Here are a couple of big hands that came up in a recent $2/4 NL session I had today. I am posting these hands because these were both sitations where on the river I had the best hand, but was faced w/ decisions about how to extract the most value. It's always tough to do that on the spot, so I wanted to show my lines here for you to consider as an option when the time comes for you. Ultimately, a day of grinding will get you a only a handful of these sitations, so it's imperative that you get the most out of them to get you through the reps of position PF raises and Cbets.

In this first hand, it's important to note that the Button and I had just gotten into an AK vs AQ situation on a flopped AJ3 rainbow, and I played my AKo nearly the exact same way as I played it here. The only difference there was that I was the button, and I ended up checking behind because I thought he might have flopped AJ for two pair since he would smooth call twice like that and wait for a value bet from me on the river, so I checked the river behind and missed a bet to his AQ. Oh well. I noticed this as a potential display of weakness on my part, at least some players might determine that check behind as weak play. So then about 5 hands later, this one comes up...

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SB ($723.65)
BB ($812.90)
Hero ($521.40)
MP ($387.80)
Button ($605.40)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A, Q.
Hero calls $4, 1 fold, Button raises to $18, 2 folds, Hero calls $14.

Flop: ($42) 4, J, K (2 players)
Hero bets $25, Button calls $25. (I am actually trying to price my draw here OOP by leading out for 1/2 pot. I thought this was right because I had just played my AK like this one orbit earlier against same villain.)

Turn: ($92) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $48, Button calls $48. (Again, this roughly matched my previous hand play w/ TPTK)

River: ($188) 6 (2 players)
Hero bets $75, Button goes all in for $514.40 , Hero calls.

Final Pot: $1046.80

Results in white below:
Hero has As Qs (flush, ace high).
Button has Ah Qh (high card, ace).
Outcome: Hero wins $1046.80.

Of course this was an easy hand to call the push on, I'm not posting it to show how well I can call w/ the nuts. But I wanted to post this hand because of the purposefully weak lead out on the river I made. Instead of slamming a pot sized bet out of position and having him fold or even make a bad call, I gave him plenty of room to make a move. I see so many players bet their draw on the flop for too much (like full pot) OOP, then check/call the turn and slam the pot on the river if they pickup their draw. I think this is only valuable against the most concerned table sherrifs and calling stations, and not against most players at most times, especially not better ones. Most of the time, after building a big pot by betting big OOP, you're not going to get a call like you might have gotten than if you'd priced your draws along the way (provided you are allowed to do so like I am here). So if you can price them, do it. It keeps the pots small that you don't hit and can't bluff at, and it also gives the position player a chance to make a move w/ worse hand when you toss out a weak looking bet. You want to delay the pressure point in the hand until after you know if you make your draw or not.


Here is another big hand from tonight, and again I'm calling w/ the nuts. I'm really getting good at that. But I wanted to show this one because of the weak OOP bet I make to induce a move:

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Hero ($733.60)
BB ($133.80)
UTG ($248.30)
MP ($736.40)
CO ($617.50)
Button ($1181.45)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 8, 8.
1 fold, MP raises to $14, 2 folds, Hero calls $12, BB calls $10.

Flop: ($42) 4, 8, 4 (3 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, MP bets $42, Hero calls $42, BB folds.

OK, sweet, flopped the boat. That happens almost never, so I'm excited. I survey the board, and it really doesn't look like I can get much out of it, no broadways or anything. I mean 844? Blech for action, unless he has a monster PP that he can't get away from. I see the two diamonds and decide that since I'm in the SB, I can let a drawer make his flush. Also, by check/calling here, I can make it look like I'm drawing myself, so there are options by check/calling. Leading out here of the SB on that flop is just going to chase away any action, and I don't need to play back with a reraise since I'm way ahead of anything at this point and actually want the BB to call, too, since I might have made his diamond draw price right with my own smooth call.

Turn: ($126) 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $126, Hero calls $126.

We're HU now, and since my stack was decent (not quite deep but nice @ about 175BB), I can still make a big smooth call OOP look like a draw since he's also got a nice stack. At this point, considering his pot sized bet again, I see that he's likely not drawing himself, I don't think he would have raised so hard on the turn. So I decide he's got a hand he likes possibly an overpair or AKd or AQd, maybe even Axd. And I don't think he plays quad 4444 like that either.

River: ($378) 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $150, MP goes all-in for
$554.40. , Hero goes all-in for $551.60. .

Here I lead out w/ a 'blocking bet' of $150 into about a $325 sized pot. A couple of reasons for this: 1. if he has an overpair like I think he does, he is probably not going to call my pot sized bet here like he would a value bet. A pot sized bet is way too strong OOP on the river like that. So instead of doing the work myself and forcing the issue of getting all in, I try to induce a minreraise out of him. Instead he takes the bait and pushes w/ junk, because I made such a weak attempt at the pot w/ my busted flush draw that turned out to be the flopped nuts.


Final Pot: $1478.20

Results in white below:
Hero has 8s 8h (full house, eights full of fours).
MP has Ts Kd (one pair, fours).

So I would just like to encourage you guys to try this out every once in awhile when you find yourself trying to get value out of your made hand against an aggro opponent. This stuff doesn't work on calling stations, mind you, they'll just call the blocking bet, so you're better off slamming against them and hoping they make a bad call, or turning it down from there based on how much you think they'll call off. But against aggros, this can be a lucrative line.

When you draw along the way to your made hand, make sure to price your bets if allowed. If you can't price your bets, this doesn't work as well because often times the pressure point in the hand comes on the turn through the position's aggression, and since the river would leave you with very little room to induce a steal attempt. When you flop das nutz OOP, assume the profile of the drawer and let them take the lead in position on the flop. This is one time when a slowplay is actually the right play.