Flat Calling Pre Flop

Jackle43

Jackle43

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I asked this in cash games but am interested in the answer for tournaments as well.

Im confused about the whole Pre Flop Flat call. If i hit a marginal hand such as AQ - 99 and someone raises me is flat calling that bad to look at the flop or should i be Reraising him in attempt to steal the pot their or atleast have pot control. And if the person Four Bets ofcourse im folding seeing im probably against KK AA. Someone please help?
 
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gnarus

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There are so many variables to think about there is no correct answer. Things to think about include the size of his bet, your stacksize and position in the tourney, how many people are in the pot, any read on other players at the table, etc. I can easily imagine a scenario where folding is correct, re-raising correct, and sometime flat calling is correct. The more people in the pot & the smaller the raise the more correct it is to call imo especially with a pocket pair. The less people in the pot the more correct it is to re-reaise or fold. Thoughts?
 
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iamnothere

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I think gnarus is right, but I would state one thing: value of those hand changes depending on the situation: AQ-99 rise in value when you have low spr, are in position, play against calling station or super aggressive player...
Basically, early in the tournament, I would reraise once with these, because pots are 30 and players have 1500 or more, but later I would play them more aggressive against single opponent if sb/bb is say 50/100 and I have 1500-2000
 
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doomasiggy

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Im confused about the whole Pre Flop Flat call. If i hit a marginal hand such as AQ - 99 and someone raises me is flat calling that bad to look at the flop or should i be Reraising him in attempt to steal the pot their or atleast have pot control. And if the person Four Bets ofcourse im folding seeing im probably against KK AA. Someone please help?

Not in the early stages of a sng. Also most people's 4-bet range is wider than KK AA.
 
flatcaller

flatcaller

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Im confused about the whole Pre Flop Flat call. If i hit a marginal hand such as AQ - 99 and someone raises me is flat calling that bad to look at the flop or should i be Reraising him in attempt to steal the pot their or atleast have pot control. And if the person Four Bets ofcourse im folding seeing im probably against KK AA. Someone please help?[

If your early position Flatting will typically build a big pot and/or produce a late 4 bet. Late position Flat works better cause less to act behind you. A rule i will sometime use pending on the table I am at is not entering a pot pre without raising. This does not mean wait for AA or KK it just means play like a powerhouse and always keep your opponents on edge. The answer you are looking for will typically be pending on your style of play and the table your playing at. No sense flatting if everyone will fold to your 3 bet and you don't want to 3 bet to much knowing there are players that will 4 bet with ease. A lot to answer this is just something to think about.
 
Jackle43

Jackle43

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Yeah well i never Limp into pots ever. Its just one play i feel is just bad unless everyones limped and its only costing me 20 to a pot with 150 to see a flop or something
 
sam1chips

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Raising always looks stronger. Then again, if you raise pre-flop you are almost obligated to C-bet on the flop. If you aren't prepared to do that then I don't think I raise.

It of course is also dependent on a variety of variables. There is no general, 100% right answer
 
Loonbat

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Yeah well i never Limp into pots ever. Its just one play i feel is just bad unless everyones limped and its only costing me 20 to a pot with 150 to see a flop or something

I try to avoid words like "never" and "always" when it comes to poker. If I find a table is a limpfest pre and the opponents are weak postflop (but rarely folding to preflop raises), I want to play against them postflop.

Every situation is different and a good general rule raising > limping, but some circumstances call for limping.
 
duggs

duggs

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I try to avoid words like "never" and "always" when it comes to poker. If I find a table is a limpfest pre and the opponents are weak postflop (but rarely folding to preflop raises), I want to play against them postflop.

Every situation is different and a good general rule raising > limping, but some circumstances call for limping.

whilst i agree the general rule for starting out is that until you can identify these situations and give reasons why limp>raise then you shouldnt be limping ever
 
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