Play a hand with a pro

In this series of articles I want to show you some of the thinking processes behind an expert player and how they set about making some of the plays that they do and how to play poker. Here the game is $10-$20 six max limit Texas hold’em and it is folded around to our pro on the button with Jc-9d and here are his thoughts.

“The game has been pretty tight so far and no one has been three betting my steals as yet. It has been folded to me and a J-9 is a decent enough hand to raise here. A double bet could get the small blind out and create a little dead money in the pot.

The big blind will probably call or three bet but I don’t mind that as I know that he is probably not folding a high percentage of his range. I have been steal raising a fair amount so I am expecting to be played back at before long. If both blinds fold then that is a great result for me as a $15 profit without a confrontation isn’t something to be sneezed at. Given the amount of raising that I have done from position then a J-9 is right on the edge of my range here but the play is viable so I raise”

The big blind does indeed call after the small blind folds and the flop comes 10c-7s-4s and the big blind checks.

“Getting this hand heads up with position is the next best result after getting a walk. My opponent hasn’t shown any strength so far and the board is fairly ragged but there are draws present. They have checked again on the flop and my hand will probably not win a showdown so I need to apply pressure here. I have a gutshot straight draw as well as my jack overcard.

If I get called then I can reassess on the turn and if I get check-raised on the flop then I will have a decision to make. I don’t want to give him a backdoor draw that will keep the hand alive. If the turn card is another spade and they have a spade or another straight card then getting them off the hand may not be possible before the river and bluffing the hand may get expensive. So I need to bet $10 here”

Our hero bets the flop and gets called. The turn card is the 2d making the board 10c-7s-4s-2d and the big blind checks again.

“I didn’t expect to take the pot that easily as my opponent knows that the board is fairly ragged as well. It is possible that they could be calling on a draw and if so then I need to keep the pressure on by betting. If I check and they then bet the river then I simply will not know where I am and bluff raising the river will be expensive if I am wrong.

I haven’t attempted to bluff raise the river against this player before so I don’t even know if they will respect that type of bet. If I check the turn then not only will this make it harder for me to win the pot but it will also give my opponent a free card. The betting limits double here so I need to increase the pressure if they are sticking around with something like a weak ace or some other shaky holding”

Our hero bets again and the big blind folds and our hero takes the pot. A simple hand with a simple result but the thought processes may prove instructive in your endless journey to understand and how to play online poker.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson

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