Posts Tagged ‘4h’

How effective is pot control?

Why pot control is an essential part of the game

Article written by best selling author Carl “The Dean” Sampson

In deep stack situations in no limit hold’em cash games then pot control is an essential part of the game. This is because there are times where your hand strength simply does not merit the pot becoming too large. Like for example if you open raise with A-Js and both blinds call you. The flop comes A-Q-6 with two suits and you c-bet and get two callers. The turn card is the 9h which doesn’t make the flush but you bet again and you get called again by both players. The river card is the 4h which still doesn’t put the flush on board but the small blind bets the pot……what do you do?

Well a pre-flop raise begins the process of defining the hand because you are already starting to escalate the pot. You raise before the flop for different reasons but one of those reasons whether you realise it or not is to build the pot. This is fine if you have the best hand or can get your opponent out of the pot with them having the best hand because in both cases you make money. But these pots are usually small to medium pots but when the pot escalates with you having just one or two pair and it looks like it is shaping up for an all-in situation then this is where you can start to have problems.

However your stronger opponents will suspect that when you check that you are slipping into pot control mode because they have seen you either keep on betting when you have the goods or keep on betting when you are bluffing. Pot control is a very effective strategy for novice and intermediate players because it prevents them from making very big mistakes in escalated pots. This is a pivotal stage for novice players because the biggest leak for them at the outset of their poker lives is that they make big errors in deep stacked situations too frequently. So when you play at higher levels then you need to mix up your play by value betting on lighter holdings so that your opponents cannot exploit a polarised range.

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Tight & Aggressive Poker Playing Styles

Tight-aggressive poker relates to a style of playing poker that is characterized by reduced flop percentages and aggressive betting.

Tight poker play: You are a tight player if you fold whenever common-perception poker techniques recommend that you ought to. Most of the period, you wait to see the flop only if your starting hands are great or strong; otherwise, you fold before the flop. For instance, if you get pocket cards of 4h and a 3c, a tight poker player is not going to wait around for the flop. He will fold his cards and wait for the next hand. More often than not, a tight player also folds with trouble starting hands say, a King and a Ten or an Ace and a Ten.

Tight play does not only apply pre-flop. If, after the flop, the tight player sees that his chances of winning have declined, he is likely to fold. Put simply, a tight player generally plays hands that give him good odds; otherwise, he folds.

Aggressive poker play: An aggressive poker player, on the other hand, is one that bets aggressively when he chooses to play. He is portrayed by repeated betting, raising and re-raising. He is not fond of checking, limping in or calling down other players; he leads the betting as often as he can.

By the previously mentioned points, a tight-aggressive poker player plays very good hands or is cautiously selective about the hands he plays – but when he does decide to play a hand, he plays it aggressively and plays to win.

Why Play Tight-Aggressive Poker

There are other poker playing styles. The opposite of tight poker play is loose poker play. Loose poker players try to see as numerous flops as they can (and follows the same mode at the turn and the river) whether or not they have good or bad starting hands. The opposite of aggressive poker play, on the other hand, is passive poker play. A passive poker player generally follows the other players’ lead during betting rounds. His preferred action is calling and checking In poker. hence, a poker player can be tight-aggressive, tight-passive, loose-aggressive and loose-passive. Why then should you become a tight-aggressive poker?

Tight play means an effective use of your chips. You won’t squander your chips on bad hands and not get punished for playing risky hands. Tight playing gives you a clear guidance to follow: you play when you have very good hands, you fold when you have bad hands.

Aggressive playing, on the other hand, lets you defend your good hands. Frequent betting and re-raising improves the cost of speculation; as more players drop out of the betting, the bigger your chances of winning can come to be.

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