Playing Top Pair

Playing top pair, good kicker against the pre-flop raiser can be tricky. Against the majority of players, the flop is a check-call. And with enough history, you can call off your stack with top pair, good kicker. There are a few factors that you should consider.

1. There’s a huge difference between having a top pair such as KQ on QT5
rainbow and AT on T84 rainbow. There are not many overpairs on QT5. Thus,
KQ is an easier stack-off than AT.

2. How wide is your check-raising range? If you rarely check-raise with draws or bluffs, then you should consider check-calling with both those hands because, when you check-raise for value, those holdings are actually the bottom of your value range. Worse hands are rarely paying you off. Additionally, players are less likely to play back at you because you have a narrow check-raising range.

A quick example:
A tricky player open-raises to $3 on the Button and you call with Qc 8c from the big blind.
The flop is Qs Jc 5d.
You check and Your Opponent bets 3/4-pot. What is your action?

Check-call is by far the most common and best play. Check-raising over-represents your hand, and it’s hard to imagine a hand such as JT calling your check-raise. However, that doesn’t mean you should check-call this flop all the time. If you have been active post-flop after defending from the blind, you can profitably check-raise this flop and continue betting the turn and river for value. However, it is important that you recognize the history between you and your opponent if you want to take an aggressive line for value with a good but not great hand. Some players tend to think their image is crazier than it really is. Or they over-think how their opponents are going to react. Misreading the situation will cause you to overplay your hand and you will end up spewing.

Going off on a tangent, you should consider check-raising a lot at micro- and small-stakes games. For example, if I had 65 clubs instead of Q8 clubs in the above example, I would check-raise and fold to a 3-bet instead of check-calling. There are many reasons for this.

1. Regulars at these stakes play tight and straightforward, so you can actually fold out better hands. Some players also Continuation Bet too much. Some are playing 12+ tables and won’t even notice that you are check-raising all the time.
2. Check-raising folds out hands such as AK, AT, and K9 that will fire the turn often, forcing you to fold if you don’t improve.
3. Having a 5 reduces the number of sets he can continue with.
4. Players rarely 3-bet bluff or float your check-raise, so you don’t have to worry about folding the best hand. If you get called and don’t improve on the turn, just check-fold.
5. You will get away with this play a lot.

Posted by Joel on Apr 28 2010. Filed under Poker Strategy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry