There are several reasons why a preflop raise with big closed pairs has become a standard move.
During a recent poker lesson, I asked a player named "TopToad" about his strategy in the $ 160 multi-table championship. I didn’t interfere with his game until he asked for it (this is a common tactic in my lessons). And he asked all his questions after the end of the round.
At the start of the game, he had approximately $1500. Twenty minutes of the tournament passed, the blinds were $15-30. All the players before our hero, who was in late position with two queens in his arms, folded. I was completely sure that he would raise to 90, but he surprised me indescribably by simply calling. The small blind (MB) called and the big blind (BB) checked.
The flop came A-7-3. The blinds checked, TopToad bet 100 and won without a fight. While the game was in progress, I didn't say anything, but after it was over I was able to ask the obvious question: "Why didn't you raise before the flop?"
His answer:
I pondered this situation for a long time and decided that at the beginning of a tournament with big pairs in hand it is best to hold the knights a little for the following reasons:
1. The blinds are not worth stealing. If I raise to 90 and win the blinds, my catch is only 45 bucks. On the other hand, if I just call, there is a chance that one of the blinds flop on a smaller pair and will not be able to fold, and I will be able to hit a good pot.
2. This will help brainwash my opponents. When my hand opens, my opponents will see that I have limped with a monster. And the next time the limits go up, they'll think twice before raising my rates.
My thoughts:
I knew that TopToad had come to this conclusion after thinking it over well, and therefore was not going to completely refute it. In addition, I am a big opponent of hackneyed moves and I think that you need to try to be unpredictable, so even if a certain strategy is much more attractive to me than another, I will never advise you to always stick to the only tactics in a given situation.
In this regard, I told him that if he wanted to fool his opponents a little by limping with big pairs, I have nothing against it. However, I tried to convince him that in most cases it is much better to follow proven tactics and raise the bet before the flop. And here are my counterarguments:
1. Naturally, you want to win more than just the blinds, but in my opinion this is more of an excuse to raise than to just call. Winning $ 45 is not very tempting, but this is just one of the options. It should not be ruled out that one of the blinds will be able to call your raise, thus significantly increasing the pot, but you have two queens in your hands - most likely the strongest combination at this stage. And having created a good bank, you can absolutely justifiably increase the rate every time. If your opponent has a weak pair, you can rip off a solid piece of his stack, or even take all his chips.
Let's say you limp and MB calls. Now the pot is only $ 90. Therefore, if you plan to make a bet after the flop that can be supported by a player with a weaker hand, then soberly assessing the situation, you can only bet a hundred dollars, or even less.
On the other hand, if you raise to 100 before the flop, someone with JK in hand will support her, and the flop will bring cards with jack high, you have an excellent chance to weld great. After the flop, anticipating some activity from other players, you can bet 200, and since the pot triples each time, you make a pot-sized bet, which will then be supported, and on the turn you can already bet $ 600, and probably here to get a return.
2. Moreover, your opponent will be much more attached to his hand if he calls a raise. Let's say you limp before the flop so you can make a solid bet after the flop. If your opponent has middle pair, he is likely to think: "This guy is probably bluffing, since he makes such a big bet with a sweat of only $ 90. Let him take him. I'll wait for a better moment."
Conversely, by making a pre-flop raise, you will create a pot worth fighting for. Not to mention, your opponent's pot odds are not improving in any way
... As long as you place pot-sized bets, it costs him too much to fight for the pot. But psychologically, seeing how the bank is growing, he does not want to miss it. And as the game develops, the pot grows even more, increasing his passion more and more.
3. While you want to mislead your opponents, I do not see how such a game can be justified in the future. In a normal game, this may be more sensible, as you will most likely end up with hands that you would rather limp with and would not want anyone to raise. But this is a tournament, and in tournaments it is extremely rare that there are moments when it would be worth limping. Before the flop, most of the time you should either raise or fold. So, I do not think that by deceiving your rivals, you gained any benefit.
In addition, this is an online tournament, in which, unlike tournaments in real casinos, players tend to be much less observant. In order for them to be "deceived" by your game, you need not only for your hand to reach the opening of the cards (when everyone will see these queens), but also your opponents must trace the entire game from start to finish, which obviously very few players do online poker after you fold your cards. They need to remember that you limped before the flop, and also stay at the same table with you long enough to take advantage of this information. It is not very likely that all of these conditions will be met, further diminishing the value of such deception.
4. Most importantly, you shouldn't give your opponents a chance to outbid you on the flop for free. A player in big blind with K-3 offsuit obviously won't call a raise before the flop, but if you don't make that raise and he buys another king on the flop, you will only blame yourself. And then you either have to fold your queens immediately, or lose some money before you realize that your card is beaten. Of course, you can always turn up the heat and knock these kings out of the game with a bluff, however, this situation is not easy, but it could be easily avoided with a pre-flop raise.
It’s even worse if one of the blinds has a pair of cards lower than the queens, and he is very lucky on the flop. Suppose the flop comes up 10-6-2 offsuit. Seeing him will make you want to play aggressively with your ladies. But given that there was no raise before the flop, one of the blinds could easily have something like 10-6, 10-2, or 6-2. Obviously, with such combinations, he would not support the raise, but since you gave him the opportunity to see the flop, again there is no one to blame but himself. Something that was designed to mislead other players and win more than just the blinds could end up costing you your entire stack, and simply tripling the blinds could prevent this disaster.
Conclusion
There is nothing wrong with questioning traditional poker moves. After all, someday you will be able to discover new and profitable moves. But even if you fail to do so, doubting the usual strategies, you will be able to better understand their origins. I hope this situation has reminded you and TopToad of the reasons why raising before the flop with big pairs concealed is a standard action.
Author: Matt lessinger
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