by Jim Woods
You’re seated at a $1/$2 NL holdem table where the action has been moderate. You’ve limped in late position with suited 87 and no one raised. Five players see the J 3 4 flop. When the first three players check, you figure, “Hell, SOMEONE has to win this $10 pot,” so you buckle your chinstrap and fire in ten bucks. Why?

You can think of LOTS of reasons, right? “That flop probably missed everyone. I have position on all but one player. My opponents may think that there are lots of hands containing a jack with which I might have limped. Even if I don’t win the pot now, I’ll probably scare out the only player behind me and then be in primo position for the rest of the hand. C’mon, Woodsie, you wuss — I didn’t come here to WATCH!”

In my humble opinion, none of those are good reasons. There are plenty of holdem flops and turns that DON’T warrant a bet. So someone exclaims “Pot for sale!” after a checkaround or two–who cares? I don’t know about you, but I don’t sit down at a poker table to watch, either. I want to go home a winner, and bets like the one above aren’t usually in the winning formula.

Let’s review. First, it’s a $1/$2 game, so the odds are high that your bet will be called, even by people who didn’t hit the flop. Picture, for example, a player with 65 offsuit–think he’ll be too afraid to call you, even out of position? Further, suppose you make a pair of 7’s on the turn. He’ll check, and you’ll…. read rest of article at PokerPages.com