I was at the Sands Bethlehem today
playing 3-6 LHE. This is my third visit and I've netted a small
profit across 3 sessions. I've been trying to use pot odds to made
decisions about when to chase flushes, straights, and full houses
which means I have been counting the number of bets pre-flop and
using the following odds to determine when to chase:
Flush: 4:1
Straight: 5:1Full house or gut shot straight: 11:1 (4 outs)
Since the game is low stakes, the pot
size pre-flop is usually 3 to 6 bets (big blinds) if no one raises
which is about half of the hands. In these cases there is typically
enough money in the pot to chase a flush and straight but not an
inside straight. If someone raises pre-flop, most of the limpers who
acted before him will call, hence pots are often much larger in the
range of 6 to 10 bets. If anyone bets the flop the pot will almost
always be large enough to chase a gut shot. My conclusion is that
raising pre-flop provides better pot odds for chasing more hands and
the chance of getting sucked out on.
This lead me to think about how to use
this to my advantage. If I am in the BB and there are three limpers
and the SB calls, then the pot is only 5 bets pre-flop (assuming I
check). If I look down at a hand like 7c8d (off suited connectors)
then I really need to hit the flop hard in order to continue after
the flop. If there are one or two over cards on the flop then my had
is probably worthless. But say I flop a gut shot like 5s9hKd. If
there was 11 bets in the pot I could probably draw to my straight
profitably.
Here's my thought, if I raised pre-flop
in the BB I would certainly get 4 callers and the pot now becomes 10
bets. If I check my gutshot on the flop and someone bets I
immediately get pot odds to draw to my gut shot straight. At the same
time anyone with any part of the flop gets odds to call. Someone who
hits bottom pair on that 59K flop has 5 outs (2 more 5's for a set,
and 3 other cards to make two pair) and can also call.
