by In Stud High you have to pay attention to having a decent starting hand, calculating pot odds thoroughly, reading your opponents and finding the right spot for stealing the bring in and the antes. The following example was played against one of the most known female panen138 players: Cyndy Violette.
The above mentioned poker strategy is one of the very simple: one will play perfect poker, whatever the price. But this strategy is wrong. Such a strategy is suicide. Why? Quite simply because there are situations when you should make a fold and there are other situations when you should chase the pot.
Frankly, the following strategy is ridiculous: I will raise with Ace-King under the gun and make a bet, if my opponents re-raise me all-in. If they call, I will make a decision based on pot odds. If I have better hand than my opponents, I will fold. And I will do this looking for a free card or a bluff.
Basically, I will make a vary large bet, say 4x the size of the pot, if I have no premium hands. The extent of my raise will depend on thexs and ys of my opponents. I may want to raise 8x the size of the pot if I have no flush opponents at all and I have a few small chasers. I mean, what other option is there? I might as well go all-in before the flop if I have no flush opponents at all. Other reasons include:
- I am playing at a very aggressive table and I want to steal the pots of the limpers.
- The mere fact that the flop hit my opponents can boost my implied odds of a flush very nicely.
- If I’m in the Small blind, the flop hit me and I’m in big trouble, especially if my opponents limped in(raised) for as little as 4x the bb.
In conclusion, it’s not unusual to see an opponent make a min raise on the turn to 3x the size of the pot.
What this strategy essentially says, is that I should fold if I don’t have a very strong hand, otherwise, I should call or raise the minraise. This is because opponents have a much stronger hand range in the later stages and I, trying to steal the blinds/bring-ins by forcing the limpers to fold, I figured I would get some value for my small raises. Therefore, if I realized my hands were weak or they were less likely to play a big pocket pair to my ace or king, I would make a larger bet to steal the blinds or to get more value for my aces and kings.
However, if my hands were stronger, especially if opponents limped with very poor hands, I would make a smaller bet since those hands are more likely to beat my strong hand. Take this into account when deciding whether or not to call the min raise.
Another use for the min raise is to get a cheap or free card when your hand is weak. Suppose you have Ace/King and there were 2 or 3 callers pre-flop. I could figure that my opponents are not that weak since if they had a pocket pair they would have bet pre-flop. Since I am in the Small blind, the flop came 4-7-10. I have nothing but a high card and I get no help from the flop. Because the Small blind is likely to have a weak hand, the Small bet me to see the flop.
When you make a min raise, especially pre-flop, you are not in a no limit poker game. You are in a limit poker game and you only have $500 chips. You may as well bet everyone else out of the game right then. You have to play some control with your hand, raise the pot and try to pick some pots up. I love to do this in position. Let a few people see the flop Otherwise, I can win with my Aces or Kings.
In conclusion, the min raise is an excellent play that can win you the pot when you have a strong hand or help you win when you turn a weak hand.
