6 Card Poker

In deep stacked situations in no limit Texas Hold em then you are often better off releasing marginal hands on the flop if you get raised. Let us look at an example here to show you what I mean. It has been folded to you in the cut-off and you open raise to $1.50 in NL50 with the Qc-10s. The button calls you as does the big blind and the pot becomes $4.75. The flop is 10h-9h-3s and the big blind checks. You bet $3.25 and the button raises you to $14. The big blind folds and now the action is on you.

The button’s stack size is $67 while you have $61 and so both of you are over 100 big blinds deep. Many players call in situations like these but I feel that the correct play is to fold unless you have a very powerful read on your opponent. If your opponent is on a draw then you may only be a very marginal favourite and if they have a pair plus a flush draw then the hand could be very marginal indeed. But you easily be beaten here and beaten badly and this is the real downside to playing on. There is $22 in the pot and it is going to coast you $10.75 to call so your expressed odds are roughly 2/1. This may sound appealing but there are other pressing factors here and one is that you could be risking your entire stack.

The combination of marginal pot odds, being out of position, having a very marginal hand and a high percentage of the stacks still to play makes a fold the best play. These situations are what trap inexperienced players. However in high stakes games or very aggressive games then the picture isn’t quite so straight forward. Middle stakes levels and high stakes levels are full of players who are adjusting and readjusting constantly. This is one of the big differences between middle and high stakes levels and the lower levels. At the lower levels of play then simple solid play often gets the money and simply not making big mistakes will get you a long way.

This is because weak players pass you their money in enough quantity for adjusting and readjusting not to be necessary. You simply play your hands very well and avoid big errors. But at the higher levels of poker then the players are better and so will simply not make the same mistakes that the lower level players make. But in this previous example is one such case in point. If you call then your stronger opponents will be using that as a sign of weakness and attacking you on the turn or value betting you when you are second best. Re-raising is not that attractive either because you are risking a very high percentage of money. So either way then you are in a tough spot and if you are ahead and your opponent is on a draw then your opponent still has very good equity even then.

Irrespective of what type of poker you happen to be playing, different players will be at various levels of understanding. When a player first comes into the game then they are at the most basic of levels. In fact merely calling poker players novices, intermediates and advanced does not come close to identifying the various types of player. This is because there are all different levels within levels and so merely breaking that down into three broad levels never does it justice.

When a player first comes into the game then they come with almost no knowledge whatsoever. This process doesn’t just apply to poker but all games and sports. A player at the very first level is in this category and we can refer to them as “level one players”. These players are novices but the most unskilled of novice. They make horrible blunders that cost a high number of big blinds and they do this frequently through a chronic lack of knowledge.

It is through a process of experience and education that many players (not all) pass through this level into what I call level two. At this level then some lessons have been learned either through painful experience or reading and learning about the game. At this level then many of the huge blunders are corrected and players begin to learn about position and hand strength. It is also at level two where players begin to tighten up and play far fewer hands. At this level then they are no longer making the same massive errors as before and many players at these levels start becoming tight players and this is especially the case if playing tight fits their personality.

At level three then players tend to become more aware of how rakeback and Sign up bonuses are crucial to making money from the game although some players realise this as early as level one and two. Play becomes far more orthodox at level three although it does often lack creativity and fluidity that players at higher levels have. Good level three players can be long term winning players but they don’t win much because they don’t open their games up enough. However these level three players are solid and difficult to extract money from because they do not make big errors very often.

The coaching sites and information on the internet has led to more and more players reaching this level than ever before. At most half decent levels these days then it is difficult to find players at level one and two in any great frequency. Players at level three are what are known as weak-tight and they have become the new “fish” so to speak. Often though players at this level can be weak-tight but get their overall strategy all wrong and back to front. I know some level three players who go the exact opposite of weak-tight and are what I call weak-aggressive. These are players who understand about the importance of aggression but get it all wrong and bluffing is elevated more than it should be in their overall strategy. The real winners though are at level four and beyond and are players who understand the weaknesses of the players at the lower levels.