by Lou Krieger
Last time [Read Part 1] we left you with these suggestions about reraising. Building a pot with the best hand was the first and foremost reason to reraise. We also told you that you can build a pot with a big draw, and that you do not need to be a favorite to win the pot to make it a profitable play.
Another reason is to isolate the raiser and contest the pot heads-up. This protects your hand from weak draws by eliminating their pot odds.
You can also reraise whenever you think the bettor is drawing. If a card comes that supports their draw you can shut it down and not give them any more chips. Reraising also allows you to determine the pot odds your opponents will be getting, and can be used as leverage to push your opponents off of drawing hands. With two pair, you’d like to price out the straight and flush draws, but if you have a full house you’d ideally want to bet only enough to garner their calls, since they will be drawing dead.
Three-betting Light with Suited Connectors. I like suited connectors for three-betting light because they offer a chance at flopping a very big draw that may allow you to win a very big pot. And when playing cards in that middle range, you are likely to be out from under the domination of an opponent who holds something like A-K or A-Q. Your chances are a lot better if you flop a pair to a hand like T-9 than if you catch part of the flop with A-J or K-Q only to be staring up at an opponent who has your hand dominated to three outs.
But please don’t three-bet too often. If you do, you’ll shift your opponents take on you. Instead of seeing you as a hard-to-read player, they’ll view you as a fish who is prone to put too much money into too many pots with weak hands. Then they’ll value bet you straight into the poor house.
How Much Should You Reraise? Once you decide to reraise, you need to decide on the size of your reraise, which should be predicated upon the size of the pot, the situation, and your opponent.
Think about reraising somewhere between 1.5 times the initial raise and half the pot. If you really want to push your opponent out of the pot, you might reraise three-fourths the size of the pot. And if you are short stacked to the point that three-fourths the pot will put you all-in or close to it, you should consider risking the last of your chips on this play.
If you reraise and are called, you can be certain that your opponent has a hand, or is willing to take a risk with a big draw. The size of his chip stack is also important. If he has a middle stack and calls, he figures to have a strong hand. With a big stack, he might be drawing and is having a tough time deciding whether to risk a large portion of his chips on a draw. If he is short stacked, he won’t have much to lose and will probably call if he suspects you of bluffing or if he thinks his hand is better than yours.
If you find yourself in a situation where the idea of reraising doesn’t sit well with you, consider checking if you have first action. That forces your opponent to act first, and his action, particularly if he checks behind you, will give you some insights into the strength of his hand. Three-betting is often a walk on poker’s high wire. You’ll have to make judgments about your opponents that you won’t always be sure of, and you’ll have to make them in situations where the risk is high. But so are the rewards. And it’s that fine line that goes a long way to separating the good players from the great ones.
Visit Lou Krieger online at www.loukrieger.com, where you can read his blog, and check out all of his books. Write directly to him at loukrieger@aol.com.
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