Winning Small pots
Playing no limit the style of poker I play is try to win a lot of small pots,I try to pick up a lot of smaller pots by applying constant pressure on the other player's.I raise pre flop a lot specially in position,my raises are not big just under three times the big blind,most player's raise three to four times the big blind.I will raise with a lot of different hands everthing from big pocket pairs to junk hands like 5d-3d,or 6s-9s Most times I will miss the flop when I raise with junk,about 66% of the time I won't even make a pair.But the player that called my pre flop raise he will also miss the flop most of the time.When we both miss,I have the advantage being the pre flop raiser, I have control of the hand almost 80% of the time.Being the pre flop raiser I will come out betting Half to two thirds of the pot on the flop.Most of the time this bet will be enought to take down the small pot. Example you are the big blind and you hold 10d-Jd and I raise in late position to two-and-a-half. 10-J suited is a pretty decent hand against someone like me, who has been raising constantly. Still, it's not necessarily a hand you want to risk your all your chips on. So you call. When you opt to just call,you are put you in a position where you really need to hit the flop. If the flop is all rags, you need to be worried that I made two-pair with 3-6. Or, if there's an Ace on the flop, you need to be concerned, since I could be holding a real hand. Most of the time, you'll end up fold the hand to my bet on the flop. If the player does hit his hand say the flop comes 10-J-7 - that's Ok. With this playing style,you will get check-raised a lot. But that's fine, too. you didn't risk a whole lot with the bets, so you just fold the hand and look for better spot to play. The other advantages of playing this style is that it hard to put you on a hand ,so when you do pick up say pocket acesor pocket kings,your hand will be well disguised.The other player's will be willing to call you with marginal hands and if they flop top pair playing 10-J and you have the over pair it is likely you will take most of there stack if not all the money they have in front of them. The other great benefit of this when you hold junk and hit the flop . When you raise with 7-9 and flop a straight, an the the other player is holding pocket Queens you will take down these pots and win a lot of money. If you are a new player.waite to have some experience before you try to play this style. |