How NOT to play poker.

I played so bad today it's sick. I have no idea what just happened, I guess some days you're just not all there. Here's a hand where I misplayed pretty badly. It was a 50 player $30 live donkament. I started with 2400 in chips, blinds were 25 and 25. I'm in the small blind with J3 of diamonds. A few players limped, I checked and the big blind checked. the flop comes KKJ. I check and it checks around to this guy who plays a little loosey-goosey at times and he bets 150. I call and the big blind calls. Now, here's where I should have been totally done with the hand. First of all, I read the bettor for strength, but I decided to call anyway. And then when the big blind overcalls, I have to know I'm in trouble. Best case scenario is both players have QT.

So there's about 600 in the pot and the turn is a 5. It checks around. The river is another 5, so basically nothing has changed. Either both opponents missed their draws or I'm beat. Maybe the flop bettor has an underpair to the board, but he wouldn't bet the underpair on the river. If the flop bettor bets here, he either missed a straight draw, has total air, or he has a king. Maybe AJ or QJ. So I check, the big blind checks and now the flop bettor bets 500. Curiosity got the best of me and I decided a pot sized bet here didn't want a call. The big blind folds a jack face up and the bettor turns over K8.

I was a little steamed and mentally berated myself for calling him down when I knew I was beat. "If I was really in the zone," I said to myself, "I could have check folded the flop." Sure I had a read that he was strong, but a read isn't everything. Can I really just check fold here? I know I'm supposed to be the World's Nittiest Poker Blogger, but this just takes nittiness to a whole new extreme. The fact of the matter is I played it so passively, I got myself stuck in a pretty tough spot. I basically had to guess whether he had a draw, or he had a hand. If I bet the flop, I can gauge the strength of his hand based on how he acts on his hand, not just how far back he's leaning in his chair or how casually he throws his chips into the pot. Basically, when I check the flop, I'm forced to call because he could have anything. He has position and when it's checked to him, he'll bet a draw, he'll bet a hand, and he'll bet air. So now I've put myself in a spot where I have to guess. On the other hand, if I bet out on the flop, I'll have a better idea of where I'm at based on how the rest of the table reacts to my bet.

Here's the soundbite, bumper sticker, nugget of wisdom from this hand. If you're out of position and you can call a bet, then you should bet yourself. You have to use your bets not only as a way of building pots or winning pots, but of gaining information. If I check and he bets, I have to call and I've learned nothing about the strength of his hand. Whereas if I bet, I've committed the same amount of chips I would have anyway, and I get to learn something about my opponents hand. In this spot, with a weak jack in a multi-way pot, I should have bet out and then if I'm raised, I can confidently lay my hand down, having lost the minimum, rather than committing a third of my stack just guessing whether or not he has it.

"But he could raise you with a draw. Or if he knows you're making probe bets out of position, he can raise you with nothing, knowing most of the time you're going to lay it down. Isn't betting out and then giving up just a bit... nitty?" Well, maybe. But here's the advantage of playing it that way. If I bet out and he has a draw, first of all, he's probably just going to call. And even if he does have the draw and he decides to raise, well, go ahead and take it. If he has QT, it's basically a coin flip with two to come (maybe 55/45), so I'm happy to sacrifice a little equity there for the times when I'm a slight favorite, to save a lot of money for the times when I'm a huge dog (or drawing stone dead.) Second of all, if he knows I'm making out of position probe bets, and he's going to raise me with air, fine. Let him take a few small pots, because eventually I'm going to make the same bet with a huge hand and he's going to get into trouble. The key is to be consistent. If you're making a lot of small bets with weak hands, you should be making the same bets with big hands. You never want to be predictable (bet with nothing and check with a monster, or vice-versa.)

Cliff Notes:

1. Playing marginally strong hands passively out of position can get you into a lot of trouble, basically calling off a lot of money trying to catch a bluff.
2. If you can call a bet, then you should go ahead bet.
1. Set the price yourself.
2. Don't give up control of the hand.
3. Gain information about the strength of your opponent's hand.
4. Give your opponent a chance to fold.
3. Use small bets to gain information. Take into consideration every action your opponent makes in response to your actions and try to put the pieces of the puzzle together to put him on a hand or range of hands.

Until next time, this is the World's Nittiest Poker Blogger saying sometimes it's best to give up on a marginal situation to wait for a better spot.