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It’s been said many times that the weakest play in poker is
calling – that it’s better
to be raising or folding. In
my opinion, there are
situations where that
statement simply isn’t true.
I recently played a hand
online at Full Tilt Poker that
served as a perfect example of
how checking and calling can
win you a hand that you would
have lost by folding
(obviously) or raising.
The key to the situation is that I recognized I was up against an
aggressive opponent and I had
a marginal hand. I was playing
$10/$20 6-max No-Limit Hold
’em, and the action folded
around to me on the button
with two red nines. I was
pretty deep-stacked with
$2,447 in front of me, and I
made a standard raise to $60.
The player in the small blind,
who was even deeper with
$3,356 in his stack, raised it
to $210. The big blind folded.
It was an interesting spot. I
obviously wasn’t going to
fold there, but I feel pocket
nines is the type of hand
where calling is preferable to
raising. Consider: If I raise
there and get re-raised, I
really don’t like my hand
anymore. So I prefer the call.
The flop came 5d-8d-Qh, and although it wasn’t a great flop,
with only one over-card to my
nines, I figured I would call
just about any bet. There was
$437 in the pot and my
opponent bet $280. I figured
his range of hands could be
pretty loose. He was a good
player and an aggressive
player, and while the Queen
might have hit him, he could
just as easily have a hand
like A-J, J-10 suited or K-J
suited. In that spot, I
don’t really think you can
fold nines, but I don’t
recommend raising with them
either. So I called, bringing
the pot to $997.
The turn was the Jd, giving me a diamond draw and a gut-shot to
go with my pair. My opponent
checked, and I very strongly
considered betting. But then I
thought about it more
carefully: What hand better
than mine can I convince to
fold? If he has pocket tens
without the 10d, he probably
folds that. But that’s about
it. If he has Aces or Kings,
he probably won’t fold.
Other than pocket tens, the
only hands I’ll get called
by are hands that are ahead of
me. And I could get
check-raised and have to fold
my hand without seeing the
river. So I checked behind.
The river was the 8c, which paired the board, but was pretty much
a blank. I hoped he’d check
again and just let me check
behind with what’s probably
the best hand. Indeed, he
checked, turned over Ad-Kh,
and I won the pot.
Looking back at the hand, I think I was right to just check or
call all the way. Pre-flop,
who knows, if I’d re-raised,
anything could have happened,
including him shoving all in
and me having to fold. On the
flop, a raise probably would
have worked, but that’s a
really risky play. If I had
bet the turn, that could have
been disastrous. He had me
covered, he’s shown himself
to be an aggressive player,
and he had the nut flush draw
plus a gut-shot and two
over-cards. There’s a very
good chance he would have
check-raised all in, which
would have been an excellent
play. I would’ve had to fold
the best hand if he’d done
that.
In that spot, I didn’t want to open myself up to getting
outplayed, and I still had a
lot of showdown value with my
hand. Sometimes, against an
aggressive player in a
marginal situation, it’s
best not to be aggressive
back. Sometimes, aggression
can cost you a pot that would
have been yours if you’d
been a little more cautious.
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