Sometimes when youre playing limit hold em, there are going to be more than one option postflop

which will all appear similarly good. All the time, I have friends ask me hey Schneids, which is the best play here and Ill respond call or raise, it doesnt matter, just mix it up or something along those lines. That said, Im now going to show a few situations in which there might be one factor that will sway the best choice to one direction or another. Runner runner, makes it funner: I played the following hand in a Canterbury 30/60 game. On the button with Ad4s, I raised, the SB called and the BB 3-bet, and we both called. SB was a very bad player (VBP). BB was a decent, semi-thinking player who somewhat gets it, and is trying to play well (DP). DP is aware that VBP is a VBP, so this means DP might be three betting a little lighter than normal, though were still going to give his 3-bet some credit. VBPs cold call basically means he doesnt have a super strong hand, and doesnt have cheese like 82o, but might have 85o. The flop came 942 with two diamonds, giving me mid pair and a back door flush draw. VBP checked, DP bet. In a situation like this, someone might ask should I raise, or call? My contention on this board, with VBP left to act behind you, you should call. There are two reasons that sway this to a call, even though on the surface it looks like you could do either: 1) You have the runner runner nut flush draw. Its good to let people peel and get stuck catching a third diamond and now calling another bet chasing with their Jd. The pot is small-medium sized but is not yet huge. 2) You have an ace with a pair. The likelihood you have someone reverse dominated, because the pot was 3-bets preflop, goes up. You make lots of money when you catch two pair and they hit top pair. Looking at those two reasons, and factoring in that you have VBP left behind you to act, youd like to let him take one off (which he will with a VERY large range of hands) so he can get himself into more trouble on the turn if he turns a flush draw (which you have him dominated). Also, as Ive talked about in my Part 1 Cold Calling article, allowing him to remain in the pot cheaply is going to make it tougher for DP to keep firing on the turn and river if he doesnt have a legit hand. Now, lets say the flop was 942 rainbow, or its 942 with two diamonds but you have the Ah instead of Ad, or lets say that you had K4 of hearts on the 942 with two diamond flop. Now, the situation turns into a clear raise on the flop because you dont want VBP to take one off on the flop with any two and catch a redraw, and in the case of K4 its a little less likely you have one of or both your opponents reverse dominated. Here in these new situations on the flop, its about protecting your very vulnerable hand that might be best (not to say in the real hand, the A4 isnt vulnerable already). Notice in all three of my new examples, everything is the same except for one small variable that changed, and suddenly the call I initially advocated turns into a clear raise. These types of situations do not come quickly to limit hold em players, but are very important to long term success. The inclusion of bad players trapped in the middle will very often dictate your choice of action and whether you want to allow them the chance to make further mistakes, or whether you need to protect your hand from them making correct calls.

As the rest of the hand played out, I called, as did the VBP. The turn was a black 7. VBP checked, DP bet, I raised because I now want to protect my vulnerable hand that might be best but is definitely afraid of letting draws get there cheaply (plus DP may very well bet AK or AQ on the turn, thinking he has the best hand because he is likely expecting if I had flopped a pair I wouldve raised on the flop to protect my hand). VBP folded, and DB called. The river was a Kd (third diamond), and DP quickly bet, which I took to mean it was more likely he was bluffing because I think if he had something like AK he wouldve hesitated while debating whether to check or bet the river (same thing if he rivers a flush), so I called. DP tapped the table and said, good hand, and I won the pot without showing. In Part Two, I will explore a situation where the correct postflop action is much more dependent on the type of opponent youre playing, rather than this example which examined different board textures against the same opponents.