Pokerwiner.com → Within poker principles
5.How is he likely to respond if you bet versus checking along? (Remember, you will not often check, but there are exceptions ). Here again, how he plays, combined with how he sees your play will strongly influence his action. If he believes, for instance, that you rarely bet without a poker hand, and that you are difficult to steal from, then he is less likely to check-raise as a bluff or semi-bluff.
Thus, you may have more reason to bluff bet. Then if he does check-raise, you can assume he more likely has a real hand. Do you estimate that he will fold to your bet often enough (about 18 percent of the time, given the size of the pot) to make a pure bluff profitable? (He does not have to fold as often for a semi-bluff to show a long term profit ). If you check, how will the way he sees your play influence his action on the turn with a weak hand versus a strong one? If you bet and he calls, will he likely check to you on the turn? If you then take a free card will he usually take the opportunity to bluff into you on the river?
Situation No.2: You defend your big blind with a call against a likely steal raise from a late position player. The flop misses you.
Your decision now is between checking and betting. If you are going to continue with the hand, rather than checking and folding, then you must decide between checking and calling, check-raising, and betting out.
1. The pot is laying you about 4½-to01 on a bet. It will lay you 5½-to-1 on a call or 5½-to-2 on a check raise if you check and your opponent bets. (It becomes 6½-to-4 if you think he will almost automatically call your check-raise, but then may fold to a subsequent bet on the turn ). These pot odds will figure into any decision. Notice, for instance, that if you are considering attempting to steal the pot, the risk-reward ratio for poker betting is better than that for check-raising. That does not necessarily mean you should bet instead of check-raising, but it is an important consideration when thinking about the expectation of one approach versus the other.
2. As before, what you do will be influenced by the nature of how the flop relates to your hole cards, despite your having “missed.” Some flops will give you semi-bluffing possibilities, while some won’t. Some may allow for a call if you check and your opponent bets. (For example, this will be the case some of the times when you have overcards). Others will point toward a fold.
3. Note as well the texture of the flop combined with what you know of your opponent’s starting hand requirements for raising your blind from a steal position. Analogous to your having considered the flop as it related to the possible hands of the blind defender, this is central to beginning the post flop hand reading process. If your opponent is very liberal in his blind stealing attempts you may have to settle for a read that is more general, more a rough estimate of the chance he has a piece of the flop. (But note that such a player is less likely to have a hand when the flop comes with high cards ).
4. How is he likely to respond to bet versus a check? As before, how he plays may be heavily dependent on how he sees your play. What is your current image with this player? If you check-raise, how is he likely to respond to that? Will he almost automatically call? How might he then respond to a bet on the turn? Will he likely call on the flop with overcards? Will he call all the way with a small pair? How about ace-high? While you cannot expect to always identify and assess every important consideration in these and other common holdem poker situations, there is a way to improve your effectiveness in that regard. Simply think about such scenarios away from the table. Analyze your play in specific situations against one of your regular opponents who is challenging to play against. Develop a seems to play against you as a consequence. Try as well to identify any flaws in his play. You will then be in a position to play more effectively against him.
The Strategic Moment in Holdem / One Way Not to Fold /
Beating the Berserko: Preflop Against a Maniac /
On Into the Storm: Playing the maniac After the Flop
One Reason to Reraise a Maniac / A Simple Read / Countering a Good Reader
Thinking About What They’re Thinking / Out On the Edge
Considerations in Two Blind Stealing Defense situations
Easing the Transition to the middle Limits: Part I
Easing the Transition to the middle Limits: Part II / Multiple Changing Images