Poker Plays With Pokerpeaker: Don't Pay The Donkeys Off

August 31, 2009
Contributed by: PokerPeaker

There's probably one secret to winning more than any other.

Are you ready?

Don't pay the donkeys off.

Easier said than done. I'll show you what I mean.

I'm playing with $75 at $50 NLHE at PokerStars and a player in middle position puts in a raise to $2. I look down at A♦ - A♣. Well, that's pretty cool. I like this hand. I'm in the small blind, unfortunately, but otherwise this hand is looking good.

We've had a caller, and the chances are fairly high the Big Blind will come along, and I don't want four people in this pot when I've got an overpair. So I pop it to $6.

It's a good raise, but I wanted to bet at least the pot to get out most of the callers. In fact, if all of them fold here, that's not a bad result.

Sure enough, the Big Blind folds, the raiser calls and the button folds. So I'm heads up. Perfect.

The flop comes 8♦ - 9♥ - 3♣.

That seems like a pretty good flop for my Aces, so I bet the pot, which at this point is $14. That's a big bet on my part, and it should discourage any draws.

But he calls. Hmm.

Well, I'm either facing a draw, a set, or another overpair. A draw seems unlikely, which means it's either a set or maybe Q-Q or something like that. I think if he had Kings he would have re-raised me pre-flop.

I'm definitely betting the turn.

A 4♣ falls on the turn. That card doesn't scare me too much, so I bet the pot again, and at this point that's $32. That probably commits me on the river, but if he has a set, so be it.

The player calls again. Weird. Does he really have a draw? I think if he had a set here he'd probably push knowing that I was fairly committed at this point. The same goes for an overpair.

The Q♦ falls on the river. I grimace. I have $23 left, and I shove it in. It's not even the pot.

My opponent calls instantly, turns up J♦ - 10♣ and rakes in my chips.

Wow. What a donkey. He called a re-raise with J-10 offsuit, then called pot-sized bets on the flop and turn when he had no odds to do so. That's bad poker.

Then again, I could have saved $23, which isn't insignificant, given that that's half my original buy-in. I knew had a draw and gave him an extra $23 on the river when he hit his hand.

And so I ask you. Who's the real donkey?

October 9, 2009

Poker Plays with Pokerpeaker: Winning A Pot With Middle Pair

It's possible that no hand is tougher to play after the flop than a middle pair in your hole cards.Oh sure, you can try to hit a set and if you don't, just pitch it. But that's probably not going to be profitable in the long term, given that you won't hit your set very often. Instead of surrendering, it's best to put your opponents to the test. It's still a made hand, and your opponent will only hit his hand in some way a third of the time. Unless he's got a bigger pair, which isn't as often as it seems, your hand could be good to the river. Read more

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