My Pooh-Bah post (C/R vs. b/3b)

[JackAll]

Great post DB. Exactly what I needed to know.

Cheers.

[Pokey]

Even if this is the only "Pooh-Bah post" that my suggestion produces, then it was still well worth it. Terrific post.

I have one thing I'd like to mention: you astutely pointed out that the b/3b line suffers from the drawback of a smooth call making for very difficult turn decisions. I'd say this is a good reason to pitch your original bet at the appropriate size. Ideally, your first bet looks "scared," so that your opponent senses weakness and pounces. Obviously, the size of a "scared" bet depends on your image and your opponent's perceptions, but under normal circumstances a 1/3- to 1/2-pot sized bet should stink of fear, and seems much more likely to induce a reraise than a 3/4- to full-pot bet. Clearly, if you ALWAYS bet small to induce a bluff and ALWAYS bet big to show strength, you're going to run into problems, but I'd say that the size of your first bet is a factor worth contemplating.

[mikechops]

Another big consideration in choosing between the two lines is the texture of the board. This will determine how likely you are to get a chance to 3-bet.

Say you hold 44 and check-called a raise from a standard villain. The flop comes 249 rainbow. Unless you can put the villain on an overpair, he isn't going to raise. At best he will call a weak bet. I'd check raise here because you are more likely to make money from CBs.

However, if the flop is 4QA two-tone. There is a greater chance the flop hit him and he will be worried about a flush draw. I b3b here.

[Dan Bitel]

mike,

IMO, you C/R on the 249r board condradics dbitel's rule for C/R. The problem being that a C/R will scare off villain too often

[mikechops]

[ QUOTE ]
mike,

IMO, you C/R on the 249r board condradics dbitel's rule for C/R. The problem being that a C/R will scare off villain too often

[/ QUOTE ]

Depends on villain (obviously!). I was assuming you could rule out A9 or worse from his pre-flop raising range.

In general, if he has an overpair, he's going to call. If he doesn't, you weren't going to make much out of him anyway.

[Dan Bitel]

mike,

while this might be true, I hate to take any line that makes it easier for villain to fold his overpair. Personally, I think a c/c flop and lead turn line ehre isn't bad

[mikechops]

Maybe my examples weren't the best. My basic point is that in addition the other considerations you mention, the texture of the flop is important. After all, you can't 3-bet unless someone raises. That doesn't usually happen unless someone has a hand.

[DaSpade]

Good post.

[checkraiseTHIS]

Could you give an example of playing a drawing hand correctly? I don't understand how to get fold equity from my draw. Would this fold equity be feasible if you play LAG most of the time?

[solvine]

One thing about this post - he copied it out of a book!