Poker Test 1

Past Poker Tests: Test 1

As with any situation in poker, there is no absolute correct answer; in fact, in almost every hand, one could make a decent argument for all of the three options- folding, calling or raising. However, I shall present what I think is the best option in each case, with reasons to justify each time.

In each case, we’ll assume the following for simplicity:

• You are on the button.
• You have 10,000 chips.
• The players you are up against are good, and reasonably aggressive.

Example 1

 You hold , and you and one other player call a raise from an early position player. The flop comes ; the original raiser bets 1,500, the size of the pot, and the second player makes it 4,500 to go. Do you:

a) Pass, b) Call, or c) Raise all-in?

• You have a very reasonable hand, top pair with the second best kicker. It would not be a disastrous play to choose this spot, and move all-in.

However, I feel that this is the classic example of a spot where you should pass a strong hand. There are two players who have shown good strength; an early position raiser has bet out on an action board, and another player has put in a raise, despite the strength shown.

Therefore, there are two players posing a threat; if you look at either hand, it is possible that you are beating it. However, it is unlikely that you are beating both hands.

This is a typical situation in which a top pair hand it not as strong as it seems. You yourself have no good re-draw to make a hand if you are behind, or if you are outdrawn on the turn. Let’s say you are called in one spot; you are likely to be in one of two situations:

1) You could be well behind to a hand like ,  or . Against the latter two hands, you are drawing to only three outs, and against 

, only five outs.

2) You may be ahead, but if you are, will be against a hand that is drawing strongly. A player with  for bottom pair with a flush draw is actually drawing at 14 outs (3 aces, two sevens, and 9 hearts), and is strangely a slight favourite against your hand. Even a seemingly weak hand like , for middle pair with a gutshot, is not in bad shape against your hand. It is drawing at 9 outs, and therefore has you only as a 64-36% favorite.
 
The worst option you can make in the hand is to flat-call, as this will probably invite both other players to draw against you in the pot. Another argument against raising is that your raise does not carry any bluffing value, as it is not quite big enough to drive the re-raiser out. We say that you have no fold equity in the pot.

The verdict: Pass

Example 2

You hold , and again are the second caller of an early position raiser, and see a  flop. The original raiser bets out for 2,000, and this time the second player flat calls the bet. Do you:

a) Pass, b) Call or c) Raise all-in?

• Your middle pair seems to be weaker than the previous hand, where you had the top pair. However, the strength of a hand is really only decided by the kind of shape it will be in if your raise is called. If your kicker is weak, it is often actually better to have the middle pair than the top pair.

To explain, let’s imagine you are against the  of your opponent for top pair, top kicker. You are drawing to 2 more outs with the middle pair  than you are with  for the top pair.

Your hand strength here is also added to by your gutshot draw (4 outs), and runner-runner flush draw. With an added 5% chance, this is more significant than it seems.

The other difference to the first hand is that the flat-call from the second player offers you the perfect window to put the two players to a big decision with an all-in move. Once in a while you will find you have been cunningly trapped by the second player with a hand like   for the straight, but in general, you should read a flat call as being weaker than a raise.

The verdict: Move all-in. Hopefully, both players will pass, but if they do call, you will almost always have some decent outs.

Example 3

In the same situation before the flop, you hold , and hit a great flop of . The action is quick again, as the first player bets 1,000 and the second player makes it 3,000 to go. Do you:

a) Pass, b) Call or c) Move all-in?

When you flop a great hand like this, your aim is always to gain maximum value from the hand, without offering people too much chance to outdraw you.

If there was any kind of draw available here, for example on a slightly different flop like  or , it would be right to move all-in. You will probably get one caller, but successfully eliminate a player who is drawing against you.

However, this flop has such a dry texture, that you can afford to take a risk. A flat-call may commit the first better into the pot, and is very likely to trap the second player, the re-raiser.

Verdict: Flat-call