DECISION POINT: You're in a daily tournament that you frequently play at a local casino. There are 16 players remaining with 10 getting paid. In this tournament, it's common for players to do an even chop between the final 6 or 7 players. Blinds are 1,000/2,000 with a 2,000 big blind ante. You are second in chips with 126,000, with most other stacks around 60,000. The UTG player moves all-in for 23,000 and action folds to you in the Hijack seat with K♣Q♣. What's your move?

PRO ANSWER: We are playing in a daily tournament at our local casino. There are 16 players left and 10 places get paid. We play in this tournament regularly. It's very common for an even chop to happen with 6-7 players left, where the remaining players evenly split the remaining prize money without regard for the chip stacks in play. We are currently second in chips with 126,000 and blinds are 1,000/2,000 with a 2,000 big blind ante. There are a few short stacks at the other table, but most players have around 60,000 chips, or 30 big blinds.

We are dealt K♣Q♣ in the Hijack seat and the Under the Gun player moves all-in for their remaining 23,000 chips. Action folds to us, and we have a decision to make. Under normal circumstances with a standard payout structure that is top-heavy, KQs would be right on the cusp of being able to call an all-in from a UTG player at an 8-handed table.

This situation, however, presents several unique variables. Given this tournament normally chops 6-7 ways evenly, the payout structure is very flat and rewards staying in the tournament far more than accumulating chips. If the UTG player is adjusting appropriately, they should be shoving much narrower than they would in a more typical tournament situation with 11.5 big blinds. Additionally, being second in chips means that we will likely get the maximum payout in a chop scenario simply by staying alive in the tournament. There is very little benefit to taking on risk to attempt to grow our stack beyond what is likely to make it into the final 6 or 7 players.

With these ICM factors at play, we should be continuing with a very narrow range, particularly with so many players behind us still to act. Chopping is very common in a lot of daily tournaments, particularly in a live casino environment. Making the correct strategic adjustments deep in a tournament when an even chop is likely is key to maximizing your value in these spots.

Folding is the best play.

DECISION POINT: You’re in a regional tournament series with deep stacks that attract both pros and recreational players. The blinds are 300/600 with a 600 big blind ante. UTG+1, who is a known and well-studied player capable of making aggressive plays, opens to 1,500. You reraise to 4,500 in MP2 with A♦A♥. Action folds back around to the UTG+1 player, and they call. The flop comes K♦3♦2♦. Your opponent checks, you bet 2,500, and they raise to 5,700. What do you do here?

PRO ANSWER: We are playing a regional series event with deep stacks that tend to attract a variety of both pros and recreational players from around the area. The blinds are 300/600 with a 600 big blind ante. The UTG+1 player is a known player with over $500k live earnings who is well studied and capable of making aggressive plays.

We are dealt A♦A♥ in MP2 and following a 1,500 chip open from UTG+1 and a fold by MP1, we make a standard reraise to 4,500 chips. Everyone else folds back to the UTG+1 player who just calls. The flop is K♦3♦2♦ and the UTG+1 player checks.

As the preflop aggressor we retain a significant range advantage, meaning we can often bet these monotone boards with 100% frequency. Our opponent in UTG+1 also has a lot of hands that completely miss these types of boards that will fold to any size bet. Given these factors, choosing a small c-bet size will allow for a great price on our bluffs while still being able to get value out of bigger hands and draws on future streets by sizing up. We bet 2,500 chips into a pot of slightly over 10,000, and our opponent makes a very small check-raise to 5,700.

With an overpair and the A♦ in our hand, folding isn’t a consideration. At this point, we have to decide if it is better to just call or if raising is preferred. This specific check-raise size isn’t something we would normally expect to see, in theory. Since this appears to be a deviation, we need to think about what type of hands this specific opponent might check-raise this size with and put them on a range.

It’s unlikely UTG+1 expects much fold equity when we’re getting 6:1 pot odds on our call. What is more likely is that they have a range consisting of some made hands of varying strengths, or semi-bluffs that prefer to wait until the turn (often for a “safe” card) to start bloating the pot more aggressively. This range includes hands like Kx with a diamond, as well as hands including AK, 33, 22, and some made flushes. If we didn’t hold the A♦, that range might include some combos with just the Ace of diamonds, as well as suited Ax of diamonds for some nut flushes, but since we do they can be excluded.

If we consider how the hands in UTG+1’s check-raising range might react if we were to reraise, most of the hands that we dominate are likely fold and only the hands ahead of our Aces currently such as made flushes and sets are likely to continue. This is a classic “way ahead, way behind” scenario where it benefits us to keep our opponent’s range wide so that hands like Kx can continue to shovel money into the pot on future streets drawing extremely thin.

Even when our opponent does have a hand like a set or flush we are getting a very compelling price to draw to the nut flush and potential one of the two remaining Aces for top set.

Calling is the best play.

DECISION POINT: In a daily deep stack tournament with blinds at 250/500 and a 500 big blind ante, you’ve observed the table as being mostly passive with a lot of checking, calling, and very little 3-betting preflop. First to act in the UTG seat, you open to 1,200 with K♥J♥ and action folds to the Big Blind who calls. Your opponent checks the Q♠T♠9♠ flop, you c-bet 800, and they call. The turn is 4♥ and the Big Blind checks. Action is on you, what do you do here?

PRO ANSWER: We are playing a daily deep stacked tournament. The blinds are 250/500 with a 500 big blind ante. Most of the table has been fairly passive with a lot of checking and calling, as well as very little 3-betting preflop. We have 25,000 chips and the rest of the table has between 15,000-30,000 chips.

We are dealt K♥J♥ Under the Gun. While opening a tight range in early position is preferrable, KJs is easily strong enough to open, particularly at a passive table where we are unlikely to get 3-bet frequently. We open to 1,200 chips and everyone folds to the Big Blind who just calls.

The flop is Q♠T♠9♠ and we have flopped a straight on a monotone board. Our opponent in the Big Blind checks and action is on us. Monotone boards are very unique in No-Limit Hold’em. As the preflop aggressor in a heads up pot we often retain a significant range advantage, which means we should be continuation betting frequently. In fact, in many situations it will be strategically correct to continuation bet on monotone boards with 100% of our range.

The Big Blind’s defending range has a lot of hands that have completely missed with no pair and no draw that will automatically fold to any size bet. We need to choose a size that gives a good price on our bluffs while still allowing flexibility to size up on various turns and rivers against the part of our opponent’s range that has connected in some way, both for value and as a bluff.

We bet 800 chips (around 25% of the pot) and the Big Blind calls. The turn is the 4♥ and our opponent checks to us. Given our small flop bet size, the Big Blind will still have a fairly wide range on the turn including a lot of one pair hands as well as some Jx and combos containing a single spade. The Big Blind would have also preferred to check-raise some of the more vulnerable made hands on the flop such as small flushes.

These combined factors make this an excellent opportunity for us to fire a second barrel on the turn and extract value, as well as apply pressure against most of the Big Blind’s range. Many players are tempted to either check behind or bet small in this spot, fearing that they may be up against a flush. Since many of our opponent’s bigger hands would have raised the flop, it is quite likely (although never certain) we have the best hand, and we should bet bigger for value.

Betting 2/3 to 3/4 of the pot (3,000-3,500 chips) is the best play.

DECISION POINT: You’re playing in a live $1/$2 cash game. The table includes mostly loose/passive recreational players with many hands going to showdown, a lot of calling, and very little aggressive action. The UTG player limps, you raise to $10 from MP with K♣Q♠, the Big Blind calls, and the limper folds. The flop comes A♣T♣9♣. The Big Blind bets $14 and action is on you. What do you do here?

PRO ANSWER: We’re playing a loose/passive live $1/$2 cash game. The table is full of recreational players with many hands going to showdown and lots of calling with very little aggressive action. We are dealt K♣Q♠ in MP1. The UTG player limps and the next player folds with action on us.

As a basic default rule against limpers, we will raise with any of the hands that we cannot call with according to the calling criteria that are included in the first-in raising range for the seat position of the limper.

The first step is to determine whether we can call profitably per the calling criteria, and in this case KQo is not a true speculative hand and does not play well multiway. Looking at the first-in range from the initial limper in UTG we see that KQo is included, so isolating the limper is our preferred default play. We make it $10, everyone folds to the Big Blind who calls, and the initial limper UTG folds.

The flop is A♣T♣9♣ and the Big Blind leads for $14 into the $23 pot. In a typical game where there are some amount of skilled opponents, when the Big Blind calls preflop in this situation they likely have a very condensed and capped range. In a loose/passive game filled with recreational players, the Big Blind’s range a bit wider than it should including many of the sort of hands players want to “see a flop” with such as offsuit broadway cards, suited connectors, and pocket pairs.

When a player leads into the preflop raiser (often called “donk” betting) on flops that favor the preflop raiser, it’s often either an attempt to “see where they are at”, or because they are worried about not getting action on a big hand when they check. On a board like this monotone flop with an Ace and broadway draw which many recreational players find quite “scary”, this donk lead is typically because the Big Blind is worried we won’t bet and another club or straightening card will fall on the turn.

Holding the Kc and an inside straight draw, we still have a lot of equity in this pot, but it is unlikely we have the best hand at the moment. If the board texture was scattered or all low cards and more likely that our opponent was lead/donk betting a medium strength hand to “see where they were at”, there would be a lot of merit to making a semi-bluff raise.

On this particular board, many of the hands the Big Blind is leading with are actually happy to see a raise. Hands such as Ax/T9s combos or even small flushes prefer to get chips in on the flop before a scary card comes on the turn or river. Our hand has significant equity with the Kc and inside straight draw, and we have a lot of potential opportunities to float and take the pot away on the turn if another scary card hits. Given these factors, calling makes a lot more sense than semi-bluffing on this coordinated monotone flop.

Calling is the best play. 

P.S. Check out our December live study session where we focused on Dealing with Limpers. Watch a preview →

DECISION POINT: In an online Tournament with blinds at 500/1,000 and a 1,000 big blind ante you are dealt 8♣8♠ in the Cutoff seat. Stacks at the table range from 10BBs to just over 40BBs. The early position players fold, the MP1 player open shoves for 15,000 (15BBs) and action is on you with 21BBs behind.

What do you do here?

PRO ANSWER: We are in the middle stages of a major Sunday online tournament. The blinds are 500/1,000 with a 1,000 big blind ante. The stacks range from 10 big blinds to just over 40. We are dealt black eights in the cutoff and it folds to MP1 who open shoves for 15,000.! Everyone else folds and action is on us.

When analyzing spots like this after the fact, we should approach from two perspectives. First, we should estimate MP1 range and how our hand performs against that range, much like we would in real-time at the table. Second, we should double check our estimate in real-time by running the spot in a solver to see what things look like when both players are using optimal ranges.

Studying in this way allows us to exercise our brain in the same way that we will use at the table, and then either reinforce our thoughts with the solver or discover any errors.

If the decision was wrong in real-time we can determine if this is a fundamental leak and what adjustments need to be incorporated to our game plan. If the opponent was likely shoving different ranges than the solvers suggest which may often be the case, then we can consider the merits of making an exploitative adjustment against our real life foes.

A primary consideration is whether MP1 has a non all-in raising range here. It’s likely at this stack size that they would raise a more standard sizing and not just move all-in with AA/KK and some of their other biggest hands.

Given this we can assume that MP1 is likely to have a capped range that includes many suited broadway hands, some big Ax hands, and some middle pairs. The key factor we need to assess is if MP1 will ever move all-in with pocket pairs lower than 88 or Ax combinations where their kicker is lower than 8.

In real-time we thought it was possible our opponent is capable of shoving as light as 77, but 66 or less and A8s or worse seemed unlikely so we chose to fold.

Through post hand analysis using a Game Theory Optimal Solver we can see that if MP1 is splitting their range properly the all-in range will include 66-99, A8s-AJs, AKo, KJs, KTs, QTs+. The range of hands that prefers to raise a standard amount first-in at 15BB blinds includes a mix of stronger hands (TT+/AQs+), some smaller suited Ax combinations, and offsuit broadway hands. Against the specific all-in range provided by the Solver we see that 88 has a +550 chip (+.55 BB) expectation. This means that against an opponent using GTO ranges we should be calling, although the decision is still very close.

In real world situations many players might shove hands such as TT/JJ, especially as they don’t want to encourage action and have to play postflop. If MP1 was the type of opponent to use this larger sizing with medium pairs that may be vulnerable on overcard flops then this spot would quickly become a fold. We would also have an easier call if we were in the Blinds with fewer players behind yet to act.

Against a GTO opponent, calling is the best play. Against specific opponents shoving narrower ranges or higher pairs, you could make an exploitative fold.

DECISION POINT: You're in the early stages of a World Series of Poker multi-day tournament with late registration and reentry still open. The blinds are 200/400 with a 400 big blind ante. Most players have around 50 big blinds, and you’ve worked your stack up to 100BBs. Action folds to you in the Cutoff with A♦T♦ and you make a standard raise to 1,000. The Button, who is an accomplished Pro and has a 105BB stack, calls. The flop comes Q♠5♦4♣ and action is on you. What do you do here?

PRO ANSWER: We're playing a multi-day event at the World Series of Poker. The tournament is in level 2 with late registration still open and players are allowed to reenter until the end of level 8. Most players have around 50 big blinds, but we’ve managed to work our stack up to 100BBs. The Button is a very studied professional poker player. The blinds are 200/400 with a 400 big blind ante and we are dealt A♦T♦ in the Cutoff. The action folds to us and we make a standard raise to 1,000. The Button decides to call and both Blinds fold. The flop is Q♠5♦4♣ and we are first to act.

The primary driver of continuation betting frequency on the flop is range advantage. Many players incorrectly believe that being the preflop raiser gives them a range advantage on dry boards like this one. Position is a key factor to consider in c-betting spots. Had we raised in Early Position instead of the Cutoff, we certainly would have a range advantage against the Button on this board. However, in this specific situation, we have a wide uncapped range and our opponent has a significantly narrower range that is capped and condensed.

Reviewing this spot in a solver as a part of post-hand analysis, we see that the Button defends with less than half as many hand combinations as we raise with from the Cutoff (215 vs. 450) and has a slight range advantage (51% vs. 49%) on the flop before any action takes place.

This dynamic occurs most frequently in Cutoff open vs Button call and Small Blind vs Big Blind scenarios. When facing skilled and aggressive players who are capable of utilizing their position appropriately in these spots, we should check the flop quite frequently. In fact, based on the solver results, the Cutoff checks with the entire range around 85% of the time. While the Cutoff is often taking a passive line on the flop, it’s crucial to note that checking here doesn’t mean giving up. We should be checking some of our big hands to protect our checking range and add check-raises with some strong value hands and bluffs such as A2s/A3s on this particular board. Check-calling on the flop also makes up a portion of our strategy, particularly against smaller bet sizes.

If our opponent on the Button were a more passive recreational player in this spot, the strategy would change significantly. There would be more merit to betting because a passive opponent is like to call preflop with a much wider range, negating the range advantage a more narrow and condensed range has on this board. Recreational opponents are also far less likely to float and raise the flop with the appropriate tendencies to discourage us from continuation betting.

Against tougher players it’s very important to recognize these spots as high-frequency checks, or we will quickly bleed chips to good players who utilize position well.

Checking is the best play.

DECISION POINT: You’re in a live $2/$5 cash game that recently started. In early position you raise to $15 with Q♣T♣ and only the Button calls. You continuation bet $15 on the K♦J♥2♦ flop and get called. On the 9♣ turn you bet $25 and your opponent calls. The river is 9♦ and action is on you. What do you do here?

PRO ANSWER: We are playing in a $2/$5 game at our local casino. The game has recently started, and we don’t have any significant reads on our opponents. We are dealt Q♣T♣ UTG+1 and the UTG player folds. QTs is well within our first-in hand range in early position, so we make a standard open to $15. Everyone folds to the Button who flat calls, and both Blinds fold.

The flop is K♦J♥2♦ and we have an open-ended straight draw. On this flop the early position raiser has a significant range advantage and wants to bet frequently. Since we want to continuation bet our entire range, a smaller size is preferred. We bet $15 and the Button calls.

The turn is the 9♣ and we hit our straight draw. Our opponent called an early position raise preflop from the Button, which should represent a fairly condensed range consisting mostly of middle pairs, some suited broadway hands, and some suited Ax hands. We can assume that hands that continued on the flop connected with the board in some way, so the Button’s likely range on the turn is composed of flush draws, Kx/Jx/TT/T9s and QTs.

One big mistake many players make is becoming fixated on pricing out draws whenever they have a strong hand with draws present on the board. While that is a factor, we also need to be concerned about maximizing value against our opponent’s most likely range. Hands like KTs or QJs are unlikely to call a really big bet but are likely to continue against a half pot sized bet while drawing extremely thin. We elect to bet $25 and the Button calls.

The river is the 9♦. This completes the flush draw that was on the flop, and there are some hands like J9s that made a full house. Often players make the error of instantly going into check and call mode fearing the worst. By taking a check/call line we would still lose to all our opponent’s flushes, however we would also miss out on value from many Kx and 9x hands that would likely call a half-pot bet but will check behind if we check.

Missing value spots, especially out of position on the river, is one of the more common cash game leaks. Attempting to extract $60 more value in this spot by betting rather than checking and calling a similar sized bet, even though we will need to fold to a raise with some frequency, is a big way to increase your hourly rate. There are times where we may have opponent specific information that may make checking to induce bluffs in this situation more profitable, but against an unknown opponent, this is a great spot to go for a thin value bet.

Betting around half the pot ($60) is the best play.

DECISION POINT: You’re playing in a weekend tournament at your local casino, and the reentry period just ended. The blinds are 400/800 with a 800 big blind ante. You are second in chips at your table with an 80,000 (100BBs) chip stack. From Under the Gun you make the standard open and raise to 2,000 with Q♠Q♦ and only the Button, who has you covered, calls. The flop is 8♥4♥2♣. You continuation bet 2,000 and get called. You bet 7,000 on the 2♥ turn and your opponent raises to 23,000. What do you do here?

PRO ANSWER: We are playing in a weekend tournament at our local casino. The reentry period just ended, and the blinds are 400/800 with an 800 big blind ante. We have built up an 80,000 chip stack during the reentry period, which covers the entire table except for the Button, who has 100,000 chips. We are dealt Q♠Q♦ UTG and make a standard raise to 2,000 chips. Everyone folds to the Button who just calls. Both Blinds fold, and we’re off to a flop of 8♥4♥2♣.

Most players will throw out a continuation bet here without a second thought, but it’s important to always be evaluating situations. Range advantage is the primary driver of betting frequency, and we do have a significant range advantage over our opponent in this spot. However, we have an SPR of 13 and an overpair that does not contain a heart. Our opponent will make this call preflop on the Button with a range that is weighted heavily toward suited hands and includes a lot of pocket pairs/suited connectors that connect well with this board.

If we look at this spot in a solver, pocket queens mix between betting and checking, which shows just how tough it can be to play overpairs on boards like this against a skilled Button and with deep stacks. In this situation, we do decide to make a continuation bet of 2,000, and our opponent just calls.

The turn is the 2♥. Now the obvious draw is completed, but given the small bet on the flop, our opponent still has many 8x hands in their range as well as a lot of pocket pairs. If we check and fold to a turn bet against that range, we are giving up our hand with far too much equity. Pocket queens without a heart benefit a fair amount from protection against a lot of our opponent’s range that will have around 11 outs against a vulnerable hand that has strong equity. Based on how these ranges interact on this board, our hand favors going a bit on the larger side with a turn second barrel.

We bet 7,000 and the Button raises to 23,000. Many players struggle with what to do with a big overpair in this situation.

If we step back and evaluate this spot logically, would our opponent ever do this with a worse hand for value? It is unlikely, which means our queens are basically a bluff catcher. Is our opponent bluffing often enough to make calling profitable?

If we consider the Button's actions on each street, there aren’t a lot of hands that make logical bluffs. Our opponent’s range is composed of strong made hands or hands with some showdown value that would likely prefer calling to raising.

Even though we started with the third-best hand in poker preflop, our pocket queens become simply a bluff catcher in a spot where our opponent doesn’t have a lot of bluffs.

Folding is the best play.

DECISION POINT: You’re playing in a two-day regional tournament and have noticed your tablemates are using appropriate ranges based on hands seen at showdown. The blinds are 500/1,000 with a 1,000 big blind ante. The UTG player raises to 2,200 and MP1 reraises to 6,500. Action folds to you on the Button with J♠J♣. What do you do here?

PRO ANSWER: We are playing in a two-day regional event with a reasonable structure. The blinds are 500/1,000 with a 1,000 big blind ante. So far, we’ve seen solid hands at showdown from every player at the table and can assume we are up against competent opponents.

We are dealt J♠J♣ on the Button and the UTG player raises to 2,200 chips. Following a fold from UTG+1, the player in the MP1 seat reraises to 6,500 chips and everyone else folds to us. This is a spot where many players make the mistake of thinking about their hand’s absolute value instead of their hand’s relative value in the specific situation. Pocket jacks is one of the top 5 starting hands in poker, and we are going to want to continue in some fashion preflop in the majority of situations.

In this scenario, however, the initial raise came from an early position player followed by a reraise from MP1 with 40 big blind effective stacks. In this spot, MP1 should be raising fewer than 5% of total hands. To give an idea of what this looks like, MP1’s reraising range should only include hands such as TT+/AKs/AQo+ along with a few bluffs for balance. A true GTO 3-betting range for MP1 versus UTG open would include 88-QQ all mixing with some frequency, where pocket pairs 88-JJ are doing more calling than raising. Combine MP1’s narrow range with the fact that any action preflop will very quickly become pot committing for us, and our hand doesn’t look near as nice.

If we had some sort of information that our opponents were on the more aggressive side with their preflop ranges, we might be able to continue exploitatively. In longer events that are well-structured, players will often be even more passive than optimal ranges would suggest, which would make continuing here with pocket jacks even more problematic.

It can be incredibly frustrating to be dealt a top 5 starting hand in No-Limit Hold’em and have to fold preflop facing multiple raises. When the action suggests that one of your opponents is likely holding something that is stronger, finding folds and preserving your stack for more favorable situations is a huge edge.

Folding is the best play.

DECISION POINT: You're in the early stages of a daily tournament with no significant reads on your tablemates, with the exception that they mostly have been showing down reasonable hands. The blinds are 200/400 with a 400 big blind ante and you have 20,000 chips to start the hand. The action folds to you in the Cutoff with 7♠7♥, you open to 1,000, and only the Big Blind calls. The flop comes K♠5♥2♦. Your opponent checks, you c-bet 900, and they call. On the 3♠ turn the Big Blind leads out for 1,500 and action is on you. What do you do here?

PRO ANSWER: We are in the earlier stages of a daily tournament with blinds of 200/400 and a 400 big blind ante. Most of the players have been showing down reasonable hands when we’ve had the opportunity to see them, and we otherwise haven’t developed any significant reads to this point in the session.

With 20,000 chips to start the hand in the Cutoff and holding 7♠7♥ we make a standard raise to 1,000 chips, and everyone folds to the Big Blind who just calls. The flop is K♠5♥2♦ and the Big Blind checks to us. This is a board where the preflop raiser from the Cutoff will have a significant range advantage and we will frequently continuation bet with our entire range. In game we make the preferred choice and bet 900 into the 2,600 pot, and the Big Blind just calls.

The turn is the 3♠ and surprisingly, our opponent leads for 1,500. When an opponent takes a line where they lead into the aggressor on the turn, there is often one of several factors at play.

First, the Big Blind will often lead the turn when picking up additional equity, which in this case would mostly be flush draws but does include some Ax, 6x, and 4x hands.

Second, they could have turned two-pair or better with hands including A4, K3, 33, 53, and 32s, and are trying to build a pot fearing we may not fire again on this board texture. Lastly, this turn lead may be intended to deny equity since we are betting such a wide range on the flop. Many of the 5x combos in the Big Blind’s range benefit greatly from generating folds from some of our random overcards, such QJo, that still have significant equity.

Given these assumptions, the Big Blind’s leading range likely consists of some draws, some bigger hands, and some medium-strength hands looking to clear out equity. Our pocket sevens are doing fairly well against that range. However, there is little reason to raise as our opponent is likely to fold medium-strength hands we dominate, continue with the hands that dominate us, and proceed with draws only if getting the correct price.

Calling is the best play.