Getting A Quick Read On Your Opponents

*** QUESTION FROM A READER ***

Howdy Roy,

I have a dilly of a pickle here. At early stages of a
tournament or in small stakes ring games, do you recommend
raising with big non-pairs such as AK or AQ, and do you keep
pressing if you miss on the flop?

You are only going to hit a pair on the flop like 36% of the
time or something, and I find that the people who are
calling my significant pre-flop raises have:

A) Ginormous hands they are going to ravage me with (AA, KK)

B) Any other pair that they could hit trips with and destroy
me if I do hit a pair, or

C) They have a Johnny Callsalot attitude about life and that
2, 8, T on the flop could have hit them in which case their
stubbornness won't allow them to toss it even with a big bet
facing them on the flop.

What do ya reckon? Should I stop raising the AK and take the
beats when Loose Lucy limps with her A6 and hits two pair to
my one pair? Thanks Roy!

Sincerely,

Busted in Buffalo


>>> MY COMMENTS:

"Dilly of a pickle"?

"Ravage me with"?

"Johnny Callsalot"?

"Loose Lucy"?

You are one strange dude, my friend.

It sounds to me like there's something "not quite right" in
the Buffalo water these days...

But since you took the time to write, I'll be a nice guy and
answer your question. The key is to think more about
POSITIONING and BETTING PATTERNS.

Spot the "Johnny Callsalot" and "Loose Lucy" BEFORE getting
involved in a hand with them...

When you pick up A-K, raise the pot and narrow the table to
one or two callers. No matter what hits the board, represent
the flop if you're first to act.

If you're not first to act, get a read on your opponent.
Compare his behavior to what he did PREVIOUSLY in the game.

Keep in mind that RAISING the pot is one of the fastest ways
to put your opponent on a hand. For example, let's say
you've got A-K in late positioning. You make a pre-flop
raise and get one caller (the big blind).

At this point you don't know what your opponent is holding.
He may have just called your pre-flop bet because he felt
pot-committed.

The flop hits: 9-4-Q

Your opponent fires a reasonable bet. Now what?

Does he have something? Or is he just representing the flop?

The answer would depend on who your opponent is, how many
chips he has, what type of game you're playing, how many
players are at the table, and so on.

But for the sake of example, one way to FIND OUT is to RAISE
his bet. (Not a "wuss" raise, either.)

Let's say he bet $100 and you raise it to $300.

Now you've put HIM to a DECISION for his chips.

He'll probably do one of these three things:

1. Call your bet, then check the turn card.
2. Raise your bet, then bet the turn card.
3. Fold.

Option 1 suggests he DOESN'T have a strong hand. And that
means you can probably buy the pot on the turn.

Or you can check the turn and see a "free" river card...
which is a great tactic since you've got two over cards. If
the river hits Ace, you're in great shape.

Option 2 means he has something good, and it's time for you
to hit the road.

Option 3 means you just took down the pot with your Ace
high... and you can thank me later.

The WRONG thing to do is just keep calling or check-calling
your opponent. Because that won't give you any information
about his hand.

Try this out and see how it goes.