Big and multi-pots

In this article, we will pay attention to situations when you make a very good combination on the flop, and the pot is either already large enough, or a large number of players are competing for it. This kind of pot is called a multi-pot, and it refers to situations where a) four or more players are competing for the pot at a certain moment, or b) the pot already consists of nine or more small bets.

But before that, you need to understand that the size of the pot, along with the level of play of opponents, is the defining moment when a skillful player plays a particular hand. If, for example, experienced player A Aand the flop comes K 8 3, then he will play this hand differently, depending on whether the pot is large or small, and also on how many players are currently playing for this pot. Why is this so, you may wonder. Here's an example to explain:

Suppose you have two red aces in your hand, and the flop shows the same cards, that is, K 8 3... And also imagine that even before the flop, one player put ten hundred bills into the pot, and then left the game, giving you and your opponents the opportunity to fight for them. In such situations, you can only have one goal: to get as many players out of the fight as possible. The more players you "neutralize", the more chances you have to rake in a huge pot. Note that in addition, none of the players can "pull dead", because even the most terrible hand, like 7 2, you can buy two pair on the turn and river, just like a simple straight. When the sweat is so great, you don't have to worry about increasing it; your goal is to win it as quickly as possible.

And having set a goal for yourself - and a big sweat at a certain moment dictates it to you - you must decide how to achieve it. Usually, you have two opportunities to get what you want: a) invest as much money as possible in the pot, hoping that your confident play will deprive others of the desire to continue, or b) play slowplay with the intention of actively participating in the game after the turn, when the bets double. Below we give a few examples of when to use one or another option.

Example 1

You're in middle position with K K on hands. The first player calls, the second does the same. Everyone else folds between the second caller and you and you raise. Two players behind you support your bet with a cold call, the small blind folds, the big blind calls, and those two support the bet again. The flop comes six players and the pot is already 12.5 small bets. The flop brings Q 8 3... The first two players check, you bet, the two players behind you just call. The big blind folds, the next one does, and the next one who called before the flop check-raises. What should you do?

Answer: re-raise. It seems stupid, but after carefully analyzing the situation, one can come to the conclusion that if the game had developed a little differently at this point, it would be possible now with all confidence to just call, in order to raise the rate after the turn following the rate of the current check -raiser. First, there are two more players behind you who have not shown the strength of their hand in any way, have not said their word in this round of betting. Having made the third bet, you will be able to withdraw one (and maybe even two) from the game, thereby continuing the game for a pot consisting of 20.5 small bets, heads-up with the player whom you have most likely beaten. Secondly, the flop leaves no chance for an unfinished flush, which means that none of your opponents will willingly pay two more bets in order to continue. If the flop came Q 8 3, you might have concerns that someone might have two closed spades. In this case, you would simply call the raise, and then, if the third spades hadn't appeared on the board, you would have raised the turn.

When deciding whether to raise or not raise the rate at a certain stage of the game, you must first of all try to answer the following question: "Is it very likely that my opponents will fold if I play aggressively?"b. And the higher this probability, the more often you need to raise the rate.

Example 2

You are on the button and you have A in your hands A... The two players in middle position call, the player to your right raises, you make the third bet, both blinds fold, the two players in the middle call, and the one on the right caps the round with the fourth bet. Everyone calls. Six players added a pot of 24 small bets before the flop. The flop comes J 9 6... Everyone checks except the player to your right who bets. What should you do?

Answer: Call and raise after the turn. And the key points of this game are as follows: first, the player to your right caps the round before the flop and thus makes you think that he has top pair. This way, you can be sure that he will bet again if you just support the postflop bet, which will give you the opportunity to raise later. Second, and very importantly, there aren't many hands that your opponent would continue with after one bet, but fold after two. This is another argument against raising. If the flop were less coordinated, you might still think about raising, because in that case, many of your opponents would have hands with which they would support one bet, but not two. But not with this flop. He is quite coordinated, and hands that you would like to take out of the game are like A 9 or 5 7 - won't fold because of two bets. Remember, sweat is enormous. Anyone who hits something on the flop will draw to the turn no matter how weak their hand is. But by waiting for a raise to raise your bet, you can force your opponents who are not willing to back down to support two big bets with cold calls. Thus, playing aggressively after the flop will not exclude anyone from the fight, but after the turn you may well succeed.

Of course, there is a chance that someone who folds on the flop after two bets will buy a stronger hand on the turn. But sometimes you just have to take the risk. If you have two options: a) play your hand so that 90% opponents will see the turn, but only 20% of them will see the river, and b) play your hand so that 60% players will see both the turn and the river, then you must choose the option " a".

As usual in poker, it is very difficult to make the right decision every time. Even professionals make mistakes. But if you remember your goal and understand what style of play will make your opponents pass the fastest, then you make the right decisions much more often than the wrong ones.