Odds & Connectors

[mutiger91]

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Got to agree with the large, muscular lady. I toss 89o preflop.

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I play a lot of $1/$2 NL live. I know live plays different than online (online players are typically better). You will see a lot of multi-limped pots (7-8 callers). I usually feel pretty good about off-suit connectors in these games from late position. Even when the limp gets raised, you'll often have 3-4 callers of the raise in front of you making a call quite reasonable.

I agree that you could bleed cash in a game with good aggressive players (or with maniacs), but generally if you think you can see a cheap flop with a couple of players, connectors play well. Many live games can get more aggressive after the flop, but I find a lot of times you will be offered a good price for a draw on the flop. If the texture of the flop is really good, you can even take the lead in the betting if it gets checked to you - just make sure you aren't going to be check-raised.

I also play a lot of SNGs & MTTs and will almost always pitch this hand (99%). The exceptions are early when blinds are small relative to stacks and I have position on a couple of players I consider marks or when I have a big stack and am primarily playing my stack and intimidation rather than the cards.

[Cameron McCown]

Just a piece about some literature you can read...

Small Stakes Hold 'em: Winning Big with Expert Play

It's by Ed Miller, David Sklansky, and Mason Malmuth, and it pretty much nails what you're talking about. It's not a beginner's book teaching you the basics and stuff...it assumes you know the basics and teaches pot odds, implied odds, in-depth in position, WHY you play different things, and it's just generally the book you want to have by your side. Believe me...it's pretty much what you want to have by your side now.

A lot of times, you value hands pre-flop in terms of 3 things: Strength of the cards, suitedness, and connectedness. These give you the range of cards with a positive expected value over the long-run. You generally should have 2 of the 3 to play, even if it's not to a raise, and card strength is the dominant of these qualities. The math pre-flop isn't often as important as the simple actions of the other players. Save the majority of math for post-flop.

So by these standards, the 98o is connected, yes, but isn't suited or high. So...sometimes you've just got to fold. On that note, the button is the place to play them if you're going to play them at all. You've got to feel the table and know what players are likely to play with what cards in what position. And if you don't hit the OESD on the flop....fold to a bet, even if it's top pair (a 9 flops as highest card). A flopped 2-pair is alright.

Cameron

[KampfHase]

Thanks folks! Really helped a lot!

Cameron: I already call Small Stakes Hold'em Winning Big With Expert Play my own. It's great. However, I do understand the concepts and calculations they do in the books, but I can not yet implement the most part of it in my game because it's too much. Preflop hand selection in limit poker is no problem anymore. What I lack still is a bit of post-flop play strategy in limit poker, and also a feel for the maths in no-limit. I'm constantly learning, though. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

I read "Small Stakes..." and "No Limit Hold'em - Theory and Practice" twice and consult them now and again when special events took place where I was unsure of how to proceed.

Is there a third book that you would recommend? To make it a trilogy, so to speak...
Maybe one that covers the basics. I learned about pot odds, implied odds, drawing odds and the like mostly from the internet, so it might be wise to just have a scientific book that explains those basics in detail - ya know, just so that I can go over these concepts and make sure I got everything right. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]
Problem is, there are so many "For-the-Beginner" books out there...

Thanks again, guys. All help greatly appreciated. [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

[Cameron McCown]

Honestly, the most transparent author I've ever read on the game is Ed Miller, one of the authors of SSHE and author of the book, "Getting Started in Hold 'Em." It's a nuts-and-bolts book that relates to you as a player and gets in certain situations that you really have been in and tells you how to act in them. It's a great book.

Again, let me say that reading is the most important thing you can do while playing at limits probably lower than your bankroll allows. You're doing the right thing, and when you don't care whether you win or lose, it's probably time to move up. Just a thought. Take care.

Cameron

[thegoingoforit]

what is c betting?

[phydaux]

c-bet = continuation bet

If you raise pre-flop, and then after the flop it is checked around to you, you bet again even if the flop missed you. The idea is you are continuing the aggression you started before the flop, and there is no way for your opponents to know if the flop helped you of if you started with a big pair in the pocket.