For an instance, in a $5/10 NL ring game you are holding 99,TT, JJ in Middle position and in early position facing three times raise from a tight aggressive player, would you call and eventually consider pair as a “set catcher” or just re-raise and treat it as a premium hand instead?

By the way, besides from likely holdings, are there some other factors to consider?

Thank you.

Steve

Steve,

I would consider nines and tens as set catchers. Jacks I would lean towards a set catcher. The TAG could be also raising with a hand such as A-K suited as well.

Other factors to consider are how long it has been since this player has played a hand, and what they are capable of showing.

Well, I just cashed in a tournament at this casino and decided I would take my winnings to a cash game and see what will happen. At an instance, I’ve only played online micro limit cash games, however, I realized that my game was solid enough to give it a try. As a result, for $180, I bought in for $180 into a 100min/200max NL game with blinds of $2/$5.

I was able to adjust later on. With the BB being $5 and the max buy in being $200, everything seemed quite fine.

However, just within the first half hour, I already lost about a third of my buy-in so I realized that things were not that smooth sailing after all. There was this one player who would literally limp in on each hand and then call any raise without hesitation.

As a sort of defense, I then tried to make good sized raise. A couple of rounds followed and things weren’t that good anymore, so I decided to eventually quit. But before that, I first limped in, and observed the actions behind me.

The guy to my left then raised to $20 and the calling station called the $20 but later on it folded back to me. I then called and the flop came AA9. Afterwards, I checked and then the preflop raiser came in for $50 or $60. Eventually, the calling station, called.

To make the long story short, we end up splitting the other guy’s $120. I guess this was because none of the tighter players at the table has given any action. What’s your thoughts on this?

Thank you.

Barry

Barry,

You seemed to have a table of players trying to take advantage of the calling station at your table. It seems to me that you picked a bad game to play in. Your last statement clued me in to this when you said none of the tight players were giving action. When you sit down at a table that is not giving action, it is time to find another table. Playing solid at a solid table is going to make for a long day.

I love poker. But just recently, I’m starting to get bothered because of a certain hand that took place in one of my NL, .10/.25 online games.

What I can remember is that I had pocket 5′s under the gun and I limped in with some of the players. Then, a player who is in 5th position raised about 4 times the big blind and so a result got a call from the player in 8th position. Right after, it was folded around to me, I called.

Finally, the flop came 5-6-7, 2 spades. Well, I hit my set back then, however, drawing potential was still very prevalent even for me. I then bet out about 80% of the pot, because I was thinking that I’d have at least one caller from two players behind me.

Afterwards, the person in 5th position re-raised me, the amount was really big. Because of that re-raise, I got into conclusion that he is keeping a very large hand or was trying to bet me out of the pot. For some reasons, the person in 8th position called that large raise, so somehow I was relieved from delight.

To be honest, I’m not sure of what I had back then. There was a chance for a straight and flush draw, but somebody at the table might be holding 7-7 or 8-8 so the way to winning wasn’t that sure yet for me. As a result, I went all-in.

In just seconds, both my opponents folded. Well, I’ve taken home the pot, and I was so happy then. But still at some point, I still feel I’ve messed up at the table. I don’t know if I was able to maximize everything, the hand, chance,etc. What do you think? Do you have any comments or advice for me?

By the way, I’m very open to suggestions and even for bad comments so you can say everything. You don’t have to worry.

Thanks!

David

David,

I’m going to go with the assumption you had the set of fives for this scenario. You bet 80% of the pot, was raised and another player called before action returned to you. I would say that there is a good chance that you were against a large pair such as Aces and maybe a draw. I am surprised that both players folded to your bet. My only guess is that they maybe thought you had flopped a straight.

After betting out 80% of the pot, I would have been concerned with a big raise and a call ahead of me. I would have at least put one of them on the straight, even if it seemed unlikely. With that being said, you still had a 40% chance to make a full house even if you were unlucky enough to run into a straight.

Moving all-in did seem like a bit of an overbet, but if I were you, I would be very happy with both players folding. If they were on a draw, you prevented them from outdrawing you.

As of the moment, I believe I have already won several tourneys. Also, I have already tried NL $0.10 and luckily have also won. I’m thinking to move up to the next limit but I know I need a strong bankroll to do it. I’m interested of trying soon NL$0.25, NL$0.50, NL$1, NL$2, and NL$4. How much do you think I should prepare for each limit?

Thank you!

Michael of California

Michael,

The answer really depends on how large the swings are you are willing and able to endure. Some people say you need a bankroll of 100 big blinds, while others say 500. A good middle ground would be somewhere around 300 big blinds.

As of now, I’m planning to switch to casino games. By the way, I’ve been into NL Holdem home game tournaments for some time now.

Well, I’m wondering if how important it is to steal blinds in cash games, particularly when you’re in late position during an unopened or unraised pot. Any idea to share?

Thanks!

Danny

Danny,

Get the idea of stealing blinds in NL cash games out of your head. The blinds in most NL cash games are so insignificant in relation to your stack that it doesn’t matter. Also, blinds do not go up in cash games as opposed to tournaments. Blinds at a $1-$2 NL game will stay $1 – $2 forever. Leave the blind stealing to tournaments and high stakes Limit Holdem games.