NLHE playing Middle Pair

[CCCP]

I am a tight player, but need to be more aggressive. One of the areas I really need to improve on is that a lot of times I will check-call when I hit middle pair. Maybe you guys can help me out - here is a typical situation I find myself in.

Small stakes tourney.
Say everyone has roughly 1500 in chips. Lots of loose players, and you have no info on your opponents yet.

You get A9o in the BB.
two limpers, and the SB call, you check. BB is 100

(pot 400)
Flop comes K94, rainbow.
you bet 100, one limper calls, the other limper and SB fold.

Now, being a low stakes game, you can't really put your opponent on a hand yet. Assume they are equally likely to call you with any of these hands: any Ace, any King, QJ-Q8, JT-J8,T9-T8, 98-97, 87.

Now 2 considerations....
pot(600)
Turn comes a blank. Do you fire again, or check? I probably bet 100 again, and hope they fold. If they call, I check the river, unless i hit another 9, or the Ace. If they call the turn, and then bet the river, I probably fold.

OR
pot(600)
Turn comes a Q or J. Do you fire again, or check? Here I probably check. When they bet, I most likely fold now. If they check, I bet again on the river, no matter what comes.



How would you guys play this?

[Unknown Soldier]

That's an interesting situation, firstly I would check the flop if I'm 1st to act with 3 players in front of me.

The call indicates he has something; either a draw (QJ, QT, JT, J8) or a K or a 9 he didnt raise so he probably doesnt have KQ or KJ obviously you are worried about any K or 44

now with the blank turn probably didnt help his hand, however he's not gonna go away that easily (to your 100 bet) he didnt on the flop. So I would check and see what he does however In my opinion you probably have the best hand atm. Just ask yourself these 2 questions when contemplating a raise on the turn:

1: is he likely to fold a hand that beats me? in this case I'd say no

2: is he likely to call with a hand worse then mine? In this case yes a weaker 9, a straight draw.

If both are no then check, if both are yes then bet. However this is a y/n situation so you have to look at other factors; mainly that your hand isnt that big so keep the pot small

In the second situation, deffiantely check this card has probably helped his hand and you are probably losing so check and fold to a med bet from him

[DCWildcat]

Pot is getting way big on the turn, so you could check for control. Betting 100 probably invites more of a bluff than not betting.

[alphatmw]

why are you constantly underbetting the pot? what purpose does it serve?

[Galwegian]

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why are you constantly underbetting the pot? what purpose does it serve?


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I think that the t100 flop bet serves a purpose. Its a probe bet to see if anyone has something. I think I would check the turn here. Its a marginal hand and there is no need to get desperate with an average size stack. I'd fold to a bet on the turn but might call a small bet on the river to keep him honest. Agrression is good but I don't think you need to risk half your stack in a very marginal situation.

[slcseas]

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why are you constantly underbetting the pot? what purpose does it serve?


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I think that the t100 flop bet serves a purpose.

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I would pick off this bet with a pot sized raise 9 times out of 10, it looks like a scared bet. If you really wan't a definition of somebody's hand, you need to 1/2 pot at minimum. Also, any draw is correct to call getting 4:1 on the flop.

[slcseas]

First off don't confuse playing loose with playing aggressively. In this example, betting 100 into a 400 pot is isn't aggressive, it's actually very passive, just a loose bet.

Next, betting second pair out of postion into multiple opponents isn't as much aggressive as it is foolish. Aggression is better rewarded in late position.

My $.02:

Betting 100 into a 400 pot basically advertises to everybody you have marginal hand. Anybody who had a King in this spot is going to try to drive people out with a larger bet. You are better off checking the flop here usually. You should bet out occasionally to mix up your play, but when you do it should be at least half the pot. Getting 4:1 like in this example, any draw is correct to call. And every call thereafter just induces more action behind you as the pot size grows. It's ok to check/fold this flop because more than likely somebody limped with King.

A better example of play when you can bet middle pair like this is with a safer flop. Same scenario, but you have A7 on a flop of 972 rainbow. Make a good sized bet here and you are likely to have a much better result.

[CCCP]

Thanks, guys.

For clarification, the intentions of the flop bet would indeed be a feeler bet. At the low stakes tourneys, players are constantly limping with any two suited cards, junk (Q6 ish), and low Aces. A min bet on the flop usually succeeds in forcing half of them out.