Rebuy to Top Off? Yes.
When playing no limit it is generally good to have as much of a stack as you can. Some people will say they like to play with short stacks and there is some validity to that, if you’re good, but in general, most people will say you should have as much available as you can.
I, for example, reload quite often. If I lose 20% or so of my stack, I rebuy to the max. I do it so that I can maximize profits if I get a good hand. I’ll give you an example why I think it’s a good thing (and I’ll get the hands right this time).
Party 100NL (50/1 blinds). I’m UTG and have
What do you do?
Since I’m talking about rebuying, I’m sure you’ve figured out that I called.
I didn’t put him on the flush. If he had it, I figured he’d slow play it a bit more in hopes of getting more callers. I figured he was betting to protect against the flush.
I was right on that count.
I did, however, fear AA or KK. Then again, this is Party, so he could have almost anything.
I was, again, right on the AA part.
Of course, I didn’t know that now that Party has changed so that they don’t show hole cards when there’s no more action, which pisses me off (that is a change isn’t it, they used to show IIRC). Anyway, the rest of the cards are irrelevant, although I was secretly hoping for a flush on the board thinking it may save me.
So I drop $57 on that hand. Was it the right call? I’m honestly not sure. Any thoughts would be helpful. No real reads on the guy, it was about 20 hands into my session.
So now I’m down to $47. Less than half a full buyin. I immediately hit “rebuy” to get back to normal.
I’m glad I did.
One orbit later I’ve won a couple pots and am up to $140 in the CO and am staring down at
I don’t think you can fear AA when somebody pushes preflop, at least not at Party at this level. Yes, it will happen, but with KK I could not ask for a better place to get my money in so I call.
I don’t improve, but then again, neither does he and his Hilton Sisters fall to my cowboys.
Getting back to my lesson…Had I not rebought (and assuming I still won the other $40), I would have been at around $80. Therefore, when he pushed for about $100 I would not have been able to match and he would have saved $20. More importantly, it would have cost me $20. Had I not won anything between then, which may have happened due to playing with some scared money, then it would have cost me a lot more.
Maybe I just suck and want to have a full stack. Maybe it’s a crutch, but I don’t think so. Some people like short stacks and that’s fine. It protects your roll a bit, but in the long run I think it costs you a lot more.
OK, I know it’s not really
March 30th, 2005 at 12:00 am
Just for you:
http://www.cafepress.com/wpbt.20011172
March 30th, 2005 at 12:30 am
I agree about wanting as large a stack as possible. Not only does it help you when you catch that big hand, but it also helps you win more pots when the threat of you moving in and taking every last chip the other guy has makes them think harder about calling.
In fact, I *almost* look forward to losing enough in live games with hideous blind structures to rebuy for the full buyin on top of the chips I already have. This gives me more ammo with which to take on the TV poker yahoos who doubled up on a lucky play.
Almost.
March 30th, 2005 at 12:37 am
Sounds like a solid theory on the rebuy. Since I’m still building my bankroll I haven’t been doing that but I think I will start.
As for the call with AK. You’re getting 2.4 to 1 on this call. Based on his re-raise pre-flop and his raise on the flop you can only put him on 3 hands I think, AA, KK or AK. The AA and KK seem unlikely since that would put all four aces or kings in play between you two and the board. The AK seems the most likely. If he is suited properly then you’re drawing dead except if you hit another A or K and split. His re-raise on the flop though seems most likely for AA, KK or 77 and he’s trying to drive off flush draws against his set. 77 doesn’t seem likely since he re-raised pre-flop and I don’t know of anyone that does that. I think its pretty easy to put yourself in the drawing slim to dead against most of his possible hands. The problem is you don’t really have time to make this kind of analysis on Party. I’m sure I would have called. But after thinking it through I think that would be the wrong move. I just don’t see myself ever throwing it away without having a strong read on the player before hand and plenty of time to reason it out. The next time it happens you’ll probably be against K7.
If you disagree with any of the things I said I’d love to hear about it. I’m still learning as you know.
March 30th, 2005 at 1:27 am
I constantly rebuy when I’m below a certain dollar amount compared to my buy-in. (I’ve just spit out a bunch of drunken crap and erased it because you hit it on the head) If you get a monster, you want as much money as possible in your stack, so that in the event you run into a larger or comparable stack, you can take the maximum possible from them. Otherwise, you’re leaking potential profits.
And we all know that if you’re scared of losing a full buy-in, you shouldn’t be playing at the level in the first place.
March 30th, 2005 at 2:32 am
I always rebuy when I lose any amount of money at the NL games. I really don’t think it makes any sense not to. I also can’t understand the guys who but into the $100NL game for $20 at a time. I really just can’t understand it.
March 30th, 2005 at 4:42 am
Wrt the AK hand, I’m not sure I would necessarily put him on AA or KK. With 2 of the aces and two of the kings spoken for, I’d put him on AK or AQ/QQ with the Qh. These are all likely with a random opponent on Party.
The question I’d have is: Why did you bet $15 into the $21 pot?
If it was to see where you stood, what did you plan to do if he went over the top (as he did)?
If it was to show strength, wouldn’t a check-raise all-in be more appropriate? Also, if he went all-in when you checked, that would give you more of an excuse to fold, if you were considering folding.
If it was to get yourself pot-committed, wouldn’t a pot-sized bet make the decision to call the all-in easier?
Whatever the case, this hand actually proves your point as well. If he’d had more money, he would have had an opportunity to win more money. Though I wonder if you would have called if the re-raise was $75 and not $35.
March 30th, 2005 at 7:05 am
Did Maudie just suggest thong wear for optimal NLHE play? I’m buying one for the June tourney then.
March 30th, 2005 at 7:56 am
Party shows hole cards on all-ins in their tourneys, but NOT during ring games.
Odd.
March 30th, 2005 at 8:11 am
Glyphic: The $15 into $21 was probably the wrong bet, especially considering the coordinated board. I ultimately wanted to see where I stood. However, betting less than the pot didn’t reduce the odds enough to really do that. I think your point about a check raise and looking for an excuse to fold would probably have been better.
Basically, I misplayed that hand in my mind, at least upon retrospection. Playing in the 50NL land, a pot sized bet tended to drop people out of the pot. Of course, that’s exactly what I wanted this time, but I didn’t do the pot sized bet. I have noticed that a 2/3 pot sized bet is good to keep people in, and there are times you want people in the pot. Of course, I really didn’t want that, but I made that bet anyway. It was dumb
I don’t think I would have made the call if it had been $75 though. There were 800 ways I was beaten.
Of course, this was at Party, so who knows…
March 30th, 2005 at 8:29 am
Chips = goot. rebuy = goot.
When I get min-REraised preflop, I put them on one of the big 3 hands (2 of which, you’re dominated by). If he is willing to push on a AKx flop, I think you’re tied or in big trouble. I guess he could be doing that with QQh or AQh, but I’d guess he’d raise bigger preflop w/ QQ and just call with AQ.
More often that not, I see AA with the min-reraise at a full table.
Tough to lay down top 2.
Do you see people min-reraise with a bigger range of hands at $100NL?
March 30th, 2005 at 8:31 am
BTW, if somebody min-reraises me preflop, I take a note. I think most people who do that when the stacks are relatively deep are immature players. They basically allow me to draw to a set if I have a pair, and they’ll lose their stack. He let you draw to an ace pretty cheap and somehow I don’t think he’d be able to fold to smallish bets when the ace came.
March 30th, 2005 at 1:10 pm
For the record I probably would have lost $57 on this hand, too.
March 30th, 2005 at 1:46 pm
Min raises make baby jesus cry…
March 31st, 2005 at 8:00 am
Chris,
I just wanted to say thanks to you and all the commenters on this entry. After reading it yesterday at work, I took your advice and rebought to the max after losing a few small pots. It made me at least 40 more dollars when I caught a higher straight flush than my opponent.
I really enjoy reading your blog. I think I am about where you were a year ago.
Keep up the good work.
GCox25