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GOOD ARTICLE I FOUND

 

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pockett AU pockett Enthusiast
Posts: 845 		 

good article i found

Nov 19, 2006 06:55 AM. Post 1
heres a good one i found on the 2 + 2 site.


Controlling Pot Size in No Limit Cash Games


by Steve Schult Discuss This Article Magazine Home Every poker player dreams about raking in a huge pot. They want to drag in a monstrous pile of chips towards them and have a big stack in front of them. In no limit, there are plenty of big pots to be won seeing that a player’s entire stack can be bet at any time. But, there are times when a player should look to keep the size of the pot relatively small.

Controlling pot size is a strategy rarely talked about in most poker strategy books and is a key element to being a consistent winner. There are certain hands in hold ‘em that are considered very strong but are holdings that you may want to keep the pot small with if you don’t hit the flop hard. I’ve seen too many players play a hand like pocket aces hard all the way, failing to realize that if they do not improve they only have one pair. Let’s take a couple of examples to look at how controlling pot size can work in your favor. We will say that you are playing a $500 max buy in no limit game where blinds are 2-5.

You are in the cutoff and hold AcKc and have worked your stack up to $800. There are two middle position limpers who you have very little information about and both have you covered. You raise to $30. The button and the blinds fold and both limpers call, making the pot $97. The flop is Ad 9c 3s.

This seems like you hit a huge flop as you have top pair top kicker and a backdoor club draw. Both limpers check and you lead out for a little less than pot sized bet of $80. One of the limpers calls making the pot $257. Here is where controlling the pot size comes into play.

The turn card is what appears to be a complete brick; the 7h.

You have $790 left in your stack. The limper checks again. At this point you can start to narrow his range of hands. He could have a weaker ace which is very likely since he limped and then called a raise (AT, AJ, or something like an A4 suited). Or, he could have limped with a pocket pair, flopped a set and is now trying to trap you.

If you decided to bet the turn, it would have to be a bet that would define your hand. A good sized turn bet would be about $150, which may make a weaker ace fold. If you are raised, there is the likelihood of being up against a set. After the bet of $150, the pot has now climbed to $407 and you have $640 in your stack. If you are raised the bare minimum, the pot will be laying you 4.7-to-1 into a pot that is now $707 to make sure that AK is good. You are also likely to face a river bet of around $300 if not more. You are also making the assumption that if our opponent was going to check raise the turn, he is going to bet the river.

If you were to call just a minimum raise on the turn, you would be leaving $490 in your stack for the river and the pot has now grown to $857. This means that we are probably going to be faced with a decision for almost your entire stack on the river hoping that just one pair is good. Instead of betting the turn which appeared to be a complete brick, checking the turn in order to control pot size might be a wiser option. Keeping the pot small since you only have one pair will allow us to keep hands in the pot that you still have beat. If we check the turn, there will only be $257 in the pot going to the river. If you were already beat on the turn, we will lose the minimum when we just call the river. If we were ahead, we may have earned some extra money by keeping a weaker hand in there on the turn.

Assuming that the river card falls and your opponent checks to you again, you should assume that your AK is good right here and must put in a value bet. My personal opinion would be to bet about half the pot, most likely the bet that you were going to make on the turn. By checking the turn, you are more likely to make your opponent think that you are bluffing the river. You can get called by a wider range of hands thus making it a very profitable play.

Another classic example of controlling the pot size is with a hand such as a small flush.

Suppose that you are in the same $500 max no limit game and you limp in with 6d5d from middle position after an early limper. One other player limps in behind you. Let’s say this time that the game is even deeper and that you have worked your way up to $1,500 and that both of the limpers and the blinds are also around $1,000. So you see the flop 5 ways with $25 in the pot pre-flop.

The flop is

Qd 9d 2d.

You have flopped a flush. After the blinds check, the limper leads out into you with a $20 bet. Many players feel that they need to raise right away to get people off of possible hands that could beat them on the turn or the river and make a raise to somewhere around $70. We will assume that you have taken this route and raised to $70. Everybody else folds and it comes back to the original limper who calls. This leaves you with little information about where you stand. At this point he could have the nuts, a set, a draw, or just top pair, which leaves you with difficulties about what to do on the turn. The pot is now $165 heading to the turn. You still have $1,425 in your stack compared to your opponent’s $925.

Let’s say that the turn is the 3c.

You know that this card did not help your opponent but you still do not have any real idea where you stand in the hand. At this point you have to ask yourself how much money you really want to commit with a 6 high flush. You want to bet enough to get called by a hand that you can beat. But, you don’t want to be blown out of the water by a huge check raise or bet so much that you can get yourself committed to calling a big bet on the river. A check or a bet of about half the pot would both be sufficient plays. Both of these plays allow you to get called by hands that you beat and you can proceed with caution on the river. Checking the turn may allow a diamond to fall on the river. But if it did, you kept the pot small and did not lose out on a large sum of money. If your opponent was not on a draw and only had top pair or something very weak, then you kept him in the hand when he may have folded on the turn. He then may have decided that you were weaker than you actually were. As shown in these two examples, it is much easier to control the pot size when you are in position against your opponents because you always have the option to check behind them. But as we know, position is important in all aspects of poker, not just in controlling the size of the pot.

At times this strategy will allow people to outdraw you. But, in the long run, opponents won’t draw out the majority of the time. Players get caught up in protecting their hand but they forget to protect their stacks of chips in front of them.
 
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geiststaat US geiststaat Enthusiast
Posts: 895 		 

RE: good article i found

Nov 19, 2006 11:10 AM. Post 2
Good article. I came across this topic a few months back and realized that I needed to add it to my game. I have been drawn out on a time or two, but keeping the pot small has reduced my losses quite a bit. I think it applies more in raised pots, though, as these are the hands that end up with big pots after a bet on the flop (such as the AA example). The second example with the small flush...I'm much more inclined to bet the turn. I don't put out a pot bet but I'm betting something to protect my hand and if the river is a four flush, then I'll probably fold to a big bet. That pot isn't so big that I'll find myself pot committed.

Meanwhile, Pockett, my KK hand history is just sitting there...
 
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aswordfish CA aswordfish Senior member
Posts: 111 		 

RE: good article i found

Nov 30, 2006 07:40 PM. Post 3
Very good article
thanks pockett
 
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