Losing Left – Small Pot, Pretty Please

The biggest problem with players to your left is that they will get to see what you do before they have to make any decisions. It seems that recently I’ve been crushed online while out of position, especially when I have a small hand – top pair, okay kicker or weaker hand. The strategy I try to employ is pretty basic: invest the smallest amount of chips in order to get to a showdown.

This presents one very basic problem, and it’s where a positional player gets his power. If I check to invest no chips, I am showing that I am weak (which I am, of course). An astute player can bet any two cards and I am likely to fold. If I bet I am increasing the pot size (which is already going against my strategy). Either way, I have no idea how the other player feels about their hand, even after he acts behind me.

In online tournaments, I should check nearly every time when I have a mediocre hand. The reason is that I simply won’t know either way whether I have the best hand. Checking keeps the pot smaller, tying up fewer chips from my stack. Since the blinds are ever increasing toward the size of my stack, I need to find better places (then mediocre hand, out of position) to invest them.

Here’s a great example:

PokerStars Game #39149867931: Tournament #238986486, $3.00+$0.40 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2010/02/02 19:17:35 PT [2010/02/02 22:17:35 ET]
Table '238986486 1' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 2: Betty73 (905 in chips)
Seat 3: nedoshlo (1550 in chips)
Seat 4: CgCook38 (1975 in chips)
Seat 5: jefferson577 (1415 in chips)
Seat 6: mad pounder (2560 in chips)
Seat 7: amyi (3980 in chips)
Seat 8: Simonelli2 (2530 in chips)
Seat 9: Bakster (7085 in chips)
Betty73: posts small blind 50
nedoshlo: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CgCook38 [Ah 8h]
CgCook38: calls 100 I've been trying to limp more with playable hands before I reach that iffy 10 rounds left level. This is part of that strategy.
jefferson577: folds
mad pounder: folds
amyi: calls 100
Simonelli2: calls 100
Bakster: folds
Betty73: folds
nedoshlo: checks
*** FLOP *** [Qc 6d 8c]
nedoshlo: checks Alright - Second pair, best kicker. My new strategy says check nearly every time. Instead I....
CgCook38: bets 300 ....into a 450 chip pot
amyi: folds
Simonelli2: calls 300
nedoshlo: folds
*** TURN *** [Qc 6d 8c] [Th]
my bet on the flop increased the pot size by over 130 percent!! Not quite the desired result with one opponent still remaining. I'm still out of position with the pot now at 1050 and 1575 left in my stack. What do I do now? I should check and fold to a bet here. That Th didn't help me and helped so many hands that may still be out there. 9Tc, 79c, TT, JTc, AKc, ATc.
CgCook38: checks
Simonelli2: bets 300 I'm beat bad right now, but I don't want to admit it. A stupid bet on the flop begets a stupid call on the turn...
CgCook38: calls 300 after all, I have five or fewer outs, I'm being offered 3.5 : 1 odds, and I only need to invest nearly 20% of my remaining stack. This is the kind of losing poker that I've been playing for months online. I need to get away from it.
*** RIVER *** [Qc 6d 8c Th] [Qd]
CgCook38: checks No miracle card on the river. Thank goodness. The villain took down the pot with a full house, sixes over queens. I was drawing dead on the turn. I shook this off and managed to place third in the tournament.