Not a rant, I just need to get freeback.
Ok I have been a rec player for many years. I have recently finished Harringtons 2nd book on tournaments. I feel my game is getting better. But... This morning, I played in a satellite and started pretty well. I accumulated some chips. Then this hand happened. I am the small blind with AJ. There is a raise to my right. I call. There is about 5000 in the pot. The flop comes Jh, 6H, 5c. I'm first to act and raise 2500. The previous raiser reraises me. Without thinking I go all in. He has pocket jacks and I lose 3/4 of my stack. I don't seem to have the ability to stop and think in these situations sometimes. What can I do to learn this without me repeating this mistake many times. They are rare but it really messes my game up. Any advice?
5 Replies
Top pair is fundamentally a poor hand. Win small, lose big.
(Store that away for future reference)
Ok I have been a rec player for many years. I have recently finished Harringtons 2nd book on tournaments. I feel my game is getting better. But... This morning, I played in a satellite and started pretty well. I accumulated some chips. Then this hand happened. I am the small blind with AJ. There is a raise to my right. I call. There is about 5000 in the pot. The flop comes Jh,
King Spew nailed it. Top pair is a good handÂ… if your opponent doesnÂ’t have anything. ItÂ’s fine to lead out in a spot like this with top pair, but when an opponent plays back at you, you must consider the very real possibility that he has one of the many possible hands that beat your top pair and act accordingly. When your opponent raised your flop bet, your top pair became a bluff catcher. Is he bluffing? I donÂ’t know - much of that will depend on your reads, board textures, etc. Either fold to his flop bet or call, and absent a good read that he is likely to be overbluffing, lean toward folding.
Thank for the replies!
Top pair is fundamentally a poor hand. Win small, lose big.
(Store that away for future reference)
That's well said but is lacking nuances.
Top pair is an AMAZING, AWESOME, GREAT ****ING HAND DUDE.
In fact! top pair is a money printing machine.
KQ of spades, on a K72 board, that's like the juice dude
I dont remember the exact stats but its something around those lines : 66% of the time you flop jack ****, 5% of the time you flop 2pairs or better, and that leaves a gross 30% of pair hands, and thats just pairs, not Top pair.
So in all likelihoods, top pair is a good hand, and more often than not, the best hand at showdown.
The nuance comes in that, people usually dont raise with top pair (or give way more action). People, they usually raise with better than top pair, expecting you to have top pair.
If everybody went all in all the time, the top pair dude would be the richest guy in the parking lot. Not even close!... Because the guy that flops straights and flushes, hes not gonna be balanced enough, meaning, hes gonna win the money 2% of the time pretty much, so even thought he has a humonguous scoop 2% of the time that does beat top pair, hes nowhere near the profit of a more reliable top pair. Its too rare to flop a flush to go all in when you dont have a flush expecting to get a flush. Its- its a losing play.
So yeah.
The real pro advice is when you bet top pair, and you get raised, you should have warning red lights with a female voice of warning warning warning going off. You're getting bluffed, or you're so behind its not even fun.... and its probably not a bluff.
What we have a hard time seeing is that this guy with pocket jacks there, hes not raising you enough! Hes just not. So according to his low frequency of raises, of course he has three jacks here, if he didn't he wouldn't raise you!
This is why the low stakes game responds so well so smug folds, because what you fail to see is that this guy either called or folded for the last three hours, and this one hand where you have AJ he raises you. S'like... it is SO nutty. SOoo ****ing nut. Hes cumming all over the green felt.
So yeah... mh, his advice is pretty good for a beginner, but with more nuances there's a lot of value in top pair, just not to go balls deep with it, unless you have a read... a player profile of something along the lines of he raises me all the ****ing time, now you can itch off sets and two pairs off his raises, but until proven otherwise, most people, its a fold.
Also its a question of the value and blinds... Meaning if it cost you 1 blind to see top pair, and then he proposes you to put 200 blinds in the middle... top pair is probably not gonna do so well at all. Hes proly gonna show you a set every time. But if it cost you 35 blinds to see top pair, and now he puts 40 blinds all in, now top pair look pretty fire.
King Spew nailed it. Top pair is a good handÂ… if your opponent doesnÂ’t have anything.
That's well said but is lacking nuances.
Top pair is an AMAZING, AWESOME, GREAT ****ING HAND DUDE.
Both are accurate responses to my admittedly sparse generalization.
In our Beginner area of 2+2, the advice given should help the novice player. My statement may wake up a few readers who can get blinded by TP, where logic may suggest caution.
Thank you both for clarifying the wonders AND difficulties in playing a one pair or TP type hand.
