When You are First to Act

When You are First to Act

When You are First to Act

You wake up in the cut-off with Qd-Jd. The table has folded to you. What do you do? Contemporary poker theory argues that you should act aggressively; if a hand is worth a call then it is worth a raise when you are first to act. Is that always the case? With a marginal hand with positive expectation is a call sometimes the better move? If you hit the flop wouldn't that be the time to get aggressive?

In fact, I believe there are no hard and fast rules in poker. In fact, the idea of mixing up one's play seems to me to take precedence over a rule that suggests that one should never call when first to act; raise or fold advocates miss out on their ability to misdirect. I tend to want to call around 25% of the time, even with the strongest hands. I use my second hand to generate the randomness I have pre-planned. If the second hand is between 1 second and 45 seconds I will raise a standard 3x the big blind and if it is between 46 seconds and 60 seconds I will just call the big blind and call if raised behind me up to 3x the big blind.

Beyond Random Play

Even my 25% plan is subject to alteration. If, for example, players behind me seem to muck their hands to a raise far more often than would appear to be correct play, while I still may use the 25% rule, I will vary that rule by putting in a bigger raise 25% of the time rather than a call.

If you are against a player who calls or raises too often then you might want to reverse your random approach and call 75% of the time while raising 25% of the time. By meeting the player who seems to bluff far too often with a majority call approach you will be able to punish him later.

The point I am making is that if there is a hard and fast rule in poker it is simply that there are no hard and fast rules, that every situation is a decision point where sometimes one path is correct and other times the opposite decision is correct. I like aggression as a tool but to mix my play up so as not to be so predictable I must slow down from time to time.

When to Speculate

I like to play suited connectors from 6-7 and up in certain situations. When I am in late position, hi-jack to the button, I am first to act and players behind me tend to fold too often suited connectors provide me with the perfect hand to speculate with. I will not speculate from early position and I hesitate to speculate in middle position, although I will sometimes do so. I do not want to speculate against loose players or calling stations because too much will go wrong. When I speculate with suited connectors I plan to divide my calls and standard raises evenly. Using the second hand I have two choices for randomization. I could simply decide that if the second hand is even when I look I call and if it is odd I raise. This is something like a coin flip. I could also use larger blocks of time, say between 1 and 15 seconds and 31 and 45 seconds I raise and between 16 and 30 seconds and 46 and 60 seconds I call. By randomizing in this way I am able to mix up my play so as not to be predictable. I also gain an advantage because I am selective as to with whom I choose to speculate.

POST COMMENT

Using Lease Options To Acquire Uk Property - An Introduction Surround Sound - Do You Need It? How To Give Your PC A Tuneup Make Polished Concrete Safer With Non-slip Additives Five Ways To Increase Your Linkedin Visibility Cheap Rose Bowl Tickets TCU Horned Frogs Wisconsin Badgers Where To Find Them Hdtv Faceoff: 720 Or 1080? What's The Scoop On Genetically Modified Crops? Getting Back İn Shape Has Never Been So Straightforward The Benefit Of Social Bookmarking Stroke the Physiology of Disaster Adhd Behavior Can Be Turned Around The Importance Of Directory Submission