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Hands

Taking a Passive Line Against Aggressive


Players
(Villains flaw)

(Difficulty rating)

(Heros exploit)

As it gets later into the night, rebuys and new players bring new money
onto the table faster than the rake and departing players can take it
off. Stacks inevitably grow deep and this changes the nature of the game.
Tonight, we find most people on the table are 300+ Big Blinds deep.
Standard lines with top pair top kicker at 100 Big Blinds need to be reexamined at this greater depth.
We will go over an example to help illustrate this 300+ Big Blind stack
situation.
$2-$5
Parx
Casino
Saturday
3:00am
Hijack

Image:

Action:

Hand:

Starting
Stack:

Hero

$30

$1600

Cutoff

Aggressive

Call

$2000

Button

More Aggressive

Call

Covers

Even in late position you can end up out of position. The Flop comes:
Pot: $97
Hero
(Hijack)

???

Range:

Starting
Stack:
$1570

Aggressive

$1970

More Aggressive

Covers

(Cuttoff)

(Button)

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Red Chip Poker: Late Position

A continuation bet seems trivial in a situation where we raise preflop


and catch top pair top kicker on a draw heavy board. Undoubtedly, there
are pros and cons with regards to betting or checking.
The decision whether to bet or check will be dependent on our
opponents tendencies. One vital consideration is how often our opponents
will raise. More aggressive opponents are likely to raise this Flop with both
real hands like AT and T9, and also with hands like draws. As their
aggression frequencies increase they may even raise with gutshots and small
pocket pairs, like 44, that did not hit a set and now are weak semi-bluffs.
When we expect to face a raise often, we need to have a plan immediately.
This not only influences whether or not we want to continuation bet, but
how we will react when we face the inevitable bet or raise.
However, if our opponents will only raise the Flop when they have a
better hand, then we should proceed to value bet. If a passive opponent
raises, they usually have the hands they are representing. Passive players are
not going to semi-bluff raise with draws either. This makes their raising
ranges face-up and their calling ranges face-up as well. We should value bet
the Flop and fold if they raise.
Versus observant opponents, we never want to do anything 100% of
the time. If we would always bet the Flop with top pair and draws, and
always check-fold when we miss, a Flop check would give them the green
light to take away the pot when we check to them. Rather than play this
predictably, we can shift some hands into our check-call range to induce
mistakes from these opponents. On this board, Ace-King is a viable option
for this line.
Hands that would have called our Flop bet will now also bet themselves
once checked to. Ace-Queen, Jack-Ten, and draws will be prone to bet the
Flop once we check in efforts to win the pot. A check allows our
opponents to bet with worse hands and bluffs.
It is important to note that every card ranging from Six to King, in
addition to all Clubs, will be of concern on the Turn. By checking we allow
our opponents to potentially actualize equity. Almost every hand has some
equity; by letting a free card come sometimes the opponent will win where
he normally would have folded on the flop, had we bet. If Villain has KQ,
JT or 44, we give them a chance to improve on the Turn either for free or
for the price they dictate on the Flop. This is a byproduct of facing a skilled
and aggressive opponent who will put us to difficult decisions often.
Moving onto this exact hand, our opponents are both aggressive, the
Button more so than the Cutoff. Against these players we would be better
off checking. A check will allow either to stab at the pot and also mitigates
the tough spot of getting our continuation bet raised.
Assume for a moment that we do continuation bet for $65 against
these aggressive opponents and face a raise to $200. Are we ahead on this

78

Hands

Flop? It is possible. However, if we call the raise what will we do on a Two


of Diamonds Turn card when our opponent bets $400? If we call the Turn
bet and the Five of Hearts falls on the River and our opponent shoves. Do
we call again? Notice how this is an ideal run out for our hand and yet the
decisions are becoming exponentially complex and expensive with every
street.
Pot: $97
Hero
Aggressive

Check/
Call
Check/Fold

More Aggressive

$65

(Hijack)

(Cuttoff)

(Button)

Range:

Starting
Stack:
$1570
$1970
Covers

Once we induce the bet from the Button, our plan is to check-call the
Flop and play poker on the Turn and River. However, the plan to checkcall on the Flop does not give us the license to check-call all remaining
streets. We need to make decisions based upon the information gathered
later in the hand. Future cards and bet sizes, or the absence of bets, will
allow us to further gauge where we stand. Notice that your opponents
tendencies will influence your decisions on every street. You will face
opponents who are capable of firing three barrels with a missed draw, and
others who will not. This information is crucial in the decision making
process, and therefore it is important to pay attention to your opponents
actions in prior hands.
Pot: $227
Hero
(Hijack)

More Aggressive
(Button)

Check/
Call
$150

Range:

Starting
Stack:
$1505
Covers

The Three of Clubs Turn card brings in the flush. However, our
opponent should not have many flush combinations in his range. With the
Ten and Nine of Clubs accounted for, our opponent cannot have 89, J9,
J10, or Q10 of Clubs. We do however expect our opponent to continue
betting his bluffs that picked up equity, such as KQ with one Club and 44
with one Club.

79

Red Chip Poker: Late Position

We also expect our opponent to bet worse Aces on the Turn for what
he perceives to be value or protection. We assume hands such as AQ and
AJ, both with and without a Club, will bet enough of time to justify a call.
There is a common misconception in poker which states: if we call the
Turn and the board does not change on the River, we must also call the
River. However, this thought process is flawed as something did change;
our opponent bet again. Even when the board does not change, we must
take a crucial factor into consideration:
We may be ahead of our opponents Turn betting range,
but yet may not be ahead of his River betting range.
If our opponents River bluffing frequency is low, it should further
sway us towards folding our marginal holdings. We must also consider how
likely our opponent is to overvalue his hand and bet. If our opponent does
not bluff often enough and will only have with the strongest of ranges
when betting the River, we should fold.
Pot: $527
Hero

Check

Starting
Stack:
$1355

More Aggressive

Check

Covers

(Hijack)

(Button)

Range:

The Seven of Diamonds does not bring in the four-flush and does not
complete any straights besides J8. It is unlikely that our opponent has any
of the offsuit combinations of J8. Therefore the available combinations of
this hand drop from sixteen to four.
On the River, we ask ourselves if our opponent would turn 76 into a
bluff. Would he also continue bluffing with hands such as 44 and KQ with
one Club? Also, we must question how often our opponent will continue to
value bet worse hands such as AQ and AJ versus checking them. If we
assume the frequency of our opponent doing either of these actions is low,
and therefore a third barrel signifies a hand better than AK a large
percentage of the time; we should fold. Vice versa, if the frequency of our
opponent doing the above actions is high than we must hold on and call, as
folding would be a mistake.
Our opponent checks back his hand and we win at showdown.
However, the thought process throughout the hand, especially the Flop
decision, is the important lesson in this chapter. Deviation from standard

80

Hands

lines will help us combat stronger more aggressive opponents, who may
otherwise cause us to make mistakes. The strategy when facing more
sophisticated players will differ from the lines we take versus a more
predictable opponent. This awareness will allow us to become a more
dynamic player and in turn avoid mistakes. Always be on the lookout for
situations where separation from the standard may be necessary for success.

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