How can a small stack react to the bullying of a big stack, and under what conditions? Here Player A has the smallest stack in the table, and B the biggest one. (B had at least six times the stack of A.) Player A could move all-in with what he had, but see how well he did it.

BLINDS 100k/200k

PREFLOP:

• A has Ad-Qd raise to 550k
• B is on big blind, has 7d-7c, calls for 350k (Pot 1.41m)

Why didn’t B try to push A all-in here? A might fold, and he may not want to blow up his big stack yet.

What if A has J-J or above? Then A would be harder to kick out of the pot. B could put A on big cards, and he will be right if he does.

Generally, small stacks could afford to play only big cards.

FLOP: 8d-3h-8c

• B checks
• A bets 650k

B checks, hoping to check-check it all the way with A. But A fires out 650k.

That move is aggressive; he can push B out. Why? His 7d-7c is not strong enough, expecially on a paired board.

It is good for A to bluff, and the pot will be a chunky addition to his small stack.

That may make B put A on a high pair or two big cards (like A-K), but he doesn’t know which, so he tries a raise:

B raises to 1.5m

Because B called from the big blind, A could put him on a wider range of hands.

One of them could be A-8 suited, or 9-8. But it could also be something else which didn’t help A, maybe K-J which A decided to limp in with.

The raise may signal an Eight, or an attempt to push B out. One of the two.

Now A can think of why B didn’t bet the flop. The check may be a trap, so he bets to see if it is. If B just called then an Ace or a Queen may fall, and that may be costly to B, A might think.

But B raised, so A figures out that B wants him out of the pot because B’s hand is not strong enough (If he guesses a small pair, like 7-7 or lower, he’s right.).

And because he is the short-stack, he has to be aggressive.

He has to take more risks and take more chips. He just hoped that B is semi-bluffing, and:

• A moves all-in (Pot 8.085m)
• B needs 3.675m to call

B is now on trouble here.
A’s three-bet represents a strong hand. Also, look at B’s: comments: “I really think you have A-K or A-Q…” He is right. He could have called, and cost him only a sixth of his stack.

Also, B can consider the stack condition of A. Would he raise with 8-7 or 9-8 with a small stack if he can wait for and then move all-in with A-K, A-Q or any pair?

B will be more inclined to believe it’s A-K or A-Q.

However, B adds: “I’ve been playing with you for a long time, and you’re a very solid player, I never see you not having a hand…and if you have a very big pair I’m in trouble. Nice bet sir.”

Yes, he has observed that A has been playing mostly with good hands. Was A aware of this?
He may be, and used it to his advantage. B thinks that it might be a big pair, too. What’s a three-bet plus all-in for, anyway? Or even 8-7 or 9-8.

B thinks: The raise is from a late position, and A might be trying to steal preflop with anything which may include the stray Eight, and his aggression looks like he hit the Flop. So it’s really a nice all-in, and B folds.

So a short-stack should play more aggressively.

If A didn’t do the move now when the proper conditions are there (a paired board which is less likely to hit B and more likely to scare him, too; a raise he interpreted as a weak semi-bluff; his player image), he might be blinded and anted off, and he will find it harder to stage a comeback in the tournament.

Phew, heavy stuff eh! If you are a poker beginner this may be a bit way out there for now but never fear! Join NoPayPOKER today. You can learn to play poker for free on the blog and then put your learning into practice with no money risk whatsoever on the NoPayPOKER free texas holdem online poker site

What do you do with a big hand preflop when you have a big stack, like K-K? And how does everyone else react? At the World Series of Poker, here is one such hand.

BLINDS 40,000/80,000

A has As-10c moves all-in (Pot 1.296m)
B has K-K reraises to 5m (Pot 6.296m)

B has two options here. He can just call and then wait for someone to move all-in after him, but that would make him do some thinking. Could it be A-A? Or Q-Q? If it was Q-Q there is a slight chance he might fold K-K, and regret it. But a big reraise can drive Q-Q or lower out, like what happened to another player:

C has Jd-Jc

(C’s comments on B’s hand were: “Why did you make it so much? … You like your hand that much?”) If C calls, it’s for all of his chips. C may think that B has A-K, but there are two all-ins in front of him, and one of them might be A-X (and with A-X he is still not safe) or a pair, but a suspiciously heavy raise to about 60 times the big blind is almost always a signal for A-A or K-K. So C could wait for a better opportunity than now.

C folds (Pot 2.39m)

C’s fold was brilliant, after the reraise, but it will still be brillinat even if B did not reraise. B might bet again on the Flop and C may not continue and just let go of the chips.

B’s reraise will work if he has A-A or K-K, but I doubt it if he will do the same with A-K or Q-Q, but it may have the same effect of making C fold. As for A, let us wish for his good health. B won the hand later.

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OK, it’s time for some serous free poker learning! This is not a beginner article but if you are new read anyway, it will get your mind working in the background.

On a poker table, to reconstruct a hand is to determine the motives of the other players for their actions, based on the cards that fell, your betting patterns, their player types, their chip stacks, the pot size, and many other factors, so you can put them on a hand.

With poker shows now showing the hole cards, the player actions, the pot, and other statistics, a third-person analyst not participating can now reconstruct hands from his or own point of view, based on the other factors mentioned above.

So, for our first reconstruction, we shall discuss a big hand.

BLINDS 1,000/2,000
(Pot 5,400)

PREFLOP:

• A has Js-9s, calls 2,000
• B has Ks-Kc, raises to 14,000
• A calls 12,000 (Pot 33,400)

A just initially calls, hoping that there will also be many callers because he has suited connectors and wants to get sufficient pot odds.

B, meanwhile, may interpret the call from early position as A-A or Q-Q, and because he has a big stack (the two are the biggest stacks in the table) he can afford to raise a little bit, because if the other player reraises and he thinks the other one has A-A, he can fold.

Also, K-K is a little bit unsafe if an Ace falls on the flop, so this may serve as a tester raise. A calls, because he has a big stack and can afford it.

FLOP: Kh-9d-Kd

• A checks
• B checks (Pot 33,400)

Suddenly B has Quad Kings! A checks, because he has only a Nine, and can proceed carefully if B bets. B, hoping to conceal his unbeatable hand, checks too.

Paired boards are usually good bluffing situations.

For example, a 8-8-3 board is good for bluffing because on a, say, J-7-3 board, there are three cards which can pair one of them, and a bluff will be less effective.

But on the 8-8-3 board, bluffing has big benefits because there are only two cards which can conceivably help anyone, and also anyone there with a Three will be less likely to call. (Only an Eight will do.)

But with a board with bigger cards like our Flop, B could have bet, but after that, A will be less likely to put him on a bluff (and more likely on a made hand) because he may have, say, K-10, and we play big cards more than small ones.

B doesn’t want A to back out of the pot. So B just checks.

Also, with two Diamonds B will want to check on the hope that A will put him on a flush draw so that if the flush doesn’t come, A will bet or raise to push B away, and B can gain extra chips.

TURN: Kh-9d-Kd-5h

• A checks
• B bets 20,000
• A raises to 70,000
• B calls 50,000 (Pot 173,400)

B still has invincible Quads, A still has Two-Pair. B could have now put A on the Nine or a draw, so B bets 20,000 so that A will call.

But since during the flop B may have represented a Diamond flush draw in A’s perspective, A raised to 70,000 so that B will move away.

B just calls, because there are two draws already, and B might want to represent one of them again so that A will try another bluff on the river.

RIVER: Kh-9d-Kd-5h-9h

• A checks
• B moves all-in 106,000 (Pot 279,300)
• A folds

B still has Quads, but A is now in trouble because he has a bottom Full House. A King can kill him.

What A is hoping, though, is that B backdoored a Heart Flush and just check it along with him.

But B moves all-in. This is a very intriguing move by B. A strong player would value-bet this (sat, 40,000 on a pot of 173,400) and A can just call it.

It is OK to represent a Flush here, because the board is double-paired, which can destroy Flushes because the board is just one card off a Full House.

So what I am thinking is: B moved all-in because (1) he wanted A to think that they have the same hand or that his hand is weaker, like a Flush. B’s play on the Flop and the Turn was weak, so A might not have put B on a King but likely on the Flush draw we are talking about.

B wants a call. B now hopes that A backdoored a Flush too and also that he thinks his all-in is just a bluff, but A is in trouble because of the sudden strong play.

It was psychologically jarring.

Did B hide that King or not? A might think that better hands could come later, so he folds.

Also (2) B may not want a showdown; he did not want to show the two Kings; he wanted to trouble the minds of A and other opponents.

If they saw how he played K-K it will be added information. He wants to keep them guessing.

It is important to play more unpredictably so you can gain chips later than to gain chips now, but be unable to get some later. I believe this is a brilliant reason.

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Learn how to play poker in our Learn to Play Poker Online series of free poker articles from NoPayPOKER members, Pro players and the legendary D Michael Vadnais

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An Introduction To The Game – Poker 101
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Poker Hands Analysed and Reconstructed.
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User Articles – Best of the Rest

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