Size matters

By Ben Blaschke
20 May 2009

The difference between a winning player and a losing player – in the long-run at least – isn’t so much the cards you are dealt but how you play them.
Of course, it’s easy to make money when you’re sitting in the small blind with Aces and the button decides to shove, but for the most part what separates good players from bad is decision-making …and not just whether or not to play your hand.
One very important decision is how to maximise the money you make when you flop a monster.
There will always be situations in which no matter how hard you try, your opponents simply refuse to commit any more chips to the pot but there will also be chances to lure them into the hand with a clever check or well-thought out bet.
A few weeks back I was playing a table at Star City when I was dealt J-J in the small blind.
The table was quite loose so after an early raise and two callers I decided to check and try and trap the table nut.
The flop came down a beautiful-looking J-9-9, which to be honest made my decision quite simple. I checked, but so did both opponents.
The river was a 2. I checked again … and the early raiser shoved. The nut, unfortunately, folded his pocket 5s which was a real shame because the river happened to be a five, but I still pulled in a nice pot when my opponent showed pocket 8s.
In that case the decision was made for me –I had basically flopped the nuts and betting out wasn’t an option.
If one of my opponents had a 9 the betting would come on later streets anyway, if not I had to give them a chance to catch up.
This isn’t always the case though.
Consider the same hand but let’s assume one opponent has Q-10 and the other a flush draw.
In this situation I still don’t want to scare them away and I still want to disguise the strength of my hand so the key is luring them into a false sense of security.
By checking the flop I am giving both opponents the chance to bet out at their draws (not necessarily recommended on a paired board but a regular occurrence nonetheless).
Even if they don’t, a small bet on my part on the turn will look more like a steal attempt and encourage both players to come along provided that I give them the right price.
That way, if either hits their draw on the river I will almost certainly get paid off.
But it depends on your opponents and the action at the table.
Sometimes a show of strength pre-flop followed by a check on the flop tells your opponents that you have just flopped a monster, so if you have been continuation betting a lot there is no reason to stop now (especially on an action table).
Remember, it’s not how many pots you win but the size of those pots that matters.