Players Who Bet the Minimum

[Timmah120]

Hey all! Question for ya.

Over the past month, I've seen certain players who exibit a betting patter that eludes me. If you feel I am responding incorrectly to these guys, lemme know!

So, whether it's limped or facing a standard raise (no 3-bets), 2-4 of us see the flop. I'm talking in general here, many different hands in many different situations. Flop comes and I have a speculative hand...middle pair with a good kicker, flush draw, open-ender, etc. Position isn't really relevant here....the type of player I'm referring to will bet the minimum for the table...one big blind. Now, those of us who have our middle-of-the-road hands will obviously call because the pot odds are huge. So we all call, turn comes, nothing really changes. Again, this type of player bets the minimum. Some of us fold, but as long as I still feel my hand is good for a showdown, I'll call (I'll obviously raise if I hit...I'm not talking about those times).

River comes...and again, villain just bets the minimum. As long as I have showdown value, I call. Villain will almost ALWAYS turn over a monster....3 of a kind, nut flush, straight, I even saw a boat once.

To me, they are just trying to sweeten the pot because they know the rest of us will always have pot odds to call so long as we have a decent hand.

So, what should I do here? Just fold? Because raising and trying to get them to fold will be suicide....again, they always showdown something super strong. Have you guys had these kinds of players in your games?

 

[fundiver199]

I dont agree, that this line is always a monster. More often its some kind of marginal hand trying to freeze action and limit the size of the pot while also forcing worse hands to call. So you can actually sometimes consider raising as a bluff. The issue is, they are not always going to fold. Last time I tried this, the opponent had JJ on A high board and snap called me with second pair. So usually the better line is to just call down, if you have some showdown value. You should not fold, because sometimes people are actually bluffing with a line like this. And if they do have a monster, then they missed out on value and failed to protect their hand especially multiway. So just call and take a note on, what they had.

 

[dreamer13]

Each player independently chooses the line of play. He may pursue a passive or aggressive strategy. The actions you take depend on it. The safest poker is limit, but in pot limit and no-limit games, the stakes can rise frighteningly fast. Some people prefer a calm, relaxing game, while others crave adrenaline and a rollercoaster-like game. Try playing limit poker.

 

[zipocool]

now in poker there is a fashion for minimum bets) + such a line with the nuts can provoke an opponent to raise or even go all in thinking that the opponent has a bluff, well, often such bets on the river will go like a blocking bet when the opponent tries to get to showdown cheaply

 

[Timmah120]

I dont agree, that this line is always a monster. More often its some kind of marginal hand trying to freeze action and limit the size of the pot while also forcing worse hands to call. So you can actually sometimes consider raising as a bluff. The issue is, they are not always going to fold. Last time I tried this, the opponent had JJ on A high board and snap called me with second pair. So usually the better line is to just call down, if you have some showdown value. You should not fold, because sometimes people are actually bluffing with a line like this. And if they do have a monster, then they missed out on value and failed to protect their hand especially multiway. So just call and take a note on, what they had.

Interesting. I could try raising once in awhile to try and catch the "bluffers" or the ones trying to draw. If I'm getting called or re-popped, then I at least have some information. Observing this opponent in other pots too will give me an idea if he/she is a loose cannon spewing chips all over the place or if they are trying to "trap."

Each player independently chooses the line of play. He may pursue a passive or aggressive strategy. The actions you take depend on it. The safest poker is limit, but in pot limit and no-limit games, the stakes can rise frighteningly fast. Some people prefer a calm, relaxing game, while others crave adrenaline and a rollercoaster-like game. Try playing limit poker.

I've played a lot of limit poker; I try to mix my games up. I've been practicing my Omaha game lately too. I wish the site I play on had 7-Stud; that is my favorite game to play.

now in poker there is a fashion for minimum bets) + such a line with the nuts can provoke an opponent to raise or even go all in thinking that the opponent has a bluff, well, often such bets on the river will go like a blocking bet when the opponent tries to get to showdown cheaply

Right, that's why I get curious. These opponents I've observed do this all the time. "Blocking bets," when over-used, can be exploited by thinking players. So with the first reply I posted above, challenging these opponents from time to time might give me more information. When I'm holding a middle of the road hand or a draw, I won't often try to bluff-shove or bluff-raise unless I am fairly certain he/she is weak, which is tough to do when their bets don't make sense.

 

[85champ07]

While calling a min bet raise when your not holding the best hand kind of sucks, it is not without merit. 90% of the time the same player may choose to do this repeatedly in order to conceal their hand even further. Min betting with monsters are setting up your opponents to feel as though they should call and get it in cheap, while min betting with junk is also implying the same purpose but it is not. Having your opponent min bet you every street with junk implies you have already seen them use this same technique with the nuts, and when you lose in that situation they are probably going to keep doing the same thing to confuse you. I fold to min bets and raises all the time because at that point it might as well be a coin flip. I min bet with monsters when I am short stacked, i provoke the action this way. When I am short and I have junk I am not doing this, but say I had 10x the stack then everyone else, then I would probably do the same to indicate I am holding something that I want you to bet into. Its a reverse psychology paradox because reading this play is not predictable.

 

[Guillermo Lucangeli]

Each player independently chooses the line of play. He may pursue a passive or aggressive strategy. The actions you take depend on it. The safest poker is limit, but in pot limit and no-limit games, the stakes can rise frighteningly fast. Some people prefer a calm, relaxing game, while others crave adrenaline and a rollercoaster-like game. Try playing limit poker.

I agree with your opinion

 

[puzzlefish]

The min-bet isn't always a monster. Sure, some people trap with these min-bet lines but you're only going to remember the ones who got there and showed down with a monster and not the ones where you got there and it didn't go to showdown because the weak players folded.

 

[Recreationalplayer]

Hey all! Question for ya.

Over the past month, I've seen certain players who exibit a betting patter that eludes me. If you feel I am responding incorrectly to these guys, lemme know!

So, whether it's limped or facing a standard raise (no 3-bets), 2-4 of us see the flop. I'm talking in general here, many different hands in many different situations. Flop comes and I have a speculative hand...middle pair with a good kicker, flush draw, open-ender, etc. Position isn't really relevant here....the type of player I'm referring to will bet the minimum for the table...one big blind. Now, those of us who have our middle-of-the-road hands will obviously call because the pot odds are huge. So we all call, turn comes, nothing really changes. Again, this type of player bets the minimum. Some of us fold, but as long as I still feel my hand is good for a showdown, I'll call (I'll obviously raise if I hit...I'm not talking about those times).

River comes...and again, villain just bets the minimum. As long as I have showdown value, I call. Villain will almost ALWAYS turn over a monster....3 of a kind, nut flush, straight, I even saw a boat once.

To me, they are just trying to sweeten the pot because they know the rest of us will always have pot odds to call so long as we have a decent hand.

So, what should I do here? Just fold? Because raising and trying to get them to fold will be suicide....again, they always showdown something super strong. Have you guys had these kinds of players in your games?

Downbet works best on flop. 1/4 to 1/3 pot size bet supposedly gets more folds than optimal and end up making money.

 

[gustavofuentes2]

I find that whenever I raise to much I end up losing about 95% of the time. Now I just try and sit back and see how things unfold and decide whether I want to play that hand or not.

 

[Spannerdeth]

I try and think of it as a "check".

I've only played for a couple of years, so it does confuse me a bit as to what to do, but thinking it of a check simplifies the problem (though it's not necesserily the solution)

 

[freerobert]

I like to bet small, but “save” - like Daniel N.