By Tony Guerrera

I’m playing no-limit hold’em with blinds of $1-$2, and I have $200 in front of me after posting my big blind. I’m one of seven players at the table when the following action transpires. Action folds to a fairly active player in middle position who raises to $8. Action folds to the small blind-a very tight player. He reraises to $20.

Bingo! By reraising preflop out-of-position, this tight player has just told you (and the rest of the table) that he has QQ+; and it might even be doubtful that QQ is in his distribution. By reraising out-of-position, he’s told the entire table his hand distribution to within 2 or 3 hands! This guy has been sitting and pining away for an opportunity to get a premium starting hand, so chances are good that he won’t be capable of releasing his high pocket pair in the face of heavy postflop action. He has just set himself up to get stackalacked.

I’m in the big blind with 33, which is obviously worse than QQ+. However, I’m happy because this is the type of opportunity that’s prime for trying to draw to a set. This is an opportunity you should be keenly aware of if you have a small pocket pair, and this is a situation you want to prevent if you have a big pocket pair here. You probably already know where this article is headed, but concrete examples are good, so let’s see how the rest of this scenario plays out.

To determine whether calling is in order, we first have to do the numbers. There’s currently $8 + $20 + $2 = $30 in the pot, and it’s $18 to call. I look at the reraiser’s stack, and I see that he has $200 left. After calling, I’ll have $182 in my stack, which is just over ten times the amount of the $18 call. Assuming that the original raiser calls, I’ll be getting a total of $42:$18 on my money preflop. However, even if the original raiser folds, I still have sufficient implied odds to call preflop.

The numbers look good, but I can’t call yet. Before calling, I need ensure that no further aggression will transpire after I call. If the original preflop raiser doesn’t raise often in the first place, chances are good that he has a monster hand and will go back over the top. However, we know that the original preflop raiser has been liberal in his opening requirements. If he’s a hyper-aggressive 4-bettor, then also need to release your hand, but hyper-aggressive 4-bettors are rare, meaning that you can call, knowing that you’ll be shut out of the hand only a small percentage of the time.

With sufficient implied odds and confidence in action proceeding to the flop without another raise, I call. The original preflop raiser calls, as does the other player. We go into the flop with $60 in the pot. The flop is T53; I’ve hit my set. The preflop reraiser leads out for $60. I call, and the other player folds. Going into the turn, the pot is $180. The turn is the 8, and the preflop reraiser bets his remaining $140. I call my remaining $120, the river doesn’t improve his AA, and I take down a $420 pot, making a nice $220 profit off of my original $18 call.

The big mistake made by the preflop reraiser was that he announced his hand and sized his reraise in a manner that gave players with hands like mine proper implied odds to call. If he’s playing straightforward opponents, then his preflop line of play is okay provided that he’s keenly aware that an overpair is no good in the face of heavy postflop action. Against tricky opponents, heavy postflop action with overpairs is a nightmare because if they know you’re capable of laying down in the face of heavy fire, these players will bluff some percentage of the time, simply representing that they’ve hit two pair or better on the flop.

Against these tricky types, you have two options. Either reraise more to disguise your reraises, or don’t reraise at all. Not reraising at all is a viable option if you’re playing shorthanded since not reraising will still land you in pots that are usually contested by at most two opponents. However, I consider reraising with a wider range of hands to be better for your overall bottom line. You want to be in big pots when you have big hands, and the only way to induce your opponents into making big mistakes is if they devalue your hand distribution. Meanwhile, you don’t want to be stuck playing in huge multiway pots with your pockets pairs, so if you’re playing at a fullhanded table, reraising with a wider range of hands is pretty much mandatory.

Now here’s the thing. When you reraise, don’t do it with hands like AQ that are normally quite playable against a preflop raise. If you reraise with these types of hands, you’ll lose a large amount of value against today’s typical players. “Today” refers to 8/27/2007. This is important because today’s typical player today isn’t what today’s typical player was two years ago and will most likely not be what today’s typical play is two years from now. Instead of reraising with your hands that are marginally ahead of your opponent’s distributions (as you would in limit hold’em), reraise bluff with absolute garbage. Raise large enough to have substantial fold equity without committing an overwhelming amount of chips, and raise the same amount that you would with QQ+. Also consider reraising with suited connectors here, but realize that these can sometimes have better playability if you simply call. With suited connectors, I’ll generally reraise if only the raiser has voluntarily entered the pot, but I’ll call if other players have joined the party (whether they be limpers who’ve been raised or players who’ve cold-called the raise). In terms of sizing your raise, generally make you bet to about four times the amount of the original raise and increment for every caller. If there’s a raise to $8 and two callers, reraise to something like $48.

By increasing the frequency of your reraises, you’ll no longer be announcing QQ+ with your reraises, and that will put you in a great position to make much greater profits. Of course, in some conditions, it’s okay to announce QQ+ with a reraise. Just make sure that when you do this, your opponents are straightforward and that the amount of your raise denies your opponents proper implied odds…that way, the action you generate is the result of mistakes rather than well-founded tactics on your opponents’ parts. Think about what your actions tell your opponents, and how your opponents will respond to that information, and you’ll put yourself in a great position to gain much more value from your premium pairs!

Tony Guerrera is the author of Killer Poker By The Numbers

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