| This is a discussion on What is cold calling, and why should I care ? within the online poker forums, in the Learning Poker section; I am trying to plug some spread eagle holes in my game. I have learned about position and check-raising (thanks to Ed Miler) but have ... |
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| What is cold calling, and why should I care ? I am trying to plug some spread eagle holes in my game. I have learned about position and check-raising (thanks to Ed Miler) but have encountered a forum post where someone says "The biggest leak that beginners have by far is that they cold call" He then goes on to say that we should stop cold calling, and if we did, we would find that we would stop losing money. Searches of the forums I have signed up for reveal many post *about* cold calling, but nothing that states what cold calling *is*. Can someone please explain ? |
| Play Texas Hold'em Online Poker | What is cold calling, and why should I care ? | |
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| re: What is cold calling, and why should I care ? poker It seems like cold calling with good, but not premium hands, is often the safest course of action. Maybe that's a problem with my game, but I'd rather call with 10's, JJ, QQ, KQ, AJ, or AQ than push too hard and find myself up against a bigger pair or a bigger kicker. It sure seems to me that too many players bet all their chips on marginal hands before the flop, perhaps to take the after-flop decisions out of their hands. Which just adds to the frustrations of everyone who loses to a lucky draw with the best hand. By the way, I don't really play KQ that often, but I sure lose to it a lot. |
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| cold calling is probably one of the hardest things for most people to get away from. it has the mentality of "if i could just see this next card" or "i'm sure i've won and i'll be sneaky this way"...and it works out sometimes; either way it lets everyone know you're playing your cards (or hoping for an out) more than you should be. |
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Let's say you're SB w JJ and CO opens for 4xBB. CO appears to be smart and aggressive, and has shown down a premium hand or two when he opens, and has shown down a speculative hand or two when he opens. So, based on what we've seen, let's say his open from CO represents 55+, 87s+, 97s+, alot of suited A's, and broadway cards. Your JJ are actually, on average, better than what he's representing with his opening range - hurrah! So let's say we cold call in SB, and the flop is A72r. What do we do now? Are we calling 3 streets to see if our JJ is good? This is why everybody hates playing JJ, right? Instead, let's say we 3bet preflop to 13xBB. The first bit of good news is that CO will fold most of the hands I listed above, and you immediately win the pot (yay!). Notice that, if the range I gave CO is accurate, the majority of the time you will win money doing this. The second bit of good news is that he'll probably only 4bet you with a range of hands that is better than JJ, say QQ+,AK (the range depends on the specific villain, but this is typical of microstakes), so you can now fold and only lose 13BB's (that sounds like a lot, but imagine how much you'll invest in the pot if you call 3 streets postflop to see if your JJ are good). The third bit of good news is that if he calls, you now have the initiative in the hand (of course, we're oop, which totally sucks, but whatever) - CO will be reacting to your actions postflop, so you can be the aggressor if the board warrants it. By calling, CO has also told you he doesn't have the worst hands I listed above (he would've folded), and probably doesn't have the premium hands either (w QQ+, AK he would've 4bet), so you also have a better idea of what he's holding. Last edited by slycbnew : 9th August 2009 at 3:34 AM. |
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Calling 3 bets cold is really bad unless you have a great hand. Someone has raised and someone else says they have an even better hand, so you need a powerhouse, too. |
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| My understanding is that cold calling is calling a raise when you currently have no money in the pot, be it a single raise or a raise and a reraise. For me, I won't cold call a raise with anything less than AQ. And, I won't call a raise and reraise with anything less than AA, KK, or AK suited and then I'd reraise, rather than just call. |
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I have also been guilty of cold calling too frequently. It's just so... easy. Although I don't think it's always incorrect to call, especially with speculative hands, all of the above is true and demonstrates why aggression is so key in this game. |
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| re: What is cold calling, and why should I care ? poker Quote:
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On a made hand. |
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I don't want to give the impression that I think you should ALWAYS 3bet and NEVER cold call. I do cold call occasionally - but it's very occasionally. What I want is to be able to take the initiative - that's why my default is to 3bet. imo, cold calling is usually (not always) the wrong thing to do because you're leaving the initiative with the opener. Also, cold calling usually (not always) means you are depending on the flop to make your hand - and you miss the flop the majority of the time, so the majority of the time you wasted money. Now, if you're confident you can take the initiative away after the flop, say because: 1. the opener is a lagtard who 3barrels (i.e., cbets flop, turn, and river) with air, 2. you have a strong hand relative to his opening range, 3. you're in position (my example of JJ in SB was intentional, I wanted the example to be oop), 4. everyone left to act is extremely likely to fold, and 5. you plan to steal initiative (by raising) either on the flop or the turn then cold calling is preferable - you'll extract more value in this situation by cold calling. P.S. Roundcat, thanks for your nice comments! |
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I assume were talking about cash games here as well, as if your a large stack in a tourney you'll also be calling with pretty much any 2 picture cards or suited connector. |
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Well put |
Number of Posts: 19
Number of Authors: 13