Poker Articles

Having trouble with poker terminology? Open a new window and follow along with our poker glossary.

Ace Speaks - Playing the blinds part III:
Six-five suited
by Rolf Slotboom

In the first two parts of this series I've told you that in the big blind, I often fold hands other people would defend with, and call with hands other people would fold. A hand type I occasionally defend my blind with is the small suited connector. Contrary to what some writers will tell you, I will sometimes do this even in a heads up situation, especially if the preflop raiser is more likely to be holding two high cards than any other holding. When you are in this type of situation -playing cards that are opposed to your opponent's- you know when he is likely to have received help from the board, you know when you can therefore put pressure on him, you know how you can maximize your win when you do catch a good flop, and you will know if there's an opportunity to make your opponent lay down the best hand- by representing a hand that he cannot hold. Because of the combined chances of all this happening, defending your blind here with this type of hand might well be worth it. But don't forget the impact of the house cut here. You should be less inclined to defend your blinds in raked games than in time games, especially it it's just you and one other opponent. The rake that's being taken out of a heads-up pot will almost always turn your slightly positive expectation into a negative one- possibly even for the both of you. (This would be the case when playing low- and middle-limit poker in some of the casinos in Europe that have a very high rake).

The situation.

OK, so you're the big blind, a $20-40 hold'em game with time collection, holding six-five of hearts. A middle position player has raised, everybody has folded, and it's up to you. Now, you know that this player usually raises as the first one in with any playable hand- he just doesn't like flat-calling if no one has voluntarily entered the pot yet. Playable hands for him in this type of situation would include any hand containing two paints, and pairs sevens and up- but with aces or kings, he will often just call to induce some more calls from the players behind him who are still to act. Because you are up against a player who is a lot more likely to be holding high cards only, rather than a big pair, and because this person tends to play his hand in a rather predictable manner, there's nothing wrong with calling his raise to see the flop. If there are cards on the flop that the raiser figures to like, for instance when the flop comes with two paint cards, then you're out of there- even if you flop a six or five yourself. It is simply too likely the raiser holds a better hand than you, and there's not enough money in the pot to go chasing. But now, let's say we change the flop to...

Flop No. 1: 842 rainbow.

If your opponent holds a higher pair than the cards that are on the board, he will be very pleased to see this flop, and he will certainly bet or raise, being in a heads up situation against the big blind only. However, from a mathematical point of view he is a lot less likely to be holding a high pair than to have two big or semi-big cards. What's more, even if the raiser does have a high pair, your double belly buster straight draw will get there almost one time in three (31.5% of the time, to be precise). This means you can put a lot of pressure on your opponent to make him lay down the current best hand, because even if you are wrong, and your opponent does hold the hand he's representing, you still have a pretty good chance to beat him. This means you should probably become aggressive from the flop onward, and let the subsequent actions of your opponent dictate your best strategy from there on. Let's say you bet on the flop, he raises, you re-raise, and now he re-raises again, well, then you can be fairly sure he's got more than ace-king only. This means that from that point on you will play your hand in a passive manner, unless you make your straight, or catch a (from his perspective) scare card like a six or five. (In this case, you might go for the check-raise on the turn, to try to make him lay down the best hand once more, while still having a lot of outs if called). But if you come out betting on the flop, and your opponent just calls, with what seems like overcards only... well, then it seems only logical to fire another barrel to semi-bluff him off his hand. Remember, if he holds a hand like KQ, it will be very hard for him to call you on every street with king-high only. What's more, with two cards to come, you actually have a pretty good hand when you are up against overcards only: not only will a seven or a three give you a straight, also catching a five or six may be good enough to win the pot.

Flop No. 2: Q54 rainbow

With this type of flop, the best play is a bit less straightforward. Against people who respect your play, it might be best to simply come out betting. With this type of rainbow board a bet by you represents a queen. Now, if the raiser holds a hand like AT, AJ, KJ and maybe even AK or pairs sixes through jacks, and if he knows you don't mess around too often in situations like this, then it might be possible for you to win the pot uncontested. And if he does raise you, he is quite likely to be holding exactly the type of hand he's representing (AQ, KQ), so it should be fairly easy for you to make the right play from here.

If the raiser doesn't respect you, however, his response to your bet is a lot less reliable (he might have that same AT and raise you now), so in that case betting out would not be wise. Your options are then limited to check-fold, check-call or check-raise, based upon what you think the raiser is likely to hold. If you check, I think it is best to let your gut instincts dictate your actions from there. Because I often "feel" if someone is making a play at me, I might use this information to for instance check-call the flop and then check-raise the turn with just a pair of fives. Or, I might call the flop and then bet out on the turn, or even check-call on all streets with just one pair to give my opponent the chance to bluff off his money. Having said all this, if you don't have this feel or if you are someone who likes to convince himself your opponent is always bluffing, then playing the types of hands discussed here will actually cost your money, rather than add to your hourly rate. If you fit this description, it might be best to do what most writers would recommend in these types of situations: fold before the flop and take your loss, rather than try to battle things out in a situation that requires a lot of judgment.

Some final words

In this the first three parts of this series, I have discussed a few marginal hands, that might actually give you a profit if you play them a) well, and b) under the right circumstances. For those of you who have problems analyzing these circumstantial factors, or who don't know how to adjust their decisions to their opponent's actions, it will be best to simply avoid these types of situations- which means you should not be getting involved in the first place.