Poker Articles

The Bread and Butter Situations

by Tommy Angelo

I have a book coming out in August called "Elements of Poker." The excerpts below are from a section called "Limit Hold'em."

 

115. The Bread and Butter Situations (limit hold'em)

The betting before the flop just ended. Then comes that little pause. Right before the flop is flopped. It's the ready-set-go part of the hand. Sometimes, in that suspended space, I get a feeling of: This is why I came. This is why I showed up to play poker today, just so that I could get myself into exactly the spot I am in right now. Long ago, I started to think of these situations - the ones that made me feel like I was making money just by being in them - as my bread and butter.

I looked for patterns within the parameters. I wanted to know where my bread and butter came from so that I would never go hungry. Here's what I came up with:

• I am last to act.
• I was the last raiser before the flop.
• The pot is headsup or threeway.

When all three of those conditions are met, and the flop is coming, my bread is buttered. Let's look closer:

All fold to me on the button. I raise. This will usually result in an immediate win or a bread and butter situation. The only exception is when one of the blinds reraises and I just call.

I am in the big blind. Everyone folds to the small blind. If he limps and I raise and he calls, that's a B&B for me. If he raises and I reraise and he calls, that too is a B&B for me.

I have the button. One player limps. If I raise, this will result in a B&B for me whenever one or both blinds fold and no one reraises. I have the button. Two players limp. The big blind is known to never fold his big blind before the flop to a single raise. There is no chance for a B&B this hand. Too many players.

I am in any seat but the blinds. One player raises. It's my turn. If I reraise, I could end up in a B&B. If I call, I definitely won't.

I am in the big blind. Everyone folds to the button who raises. The small blind folds. If I fold, I deny the button his B&B.

If it's true that I make money by being in B&B situations more often than my opponents, then that would explain why I have always done so much better (in dollars/hour) in shorthanded games than in full games. Shorthanded games provide more opportunities per hour to create bread and butter situations, and more opportunities to avoid being in theirs.

There's an add-on to this. I call it a "late-blooming bread and butter situation." Let's say I raise before the flop, one player calls behind me, and both blinds call. The pot is four-handed and I am next to last to act. This is not a bread and butter situation, but it will bloom into one if I bet or raise on the flop and the player behind me folds. Let's say the small blind bets out on the flop and the big blind folds. I will almost never call here. I will either fold or raise. That's because if I am willing to call one bet, then for the cost of just one additional bet, I can raise, and give myself the maximum chance of getting the player behind me to fold. And that is more important than anything because if he folds, then I take over the lead on this hand. I am now last to act, last aggressor, with the turn and river coming. Those are the three conditions of a late-blooming B&B.

Your next question might be "Okay, I got myself into one of these bread and butter situations. Now what?"

That is an excellent and proper question. And here is my excellent and proper answer.

How the heck should I know? I don't know who you are, I don't know who your opponents are, I don't know what your cards are, and I don't know what the flop is. I have brought you to a banquet. You have to feed yourself.

116. Open-Raising and Open-Limping (limit hold'em)

The only time I open-limp playing limit hold'em is if the game is very loose and very passive before the flop and I have a small pocket pair. Otherwise, if no one else is in the pot yet, I either raise or fold. Four of the reasons are:

• Whenever I openraise, I might win the pot before the flop, or I might end up in a bread and butter situation.Whenever I openlimp, I will never win the pot without a flop, and I will never be in a bread and butter situation.
• When I openlimp, I invite others to bread and butter me and I end up toasted.
• If I always open with a raise, it is harder to put me on a hand than if I sometimes limp and sometimes raise.
• Players who always raise at limit hold'em earn one of two images: reckless or dangerous. When a player who always raises plays many hands, he is reckless. When a player who always raises plays few hands, he is dangerous.

117. Suitedness (limit hold'em)

When should suitedness tip the scales between playing a hand and folding it at limit hold'em? In other words, when does the difference between K9s and K9o, or 87s and 87o, or A2s and A2o, make a difference?

When I play, I draw the line at the last three seats: the button, cutoff, and hijack. From those positions, the difference between suited and unsuited can be big enough to turn a fold into a raise or call. From the other positions, it never is. I am suit blind before the flop from early position and from the blinds. I see only the number of spots on the cards, not their shape.

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About the Author:

Tommy Angelo has written a book called "Elements of Poker" in which he shares hundreds of his very best ideas in a manner intended to amuse, inform, inspire, and enlighten. You can read many excerpts from EOP at Tommy's website: www.tommyangelo.com. And you can order personally inscribed copies there. Elements of Poker is also available at amazon.com.