TOP #10 - The Free Card

[wallenborn]

In general, when you have the best hand, you do not want to give opponents a free card since you are giving them a chance to outdraw you and win the pot. By the same token, when you do not have the best hand, you want to try to get a free card to get a free shot at winning the pot.

Giving a Free Card

It is almost never correct to give a free card when the pot is large. It is rarely correct to give a free card with medium-sized pots, even when you know your opponent will fold if you bet. Giving a free card is equivalent to giving a person infinite odds on that betting round. That person needs to make a zero investment for a chance to win whatever is in the pot.

The only conditions that make it incorrect to bet are the following:

[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] The pot is small in comparison to what it might be in the future and you figure to gain more in the future bets through deception.
[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] You think you can get in a check-raise.
[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] Your hand is so strong it's worth giving a free card even with a medium-sized pot.

Getting a Free Card

Getting a free card if you don't have the best hand can be very valuable. One way to achieve that is to put a small raise on an early round in the hope that everyone still in the pot will check around to you in the next round. To make this play you must be sure you will act after your opponents in the next round.

Position and the Free Card

When you check in first position, you are not giving yourself a free card; you are offering your opponent a free card. Consequently, in first position you have to bet some hands you wouldn't bet in last position.

Giving or Not Giving a Free Card With a Marginal Hand

You are frequently in a situation where you suspect you have the best hand, but you know you will be called only if you are beaten. Still, you must consider betting so that you do not give your opponent a free shot to outdraw you in the event you do have the best hand. The factors to consider when deciding to bet are:

[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] Your chances of having the best hand.
[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] The chances that your opponent will outdraw you.
[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] The size of the pot.
[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] The chances that you will outdraw our opponent.


Older threads:

TOP #1 - Beyond Beginning Poker
TOP #2 - Mathematical Expectation and Hourly Rate
TOP #3 - The Fundamental Theorem of Poker
TOP #4 - The Ante Structure
TOP #5 - Pot Odds
TOP #6 - Effective Odds
TOP #7 - Implied Odds and Reverse Implied Odds
TOP #8 - The Value of Deception
TOP #9 - Win the Big Pots Right Away

[effang]

this is more for limit isn't it???
i remember specifically in NL TAP, that giving free cards is a must in NL.

[CPHoya]

That's my exact reaction too. Giving free cards in NL is sometimes exactly correct.

For instance, if I flop top set and there are no draws on the board, I might very well check behind to encourage villain to think he's still in the hand, or to let him catch a "scare" card.

Obviously you don't give up free cards on wet boards, though. You charge for them and encourage mistakes.

[raistlinx]

[ QUOTE ]
That's my exact reaction too. Giving free cards in NL is sometimes exactly correct.

For instance, if I flop top set and there are no draws on the board, I might very well check behind to encourage villain to think he's still in the hand, or to let him catch a "scare" card.

Obviously you don't give up free cards on wet boards, though. You charge for them and encourage mistakes.

[/ QUOTE ]
Giving free cards in limit is sometimes exactly correct as well. The concept is still perfectly valid in NL and there are many situations where it would be incorrect to give someone a free card to beat you.

[wallenborn]

Sklansky makes a few assumptions here that are not always valid, especially in big pot poker.

[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] You can safely put your opponent is on a draw, i.e. guessing wrong is a FTOP mistake, but not a big one.
[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] The two main equity flows in the hand are from your drawing opponent to you until he gives up or misses the river, and from you to your opponent when the draw hits and you either fold or pay him off. All other terms are small compared to that.

Both assumptions may be wrong, and then you have to think about giving a free card.

[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] In NL, if you put your opponent on a flush draw but he actually flopped a set, you're in a lot more trouble. So you want to keep the pot small with a TP hand to defend agaisnt that. So giving one free card to a flush draw is a risk you have to take occasionally.
[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] Picking off a bluff is more lucrative in NL. So inducing one is, too.

So in NL, there are situations where you have equity terms that are bigger than what you'd give up with the free card.

[effang]

not even so complex.

1 pair hands, against most opponents, you want to control the pot. betting flop, betting turn, and check calling river, can lead to a lot of trouble.

giving them a free turn card can save you money

[volition]

What about the idea of keeping the pot small with a small hand? Like checking behind with middle/bottom pair in an attempt to just show the hand down cheaply?