I have found this move to be a little risky, but it has been profitable as of
late..Wanted to share it and see if I am just being a kamakazie or truly trying to "outplay" someone.

Playing 3/6 NL the players are pretty crafty and aware of their positions. Lately I have def.. seen an increase in players raising from the button.

Rather than just giving way I have been calling with marginal hands but more than likely two live cards and in some cases maybe the best hand. But here's a trend I've seen.

Six man table I am in little blind everyone folds BB raises it to 18 or 21. I have J 9 suited...sometimes worse....I am out of postion...don't have a big hand everyone might scream fold..but as Doyle puts it..in NL you gotta gamble. So I call and BB typically folds.....

Now sometimes yeah you flop huge but how about when the flop comes Q 9 3 rainbow or maybe a Q82 giving you a longshot gutshot... If you bet you are likely to get raised as people have ego's on the button and in this case do you really wanna call the raise...But I have found if you check they almost always will bet the pot...as most of us would but I have been calling the pot bet a lot lately sometimes with mid pair sometimes on that four outer sometimes with nothing and my call is almost a semi bluff in a way...Typically, 85% of the time I am getting a free river card just by calling the flop and if no Jack or higher hits (or four to flush...nothing too scary)whether I have paired or not if they gave me the free river look - I come out swinging.. I don't bet the pot as the tab is too easy to chose in this case I may bet around 60-80 bucks almost as a I wanna get paid bet and as a result I am taking down a lot of pots........

Obvioulsy if I check turn and they bet again and I have nothing this move is bunk and I have donated about sixty bucks.....but out of 4 times being in this scenario I am taking the pot down 75% of the time...

Am I playing risky or playing poker?

The Calling Bluff

I wouldn't recommend doing it out of position, though. When you're in position, you can put the pressure on your opponent a lot easier.

Here's a perfect example:
Villain raises with KQ, you call on the button with J9 suited.
Flop comes QAx.
Villain bets, for whatever reason you suspect he is weak and call.
Turn is a blank and the villain checks.

Here's where you can exploit the weakness he has shown by putting in a nice sized pot bet. If the villain happens to call it and the river is another blank, you can then fire off another pot sized bet and the villain is going to have a hell of a time calling it.

Now let's say the villain is on the button with KQ and you're in the BB with J9.
Flop comes QAx.
You check to the villain, he bets and again, suspecting that he is weak, you call.
Turn is a blank and here is where it becomes difficult. Do you bet out? Are you sure the villain is weak and will fold? The best thing to do would be to check to the villain and see what he does.
You check and the villain checks.
River is another blank. Now you could bet out to try and take the pot but is the villain really going to fold? He just has to call 1 bet and not worry about any future betting. You haven't shown any strength up until this point so there is no reason to believe that his pair of Qs aren't good.



So if I suspect weakness and I'm out of position, I'm going to try the check/raise bluff on the flop. If I suspect weakness but have position then occasionally I will try the bluff call.

[QUOTE Villain raises with KQ, you call on the button with J9 suited.
Flop comes QAx.
Villain bets, for whatever reason you suspect he is weak and call.
Turn is a blank and the villain checks.
[/QUOTE]

Actually if two big cards hit flop I will typically check fold...the move is not worth the chance. I will only attempt this when** only one if any face cards hit flop and never when an ace hits.....Very likely he may have raised with Ace crap off suit and a lot of bad players will ride ace bad kicker to the poor house so bluffing them out....

Only one face card hits I check he bets pot, I call...If he hasn't hit he is like #@$% I'm beat..If he has hit TP he will bet turn and if he has the balls to bet with nothing more power too him, ...but typically if they have not hit that sole face card on board and I called bet...most of them assume I have...

Of course notes and player history will help on whether or not they will trap..but let's say you had KQ and raised PF and flop is Q93 rainbow you bet pot and guy calls-- turn is a blank he checks you will typically bet again...few players will check not giving a J10 a free river therefore I know it's time to get away...

I think a lot of times we make a mistake of assuming the button at 3/6 NL actually has anything at all and both my cards are still live and Jack high might even be good....

But to your point, if two big ones hit I don't think I have the balls yet to make a move....

The one big down side to this play is being exposed to a bear trap on the turn, but once again I think most players will bet it.

I have been re raised on river doing this and just folded..but that has only happened about 1 in 15 times.

So do you think have been lucky just not running into A)big hands B) good players who will fire another bullet C) Trappers and eventually the math on this will not work out?

As it is today -in the course of let's say 16 hands. The re raise on river costs me 140 which happens once that often
Four times they bet turn and I fold costs me 240 So the move has me down 380........but the 11 other times I take 60 a pop = 660 total net =$280

Will this drop eventually or stay with it?

But to your point, if two big ones hit I don't think I have the balls yet to make a move....

You're taking my example too literally. I was only using it as a way to make a point, not to show you what boards you should or should not be making this move on.

It's a lot easier to pull this off when you have position because you can apply pressure to your opponent on the turn AND river (if it gets there.) If you're out of position, you will probably only be able to apply pressure on the river when the turn goes check/check. And I can tell you right now, if you check/call the flop and the turn goes check/check, any river bet you make has a pretty high chance of getting called if your opponent has any kind of hand at all.

I gotcha yeah position is everything I agree 100%

And you are right...I have been called with even with AK on my river bet or a lower PP and thankfully it was below my mid pair of nines or whatever I had.

But these crazy asses at 3/6 NL man. They love to raise PF from the button with no limpers...always bet the pot off flop and seriously will fold to a bet on turn or river....I guy once called my bet on river with my mid pair beating his 62 off suit ****he had paired his deuce....

I don't know...maybe I should avoid doing anything fancy out of position, however, it seems like.....well at least for now(maybe just running lucky not running into monsters)..........even being out of position..there is a chance to out play or win some money consistantly from these aggressors.....playing cookie cutter poker from the button...

Such a fun game though....It's like a chess match.......

in the short run this may work, but you don't want to be a "calling station"

in long run it will definitly fail

Originally Posted by hotsportslinks

in the short run this may work, but you don't want to be a "calling station"

in long run it will definitly fail

I think you're wrong to generalize like that.

Sometimes you can get enough of a read on your opponent to regularly sniff out weakness in his raises. In these cases, you'll either take a lot of his money or he'll stop pushing on you with marginal hands. Either way, you're better off.

When you can't get an accurate read on a player, then I agree it's probably a losing strategy to come out firing against every "steal" attempt.