Poker News

Tom Leonard

We’ve all seen the phrase “It depends” in poker literature many times. Yeah … about a kazillion times! “It Depends” is so frequently used because poker is so situationally dependent. Today let’s examine a situation that can be addressed multiple ways so it just might … (here comes the “D” word again) Depend.

Let’s say you have a pair of nines in middle position and everyone else folds to you. There are exactly two ways to play this hand. Some may opine that there is a third option available but let’s get real … folding is not an option. So do you raise or just call the big blind? Both options have merit but also carry with them inherent risks. We’ll examine the upsides and downsides of each of these options and maybe come to a conclusion as to which is best. Then again we might just determine that, “It depends.”

Personally, I favor bringing it inwith a raise. I guess I still embrace the “Pump it or dump it” philosophy. It allows you to take control of the hand and hopefully get those weak aces and other over card hands like K-Q to fold, narrowing the field and improving your chances of having your hand prevail unimproved. Of course that is your plan when you raise, but a downside is if you get some callers and over cards come on the flop. Then you won’t really know where you stand.

Aside from the blinds calling, you will be out of position relative to other callers during the hand and may face a tough decision if a couple of “Wheel House” cards hit the flop. Then if you decide to bet into a scary board with what is now a mediocre hand, you might be raised, or even if you’re just called, you won’t know where you stand. It is at this point when your aggressive pre-flop style that you had so much confidence in seems to mock you. Now you’re thinking, “Damn, why didn’t I just flat call before the flop.”

Alternatively, you can just call before the flop to see how many players enter the hand, and see the texture of the flop inexpensively. A major advantage to this course of action is that you can muck your hand quite easily if you don’t like the flop and are faced with a bet or two. Since you are now in “stealth mode” you can also get in a nice, juicy check raise if the flop nails you.

Now it’s your opponents who don’t know where they stand. The flat call before the flop is starting to sound better and better than the time proven style of aggressive play. The action you take before the flop in this scenario should really depend on factors such as your opponents’ tendencies, your own playing style, what gear you’re currently in, the texture of the game, and your perceived table image. As you can see… It Depends.

Our goal to take away from this time together is to pick the correct strategy when faced with this situation … the correct strategy that you believe has the highest percentage of prevailing against the line up of opponents yet to act behind you. Never play formula poker and react the same way all the time. This has merit either way you play it, as well as inherent downsides too, so play it the way the current situation dictates based on the criteria outlined above. In the final analysis, the two words that best sum up the appropriate strategy to follow are… It Depends!

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