Question of the Day Archive

Question of the Day : No-Limit Hold'em – Saturday, January 31, 2009

Your Hand
$110
Big blind
$140
1st
$200
2nd
$120
Cut-off
$400
Flop
Turn
River
Pot
$114
$114
Blinds
$1/$2

Question

You’re playing in a $1/$2 six-max game online, and in this hand it’s folded to you on the button. You raise to $8. The small blind folds and the average big blind calls. The flop comes 6♥ 9♠ Q♥; he checks and you bet $13. He calls and the turn comes 2♣. He checks and you bet $36. He calls and the river comes 5♥. He checks.

What should you do?

Correct Answer: Bet all-in

The flush card hit, but that doesn't mean he has a flush. A decent player is usually going to fold a naked flush draw on the turn. This makes his most likely holdings queens, with K-Q and A-Q being the most obvious. You built the pot big enough to get your stack in, so get it in and hope he hero-calls you with his queen.

  • Check through (50%)
  • Bet $40 (36%)
  • Bet all-in (15%)

Question of the Day : No-Limit Hold'em – Friday, January 30, 2009

Your Hand
$270,000
3rd
$130,000
4th
$165,740
Cut-off
$210,000
Button
$200,000
Small blind
$130,000
Big blind
$430,000
1st
$55,000
Flop
Turn
River
Pot
$192,000
$192,000
Blinds
$6,000/$12,000

Question

You’ve been playing in the later stages of an online MTT. In this hand you raised to $35,000 from early position and were called by a tough player in the big blind. The flop came K♥ 8♠ J♣ and it went check, check. The turn dropped the 2♠. He bet $50,000; you called. The river comes 5♥ and he checks.

What should you do?

Correct Answer: Bet $90,000 for value

You really shouldn't think there are too many kings in his range. He is probably going to three-bet A-K, and he isn't going to call preflop with K-J or K-T. That makes his range some jacks - A-J mostly - or a hand like TT, or even an ace-high with a gutshot. If you bet $90k, A-J is definitely going to call, and you may even get a call from one of those ace-highs.

  • Check behind (47%)
  • Shove as a bluff (3%)
  • Bet $90,000 for value (51%)

Question of the Day : No-Limit Hold'em – Thursday, January 29, 2009

Your Hand
$320,000
3rd
$130,000
4th
$165,740
Cut-off
$210,000
Button
$200,000
Small blind
$130,000
Big blind
$50,000
$480,000
1st
$55,000
Flop
Turn
Pot
$92,000
$92,000
Blinds
$6,000/$12,000

Question

In the late stages of an online multi-table tournament, the blinds are $6,000/$12,000 with a $2,000 ante. In this hand you raise to $35,000 from early position and a tough player in the big blind calls. The flop comes K♥ 8♠ J♣ and he checks; you decide to check behind. The turn comes a 2♠ and he bets $50,000.

What should you do?

Correct Answer: Call

The king is not a great card but there really aren't too many kings in his range. He would have three-bet A-K and he would have mucked K-J or worse. That leaves K-Q, which is extremely discounted because we have two queens in our hand. Thus he could be betting a hand like #Th#Tc or #As#Jd or even a complete bluff. Make the call and see what happens on the river.

  • Call (58%)
  • Fold (14%)
  • Raise (28%)

Question of the Day : No-Limit Hold'em – Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Your Hand
$200
2nd
$110
Cut-off
$220
Button
$200
Small blind
$190
Big blind
$175
Flop
Turn
Pot
$43
$43
Blinds
$1/$2

Question

You’re playing in a six-max game online. In this hand you raise to $8 under the gun and it’s folded to a solid player in the big blind. The flop comes 8♥ 5♥ 3♦. He checks and you bet $13. He calls and the turn comes J♥. He checks.

What should you do?

Correct Answer: Bet

The #Jh is a good second-barrel card. Your opponent’s range mostly consists of pocket pairs that are peeling the safe flop. The turn brings an overcard as well as a three-flush. Not only that, your bet is really only a semi-bluff, since you have the #Ah. Bet the turn and expect a fold most of the time.

  • Check (56%)
  • Bet (44%)

Question of the Day : No-Limit Hold'em – Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Your Hand
$190
Small blind
$200
Big blind
$180
1st
$300
2nd
$150
Cut-off
$195
Flop
Pot
$51
$51
Blinds
$1/$2

Question

Playing in a six-max game online, it’s raised by a solid player in the cut-off to $8. You three-bet to $24 on the button and he flat-calls. The blinds fold and the flop comes A♣ 8♠ 4♦. The player in the cut-off checks.

What should you do?

Correct Answer: Check

Betting is not good. It will fold out everything you beat, and your opponent will really only continue with an ace. If you check through you may get your opponent to bet and/or call the turn with a worse hand. If you have the best hand now, you are only going to get one street of value anyway. Check the flop and play poker on the later streets.

  • Check (39%)
  • Bet (61%)

Question of the Day : No-Limit Hold'em – Monday, January 26, 2009

Your Hand
$170
2nd
$250
Cut-off
$500
Button
$180
Small blind
$200
Big blind
$155
Flop
Turn
River
Pot
$123
$123
Blinds
$1/$2

Question

In this hand of a six-max game online you raise from early position to $7 and a solid player calls on the button. A loose player calls in the big blind. The flop comes K♠ K♣ 7♠ and the big blind checks. You bet $16; the button calls; the big blind folds. The turn comes the Q♥ and you fire a second barrel to $35. The button calls and the river comes J♣.

What should you do?

Correct Answer: Check-fold

This sounds counterintuitive, since you were betting with nothing the whole way and back yourself into the nut straight, but you have to think objectively. What did your opponent call you down with? He called both the flop and the turn. There are no draws on the flop, so he must have a piece. That leaves triple kings, sevens-full and random pairs like 99 etc. On the turn when he calls again you can discount those random weak pairs. So he has three of a kind or a full house. Which three kings can he have? Well, a decent player is seldom going to call an early-position raise with K-T, so you can discount that, and he is going to almost always be three-betting A-K. That leaves K-Q and K-J. So now the only thing really in his range is kings-full and sevens-full. Betting the river accomplishes nothing. Thus, check and hope he checks through for some reason. But if he bets, you are clearly behind and should fold.

  • Check-call (33%)
  • Check-fold (6%)
  • Check-raise (11%)
  • Bet (50%)

Question of the Day : No-Limit Hold'em – Sunday, January 25, 2009

Your Hand
$200
Big blind
$2
$180
1st
$300
2nd
$6
$400
Cut-off
$24
$180
Pot
$0
$0
Blinds
$1/$2

Question

Again in a six-max game online, in this hand a loose fish raises from early position to $6 and a solid player in the cut-off reraises to $24.

What should you do?

Correct Answer: Call

You want to keep your hand at the top of your range. If you cold four-bet your hand screams QQ-AA, and your hand is at the bottom of your range. Your opponents will be able to play perfectly against you. By calling you keep the queens near the top of your range and your opponents will be much less sure about what you hold.

  • Fold (9%)
  • Call (49%)
  • Re-reraise (42%)

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