Raising with top pairmight be bad
There are times when it’s completely unnecessary — possibly even a mistake — to raise with top pair. I was recently told about a hand from a $2-$5 no-limit Texas hold ’em cash game that illustrates this point.
A tight, passive player sitting on an effective stack of $500 raised to $15 from middle position, and our Hero called on the button with Kh Jh.
I am fine with Hero’s preflop call. Suited Broadway cards (“Broadway” is an ace-high straight) can call reasonable preflop raises in most situations. If Hero instead had Kh Js, he would have been better off either three-betting to about $45 or folding. Usually, folding would be the preferred play due to the opponent’s tight, passive tendencies.
Everyone else folded. The flop came Kc 8s 5d. The opponent bet $30 into a pot of $37, and Hero raised to $100.
Hero should have just called. The only terrible turn card for Hero would be an ace. Hero did not have to worry about 7- 6 creating an open- ended straight draw for his opponent, because tight, passive players typically do not raise 7- 6 from middle position. If the opponent happened to have pocket pairs ranging from queens to nines, he would almost be drawing dead. So, there was no need for Hero to raise for protection.
With Hero raising postflop, many of the hands that he beats will fold. If instead he just calls, Hero forces his opponent to stay in the pot, allowing him to make costly errors on the turn and river. Also, in cases where Hero has the worst hand, calling will usually result in him losing less because the pot will be smaller.
The opponent reraised all in for $485.
At this point, it should have been clear to Hero that he was in bad shape. I would have been shocked to see his opponent turn over anything other than K-K, 8-8, 5-5, A-A or A-K.
Hero decided to call anyway and lost to his opponent’s 8h 8d.
After the hand, Hero was annoyed that he got “unlucky” when his opponent flopped a set. In reality, Hero should have simply called the flop and turn, and he should have folded to a third bet on the river from his tight, passive opponent.
While Hero is certainly going to lose some money in this situation, he lost far more than was necessary. If Hero had called a $15 preflop bet, a $30 postflop bet and, say, a $75 turn bet, he would have lost $120. As played, he ended up losing his entire stack.
When you have a marginal made hand (such as top pair with a marginal kicker, middle pair or bottom pair), you should be looking to control the size of the pot. If the pot remains manageable, the odds are good that your marginal made hand is best. But if a significant amount of money goes into the pot, marginal made hands tend to shrivel up.