How Could I Play This Differently? #1a

*It’s funny how reading good literature motivates me to write. Perhaps that is why my posting has been lacking lately. I haven’t been reading a whole lot I find to be really good. Or to be more specific, I haven’t been reading a lot of theoretical poker that has been terrific. That has changed with the arrival of Bill Chen’s The Mathematics of Poker.*

I played a little earlier today and admittedly I played very poorly. However, let’s take a look at one hand I played particularly poorly. (Yes I'm stealing the terrific format from Card Squad.)

I am playing in a 9-handed 5 cent 10 cent No Limit Hold’em game at Bodog. UTG calls. The next guy raises to $0.30, three times the big blind. I call with pocket fives. It’s folded around to the blinds. They both call as does the original limper.

How could I have played this differently (a.k.a. better)?

My stance is that I played it just fine. I find three points to justify my play.

1. At the stakes I am playing, I don’t need to build the pot pre-flop with a set because it’s fairly easy to convince opposing players to get all their money in after the flop.
2. A re-raise probably wouldn’t push many players out.
3. If the original raiser has me dominated with a monster pair, he will most likely re-raise my re-raise and I would be forced to fold. Alternatively, if I just call and flop a set, it will be relatively difficult for him to get rid of that monster pair and I stand to make a lot of dough.

I discussed this hand with Jamin also. I think I got a few of the details wrong but in general his thoughts should be applicable. (J, feel free to edit this or correct me if you disagree with what I am attributing to you.) Since I’m providing his point of view, J obviously thought I should have played it a little differently. He felt I should have re-raised pre-flop for the following reasons:

1. You only hit your set something like 1 in 7.5 tries so most of the time you have nothing. However, if you re-raised, your opponent will be more likely give you credit for a big hand and you will have the chance to take down the pot with a continuation bet.
2. You are building the pot. If you do hit a set, it will be more likely for top pair to pay you off because the pot is so big. Also, you will have some image equity if no ace or king hits. Opponents will likely think you raised with high cards, think you are trying to steal a good pot with a continuation bet and come over the top against you.
3. You don’t have very much information about the other player’s holdings. The original raiser probably has something decent but the other players could be holding anything. If you re-raise you will learn where you’re at and get away from the hand if you are re-raised.
4. Being in late position, you have a chance to steal and take down the pot immediately. All except the best starting hands or the donkiest-donkeys would have to fold and often you would take down a decent pre-flop pot.
5. Even if you are unable to steal the entire pot, re-raising from late position will often allow you to steal the button. The cutoff or the button might call the $.30 with a hand such as King-Ten offsuit or Queen-Nine suited. But they are less likely to call $1 with such holdings. By re-raising, you are forcing them out -- so that even if the early-position limpers stick around, you have put yourself in position of being last to act on the later betting rounds. Having position on your opponents is one of the fundamental keys to winning in Hold 'Em.
   

Tomorrow I’ll discuss the flop.