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January 10, 2017
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Playing $1/$2 yesterday with an effective stack of $300. Button straddles for $5. Sb folds, I have A8ss. I flatted here. Talking it over with a friend who plays higher stakes, he stated he would never flat here, would either raise or fold. Honestly I am not sure if those are the only two correct options. This is the type of hand I want to see a flop with and not sure if playing a bloated pot oop is ideal. Thoughts? Utg raises to 20, utg1, mp and button call (all of them have a little under $200). Getting such good pot odds I decide to call.
Flop is 742ss. I check, utg bets 20, utg1, mp and button call. I decide to flat. Turn 4s. I check, utg bets 25, utg1 and button call. I check raise to 100. Utg tanks for a few minutes and folds, utg1 calls and button folds. Utg1 has $12 behind so I throw out $15 before the river is shown. River Js and he turns over QQcs. Utg says he had Ks. I say nice fold and then he tells me that he turned the flush as well. He didn’t show obviously so I am not sure if he was being honest. I am curious if check raising the turn looks too strong and if anyone would recommend a different line.
TPE Pro
December 6, 2012
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Your friend is very wrong pre-flop. In a BN straddle game where blinds act first preflop, I’d rather play purely call/fold than purely raise/fold with my range, though probably using all options is best. I wouldn’t necessarily call this a hand you want to see the flop with, though. If you’re thinking about A8s mostly as a flush draw, you’re thinking about it wrong IMO.
Further to that point, I think it’s telling that you explicitly don’t ask about the flop play. There’s a strong case for check-raising IMO. Not saying it’s necessarily better than calling, but you definitely shouldn’t trivially dismiss it. You should be looking to play strong draws aggressively.
January 10, 2017
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I agree with you on the flop. The reason I said “I decide to flat” is because I was seriously contemplating raising. I probably go about 50/50 raising vs calling in a spot like that.
November 6, 2018
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Isn’t XR looks so strong so people fold “everything” worse than nut flush and on paired board call with boats only? Obviously that didn’t happen here, just a theoretical question though…
November 6, 2018
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Are there any videos or other material about play against straddle?
TPE Pro
December 6, 2012
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nkarapet said
Isn’t XR looks so strong so people fold “everything” worse than nut flush and on paired board call with boats only? Obviously that didn’t happen here, just a theoretical question though…
It’s certainly strong, which is why I think he should have done it on the flop, when he would have liked to get folds!
I’m not aware of any strategy videos dealing with straddles. If it’s a typical UTG straddle, it’s not really changing the strategic elements of the game, it’s just raising the stakes and cutting the effective stacks in half. BN straddles are trickier, especially because different rooms treat them different ways in terms of how they change the order of pre-flop action. But even so, the adjustments aren’t terribly different. Playing from the blinds is the trickiest thing, and mostly you should just be very tight, especially from the SB.
January 10, 2017
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So Andrew I relayed your response to my friend. He still believes that flatting from the bb isn’t optimal due to the fact that that it is too hard to be balanced with a mixed strategy. In his opinion the range should be so tight there that to him raising/folding are the only two options he would choose. Fwiw, he does lean strongly towards a fold here too. I respect his game a lot and he is a winning player atthe highest stakes down here, so I figured I would rellay his thoughts on this.
TPE Pro
December 6, 2012
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If you restrict yourself to raise/fold, you do have to be very tight. But you’re also getting 3.5:1 on a call, so folding hands like 76s or 55 seems pretty bad to me. If you’re not comfortable having both calling and raising ranges, which is reasonable, then I’d say take raising off the table, don’t take calling off the table.
This is more relevant to nkarapet’s question than yours, but I came across this article today, from the most recent Thinking Poker Podcast guest: https://upswingpoker.com/straddle-pot-strategy-three-blind-cash-game/.
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