Poker Copilot
Allow me: I'll be your Copilot to poker money!Betting versus Check-raising when first to act
Posted on July 01, 2010
You know you have a strong hand when against another player for a pot but you are not so sure what to do because you will be the first one to act. You want to see more money in the middle but you are not so certain how to do it.
Check raising
When you do a check-raise, you have the opportunity to put more money into the pot. You will be raising the bet of your opponent, they will see the next card but they will need to put some chips in the middle first.
One good thing about this move is getting more money into the game but this can also back fire. The move shows some strength and you might just intimidate your player to fold. You can also lose the opportunity to do the raise part if your opponent also checks behind you.
Betting out
When you bet out when you are first to act, you deprive the opponent of a free card when they check after we decide to check. Although the bet will demonstrate your strength, it does not compare much to the power of a check-raise which gives our cards some factory of mystery (and of course profitability).
When we bet out then we get more money into the pot and also disguise what we are holding. The downside though is that you dismiss the opportunity of getting as much money compared to a check raise.
What to do when first to act
When you are to act first, it is best to bet straight compared to a check-raise. The check-raise is a lot more useful when you are in bluffing or semi-bluff scenarios.
Playing Small Ball Poker
Posted on May 10, 2010“Small Ball” was a term coined by Daniel Negreanu which refers to an advanced playing style in poker. It’s not exactly right to say that Negreanu invented the playing style, because there’s a big chance that the style has been employed by other poker professionals but they weren’t able to name it. In any case, the strategy was named by Daniel Negreanu, and is used by a lot of successful pros including Kenny Hallaert and Erick Lindgren.
Small ball poker involves the startlingly aggressive play of a wide range of starting hands. However, you only use small bets for each hand which eventually will be raised to quite a sum. It will inevitably save you from losses when certain plays don’t work to your favor. The small ball poker playing style is mostly used for MTTs, and rarely on SNGs and games involving cash bets.
You can always exploit the small ball poker style when you have a strong hand and you’re trying to disguise the strength of your hand. You can also create a loose table image with a small ball poker style. When you play small ball poker, you also lure and spot opponents who have weaker hands.