Changing Up Your Play with Big Hands
So usually, when I’m playing at our local home game, I tend to push my big hands before the flop pretty hard, trying to minimize the suck out factor. I’ll usually raise 5 to 6x the big blind with KK or AA, trying to minimize the action to one player at most, because I don’t want to get caught up in a huge pot: I want to play heads up. Though employing this kind of action every time not only minimizes the money you can make on your big preflop hands, it also sends up red flags to your opponents: and may let them know exactly what you have, which helps them crack it.
I decided to play a little different when I picked up AA this past Saturday.
There were about 7 people at the table. Most big preflop hands had been making it $12-$15 to go, and were getting decent action. I’d been pretty quiet, limping and missing mostly. With the AA and two off the button, I made it $8 to go. A moderate raise. The big blind is almost definitely going to call with any hand, as is probably the button and small blind, I thought. I did this knowing full well that he’d come with most any hand and that if a scary flop came and he bet hard at me, I’d have to fold. Fair enough.
Turned out the BB was the only caller. The flop came about as perfect as I could ever ask. A 9 4 rainbow. No flush draw, no straight draw. So how am I going to get paid?
The other guy in the pot had tended to play most of his hands when I raised. I think he noticed I’d been missing and wasn’t fully in my best mind (I was nodding off at the table a little, and I’d had a couple drinks). He’d shown that he was willing to try to steal from me, but not quite recklessly.
Anyway, now I pretty much have the unbreakable nuts. So I need to get paid.
He checks, I check the flop. I knew if I showed weakness he’d almost definitely bet the turn.
The turn pairs the board 4’s. So now I have a boat. What’s funny, though, is that instead of betting, as I’d expected, my man checks. This sent a big idea in my head: he hit that 4. Now he’s checking in hopes I bet my JJ or weak ace. So I do. I make a very weak bet, about $7 and try to look slightly less than thrilled about it. I don’t think acting is necessary in most spots, but a general glimmer on the face can work wonders.
He sits and thinks for a minute. Then he raises. He makes it $26 to go, trying to make it look like he’s stealing, but now I’m pretty sure he has the 4. Either way, I have him destroyed. Might as well give him a little more rope.
I flat call. The river comes a blank. He goes all in. I call and win a pretty big pot. He turns over the J4 for the trips I’d put him on.
Now, if I’d played this hand the way I normally like to, preventing draws, he would have likely folded preflop and if not preflop, then on the flop when I fired $40 to protect the hand. Instead, by variating (and by flopping huge, then letting him catch up) I got doubled up.
Not the most difficult of plays, but good to think about, I think, in the manner of switching things up.
Tags: AA, all-in, big-hand, cash-games, playing-a-monsterRelated Stories
POSTED IN: miscellaneous
0 opinions for Changing Up Your Play with Big Hands
No one has left a comment yet. You know what this means, right? You could be first!
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: