An Example of a Position Play in No Limit Holdem
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Tuesday, February 26, 2008
By Mike Cuneo
PartTime Poker
I was recently playing in a NL cash game with blinds of $1 and $2, with a max buy in of $100. Since everyone came in relatively short stacked (50x the big blind is considered short), I decided to keep my play tight and straightforward for the most part, making very few moves and only entering the pot with hands that had some decent showdown value. After remaining almost even through the first few hours, I picked up pocket 6s and called a raise from UTG, ended up hitting a set on a board of A 6 5 and took down a nice pot vs. AQ offsuit. I continued to play tightly, until I picked up JT offsuit on the button. This article describes how and why I made a play with this marginal hand and how the concepts can be applied to position and its importance in NL hold em cash games.
As I said above, I picked up JT offsuit on the button in a full ring game. The player to my right (cutoff seat) was someone who I have a fairly solid read on through hours and hours of playing with him in all forms of poker, mainly NL cash games and tournaments. There were a few limpers to the player to my right, who also limped in. I analyzed the situation in my head. The players in this game were prone to limp with almost anything from any position, including small pairs, most suited hands, offsuit connectors, and sometimes even monsters such as KK or AA. Once two or three players limp in, it encourages almost everyone to try and see a cheap flop with hands as weak as 45o or T5s. Since there were three limpers to the cutoff, he decided to limp with what I thought was a weak holding such as T9o. Since I had the button I decided to raise it to $17 total. I feel this play had several benefits that might not be so obvious at first glance. First of all, if I could fold everyone (including the blinds), I could pick up $11 without a flop. I thought this scenario was quite likely, given the fact that no one had showed any strength. However, even if I got a caller or two, I was still OK. I could flop a hand such as top pair with a good kicker that would probably be best, and I felt that I could steal the pot with another bet if I completely missed the flop and it was checked to me. If anyone (especially from early position) who limped in happened to reraise me preflop, I was done with the hand.
Much to my delight (although I would have been a lot happier had everyone just folded), it was folded around to the cutoff who reluctantly called. This strengthened my read of his hand and I still put him somewhere around T9o. I could almost completely rule out a monster or something like AK or AQ, because given his play, he would have came back over the top with a massive reraise. The flop came down K 4 3 rainbow. The cutoff was first to act and checked to me, and I fired out a $25 bet. Looking down at his cards and back at me, the cutoff muttered that he knew I was bluffing but he couldn't call. He flipped up QTo and threw it into the muck. I showed my hand, the dominated JTo, to hopefully put him on tilt a bit and to also give him the false impression that I would only be betting without the goods.
I feel like I played the hand pretty well because I had a clearly defined plan at all stages. Preflop, if anyone had showed tons of aggression then I could safely fold my hand. On the flop, if it was checked to me I planned on betting something close to the pot. If called, I planned to slow down on the turn unless I improved to something such as two pair. I felt I had a very good chance of winning the hand when just the cutoff called because I was putting extreme pressure on him to hit the flop. With a hand such as QT he will make a pair or good draw about 35% of the time. Most of the other times he will be folding. I like having those odds in my favor, and because of the solid read I had (built up through hours upon hours of playing with him, discussing hands, and watching him play) I figured he had a holding that was about 2 to 1 to connect with the flop. Since he missed the flop, I took it down rather easily.
When trying to make plays such as this one in a NL cash game, remember the points I have laid out above. If your hand is marginal, only try a play such as this one when you show the first sign of aggression, and be prepared to give up when someone wakes up with what looks like a hidden monster. Also, position is of paramount importance when making plays such as this. If I was UTG or in middle position, I would have probably limped in with the JT, but it's also about 50-50 that I would fold it. There really isn't a reason to get involved with a mediocre hand such as JT offsuit in a game with such short stacks, unless there are special circumstances
