EigenDecomposition

This little ditty, can be used in a variety of circumstances to bring down the poker pot without having to go into the show down.

You set this up usually when you have a strong poker hand. We’ll say you KQ suited. The table checks to you, you raise 3x the pot. The limper calls.

Flop comes 7,8,J, rainbow. Your online poker opponent checks. Now you have a prime opportunity to place a continuation bet. Since you bet to begin with, you almost have an obligation to follow up. Besides, not doing so, shows weakness.

But the question you need to ask, is how much do you bet. Well the flop is not a dangerous one by any means. You should worry about 9, 10, and possibly J,X, or an A, but overall you’re covered, and you do have high cards here. With your opponent limping in, he’s probably not sitting with high cards.

So you thrown in a bet based on his stack, and what you may know about him. Is he aggressive? If yes, you’ll have to make it near impossible for him to call and it be a good call. If not, you can usually suffice by betting half of the pot. On really loose, opponents, you’ll want to make a bet of 2-3x the pot or more. Remember, you’re putting the pressure on him to make the call, and hold him responsible for it if it’s a bad one.

So you bet the pot. He calls again. This should be your second sign of his weakness, had he been beating you here, he would want to raise you. Turn comes and it’s a Q. Now you’re sitting great. This is the second part of your continuation bet, and you can use it one of two ways. You can lure him in with a bet that will make him call on sheer pot odds, or you can again try to force him away with a large bet.

I tend to go with the large bet most of the time, because of the simple fact that many players will see themselves as pot committed anyway, and will call regardless of if it’s a good or bad call. This merely insures you against those who will try to suck out regardless of the odds.

But if you have a made hand, say a flush or trips (sometimes) or some other monster, then by all means, extort a little more out of him.

In this case, I’d bet about 3-4x the pot. The second continuation bet. This should make him go away. Unless, he’s been bluffing weak the whole time, and decides to reraise you or go all in. In that case, the hand is at your discretion.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 29th, 2008 at 1:03 pm and is filed under Gambling, The Funny Farm, Web Of Games. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.