| 10-10 |
| Introduction: Like with all medium pairs and low pairs you want to see the Flop as cheap as possible and are hoping to flop a set. It is very rare that I take hands like this further than the flop because most of the time an overcard (probably more than 1) will flop. When there is an overcard, especially with an Ace, King or Queen, you are almost drawing dead with your medium pocket pair and you should fold to any raise. Don't get fooled in No Limit by a very small raise. Pocket Pairs in general have very little chance of improving. In No Limit you have an extra option e.g. a big raise Preflop to drive everybody out, to isolate a maniac, or to get Heads Up with another player. In a Heads Up situation you are a big underdog against any higher Pocket Pair, but slightly favourite against *all* other hands. If your big Preflop raise drives everybody out, you will only win the Blinds any other small change from callers before you and you would have been better off limping in, hoping to Flop a set. Pocket 10's should be a profitable hand, and if you, in the long run, loose money with it, there must be something wrong with your game. Try to fix this leak as soon as possible, because it is a very expensive one. |
| Hand # | Hand | Theme | Game | Date entered |
| 12 | 10-10 |
| Introduction: I posted a message on a public internet forum
for this hand. The comments in the analysis are the answers I received and agreed with.
The following is my post: I just played this hand on Paradise Poker (ring game) and it is a situation I have had a couple of times before. Most times I try to limp in with medium pocket pairs to see the flop cheap and when I don't flop a set I fold if there is a raise and overcards on theflop. When the pot gets of considerable size preflop I go All-In, hoping to win the pot. If there are no higher pairs around (which is very likely the way the betting went) I am a favourite against all other hands so I wouldn't mind a call by 1 player either. I've done this a couple of times and never had a caller. What I am wondering now is could it be more profitable to keep calling in the hope to flop a set and win bigger pots that way. |
| Game ########## - (blinds $0.50/$1) No Limit Texas Hold'em Table "Bridgetown" (real money) -- Seat 1 is the button Seat 1: Player 1 ($92.75 in chips) Seat 2: Player 2 ($97 in chips) Seat 3: Player 3 ($106.50 in chips) Seat 4: Player 4 ($129.25 in chips) Seat 5: Player 5 ($77.75 in chips) Seat 6: Player 6 ($135.50 in chips) Seat 8: Our Hero ($99 in chips) Seat 9: Player 9 ($80.25 in chips) Seat 10: Player 10 ($98 in chips) Player 2 : Post Small Blind ($0.50) Player 3: Post Big Blind ($1) Dealing... Dealt to Our Hero [ Ts ] Dealt to Our Hero [ Td ] Player 4 : Call ($1) Player 5: Fold Player 6 : Call ($1) Our Hero : Call ($1) |
| Okay, try to flop a set and bust someone. Good. |
| Player 9 : Raise ($2) |
| How well do you know Player 9? Does he ever raise to $2 with AA? |
| Player 10 : Fold Player 1 : Call ($2) Player 2 : Call ($1.50) Player 3: Fold Player 4 : Call ($1) Player 6 : Call ($1) Our Hero : Raise ($98) |
| Ack! $98 at an $11 pot? Would a raise to $30 fold everyone? If someone calls, do you like your chances? |
| Player 9 : Fold Player 1 : Fold Player 2 : Fold Player 4 : Fold Player 6 : Fold Our Hero : Winner -- doesn't show cards *** SUMMARY *** Pot: $13 | Rake: $0 Player 1 lost $2 (folded) Player 2 lost $2 (folded) Player 3 lost $1 (folded) Player 4 lost $2 (folded) Player 5 didn't bet (folded) Player 6 lost $2 (folded) PocatelloMac didn't bet Our Hero bet $99, collected $110, net +$11 [ Ts Td ] Player 9 lost $2 (folded) Player 10 didn't bet (folded) |
| It seems to me that the questions here are: (1) how often will someone with a better pair call your all-in? (2) would you make more by waiting until you flop a big-hand and dominate someone? As for (1), how loose are your opponents, and how often do you try this against them? If you pull this move too often they might catch on that you're stealing with your non-premium pairs and try to pick you off with QQ-JJ (as well as AA-KK) Also, how loose are they? If their $1 limps and raises do not indicate particularly good hands your odds are better than if they do. If this were a tight game, it would be dangerous to try to steal from a handful of limpers, because one of them might well be slowplaying AA or KK. As for (2), I would think the more straightforward play of pocket pairs - getting a small pot when you flop top pair, getting a big pot when you flop a set, getting a huge pot when you make a make a set over set or full-house over whatever, is more profitable. You are more likely to win $98 and less likely to lose it this way, but on the other hand you will be folding quite a bit post-flop. (And occasionally getting dominated even when you do make a hand.) If you do it infrequently enough that only AA or KK will call your all-in, it seems like a +EV play to me, but then again, pocket pairs in the neighborhood of TT should be +EV hands anyway. If you do it often enough, or your opponents are smart enough, that they start calling you with pairs down to TT, surely this is a losing strategy. This seems like more of a tournament move, when you are either in a position to bully or getting dangerously low on chips. |
| You have to realize that the only cards that will call your pair of T's is Aces due to the overbet you do. By overbet I mean you bet many many times more than the pot is at the time you raise all in. Ofcourse you will win a lot of small pots raising all in that way. But the thing that will happend, is that when you get called, you will lose your whole stack probarbly. And considering this was lowlimit I have no doubt that players will call you with JJ, QQ, KK aswell. If you want to take down the pot then and there, I think a bet of 1,5 x the pot is much more suitable. So if the pot is $10 you should raise $15 more. It's a good bet to take down pot almost as often as your all in bet. If you get reraised you can muck and not lose your whole stack. |
| Conclusion: The $98 raise was too much. The idea was correct, but a $20-$30 was more in order. The benefits of a $30 raise are the same as the benefits of a $98 raise: in most cases you will take the pot. But the negative sides are much smaller with a $20-$30 raise. In the case that there is A-A or even K-K out there a $98 raise would lose the whole stack where a $20-$30 raise only would loose $20-$30. |
