Daily Poker Quiz: Archive

A9
2008-07-12

You're sitting with $450 at a five-handed table and get A 9 in the big blind. It's folded to the small blind - a very aggressive guy who often overbets but still seems pretty good.

He's got $600 at the table and raise you to $8 (not unexpectedly). You don't think he's got anything good in particular, so you raise to $14, mostly in order to make a continuation bet on the flop and win the hand. He calls and the flop comes A 6 5. He checks.

He can make big reraises with 43 and similar holdings here, so you decide to mask your hand and don't risk getting check-raised. The turn card is the 9 and your opponent bets $20.

You're almost certain that your hand is the best, so you raise to $40. Your opponent reraises to $158. What should you do now?





Fold
Many will tell you that calling is the worst you can do, either fold or raise. But in this case, that's wrong. You should either fold (if you think you're behind) or call. And since you think you have the best hand, you should call.

So why call? Because your opponent is a very aggressive player - you want to give him the chance to make a bluff on the river as well, if he's got a bad hand or a busted draw. In other words, when you call the turn you've already decided to call any bets on the river.

If you go all-in, your opponent won't get a chance to make a bluff on the river. All-in would have been good against, for instance, a player who we think may have a flush draw but won't bet the river if he misses. In that case you should make him pay here and now.

Call (correct)
Many will tell you that calling is the worst you can do, either fold or raise. But in this case, that's wrong. You should either fold (if you think you're behind) or call. And since you think you have the best hand, you should call.

So why call? Because your opponent is a very aggressive player - you want to give him the chance to make a bluff on the river as well, if he's got a bad hand or a busted draw. In other words, when you call the turn you've already decided to call any bets on the river.

If you go all-in, your opponent won't get a chance to make a bluff on the river. All-in would have been good against, for instance, a player who we think may have a flush draw but won't bet the river if he misses. In that case you should make him pay here and now.

All-in
Many will tell you that calling is the worst you can do, either fold or raise. But in this case, that's wrong. You should either fold (if you think you're behind) or call. And since you think you have the best hand, you should call.

So why call? Because your opponent is a very aggressive player - you want to give him the chance to make a bluff on the river as well, if he's got a bad hand or a busted draw. In other words, when you call the turn you've already decided to call any bets on the river.

If you go all-in, your opponent won't get a chance to make a bluff on the river. All-in would have been good against, for instance, a player who we think may have a flush draw but won't bet the river if he misses. In that case you should make him pay here and now.



Result:

Fold 13%
Call 33%
All-in 53%

Totally 919 vote(s)