Flat calling with a big pair.....

Lafortezza

I've seen this done a few times in the Fitz recently.
In late position after several players have folded from early and middle positions
a player in late position with a pair of Queens, Kings, or Aces will simply flat call the blinds.
Usual practice with QQ or better is to raise big to steal the blinds if they are worth stealing
or a moderate raise to get one or two callers and see what the flop brings.

The risk you run by just flat calling preflop is that you let hands that would fold to a
raise in to see the flop very cheaply. Hands like Q9, 78 suited, etc.
The advantage especially if there are only three or four people seeing the flop is that you
conceal the strength of your hand with the call. While limping with small pairs hoping to hit trips
on the flop is normal, big pairs nearly always raise.

If the flop comes J94 rainbow and you hold pocket Kings, you hope that somebody will bet out
with top pair. When you reraise them with your overpair they tend not to put you on such a big hand
and your trapping can work.

The big fear of most players holding KK or AA is that they will be telling the
"My Aces got cracked" story at the break or after the game. A big raise preflop to get
one or two callers is a safer way to play the hand if your lucky enough to be dealt it.
But there is often alot more value to be earned by flat calling in the correct situation.
Its a balance of Risk vs Reward.

One situation where it is a very valuable weapon is where either the table is shorthanded or
the blinds are very large in relation to the small stacks at the table.

If you flat call UTG with KK or AA it may be likely that a small stack will try to steal
the blinds with a hand like KJ suited or KQ. Similarly in shorthanded play, the value of hands
like K10 suited or Ax suited goes up alot when there are 4 or 5 random hand dealt.
A flat call with AA can easily trap a raiser who thinks his K10 spades is the best hand.

Calling preflop with a big pocket pair is not a usual or often the correct play depending
on the circumstances of the table. But it can vary your game and make people aware that you
don't always play by the book which is a valuable asset to have in your poker repertoire.

Jaden

Nice post, well thought out.

On-line, the rules tend to vary a bit. To keep my play "random", I would call odd pairs, and raise even, or vice versa. It helps to stop players spotting a pattern of play, which in on-line play, I have found to be critical. (Nobody can see you go "whoot" when you pocket AA).

Incidently, Victor Chandler have changed the setup of their 10c giveaway tables to no-limit. Without fail 3 people go all in on the first hand. I wince every time.

mewso

But then isn't calling odd pairs and raising even pairs a pattern?