In a 10-20 game the other night, I had A-9 on the button. A loose player had already called in seat number two, everyone else folded. What is the right play here?
Answer 1:
Raise or muck. I favor raise, but not if both blinds will always call. It is always wrong to just call with this hand in this situation. BTW, I also would raise if the caller was a tight player so long as he didn’t have a propensity to limp with AA and KK.
Answer 2:
If you consider the players in the blinds to be somewhat tight, and you think they may throw away their hands, then raising is a good option. If the blinds are more on the loose side and likely to defend their blinds, you’re not giving up much by just throwing your A-9 away. I don’t consider calling to be much of an option here.
Answer 3:
I would raise because of the button. If the SB and BB fold then this is a fair heads up hand. If the flop is not friendly and the 2nd seat bets you can fold with your position. Even if the SB & BB call the raise you still have position on the loose player in the second seat. If the flop is right you can dominate. If it is wrong… You fold and lose 2 Small Bets. I like A-9 on the button with loose passive players that might fold against a semi-bluff bet after three checks, and the button bets the flop. I either am looking for the flop to hit my hand, or it does not hit anybody and I try for a semi-bluff. If the players are calling stations, I do not like the hand as much depending on the flop. Typically any bets by the button are called by the calling stations and this puts more money in the pot. In the end this makes loose calls pay in pot odds. Here are some questions to ask yourself. Does the SB realize that for 1 1/2 Small Bets he will have a positional disadvantage the rest of the hand. Does the SB adjust accordingly? If so I like the A-9 even less and I muck the card. If not, and the SB will cold call with Q-X suited, then I like the A-9 off-suit for a raise and play it aggressively.. Until somebody looks like they have identified the possible semi-bluff…
The game is 3-5 Texas hold’em w/ a 3 & 5 dollar blind and a straight 5$ bet at all times w/ up to 5 raises. I raise middle position w/ AQo and get heads up w/ the button.
Could some of you stud players define for me “over-aggressive” playing. Some concrete examples would be helpful.
Does anyone know what game they were playing in _Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels_ when the guys lost the $500K? It looked like some kind of three-card closed form stud, but I don’t believe every player had to have the same stake in the pot. When the big crime boss bet $250K, our hero had to come up with $500K to “call” (and they were heads up.)
