don’t bother
stealing the
blinds until
you start
paying antes.
You hold Ac Ad in middle position, the blinds are 100/200, and you have 4,900. You raise to 600 and the button makes it 1,800 off a stack of 6,100. what should you do?
Count to 20 and move all-in. You’ll see “clever” plays, such as just calling the re-raise, in spots such as this, but with only 3,700 left over from calling the 1,200 raise, not to mention a sorely needed 3,900 already in the pot and ripe for picking, don’t get cute. Move all-in! You may have been re-raised by QQ and the turn may bring an ace or a king, killing your action. Remember, the idea is to get as much money as possible into the center of the pot pre-flop. Push! You’ll usually get called and be looking at KK, QQ, JJ, or AK.
You hold Kc Kd in the cutoff with blinds of 100/200 and a stack of 4,900. A player in early position makes it 600 off a stack of 5,300 and a tight player calls from middle position.
Move all-in. A pot-sized raise is 2,700, which is 51% of your stack, so clearly you’re never folding in this hand and should get your chips in now while you strongly suspect you have an advantage. If you “only” win the 1,500 that’s already in the pot, you’ll increase your stack by more than 30%. Often, one of the players will call and usually you’ll have a big edge.
In the $215 weekly Sunday Million MTT at PokerStars.com that concluded just prior to my writing this, a player (our hero) seated 3 seats to the right of the button raised to 1,800 off a stack of 23,000 with blinds of 300/600. The button with 12,000 chips called and the big blind now raised to 4,600. The original raiser thought until his time clock started ticking (a count to about 20—sound familiar?), then pushed all-in. The button thought for ages, then called, and the big stack in the big blind insta-called! The hands: big blind-AK; hero AA; button 77. When the smoke cleared, our hero had 60,000 and was the table leader. Sweet! That’s the way to play aces.
Category 2 (QQ, AKs, AK, JJ)
These hands can be played in almost any pot. If you’re the first to enter the pot, you can raise. Early on in tournaments, it’s oK to just call normal raises with these hands, hoping to flop a well-disguised monster. Alternatively, you can also re-raise. If you raise and get re-raised, call. If you have QQ and someone has raised, re-raise. otherwise, mix it up between these two alternatives (re-raise 50% of the time or any time that an aggressive opponent is playing 40% of the hands or more) and it’ll be difficult for competitors to read you.
If you have AK and flop either an ace or a king, make a bet of about 70% of the pot on the flop. If another player bets before the action comes to you, raise the size of the pot, remembering to include the amount required to call before calculating the correct amount to raise. If this raise requires more than 1/3 of your stack, just move-in. If you miss the flop entirely, bet about 70% of the pot if you have only one opponent or if the cards are uncoordinated, such as J73 or 862, and you have two or fewer opponents. otherwise, check and give up without a fight. If you have AK and make a continuation bet on the flop and get raised, you also need to give up the hand if you failed to make a pair. After all, you can’t kiss all the girls. Every now and then, you’ll have to relinquish a pot.
If you have a hand such as QQ or JJ and the flop comes with three uncoordinated cards below that, play it the same as with AK above. If a king comes on the flop, make a bet of about 70% of the pot, but fold if raised. If an ace appears, bet into 1 opponent but check into 2 foes. If another player bets first, simply fold.
Example
An Ace or a King
comes about 50%
of the times on
the flop.
A player in early position raises to 600 off a stack of 9,000 with blinds of 100/200. You have QQ, both black, and 10,000 chips. Raise to 2,100. After you match the initial 600 raise, there would be 1,500 in the pot; raise the pot or 2,100 total.
Your opponent calls. The flop is Jh 9h 5c. He checks. what do you do?
All-in! Any reasonable bet will commit more than 1/3 of your chips. Move all-in and put maximum pressure on him if he’s drawing to a straight or a flush. A big bet like this will give him much the worst of it if he’s on a draw. Note that your only two realistic choices with this stack and this pre-flop action are all-in or check and fold, so pick one or the other in this type of situation, depending on the flop. If you’re in doubt, stick the chips in when you’re the bettor, and keep them for later when you’re the caller. There’s no doubt in this example. All the chips are going in.
Same situation as the last example and once again you have QQ. The pre-flop betting is the same. The flop is Ah 9h 5c. Your opponent bets 3000 into a pot of 4500. Fold! That 3,000 bet clearly commits your opponent to the pot. He’s going all the way with his hand and most probably has you beat.
Category 3 (AQs, AQ, TT, 99)
These hands play best against only one opponent, so you should enter every pot where you’re first in with a raise. If someone else has raised, call. If there’s a raise and a re-raise before the action gets to you, muck any of these hands.
You have Ac Qc in the cutoff and a stack of 5,400, with blinds of 100/200. UTG raises to 600 and the player 2 seats to his left re-raises to 1,800 off a stack of 7,800. Fold. Your hand is dubious in this situation and you have to commit 20% of your stack to see a flop. The UTG raise represents strength and the re-raise is even stronger. wait for a better spot.
You have Ac Qc in the cutoff and a stack of 5,400, with blinds of 100/200; it’s passed around to you. Raise to 600. You’re the first active player in the pot, have excellent position, and a powerful hand. Step on the gas!
You have Ac Qc in the cutoff and a stack of 5,400, with blinds of 100/200. The player in the 3-seat makes it 600 off a stack of 4800 and it’s passed to you. Call. You have a strong hand in good position, but not strong enough to re-raise.
Category 4 (AJs, KQs, 88, 77)
These hands are blind-stealing hands with some powerful potential. If no more than five players are acting behind you and you’re the first one in the pot, you should come in with a raise. With Category 4 hands, call if the pot’s been raised before it gets to you and see how play develops, following the rules for playing pocket pairs with your 7s and 8s. Although these are decent hands with which to call raises, be leery of them post-flop unless you flop a big hand or draw. Hands such as 88 and 77 play poorly if overcards come on the flop, unless you flop a set. What you’re looking for, and in fact what your early strategy for medium pocket pairs is underpinned by, is to flop a set. If you do so and another player has