Betting Out of Position | Poker Advice & Tips from Gus Hansen

Poker Tips from the Pros
Gus Hansen
Betting Out of Position
Gus Hansen speaks about how to
play in early postion playing
No-Limit Holdem

Betting Out of Position
Gus Hansen
November 20, 2006

Poker Tips from the Pros

UltimatePokerForum.com
The Ultimate Poker Site

To see what I mean, consider a pretty typical No-Limit hold 'em hand. Say
that I'm in the big blind with 7s-8s - a nice, flop-worthy hand. The player on
the button raises to three times the big blind and I decide to call. Many
players would check the flop under almost any circumstances. But, by
checking, you give control to the late-position player. He can bet whether or
not he has a hand, putting you in a tough spot if you don't get a piece of the
flop.

In a hand like this, I believe it's best to look at the flop and ask, "Is it likely
that these cards helped my opponent?" Once I have an answer to that
question, I can decide how to proceed.

If the flop is Ah-Kd-9c, I'd probably just check and fold to a bet, as my
opponent was likely raising with big cards and caught a piece of the flop.
However, if the flop is 9c-5h-2d, I'd probably be more skeptical. I know that in
Hold 'em, two unpaired hole cards will fail to make a pair on the flop about 66
percent of the time, and this seems to be a flop that the pre-flop raiser might
have missed.

If I suspect my opponent didn't connect, I'm going to take the initiative and
bet out about half the size of the pot. Betting here with my gutshot draw
offers several advantages. First, I might take the pot down right here, and
I'm always happy when a semi-bluff forces a fold. But even if I get a call from
my opponent, I've forced him to react. That gives me a chance to pick up a
read. If my opponent seems uneasy, I might continue with my semi-bluff on
the turn and try again to pick up the pot. Or, if I feel my opponent is strong, I
can check and fold to any bet on the turn if I fail to make my hand.

Stabbing at pots when out of position can be very lucrative. In tournaments,
I'll open-raise out of position fairly frequently because I think there's a lot of
power in being the first one to fire at the pot on the flop. I pick up a lot of
small pots that way.

As you work on your Hold 'em game, remember that you don't have to give
the advantage in the hand to the player in late position. Look for
opportunities to bet out and seize the initiative.

Gus Hansen

Every Hold 'em strategy guide talks about the importance
of positional advantage. The standard thinking is that the
player who acts last has more information than his
opponents, so he'll have a better sense of where he
stands in a hand and can, therefore, make better
decisions. There's no doubt that this is true, but it's
important to understand that the power that comes with
position is often granted to the late-position player by the
early-position player.

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