Poker Test 3 - Test yourself with Stuart Rutter
Test Yourself, Test 3
This week’s Test yourself will look at how best to play in those dream scenarios, when you flop a massive poker hand. This is an area of the game in which many players are actually quite poor. It is difficult to keep calm and calculated amidst the excitement of flopping a big hand, and when you are scooping in a big pot, it is difficult to give much thought to whether you could have won even more chips.
In fact, getting the best value out of big hands is one of the most technical sides of the game, and requires some careful thought. We will look at a series of examples, often with just a small change from one to the next, to appreciate what kind of factors come into play.
Example 1
You call a raise from the big blind with 
, and hit a magic flop of 
. First of all, it is really important to forget about the possibility that you are beaten in a horrible cooler by a hand like 
or 
. There is really no way you can get away from the hand if you are beat, and so entertaining this possibility may stop you getting maximum value out of the hand. Let’s look at what your action would be in the following scenarios.
Scenario 1 - You are first to speak, before another caller and then the original raiser. Do you bet or check?
Scenario 2 - You are second to speak before the raiser. The first player checks. Do you bet or check?
In general, it is best to bet out in scenario one, where you are the first to speak, and to check in scenario two. The reason involves an important piece of poker theory called the Sandwich Effect. In both scenarios, you would like to get more chips into the pot by “sandwiching” the other pre-flop caller into calling a bet before the action is raised. If he then passes to the raise, he has been trapped into adding extra value into the pot.
The best way to achieve this extra action in scenario one is to yourself bet out, hoping that the second player calls and the aggressor raises the action. The lead-out bet is a great move here, as it looks weak to many players. If it does achieve a call from the second caller, you may have forced the aggressor into raising if he does have a good hand like 
, as he will not want to allow both you and the other player to see the turn.
With the positions changed in scenario two, the best hope is to check, hoping that the aggressor bets and is then called by the first player. You will then raise yourself, and ideally one player will be driven out, and the other remain to give you action on the turn and river.
Example 2
You call a raise from the big blind with the speculative 
, and are lucky enough to hit the bottom two pair on a 
board. You are playing 9,000 chips, and decide to assume that you certainly have the best hand. Let’s have a think through some different scenarios, in all of which you are first to speak, to see how the right action changes.
It may seem tough to think through the changing situations, but it is a very valuable exercise as it shows how the right action depends completely on the pot size and number of players. Remember that you are playing 9,000 chips in all the scenarios.
Scenario 1- The pot contains 9,000 chips and four players, including the original raiser
Here, you only have as many chips in your stack as are in the pot, and you can afford to take the risk of allowing two other players into the pot by checking. Your risk-reward ratio is much smaller where your stack is small compared to the size of the pot. Typically, the two hands that you will get action from might be 
, and 
. If a check from you is successful in enticing the into the pot as well as the , you will only be up against 3 extra outs.
The pot contains 4,000 chips, and only one other player, the original raiser.
The crucial thing here is that you would like to make the last move at the pot, and so it is right to check. If the raiser bets, you will immediately move all-in. Unless he himself has a very big hand, your move all-in will be a bet that he does not have the correct odds to call. You will have created a situation where you win either way. If you are risking your tournament life, it is in a situation where the equity is in your favor. On the other hand, if your opponent does pass, you will have picked up a decent size pot. Indeed, your opponent may have no hand at all, and so checking is to only way to give him the opportunity to add some chips to the pot with a bluff.
The pot contains 2,000 chips, and only one other player, the original raiser.
Now your stack is large compared to the pot, and the best play here is to lead out with a bet of about 1,200, hoping your opponent will re-raise. The action may go for example 1,200 from you, 3,600 from your opponent, and now you will have the room (i.e enough chips remaining) to move all-in.
If your opponent has a genuine hand like for top pair, or 
for an overpair, he will not quite have sufficient odds to call. This is in fact the exact situation that you would like to engineer, as once again you gain either way.
You should try to make the lead-out seem weak to your opponent, either in the size of bet, or maybe even with a slight physical tell thrown in. He may well re-raise you with a marginal hand or with nothing at all, and this will add immense value to the pot.
The pot contains 2,000 chips, and four players, including the original raiser.
With a small pot any many players, it would be dangerous not to lead out, and so you should bet here. A likely and ideal situation is that you will get one call from one of the intermediate players, and then a raise from the original raiser. You can then move all-in to achieve the Sandwich Effect, and create a nice sized pot.
Stuart Rutter's Poker Strategy | Poker School
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