Hi all,

I just started to play NL ring games last month after playing stng’s for a year and decided to move on in my learning career.

The hardest thing so far I found is when to call or raise a pot ( or often overpot ) sized bet when the board looks scarey.
I made some money by calling bluffs and lost some 2. I myself usually make big bets that look like a steal when I got the nuts or think I got the best hand .

Please comment me on the next hand in every situation you would have made another move.

Stars $25 NL ( $85 stack ) in the BB with KK. Five limpers all paying $0.25. I make it $3 to get a pot or makem fold crap.
Two callers making a $10.50 pot.
Flop Q J 7 off suit ( how do you make these card characters ? ).
I bet $4 ( mistake? ) one caller. This caller has $80 and just lost a big pot against moi. He calls

Turn 9 making it 2 clubs. I bet $10 (mistake ? ) he calls faster then billy the kid can draw.
This made me thinking he already has the straight or is drawing to flush and a straight .

River is an 8 of hearts.

I have a hard time deciding what to bet here ( should I? ) I bet $10 ( weak? ) and he raises me with all he has..
It’s too much and I fold.

I told him l had the cowboys and he replied “I thought so “. He then told me he had 33.

So Ice and other experts what, where and when would you have done differently making it not so easy to read. Would you have called maybe.

I am very interested .

Tommyhawk.

well, i'm certainly not the expert, but i'll give you my response anyways.

THe preflop raise is great, and you short of heads up, you achieved your goal. right on.

On the flop, with $4 in there, you're bet is waaaaaay too weak. For $4 i'm putting you on AK right now and calling with 33 as well. You need to be betting more like $8/$9 here. There's no flush draw, but the two high cards on board are ugly, and there's a lot of dangerous turn cards. Ideally you want to get read of at least one opponent here, and you want to make him pay to draw against you're hand.

On the turn, with $18 in the pot, you need to be betting more like $15. Once again, you've got a strong hand, you don't have AK. while he technically is getting incorrect odds to draw against you, your bets scream weakness, and are setting you up for the bluff.

On the river, with $28 in the pot, i don't mind your bet. You've got a strong hand now. I may still be betting something more like $15, but you want him to just call your bet and not raise it.

There's nothing wrong wtih folding here, IMO, when you're raised all in on the river with just an overpair. THe board is intimidating that the only hands you can really beat are TPTK (which makes no sense the way he's played it) or a bluff. I'm personaly not a huge fan of picking off bluffs in ring games, because i can always reload. I'm also going to make a note that this guy may pick off smaller bets as weakness and try to make a play against them.

Anyways, i still stick with my theory that folding isn't a terrible play at this point. other than that, increase your bets to at least 3/4 pot. the only time underbetting the pot is good is when you're against terrible players and you want to build a pot. Other than that, be aggressive. betting $4 into a $10 pot screams weakness. don't be afraid to bet the full $10 if there's multiple draws on board.

~Dustin

When you raise preflop, you need to think about the name of this web site. BET THE POT!
Most of the time you need to bet the pot on the flop. Sure there are times when you want to get tricky, but for the most part you should BET THE POT.
If you wouldve made a weak bet like that into me, I wouldnt have called with 33, I wouldve raised. Now if you want me to raise, then fine, bet small, but Im also going to raise when I have a set, so you are going to be in no mans land no knowing what I have.
I might even raise that bet with AK. Thats a tough flop for KK. I could be raising with a set, a draw, or a smaller pair. You really dont want to be put to the test with that flop, so just bet the pot and take it down.

To make the cards, place brackets around the cards....for the ace of hearts..you would type Ah with the brackets around the Ah. (the correct bracket are the ones to the right of the "P" key.

just for fun lets say he bet the pot and his opponent calls. when the turn brings a 9, how do you play it considering that his opponent could be calling with k10 for an open str8 draw completing his str8?

I agree with all these guys...especially with Madgenuis on checking the river.

You need to go ahead and bet the pot or very close to it on the flop and turn. If he cold calls your two big bets, then you know you're in trouble and therefore you check the river. On the river, you gauge his bet...get the very best read you can from the way he's played this hand and others...and either call or fold.

Another great example of why position is so very important in NL Hold'em.

Another thing, I doubt he had 33. But then again, you said you recently beat him in a big pot. Could he have been tilting? Tilt is such a huge factor at the $100NL tables I play. I watch out for it inncessantly and make sure to write notes on anyone I see go on tilt so I can take advantage of it next time.

For example, the other night I called a $70 reraise on the flop with [Jd] on a board of [7d][5d], because I had been watching the raiser and he had a huge tilt factor. He had just lost two big hands in a row and simply put.. it was an easy call for me. He flipped over [2d] and sucked out on a river !!! But I got my money in as an enourmous favorite. And that's poker.

I personally believe postion and reads are the biggest factors in the game. Keep that in mind and listen to Iceman's advice... livepokerforum!!