disguise your hand more than raising will, and since you can’t really narrow down the field any more, calling is probably the best way to play it.
Okay, so your hand is A? K?, and the flop comes
A? 4? 9?. You’re first to act. This is a good opportunity for you to get a check-raise in. Since there was an early position raiser, it’s likely he’ll bet this flop whether or not he has the ace. By check raising, you’ll be able to trap anyone who called on the flop. Of course, this is not the only way to play this hand, but it is certainly the best or the second-best way to go. Your other option would be to lead right into the pre-flop raiser, hoping that he raises you with a weaker ace, thus giving you the opportunity to make it three bets. What method you choose will once again depend on those variables we’ve discussed: table image, your opponents’ tendencies, history, and so on.
Let’s move you to late position with this same hand and same flop, but this time, only you and an early position raiser remain. Holding A? K?, you decide to smooth call here, because you know your opponent is a tight player who only raises with premium hands. The flop comes A? 4? 9?, and your opponent bets into you. There is a chance he also has A-K or even A-A, but it’s more likely that he holds a hand like A-Q, A-J, or maybe K-K, Q-Q, or J-J. Since this is such a safe flop, smooth calling on the flop might just work. If your opponent bets the turn, you can go ahead and raise him now that the bet has doubled.
What if he checks the turn? Well, there goes the raise-the-turn plan. This is another good illustration of the importance of aggressive play on the flops. Against most opponents, the raise the turn play will only work when your opponent actually flop an ace as well. If he doesn’t, he may be leery of your call on the flop and decide to shut down on the turn. So the raise-the-turn play has some merit, but I recommend using it simply as a variation play against an opponent that may be getting a line on your play. Otherwise, you should play these flops in a straightforward manner.

Dangerous Flops. A dangerous flop for top pair is one that puts your hand in jeopardy due to the presence of a straight or flush draw. Depending how high your top pair is, you have to consider the added risk of an overcard hitting the turn. Obviously, more flops are dangerous to a hand like 8-8 than to a hand like A-A. For this reason, if you are holding 8-8 or the like, it’s extremely important to narrow the field on the flop by playing aggressively, hoping your opponents won’t draw out to overcards. You should be aggressive with the A-A hand as well, but for different reasons. With A-A, your goal is to get more money in the pot.
Let’s look at an example. You are on the button with the 8-10 of hearts. You limp in, as do two other players. The small blind also calls, making it a five-way action pot. The flop comes 8? 4? 3?, and all check to you. You should always bet here. Now, I know I’ve told you that there are only a few absolutes in poker—this is one of them. You simply cannot give free cards to hands like Q-J, A-5, K-10, etc. So you bet and get two callers. At this point, you should feel good about having the best hand. No one check-raised, so it’s unlikely that anyone holds an overpair or even an 8 with a better kicker.
The real threat to your hand is an overcard on the turn or an opponent slow-playing a set, looking to check-raise you on the turn. You should always have an idea about what your opponents are going to call you with on the flop, so that you’ll have a better idea of what to do on the turn.
Let’s say you are on the button with the same hand (8? 10?) in the exact same situation (the flop comes 8? 4? 3?), only this time somebody leads into you on the flop. Based on what we’ve discussed earlier, you should know that a raise is your best option. Your goal here is to drive out the overcards and play the hand heads-up.
Raising will also give you a better idea about what the lead bettor’s hand is. If he reraises you, chances are he has your pair of eights beat. Of course, if you pick up no help on the turn, it is time to make a difficult decision, one based on the read you’ve acquired on your opponent. If he is a conservative ABC-type player, he probably does have an overpair, a set, or an 8 with a better kicker. If he is a fast, loose, and aggressive type of player, he may have a hand like 8-9, A-4, or even a draw like 5-6. So in closing, aggression on the flop here helps narrow the field and defines your opponent’s hand a little more clearly. You’ll find that this will be the case in most situations when playing limit hold’em.

Flopping Middle Pair
When flopping middle pair, your choice of strategy heavily depends on the number of active players. The more players in the pot, the less likely it is that your hand is good enough to hold up. In a heads-up pot, you are simply going to have to take this hand to the river more often than not. The only time you should fold is if the board came extremely bad on the turn and river, or if you have a good read on your opponent and know that he wouldn’t bet with a hand you could beat. Your kicker should also be a key consideration as well. Generally, the higher the kicker the better, but it might be even better if your kicker presented you with added outs—for example, if you held 7-8 and the flop came 6-7-10. In this case, a 9 would make you a straight, while an 8 would make you a dangerous two pair—or your kicker might even give you a flush draw.
Furthermore, say you held Q-J with the jack of hearts, and the flop came K-Q-4, all hearts. In this case, you might have the best hand with the pair of queens, but if not, the jack of hearts gives you a backup plan.
It’s also important to consider what may happen if you do hit your kicker. Could it complete the hand of one of your opponents? Let’s say you held K? 10? and the flop came
Q? 10? 8?. With a flush and straight draw present, you could hit your kicker but still need help. The K? of hearts would be considered a good card for your hand, but it could also be the worst card in the deck for you! It would fill any flush, as well as make the A-J straight—not to mention the possibility of kings and queens, or the fact that you could be up against a made straight or a set already.
In a situation like this, you’d want to proceed with caution, that is, if you continue with the hand at all. Despite this, added outs are always good, even if some of them aren’t live outs. That’s especially true in heads-up pots.

Playing Middle Pair from the Blinds—Heads-up Pots
This just might be one of the trickiest scenarios in limit hold’em. You are usually out of position with a marginal hand. The great players thrive in these situations, while average players are often overwhelmed by them. There are several different ways to approach playing middle pair from the blinds. Again, the number of players is the key, as are the raiser’s tendencies, the position the raise came from, and so on. Answer these questions each time you are faced with this scenario and you’ll be one step ahead of the game. Once you’ve gathered this information, you’ll have to decide whether to lead-bet, check-raise, check-fold, or check-call.
Let’s look at an example: You have 10-8 in the big blind, and a player on the button raises it, so the two of you see a flop of
K-8-4 rainbow. Folding in this situation is far too weak a play. So, that leaves you with three legitimate options: check-call, check-raise, or bet right out.
This is a good opportunity to go for a check-raise. As the pre-flop raiser, your opponent should bet regardless of his holecards, and by check-raising, you’d also be representing a king. If your opponent has A-J in this spot, he would be correct in calling another bet on the flop. However, since you are representing a king, he might fold, thinking he can only win if he catches an ace.
When you check-raise, you are risking two small bets on the flop and are committed to one more when you lead out at the turn, so if you go for the check-raise when you are up against a better hand, it’s usually a more expensive loss than it would have been had you just led out. If your opponent has a hand like A-K, you are going to get punished. But, that’s not going to happen often enough for you to worry too much about it.
If you are really averse to taking risks, you can minimize your losses (as well as your profits) by leading out at the flop. If you lead out and your opponent has nothing, you’ll likely be losing a bet—the one your opponent probably would have made—on the flop. If he raises you, he probably has at least a pair, but not necessarily one that beats eights.
Some believe that you gain more information about your opponents by leading out rather than check-raising, but I disagree. Your bet on the flop, known as the weak lead, doesn’t do much to define your hand at all, which might make your opponent may play 7-8 aggressively, thinking it’s the best hand. After all, he may be thinking, “If the big blind has a king, why wouldn’t he have check-raised?”
Against a tough player, the weak lead does little to define his hand, though leading here with middle pair might be the right move. It all depends on your opponent’s impression of your play. What has he seen you do thus far? When you led out in the past, did you always turn over a draw? If so, a lead here might fool your opponent into thinking that you are on a semi-bluff, and he might call you down the whole way with ace-high.
Deciding whether to lead or check-raise adds deception to your game. Situations like these are great opportunities to keep your opponents off balance. You want to use the information players gather about your playing style against them. If they think you will bet with nothing, bet with something. If they think you will only check-raise with something, check-raise with nothing! Just stay aware of your table image and avoid being too predictable. Think of it like a game of paper-rock-scissors. “Well, he went rock two hands in a row, I think he’ll go paper this time.” Or even, “I went scissors three times in a row, now my opponent will think I’ll go for it four times in a row!”
If the raise comes from early position, the situation changes dramatically. If you have that same 8-10 on the K-8-4 flop, you might decide that you’ll get more information if you lead right out. If you are raised, you should probably give your opponent credit for a king or maybe even a pocket pair like J-J. If you don’t improve on the turn, you should probably let it go. Of course, if you make two pair or trips, it would be the perfect opportunity to go for the check-raise, but since it’s so much more likely now that your opponent actually has something, it might be safer to lead out.

Playing Middle Pair with Multiway Pots
Things get even more troublesome with your middle pairs when more players are in the pot. If you are in the blinds, you’ll have to play the hand from the worst position possible on the flop, turn, and river. If there is any real action on the flop, you should take the safe route and dump your hands. Again, even if you have the best hand on the flop, there is a very good chance that it won’t be by the time the river card hits. In a multiway pot, you should usually check the flop to see what develops.
If it’s bet and raised in front of you, the decision to fold has been made for you. However, if it looks like there is a good chance no one has top pair, you should commit to your read and get aggressive. If the flop isn’t too scary and it’s checked around, you should fire at the turn. If a player in a favorable position bets, check-raise to isolate him.
Let’s look at another situation. You find yourself in the big blind with Q-6 off. Two early position players limp in, as do the button and small blind. The flop comes J? 6? 2?. The small blind checks, as do you. In fact, all check to the button who bets.
Let’s assume the button is an aggressive player who will bet all types of hands. What is your play? Raise. Yes, I realize there are still several players to act behind you, but since they all checked the flop, they probably don’t have much. Otherwise they would have bet themselves. True, they could be check-raising, but in order to become a top limit hold’em player, you are going to have to take some calculated risks. Consider how many good things can happen if you raise. What if the first limper actually had 7-7? That hand has you beat, but is he willing to call two bets, hoping that you don’t have jacks? Chances are, you’ll get him to lay down the best hand. Even if you are wrong and the original bettor does have the jacks, you could still hit a queen or a 6 on the turn.
Now if the bet were to come from early position, raising after you checked would be dangerous. For example, if the first limper bets and all call, it might be a good idea to just call the bet and hope to make two pair or trips.

Playing Middle Pair from Early Position
If you are entering the pot from early position, chances are you’ve raised coming in. If you happen to flop middle pair, you should continue with the lead since you were the aggressor before the flop. Let’s say you’ve raised coming in with A-Q and the flop comes K-Q-2. Go ahead and bet if no one else has bet in front of you, regardless of the number of players in the pot. By betting, you’ll get a better idea of whether or not you have the best hand at the moment. If you get raised on the flop, it’s time to reevaluate the situation. Again, you’ll have to ask yourself some questions. Would my opponent raise with a draw? Would my opponent raise with a queen and a worse kicker?
If the answer to both questions is no, you have to give your opponent credit for at least a pair of kings. You should still call one bet on the flop, though, and if you don’t improve on the turn, you should probably fold.
Let’s say you decide to check-raise rather than lead out. Now the questions you’ll have to ask yourself are more difficult to answer. If one of your opponents bet after you showed weakness by checking, he could have a number of hands. He may decide to bet with anything from K-Q, 9-9, Q-10, A-J, or J-10. Figuring out which hand is being bet is a difficult task. Had you just bet out on the flop as I recommended, you’d have a lot more information to go on, which in turn would help you make correct decision.
Let’s look at a slightly different situation. Again, you are in early position with the A-Q on a K-Q-2 flop. This time, the big blind bets into you. What now? Unless you have information that indicates immense strength from the big blind, you should go ahead and raise him! If you know that this player always has at least top pair when he bets, folding would be correct. However, most players don’t play that way. A typical opponent might have a Q-2, J-10, A-J, or the like, and is trying to pick up the pot on the flop. There is an excellent way to find out: raise. Your raise accomplishes two things:

(1) Narrows down the field;
(2) Helps define the bettor’s hand.

If the lead bettor just calls your raise, there is a very good chance your pair of queens with an ace kicker is the best hand. If this is not the case, and your opponent has something like K-5, you still have five outs to improve with an ace or a queen.

Playing Middle Pair from Late Position
Whether or not you are in a heads-up pot or a multiway pot, you should usually bet middle pair when you opponents check to you on the flop. For example, say you have A-6, and the flop comes K-6-2 rainbow. Since everyone has checked to you, it looks like your pair of sixes is the best hand here.
Of course, if you get check-raised, you’ll be faced with a difficult dilemma. Since you are betting in last position, a player check-raising you doesn’t necessarily have to have you beat. He may be testing the waters, hoping that you are on a steal. If the small blind had 6-7, he may raise to isolate your likely bluff. As discussed in the section on playing middle pair from the blinds, a good player will often make this play against you when you’ve bet from steal position. Your goal then, is to figure out what type of player you are up against and play accordingly. If you are check-raised by a tight player who limped from first position, chances are he has the king. You should still call one more bet, hoping to hit an ace or a 6, but if you miss, be prepared to dump your hand.
So what do you do if you flop middle pair, and it’s already bet in front of you? Again, as is true with most poker situations, it depends on a number of factors. Let’s look at a couple of examples.

Example One: In a four-way pot you hold 6-6 on the button. The flop comes K? 4? K?, and the player to your immediate right bets. In this spot, you’ll want to raise for four reasons:

(1) To narrow the field;
(2) To find out if any of the other players have a king;
(3) Your 6-6 is likely the best hand;
(4) You may knock a higher pair than yours out of the pot.

Unless you are up against an extremely careful player, raising here is your best option. The lead bettor may have a 4, a flush draw, or even a hand like A-10—or nothing at all. He certainly doesn’t need a king to make a bet here.

Example Two: In a five-way pot made up of two limpers, two blinds, and yourself on the button with J-8 of hearts, the flop comes 10? 8? 6?. Everyone checks to the player on your immediate right who bets. So you raise, right? Wrong. I think this board is a little too scary. I’d suggest avoiding this dangerous flop and moving onto the next hand. If your opponent happens to have the flush or straight already, you’d need two perfect cards to win.

Flopping a Set
Your approach to playing sets should depend on the texture of the flop. Make your decision as to whether or not you can set a trap or whether you’ll be forced to play it fast based upon how dangerous the board looks. The scarier the board, the more aggressive you should be. Don’t worry too much about aggressive play costing you action. Strangely enough, many of your opponents will mistake your aggression for weakness! Here is an example: Let’s say you limp in from middle position with 6-6. The flop comes K? 6? 7?, and the pot is raised behind you. With five of you in the pot, the first two players check to you.
A busy flop like this is the perfect opportunity for you to ram and jam the flop with your set of sixes, maximizing your profit. Try betting right out into the raiser and see what happens. If the pre-flop raiser has a hand like A-A, A-K, or even Q-Q, he may decide to protect his hand and raise your bet. This will give you the opportunity to raise it once more on the flop, building a sizeable pot. By playing the hand straightforward—raising with what’s likely the best hand—you may get even more action than if you had slow-played it. After all, the pre-flop raiser may put you on a hand like K-x or even a flush draw or straight draw, thinking that you would have checked a set. Again, play your sets according to the flop texture, your position, and your opponents’ tendencies.
So what about setting a trap? Let’s take a look at another example. From middle position with 6-6, you raise and are reraised by the button. All others fold, and you and the button take a flop of 10-6-2 rainbow heads-up. You have numerous options in this situation. You could bet, hoping to reraise; bet and just call a raise now, and then check-raise on the turn; check-raise; or check-call, and then check-raise the turn.
This is where playing hold’em gets fun. You’ve got your opponent right where you want him and will be using one of these plays to make him pay the maximum. So how do you figure out which one works the best? All of these options are good, so you have to base your decision on your opponent’s tendencies, as well as his impression of you. The hands you’ve played against him should be considered when deciding on a course of action.
Let’s say you know your opponent to be an extremely aggressive player who won’t give away any free cards. In this case you know that a check-call followed by a check-raise on the turn will work.
What if your opponent likes to keep the lead on the flop? In this case, you might choose to bet right out and look to get extra bets in on the flop. Or you might check-raise the flop and try to win even more bets if you think your opponent is aggressive enough to reraise after you check-raise. Whatever you decide to do, make sure you don’t get stuck playing a made hand the same way every time.
Using all of the tools available will help you in various other situations as well. How? Well, let’s say you used the check-call, check-raise on the turn play. Once your opponents see this, they will now be worried that when you check twice, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have a weak hand. That way, when you actually are on a draw, you may win yourself a free card. Flopping a set in position gives you even more leeway than if you had players behind you. In position, you never have to worry about missing a bet and giving away a free card. Being in position also allows you to safely set traps as well. For example, say you limp on the button with 3-3 in a four-way action pot, and the flop comes K-8-3 rainbow. This would be a very safe flop to smooth call and hope to raise the turn.
Flopping Flush Draws
There are several variables that will affect how you proceed with flush draws on the flop: your position, the number of players, the texture of the game (passive or aggressive), whether or not you have the nut draw, where the pre-flop raise came from, and so on. Depending on the variables, the correct strategy might be to play the hand very aggressively, very cautiously, or somewhere in between.

Monster Flush Draws
If you were to flop an open-ended straight flush draw, you’d most likely want to get as many bets in on the flop as possible since your hand would be favored over most of the hands you’d be up against. You would certainly be a money favorite regardless of the number of players in the pot. For instance, if you held 7-8 of hearts and the flop came 5? 6? J?, you should try to get as much money in the pot as you can. However, simply raising and reraising may not necessarily be the best way to do that. You want more money in the pot, sure, but you also want as many players to stay in the pot as possible. If it’s checked to you, you should always bet the hand. However, if the bet comes in front of you and there are still three players to act behind you, you have a dilemma. Raise or call?
If you raise you might knock out players you want in the pot. In this situation, you should probably just call and invite others to do the same. If they raise…great! That’s not going to hurt your hand one bit. In fact, if a player raises behind you and all call, you may even consider jamming the pot! Of course, the problem is that the more players that are in the pot, the better the chances are that one of them has a bigger flush draw than yours. No matter, you can still hit the straight or the two key hearts to fill your straight flush.
Playing monster draws aggressively adds deception to your game at absolutely no cost. Often times that draw of yours will actually be a favorite over your opponent’s hand anyway. Let’s say you held A? K? on a flop of 2? 7? 10?, and your opponent held Q? Q?. Despite the fact that the Q-Q appears to be leading at this point, your two overcards and a flush draw is actually the favorite to win the pot! Or let’s say you put your opponent on a pair of aces while you hold the 9? 10? to a flop of 8? 10? J?. Again, all you have is a pair of tens, but with all those outs you should be happy to put in as many bets as the aces would like. In this situation there are twenty cards that help you, and you have two chances to hit one. That’s what I call a good spot.
What about another monster draw, like A? K? on a flop of A? 6? 10?? Here again, you should jam the pot—cap it if you can. True, you might be beat at this point, but even so, a spade that doesn’t pair the board makes you the nuts. You should lead out if it’s up to you, or raise and reraise if you get the opportunity. In some cases, it might be better for you to set a trap with this hand, but as a general rule, you don’t want to slow-play it.

Marginal Flush Draws
So what happens when you don’t flop such a monster draw? All of the above examples are dream hands. Any monkey can play hands like those. What separates the really good players from the rest is how they play marginal flush draws in marginal situations. Whenever you don’t have the nut flush draw, you are vulnerable to losing a lot of bets. To avoid losing the maximum with less than stellar flush draws, you should be a lot more cautious than you would with a monster draw.
If all you have is a naked flush draw—meaning you have no other added outs—you don’t want to get involved in a raising war. You should try to make a hand like this as cheaply as possible, and then if you do, you are left hoping that no one else has a bigger flush draw than yours. Remember now, the more players and more action you see on the flop, the more likely it is that someone else is also drawing to the flush. In multiway pots, you really have to pay attention to the action. It’s important to get a good read on your opponents when you are holding a small flush draw.
Based on the flop action, you need to decide whether or not one of your opponents has a better draw than you and go with it. To do this, it helps to watch their body language and to know their tendencies with drawing hands in these situations.
You should also be cautious when three of a suit flops, say three hearts, for example. In this situation, you shouldn’t proceed past the flop in a multiway pot without the nut draw. Even with the nut draw, I’m not all that crazy about this hand. After all, if a fourth heart hits the board, the flush would be obvious, so it would be difficult to extract any more bets from my opponents.
Obviously, you shouldn’t fold an ace-high flush draw, but you don’t want to put in too much action unless you also flopped a pair or think your ace-high might be the best hand. Any other flush draw should be thrown away on the flop in a multiway pot. For example, if the flop came K? 6? 4?, you probably shouldn’t put in another chip with a hand like 10? J?. Sure you have a 10-high flush draw, but even if you make it, keep in mind that any ace, queen, or jack of hearts beats you.
If you are lucky enough to flop a flush, you want to make your opponents pay to outdraw you, but you may be better off doing so on the turn. How so? Well, let’s say you have the
5? 6? on a 10? J? 2? flop. Anyone with the ace of hearts is going nowhere. A set or two pair are also going nowhere. If you are in a looser lower limit game, you may not even be able get a hand like 9? 9? out! Not to mention the fact that anyone who’s flopped a bigger flush than you is certainly not going to fold if you play your hand aggressively. Well since a heart on the turn completely destroys your hand, why put in extra bets on the flop? Why not wait to see what develops on the turn and then get aggressive? Playing this way, you’ll lose the minimum if a heart does hit the turn, and you may be able to better protect your hand with a timely raise on the turn.
If you happen to get reraised on the turn, you are going to have to use your reading skills to figure out whether or not your opponent is bluffing. If you know the player has to have the nuts to make a raise like this, it’s time to dump your hand to the third bet. However, if you are up against a maniac, you can forget about folding. In fact, you might even want to make it four bets! I wouldn’t recommend that play too often though; the situation has to be perfect. Normally, just calling down the maniac is acceptable.

Playing Flush Draws Out of Position
Playing marginal flush draws is even more difficult when you are out of position. Let’s get straight to an example: You are in the big blind with 8-9 of hearts in a raised multiway pot. The flop comes 2? 3? 10?. In this situation you should probably just check to the original raiser, especially if he raised from early position. If you were to bet out, there is a very good chance that the initial raiser will raise you to knock out the players behind him. Don’t help him. Help yourself by keeping them in! The worst-case scenario for you is that your bet, coupled with your opponent’s raise, takes you to the turn heads-up. Not good. So now that you’ve checked, the initial raiser bets, and all others call. It’s time to check-raise, right? Wrong. If you check-raise, you run the risk of the initial raiser three-betting you in an attempt to thin the field. You want a big field, so check-raising here is a no-no.

Playing Flush Draws in Position
Drawing hands are much more profitable when played from late position. In late position, you have more control over what’s happening on any given street. Since you get a chance to see what everyone in front of you does, you will be better equipped to maximize your profits or minimize your losses. If you flop the nut flush draw, you can jam the pot on the flop. Since you played so aggressively on the flop, chances are that your opponents will check to you on the turn. Obviously, if you make your hand you should bet, but if you miss, you can take the free card.
Just to make sure we are on the same page, let’s look at an example: An early position player raises, there are two calls in between, and you call with A-10 of diamonds on the button. The flop comes 2? 9? Q?. The initial raiser bets, and both players in front of you call. In this case, you should raise, even though you run the risk of the initial raiser three-betting it and knocking out the other two players. That wouldn’t be good, but it doesn’t happen often enough to negate the value of the raise. If the initial raiser reraises, it’s not a complete disaster. If he doesn’t, you’ve succeeded in getting more money in the pot, and you may just pick up a free card for yourself on the turn if you miss.

Playing Flush Draws Heads-Up
A lot of the rules that would apply to playing flush draws in multiway pots go right out the window when you are heads-up. Heads-up poker is like a power struggle, each player trying to get last action and force the other player to back down. More often than not in heads-up poker, both players will flop nothing. The player that wins the majority of those pots usually comes out ahead. Although it has no real value at the time, flopping a flush draw gives you the opportunity to take the initiative on a hand with the hope of either semi-bluffing your way to a flush or forcing your opponent to fold.
In heads-up situations, you can check-raise with a flush draw out of position. In fact, it’s often a very good play. Of course, you can always bet right out as well. If you have position, raising your opponent on the flop or the turn might help you win the pot, whether you make the flush or not. How you decide to play a flush draw heads-up on the flop depends on a few key factors: your position, the pre-flop action, your opponent’s tendencies, your table image, and your personal history with your opponent.

Flopping Straight Draws
There are three types of straight draws that we will cover in this section: open-ended draws, double belly-buster straight draws, and gutshots. An open-ended straight draw would look something like this: You have 9-10 and the flop reads 7-8-2. In this case, you have eight cards that would make your straight (four sixes plus four jacks).
Then there is the double belly-buster: Say you have 7-8 and the flop comes 4-6-10. Both a 5 and a 9 would make you a straight, which gives you the same amount of outs as the open-ended draw (eight). This draw would be exactly the same as an open-ended straight draw, except these belly-buster draws can be slightly more profitable since the hand is less obvious.
Finally, we have the gutshot straight: You have 9-10 and the flop reads Q-8-2. In this case, you can only make your straight with a jack. The open-ended draws give you eight outs, while this gutshot gives you just four.

Playing Open-Ended and Double Belly-Buster Straight Draws
These draws can be played much like a flush draw on the flop, even though the flush draw gives you nine outs, while these draws only give you eight. There are other drawbacks that affect the straight draw which don’t affect the flush draw. If there is also a flush draw on the flop, you might make your straight with the same card that fills your opponent’s flush. For example, you hold 9-10 and your opponent holds A-3 of hearts. The flop comes A? 7? 8?. In this case, you’d have eight cards to fill your straight, but notice that if you fill it with the 6? or the J?, you’d lose anyway, leaving you with only six pure outs. Even if you hit your nut straight on the turn, your hand is still vulnerable to any of nine remaining hearts on the river.
There are some hidden advantages to open-ended straight draws. When a third flush card hits on the board, it sets off alarm bells in your opponents’ heads, knowing that any two hearts make a flush. If they hold top pair, two pair, or even a set, a third flush card might cause them to put on the breaks.
Straight draws aren’t quite as obvious. When you hit one, you will likely gets lots of action from anyone holding an overpair, two pair, or a set. If you flop 10-9-6 to a hand like 7-8, an opponent holding a hand like 10-10 will go to war with you. You would need to have precisely 7-8 to have him beat, which wouldn’t be the case with a flush board. If the board is 10-7-2 of hearts, that same player with a set of tens may be a little more cautious, realizing that any hand with two hearts has him beat.

Semi-Bluffing with Straight Draws
Again, if you bet when two hearts flop, your opponent might decide to put you on a flush draw. However, when you bet a straight draw on the flop, it’s not quite as obvious. This actually gives you more semi-bluffing opportunities than you would have when betting flush draws.
Let’s look at an example of a situation where you may decide to run a semi-bluff with a straight draw. You find 6-7 in the big blind. An early position player raises, and you call. The game is six-handed, and you know that your opponent would raise with any two cards 10 or higher, most ace-high hands, and any pair. (Later, in the shorthanded section, you’ll learn why this is not a bad strategy.) The flop comes 4-5-9 rainbow, giving you an open-ended straight draw. This flop gives you an excellent opportunity to win this pot, whether you make a hand or not. You can play it several ways: bet out, check-raise, or check-call. Let’s look at each option:

Betting Out. This play is acceptable but not exceptional. By leading out, you should be able to gather some information about your opponent’s hand. If he folds, great! If he decides to call, it’s unlikely—but not impossible—that he has a pair of nines or better. More often than not, he’ll be trying to make a pair on the turn with a hand like K-J. If he calls, you should usually bet the turn no matter what card hits. If he raises you on the turn when you miss, it’s time to make a straight on the river! If he raises you on the flop, you have to give him credit for having you beat; after all, you have 7-high! True he might be looking for a free card with A-K, but as long as an ace or a king doesn’t hit the turn, you will most likely be the one getting the free card.

Check-Raising. This might be an even stronger play. Since your opponent came in raising, he’ll usually keep the lead and bet the flop. By check-raising him, you are letting him know that you have a good hand and that you are going to fight for this pot. If he has a hand like A-J he’ll probably take one off, but if he misses on the turn, you might be able to win it right there with a bet. In fact, depending on your opponent and his impression of you, you might even be able to force him off a hand like 7-7! Now that would be an excellent result.

Checking and Calling. If you choose this option, you give up any chance of winning the pot without improvement. You completely give up control of the hand. You may end up letting your opponent win the whole pot by default with J-10 high. Of course, if for some reason you think there is absolutely no chance you can win the pot by outplaying your opponent, checking and calling might be your best bet.

Gutshot Straight Draws
A gutshot straight draw is a real long shot. With one card to come, you are an 10.5 to 1 underdog to hit your straight. If you decide to call with a gutshot, be sure that the pot size is big enough and that all of your straight cards will win. If there are two hearts and two spades on the board in a five-way action pot, you may only have two outs to win the pot, as the other two straight cards may complete someone else’s flush. That would make you a 22 to 1 underdog!
With one card to come on the turn, it’s rarely correct to call with a pure gutshot, unless you have added outs, such as a pair or overcards. Since the bet size doesn’t double until the turn, it will often be correct to call on the flop.
Let’s look at a typical example: Playing $10/$20, you are in the big blind with 9-10 of clubs. The small blind folds, and you call a raise in a four-way action pot. The flop comes Q? 3? 8?. You check, the first player bets, and one other calls. There is $105 in the pot, and it’s $10 to call. It’s 10.75 to 1 against you making the straight on the turn. Should you call? Based on the exact price you are getting at this point, the answer would be no. So we fold then, right? Wrong. There are three more variables you need to think about: implied odds, the potential to see two cards for the price of one, and extra outs—you may have more than you think.
Your implied odds in this situation are more than enough to call. You are already getting 10.5 to 1 as an 10.75 to 1 underdog. If you get just one more bet out of your opponents on the turn or river, you would be getting the right price. Also, the pre-flop raiser bet the flop, but who’s to say you won’t get a free card on the turn? There is also an outside chance that if you hit a pair of nines or tens you’d win. It’s possible that the first raiser could have A-K and the caller A-8. Think about what might happen if your opponent flops a set and you hit that straight on the turn. Chances are, you’ll win at least four more big bets on the turn and river, provided the board doesn’t pair on the river. Any time you hit a pure gutshot it’s going to be hidden. It’s going to be difficult for your opponent to put you on a draw like that, so they’ll often lose more bets than they should.
Let’s say you are in a multiway pot and hold 6-4 of hearts in the big blind. The flop comes K? 7? 3?, and the pot justifies a call. Now, off rolls the 5. Bingo! If one of your opponents have
A-A, A-K, two pair, or a set, you should be able to win a lot of bets here. Remember, you pick up value with the implied odds.

Flopping a Made Hand
A made hand is a five-card hand, such as a straight, flush, full house, or better. There are times when you’ll want to slow-play a made hand, and others where it might be correct to jam the pot. In this section, I hope to help you make better decisions when you flop a made hand.

Flopping a Full House
When you flop a full house your goal simply is to get as much money in the pot as possible. How you do that will depend on many factors.
Let’s look at an example: You have pocket kings and the flop comes K-8-8. How nice! So you must decide whether to play it fast or let long shot draws in cheaply. Your decision should be based on what you think your opponents have. If you think one of your opponents flopped three eights, you should play it fast. Hopefully, your opponent will think you have A-A or A-K and continue to raise you.
So how will you be able to figure out if one of your opponents has an 8? Well, that will depend on several bits of information you’ve gathered pre-flop and on the flop. Let’s say you bet and are raised on this flop, knowing no flush draw is possible. Then the big blind decides to call two bets cold. Chances are, he’s flopped three eights. What else could he have? Unless it’s a very bad player, he at least has the case king, but more likely three eights. It’s also possible that he’s flopped quads, but that would be a rare occurrence.
If there is a flush draw on the flop, then slow-playing would be silly. Your opponent with the flush draw isn’t going to fold anyway, so you might as well make him pay to draw dead! After all, if he misses his flush, you aren’t going to get any more bets on the river. Put those bets in on the flop; your opponent won‘t put you on a full house. If you know the player on a flush draw to be extremely conservative and won’t draw to the flush with a pair on the board, you may not want to go too crazy on the flop. He is drawing dead, and you always want to encourage that!

Flopping a Full House, Heads-Up. In a heads-up pot, it’s more than likely that your opponent has flopped nothing to the K-8-8 flop. Unless he has an 8, A-A, A-K, or a flush draw, it will be difficult to get much action. The best course of action here may be to slow-play your hand a little bit. Let’s say you have position on your opponent, and he decides to bet out. This is a tricky situation because you don’t want to lose him. If you raise here, he might throw away his hand. If you call, he might just check and fold on the turn. All you need to be concerned with is keeping your opponent interested in this pot. Hopefully he’s flopped trips, a flush draw, or has the A-A or A-K hand. If not, hopefully he makes a smaller full house on the turn. Maybe he has 9-9. How sweet a 9 would be on the turn!
Again, you need to pay attention to the information you received pre-flop. Did your opponent raise coming in? Was he in early position? If so, the chances that he’s flopped three eights is remote, though A-K, A-A, or another pair is very possible. Against one of these hands, it’s usually a good idea to jam the flop as you are sure to get action. If your opponent calls from late position or from the blinds, you’ll be hoping now that he’s flopped three eights or maybe a flush draw. More often than not, your opponent is going to miss this flop. It’s unlikely he has the case king and also unlikely that he has an 8. In this situation, it might also be correct to slow-play your hand and hope that your opponent picks up a draw on the turn. You can do that only if you feel that your check on the flop won‘t give away your hand. The tougher your opponent, the less often the check on the flop is going to trap him. To trap a tough player here, play straight-forward and bet the flop.

Flopping a Flush
We touched on this subject a little when we discussed playing flush draws on the flop. In that section, we talked about playing a baby flush carefully on the flop and getting aggressive on the turn. Interestingly enough, we probably want to play our nut flushes similarly, waiting until the turn before getting busy.
Of course, this all depends on the texture of the flop. If you hold A? 8? on a K? 7? 2? flop, the only real draw out there would be the nut flush draw—but you already have that covered. Chances are you will get more action if the flop comes
10? J? 7?. More of your opponents are going to hit this flop with a pair, two pair, a straight, or even a straight draw. If your opponent has a hand like K? J?, he may decide to play it really fast on the flop. With that first flop you want anyone interested in the pot to stay in, so make it cheap on them. On that second flop however, you will get away with jamming it because the chances of your opponents continuing anyway are much greater.

Flopping a Straight
When flopping a straight you need to consider the risks involved. For example, say you’ve flopped a straight, but there are two flush cards on the board, or you’ve flopped the bottom end of the straight, and so on. When you flop a lower-end straight, it’s important to try and knock out higher straight draws or at least have them pay the maximum if they choose to call. Or, if you put your opponent on a flush draw, you should play any straight fast on the flop. You aren’t playing your hand fast only to try to knock a flush draw out of the pot, but rather to get more money into the pot as the favorite.
For this reason, I rarely slow-play a straight on the flop. There are too many cards on the turn that could hurt your hand. A board pair, a flush card, or even a higher straight card can turn your nut hand into a loser. Of course, in heads-up situations, I may choose to slow-play a straight on the flop, hoping to get two bets in on the turn. Say you hit a flop of 6-7-8 to go with your
9-10 in the hole. It’s a great situation, but a 9 or a 10 puts your hand in jeopardy. The 9 fills the J-10 straight and the 10 fills the J-9 straight. Be aggressive on the flop, but if a dangerous card comes off on the turn, don’t put in unnecessary action. I’m not saying that you should fold, but if you get raised on a 6-7-8-9 board, you shouldn’t always reraise. Chances are, your opponent also has a 10-high straight, but it could be worse than that for you. He may have the J-10, or even a 10 with a flush draw giving him a freeroll. Or, if he has Q-10 and a jack hits the river, he’ll have a freeroll against you.
Here’s a final example of when you should play a straight fast on the flop: You have Q-J, and the flop comes 8-9-10. This is a flop that will hit a lot of people. Of course, none of your opponents can hit it better than you have, but that won’t stop them from putting in lots of bets. You might win a monster pot if all goes well on the turn and river. If you are up against any of the following hands you should win tons of bets by keeping your foot on the gas and firing away: 6-7, 10-10, 9-9, 8-8, J-J, Q-Q, K-K, A-A, 10-J, 10-Q, K-Q, K-J, A-J, 9-10, 9-8, 10-8, and similar holdings. Of the sixteen hands I mentioned, most of them would be played only by average players—and I didn’t even get to the hands where an opponent flops a flush draw! When you flop a monster on what I call an action flop, it will often pay big dividends. Of course you will sometimes be outdrawn on these hands, but you’ll do yourself a great service in the long run by putting in as many bets as possible on the flop.

PLAYING THE TURN

The turn is probably the most difficult street to play. This is where you will need all of your poker skills to make the right decisions. As Daniel Negreanu wrote in one of his Card Player columns, “By the turn, you should have enough information about your opponents’ hands to narrow down their holdings some. After factoring in their pre-flop action, their play on the flop, and the texture of the board, the turn is the street where you’ll need to make the key decision as to what your opponents are holding.” A big reason for this is that the bets now double.

When To Call
In many cases, calling on the turn is your best course of action. Let’s look at four situations.

1. Against a Bluffer
Normally when you feel like there is a good chance you have the best hand on the turn, you should put in as many bets as possible. However, against a habitual bluffer, your raise may scare him off, costing you a bet on the river. Let’s say you raise with A-10, and only Mr. Bluffer in the big blind calls. The flop comes A? 9? 4?, Mr. Bluffer bets, and you decide to call. The turn brings the 7™?and Mr. Bluffer again bets out. Chances are that your pair of aces with a 10 kicker is the best hand. However, it is possible that Mr. Bluffer woke up with a hand and has you beat. Regardless, you are convinced you have the best hand, but you know that Mr. Bluffer will fold if you raise. Since there isn’t much of a draw present, why not just call the turn and hope that Mr. Bluffer wastes one more bet with a desperation attempt at the river? This helps you in two ways:

(1) You’ll lose the minimum when he has you beat.
(2) You’ll gain an extra bet when he tries to pick it up on the river.

In this case you run the risk of possibly giving your opponent a free shot to beat you on the end, but since it’s a remote possibility with this board, calling will get the most out of him.

2. When Out of Position with Marginal Hands
In this example, you raise with 9-9 from late position. The button reraises you, so it’s heads-up to see the flop. The flop comes down Q? 7? 2?. You check, and your opponent bets the flop. Check-raising is an option here, but for this example let’s assume you checked and called. Now the turn brings a 5?. This presents you with a dilemma.
Since you raised in late position, and it was the button that reraised you, he might hold one of a wide range of hands that have you beat, as well as one of many others that don’t. Let’s assume that the button is the type of player who will raise you with any pair, any suited ace, any two picture cards, and any A-8 and above. Also throw in the occasional variation raise with hands like 8-9 suited or even 5-6 suited. If you know your opponent will three-bet you with these types of hands, your hand is just too good to fold. At the same time, you don’t really want to lose any unnecessary extra bets.
In this situation, you are better off playing the hand to the river as cheaply as possible. You don’t want to go crazy and put in a lot of action. Remember, you are out of position and could get moved off the best hand here. What if your opponent had A-K of hearts and decided to reraise you as a semi-bluff? Well, you can’t really justify putting in three bets on the turn and then another one on the river when you are likely drawing dead to two outs! Play the hand carefully. Win the small pots while avoiding the big ones. Sacrifice some potential value and lean toward caution; that way you won’t get outplayed.

3. To Avoid Costly Fancy Plays
Throughout this chapter you’ll notice that I preach straightforward play. Why use a fancy play that might work when a straightforward play will do just as well? To be specific, raising on the turn with drawing hands in an attempt to force your opponent to lay down the best hand is a play that should be used infrequently. It works best on timid, careful players, but even they won’t fold if they have top pair or better. Instead, they’ll call you down on the turn and again on the river. After all, by raising the turn you’ve made the pot so big that your opponent is almost forced to call. Maybe years ago you could use this play more often, but these days many players are aware of it. So if there is a draw present, they’ll likely call, hoping you are making a move. Don’t bluff—value bet. That’s what limit hold’em is all abou