VALUE BETTING

I was playing in a full-handed 25¢/50¢ cash game recently and the following hand came up. There was a raise to $2 in seat four. I had 4♣-4♥ and just called. The guy in seat eight – a complete calling station – also called. The flop came 4♦-10♠-J♦ and the guy in seat four bet $4. I called and seat eight folded. The turn was the 9♦. Seat four thought for a bit and bet $7. I called. The river was the 2♣. He checked to me. What should I have bet at this point to extract the most value? (In reality I bottled it, convincing myself seat four had a straight or a flush and checked behind).
Darren Hardy, via email

You haven’t included the stack size of you or your opponents in this question. For the sake of argument I am going to assume that you all had deep stacks of 100 times the big blind, for example, $50. I have no problem with your call with a small pocket pair considering you have position.

However, I do have issues with your play on the flop. Although your bottom set is basically invisible; it would only warrant a slow play if the only player in the pot was seat four. With your superior position you could really make him pay to hit his draw. But you should have taken into account the fact that you have a player to act after you – a calling station no less – especially on a board which is straightening and flushing.

You needed to have raised to at least $15 and maybe even $20. Sure, the other players could have folded, but would you rather add $10 to your stack now or risk losing your entire stack because you let two players make their draws whilst you couldn’t get away from your set?

Fortunately, the calling station folded. But try to remember that we don’t want to be results-based in poker; we want to be decision-based. The 9♦ is of course an awful card for you, but I feel that your decision to call the $7 was fine. Even if you were behind you would still have nine outs to house up.

On the river, I think the check on the other player’s part showed serious weakness and it makes me think that he had a hand like A♦-J♣. At the higher stakes, players are obviously more than capable of check-raising their monster hands on the river, but at 25¢/50¢, I just can’t see many players having the ability to do the same unless they have a stone- cold read.

I would have liked to see you make a value bet of about $15 on the river. With a hand like top pair-top kicker, the other player would probably make a crying call.

HOUSE OVER HOUSE

I was playing in a $30 nine-seater sit&go last week and the following hand came up. There were five players left and I was the short-stack with 1,195 in chips. The blinds were 50/100 and I was Flopping a set of fours is great, but should you play them fast or slow? dealt 4♠-4♦ on the small blind. The player under the gun, with 3,830 chips, called. I called and the big blind – who had a chip count of 4,230 – just checked.

The flop was 8♣-4♦-5;. I checked and the big blind bet 200. The UTG player called. I raised to 600. Both players called – which wasn’t ideal – but when the turn came 8♥, I was rubbing my hands together. I checked again and the big blind made a very strange bet of 100. The UTG player called and I wasn’t sure what was going on now! I raised all-in for the rest of my 395 chips. Both players called.

The river was a horrible 5♠ and now I suspected I may be in real trouble. The big blind bet 500 and the UTG player folded. The big blind showed J♥-8♦ for a full house and dumped me out of the tournament! Should I just have moved all-in on the flop?
Phillip, via email

I think you played this hand perfectly. You put all your money in with a winning hand; in poker you can’t ask for anything else. I definitely don’t think pushing all-in on the flop would have been the correct strategy to take. The only way you would have got a call from one of the other players is if they had a big pocket pair, two pair or a higher set.

I can’t see either players calling for almost a third of their chips on the come and potentially letting the short-stack come right back into the game. So in that sense, your raise of 600 to juice the pot and make the other players pay for their draws was perfect. When you housed up, your money was destined to go in either there or on the river – you were just desperately unlucky to have the 5 pair up on the end.

ASK WILLIE!
If you’ve got any poker problems – strategy, etiquette, anything at all – Willie will be only too happy to answer your questions. Just drop him an email at WillieTann@ dennis.co.uk or post to Willie Tann, Poker Clinic, InsidePoker, Dennis Publishing, 30 Cleveland St, London, W1T 4JD. Letters may be edited for length.