Poker Lessons

You limp into a pot and the player behind you bets $20. You know that he's a "rock" who doesn't enter many pots and can be bluffed off a hand if he doesn't have the nuts. Everyone else folds, but you call his pre-flop raise.

What should you do after the flop?

1. Check
2. Bet $30
3. Bet $65

You should bet 30.

A bet of 30 here is about half the pot, which should serve as a good "feeler" bet letting you judge the strength of your opponent's hand. Since your opponent's conservative style suggests he only plays very strong hands, it's likely that he didn't connect with this flop and that your pair is good.

If your opponent flat calls here, you should bet again on the turn if your hand improves and if your opponent raises, you should fold your hand and look for a better spot.

You raised to 50 before the flop and bet 70 on the flop, which only one opponent behind you called. On the turn, you bet 150, and your opponent re-raised you all-in for the last 400 chips in your stack.

What should you do?

1. Fold
2. Call

Based on the action in this hand and the size of the pot, you should call in this situation.

With 955 chips already in the pot, you are getting a return of 2.5 to one on your money if you win the hand. The only two hands that you are in very big trouble against here are pocket Aces or pocket Kings, which both seem unlikely since your opponent didn't re-raise you before the flop. Even if your opponent is holding other scary cards, such as Queen-Jack, pocket 10s, or pocket 6s, you're getting good enough odds here to justify the call.

With the pot size at 600 on the turn, you bet 300. All opponents except one fold; this player raises to 600.

What should you do?

1. Fold
2. Call
3. Raise to 1,000

You should call.

Even though your opponent's small raise seems to be a pot-building value bet, perhaps indicating they flopped a flush, you have about a 40% chance of improving your hand with the next card. What's more, you only have to pay 300 more in order to play for a pot of 1,500. If any spade hits, or if the board pairs, you're almost certain to win the hand.

You're in the big blind with pocket Jacks. The player in the cut-off, with a stack of 45,000, raises to 4,000.

What should you do?

1. Fold
2. Call
3. Go all in

You should go all in.

With the blinds so high, players in the cut-off often raise with a wide range of hands in order to steal the blinds.

In addition, you're going to lose another 500 from your stack on the next hand, as you'll be the small blind. In this situation, you really have no choice but to go all in.