Rivercalls
Introduction:
This week we will deal with a very general topic. However, the most informative example hands of this week will include very interesting hands as well, which will hopefully help you to enhance your skills.
Hand 1:
Party Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $3/$6
6 players
Converter
Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is BB with A♣ A♥
UTG folds, UTG+1 calls, 2 folds, SB calls, Hero raises to $36, UTG+1 calls, SB folds.
By default, we raise with aces. A fishy player calls. His stats are 38/8/2.8/32.
Flop: 5♦ 9♦ K♣ ($78, 2 players)
Hero bets $60, UTG+1 calls.
The flop is pretty good. Often the fish will have hit something so that we can valuebet. Obviously we have to protect here as well, so we bet.
Turn: 8♠ ($198, 2 players)
Hero bets $150, UTG+1 calls.
The turn is acceptable as well. A straight would be possible, but hands like a king, T9, J9 or a flushdraw are hands that are more likely. We have to bet for value and to protect as well. A check/raise would be inappropriate because our opponent will often check behind.
River: 6♦ ($498, 2 players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 bets $150, Hero folds.
The river is not acceptable anymore. The 6d is probably the worst card that could have come up. A straight, which cannot be excluded against our opponent with such a WTSD, a flush and many top pairs have us beat. We check for now and hope that our opponent checks behind, but he bets. We have very good odds of 1 to 4.3 and therefore only have to be ahead 19% of the times to make a profitable call in this position. However, we should fold regardless of this fact, because there are no hands that we can beat. Every draw has arrived; there is nothing which he could bluff with. We only beat a hand like AK or KQ. The fish will check these hands most of the time though. Despite very good odds we should fold in this position.
Hand 2:
Party Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $3/$6
5 players
Converter
Pre-flop: (5 players) Hero is CO with 8♥ 9♣
UTG folds, Hero raises to $21, Button calls, 2 folds.
We are new at the table and make a lose openraise. An unknown player calls from the button. He usually has small pocket pairs or suited connectors and possibly hands like QJs, KQs, JTs.
Flop: A♦ A♥ 8♣ ($51, 2 players)
Hero bets $40, Button calls.
We hit the 8 on the flop. It is a pretty good flop to contibet on because it is unlikely that our opponent to hit something. He will fold most of the time. In our case he calls. A call on this board usually suggests a strong hand because as we have said, he will mostly miss the flop and fold. Small pocket pairs are possible, an ace as well, which was played slowly or maybe an 8 with a better kicker.
Turn: 6♥ ($131, 2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks.
As we don’t have additional information about our opponent and don’t know if and how often he floats, we check and see what happens. Our opponent checks behind. This can thoroughly be done with a small ace if he is passive because he doesn’t want to be checkraised. Small pocket pairs or an 8 are much more likely by now.
River: T♠ ($131, 2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $100, Hero folds.
Uncalled bets: $100 returned to Button.
A T hits the board on the river, a mediocre card. We check again and hope that the hand will be checked down. In most cases our opponent will check behind with low pocket pairs as well as an 8 because otherwise he wouldn’t have called the flop. Though he bets. As we don’t know our opponent, he could quite possibly valuebet his T that he hit on the river. Without further reads we should fold – with reads you could have a really easy call. Generally most opponents will bluff on the turn rather than on the river. A check behind, following a bet on the river is a valuebet in most cases.
Results:
Final pot: $131
Hand 3:
Party Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $3/$6
6 players
Converter
Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is SB with J♣ J♥
4 folds, Hero raises to $21, BB calls.
Standard. Our opponent is a good regular with stats of 24/19/3/23.
Flop: 9♣ 4♥ Q♦ ($42, 2 players)
Hero bets $33, BB raises to $90, Hero calls.
The flop is pretty ragged, our opponent will have missed the flop quite frequently. However, we know that he, as it is quite common on this limit, will bluffraise many flops – especially in a blindbattle. We cannot fold our jack that easily, because he will often be bluffing. Occasionally he will have a Q which he would probably just call due to pot control. If he decides to 3-bet, he will have a problem and a tough decision if he holds a Q and raises. He knows this and will mostly call with a Q. Only to balance his line, he will raise once in a while.
Turn: 5♥ ($222, 2 players)
Hero checks, BB checks.
A blank hits on the turn. We are prepared to call another bet because we know that our opponent will often 2barrel if he bluffs. To our surprise he checks behind. This either means that he has given up on his bluff, he is holding JT or that he checks behind with a mediocre Q to control the pot.
River: T♣ ($222, 2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $200, Hero ....
Call or Fold?
