Jennifer Harman

In Limit Hold ‘em, the big blind is one of the toughest position to play. You’re out of position, and that’s never a good thing, but usually, you’ll be getting excellent odds to continue with the hand. Against a single opponent who has raised, you’ll be getting better than 3 to 1 and, in most hands, you’re no more than a 2 to 1 dog. The problem is, you’ll often find yourself going into the flop with shaky cards and, at that point, you’re sure to face some tough decisions.

Before I talk about some tricky situations that develop in the big blind, I want to note that you can make your life a little easier by folding some hands pre-flop. If you’re holding a medium Ace and you’re facing an early position raise from a player who you know plays only good cards up front, then fold. It may seem like you’re getting a nice price to continue, but in this spot, you’re only going to get into trouble. When you miss the flop completely, it’s going to be tough to continue and, if you hit an Ace, you may lose a lot to a hand that has you dominated. I’d rather play 6-7 against an early position raise from a tight player than A-7.

There are some hole cards that are just hopeless. If I’m facing a raise from any position and I find something like J-2, T-3, or 9-4. I’m going to surrender the hand.

The really difficult situations arise when you hold a mediocre hand, something like A-8 or pocket 6s, and you face a raise from late position. Many players will raise with just about anything in the cutoff or on the button, so it’s tough to know where you stand with these medium strength hands.

What should you do?

Unfortunately, there are no easy answers. My best advice is to vary your play so as to take advantage of a particular opponent’s tendencies. For example, if you hold A-8 in the big blind and face a late-position raise from a player who tends to be a little weak after the flop, you should probably re-raise pre-flop and then follow up with a bet on the flop most of the time. Against this type of player, this kind of action will force a lot of folds.

If the opponent who raises in late position is tricky and very aggressive post flop, I’ll often call the pre-flop raise and then check-raise on most flops, whether or not I got a piece of the board. Even if the check-raise doesn’t win the pot, this move helps keep a tough, aggressive player off balance.

Of course, you’ll need to consider the flop as you move forward in the hand. If you call a pre-flop raise with pocket 6s and see a flop of T-Q-K, there’s little point in going to war. Give your opponent credit for some hand that beats yours and look for a better spot. But this doesn’t mean that you should be willing to give up on anything less than top pair.

Against a single opponent, I’ll play second pair pretty aggressively. Sometimes, I’ll lead at the pot with this hand, and sometimes, I’ll check-raise with it. Taking this aggressive approach with a shaky hand allows me to play my big hands in the same manner. When my opponents see me check-raise, they won’t know if I’m making this play with as little as second pair or as much as a set.

As I said earlier, playing from the big blind in limit poker is tricky. In my opinion, it’s one of the toughest spots in all of poker. My best advice is that you should stay alert to your opponent’s tendencies and look to mix up your play. If you’re on your game, it will be tough for other players to put you on a hand while you’ll have a pretty good idea of what they’re doing.

Good luck.

Greg Mueller

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In No-Limit Hold ‘em, one of the trickiest and, sometimes, scariest situations occurs when you bluff at a pot on the flop and get called. The turn brings a blank and you’re left with a big decision: Do I fire a second bullet and continue with the bluff?

Recently, while playing in the World Poker Tour event at The Mirage, an opponent launched a double-barrel bluff against me, and he got me to lay down the best hand. It was early in the tournament and I was in late position. My opponent, a pro whose play I respect, raised from early position, and I called with Ac-4c. The flop came A-J-7, rainbow with one club. My opponent bet out and I called. The turn brought a blank, and my opponent put out a very large bet.

I was in a tough spot. It was early in the tournament, and I didn’t want to call off most of my chips with this hand. I was pretty certain the bettor wouldn’t have fired a bet of that size with something like A-K or A-Q. With a hand like that, he’d have to worry that he was beat, and he’d probably try to get to the showdown as cheaply as possible. I figured he either had a very big hand – maybe a set of Jacks – or not much at all.

In the end, I decided to lay down my pair of Aces. My opponent then showed pocket Kings.

I give my opponent a lot of credit for playing the hand well. He had a good sense for how much heat I was willing to take. His play illustrates the most important consideration when deciding if you should continue with a bluff: Your opponent’s mindset.

If you’re up against an opponent who is unwilling to play without a very big hand, firing the second bullet can force them to make some bad lay downs. To make this work, however, you need to estimate the price a particular player is willing to pay, and then bet more than he seems capable of handling. In the hand I discussed above, my opponent zeroed in on a price I couldn’t stomach.

Sometimes, a meek player will get stubborn and try to get through a hand by calling you down with something like second pair. You need to have a sense that he’s trying to get through the hand in this way, then price your bets so that he won’t be able to call.

If, however, you’re against a guy who has shown a willingness to call any bet of any size with just about any hand, then you need back off and wait till you flop a monster.

In the end, the most important thing is to know your opponent. If you’re attentive at the table and pick up on the tendencies of those around you, you’ll find some nice opportunities for double-barrel bluffs.

That said, I should note that I’m far more willing to bluff on multiple streets in cash games than I am in tournaments. If I get caught running a big bluff in a cash game, I’ll re-buy with the knowledge that my actions will force some bad calls later in the session. In tournaments, if I bluff off my chips, I’m on the rail.

As your no-limit game develops, study your opponents and identify those who are vulnerable to bluffs on multiple streets. As you develop this skill, you’ll pick up some key pots and become a more profitable player.

Keith Sexton

In an earlier article, Perry Friedman gave some guidelines as to what you should be looking for at the start of a Seven-Card Stud hand. Perry concentrated on third street, when you make your initial decision to proceed with the hand or not. For this tip, I’d like to go further down the road and talk about fourth street.

When playing Stud, fourth street is the last of the smaller betting rounds. On fifth street, the bets double, so if you decide to play beyond fourth street, your investment in the hand is going to be hefty.

On fourth street, I look to see if an opponent has picked up a card that has a relation to the door card (the first up card). If fourth street builds straight or flush possibilities for my opponent, I’m likely to muck a lot of hands; if it appears to be a complete blank, I’ll usually continue.

For example, say one player open-raised with the Qd as a door card, and I called with split 8s and a suited 6. If he catches a total blank (something like the 2c) on fourth street and bets, I’m likely to continue and see if fifth street brings either of us any help. On the other hand, I will probably dump the hand if my opponent catches anything between a Ten and an Ace, and I don’t improve.

I won’t know for sure if a Ten, Jack, King or Ace helps my opponent’s hand, but at that point, his board presents too many warning signs for me to continue. Many players will enter pots when they start with three big cards, so any high card on fourth street has the potential to make my opponent a big pair or get him closer to a straight. Either way, my eights are pretty flimsy.

Another sort of situation develops when I catch two-pair on the turn. Say that I started with a split pair of 8s and a 6. My opponent open-raised with the Qd and I called. The turn brings me another 6, giving me two pair. My opponent catches a blank and bets.

In a spot like this, I think raising is a big mistake because the two-pair is well hidden. If I raise on fourth street and happen to catch a boat on fifth or sixth street, it will be almost impossible for my opponent to continue with the hand after my show of strength. He’ll have to assume that I’ve hit and he’ll fold to a bet. If, however, I just call on the turn and then hit a 6 later in that hand, my opponent may continue with his pair of Queens.

Moving on to a third example, say I have Kings in the hole with the 6d as my door card. Again, assume my opponent open-raised while showing Qd on third street. In this spot I’m likely to just call my opponent’s raise on third street. If I were to re-raise with a 6 as my door card, I’d be announcing that I held a big pocket pair. My opponent would probably fold and I wouldn’t get any value out of a nice hand.

After I call the third-street raise, I’m hoping that the turn brings a card like the 8d. If my opponent then leads at the pot, I’ll raise, hoping to give the impression that I’m on a draw. Once my opponent has that impression, he’ll probably call my raise on fourth street. If fifth street appears to be a blank, he’ll probably call a bet there as well. I’ll be building a nice pot while holding a strong hand.

These are just a few situations you might run into on fourth street. If you play your hand correctly at this point, you stand to pick up some big bets on later streets when things go well, and save some bets when things go south.