for the low-limit games, how much is entrance fee (if there is one) and how much are blind bets typically? is it just 1 blind or do they have big and small blind? and how much is the rake?
Here’s a guess from an admitted beginner…You raise it preflop in a 1/2 NL game to $10 with A,Q and everyone folds except one person who calls.
On the Flop a Kh, 8s, 5d comes out. The person who called you is first to act and bets $15. What do you do in this situation and why?
Assume for argument's sake that you don't know how the player plays since you've only been at the table for a little while.
You raise it preflop in a 1/2 NL game to $10 with A,Q and everyone folds except one person who calls.
On the Flop a Kh, 8s, 5d comes out. The person who called you is first to act and bets $15. What do you do in this situation and why?
The correct answer is to raise him. Before you all vigorously argue against this.. Here's why.
You bet preflop and he called you. The odds of him having a pair of kings after the flop are roughly around 6.5% if my memory serves me correct. Given this, he is most likely trying to steal the pot. Even if he did have a pair of kings, most players would not bet it in that situation. They might bet a lower pair but if you raise them, they have to put you on a pair of kings or better than their lower pair, after all u did bet preflop. If he had pocket aces, he would almost certainly not bet you since there is nothing on the board to scare him especially with only one other person in the hand. By reraising him, I would estimate you will get him to fold the vast majority of the time. If he doesn't fold, then you know you're screwed and you will probably check or fold the whole way down unless you get an ace or feel that you can represent a better hand with bluffing.
While you may be risking an additional $30 to reraise him, it's worth it considering that if you do win, you'll get at least $33 back not including rake. If you lose, you've lost $45. Therefore you need at least a 64% chance of winning to justify the pot odds. In this scenario, I believe your odds of winning if you reraise him are better than 64% since very very few people would call that reraise without having a pair of kings or better.
You bet preflop and he called you. The odds of him having a pair of kings after the flop are roughly around 6.5%
Thunder said:While you may be risking an additional $30 to reraise him, it's worth it considering that if you do win, you'll get at least $33 back not including rake. If you lose, you've lost $45. Therefore you need at least a 64% chance of winning to justify the pot odds. In this scenario, I believe your odds of winning if you reraise him are better than 64% since very very few people would call that reraise without having a pair of kings or better.
Your opponent does not have a random hand, and there will be more betting.
This is where your argument goes awry. Once you have a read or someone has bet, you can no longer use strict probabilities - you must use conditional probabilities.
The probability of someone being dealt AA before the flop is about 1%. But once you start gathering information, the probability of someone having AA is no longer 1%. Perhaps they have a tell whenever they have a premium hand (e.g. their hand shakes), or perhaps they have a specific betting pattern (e.g. 5x BB = AA). Either way, the probability of them having AA might be 0%, or it might be 100% - the probability that they were dealt AA is no longer relevant.
There is no way to say that the odds of him having a pair of kings after the flop are around 6.5% unless you've got some great information about his betting pattern.
Are you serious? This is horrendous math.
Let's look at a simple model.
(1) Opponent folds immediately. Payout = +10+15 = +25
(2) Opponent calls. Payout = P(win)*(10+30)-P(lose)*(10+30)
(3) Opponent reraises, you fold. Payout = -10-30 = -40
If you assume the other player has a random hand and neither of you bet on the turn or river, then P(win) = .52, and the EV of this move is simply:
EV = P(folds)*25+P(calls)*1.6-P(reraise)*40
The probability of him folding has to be about 42/65, or 65%, for this to work. I believe this is the number that you're calculating, but look at the assumptions - your opponent has to have a RANDOM hand and there can be no further betting.
Your opponent does not have a random hand, and there will be more betting.
Check my answer above in the thread, if you put the opponent on a hand range you are beat and need a miracle card.
But suppose it is a completely random hand?
How many random hands have Kings, Eights, or Fives in them? Sometimes you randomly get dealt AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, 99, 88, 77, 66, 55, 44, 33, 22 too.
Most of these hands reduce your chance of winning to 6 outs (you need 3:1 odds to call a flop bet) or even 3 outs if he randomly has a King (you need 8:1 odds to call a flop bet).
You aren't even getting 1:1 odds on calling that flop bet -- fold -- if someone is calling big preflop bets and then making big bluff bets -- you will have plenty of better chances to take all his chips.
This question is about playing the blinds in Limit Hold’em…
If I’m in either of the blinds, and someone raises, I’ve been routinely folding unless I have really good cards. Tonight someone tried to convince me that at a certain point the pot odds, and I believe he mentioned 6 to 1, justify calling to see the flop no matter what hand I have. Is this true? Any comments on this would be welcome.
I thought as a beginner I should start at the bottom, so I’ve been playing 2/4. I read somewhere that you’re supposed to start at the bottom and work your way up.Just out of curiosity, what limit did you decide to start at?