Taking an Unusual Line

md261 on 18 May 2010

Against bad players, especially passive ones, sometimes the best strategy is play a hand unusually, to maximise it's value.

PokerStars Game $36+$3 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (100/200, ante 25)
Seat 2: Player 1(3010 in chips)
Seat 3: Hero(1830 in chips)
Seat 4: Villain(4160 in chips)
Player 1: posts the ante 25
Hero: posts the ante 25
Villain: posts the ante 25
Hero: posts small blind 100
Villain: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero[Qs Qc]
Player 1: folds
Hero: raises 275 to 475
Villain: calls 275
*** FLOP *** [Qh 3d 8h]
Hero: bets 250
Villain: calls 250
*** TURN *** [Qh 3d 8h] [6s]
Hero: checks
Villain: checks
*** RIVER *** [Qh 3d 8h 6s] [Ks]
Hero: bets 1080 and is all-in
Villain: calls 1080
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Hero: shows [Qs Qc] (three of a kind, Queens)
Villain: shows [Js Kh] (a pair of Kings)
Herocollected 3685 from pot

The Villain is a very loose, super-passive opponent, the kind of player you ONLY value bet, and rarely bluff.

ALthough it's the bubble, I am the clear short stack, and therefore can take some minor risks to try and chip up.

I put in a tiny raise pre flop from the SB, expecting the Villain to call with about 80% of his hands, even though the raise would look super-suspicious to a good player.

The flop is beautiful, so juicy that I almost checked out of position! Luckily I regained my senses and put in a tiny 1/4 pot bet, the kind of bet that this guy is never going to fold to.

The turn card is another blank, I still have the nuts, however there are still potential straight draws and a flush draw out. Normally I would stack all-in, since that may be interpreted as a sign of weakness, but the opponent can have SUCH a wide range of hands, as he is so loose-passive, that there is no reason to think he has much of anything, so I check. This check is very strange, as I am confident that he will not bluff, or do anything other than check behind, so in essence I am giving a free card, as any pair on the river will probably be enough for him to call the 2/3 pot size stack.

The river card is an offsuit King, which is my favourite card at this point, I still have the nuts, and I am confident he will call all-in with any pair, any Ace high, and now, any King!

I stack, he calls, he had KJo for a whole bunch of nothing until the river, but to him, he had a good hand, even though the flop missed him, and the flop bet was so small that he just couldn't fold, and he was never going to fold a mighty mighty Top Pair!


As an aside, another acceptable way to play this, would be to put in a tiny 1/5 pot turn bet, thus chunking my stack into the pot, however, I thought that checking the turn would make him doubt the strength of my hand so much that he would call the all-in on the river with almost anything. Upon reflection, both line have merit, and I would find it impossible to say which I think is more effective.

md261