Playing Big Slick Properly

It's been awhile, but to make it up to you all I've written today's post with lovely footnotes!



Last week I went bust when I over bet AK pre-flop and couldn't get away from my hand when I flopped two pair. You can read all about that fiasco in my last post: Over Betting Big Slick. This week my trip to the card room had a much happier ending for me and it was due largely to playing AK much more intelligently.



I had been at the table for about two hours and was up about $100 when I was dealt AK under the gun and I just limped in* hoping someone would raise behind me. Sure enough a loose guy raised it to $15 (on a $2 big blind). The guy on my right called, I called, and so three of us saw the flop: A 9 5 rainbow, giving me top pair with the best kicker. Being first to act in a position like this is, in my opinion, not such a bad thing. Continuation bets are common and if you bet, say, half the pot in a situation like this it doesn't necessarily tell your opponents you have a strong hand. So I bet half the pot.** The original better folds and the guy on my right calls. What could he have? Could be a set, but that is unlikely enough that I think I'm probably ahead here. It is much more likely that my opponent doesn't think I'm very strong,*** so he could very well still be in this hand with a weaker Ace than mine. I think I'm ahead. The turn is a 10. I bet $100 and he folds whatever he was playing.



Okay, I over bet the turn there...but up until that point I played it well - representing a weaker hand than the one I had until I went nuts and bet too much on the turn. Still, a nice pot.

The second time I caught AK was about an hour later. Again I was in early position, again I just limped in, and again someone after me raised it to $15. Just like in the first example there were three players including myself who saw the flop, but this time the flop was a bunch of rags no one was likely to connect with. Acting first I made my half the pot bet^ and this time both opponents called me. Believe it or not, I was not unhappy with this situation. Sure I only had two overcards, but I thought it was likely that my opponents didn't connect with this flop either and were in no better shape than I was. My plan was to check if I hit the turn or bluff if I didn't. The turn brought another rag and I fired out $100 (which was the wrong bet in the first hand, but the right bet here) and my opponents folded.

So there you are; two instances where I caught AK and managed to take down good pots with them. You will notice that the hands I won with, a pair and ace high, were both very weak hands compared with the two pair I lost a bundle with last week. This just shows that it is not the absolute strength of your cards that matter - it is the relative strength.


Footnotes:


* Alright, I know I've written that you really shouldn't limp, but this was a pretty aggressive table and I felt the chances were good someone would raise behind me and I could passively call. This would put the focus on the raiser (and take it off me) as likely having good cards. If an Ace or King came on the flop it would be less likely my opponent would think I hit. This is more or less the way it worked out.



**HALF THE POT. That's is how much you should bet when you are first to act and you have flopped top pair with top kicker. I would like everyone in the class to repeat that aloud three times: "Half-the-pot. Half-the-pot. Half-the-pot." Why? Betting half the pot allows people with weaker hands to call you, and if anyone has a better hand than you it helps to limit your losses. Don't over bet any pair, even a pair of aces. Remember my folly last week?



***Remember my original limp? How I just called pre-flop? Signs of weakness my savvy opponent picked up on. My half-pot post-flop bet wasn't exactly frightening either.

^ It is a good idea to make your bets the same size regardless if you are holding the nuts or stone cold bluffing. Experienced players will quickly pick up on any betting patterns you have, so you won't give away information if your bets are consistent.