One big lesson i have learned over the years of playin nlh is that it's very important to manipulate the pot in specific situations. for example, if you have a speculative hand, but you think you may take down the pot, you have to control the pot to keep things from getting out of hand.
lets take a look at some hands where you want to control the pot, and also some hands where you want to let the pot build for a nice reward...
first hand-CONTROL THAT POT
you have QJ suited in late position and you opened up for a raise preflop with 2 callers who are first to act...flop comes down QJT rainbow...nice you flopped top two, BUT someone could have easily called your preflop raise with K9, AT, 89,AK, QQ,TT, or JJ, depending on the players at your table...i have seen smooth calls with all of these hands out of position in tournament and cash...so you might ask how does one control the pot to (1) a check and (2) a postflop bet...
If both of your opponents check, in most situations with a flop like this i will check along and if another scare card hits, the way i see it is i just saved myself money from a bet...PLUS you can still call down on the river if he makes a small value bet, just to see what kinda style he plays...if the turn brings a baby card, not filling any kind of flush draw, i will usually make a decent value bet of a little over half the pot, to let the fishes draw at it with one card coming.
If one of your opponents bets out at you, it's up to you to decide what type of player they are, if they are a solid player, u might consider letting it go, if they are an aggressive player, you might consider putting in a nice raise to see where you are at, if they are a tight player, you may even consider smooth calling...i usually like to float in this situation, and see another card and make my MAJOR decision on the turn...alot of times i find myself plaing against nits, and i will actually make a play when the scare card hits, maybe they just had top top, who knows, but it does work sometimes, JUST BE WARY, any re-reaise in this situation usually means your two pair is no good!
The opposite of the last situation is when you have or flopped a monster and you want the pot to be so big that you can make an All-in value bet on the river...EG, you shove all in for 10 bucks into a 25 dollar pot on the river...
One way to do this is making an educated guess on what your opponents will do after you make a specific move. If you want your pot to massive, and are in early position maybe a nice value bet on the flop will do, if someone else has bet infront of you a smooth call with 3-4 people behind you will suffice, and your praying to god for a reraise from late position...lets use a hand analysis example and i'll show you exactly what i mean...
You are holding AhQh utg and decided to min raise to 4 dollars, and 5 other people come along including the blinds, since they are priced in and could have anything. The flop comes Ad As Qs(pot=$20)....beautiful...you lead out for 1/3(about $7) of the pot here and 3 of the 5 players smooth call...the turn brings a scary card like the J of spades(pot=$48)...at this point, i'm honestly not thinking about a straight flush, if he/she hit it, OH WELL, they hit a one outer, big whoop, im gonna pay them off...that is a great card for your hand, and the only other hand that beats you is AK if the king happens to fall...at that point i want to build up the pot a little more so on the turn i will make a half-pot size bet of $20-$24, lets say this time you get only one caller, HOPEFULLY HE HAS THE FLUSH! haha...river is a blank(pot=$96) this is where i make a ncie play and i can almost guarantee you if the person came this far they will call away their chips with a flush or nut straight...so i get most of my money in here on the river, lets say were playin 1/2 and we both start with 100$(E.G.), i have roughly 67 left, i may shove here because the pot is so big now, he/she will def call that on the river, it's only 67 more into a 96 dollar pot...you can also decide to get tricky here and make a weak bet to try to entice your opponent to shove over the top...
above all, one HUGE, MONUMENTOUS peice of info i have acquired, which i learned from...either someone on ndn(probably eejit...), OR watching the full tilt academy session, is that ON THE RIVER, YOU SHOULD MORE TIMES THAN NOT, JUST CHECK DOWN YOUR MODERATE HANDS, LIKE TOP PAIR OR TWO PAIR...it will save you money in the long run, alot of bluffs happen on the river and if you give your opponent to bluff, and you know he/she is, you can win alot of money from them when your out of position.
AND on the flip side of that, if you think your opponent could be slow playing something on the river, you don't give them the opportunity to make you make a tough decision when they re-raise...DIG IT!
all hands are example and not a hand history from experience...
feel free to add on!
gl on the felt, MDH
