3 limpers, I complete in the SB with 56s, BB checks. Flop is K95r. 2.5bb pot, 5 players.
1. Do I even consider betting out? I'm thinking no way.
2. If BB bets, there's no raise and I'm closing the action, how many callers do I need to chase my 5-out draw (that on this board is much more likely to be good than on a more coordinated board)? If all 3 limpers call I'll be getting 9 to 1, that seems like enough to justify seeing one more card since I'm likely to collect additional bets if I hit. If only 2 call, though, I'm not as sure that calling here out of position would be correct.
3. If the bettor is 1 or 2 players to my right do I even CONSIDER calling? I'm honestly not sure here again, as in this tiny pot I need more odds, and with 2 or 3 players behind me where I don't know what they're going to do, this feels like "let it go and wait for a better spot"
3 limpers, I'm on the button with 56s, I limp along, SB completes, BB raises, everyone calls, I and the SB call. Flop is K95r. Now there are 6 players and the pot is 6bb instead of 2.5bb.
4. If BB bets, then if nobody raises, is this a pretty much automatic raise on the button no matter how many villains call? I mean, I'm clearly not folding, and it makes sense to invest 1 extra bet to see if I can get a free river. Somebody probably has a K, but almost every time I see someone with top pair they freeze up and go into calldown mode when they face action. I'd need a specific read that someone was a spaz to believe otherwise.
5. Actually, as long as there's no raise before the action gets to me, am I raising on the button no matter WHO bets the flop?
In the first 5 questions, we had a relatively safe, raggedy board. How much "wetter" would the board need to get before we changed ANY of our answers? If it's K95tt do we play less aggressively? KJ5tt? QJ5r? JT5tt? For me, I think for these 3 the only mental change I'd make is to consider our draw more like a 3.5-to-4-outer rather than a "clean" 5-outer.
985tt? Actually, we picked up some more outs on this flop with the gutshot, but it's vulnerable. Even if we pick up a 6 we're dead in the water to anyone who has a 7. I think on this flop, I would call one bet closing the action but fold otherwise.
1. No, not into 4 opponents. vs 2 I start thinking about it.
2. 9:1 seems a decent enough threshold. that's 10% and breaks even at about 4.7 "outs" of the 47 unseen cards. If you assume you're behind, that actually shifts the unseen cards down a bit (e.g., there are fewer kings in the stub if your opponents tend to hold them), improving outlook a bit. There's a mishmash of bink-and-hold vs bink-and-lose that maybe probably maybe nets out positively. Did you include the rake in this price?
3. Consider all your options, including raising. here, the pot isn't big enough for raise to make sense. But keep it in mind and actively dismiss it for that reason rather than autopiloting. Yes, as your relative position worsens you have to play tighter.
4. Free card raise on the flop is generally frowned upon here because it's easy to see that you employ it and easy to exploit. Whether your opponents do exploit it only you can answer. But the years of accumulated wisdom here is likely against using it, certainly against always using it. Getting better at using position (reading the turn card and action in front of you) will likely serve you better in the long run.
5. with a five out draw to trips/bottom two, I think no, you can't raise for value. A better draw, an EP bet, and a couple callers and you should consider it.
6? as the board texture makes our outs dirtier, we should want a better price to make the same plays, imo. for the same price, the texture should turn this marginal hand into a more frequent fold. Kh9h5c makes two of our outs worse when holding 6s5s but Kh9s5h only makes one worse. JT5tt and the like are kind of a wash because we're less afraid of 87 but the flush draw is still a problem.
general rule of thumb is in big pots to be more aggressive vs. wide ranges, trying to get folds, clear up outs, and realize your full equity. in small pots you can be more passive/foldy.
id take a read of limit hold for advanced players for this concept.
its hard to be over-aggro in a big pot unless you really spew on big streets, because the reward is so great relative to the investment.
5. with a five out draw to trips/bottom two, I think no, you can't raise for value. A better draw, an EP bet, and a couple callers and you should consider it.
Thank you for all of your responses.
Wouldn't a raise here be because folding is clearly incorrect but raising is better than calling because it improves our winning chances?
2) More callers isn't necessarily better. It increases the chances that we are drawing thin/dead since our outs are more likely to be blocked or dominated. I would prefer to be heads up since we have a small chance of being ahead and it is more likely that we have clean implied odds. I would only call multiway if we have the bdfd.
3) With a bdfd, yes. Without it, no.
4) Raising is terrible. I recommend entirely removing "raising the flop for a free river" from your game. It has no positive strategic value. Good LHE involves a lot of straightforward, boring play.
5) If we get a chance to isolate a player who is aggressive enough to bluff, we can make a protection raise. But otherwise, raising is really bad.
