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EXPERT VIEW - Facing A Preflop Raise In NL
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20 June 2006
You`re in the big blind with a playable hand, perhaps even a strong hand, and someone has made a substantial raise preflop. It`s a No-Limit game with a lot of money on the table. I`m here to tell you that you need a decisive plan.
The absolute worst mistake you can make is to "wait and see what happens". That`s the kind of attitude that leads to disastrous loss and a meltdown of your bankroll. If you`re going to play the hand and challenge the bettor you need to know how you`re can a) win the hand, b) give up on the hand at minimal damage, c) know how to time either decision.
First of all you need to know what type of player you`re facing. A lot of players raise preflop in No Limit with very marginal hands. They may hold Ax where the x is a T or even lower or they may have a small to medium pair. Their thinking, which is interesting, is that if you`re going to play a marginal hand and you`re first into the pot you should come out swinging. It does give them additional ways to win the pot: they could win it right now and steal the blinds; they could scare everyone away post-flop with a continuation bet; they could hit their hand and really have the best holding.
Or you could be facing a more conservative player who isn`t on the semi-bluff raise at all. He`s raising with the goods, and if you come along for the ride it could get bumpy. The problem or beauty (depending on your outlook) of No Limit online poker is that the players fluidly move from one game to the next, and you may not have any kind of read on the raiser. That`s okay though, as long as you have a plan.
Let`s say you`re in the big blind holding 44. The game is $3-$6 NL and it`s shorthanded with 6 players. Everyone folds to the button who makes it $20 to go. This is a fairly typical scenario. I like to play these hands and generally play them in the same way in terms of my initial decision. I call the raise. This is not great news for the button who has to know that I have some kind of hand.
On the flop I will vary my play considerably. My plan though is the same. I want to put my opponent under pressure and force him to make a big decision. Let`s say the flop comes 3-3-8. I might check that and when he bets out (as long as the bet is less than half the pot) I will re-raise him a substantial amount, usually at least the pot. Or, I could lead out with a bet of my own, which is less risky. The key then is to bet enough to suggest that you`re not messing around. If you lead out with a bet that is too small a good player will climb right over the top, and you`ll still never know if your 4s were good.
If you decide to play with 44 and the flop comes J-A-K you need to know that it`s time to cut your losses. Whatever he raised with is good now unless he had complete garbage or a pair even smaller than yours. Either way, good luck to him. Every other raising hand just improved with a flop like that, plus he has position. The check-raise semi-bluff is out of bounds here.
Finally, you might call and hit the perfect flop, namely K-4-3 or something along those lines. That K probably improved his hand to the point where he will pay you off generously, and never suspect your set.
It doesn`t happen all that often but if you have a game plan it doesn`t have to happen all that often in order for you to show a profit against a pre-flop raiser...
Posted by: Marc Weinberg at 07:46
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