Thursday, October 26, 2006

Concepts in No Limit

Concept No. 11: A big bet is the most relevant and accurate information available.

Concept No. 50: If someone bets the flop and gets two or more calls, anyone who bets a significant amount on the turn should get respect.

From No Limit Hold'em Theory and Practice by Sklansky and Miller

MGM Grand $1-$2 NL. I have about $300 in front of me and open limp from UTG with 99. Five callers comprising EP, MP, button, SB and BB. The flop is

K 9 6 rainbow

SB bets $10, BB folds. I don't find this flop particularly threatening, so I smooth call my set. EP calls, MP goes all-in for $13, and button, SB, myself and EP are the only callers. However, before I call, I make the cardinal error of asking whether I can raise. I know the rule and the answer, of course, is that since the all-in was less than one and a half times the original bet, it cannot be raised. My inattention would cost me dearly.

Turn : 5

SB checks, I check, EP and MP check, and button after a brief pause goes all-in. He has me covered and I am perplexed by the disproportionate size of the bet. I haven't seen this player before and have no read on him. SB instafolds and I cannot help but think that if not for my stupid raise question, I would be facing a much smaller and easily callable bet. Still, I call almost instantaneously, not even thinking about his hand. EP and MP fold.

River : A

He turns over 87o for the nut straight. I reach for my wallet and rebuy in disgust, lessons learned.

2 comments:

F-Train said...

Why can't you raise?

You checked.
MP bets $10.
All-in for $13.
Call $13.
Call $13.
Your action.

It's true that because the all-in is less than half of a full raise, the all-in is considered a call. However, you have not yet had a chance to raise the original $10 bet from MP.

You should have been allowed to raise.

Mr Subliminal said...

F-Train, thanks for picking up that discrepancy. I screwed up on the details as the actual hand occurred a while ago and it was only my current reading of NLHET&P that reminded me of the hand.

So what actually happened was that after the flop SB bet $10, BB folded, I called, EP called, MP went all-in for $13 etc....

I have edited the post so that people who may not read these comments don't get confused. Thanks again F-Train for pointing that out.