Daily Poker Quiz: Archive

Texas river decision
2008-08-18

Two players limp and you do the same with A 6 in middle position, as does the button. The small blind raises and the big blind - an aggressive player - plus all limpers (including you, of course) call.

The flop is J 6 4.

SB bets, BB calls, and the limpers get out of the way. You raise and both the button and the blinds call.

On the turn, the dealer turns up the 8.

It's checked to you and you bet. The button and big blind both call, but the small blind folds.

The river card is the J and the BB bets. There are now 14 big bets in the pot. What should you do?





Fold
This example comes from Sklansky/Miller/Malmuth, and the gentlemen propose raising.

They motivate this by arguing that the big blind very well can be bluffing if he's aggressive; otherwise, he would have raised the flop with a top pair.

The button player is harder to tell - he might have a jack or a busted draw or an even worse hand if he's a loose player. He'll probably call with a better hand if you call, but you might scare him away from some of the better semi-crappy hands that have you beat if you raise.

You want to get a heads-up showdown as cheaply as possible. If you'd had AJ, however, you'd want to call to let the button call or raise with a worse jack - since this'll make the pot larger.

Call
This example comes from Sklansky/Miller/Malmuth, and the gentlemen propose raising.

They motivate this by arguing that the big blind very well can be bluffing if he's aggressive; otherwise, he would have raised the flop with a top pair.

The button player is harder to tell - he might have a jack or a busted draw or an even worse hand if he's a loose player. He'll probably call with a better hand if you call, but you might scare him away from some of the better semi-crappy hands that have you beat if you raise.

You want to get a heads-up showdown as cheaply as possible. If you'd had AJ, however, you'd want to call to let the button call or raise with a worse jack - since this'll make the pot larger.

Raise (correct)
This example comes from Sklansky/Miller/Malmuth, and the gentlemen propose raising.

They motivate this by arguing that the big blind very well can be bluffing if he's aggressive; otherwise, he would have raised the flop with a top pair.

The button player is harder to tell - he might have a jack or a busted draw or an even worse hand if he's a loose player. He'll probably call with a better hand if you call, but you might scare him away from some of the better semi-crappy hands that have you beat if you raise.

You want to get a heads-up showdown as cheaply as possible. If you'd had AJ, however, you'd want to call to let the button call or raise with a worse jack - since this'll make the pot larger.



Result:

Fold 39%
Call 38%
Raise 23%

Totally 897 vote(s)